When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

After receiving the order from Village Chief Ji, all the young and middle-aged men in the village gathered around.

Sun Wan'er took the lead and blocked Lin Lezhi and Xiao Xu's way. Her words were full of urgency and pleading. "I found them here. Don't hurt them."

Village Chief Ji stood in the distance, looking completely superior.

"Ms. Meng Wan, you said it yourself that it was a great honor to marry the river god. Why did you suddenly change your mind and find outsiders to ruin our ceremony?"

"I...I just..."

"Miss Wan'er, there's no need to say more to them."

Seeing Sun Wan'er's embarrassment, Lin Lezhi interrupted her.

Lin Lezhi smiled at Village Chief Ji, and flicked the red beans he had just picked onto Village Chief Ji's forehead accurately, then said sarcastically: "They are used to taking human lives lightly, and they don't know how precious life is."

"Quick...quick! Catch them for me."

It can be seen that Village Chief Ji was really anxious this time. He almost jumped up from the ground while shouting, and he looked very funny.

Although Lin Lezhi is a writer, he is very good at fighting and he knocked down several people cleanly and neatly.

It seems that the Sanda training I had previously received was not in vain.

Lin Lezhi was feeling very proud of himself, but he didn't know that Xiao Xu had been observing him secretly.

Xiao Xu was just as Lin Lezhi expected. He was a good fighter. He didn't even move the sword hanging on his waist, but he beat the man to the ground, and the man dared not to move forward again.

Seeing that all the men had been knocked down, Village Chief Ji turned around and tried to run away, but Xiao Xu's sword was put to his neck first.

Even though the sword was not drawn, Village Chief Ji was so scared that he immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Don't... don't kill me. Whether you want money or something else, I will give it to you."

Lin Lezhi bent down in front of Village Chief Ji, helped him up, and said in a gentle voice: "We don't want money, we want to ask you about someone."

"Whoever it is, as long as this person is in this village, I will help you find him even if I have to dig three feet underground."

Village chief Ji was blowing his nose and glaring one second, and then he was so humble and submissive the next second. Lin Lezhi couldn't help but admire his attitude, which could be switched freely at any time. It was such a vivid description. It's a pity that he didn't become an actor if he didn't want to be.

"Mengli."

When he heard Mengli's name, a look of fear appeared in the eyes of Village Chief Ji. He was so panicked that he almost couldn't stand. Lin Lezhi was quick to support Village Chief Ji.

"Sir, Miss Mengli was indeed bought from Madam Zhao of Chunhua Tower at this time two years ago, but...but..."

Village Chief Ji looked as if he had seen something terrifying.

"but what?"

"It's not that I don't want to find it for you, this... this Mengli has been married to the river god. Even if you kill me, I can't find it for you."

Village Chief Ji looked pleading.

"If the river god were to marry us, how could the three of us be standing here intact?"

"I'm not kidding. Our bride was sent into the Jade Dragon Waterfall and her body was never found."

"When a snake passes by, it leaves its body behind; when a goose passes by, it leaves its feathers behind. Naturally, humans are no exception. How could there be no corpses?"

Knowing that Lin Lezhi and the others would not believe him, Village Chief Ji quickly pointed to the Jade Dragon Pond behind him and added, "It's true. You saw our ceremony last night. Every bride offered to the river god would be placed on a bamboo raft and fall into the Jade Dragon Pond with the flowing water. The Jade Dragon Pond is neither deep nor shallow. From a long time ago, not to mention corpses, even the bamboo rafts would disappear."

"That's what you said."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Xu threw down a few broken bamboo rafts.

Just when Lin Lezhi was talking to Village Chief Ji, Xiao Xu discovered some scattered bamboo rafts floating in Yulongtan, with the red cloth tied to them last night still hanging on them.

Lin Lezhi kicked the broken bamboo on the ground and said, "Village Chief Ji, this seems to be different from the rumors you told me. How do you explain it?"

"This... I really don't know. Gentlemen, I really didn't lie. This is the only exception in all these years."

"You keep saying that offering sacrifices to the river god is your supreme honor. Since you believe in the river god so much, why did you change from offering sacrifices to offering sacrifices with corpses? Aren't you afraid that the river god will be angry with you?"

"This..." Village Chief Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "To be honest with you, we have held this sacrifice five times since He Yuqing, and this year is the sixth time. We also know that it is wrong to sacrifice living people, and each family is unwilling to sacrifice their daughters, so we thought of a compromise and used corpses instead of living people to sacrifice to the river god. Fortunately, the river god did not blame us."

Seeing the doubts on Lin Lezhi and Xiao Xu's faces, Village Chief Ji panicked and quickly raised three fingers to the sky and swore, "I swear to heaven, if I tell even a single lie, I will be struck by lightning. The villagers in our village witnessed it with their own eyes and can all testify."

When Village Chief Ji swore, the loose skin on his face began to tremble.

Lin Lezhi turned his attention to the villagers next to him.

Seeing Lin Lezhi looking at them, the villagers immediately said, "It's true. What Village Chief Ji said is true. We come here every year on the second day of the festival to check, and we really haven't found any trace of the bride."

"You two gentlemen are masters. The people in Yulong Village are just ordinary people. The rich man who wanted to marry He Yuqing died in a tragic way. Everyone in our village knows it. We are afraid that the river god will be unhappy, so we have no choice but to hold a sacrifice."

Village Chief Ji said sincerely: "If you two still don't believe it, I can arrange accommodation for you two to make it easier for you to investigate in the village."

Lin Lezhi thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. Then I'll trouble Village Chief Ji to help us find a place to live."

"No trouble, no trouble, I'll arrange it right away, please follow me, gentlemen."

When walking back from Yulongtan, Lin Lezhi saw many girls returning to their homes from outside the village. The red cloth and red lanterns of each family had been taken down, and the paper figurines placed in the yard had disappeared.

Under the leadership of Village Chief Ji, the three of them were taken to the village inn. Village Chief Ji personally handled everything from beginning to end.

All the rooms in the inn can be seen at a glance, with a courtyard in the middle.

Although the post station is not big, it is clean and tidy.

The furniture in the house is a little old, with a lot of wear and scratches on it, which shows that it has been used for a long time.

"Our Yulong Village is not big. There is only this small inn in the village for temporary guests to rest. No one has been to this village for a long time, so we have only cleaned up this room for the time being. Please don't mind."

"I think this place is pretty good. Thank you, Village Chief Ji."

"Sir, if that's the case, I'll send someone to clean up the other rooms as soon as possible. By the way, what are the names of the two gentlemen?"

"Jiang Lian'an."

"Xiao Xu."

Hearing Jiang Lian'an's name, Village Chief Ji's eyes widened and he immediately bowed and said, "So you are the world-famous Jiang Lian'an, the Detective Jiang Gui. I am old and my eyes are blurry, so I didn't recognize you."

As he was speaking, Village Chief Ji knelt down.

"If Mr. Jiang can help our village solve the problem of the new bride's disappearance and prevent our village from doing such masked and heartless things, I will be very grateful and will definitely reward you handsomely."

Lin Lezhi helped Village Chief Ji up.

"You don't have to do this, Village Chief Ji. I will do my best."

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I won't disturb you guys from resting. You can always come find me if you need anything."

Just as Village Chief Ji was about to leave, Lin Lezhi asked, "Village Chief Ji, I have a question I want to ask you right now."

Village Chief Ji turned around and said respectfully, "What's the problem?"

"Is the unlocked empty house near the river the residence of He Yuqing and her parents?"

"Mr. Jiang, you guessed correctly. This is where He Yuqing lived before her death. Mr. Jiang, do you have any other questions?"

"No more, thank you, Village Chief Ji."

"Mr. Jiang, you are too polite."

Village Chief Ji bowed and backed out of the room.

After arriving outside the post station, Village Chief Ji's expression suddenly changed. He said to the young men guarding the post station, "Keep an eye on them. If they find anything, tell me at any time."

After saying this, Village Chief Ji left in a hurry.

Finally seeing the bed, Lin Lezhi lay down on it with his arms and legs spread out, closing his eyes, looking relaxed.

Xiao Xu sat at the table and said, "You can rest here without worrying about them taking your life."

Lin Lezhi still closed his eyes and said, "It doesn't matter if I'm relieved or not. Everyone in this village is so mysterious. They won't tell me what they want to do. It's better to let nature take its course and be happy and at ease."

Xiao Xu's eyes darkened for a moment, and he clenched his fists under the table, but he remained calm on the surface and said, "You just go with the flow."

Lin Lezhi suddenly opened his eyes, and his eyes fell on the copper basin wooden stand beside him. The copper basin wooden stand looked very out of tune with the pile of light-colored wooden furniture in the room. He lay on the bed and looked at the wooden stand and said, "Anyway, the ghost story is not credible. There are only three reasons why they are like this."

"Which three points?"

Lin Lezhi sat up from the bed and continued, "First, they really didn't know about the disappearance of the bride. They were just afraid that the river god would be angry with the villagers. Second, they knew about it and tried to hide it. Third, they did have something to hide, but they really didn't know about the disappearance of the bride."

"Which kind do you think they are?"

Lin Lezhi shook his head and said, "I don't know, but... if we want to find clues, we must start from the source of this matter. Let's go to He Yuqing's house."

Lin Lezhi brought Xiao Xu and Sun Wan'er to the house he had been to after coming out of the river. In the daytime, the whole house did not look so eerie or scary, but it looked a little older.

Except for the middle room, the doors of the east and west rooms were all closed.

Looking at the dusty house in the yard, Xiao Xu frowned, looking extremely dissatisfied. Lin Lezhi ignored Xiao Xu and walked straight in.

Lin Lezhi stepped into the house. The copper basin that he had thrown away last night was still on the ground, as well as the cloth that he had torn off his body and used to wipe the bronze mirror.

The room faces south and is well-lit. Lin Lezhi can finally see the furnishings in the room clearly, all of which are light-colored wooden furniture.

Because I came out of the river yesterday, my feet were wet, and the house was full of dust, so I left clear footprints in the house.

There are not only your own footprints, but also another pair.

Lin Lezhi looked at Sun Wan'er and asked, "Miss Wan'er, you have been secretly investigating this village for almost a year. Have you ever seen a madman with disheveled hair?"

Sun Wan'er shook her head and answered truthfully, "I have never seen it."

"Why haven't I seen it before?"

Lin Lezhi thought he could hear something useful from Xiao Xu, and waited seriously for Xiao Xu's next words.

"Didn't I see a madman with disheveled hair in the Red Pearl Temple yesterday?"

"you…!"

Sun Wan'er chuckled at the side.

Lin Lezhi clenched his fists in anger, "I'm just sorting out the clues. If you can't say anything useful, can you shut up?"

"Oh? What's the clue?"

Lin Lezhi glared at Xiao Xu, looked at the footprints on the ground and said, "When I came out of the river yesterday, I felt cold and wanted to deal with my wet clothes, so I came to the house by the river. However, I went to many houses, but this was the only one that was not locked. Just when I wanted to use the bronze mirror in the room to fix my hair, I saw a dishevelled man standing behind me in the mirror with the help of the moonlight outside. I guess he must know something."

"Then why didn't you catch him? I see you're pretty good at it."

Lin Lezhi felt embarrassed when he heard what Xiao Xu said. He didn't think it was a human being at that time, but a ghost.

Lin Lezhi would never say that he was scared away.

"I'm not afraid of accidentally hurting the villagers. Besides, why would I arrest him for no reason?"

Lin Lezhi quickly changed the subject and said, "Okay, let's get back to the point. According to the records on the stone tablet, He Yuqing's parents moved out of Yulong Village after He Yuqing disappeared because they couldn't accept it. But you can see that everything here is very complete. It doesn't seem like they moved away. It seems more like..."

"It seemed to disappear suddenly." Xiao Xu continued.

Lin Lezhi snapped his fingers and said, "That's right! He Yuqing jumped into the river and disappeared under the eyes of many people in the village, but her parents did not. Since they did not disappear so suddenly, there must be something wrong."

Lin Lezhi looked around the entire room, then bent down to pick up the copper basin that was thrown on the ground last night. The basin rolled to the side of the table near the wooden cabinet. The basin had a dent because it had been hit. When he was about to put the basin back in place, he accidentally found a small piece of wood under the wooden cabinet.

Lin Lezhi reached out and picked it up, then carefully compared it with other furniture in the room, and the color of each piece of wood was different from that of the small piece of wood.

I seem to have seen this color somewhere.

After coming out of the main house, Lin Lezhi went to take a look at the other two rooms.

The house had not been opened for a long time, and the smell of dust was overwhelming.

Judging from the furnishings in the room, the room on the east should belong to He Yuqing. There was a small bag of red beans on the table, which had turned black and moldy, and most of them had been eaten away by insects.

The musty smell emanating from the bag made Lin Lezhi frown slightly.

There was a piece of rice paper on the table with a poem on it. Although the handwriting was not very neat, it was recognizable. It was the poem "Red Pearl".

Lin Lezhi covered his mouth and nose and pulled out the drawer, but there was nothing in the drawer.

The room on the west side is filled with books. It should be the room where Li Weisheng lived. The corners of the bookshelf are covered with cobwebs.

These two rooms are just like the main house, fully equipped.

When coming out of the side room, the shabby wooden door from the direction of the entrance creaked. Lin Lezhi looked in the direction of the sound and saw several children standing outside the door, both girls and boys, clinging to the door frame and looking at them eagerly.

Lin Lezhi could understand their feelings. It was normal to feel curious when seeing outsiders suddenly appear in the village.

Lin Lezhi greeted them, "Hello? Do you want to come in and play with us?"

Several children looked at each other and seemed to be moved by Lin Lezhi's suggestion. After they pushed each other, an older boy said, "Then you guys should come out first. Our parents won't let us in."

Lin Lezhi was puzzled and asked: "Why?"

"Because my parents told us that anyone who enters this room will be taken away by the Lord River God."