The village chief was stunned by the question.
Everyone else ran away when they heard that there was a ghost going on. How come these people were still in the mood to ask what kind of ghost it was?
Zhu Xiucai noticed his suspicion, took out a pen and paper from his arms, raised it and said, "To be honest, I want to write a novel about ghosts and monsters, so whenever I hear stories about monsters and ghosts, I want to ask about them."
The village chief looked Zhu Xiucai up and down and thought, "You are so ugly. No wonder you want to write a novel."
After thinking for a while, he told the truth: "We don't know the identity of the leading demon. We only know that it calls itself a tiger, says that this mountain is its private property, and it also supports a group of rent-collecting ghosts. , responsible for collecting rent from various villages in the mountains."
Zhu Xiucai whispered in Qin Shaoyou's ear: "Generally, those who use the name tiger are mostly tiger monsters. Of course, sometimes other monsters, such as fox monsters, etc., also like to boast that they are tigers to scare others."
Qin Shaoyou nodded slightly and couldn't help but think: "The fox demon boasts of being a tiger to scare others? Is this the origin of the fox's pretense of being a tiger?"
At the same time, he asked: "Village chief, what is the rent collection you are talking about? Then the demons want you to donate money and food? And I remember you just said that today is the day when the ghosts come to collect large rents. This rent Is there any difference in size?”
The village chief said with a bitter look on his face: "Our money and food have been plundered by the tax collectors a long time ago. How can we have any extra money to give to the monsters? But what they want is not money and food. The so-called small rent is paid once a month and is sent by ghosts." Take away our essence and give it to the tiger for enjoyment. The big rent is once every six months, and what is taken away...is a pair of boys and girls."
"Boys and girls?"
Qin Shaoyou remembered the two crying families he saw when he first arrived in the village.
Presumably it was these two families who had to sacrifice the boys and girls this time, so they were very sad.
When I asked, it turned out that it was indeed the case. When Su Jianqing heard this, she said angrily: "The tiger sucks your essence every month and asks you to sacrifice a boy and a girl every six months. How can you bear it?"
"What else can we do if we can't bear it? We are just ordinary people, but we can't fight against monsters."
"Then why don't you report it to the official?"
"Report to the official?"
The village chief smiled bitterly and told a story about the past.
It turned out that three years ago, when the tiger first appeared and caused trouble, they and several other villages in the mountain reported the matter to the county.
At that time, the county sent several night watchmen, and the leader was a small flag officer.
After these people arrived, they took turns squatting in several villages, but the tiger and its ghosts seemed to be aware of the arrival of these people and never showed up.
The night watchmen stayed in several villages in the mountains for more than half a month, but they did not see the tiger or the ghosts under him, so they withdrew.
As a result, on the second night after the night watchman withdrew, the tiger's ghost agents appeared and retaliated against several villages, killing many people.
After that, several villages were frightened and did not dare to report to the official again.
They were afraid that when the government came, they would not be able to deal with the tiger, but would instead attract the tiger's revenge.
Last year, presumably because of reports from passing caravans, the night watchmen came a few more times, and mobilized an army from the county guard station to go into the mountains to search for monsters, but still found nothing.
After these people left, the tiger once again took his demons and took revenge on several villages.
After these two experiences, how could they dare to report to the official?
If you don't report to the official, you will only lose some energy every month and sacrifice a pair of boys and girls in half a year, but many people can barely survive.
And if you report to the official, you will be retaliated, and there will be countless deaths and injuries.
As for escape, it was even more impossible.
If you stay here, even though there are monsters and ghosts, you can still barely have a bite to eat.
But if you escape, you can only become a refugee or a bandit... No matter which one, you will only die faster and more miserably.
After telling the story of the tiger, the village chief said quietly: "Actually, monsters are scary, but they are nothing compared to the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes that are increasing every year. As long as the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are still there, there will be no problem if there are monsters or not." The same one."
Su Tingyu frowned and said, "How can this be the same? Demons and ghosts want to eat people. Don't you have to sacrifice a boy and a girl every six months?"
The village chief said quietly: "Actually, it's the same...even if there are no monsters, it would be difficult for these children to survive."
Su Tingyu was stunned and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
This time, the village chief did not answer Su Tingyu's question.
A flash of shame flashed across his face and he forcibly ended the topic.
"Anyway, you'd better leave while it's still dark. Otherwise, when the tiger's ghost comes, you will also be charged rent."
After saying this, the village chief ignored them and turned around to leave.
Qin Shaoyou looked at the village chief's back with a heavy expression on his face. He turned to Su Tingyu and said, "He has no face to answer your question, but I can guess some reasons."
"what reason?"
"Do you remember that when we were on the road today, we passed by a river and saw wild dogs and crows eating the corpses of several babies in the river?"
"Remember, you asked Monk Ma to lead people to drive away the wild dogs and crows, and bury the bodies of the babies on the spot.
At that time, some people in the team were lamenting that in the past two years, there had been more and more abandoned and drowned babies in various places.
I asked why, and he said the reason was simple, just that he couldn't afford it..."
When Su Tingyu said this, she suddenly understood.
"This village also cannot afford to raise babies, but instead of abandoning and drowning the babies they cannot afford, they give them to monsters in exchange for a chance to let them live?"
Qin Shaoyou nodded: "That's why the village chief refuses to answer you, because no one who has done such a thing has the shame to mention it."
Su Tingyu fell into silence.
Su Jianqing squinted her eyes and said, "Actually, with the current condition of these villagers, they won't live long. Their energy has been almost drained by the tiger ghosts."
Qin Shaoyou sighed: "I'm afraid they know it in their hearts, but they have no choice but to live one day at a time..."
