Chapter 82: Xiaoxi Village
Jin Jiu said in detail, "This wealthy family's surname is Dou. They suddenly became rich a few years ago and opened businesses in many places in Nanzhou. Their business is getting bigger and bigger."
“It is commendable that after this man became rich, he did many good deeds for the villagers of Xiaoxi Village. He never refused any request and even allowed the young and strong people in the village to join his business.”
"Over the years, the villagers of Xiaoxi Village have been living better and better, and rarely go into the mountains to hunt. They have been envied and praised by the neighboring villages, and even their reputation has spread in the county town."
After hearing this , You Xu kept walking: "So, this Dou family is a good family?"
Jin Jiu said: "That is unknown. After all, I have only heard it from others."
You Xu said: "Looking at the target of this corpse, it should be Xiaoxi Village. Jiang Zhou, you should drive this corpse carefully and try not to let it show any abnormality."
It would be fine if this corpse didn't move, but if it moves it wouldn't look like a human being and everyone would notice it.
If we go into the village and search in a brazen manner, we might alert the enemy.
Jiang Zhou responded: "Yes."
"You, don't need to go into the village. Take off your clothes, put them on it, and wait here."
You Xu ordered a demon patrol guard to take off his outer coat and let Jiang Zhou put it on the corpse, even the head and face were wrapped with cloth.
The group continued to move forward along with the corpse refining.
The destination for refining the corpse was indeed this Xiaoxi Village.
Jiang Zhou and others followed the corpse refiner into the room. Not long after they walked, a group of people came towards them in a hurry.
The reaction was extremely quick.
"I didn't know you gentlemen were coming. I'm sorry for not coming to greet you. Please forgive me!"
The first person was an old man in his fifties, with shiny black hair and beard, and he looked very strong.
He came running over from a distance, not even out of breath, and as soon as he arrived he bowed to them repeatedly, speaking with great fear and trepidation.
"My dear officials, I don't know why I'm here..."
You Xu glanced over and saw Jiang Zhou pinching a spell with his fingers, and the refined corpse immediately stood still. Except for looking a little gloomy, it was not much different from the other demon patrol guards.
He said, "I am the Demon-Suppressing Officer of the Sujing Division. Someone has reported that you are harboring demons. I am going in to search."
"ah?!"
The old man seemed to be taken aback, and said in panic: "It's unfair! Sir, who is so vicious? Every household in this small village is honest and kind-hearted. Not to mention that they don't have such evil intentions, even if they do, they don't have such courage!"
You Xu did not comment and asked, "Who are you?"
The old man bowed and said with a smile, "Let the adults know that I am an old man from Xiaoxi Village. My surname is Dou and my humble name is Anhe."
You Xu then looked him over and said, "Your last name is Dou? I heard that there is a kind-hearted Mr. Dou in Xiaoxi Village. Is that you?"
"I dare not."
Dou Anhe said quickly: "In Xiaoxi Village, it is true that my family is the only one with the surname Dou, but I don't deserve the reputation of being kind and generous. We are just from the same village, so we should help each other. I don't deserve such praise."
"Well, you are quite a character."
You Xu nodded, his eyes suddenly turned cold, and he glanced at the group of villagers behind him, then changed the subject and said, "This lieutenant wants to go in and search. Are you blocking the way with so many people? Are you trying to stop the government from doing its job?"
"I dare not! Even if I have the courage of heaven, I dare not do it!"
Dou Anhe complained, "I just heard from the villagers that a distinguished person was coming to visit, so I hurried over to greet him. The captain is going to enter the village, and we are all honored and happy. How could we stop him?"
"Captain, all officers, please come in quickly!"
As he said this, he hurriedly called out to the villagers behind him to make way.
Jiang Zhou watched coldly.
Those villagers actually listened to Dou Anhe very much.
Even when facing the twenty or so demon patrol guards from the Sujing Division, his eyes flickered and he seemed nervous, but he never showed any intention of retreating or avoiding.
At Dou Anhe's command, everyone moved aside.
You Xu waved his hand, and under the cover of the patrolling demon guards, Jiang Zhou started to refine the corpse again.
It seemed that they were wrapped in the refined corpse, but they were led by the refined corpse into Xiaoxi Village.
After entering, Jiang Zhou secretly observed the surrounding environment.
He found that in addition to Dou Anhe who was smiling beside You Xu, the group of villagers who had just followed him were also following him from a distance.
Wherever they passed, the villagers stopped and watched them from afar.
There was caution in his eyes.
But Jiang Zhou always felt something was strange.
The villagers' unwelcomeness towards them was indeed obvious.
But he felt that the look was not entirely like fear, but more like... caution? Or, hostility?
It was like watching a group of bandits entering the village.
"What's going on there?"
As they were walking, You Xu suddenly pointed in a direction and said.
Jiang Zhou also looked over.
There was a group of villagers watching.
There was a commotion among the crowd.
When everyone looked over, they saw a little girl about eight or nine years old coming out from the crowd. She stood in front of the crowd, staring at them.
A woman then squeezed out of the crowd and picked up the little girl.
Seeing everyone looking at her, she and a man following behind her bowed awkwardly, then picked up the child and walked into the crowd.
"Sir, that's a family in the village."
Dou Anhe sighed and said, "It's unfortunate to say that. The two people just now were a couple. They originally had two daughters, one big and one small."
"My eldest daughter has been engaged for a long time. The wedding date was set a few days ago, which was yesterday. However, the wedding procession was robbed by bandits on the way. Only a few villagers escaped. The bride was also kidnapped. Sigh..."
You Xu frowned and said, "Oh? You didn't report such a wicked thing to the police?"
Dou Anhe hurriedly shouted, "How could it not be reported? When I found out early this morning, I immediately sent someone into the city to report it to the Ministry of Justice."
Xiaoxi Village is located in a remote and wild area. Although the government rarely takes the initiative to take care of it, they will still intervene if there are victims who come to report it.
He looked bitter: "Although the official of the Ministry of Justice has accepted the case, I have been doing business for many years and I know that in the mountains and wilderness, there are many bandits. If I want to find the gang of thieves, it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It is difficult."
Are these two things related?
Jiang Zhou felt that Dou Anhe was avoiding the main point and did not actually answer what happened with the child and the couple's behavior just now.
He looked at the couple who were walking away, and as if they had a telepathic connection, the little girl who was tightly hugged by the woman suddenly looked over her shoulder and met his gaze.
The little mouth opened, but no sound came out.
A pair of pitch-black pupils were flashing with watery light, revealing a color that a child shouldn't have. Is it... begging?
This Zhuangzi is really weird.
Jiang Zhou originally had some doubts, thinking that the girl was not the couple's child, but was abducted.
However, the girl was held in the woman's arms. She did not struggle or show any fear. Instead, she hugged the woman's neck tightly and squeezed into her arms.
It doesn't look like it.
It’s so weird…
As they were talking, everyone followed the corpse in secret and came to a village. The corpse suddenly stopped...
