After walking about twenty miles, a small town came into view.
The soldier commander said that this town is called "Taiping Town", and all the materials and supplies for the post station are purchased from here.
At this time, a large group of people gathered at the entrance of the town, as if something big had happened.
Song Che asked him to go over and take a look and take a rest.
"It's Commander Cai, Commander Cai is here!"
The soldier commander's name is Cai Xing. He has been guarding the post at Sanxinggang for nearly ten years. He often goes to Taiping Town to purchase supplies. The townspeople are very familiar with him.
After all, Cai Xing still had dozens of people under his command, and the army was under the prefecture's establishment. When the townspeople saw him coming, their frightened eyes disappeared a lot.
"Fellow fellows, what happened?" Cai Xing asked.
"Dead! Mayor Wang and Ren Yuanwai were bitten to death by zombies last night!"
The townspeople gave way one after another, revealing two corpses parked on the ground and wrapped in white cloth.
Zombies again?
This Taiping Town is not peaceful!
Cai Xing glanced at Li Si's body in his team, and looked at Song Che who was sitting on the shaft of the car with a pleading look.
Song Che jumped off the carriage and came to the two corpses. He lifted up the white cloth and took a rough look. The death condition was almost the same as that of Li Si.
"Let's load them together and send them to the official."
Leaving the body here will only increase panic and rumors. Overnight, three lives were taken. It would be a big case anywhere, and the government would definitely accept it.
"No!"
Several elderly people in their 60s stood up. They should be respected people in the town. "People who are bitten to death by zombies will turn into zombies if not handled properly. The government has nothing to do with this matter!"
Song Che said: "Old man, there are no 'zombies' in this world. There are other reasons for their death. It is best to leave it to the government to deal with it."
"Young man, judging by your accent and your clothes, you are not a local, are you?" an old man said, "Zombies do exist in this land of western Hunan. I have seen them with my own eyes. They have green faces, fangs, and great strength. Infinite, not to mention being bitten by them, just scratching your fingernails, you will be infected with corpse poison and become a walking zombie!"
"That's right, look at the bloody holes on their bodies. They were clearly poked by zombies' claws and fangs!"
"It's enough to burn it on fire, so as not to harm the people in our town!"
"No! My father is destined to avoid fire, how can he be cremated?"
"Mayor Wang and Ren Yuanwai are both highly respected people in our town. How can they not even get a chance to live forever after their death?"
"Oh, you are still here discussing how to dispose of the corpse. No one is afraid of the zombie anymore? Today is already half over, and when it gets dark it comes to our town again to kill people and suck blood. What should we do?"
"Yeah yeah……"
People are echoing what they say, and the more they talk, the more panic they get.
"Brother Song, let's not worry about these ignorant people who don't listen to bad things. They can do whatever they want. This matter has nothing to do with us." Lin Yue greeted and got into the car.
Song Che shook his head. Superstition was deeply ingrained. Even if he wanted to help, how could he do anything?
Just as he was about to step onto the carriage.
At this time,
"Da da da……"
Seven or eight fast horses turned from the main road into the town entrance.
"It's Lieutenant Yang and the others who are here!"
"Lieutenant Yang County, you are finally here!"
Several respectable old people and the townspeople rushed forward to greet him.
Yang Xianwei is about thirty years old. He is tall and round-shouldered. He has a simple sword at his waist. He looks like he is riding a horse in the dust, which is a bit majestic.
The county lieutenant is a military general in the imperial court. Although he is only an eighth-grade official, he is in charge of the county and rural soldiers and has considerable power.
The townspeople talked a lot and explained the zombie killing incident in detail.
Unexpectedly, Lieutenant Yang opened his mouth and cursed: "What nonsense zombie? I never believe in ghosts and gods! These are all tricks created by the Miao people to scare people!"
well?
When Song Che heard this, his eyes couldn't help but shine. It seemed that County Lieutenant Yang was also a staunch "materialist".
Since everyone has the same beliefs, there is a common topic.
"What Yang County Lieutenant said is absolutely true. These people who died were not killed by zombies at all, but were murdered." Song Che stepped forward to respond.
County Lieutenant Yang took a look at Song Che and saw that he was well dressed and spoke elegantly, so he couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"
"My dear, Chen Rencai, happens to be doing business here. He was at Sanxinggang last night..."
Song Che also told Yang County Lieutenant about Li Si's murder, and asked the postman to move Li Si's body to Mayor Wang and Ren Yuanwai to lay it down side by side.
When the townspeople saw another corpse, they fell into panic.
County Lieutenant Yang frowned even more. If the lives of three people were not accounted for, he and the county magistrate might not be able to save their lives. He couldn't help but turn his eyes to Song Che and asked:
"Mr. Chen, what is your opinion on this case?"
Song Che slowly gestured with two fingers, "First of all, we need to clarify two points. First, the method of killing, and second, the motive of killing."
At this point, he opened three shrouds, and many people did not dare to look directly at the corpse that died in such a tragic manner.
He pointed at the corpse and said:
"The bite marks on their necks can also be achieved with wolf or dog teeth, and the bloody holes on their chests can also be achieved by wearing a pair of iron nails or placing sharp weapons;
The reason why the murderer used such complicated methods to kill them was to divert the conflict and make everyone think that zombies killed them;
In Xiangxi, legends of corpse exorcism are common. Everyone believes in the existence of zombies, so no one pursues the murderer;
As for the motive of killing, there are basically three types: killing for money, killing for vendetta, and killing for love;
I am not a local, and I don’t know the identities and backgrounds of the three deceased people, but I can give the county captain an idea -
Why did the murderer kill them instead of killing others?
It can only be a common conflict between them and the murderer;
If you kill someone for money, look for the deceased’s common interests;
If you hate someone who kills someone, go find the deceased’s common enemy;
If someone kills someone for love, go find their common lover;
However, in my personal opinion, neither financial murder nor love murder is possible, because the wealth of Mayor Wang, Ren Yuanwai, and Li Si is not evenly distributed, and their ages are also very different. It is unlikely that they all have financial disputes with the murderer. entangled with emotions;
After excluding murder for wealth and murder, only the possibility of vendetta remains. This is the direction that Yang County Lieutenant will focus on next to investigate. "
Most people were confused.
County Lieutenant Yang scratched his head, digested it for a moment, slapped his thigh and ordered:
"Okay! First carry the three corpses to Yizhuang. From now on, Taiping Town will be sealed off. No one is allowed in or out! Everyone who had contact with the deceased last night will report to the mayor's house. I want to interrogate them one by one!"
"No, no, county captain!"
It was those old people who thought they were highly respected who jumped out to stop them, and even pointed at Song Che's nose and scolded:
"A businessman from out of town doesn't even understand local customs, so he talks nonsense here. Among us older generation natives, who among us has never seen a living zombie?"
"That's right, County Lieutenant, don't listen to this person's nonsense. The corpse has been infected with corpse poison. If it is not dealt with before dark, it may cause a corpse transformation. Not to mention our Taiping Town, even the county will be in a state of panic!"
"Yeah yeah!"
The elders in the town protested almost at the same time.
Atheists and theists, materialism and idealism, who has the last laugh?
