Cen Baotou led the way, Qianqiu followed closely, and the two began to turn back.
After a while, the two returned to the west of Qingshui County. Qianqiu looked around, then turned around and saw the plaque of Dong Mansion not far away.
"Hu Qizhen's house is so close to Dong's Mansion, is there any connection?" Qianqiu thought, and looked around. Although Hu Qizhen's house was not far from Dong's Mansion, it was in a relatively messy corner across the river. The mud houses are so compact that they look like a place where poor people gather to live.
"Uncle Hu! Uncle Hu! Are you there?" Cen Rong knocked on the door.
The door opened after just one knock, and an old man with gray hair and bloodshot eyes came out: "Captain Cen, is there any news about my daughter? Is there any news?" The old man's eyes were filled with anticipation and he asked anxiously. My mental state is really bad, I must have been up for a long time.
"Uncle Hu, don't worry, I will definitely help you find your daughter. I asked the famous Master Qian in the Holy City to investigate the case. Just answer whatever he asks you later." Cen Rong comforted him. I made up an identity for Qianqiu so that he could ask questions.
Hu Qizhen's eyes dimmed when he heard the first words, but after hearing the next words, he couldn't help but regain some hope: "Okay, okay, okay, Master Qian, if you have anything to say, just ask the old man."
Qianqiu looked at the haggard old man with mixed feelings: "Monsters are really harmful! Ordinary people have no stronger mentality than cultivators. Once something happens, it may destroy a family. The damage caused by monsters is compared to what the master said. It’s probably deeper than I thought.”
"Uncle, when did your daughter disappear?"
"It must have been the third watch of the night. I was fine when night fell that day. Then I heard something moving in my daughter's room in the middle of the night. I called her, and she replied that she was fine. I was in a daze at the time, and I was outside that day. The pigs in the pigsty kept making a lot of noise, and I didn't hear it clearly, but I always felt that the sound was a bit strange. After a while, the pigs became quiet, and I couldn't sleep anymore, so I thought about going and taking a look. No one agreed after a while. When I went in, I found that my daughter was gone and the window was open. I don’t know if she ran out or was abducted." As Hu Qizhen spoke, a few tears welled up in his old eyes.
Cen Rong took over: "After Uncle Hu reported the case, I also carefully inspected Uncle Hu's daughter's room, knocking over several seats, and there were her daughter's shoe prints next to the window sill. I was thinking that she might have lost her mind. Crazy, she ran out by herself, or someone held her hostage, and they fought for a while before being taken away."
Qianqiu nodded, walked out, and found a pig pen on the side. Two or three pigs were eating and lying down quietly inside. He looked at it and smelled it again: "It smells somewhat similar to the smell in the ruined temple. But it’s not right, something is different.”
"Old man, are these pigs usually very noisy?"
"No, they will be particularly noisy when feeding the pigs, or when throwing the newly purchased pigs in. That day was also strange, and they have been noisy since the afternoon."
Qianqiu thought for a while and came up with some ideas: "Captain Cen, let's go to the next house."
The two said goodbye to Hu Qizhen and came to the butcher shop.
Qianqiu stood at the door of the butcher shop and looked around, thinking a little: "This is not far from Dong's Mansion."
After explaining the purpose of his visit to the butcher shop owner, Qianqiu walked around and found that there were many pigs in the butcher shop. He smelled the smell in the pig pen carefully and found that it was still very similar, but different. Qianqiu also learned that his daughter also disappeared in the middle of the night. Because the butcher shop was relatively large, the girl was found missing the next day.
The two of them learned some more about the situation, and Qianqiu had a certain amount of calculation in his mind. The appearance of this monster was also somewhat fixed in his mind. Now he just wanted to find more similarities, and the two of them rushed to the blacksmith Dayong's house together.
After walking for a long time, the two of them arrived at Dayong's house.
Qianqiu looked at the appearance of Dayong's family, then looked at the place where they were, and felt a little confused: "Dayong's family is separated from Dong's Mansion by seven long streets, and there are dozens of large and small alleys, so it's too far. Well, if it was a monster, why did it suddenly change its methods and habits?"
"Dayong, does your family raise pigs?" Qianqiu asked.
"No, I don't like pigs because they are so messy. Besides, I am a small blacksmith and don't have enough time to raise pigs." Dayong answered listlessly while fiddling with his iron tools. It can be seen that the disappearance of his daughter has hit him hard and he has no energy to work.
Qianqiu entered the blacksmith's house and found a lot of goldware and silverware hangings on display. There were small jade stones, small golden locks, small gourds, large and small, of various shapes, and the workmanship was very exquisite.
"Dayong, do you know how to make these things? You are really good at it, but what do you, a blacksmith, do in the business of a jewelry store?" Qianqiu looked at these small things in the room with interest, picked up a few and started looking at them. .
"These things are not mine. I helped the customers with the materials. In order to make a living, I have to learn more skills." Dayong looked at the small items in the room, still listless.
"Have you ever given your daughter any small jewelry?"
"Of course there is. I took some discarded materials and made a small gold lock for my daughter. The style is similar to this. I don't know where the girl is now. Alas..." Dayong handed over a small gold lock. Show it to Qianqiu, who feels so uncomfortable that he can't continue talking.
Qianqiu looked at it carefully and found something familiar: "This little gold lock is so unique. Have you ever punched it for anyone else?"
Dayong said: "It is a style inherited from my family. I have only given it to my daughter. I wanted to keep this for my second daughter who was about to appear. Who knew that my eldest daughter would be gone before my second daughter grew up." Dayongyue said The more uncomfortable it becomes.
"Brother Qian, it's getting late, why don't we do this for today?" Cen Rong looked at the uncomfortable Dayong and then at Qianqiu, who had a solemn look on his face. Knowing that he had some ideas, he suggested.
Qianqiu nodded: "Captain Cen, I'll go back and sort out some things first. If necessary, I will go to the Yamen to find you."
The two gave up separately, Qianqiu ran all the way on the knife, and returned to Dong Mansion in the night.
After entering the gate, Dong's Mansion was brightly lit. After passing the front hall and entering the courtyard, I saw Mr. Dong and his family gathered together, sitting in the pavilion drinking tea and chatting. The servants and maids were waiting on the side to prepare food for them at any time.
When everyone who was sitting saw Qianqiu coming back, they all stood up to greet him. Dong Na walked over quickly: "Master Qian, you haven't eaten yet. Let's sit down and have some snacks. I will ask the servants to make some food for you later."
Upon hearing this, Qianqiu felt really hungry, so he sat down and ate some snacks with everyone.
The director raised his glass: "Master Qian, you saved my little girl and came back. I should have held a big banquet to thank you yesterday. I was so happy because Naer came back that I forgot about it for a while. Today, I wanted to look for you, but I didn't expect it. Mr. Qian has been busy outside for a day, and now he has just come back. I would like to toast you here."
Qianqiu raised a cup of tea: "Member Dong is very polite, but Qianqiu is just a villager and cannot bear such kindness from other members. I am not good at drinking, so I will treat you with tea instead of wine."
After a while, Mrs. Dong ordered her servants to set up a table of wine and food, and one after another delicious dishes were presented in front of Qianqiu. His eyes were dizzy. Not only had he never seen these dishes in the mountains, he had never even heard of their names! However, he still kept his master's words in mind: he should not be useless when he was away from home, and he had to be polite, so he did not show his love for food.
Qianqiu looked at the roasted suckling pig in the middle and took a bite. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was countless times more delicious than the one roasted by the master. He unknowingly took a few more chopsticks.
The Dong who was good at observing people on the side saw this and quickly ordered his servants: "Brother Qian will roast some more suckling pork tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Qianqiu waved his hands quickly: "Don't be so polite outside, Director. It doesn't matter. I've just been eating a little too lightly recently, and I'm a bit greedy after eating meat and fish. There's no need to bother tomorrow."
"Master Qian, you're welcome. Not to mention you, I'm also a little greedy about this roasted suckling pig." Dong Na said with a smile.
Mrs. Dong took over the conversation: "Sir, this is the suckling pig sent by cousin Na'er. The appearance and taste are not bad. She knows that my family loves to eat meat, so she specially asked someone to carefully breed some piglets and raise them. The stuff is all high-quality concentrated feed. Last month, she wrote a letter saying that the pigs had grown a bit, so she asked someone to deliver it."
When Qianqiu heard this, he thought to himself: "After all, this is a wealthy family. In order to make the pigs taste better, they also raise them with concentrated feed. I guess these pigs eat better than the poor." After eating some more, he put down his chopsticks and sat down to chat with everyone. chat.
"Master Qian, is there any progress in catching Na'er's monster today?" Director Dongwai asked with concern.
"Cen and I went to several families whose daughters have recently disappeared. I learned a lot about the situation and made some progress, but there are a few things I haven't figured out yet." Qianqiu answered seriously.
At this moment, Qianqiu inexplicably thought of his master. Whenever he encountered difficulties and had questions, he would habitually ask his master. The master could often answer his doubts, but now he could only rely on himself.
While everyone was chatting, Huijuan flew over from outside, transformed into a human form, saluted the members and others, and then hurriedly said to Qianqiu: "Master Qian, someone is missing again!"
Qianqiu stood up immediately: "Huijuan, tell me slowly, who is missing again."
"Magistrate Li's eight-year-old daughter." Huijuan replied.
"Let's go to the county government office. If something happens, keep talking on the way, Xiaodao!" Qianqiu reassured everyone at home and told them not to go out. When he left the Dong Mansion, he called Xiaodao.
"What happened? There is an arrester Cen in the yamen, but monsters dare to arrest people?" Qianqiu asked Huijuan flying beside him while riding a horse.
Huijuan flapped her wings quickly and told Qianqiu about the situation: "After Cen Baotou separated from you, she told the lady about Xiao Cui's situation when she returned to the county office. Maybe she was afraid that the lady would be scared. She only said that Xiao Cui was nothing. I didn’t say that she was a monster. Later, I talked to Mr. Li and left the county office to go home. She said she had made me a new dress and asked me to go home with her to get it, so I followed her. . Later, the county government sent people to find Chief Cen, and then they found out that Magistrate Li’s daughter was missing. Chief Cen asked me to fly over and tell you that she had rushed to the county government first. "
Qianqiu nodded, understanding what happened.
When they arrived at the county government office, the lights were already brightly lit. The anxious Magistrate Li personally directed people to search for his precious daughter. Cen, who had just stepped out of the door, saw Qianqiu coming and hurriedly said to him: "Brother Qian, you are finally here. What should I do? You dare to come to the county government to steal people. This monster is getting more and more rampant." Got it!"
"Who has been to the county government office since you left? Have you asked any of the brothers in the government office?" Qianqiu asked.
"After asking, Dapeng, who sells fried dough sticks on the street, complained, Lin Xiao, who brought food to his wife and sold snacks, and Li Si, a clerk from Fangxiang Pavilion, came to look for Master Shao." Capt. Cen recalled seriously.
Qianqiu thought to himself: "Why are the people from Fangxiang Pavilion looking for Master Shao?" He quickly reacted: "Let's go! Go to Fangxiang Pavilion, otherwise Mr. Li's daughter's life will be in danger!"
