The public treasury in the military camp was stolen, and more than ten ingots of official silver were lost in a row.
In anger, Qu Chang Jinsong searched the entire camp, especially the camp area where the servants were located, but in the end found nothing.
For a time, people in the camp were panicked and suspicious of each other.
Seeing that the search was fruitless, Qu Chang personally took Zhang Yuan and several other village commanders to the public treasury to investigate.
The doors and windows were all intact, the locks showed no signs of breaking, and the thick walls were not damaged at all. Such a strange method made Qu Chang murmur in his heart. Could it be that someone insists on committing theft?
After walking around the warehouse, in a corner, a three-inch-long paper man was hidden in the soil, with only a section exposed. If you don't look carefully, you will definitely overlook it.
Qu Chang took out the paper figurine carefully and frowned.
There are complicated patterns painted on the paper figures, which should represent some kind of magic spell. Legend has it that some people can control ghosts and gods to retrieve things. Could it be possible that something like this happened today.
Quietly, Qu Chang tucked the paper figure into his sleeve.
In the early morning, the sky was dark and the camp was quiet, except for the flickering lights of the surrounding guard posts.
"There's a fire." Suddenly, a shrill cry came from a barracks. The sound echoed in the silent camp, which was very harsh.
The camp suddenly became chaotic, with people shouting and horses neighing, and torches flashing around. In panic, the soldiers almost blew up the camp.
The fire broke out in the barracks where Zhou Mao lived. Since he was in charge of the public treasury, he usually lived alone.
A few days ago, the public treasury was stolen, and Zhou Mao could not escape the suspicion. However, due to his status as a middleman and the county magistrate's relatives with whom he had many connections, after a search, there was not much evidence. Difficult.
By the time we finished putting out the fire, it was already dawn.
Wu Gen and Mo Xin each held a large bowl and slurped the dark vegetable porridge. They squatted on the ground and looked at the messy barracks with smoke still coming out from a distance, sighing.
"Look at that man, he's not even covered with hair. It's so strange."
"Yeah, it looks like a pig."
"I didn't know how Xiangjun could be so fat and strong with such good food and water."
"Seeing you are fattening up, watching you sharpening your knife, watching you having a feast."
In the distance, Zhou Mao's clothes had been burned, and he was sitting on the ground with a dull look on his face as he looked at the dilapidated barracks.
Mo Xin suddenly turned his head and lowered his voice, "Boy, what good did you do to my mouse? Did you start this fire?"
Wu Gen had an innocent look on his face, "Old Mo, please don't frame a good person. I only played with the rat for two days. This is a serious crime. I am young, but I can't bear it." He said with a smile and drank a big mouthful of porridge. .
"Boy, you are cruel." Mo Xin took two steps to the side. He couldn't afford to offend such a cruel person.
With a livid face, Jin Song stood in front of the collapsed barracks, his hand holding the handle of the knife loosening and tightening.
Zhou Yi Mao knelt in front of him with a mournful face. He didn't know what happened last night. While he was sleeping, the clothes in the room suddenly caught fire. When he found out, the fire could not be extinguished.
This matter could be small or big. If it was just an accidental fire, after all, his identity as a murderer was there. At most, he would only be compensated with some money and goods, and beaten with dozens of military sticks.
But if he was charged with arson and the camp was bombed, it was hard to say whether he could save his head. At present, I can only hope that the song is about to explode in front of me, and think about my daily filial piety to protect myself, so that I can avoid this disaster.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yi Mao kneeled forward and burst into tears, "Sir, I really don't know how this fire started. Someone must have framed me. Please be careful."
Jin Song glanced at Zhou Mao with disgust, "Stay quietly on the side, I will investigate on my own." He walked into the ruins where the embers were still warm, used a knife to open up the broken beams, and examined them carefully.
After searching for a long time, Jin Song raised his eyebrows. In the southeast corner of the house, the fire was not big and the walls were only slightly blackened.
The tip of the knife slowly scratched across the wall, and a raised blue brick caught Jin Song's attention. With a little force, the blue brick was pried out, and a three-inch long paper man was hidden inside.
Carefully taking out the paper man, Jin Song's face became even more ugly. The paper figure hidden here is exactly the same as the one I picked up near the public treasury.
Turning his head and looking at Zhou Mao who was kneeling on the ground looking at him pitifully, Jin Songhan said: "Take Treasurer Zhou away." He winked at Zhang Yuan who was standing aside.
Seeing the expression on his immediate superior's face, Zhang Yuan understood. With a wave of his hand, the two guards ignored Zhou Mao's wails and took him into a small room to guard him. This was also a cell used by the military to punish those who made mistakes.
Jin Song walked a few steps in the ruins, stepped on the ground with his feet, and squatted down where the bed was originally placed. After removing the layer of dust, the soil here is obviously different from other places. It is not only soft but also uneven.
"Zhang Yuan, dig this place out." Jin Song ordered, pointing at his feet.
Zhang Yuan quickly brought a few people, followed Jin Song's instructions, pushed aside the debris on the ground, and dug hard. After digging a few times, the hoe hit a hard object and made a crisp sound.
Asking his men to stop immediately, Zhang Yuan squatted on the ground and started digging carefully with his hands. Soon, a silver ingot was taken out, with the words "military silver" clearly written on it.
Jin Song grabbed it with one hand, and the muscles on his face couldn't help trembling. His eyes were as sharp as fire, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Keep digging. I'll see how brave this person can be."
Zhang Yuan did not dare to neglect, and quickly led people to dig through the entire land and found a total of twenty ingots of silver.
Looking at the silver ingots on the ground, Jin Song was out of anger and sneered: "What a man who persists in stealing and dares to use evil magic." Then he threw the paper man on the ground, "This kind of thing is spread in the world. I didn’t expect the technique of transportation to appear here.”
Zhang Yuan glanced doubtfully, looked around, and suddenly the corners of his eyes moved slightly. He casually walked into the ashes and stepped on a yellow object that was half a finger long under his feet.
On the same day, Jin Song summoned officers above the camp commander and announced in public that Zhou Mao had used black magic to smuggle military silver and set fire to destroy evidence, almost causing a riot in the camp. His intentions were abominable and he should be punished for his crimes.
Ordinarily, the handling of a traitor must be reported to the captain for review, but the Dingyuan City Xiang Army is located on the border and the war is tense, so the captain delegates power, and the disposition of the commander below can be made by the commander on the spot.
When the commanders present heard this, they all understood and scolded Zhou Mao for violating military orders, breaking discipline, and insisting on committing suicide. They all said that he could be killed. And in order to calm the morale of the army, they must kill quickly.
Everyone has their own Xiao Jiujiu in their hearts. This week, Yi Mao has been interacting with all the village chiefs, and has done a lot of dirty things secretly. If he had the heart to reveal it, it would probably not look good on everyone's faces.
Soon, Zhou Mao's head hung on the camp gate, with hay still stuffed in his mouth. The charges were to use magic to steal treasury silver, to set fire to evidence of the crime, and to collude with Da Xia to disrupt the morale of the army.
Zhou Mao's death made most people in the camp rejoice. No matter what, my military pay will be less deducted in the future.
Wu Gen went to Zhang Yuan's residence to clean as usual. As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Yuan was already sitting upright in the room. When he saw Wu Gen arriving, he stopped talking.
When the cleaning was finished, Wu Gen bowed and left.
Zhang Yuan suddenly coughed and took out a short yellow object, "Wu Gen, this is something you can recognize."
Wu Gen's body froze, his eyelids twitching, "I don't know what you mean, young man." His words were still very calm.
"Oh, this is incense, mostly used by bandits." Zhang Yuan looked at the incense in his hand without looking at Wu Gen, "After this thing is lit, it can be burned with a delay, so that the bandits can leave as soon as possible without looking at it. Being discovered. For more powerful ones, drugs will be added to the incense, and the victim will be hooked without knowing it."
When Wu Gen heard this, a chill arose in his back, and he secretly glanced at the door.
Zhang Yuan said calmly: "When I captured you from Dafeng Village, I saw something similar hidden in your luggage. I didn't know that this incense flowed out from you." As he said that, he raised his eyes and died. Staring at Wu Gen.
Wu Gen straightened his back a little, "So what if it is, so what if it's not." His body became tense.
The atmosphere in the room was a little tense. Zhang Yuan smiled slightly and used force in his hands. The incense stick turned into powder and fell, "There is indeed a way to kill Zhou Mao this week. Killing him this time will also eliminate a harm to the Xiang army. This matter This has been exposed and the charges have been confirmed. No one wants to cause trouble again, so you can rest assured."
Wu Gen took a deep breath and rolled his eyes, "Thank you, sir."
Zhang Yuan sighed and said, "You are my retainer in the camp. You should be less ruthless in the future, and similar things will never happen again. Remember, don't underestimate the world, otherwise even if something happens again, I won't be able to save you." ." He waved his hand to signal Wu Gen to leave.
"I understand, kid." Wu Gen turned and walked towards the door.
This time I was really careless, thinking that I was doing it without anyone noticing, but I didn't expect that I still left a flaw. As Zhang Yuan said, don't treat people in the world as fools.
Just as he was about to go out, Zhang Yuan's voice came from behind him, "By the way, I still don't know something. What's the reason for that paper man? Is it a talisman or something like that? If it involves magic secrets, you don't have to tell me."
Wu Gen seemed to be smiling but not smiling, "I looked at that paper man from a distance. It's just an ordinary paper man. I don't know who painted the talisman on it to fool the world."
Zhang Yuan burst into laughter, "It turns out it was just a trick to divert attention. I thought it was some kind of move by the Five Ghosts. I have been worried these past few days, worried that when I was sleeping at night, there would be a paper man coming with a knife. As for the money, what happened to it? When I get to Zhou Mao's bed, I won't go into details.
In a few days, I will transfer you to another place. If you stay in the camp, you might cause some trouble, and I, the guarantor, will suffer as well. "
After coming out of Zhangyuan, Wu Gen still followed his usual habit, walking slowly through the school grounds and back to his tent. Today, I have never admitted to arson and stealing money, and I don't think Zhang Yuan will report it. It's just that you need to be careful these days and don't let anything go wrong again.
Zhang Yuan shook his head and looked at Wu Gen's figure, his expression serious. He was still so calm after committing such a serious crime. This boy is a good material for a general. He just needs to be polished well, otherwise he will just stab the sky with a stick. host.
Three days later, Wu Gen's transfer order came down and he was transferred to the most remote beacon.
The location of this beacon is called Huangzhong Ridge, which is far away from the Xiang Army camp. Because of some weird things that have happened in recent years, no one wants to go. But the good thing is that there is only one person on duty, which is not only more casual, but also has a monthly subsidy. Even the servants can receive two taels of silver.
When Wu Gen heard that he had made money, he was satisfied. Under the sympathetic eyes of everyone, he rode out of the camp boldly.
As soon as they left the camp, Mo Xin hurriedly caught up, "Brother, you have offended someone to be sent to such a desolate place. Do you know that it is not very clean there, and many brothers couldn't bear it and ran back." Crazy, crazy, dead, it's not a miserable death. How about we find someone else and go with someone else?"
Wu Gen clapped the knife in his hand and said, "There is a saying in the village that gods and ghosts are afraid of evil people. I think I, the leader of Dafeng Village, am also afraid of some evil spirits.
Lao Mo, I'll go make some inquiries first, and then I'll find a way to transfer you when everything is settled. The two of us enjoy the popular food and drink there, why wouldn't it be better than serving people here? "Zhang Yuan's original intention was that he was afraid that he would cause trouble, so he simply stayed away from him. Out of sight and out of mind, how could anyone replace him.
Mo Xin shook his head like a rattle, "Forget it, I'm a coward, and I want to live a few more years. This is for you, take it for self-defense." He reached out and handed over two talismans, "This is what I'm asking for. This book is written by a wandering Taoist, it can ward off evil spirits and dispel filth, so if there is anything weird, you can have someone to resist it."
Wu Gen took it with a smile, "Thank you, Old Mo. I'll wait for the good news." He patted his thin horse and ran towards the direction of Barren Tomb Ridge.
After leaving the camp gate, there was a stretch of grassland in front of them, with a small river meandering through it. This was also the agreed dividing line between Zhao and Daxia.
Walking along the river, undulating peaks gradually appeared in the distance. The further we walked toward the foot of the mountain, the more desolate and desolate the surrounding area became. There were thorns everywhere, and there were bones on the roadside.
Wu Gen's heart grew colder as he walked further. He originally thought he would be free and free by guarding the beacon alone, but he didn't expect it to be such a deserted place.
After walking for three days, Barren Tomb Ridge finally appeared in front of us. This place is the highest point in the wilderness, and as far as the eye can see, you can see all around.
Walking under the beacon, there is a small courtyard with lush locust trees.
Wu Gen pushed the courtyard door gently, and the wooden door opened with a creak. Weeds were everywhere in the courtyard, and some rats and rabbits were running away. It seemed that no one had taken care of it for a long time.
Looking around, this is where he will be stationed in the future. Wu Gen sighed, put down the package in his hand, and started cleaning it up.
After a brief cleaning, it was already nightfall. Wu Gen held the knife in his arms and fell asleep with the talisman given by Mo Xin on his face.
For two days in a row, everything was fine, and I didn't encounter any dirty things that others said.
Under Wu Gen's tireless care, the courtyard has been completely renewed.
Quite satisfied, I walked up the steps from the courtyard to the beacon tower, enjoying my wandering eyes. In the distance, there were mountains and vast wilderness. I couldn't help but feel relaxed and happy. I shouted, "From today on, the surname of the village owner here is Wu. Anyone who disobeys orders, passes by without paying, or disturbs the sleeping owner of the village will be killed." amnesty."
In the small courtyard, the time has passed. A full moon hung in the sky, the moonlight was dim, insects and beasts were hidden, and the surroundings were quiet and eerie.
A light mist spread out from the mountain, slowly passed over the top of the mountain, drifted past the beacons, and gradually covered the entire courtyard.
Everything around was silent, and figures loomed in the fog, completely surrounding the room where Wu Gen slept.
