A team of horses galloped along the official road.
This horse team.
There are about ten people in total.
Among them were Taoist priests, monks, and government servants with swords.
On one side of the official road, there are tall trees.
Forests of green trees.
These trees all grew tall and dark, making it difficult for the sun to shine through.
Jin An didn't know how to ride a horse, but he was very strong. He clamped the horse's belly with his legs and pulled the reins with his arms to control the horse's direction. His body was as stable as Mount Tai.
The only inconvenience is the stiffness of the body.
After riding a horse for a long time, my back hurts at the end of the day.
This reminded Jin An of the first day when he was just learning to get a driver's license. The instructor asked him to drive home. Because of his nervousness, his back and arms were stiff and he held the steering wheel tightly.
But fortunately, with a lot of experience along the way, and with Feng Baotou's guidance and experience, Jin'an has gradually adapted to the ancient way of using horses to travel.
Jin An used his extraordinary strength to pull the reins, forcefully control the direction of the horse under him, and slowed down to come to Feng Captou.
"Feng Captou, where are we now?"
"We came all the way from Chang County. We rarely see such huge woods on both sides of the official road?"
"I didn't expect there to be such a big forest here."
It's like a bunch of woods suddenly popping up in the plain.
Really eye-catching.
Feng Baotou looked around at the tall and dense forest, frowned for a moment, and recalled: "There used to be a village here called Shenjiabao."
"Then a plague broke out and everyone in the village died. Shenjiabao became a dead village with ten rooms and ten empty rooms."
"This happened a long time ago. There is no detailed record in the county annals, and Feng doesn't know the specific situation at that time..."
"Later on, this abandoned and empty village, probably because no one lived there all year round and no one repaired the houses, gradually disappeared in the wind and rain, and the sea turned into mulberry fields. It is difficult to find its specific location in the old county records."
"When Feng was a child, he heard someone from the older generation talk about Chang County. If you walk along the official road, if you see a large forest, that's where the former Shenjia Fort was."
After listening to Feng Baotou's introduction, Jin An couldn't help but look at it curiously.
It seems that many people did die that year.
These trees absorb a lot of nutrients.
Grow tall and dense.
At this time, the sky was getting dark.
A government official reported it.
He said that it was difficult to walk at night, and the view at night was not good, so it was inconvenient to find people. He asked Feng Patou if he wanted to find a place to rest for the night first.
Feng Captou thought it was reasonable, and after asking Jin An and the old Taoist priests for their opinions, he ordered people to find a place to rest for the night.
"Captain Feng asked the Yali people to stay away from the woods when they were around. Although the plague has passed for a long time, there is nothing wrong with being careful."
The injury on his chest has not yet healed, and the white bandage can still be seen through the collar of Feng Baotou's face. A look on his face: "Mr. Jin An, did you notice something strange?"
Jin An shook his head.
He said he was just being cautious and careful.
Feng Captou nodded. He didn't think that Jin An was too careful and left the county. In this barren mountain, he should be more careful.
Therefore, the cavalry formed a small circle at the foot of a mountain some distance away from the forest, forming a defensive posture of horns to ward off wild beasts or bandits at night.
Then the yamen servants started to get some dry firewood and hay from the mountains behind them, make fires to boil water, and distribute dry food.
These dozen or so people formed two circles.
A circle consists of ordinary government officials gathered together.
There were only four people in the other, slightly smaller circle, namely Jin An, an old Taoist priest, an injured Feng Baotou, and a forty-year-old rough monk with several ring scars on his head.
"Monk Pu Zhi, are you sure that those of your escort brothers are following this official path?"
"If we continue walking, we will leave the boundary of Chang County, but we have not found any clues along the way. Is it possible that the route was temporarily changed halfway?"
Feng Bao turned to the scarred monk and asked.
This scarred monk was one of the escorts who came to the Yamen to report the case.
Based on mutual introductions during the two days of traveling in the same car, Jin An also learned about the origin of this monk with a scar. Monk Pu Zhi was kicked out of the temple because he repeatedly violated the monk's precepts, each time violating the precepts on alcohol, meat and sexual intercourse with women.
Monk Pu Zhi grew up in the temple since he was a child. He had no skills and worked as a coolie on the dock, but was driven away by the dock gang.
I worked as a nurse for a landlord's house, but I couldn't stand the irritating attitude of being driven around, so I quit working soon after.
Finally became a green forest.
Later, he started working as an escort, which was a fast-paying, wine-and-meat business.
The last time they took over a job for someone, they got into trouble. Several brothers were killed and some were injured. Monk Pu Zhi was injured last time. So this time, Monk Pu Zhi did not
Not accompanying.
But after waiting and waiting, no news came back from the brothers in the escort office. They, the wounded who were left behind in the escort office, asked around and realized that something had happened!
They inquired and learned that after the escort entered the territory of Chang County, they disappeared mysteriously and never left Chang County at all!
In the end, due to the shortage of manpower, it was difficult to find people. Monk Pu Zhi decided to give it a try, thinking that they were also working for the yamen of other counties. He hoped that the Chang County Yamen could help them find people because they were all working for the public.
Lost the secret escort, so he went to the Changxian Yamen reporting officer.
Faced with Feng Captou's question, Monk Pu Zhi shook his head.
"Our escorts are different from ordinary escorts. We will not change our route temporarily."
"In our escort business, there is a taboo against not going into trouble. Whatever route we take is carefully considered and we will never take detours for no reason. Because that means we have to face more temporary obstacles along the way.
Unexpected situation.”
Monk Pu Zhi speaks in a very rough voice.
At first glance, he looks like a monk who doesn't have many tricks up his sleeve and has a straightforward temperament.
Several people continued to talk around the campfire, but the old Taoist priest was surprisingly quiet.
Since Monk Pu Zhi followed in the motorcade, the old Taoist priests who used to talk a lot would become much quieter as long as Monk Pu Zhi is around.
Maybe Taoist priests and monks have been enemies since ancient times?
Don't like each other?
The sun sets, and the vast sky and earth are gradually shrouded in night.
Suddenly, there was a commotion among the government officials sitting in a circle. Feng Baotou's face darkened, he stood up and asked what was going on?
But I saw two government officials with painful expressions on their faces, holding their stomachs in their hands and falling to the ground.