The next day, a man who looked like a small official was led to Song Xin's residence by the clan leader. "Excuse me, Master Song Xin lives here?"
"I am Song Xin. May I ask your surname?" Song Xin said.
"My surname is Wang, my name is Kun, and I work as a scribe in the Prime Minister's Mansion. The Prime Minister feels that the young master cannot fulfill his filial piety by being separated from his mother and sister for a long time, and he cannot bear it, so he ordered me to come down here and take my entire family to live in Xudu."
"Going to Xudu? I am a servant there and can only live in the prime minister's mansion. I'm afraid it will be inconvenient for my mother and sister, right?" Song Xin asked.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The Prime Minister has already arranged a house for his family. This time when the official comes here, he has brought carriages and horses." He turned sideways and pointed to the carriages and horses parked at the door.
"Since it is the Prime Minister's order, Song Xin will obey it. Can you please let me make some arrangements, and then I can set off with you?"
"It's natural. The clan leader has arranged a residence for me. You can prepare with peace of mind today." After Wang Kun finished speaking, he bowed respectfully and followed the clan leader.
"What, the prime minister wants us to go to Xudu?" Song Xin's mother was surprised.
"Yes, this is the prime minister's good intention. He doesn't want me to be separated from my mother and sister." Although Song Xin said this, he still knew in his heart that Cao Cao still couldn't trust him, and his family was just a hostage.
At that time, almost all the family members of Cao Cao's generals and civil servants who were close to him had to live in Xudu. It was said that they were reuniting their families, but in fact they were also hostages. Song Xin knew this, but he had to take the three people over.
"Brother, since the prime minister said so, we have to go. I'll ask the patriarch to give Qi Sanniang a message. From now on, I won't be able to work in his clothing shop." Song Xin's sister Ajiang was very calm.
"Well, when we get there, my mother, sister, and Song Yi will all have a worry-free life." Song Xin said.
"Axin, I have discussed with your second uncle recently. The couple has no children. I want to adopt Song Yi to them... as their adopted son."
"Mom just makes arrangements." Song Xin also felt that taking Song Yi to Xudu was hard work. In his heart, although he didn't hate the child. But every time I see him, it's like seeing Song Chou, and I always feel a little awkward.
Early the next morning, the family got into the car. Song Xin rode a horse and followed the car slowly to the entrance of the village.
The patriarch and his second uncle were waiting at the entrance of the village with Song Yi and others in their arms. "Song Xin, I don't know when I will be able to come back. Please remember to come back often when you have time."
"Don't worry, Patriarch, Song Xin will definitely come back with his family to visit everyone." Song Xin was a little reluctant to give up at this time. Looking at the old patriarch's pale hair, he felt even more unbearable.
"Okay, we'll wait for you to come back." There was also a trace of emotion in the patriarch's eyes.
"Second uncle, you have taken care of our family these years. I will leave the house and land given by the court to you. There is also some money for you to spend."
Song Xin gave most of the money rewarded by Cao Cao to his second uncle. He didn't want his second uncle to go to Xudu, because he was actually going to be a hostage.
"Sir, let's set off." Song Xin said to Wang Kun.
"Yes, as ordered." With that said, the driver drove the carriage forward slowly. Song Xin looked back at the clan leader and second uncle, nodded to them, and waved goodbye. Song Yi burst into tears and kept calling her mother...
The carriage and horses moved forward slowly, and Song Xin chatted with the little scribe.
This Wang Kun was a close scribe to Cao Cao, and everyone called him scribe Wang. He was about thirty years old. Although he was a scribe, his background was not low. He came from a well-known family, the Wang family of Shanyang County, and was of the same clan as Wang Can, one of the seven sons of Jian'an. In terms of seniority, he is still Wang Can's uncle, but he is two years younger than Wang Can. It's just that Wang Can previously worked for Liu Biao, while Wang Kun has been following Cao Cao.
Almost everyone around Cao Cao knew him. During the Battle of Chibi, he was left in Xudu to help Xun Yu submit confidential matters. All reports sent by Xun Yu to the front line had to be checked by him and sealed with fire paint. Song Xin was still in Qiao County at that time, so he had not seen him.
"Master Wang, when did the Prime Minister ask you to come to me?"
"I don't know the details of these. When the Prime Minister set out from Qiao County, he sent a letter and ordered his subordinates to come and pick him up. The Prime Minister should be in Xudu now."
Song Xin asked again: "Does the Prime Minister have anything else to explain?"
"That's not true. I just asked the official to pick up your family."
Song Xin asked tentatively: "Did the Prime Minister send someone to deliver orders before?"
Wang Kun shook his head in confusion, "I don't know, maybe there is."
Song Xin felt that this matter seemed a bit strange, and then asked: "Have you ever heard of the news that the Prime Minister allowed me to postpone my return?"
"Extension?" Wang Kun was startled, "The prime minister attaches great importance to the date of action. In previous years, those who took leave to go home would not dare to return late. Last year, Hua Tuo was killed by the prime minister because he came home late."
Song Xin nodded, feeling a little suspicious. Who was the person who sent letters and gifts before? Thinking of this, he asked again: "Excuse me, how long does it take to get to Xudu?"
"Including today, it will take about eight days." Song Xin calculated the number of days it would take for Cao Cao to get from Qiao to Xudu and then send people to his home. It's very similar to calculating Song Xin's itinerary based on twenty days. Then who was the person who gave the order before?
The person who sent the order before also said that he should rest for a few more days before returning to Xudu. This made Song Xin a little confused. How could the Prime Minister's orders be changed so often? Although he had doubts, Secretary Wang didn't seem to know clearly. He could only suppress his doubts for the time being and ask again when he had the opportunity in the future. Fortunately, Wang Kun is quite talkative and has no airs, and he is not monotonous when he is on the road.
The group walked to the evening of the third day and passed a small village.
Secretary Wang pointed to the village in the distance and said, "Mr. Song, there is a small village ahead. We can stay there for the night. We also rested here when we came here."
"OK."
But the village was getting closer, and Song Xin seemed to notice something strange. In a normal village, smoke would be rising from the cooking pots, but here it was dead silent, and he even felt a faint aura of death permeating the village.
"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu." Song Xin called Xiaoyu via voice transmission.
"Song Xin, I feel something is not right here. There is no smell of strangers in it." Xiaoyu said it directly before Song Xin could ask.
"Well, I think so too." Song Xin confirmed his judgment. He scanned with his consciousness and found that there was no one in the village.
"Scribe Wang, did you live in this village when you came here? Did you remember correctly?" Song Xin asked.
Wang Kun was also puzzled. He looked up and looked in the direction of the village and said, "I did live there, but why can't I see anyone today?"
"Go and take a look, we'll be waiting here." He said to a car escort.
"Yes." The soldier did not dare to be careless and ran into the village to check.
After a while, the soldier's horrified shouting came from inside. He stumbled back and said: "Back...back...my lord...all the people in the village gathered in the center of the village, all... ...all dead..."
When Wang Kun heard this, his face turned pale with fright. Song Xin's mother and Jiang heard the Xiaobing's cry and stuck their heads out to ask. When they heard that everyone in the village was dead, their faces showed fear.
Song Xin asked: "Scribe Wang, when you came here, was there nothing unusual here?"
"Yes, I rested here for a night when I came here. I was staying at the village chief's house at that time, and everyone below knew it." Song Xin looked at the coachman and several soldiers, and they nodded with fear in their eyes.
"We don't want to stay here for a long time, let's leave immediately." Song Xin said decisively. There were mother and sister in the car, and Song Xin would not let them take risks.
When the coachman heard Song Xin's order, he drove the carriage and left the village as if he had been granted amnesty. When they reached a hillside about four to five miles away, the horses stopped because they were too tired to walk.
"Sir, it's getting dark. We can't go on the road anymore. It's really not safe at night." Wang Kun said.
"Well, we'll sleep here tonight. You guys take turns to rest. I'll go find some firewood and light a bonfire. Remember to keep adding firewood and don't let the fire go out." Song Xin had already made a plan and took the ghost soldiers to take a look at the bonfire. What happened in the village. Now that I've come across it, there's no reason not to check it out.
"Xiaoyu, tonight I will take the yellow-skinned half-bone to the village to check. You stay here and secretly protect your mother and sister." Song Xin said to Xiaoyu.
"Well, you have to be careful. I'm here, don't worry." Xiaoyu came out of the mountains and rivers, disappeared, and sat on the roof of the car to guard.
In the middle of the night, everyone fell asleep. The soldier who was on duty for the night also continued to take naps. Song Xin didn't call him. With Xiaoyu here, these people must be safe.
After watching everyone fall asleep, Song Xin slowly sank into the ground and arrived outside the village in less than a quarter of an hour. He first let the yellow-skinned half-bones exit the puppets and let them come out in ghost form, so that they would be invisible to ordinary people.
Song Xin took out another low-level invisibility charm and patted it on his body before entering the village very quickly. Jump up to a big tree next to the village's clearing, and you can have a panoramic view of the scene in the clearing. Although he had used his spiritual consciousness to check the situation in the village, what he really saw was still shocking and sent chills down his back.
"Two ghost agents, have all the souls of these people been taken away?" In the empty field in front of you, there are mountains of corpses and a stinky smell. Flies and insects are crawling all over this mountain of corpses. They have obviously been dead for a long time. .
"It doesn't look like there are any souls of Generals Xie and Fan left here," Huang Pi said.
"Then where did the souls of these people go?" Song Xin asked.
"Huang Pi doesn't know, I just think it's strange here." Huang Pi looked at the dead bodies in the empty field and was stunned for a while.
"Ban Gu, follow me down to see if I can find out the cause of death. You might as well wait here." After Huang Pi finished speaking, he and Ban Gu went over to look for clues. Song Xin watched them walking around among the corpses, shaking her head for a while, and nodding for a while, as if she had discovered something.
"Sir, the souls of the people in this village are all inside their bodies, as if they are imprisoned by something and cannot come out. And according to the rules of the underworld, they are not considered dead. This may be the reason why Generals Xie and Fan did not come to collect their souls. Bar."
When Song Xin heard this, he showed an expression of disbelief, "Not dead yet? But look at their haggard appearance, and they are not breathing. They are obviously dead."
Ban Gu nodded and replied: "Although their souls are still in the body, they have lost two of their three souls and six of their seven souls. What is left is just a walking corpse that can eat and walk."
Song Xin suddenly recalled Liu Jing's blood-sucking puppets when he was at the Wei family.
"Are they puppets?"
Bangu said: "They are not the puppets. It takes a lot of time to refine a ghost, and you also need to collect the ghosts. This is a huge expense. These are just walking corpses that are about to die."
"It's not the puppet..." The first thing he suspected was Liu Jing, but this was not the puppet.
Just as he was talking, Song Xin's consciousness felt something strange. He turned his head and looked at the empty field. His eyes widened in shock, and he barely grasped the tree trunk and fell down. I saw the corpse on the corpse mountain suddenly started to move. From a distance, it looked like a sea anemone with countless tentacles stretched out. They slowly and tremblingly climbed up, stood up from the heights of the corpse mountain, and rolled down...
As if driven by a force, they slowly formed a line and began to walk around the empty field.
Gradually, they walked a few steps apart and formed a circle...
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