Xu Zan said: "The old couple refused to say anything, and I didn't ask any more questions. They let them dry for a while before talking. As for those who were rescued from the pit, their accounts were basically the same. They were all in the inn when they were sharpened. When I woke up, the person was in that pit."
"Of the fifty-one people rescued from the pit, thirteen were students who went to Beijing to take the exam, five were young men from rich families who were out for fun, two were seeking refuge with relatives, and the remaining thirty-one were various people. Vendors of all kinds.”
"By the way, among the thirty-one vendors, there is one from the Chu family."
Chen Anning said: "The Chu family of Mr. Chu that I know?"
Xu Zan nodded: "That's the Chu family."
Chen Anning recalled it carefully, "I don't think I heard Mr. Chu say it."
"It's normal. Not to mention the Chu family's great business, Mr. Chu may not know all the Chu family members. It is extremely normal for those of them who go out to do business not to return home for three to five months, or even for a year or two. ." Xu Zan picked up a skull. The skull was very small and did not look like a normal human skull. After looking through it twice under the firelight, Xu Zan handed it to Chen Anning, "Look at this skull, why is it so small?"
Chen Anning raised his eyes and saw a cold light burst out from his eyes.
Xu Zan also reacted belatedly: "Is this the skull of a child? They don't even have children... I'm going to interrogate that old couple now!"
Chen Anning stopped him: "Let's clean up the skull here first."
Xu Zan glanced at the remaining large piece of skull, snorted coldly, and then squatted down again.
Seeing that his hands were trembling with anger, Chen Anning changed the subject: "Continue to talk about what you didn't finish just now."
Xu Zan took a deep breath, "Those diners have basically been here many times. The reason is simply that they are greedy for the large pots of bone soup here. According to them, the old couple told them that each pot of bone soup must be boiled at least Two hours. So sometimes when they come over, they have to wait half an hour before they can drink the soup."
Chen Anning paused slightly while cleaning up the skull.
Xu Zan continued: "They are all clamoring to leave, saying they want to see the doctor quickly."
Chen Anning asked curiously: "Since they think the bone soup here is delicious, they haven't introduced their relatives and friends to come here, or have no relatives or friends disappeared here?"
Xu Zan sighed: "I have also asked them this question. Among the fifty-one people who came out of the pit, several were introduced by relatives and friends. There are also several who have not had accommodation before or have lived in After one or two times, they were lucky enough to avoid it. Among those diners, there were also some who had never stayed at the hotel before, but after introducing their relatives and friends, their relatives and friends disappeared. However, they did not think about this inn. I thought there was an accident somewhere else, and I still need someone to look for it."
"After learning that they often ate human bones and human flesh, several of them fainted unbearably, and several even vomited blood."
The friends who introduced me to drink a lot of bone soup ended up getting a lot of bone soup, and it even got into their stomachs... Just thinking about it is unbearable. After Chen Anning clicked his tongue inexplicably, he asked again: "Where are those waiters working in the inn? What are their identities?"
"Are they?" Xu Zan snorted, "They were also one of the people thrown into the pit by the old couple."
"The old couple was too busy and reluctant to spend money to hire help, so they picked a few people from the pit every now and then to help. Of course, they didn't just pick people, they were all scholars. They are also scholars whose family conditions are not very good. Before picking them, they will be asked to kill a few people first."
"In this way, the old couple can go to the government to accuse them of murder because they dare to run away."
Chen Anning looked at him in disbelief: "Then, they became obedient?"
Xu Zan said: "You can't believe it, right? But this is the fact."
Chen Anning didn't quite understand: "Have they never thought that that old couple also killed someone?"
"They thought about it," Xu Zan sighed again, "but the old couple told them that the reason why they dared to open such an inn here was because there were people in the government office. If they don't believe it, they can try it."
Chen Anning:......
Chen Anning wanted to curse.
She knew the weight of this sentence all too well.
They are scholars and their family conditions are not good.
Perhaps they were able to study until now because of the family's support.
So they can't make a wrong move.
Because they don’t have the cost of trial and error.
This damn old couple!
"Have you ever checked the identity of this old couple? When did they open an inn here?" Chen Anning asked.
"The prefects and county magistrates from nearby counties have not arrived yet." Xu Zan said, "It's not too late to ask again when they arrive."
Chen Anning: "Which county does this inn belong to?"
Xu Zan thought for a moment and then said: "It belongs to Yixing County, Jinling County. However, the location of this inn is not far from Wuxing County."
"How far are there villages or towns around this inn?" Chen Anning asked again.
"It's about three miles away from the nearest village, and almost twenty miles away from the nearest town." Facing her puzzled look, Xu Zan explained, "You must have seen it when you came here. Although the inn is located on the official road But it is surrounded by high mountains. What the people rely on is the land, and obviously the conditions here are not enough. In addition, the inn uses human flesh as its material, so it must be hidden from people's eyes and ears. The more desolate and remote the better in choosing a location."
This is true.
Chen Anning didn't ask any more questions.
Xu Zan saw that she was not in a high mood, so he told her some stories about the inn that the diners had proactively revealed to him.
An hour.
Two hours.
Three hours.
The morning star has come out.
A white line lit up from the east.
It will be dawn soon.
And the bones were finally cleaned up.
Three hundred and eighty-four skulls in total.
When the first ray of sunlight in the morning shone into the hillside and hit the rows of skulls, everyone fell silent.
Three hundred and eighty-four skulls are known.
What about the unknown?
Chen Anning squinted his eyes, looked around, and then ordered Xu Zan: "Have someone search around the area to see if there is any place where bones are thrown."
After Xu Zan gave her instructions, he followed her to the rows of skulls and asked, "What should we do with these...?"
"Let's put them here first," Chen Anning said. "When the case is settled, we can bury them on the spot."
Xu Zan nodded, "It's already morning, do you want to go back and have a rest?"
Chen Anning turned around and walked down the mountain while asking, "The nearby prefects and county magistrates haven't come yet?"
Xu Zan sneered: "Don't worry, the later they come, the better!"
Chen Anning glanced at him and joked: "It seems that Xie Xun made a very right choice by leaving you here."
He is the fifth son of the Duke of Xu, and these prefects and county magistrates are still like this. If she were the only one here, they would not come over to take a look if Xie Xun didn't come back.
Xu Zan blinked twice, "Then you haven't thought about the possibility that if I really go with Ah Xun, these prefects and county magistrates dare to ignore me, and Ah Xun will dare to kill them?"
Chen Anning thought for a moment and said slowly: "To kill them, does he still need to do it?"
Xu Zan was stunned for a moment, then grinned: "I forgot that you are a disciple of Yaowang Valley."
"They are coming." Two people suddenly came out of the back door of the inn. After a quick glance in this direction, they shouted a few times into the inn. Immediately afterwards, a group of people came out in a hurry and rushed towards this direction. Chen Anning said in a soft and cold voice, "Since we are here now, do we have to let them go to the pit to have a good experience?" one time?"
Xu Zan agreed: "It makes sense!"
Chen Anning: "Let's go!"
The two men immediately quickened their pace and rushed towards the crowd.
