At the town guesthouse, beside a solid wooden conference table, Song Yunshen was pacing with his hands behind his back, looking a little irritated. Song Chunyu stood by, not daring to utter a word. At this moment, the door suddenly opened, and Song Yunshen finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Mr. Jiang, you are finally back."
"What's going on?" Jiang Xian said immediately after sitting down.
After this period of understanding, they all know that the five major surnames of Huang, Chen, Deng, Zhou, and Yu are the management of Yazi'ao. The current worshippers are five female clan leaders, Huang Yamei, Chen Taiya, Deng Buda, Zhou An'en, and Yu Zhuou. After the establishment of the New China, they used their real names plus the clan's surname as their names - in such a village with inheritance, the status of the clan leader should be very stable, and the five clan leaders almost never leave the village. It is unrealistic to disappear suddenly!
Unless... there is something wrong within them.
"The one who died was Zhu Ou, one of the five priests." Song Yunshen lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and said solemnly: "Chief Li of the police station has reported the situation. Take a look."
Jiang Xian quickly opened the paper bag, took a look, and frowned deeply.
Inside was a series of very clear photos, and in the photos... was a corpse wearing Gaoshan clothing.
The skin was broken, and the body looked like a broken silicone doll, with pits and dents everywhere - the concave areas indicated that the area had been eaten away. In some places, pale bones were even exposed, with blood-red tendons sticking out.
At this moment, Jiang Xian had a flash of doubt in his mind. Wasn't it the grass ghost lady who possessed the golden-faced ghost who did this? The golden-faced ghost devoured everything, leaving only bones wherever it passed... Then, where did the grass ghost lady who possessed the golden-faced ghost go? Could it be Zhu Ou himself?
This is even more impossible. The Golden Face Ghost is the king of all insects. Unless it is a Miaojiang Gu Master, other Gu Masters' Gu insects will only retreat when they encounter it. If Zhu Ou has the Golden Face Ghost, she will never die under the influence of other Gu insects.
What have I overlooked?
But now is not the time to think about these things. He looked at the photo for dozens of seconds, put it down, and said firmly: "This is Zhuou. The one who killed her was the Grass Ghost Po, and more than one person did it. In other words, they had an internal conflict."
Song Chunyu said: "I heard from the people in the town that Zhu Ou is the priest who is most willing to accept reform and opening up. She often communicates with the town and once revealed that the village is increasingly dissatisfied with her. Oh, by the way, in addition to Zhu Ou, Buda sometimes comes too."
Jiang Xian shook his head: "It doesn't matter how Zhu Ou died. What's important is why they held the Dwarf Spirit Ceremony as soon as Zhu Ou died. There are still several days before the ceremony. What are they in a hurry for? Or... what are they in a hurry to hide?"
No one could answer and the scene fell into silence.
"Perhaps, I can give you some ideas." At this moment, a female voice sounded at the door, and Lin Ruoxue walked in wearing a white leather windbreaker and a black suit underneath.
Her hair was shorter and tied into a small braid at the back of her head. She had no makeup or jewelry. This look showed that she had made all kinds of preparations.
Why is she here?
Jiang Xian frowned slightly. Even Ling Xiaozi didn't know where he was going. How did she find this place?
However, his mind just turned slightly, and he immediately found the answer. He sighed and looked at Song Yunshen: "There is no such clause in the contract."
"Mr. Jiang." Song Yunshen restrained his smile, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then said slowly: "I am a businessman."
"Of course businessmen have to make guaranteed investments. Those who died in the 003 area were all elites in the archaeological community. This is the second time 003 has been activated, so of course I have to use the experts if they are available."
"Besides, I didn't take the initiative to invite Miss Lin. She asked me through Mr. Dong. This means that both Mr. Dong and Mr. Lin agreed. From my point of view, I have no reason not to allow her to come."
Jiang Xian frowned: "But the exploration list is decided by me."
"Of course." Song Yunshen made a gesture of invitation: "I will never interfere in this matter. Professional matters should naturally be left to professionals - provided that you can convince Miss Lin."
Jiang Xian cursed inwardly, turned to look at Lin Ruoxue, without a trace of smile. Instead, he looked at his watch first: "You have twenty minutes to convince me."
Lin Ruoxue raised her eyebrows slightly. She and Jiang Xian always laughed and scolded each other whenever they met. This was the first time she saw him so serious.
Of course she knew that the other party would not be happy if she came suddenly, but after considering for a long time, she still came.
For this kind of man, being dependent on others is useless, because based on his own chauvinism, he will choose the method he thinks is best for the other party: for example, instead of letting the other party get hurt, he might as well choose to leave - just like he did before.
If you want to capture the heart of this wild horse, you have to be able to keep pace with him.
"You need me." Lin Ruoxue pointed to her ears and said, "I am the successor of Tiantingdishi. I only got the wrong name, but not the wrong nickname. I dare not say that I have reached the level of my grandfather, but my strength is no less than the sixth or seventh level."
"Everyone should know that there is a legend here, called the mountain god drumming. It only appears every winter and disappears after the dwarf spirit festival. Moreover, before each dwarf spirit festival, Zhangcun Town has to buy more than ten tons of live livestock from the surrounding areas."
"A villager told me that the meat was a sacrifice to the Da'ai people... The strange thing is that if the Gaoshan people of Yazi'ao didn't eat the sacrifices , the meat would naturally rot and the smell would be impossible to cover up. If they ate the sacrifices, where were the hundreds of tons of bones over the years? Yazi'ao is not that big."
She lit a lady's cigarette, and every word sounded like a knock on someone's heart: "In other words, these dozen tons of cattle and sheep disappeared out of thin air."
"With this mindset, I listened to the mountain god playing drums for six hours last night. I came up with a guess."
She took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "What if the so-called mountain god is an extremely huge beast?"
Jiang Xian looked at her calmly without saying anything, while Song Yunshen and Song Chunyu both gasped and looked at each other, neither of them able to hide the shock in their eyes.
The mountain-knocking beast...how big is it?
Lin Ruoxue continued, "The rhythm of the beating is not constant, but is slowly speeding up. Can I understand it this way: the 'mountain god' is very annoyed. It is urging people to pay tribute, asking why the tribute has not arrived yet. And if the livestock were eaten by the mountain god, then that would explain why the bodies could not be found."
silence.
For a moment, everyone in the room was in deep thought. Even Song Chunyu came to a simple and straightforward conclusion. He said in disbelief: "You mean... the dwarf spirit sacrifice... is actually a sacrifice to this mountain god?"
Everyone couldn't help but look out the window. The rolling mountains , lush and green under the sun, made people shiver involuntarily.
Song Yunshen's Adam's apple moved violently, and even he felt a chill down his spine at this moment. Suppressing his pounding heart, he said hoarsely: "The mountain-knocking beast... the tribe that has fed it for more than two thousand years... the champion candidate guardian... are you sure your speculation is correct?"
The small Yazi'ao...hides such a shocking secret?
Jiang Xian shook his head: "It's just a possibility. This is the most logical explanation at the moment: it perfectly explains why the mountain god drums only happen in winter, and it also explains why the dwarf spirit sacrifice must be carried out immediately - if we don't connect the mountain god drums with the dwarf spirit sacrifice, I'm afraid we can only wait until next year to solve the mystery of 003!"
All eyes turned to Song Yunshen. He took a deep breath, slammed his hand on the table, and licked his lips: "Just do it!"
"I'll take care of everything!"
…………………………
Everyone left the meeting room. Jiang Xian left first.
After closing the door, Lin Ruoxue thought for a moment, and first took out a nearly two-meter-long wooden box from her car. Then she walked to Jiang Xian's car, walked behind the back of the car, and saw him smoking.
Bang—the box fell in front of him. Jiang Xian didn't even raise his eyebrows and said in a muffled voice: "Don't even think about bribing..."
Before I finished speaking, Lin Ruoxue opened the box as if she hadn't heard anything. Inside was a black umbrella. And it was a complete black umbrella.
...It's not that I don't want to care, it's just that my wife gave me too much... Jiang Xian swallowed his saliva very spinelessly, coughed lightly, and stroked the umbrella. It felt cold and smooth, and extremely resilient. He was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "Tiancan silk?!"
Lin Ruoxue smiled and raised her head like a proud peacock, her snow-white neck forming a graceful arc: "Do you like it?"
Jiang Xian's eyes were somewhat fiery, he picked up the umbrella and waved it gently, and the black umbrella suddenly opened. The ribs inside the umbrella were like white jade, each section was crystal clear.
"This is the best alloy." Lin Ruoxue raised her chin towards the umbrella handle: "Just waiting for you to sheath it."
There was a hole at the umbrella handle. Jiang Xian took the Dragon Slasher and inserted it into the hole, without missing a centimeter!
Just as he was looking at the new umbrella with joy, a fragrant breeze blew over, and Lin Ruoxue rested her head on his shoulder. Because of her height, she seemed to be leaning on his arm. But she didn't mind at all, and said faintly: "You are the blade, and I am the sheath. Once the blade is sheathed, it can't run around. Do you understand?"
Jiang Xian paused while holding the umbrella. After a long while, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After hesitating for a few times, he finally opened his eyes and said, "I also heard some clues from the mountain god's drumming, but I didn't think too deeply about it. The risk factor here may be very high, you shouldn't come."
"That won't do." Lin Ruoxue chuckled and turned away: "If I don't come, who will tie your bridle?"