Chapter 230: Warding off evil spirits
It was raining heavily and there were very few people on the road.
Liang Qu stopped several pedestrians wearing straw raincoats before he got some idea of the identity of the deceased.
At first, the pedestrians were frightened by the heads and spoke haltingly, but later they spoke more fluently.
"It's Old Man Zhao. He has a donkey cart and loves to brag about his precious donkey, saying it can endure more hardships than a mule and is stronger than a horse.
In the past, I basically made a living by delivering firewood to others every day, and it was the same after I came to Yixing Town.
I heard that he occasionally sells a few fish now, because he doesn't have to pay stall fees, the price is a little cheaper than others, and his life is pretty good."
"Are you sure?"
The passerby hesitated for a moment, suppressed his fear, looked at the man a few more times, and nodded vigorously.
"Yes, there is no mistake. He and I were from the same hometown. Our families lived just one street apart. We later fled here together."
"Do you know where he lives now?"
“Hmm.” The passerby frowned and thought hard, “We haven’t met much since we came to Yixing Town. I remember we were in a small mud house next to Huangni Lane in the southeast.
Oh, his family should have a small donkey shed, and it must be a newly built house, with very fresh loess!"
"Thank you."
Liang Qu took out a few copper coins and handed them to the passers-by.
"It's okay, it's okay. Thank you, Mr. Liang. Thank you, Mr. Liang." The passerby took the copper coin and thanked him repeatedly. He opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, and finally spoke.
"Master Liang, don't blame me for being nosy. What happened to this old man Zhao? He died... If it's hard to say, I won't ask, I won't ask."
It was because Liang Qu was handsome and had a good reputation that he dared to ask this question.
If it were someone else, if they were stopped to identify a person's head in the heavy rain, they would probably be so scared that they would get seriously ill when they return home.
"He died because of me, and I accidentally implicated him. His family must be informed."
The passerby was speechless, opened his mouth, and bowed.
"Mr. Liang is so righteous."
"It should be so. It doesn't matter whether it's noble or not."
Liang Qu shook his head and pulled the reins towards Huangni Lane.
Looking at the departing cart, the passerby sighed.
"Alas, old man Zhao has a miserable life. His eldest son died at the hands of a monster, and he was destined to be a wandering ghost. It was not easy to settle him down... The world is really not peaceful."
Liang Qu's ears twitched slightly, and he quickened the pace of the carriage.
The cart entered Huangni Lane in the southeast of Yixing Town and went around every household.
A newer mud house with a thatched roof, a feeding trough and a relatively new color came into view.
It’s most likely this one.
dong dong dong.
"I'll go open the door. Who is it?"
The young man in a straw raincoat walked forward in the rain and lifted the bolt. He was extremely surprised when he saw Liang Qu.
"Mr. Liang! Mr. Liang, why are you here?"
……
The sudden sad news brought the whole family together at the door.
A boy of twelve or thirteen, an old woman over fifty years old, and a middle-aged woman holding a little boy of four or five years old.
Four people in total.
If the eldest son and old man Zhao mentioned by the passers-by had not died, the family would have four men, two strong laborers and one young and strong man, and it would have been a very prosperous family.
Liang Qu put down the purse in his hand, which contained all the cash he had on him, about forty taels.
"My condolences. The donkey is probably gone. I have about 42 taels of silver in my purse, enough to buy a new big donkey. I can earn a lot of money by pulling goods on weekdays, which can be considered a livelihood.
The rest is used for emergency and living. If someone wants to take advantage of the family, just say that the money was given by me, and no one in Yixing Town dares to touch it.
If you are determined to learn martial arts, come to Yang's martial arts gym and find me to learn a few moves."
Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.
As long as he is lazy, shameless and strong, people like Baldy Zhang cannot be eliminated.
But Liang Qu had spread the word that such scoundrels would not dare to come to his house, otherwise he would have been hanging around for nothing for so long.
More than 40 taels of silver were enough for the family to get through the hard times of not having adult labor. As for learning martial arts, it was unlikely that one would become a martial artist.
Liang Qu knew at a glance that the young man had average physique, but he could learn a few tricks to scare people.
Several people ignored their sadness and thanked him repeatedly. Liang Qu didn't feel comfortable accepting such a gift, so he left in a hurry after saying a few words, carrying the corpse to the riverside to exchange his skills.
The new government office of Hebo was located along the river between Pingyang County and Yixing Town.
The basic layout is not much different from that of the county government, with civil officials on the left and military officials on the right, except that there is a new pier not far from the entrance, with wooden stakes inserted and filled with standard small boats of the river officials.
On the other side of the government office, Liang Qu also saw two big cows he had never seen before walking nearby and eating grass in the rain.
The cow was huge, at least ten feet tall, with bulging muscles all over its body. When it walked, the ground shook slightly, scaring the water snakes hiding in the grass so much that they quickly fled.
Their horns looked neither like buffalo horns nor like ox horns, but more like musk ox horns. Their short, dense fur was shiny and slippery after being washed by the rain, and it was obvious that they were well-fed.
Seeing someone coming, the two cows raised their heads, mooed twice, and wagged their short tails, splashing rain water.
"River-opening cow?"
Liang Qu thought of the files about rivers and lakes.
The river-opening ox has a gentle personality and is naturally strong. It is often used to plow the fields, but it is not used for farming, but to open up rivers.
Two river-opening oxen are enough to open a river from Pingyang County to Yixing Town within ten days.
I've never seen this before. Could it be that all the ideas for opening up new river channels in Hebo were drawn from other places?
Liang Qu made some inexplicable guesses, but he continued walking, carrying the two bodies across the gate of the Hebo Station.
Many people were whispering.
The ducks' water battle after the auction seemed to have grown wings and had already flown all over the river. Everyone, whether they had seen it or not, was still enjoying the experience.
Unexpectedly, the person in question turned around and came back carrying two bodies.
what's the situation?
Ignoring everyone's gaze, Liang Qu quickly walked to the left and found the new filing room based on the plaque on the door.
An acquaintance, Li Zhubu, and another colleague were sorting documents when they learned that Liang Qu had killed two experts of the Ghost Mother Sect, and hurried to inform Ran Zhongshi.
"Good boy, you just finished the duck-swimming competition and you're bringing two heads here?"
The sound came before the person arrived. Ran Zhongshi jumped down from the building and squatted beside the two bodies to check their pulse.
"All dead? No one left alive?"
"Can't keep it."
Ran Zhongshi had no doubts.
The strength of the remaining breath from the corpse proved that it was undoubtedly a galloping horse. Winning a one-on-two fight must have been a tough battle, and it would have been difficult to leave anyone alive.
Look at the poisonous sore on one of the men’s neck. It may be that some tricks were used, but even so, it is already very remarkable.
After asking about the location and general content, Ran Zhongshi nodded.
"It's the style of the Ghost Mother Cult, and the motivation is also consistent. Are you hurt?"
"A little injury."
"Really?"
Ran Zhongshi looked Liang Qu up and down, and seeing that he was indeed fine, he gave him a higher evaluation in his heart.
He waved his hand and the two bodies were carried away.
"You fought two galloping horses alone and reported it to the higher authorities. This is another great achievement!"
"Both of them are dead. Will there be any difficulty in identity verification?"
"It existed before, but it's simpler now. This was discovered by Ke Wenbin recently. The blood of the Ghost Mother Cult's people can react with mugwort juice and change color."
Mugwort?
"Why is that so?"
Liang Qu knew that mugwort was just a very common plant that could be found everywhere and was very effective in repelling mosquitoes.
"We guess it may have something to do with mugwort's ability to ward off evil spirits."
"Warning against evil?"
(End of this chapter)
