The two turned around and found that it was the idle man Tongniu from last night.
He was still dressed in rags today, pushing a simple rattan wheelchair, and the person sitting on it must be his mother. Judging from this posture, he was relaxing in the sun with his wife.
His mother's eyes were groggy, she was extremely skinny, and the wrinkles on her face were like the cracked bark of an old tree.
Fu Yunge didn't want to make trouble with him in front of his mother, not to mention they didn't have time to bother with him now. But Tongniu obviously didn't buy it very much, and still shouted arrogantly, using dirty and vulgar language.
"You... take care of yourself." Fu Yunge didn't want to provoke him, so after saying that, he planned to turn around and leave.
Unexpectedly, the more the Tongniu barked, the more energetic it became, and its unreasonableness accounted for three points. The sound was louder than a gong, and passers-by from far and near looked sideways.
When Fu Yunge and Dongfang Shiming saw this, they both grinned bitterly and planned to leave as soon as possible. The eyes of passers-by were getting more and more intense, and there was no point in letting him continue to curse.
At this time, he suddenly heard his mother snort: "...cow!"
This sound has a more effective impact on Tongniu than ringing a bell.
Although his mother's tone was very weak, it was obviously unhappy. When Tongniu heard that it was his mother who was angry, he immediately shut up like a sensible person and didn't dare to curse any more.
"Oops?" Fu Yunge was a little surprised when he heard the scolding stop suddenly after Tongniu's old lady groaned.
At this time, Tongniu had slowly bowed down and gently touched my mother's shoulders with his big hands, as if she were a child who had done something wrong.
Then, he obediently turned the direction of the wheelchair, slowly pushed his mother and left the crowd.
Dongfang Shiming was also a little surprised. He was stunned for a long time and then burst into laughter.
"Fortunately, there is still someone who can control him." Fu Yunge looked at his retreating back and said with a smile.
"Tongniu always listens to his mother. Every time he gets into a fight, we will ask his mother out."
A voice came from under the two of them, startling them. After looking closely, I realized that it was said by an old man sitting next to the stone monument at Zhuangkou.
"As the saying goes, one thing brings down another thing." Dongfang Shiming said with a faint smile.
Unexpectedly, the old man shook his head sadly: "But his mother doesn't know how many more days she can suppress him."
"Why?" Fu Yunge asked in surprise.
"His mother...suffers from severe asthma and is very old." The old man said, stroking the stubble of varying lengths on his chin.
"In the past few nights, his mother's illness has become more and more serious. Every time I walk by his house, I often hear her coughing in the middle of the night, as if she is coughing out all her internal organs."
"Oh..." Both of them sighed.
Fu Yunge looked at the old man and suddenly asked: "By the way, uncle, you said you pass by his house every night?"
The old man's sad expression immediately disappeared, and he laughed again: "Yes, uncle, I am on duty."
Fu Yunge and Oriental Poetry Ming both felt their hearts skip a beat.
The two of them took a step forward together, opened their eyes and asked, "Uncle, have you heard anything strange these past few nights?"
The old man was so frightened by the appearance of the two men that he shrank his neck, but after all, he was an old man who had seen a lot, and he quickly thought about it.
"Uncle, how are you?"
After a while, Fu Yunge looked at the old man who was thinking carefully with his eyes closed, and asked anxiously.
"Yeah, yeah." The old man shook his head, as if he had woken up, and said in a long voice, "It should be... yes."
"It must have been the night before yesterday. It must have been around the time of the third watch." The old man said while recalling.
"There was a strange noise for a long time in the back hill of Pima Village. It was like a strong wind, making a roaring noise. There are often strong winds here in the spring, so I didn't think it was strange at first. But today you are acting like this ask……"
"I just thought about why the wind is only blowing on the mountains and not at all in the village..."
Listening to the old man talking slowly, Fu Yunge and Dongfang Shiming's heartstrings were secretly tightened.
They considered that the sound was most likely a tactical relocation of the Jiuche Xiaoying organization stationed in the mountains behind Pazhuang in order to cooperate with the upcoming operation.
If this is really the case, then the most important piece of information they have, that is, the foothold of Jiuche Xiaoying's main force in this turmoil, may be lost at this point.
"Thank you, uncle." The two of them didn't dare to waste a moment. They hurriedly said goodbye to the old man and ran towards the mountain behind Pazhuang.
There are relatively few farmers engaged in farming in Pazhuang. Most of them are doing business in Shangqu or employed at Jushi Winery. The land on the mountain has not been significantly cultivated. Except for a little cultivated land at the foot of the mountain, the top is covered with dense jungle.
Most of the mountain trees in spring have just sprouted, and most of them still have bare brown-black branches.
The two of them were moving forward while clearing a path. Fortunately, Wan Mu hadn't started to recover yet, otherwise it would have been much more difficult to move forward.
Circling around the relatively flat mountainside, the two of them finally reached the back mountain. Behind the mountain is a denser forest. At a glance, the mountains seem to spread to the sky.
Most of the mountain streams have begun to slowly thaw. The further you look down the mountain, the more stingy green becomes more obvious.
"Look there."
Dongfang Shiming pointed to the lower side of the mountain opposite and asked Fu Yunge to observe it carefully.
Fu Yunge looked at it and clenched his fists: "There's something wrong there."
Following their gazes, the vegetation under the mountain over there showed signs of being severely trampled.
As spring warms up, the plants at the foot of the mountain gradually begin to recover, and the color of those areas that have been stepped on forms a deep line of "no grass can grow".
The two of them hurried to the new clues. From one mountain to another, it didn't seem too far, but the road was rugged and pathless, and it still took a lot of time to arrive.
The place where the two arrived is not the starting point and the end point of the journey. This trace extends to both ends, and the end cannot be seen directly.
They discussed it and decided to investigate separately. After agreeing to come back and gather before nightfall, the two of them started tracking their own routes.
Fu Yunge plucked at the dead grass and weeds at his feet along the road, while carefully staring at the treacherous route, fearing that he might get lost along the way.
Walking back around the mountain, Fu Yunge felt more and more strange as he walked.
As Fu Yunge walked until he saw the sun setting in the west, he gradually heard the sound of water lapping at the beach. Fu Yunge was a little surprised and wanted to turn around the side of the mountain as soon as possible to see what was on the other side of the mountain.
In a hurry, he broke off a wooden stick and used it as a hiking pole. He was already sweating after climbing over the mountain.
However, when he pushed aside the weeds and dead branches in front of him, what he saw shocked him first, then made him confused, and finally gave him a faint sense of loss.
The scene in front of me was exactly the same river that came from it.
He followed the route to the foot of the mountain, but lost track of it. At the foot of the mountain, next to the river, is a thin sand bank. After two days of erosion by the river, there is no trace left.
In front of him, the sparkling golden light on the river made him feel dizzy and weak. The river breeze blew on my face, which was a bit cool, but under the quiet and peaceful sunshine, it turned into a warmth that penetrated into my bones.
The weather is very nice, and it seems to have the power to make people sleepy. Everything was so quiet that people standing by the beach could even mistake themselves for a solid statue.
The wind was warm and the sun was shining brightly. In this environment, every part of Fu Yunge's body felt numb, but very comfortable. My legs couldn't feel the weight of my body, and my mind gradually fell into stillness and silence under the comfortable sunshine.
Fu Yunge simply sat down and looked blankly at the flowing river water and moving clouds, feeling a little depressed in his heart.
There were several birds plundering in front of me, and their white wings fluttered across the river, catching a few drops of cool river water. When they circled and flew over Fu Yunge's head, the few drops of water fell down and hit him on the face, causing his body to tremble.
The coolness that penetrated his skin seemed to resonate with him. He stood up suddenly, pulled himself together, and walked to the riverside.
He washed his face with cold river water, and his mind that had just fallen asleep was completely awakened by the cold water.
Since the clues can only go here, we should take precautions based on these instead of wasting time here. Fu Yunge thought like this and decided to go back first and meet Dongfang Shiming.
"It would be fine if there was no such thing as Jiuche Xiaoying." When he reached the top of the mountain, Fu Yunge glanced back with lingering interest and said to himself, "It's really nice here."
We hurried back along the original route, but fortunately it wasn't dark yet. Dongfang Shiming over there has come back and is standing there waiting for him.
"How is it?" Dongfang Shiming asked.
Fu Yunge shook his head: "They went to the river, and the river washed away their footprints. But that's not the Pazhuang Ferry. They probably had their own boat. As for where they went, I haven't found out yet. Very good conclusion.”
Dongfang Shiming nodded "No". He explained the information there to Fu Yunge.
He found the hiding place of Jiuche Xiaoying, which was an extremely hidden cave. There are signs that they lived in the cave, but there is nothing of value, and it seems that they have never returned here, so it can be concluded that it has been abandoned.
"In this case, we should go back to Zuichen Township to discuss it with them." Dongfang Shiming touched his chin, "They are probably planning for this matter now."
…………
At night, the house in Zuichen Township was very lively as never before.
Candles were lit in the small courtyard, and Gongsun Tan asked people to buy some lanterns and hang them up. If anyone else saw it, they would definitely think it was celebrating the New Year.
