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 vaguely divided into many small groups, wary of each other, and they all poke their heads into the courtyard.
Seeing Li Changan yelling for a while, they rushed to surround him.
His enthusiasm is like that of a fan following a star.
It's a pity that these guys are not fans of Taoist priests, but so-called "monster hunters". All their enthusiasm is to get some information about monsters from the Taoist priests' mouths.
This situation is not the same one or two. Li Changan has 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.
Skip the unnecessary pleasantries.
He immediately led the Taoist priests around to look around and introduced the whole story of the case.
From Wang Liuzhi causing an occlusion, to asking the strange things from the ugly boy's mouth, to 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 has spent the rest of his life under the claws of the cat demon is still huddled in the corner of the room, still naked, covered in dirt made of mud, sweat, and blood, and underneath the dirt are 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 (harmoniously) horizontally, which makes people's hearts feel chilly.
I saw him just a few days ago boasting about his achievements and parading 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 took 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. It didn't react at all despite being manipulated, 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 Taoist Li 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 he ducked out of the way.
He didn't pick on anyone, he turned around, hugged Bo Ziyu's thigh, howled loudly, and wiped 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 trembling, crying.
Okay, I finally figured it out.
"It turns out that the female cat treated her like a mouse and played with it a lot. She was silent in the room just now. Could she be 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 the body of a cat and the face of a cat."
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.
"I have a son, and he does look like a mouse." He kicked Wang Liuzhi, who was laughing 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 widowers?"
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 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.
Little Amei's dream was originally based on Xiaoshui City, so it was normal for this family to appear in her dream. The son looked like a mouse, so Amei imagined him to be a rat demon, and his mother also imagined a cat demon.
Logically speaking, this matter is probably just a coincidence. Otherwise, why is the son not a monster?
The thoughts in my mind calmed down.
Li Changan shook his head:
"It's okay, it's 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, but I didn't expect it. After all our efforts, 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 solved an important doubt.
"On the contrary. Brother Bo, you have made great achievements this time!"
Bo Ziyu was baffled.
"But the cat demon ran away?"
When a Taoist priest has something to say, he just says it, and explains it right away.
"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, they are more cunning and fickle than the others; when you catch them, they seem to have become unintelligent.
You beast, you can't ask anything."
"We are not just trying to defeat 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 grain were piled up in the corner.
"Victims transformed by the demon plague, whether before or after the demon transformation, need to eat a lot. 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 and inhaled hard. Finally, he recognized that it was a smell that was quite familiar. It should be from life.
What I often smell seems 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 obtained the clues, why should we delay?
Bo Ziyu led his team to attack the house of a family named Luo, a wealthy man in the city who controlled the fecal collection industry in Xiaoshui.
But when they arrived, they found that the family was completely empty, and they only found a large amount of food stored in the warehouse.
This undoubtedly confirmed Li Changan's speculation.
It's a pity that he was a step too late and the real owner ran away!
"hateful!"
Bo Ziyu slashed at the grain bag with a knife and the grains flew everywhere.
Li Changan, on the other hand, looked relaxed, thinking that 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 priest 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, refreshing people.
The Taoist priest looked into 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 monster 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, all 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 can be regarded as 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 that 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.
"Has he gone crazy?"
"I think I was frightened 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 been worshiping Wang Liuzhi as their leader these days, listening to his orders, and running for him. Isn't it just to kill monsters with Wang Liuzhi and become rich together? But these days, day and night are reversed, and after all the hard work, they still have nothing to lose.
I didn't catch even a single demon hair, but instead I had a meal with this guy.
Who can be willing to do so? 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 single penny, so we're going to break up now. 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 jar next to him.
There was a "clang" sound.
The ground was filled with broken pottery, and many small pills rolled out.
The man twisted one pill 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?"
Someone with a keen eye 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 thing?"
No one in the audience thought it was strange. This was a common thing. Most of the talismans and magic weapons 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 store 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.
"I've 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 everyone 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 inquired about it. Zheng Tuzi killed him, and this guy took 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?"
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 fact 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 said hesitantly:
"After all, he is his brother..."
What if I make a mistake and this guy takes revenge?
The man smiled proudly when he heard this, knowing that everyone had been moved 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 room.
But when he bravely returned to the house, he never expected that the place was unexpectedly calm, even so calm that it was a little strange.
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 come together because we admire Mr. Liu. If Mr. Six is willing to kill demons, we will take advantage of it and make a fortune. But if Mr. Six is not willing to kill demons, the brothers will have no problem with it!"
"In the past few days, brothers, thanks to Master Liu, you have spent a lot of money and trouble."
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 odor in the wine.
He was drinking happily, but he didn't realize that from the beginning to the end, those ten pairs of eyes were staring at him.
By the time the wine bowl was put down, the table had already resumed its cheerful and cheerful atmosphere.
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! What did you eat that you shouldn’t have eaten? It caused the stubborn disease in your intestines to break out, and it got 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 stand the pain, and was about to call someone to find a doctor, but his eyes suddenly darkened. He looked up in surprise and found that his brothers had left the table at some time and had come over, and had surrounded him tightly.
All eyes were looking at him, their eyes were dim, filled with greed and ecstasy.