When Li Changan arrived.
It was early morning the next day.
The town has not yet woken up, but a large crowd of onlookers has gathered outside the courtyard. There are few women and children among them, most of them are capable men. They are also divided into many small groups, wary of each other, and they all poke their heads into the courtyard.
After seeing Li Changan yelling for a while, they rushed to surround him.
That enthusiasm is like a fan following a star.
It's a pity that these guys are not fans of the Taoist priests, but so-called "monster hunters". All their enthusiasm is to get some information about monsters from the Taoist priests' mouths.
This situation didn't happen once or twice. Li Changan had already experienced it. He held down his long sword and put on a face that kept strangers away from him. His piercing eyes glared at him, causing the crowd to move out of the way.
In the courtyard, Bo Ziyu waited for a long time.
Skipping the unnecessary pleasantries.
He immediately led the Taoist priest around to look around and introduced the whole story of the case.
From Wang Liuzhi causing an occlusion, to asking out the strange things from the ugly boy's mouth, to finally rounding up the demon without success.
Each one is detailed, one by one.
It's not complicated. The Taoist priest quickly figured it out, but...
"What's his condition?"
The Taoist asked about Wang Liuzhi.
This unlucky guy who spent the rest of his life under the claws of the cat demon was still huddled in the corner of the room, still naked, his body covered in dirt mixed with mud, sweat, and blood, and underneath the dirt were bruises and scratches all over his body.
The wound was not deep and had already scabbed over.
It's just that the long and thin scars are densely packed and criss-crossed vertically and horizontally, which makes people's hearts feel chilly.
I saw him just a few days ago boasting about his achievements and walking around in high spirits. In such a blink of an eye, he has become this virtuous?
But Bo Ziyu was also scratching his head.
"When I found him, he looked like this. He didn't say anything when I asked him, and he didn't react when I touched him. But when I tried to take him out of the house, he would struggle desperately. I was worried that he had been planted with some evil spirit. I don't dare to deal with it easily."
Li Changan stepped forward to check, and it turned out that it was just as he said, no matter how much it was manipulated, it didn't react at all, like a curled up corpse.
Then he carried him outside the house.
really.
As soon as they reached the door, Wang Liuzhi's face suddenly became distorted. Although he still gritted his teeth and kept silent, he started to thrash and struggle like crazy, as if there was some abyss of hell outside the door.
But Li Daoshi was not as "gentle" as his colleagues. He carried this 100-pound man like a little chicken and forced him out of the door.
Didn't think about it.
Arrived at the yard.
His struggle stopped instead, and he stared blankly at the sky. The distortion on his face gradually calmed down, his eyes gradually became moist, and the corners of his mouth gradually trembled.
Finally, with a "wow" sound, he threw himself at the Taoist priest beside him.
The Taoist priest was very smart and ducked out of the way, allowing him to miss him.
He didn't pick on anyone. He turned around and hugged Bo Ziyu's thigh, wailing loudly and wiping his nose on the person's pants.
"Let go! Let go!"
Bo Ziyu's face turned blue, but this guy was like a little kid going to kindergarten for the first time. He hugged his trouser legs tightly and refused to let go.
Bo Ziyu was so angry that he picked up the scabbard and hit the guy on the head several times. He slapped the guy to the ground and stuck him out before he finally calmed down.
…
After a while.
Bo Ziyu wiped the snot on his trouser legs with a rag and asked with a dark face:
"Why don't you say anything in the house?"
Wang Liuzhi shed tears from the corners of his eyes.
"It didn't let me make a sound. It scratched me every time it opened its mouth. It was so painful that I couldn't even scream."
"Why don't you leave the house?"
Wang Liuzhi howled loudly.
"It won't let me go out. As soon as I go out..."
Already upset, crying.
Okay, I finally figured it out.
"It turns out that the female cat treated her like a mouse and played a lot of tricks on her. She was silent in the room just now. Could it be that she was imitating a mouse and pretending to be dead?"
After saying that, seeing the Taoist priest's puzzled expression, Bo Ziyu patted his forehead and explained:
"This woman turned into a monster with a cat body and a face."
Cat demon?
Li Changan was stunned for a moment, then smiled casually.
"It won't have a mouse son."
Bo Ziyu was surprised and wondered how the Taoist priest knew this.
"I have a son, and he does look like a mouse." He kicked Wang Liuzhi, who was grinning on the ground, "and he was caught by this guy as a rat."
When these words came out, it was Li Changan's turn to be confused. He asked tentatively:
"Orphans and widows?"
The catcher nodded.
"Opened a noodle stall?"
The detective nodded again.
After a brief question and answer, Li Changan gradually opened his eyes.
A certain thought popped up in my mind, as if trying to overcome the fog in one fell swoop.
Yes! Yes!
Aren't this street, this small courtyard, and this family the same cat, mother and mouse that Amei met in her dream? !
No wonder I felt a vague sense of familiarity as soon as I entered this courtyard.
It turns out that what happened here actually coincided with the dream!
"Taoist Master, have you discovered something?" Bo Ziyu noticed the change in Li Changan's expression.
The Taoist priest was about to open his mouth, but the words stuck in his throat.
wrong.
Xiao Amei's dream was originally based on Xiaoshui City, so it was normal for this family to appear in her dream. The son looks like a mouse, so Amei imagines him to be a rat demon, while his mother also imagines him to be a cat demon.
Logically speaking, this matter is probably just a coincidence. Otherwise, why is the son not a monster?
The thoughts in his mind calmed down.
Li Changan shook his head:
"It's okay, just random thoughts."
Bo Ziyu did not ask further questions. He had always respected Li Changan and would not think too much about it. He just sighed.
"This time we mobilized troops in the middle of the night, I didn't expect it. After all the hard work, we managed to get rid of the monster."
However.
"No."
Li Changan shook his head with a smile on his face.
He had just followed Bo Ziyu around, and although he looked calm, he had actually discovered something fishy. Now after thinking about it carefully for a while, he had solved an important doubt.
"On the contrary. Brother Bo, you have made great achievements this time!"
Bo Ziyu was confused.
"But the cat demon ran away?"
When a Taoist priest has something to say, he says it without any hesitation and explains it immediately.
"Even if you catch it, it's just one more monster imprisoned in Shuiyue Temple. You also know the monsters in the temple. When you don't catch it, one of them is more cunning and fickle than the other; after you catch it, it seems like you have become unintelligent. You beast, you can’t ask anything.”
"We are not just missing one or two monsters, but we need to figure out how the monsters lurk in the city."
Li Changan took Bo Ziyu to the kitchen, where many sacks containing food were piled up in the corner.
"Victims transformed by the demon plague need to eat a lot of food, whether before or after the demon transformation. Therefore, we have been monitoring the food trends before, but we have not gained much. If the demons have been scattered and lurking, we have reason I believe that the doctor must have hidden a large amount of food somewhere and delivered it to the monsters in some hidden way."
With that said, Li Changan picked up a sack and handed it to Bo Ziyu.
"Smell it."
Bo Ziyu took it and took a whiff. In addition to the smell of food, there was also a hint of other strange smells. So he buried his face in it, inhaled hard, and finally recognized that it was a smell that was quite familiar. It should be something he smelled often in life. It seemed to be...
Here, Li Changan continued:
"Who can go in and out of the city openly every day? What equipment can be used to carry food without causing suspicion?"
Seeing Bo Ziyu's expression getting better, Li Changan kindly gave the answer.
"The one who collects night fragrance, the dung bucket."
…
An hour later.
Bo Ziyu was furious.
The demon's love is like a fire. Now that we have got the clues, why should we delay?
Bo Ziyu led the team to attack the house of a family named Luo, a wealthy man in the city who controlled the entire Xiaoshui excrement collection industry.
But when they arrived, they found that the family was completely empty. Only a large amount of stored food was found in the warehouse.
This undoubtedly confirmed Li Changan's speculation.
It's a pity that he was a step too late and let the real owner escape!
"hateful!"
Bo Ziyu slashed at the grain bag with a knife and the grains flew everywhere.
Li Changan, on the other hand, looked relaxed and thought things had turned around.
"Judging from the current situation, in addition to the one imprisoned on the mountain, there may be a leader of monsters hidden in Xiaoshui City. Otherwise, the response would not be so quick. But..."
The Taoist laughed loudly.
"The flaw has already appeared, how can it be so easy to make up for it again? Brother Bo, eradicate the demon in one fell swoop, maybe from now on."
Bo Ziyu's expression brightened slightly and he nodded fiercely.
"check!"
Recruited his servants.
"Find every dung man and every night-scented woman in the city and investigate them severely!"
at this time.
The wisteria flowers are moving, sending a cool breeze carrying moisture and fragrance, which refreshes people's spirits.
The Taoist priest looked at the sky.
The sun is dim and the clouds are hanging low.
…………
It is going to rain.
Wang Liuzhi closed the door, isolating the cold wind outside from the excitement inside.
In the room, a large table of good wine and meat was set up, and a dozen men were shouting loudly, bragging, and talking about women and getting rich.
He sat in silence and, uncharacteristically, did not join in the bragging of the men.
Last night, the torture given by the cat demon shattered his greed and ambition. At the same time, it also made him realize that he did not have the courage and ability to face the demon directly.
It is a great blessing to escape from the spider and the cat demon one after another, but this kind of luck can happen again and again, how can it happen again?
He was saved in the morning, and in the afternoon he spent money on a banquet and summoned his brothers who were hunting monsters together because he had already made a decision.
So, the brothers raised their glasses and toasted to him, thanking him for his generosity today, congratulating him on surviving the catastrophe, and wishing him a successful victory in hunting monsters tonight.
He cowardly said:
"I quit."
The table suddenly fell silent, and everyone looked at him in surprise. He poured a bowl of cold wine and poured it into his belly.
"Today's meal is considered a dinner party."
Wang Liuzhi put down the wine bowl and waited for the violent storm that his companion was about to send.
But before he could be questioned, perhaps because of the bowl of cold wine, his fragile stomach couldn't bear it at first.
Having no choice but to apologize, he quickly left the table and went straight to the toilet.
When he left with his front foot, everyone on the back foot reacted, and there was an uproar.
"Is he out of his mind?"
"I think I was scared out of my wits by the monster!"
"Why don't you just do it if you say you don't want to do it?"
Every word you say and every word I say are full of anger and dissatisfaction.
This group of people has worshiped Wang Liuzhi as their leader these days, listened to his orders, and worked for him, isn't it just to kill monsters with Wang Liuzhi and become rich together? But these days, day and night were reversed, and after all the hard work, I didn't catch even a single demon hair. Instead, I had a meal with this guy.
Who can be willing? Who is willing to do so!
At the table, a man with his bare chest and a tattoo showed the most intense reaction.
He smashed the wine bowl and stood up angrily.
"His surname is Wang, he has made a fortune, and he can retreat if he wants. But we haven't even made a penny, so we will break up today. Are we being used by this guy these days in vain?"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he kicked over the pottery urn next to him.
There was a "clang" sound.
The ground was filled with broken pottery, and many small pills rolled out.
The man picked up one and his eyes suddenly froze.
He frowned and grinned at first, then nodded suddenly, and finally his face changed from gloomy to sunny.
Immediately afterwards.
Suddenly he strode to the door, took a careful look, and then closed the door tightly. Then he returned to the banquet and showed the pills in his hand to everyone.
"Look! What is this?"
A sharp-eyed person said: "Isn't this the demon-preventing pill?"
The man nodded and pointed to the broken pottery urn.
"Wang Liuzhi hid it in the urn. I happened to find it. At least there were about ten grains."
Someone answered.
"Is this guy still reselling this stuff?"
No one in the audience thought it was strange. This was a common thing. Most of the talismans on the market came from the government officials.
The man shook his head.
"This pill is not valuable, and there is not much profit from reselling it. I heard that every once in a while, the Yamen will distribute demon-preventing pills to prevent demon epidemics. He can stock up on more than ten pills here, I doubt him..."
The man paused, his eyes flickering as he looked around at everyone at the table, word by word.
"Never eaten one."
After a long silence.
"You mean..." Someone finally understood his intention, "Wang Liuzhi is a monster!"
These words can be said to have stirred up a thousand waves with one stone, causing the whole audience to burst into uproar, but they were a bit too abrupt and ridiculous.
Someone immediately retorted:
"Impossible, he has killed monsters!"
The man chuckled.
"Bah! We still don't know what kind of abilities he has. I've already asked about it. Zheng Tuzi killed him, and this guy pretended to take the credit."
Someone asked again, but this time the voice was a little hesitant.
"If he is a monster? Why does he lead us around to kill monsters again?"
The man had figured out the "truth" a long time ago, so he broke it down in detail and said:
"Let me ask you, based on the skills of our brothers, which one is worse than Butcher Zheng? That butcher can kill monsters, but we can't? But in the past few days, have we caught monsters?"
The man slammed the table, but kept his voice very low for fear of being heard by someone.
"I think this guy is a spy! He said he was leading us to kill monsters, but in reality he was telling the monsters to avoid us. If he really killed the spider monster, it was a fucking trick!"
Of course, these words are far-fetched. It is okay to say that they are full of loopholes, and it is okay to say that they are self-contradictory, but they cannot stand against the ignorance and viciousness of people's hearts.
Everyone looked at each other for a long time, and finally someone hesitated and said:
"After all, he is his brother..."
What if I make a mistake and this guy takes revenge?
The man smiled proudly upon hearing this, knowing that everyone had been persuaded by him.
"Just because we are our brothers, we should be more careful. If we are worried..." He patted his heavily tattooed chest, "Let's give him a try."
…
While Wang Liuzhi was fighting with his stomach and intestines in the toilet, he could still vaguely hear the noise coming from the house.
But when he bravely returned to the house, he never thought that the place was unexpectedly calm, even so calm that it was a little weird.
He sat down suspiciously, but the man with the tattoo on his chest across from him suddenly stood up, cupped his hands and said:
"We got together because we admire Mr. Liu. If Mr. Six is willing to kill demons, we will benefit from it and make a fortune; if Mr. Six is not willing to kill demons, the brothers will have no problem with it!"
"Brothers, thanks to Master Liu, you have spent so much money and trouble in the past few days."
As he spoke, he filled Wang Liuzhi's wine bowl, and then everyone around him stood up and raised their glasses at the same time.
"To Mr. Six!"
Wang Liuzhi was surprised. He knew that his decision was unkind, and he thought that everyone was going to fall out with him, but he didn't expect them to be so reasonable.
He was embarrassed and secretly happy, fearing that someone opposite him would change his attitude, so he quickly picked up the wine bowl, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, not caring about the dregs and smell in the wine.
He was drinking happily, but he didn't realize that from the beginning to the end, the dozen or so pairs of eyes were staring at him.
By the time the wine bowls were put down, the table had already resumed its cheerful appearance.
Wang Liuzhi did not doubt his presence, relaxed his mood, talked, laughed and drank.
only.
Suddenly.
There was an overwhelming convulsion in my stomach.
Damn it! Did you eat something that shouldn't be eaten? It caused the stubborn disease in the intestines and stomach to break out, and the attack was so severe!
The sudden abdominal pain made him grimace and blood rushed to his head, turning the scars on his face bright red, like centipedes crawling all over his face.
He couldn't bear the pain, and was about to call someone to find the doctor, but his eyes suddenly dimmed. He looked up in surprise and found that his brothers had left the table at some time and had come over, tightly surrounding him.
All eyes were looking at him, their gazes were dim, filled with greed and ecstasy.
Boom!
Thunder suddenly broke out outside the house.
The storm comes suddenly.
