The wife of two taels of silver

"Grandma, you and Lu Wangcai are neighbors. Before he fell ill, did he eat or drink anything strange?" Lin Haitang asked the old woman.

The old man lowered his head and pondered for a moment, rubbing his cane on the ground. He shook his head and said, "I don't know about that. Although we're neighbors, we don't specifically watch what others eat, right? There haven't been any strange smells coming from Lu Wangcai's house. I really don't know what he ate or drank."

As Lin Haitang expected, no one asked what to eat.

If we could find out, with so many people coming to investigate the source of the disease, we would have found it long ago and would not have waited until now.

Lin Haitang visited all the clear-headed villagers in Xiaohuai Village, but still found nothing.

According to them, Lu Wangcai's behavior before he fell ill was no different from before and there was nothing suspicious about it.

Fortunately, among these sixteen people, there was one who had dinner with Lu Wangcai the day before he fell ill. Lin Haitang seemed to see the light of hope, and her eyes sparkled.

"Brother Youxian, do you have a good relationship with Lu Wangcai?" Lin Haitang's whole face became happy and he asked in a raised voice.

Lu Youxian looked at Lin Haitang's face shyly. He only glanced at her quickly and then lowered his head. His rough face flushed a little. He scratched his head and said honestly, "Wangcai and I have a good relationship. We usually work together."

Gu An looked at Lu Youxian's expression with a somewhat tense look. He stood beside Lin Haitang with a cold face and pulled him out.

Lin Haitang was concentrating on chatting with Lu Youxian. When she noticed Gu An's actions, she felt a little strange. She looked up at him, but did not move forward and accepted Gu An's arrangement.

I don’t know why, but Gu An could tell that Lin Haitang was obedient from this action. A smile flashed in his eyes, and even Lu Youxian liked her.

"But I really haven't seen Wangcai eat anything strange," Lu Youxian answered directly without waiting for Lin Haitang to ask, "We went to the village chief's house to help out that day. We were basically together during the day, and I didn't see anything different about Wangcai."

Lin Haitang nodded and asked in a different direction, "Brother Youxian, have you seen anything strange in Lu Wangcai's house? Or does he have any hobbies?"

“Hiss—”

Lu Youxian scratched his head even harder, frowning his rough brows as he thought, "Strange things? Hobbies?"

Lu Youxian murmured softly, then suddenly, his eyes widened slightly and he said, "Wangcai particularly trusts a master. Does this count?"

Hearing this, Lin Haitang clenched her hands silently. She quickly said, "Forget it! Big brother, what exactly is going on?"

Lu Youxian said, "Actually, this isn't surprising. Most of us here have a deity at home. Some worship the Earth God, and some worship the Five Great Immortals. Wangcai doesn't have any at home, but he says he met a very spiritual master and is about to ascend to immortality."

Lin Haitang did not interrupt him and listened silently. The others obviously did not know about this and also pricked up their ears to listen.

"Wangcai said he was the master he met in June. The master told him his fortune and helped him avoid a great disaster. Since then, Wangcai has had great faith in the master. Wangcai said the master wanted to take him in as a disciple. After Wangcai has transformed his body, he can become his disciple."

Lin Haitang sensitively grasped the key point and asked, "Transform the body? How?"

Lu Youxian shook his head and said, "I don't know about that. Wangcai never told me. I thought Wangcai was cheated at the time, and that the master wanted to cheat him out of his money. But Wangcai said that the master not only didn't take his money, but also gave him two taels of silver. I asked Wangcai to take me to see the master, but he refused to agree."

Lu Youxian recalled what he had said to Lu Wangcai, and then looked at his current situation, and suddenly felt sad. He said: "We even had a fight over this."

"Oh, right," Lu Youxian thought of something and said, "There's nothing strange in Wangcai's house. There's just a big incense burner on the table in his main hall. What's in the incense burner isn't ash, but chicken or something."

Lu Youxian thought about the incense burner, and the more he thought about it, the more strange it seemed to him. He continued, "Wangcai said he used the incense burner as a plate."

If he uses an incense burner as a plate, no one will believe his nonsense.

Somewhere in the dark, Lin Haitang felt that she was getting closer and closer to the truth. She clenched her hands tightly. In this snowy day, her palms were sweating a little. Her voice was trembling. She said, "Okay, I know everything. Thank you, Brother Youxian."

Lin Haitang looked up at Gu An, her eyes filled with indescribable excitement. Gu An also took a deep breath. He grabbed Lin Haitang's hand and nodded slightly.

In an instant, Lin Haitang smiled brightly, she almost shed tears, pulled Gu An out, and walked towards Lu Wangcai's house without stopping.

Lu Wangcai's house is not far from here. Walk north and the eighth house is Lu Wangcai's house. Lu Youxian showed them the way.

Along the way, Lin Haitang and Gu An kept their hands intertwined, neither of them letting go of the other. They must have been too excited. Even in the falling snow, their blood was still boiling, and their palms were slightly wet.

The pace of the two people was getting faster and faster. Lin Haitang was breathing slightly, and Gu An's breathing was steady. He felt Lin Haitang's cold fingers. He took Lin Haitang's hand into his arms, wanting to warm Lin Haitang's hand with his body temperature.

Lin Haitang stopped walking, her face pretending to be stern. She moved her hand, which was tightly held by Gu An, and said, "Comrade Gu An, there is no need. It would be strange for us to walk like this."

Gu An looked confused and puzzled.

Lin Haitang chuckled, her voice unconsciously a little choked, and said, "Alright, let's just go on. What's the matter with you putting my hand in your arms? That posture is weird."

The weather was dry and cold, and Lin Haitang's cheeks and nose were frozen red, but also looked more lively.

Lin Haitang smiled and looked down, avoiding Gu An's gaze, and said, "Okay, let's go."

Gu An's laughter grew louder and louder. After making a "hmm" sound from his chest, he also coaxed his ears and looked away.

Soon they arrived at Lu Wangcai's home. The wooden door was wide open and there was a thick layer of snow. The heavy snow, like goose feathers, still did not stop, falling on everything it could stop.

There will be no one here except Lin Haitang and Gu An.

Two people walked in and left the first footprints in the yard after the snow fell.

As I stepped into the main hall, I saw the incense burner on the table opposite the door.

There was a layer of dust on the table. Lin Haitang drew a line on the table with her finger, and she could write on it.

There was a lid on the incense burner. When Gu An took off the lid, a foul smell came out.

Looking inside, I found that the meat in the incense burner was long gone, and there were some bones inside. There were also some black marks on the inner wall of the incense burner, which should be the blood from the meat that dried up on it.

In the center of the incense burner, under several bone racks, there are about a dozen purple scorpions.

These scorpions were obviously dead and turned into mummified purple scorpions.