The villages in the suburbs of Hengxiang are closely connected. There are three large villages in this area. Counting several nearby mountains, the entire area is as big as half of Hengxiang Mansion.
Mayor Pan introduced the names of the surrounding places as he walked, and when he pointed to the mountains in the south, he mentioned "Southern Wupei". Xia Zhaoyi turned his head and looked towards the outline outlined by the moonlight in the shadow.
According to Pan Xiangchang, Nanwupi is the cemetery mountain in the nearby area, also known as Guitian Mountain. When there is a funeral in the village, all gongs and drums go there.
Speaking of this, Mayor Pan lowered his voice: "It is said that there is an imperial mausoleum there! I don't know which dynasty the emperor was buried in. It's so mysterious."
Xia Zhaoyi quietly traced the moonlit silver lines of the undulating mountains with his eyes, without answering.
After a cup of tea, they entered the village from a field road, and Township Chief Pan began to talk about the Chen family.
"The Chen family has been in our Xizhu Village for at least three generations. They have good relations with the neighbors. The Chen family are in good health and all of them are tall and straight. But the strangest thing is that the Chen family seems to have never seen any old people."
"What do you mean you didn't see the old man?" Xia Zhaoyi asked.
"It's just their people. Once they reach forty or fifty, they disappear when they go up. I told you about Nan Wu Pei just now. The Chen family has never held a funeral."
"Disappeared for no reason?"
A squire walking on the other side of Mayor Pan said, "That's pretty much what it means!"
"Then, don't the people in your village ask, and the village officials don't care?"
Mayor Pan sneered: "General, what can I say about this? They are a big family, and one of them is usually very good-tempered! When the neighbor's water tank was broken, they helped repair it. If anyone in front of the village couldn't carry the burden, they immediately went there.
Let's help. If you don't have any rice, just mention it to them, and they can give you a bucket tomorrow. Moreover, this family is extremely united, and they live in harmony. Who can think about the bad things!"
Xia Zhaoyi chuckled: "I have never held a funeral, and I have never seen an old man, but I still want to build an ancestral hall."
When she mentioned the ancestral hall, Mayor Pan's expression changed and he did not dare to answer the question.
Many people in the village were awake. They watched Mayor Pan and others walking along and asked them what happened. However, Chief Pan told them to go back to sleep.
But there were still many good people who put on their clothes and followed them, asking what was going on on the village road outside with so many lights.
Many eyes fell on the girl holding the torch in the middle. Her graceful manners made her seem incompatible with the girls in the village.
"Mr. Pan, who is this girl?" someone asked.
Mayor Pan didn't say anything. A squire raised his hand and slapped the person who asked the question: "Don't be so rude, you scoundrel! This is the general!"
The stunned person quickly apologized.
Xia Zhaoyi glanced at them, showing no emotion or anger, and looked away.
After passing through the village road paved with bluestone bridge, there was a gravel road in front of it. After walking for a while, Mayor Pan stopped and said respectfully: "General, this is it."
Xia Zhaoyi turned around and saw that it was a house of some standard.
However, this village called Xizhu Village is not poor. I saw no less than five villages of this size during my trip just now.
There was dust in front of the door, dense spider webs on the door, half of the hanging lanterns were withered, and the gaps between the steps were covered with weeds.
"You guys go back," Xia Zhaoyi said, "It's time to work."
"General, are you really going in alone?" said a squire.
Xia Zhaoyi smiled: "You can come in if you're not afraid."
She had a face that would alienate people from thousands of miles away, cold and untouchable when she didn't smile, but when she smiled, it swayed like a sunny day. Many men in the village had the courage to look at her. They were amazed and at the same time frightened by her words.
Xia Zhaoyi turned around and walked up the low stone steps. He used the torch in his hand to burn away the cobwebs on the door and opened the door with a "squeak" sound.
A gust of wind blew up from heaven and earth, and it was cold and cold. It came from all directions, and also came from the door she pushed open.
The men gathered around the door shuddered and their whole bodies felt cold.
Everyone among them was older than her, and they only watched her disappear through the door with their eyes open.
Suddenly, there was another "squeak" and the door was closed.
Mayor Pan was shocked and said hurriedly: "General! General?!"
"I closed it." A girl's slightly speechless voice came from inside the door.
"She, she actually closed the door..." a squire said with a trembling voice.
Another person said: "Then, shall we go back to sleep or..."
"Sleep, sleep, sleep, why are you sleeping! This is the general who has taken over Hengxiang Mansion!" Pan Xiangzhang said angrily, "If there is something wrong with her inside, we may all have to pay for it!"
"Then, do we want to go in?"
"Didn't she say we don't have to go in? She is a general, so that's the military order!"
"yes……"
Mayor Pan thought for a while and said: "Go, bring up a chair, let's sit here and wait!"
Xia Zhaoyi stood under the eaves inside the door, raising his eyes to look at the nearby house.
The strong wind blew the torch in her hand flying, and her fair and cold face was half-dark and unreal in the dancing flames.
This is the most common house specification in rural fields. There is no entrance yard, no backyard, and no cross-yard. Only the spacious open space in the middle is the yard. Buildings are built on the ground on three sides, each with two floors.
It was an uncomplicated courtyard, but it was currently dark and cold on all sides. Due to the many dark clouds in the sky, the moonlight only occasionally peeked through to illuminate the lightless rooms.
Xia Zhaoyi started looking from the right and looked at each room.
The air inside the house was stale, and there was a long-standing musty smell. After looking through the rooms, there was nothing special. I didn't see the blood that Mayor Pan and others mentioned, nor did I see anything weird or wrong.
Until another room opened, the walls were covered with portraits, and they were still portraits of people.
The torch in Xia Zhaoyi's hand illuminated the portraits one by one, and at the same time he raised his hand to lift the portraits to see if there was any hidden grid behind them.
Finally, behind a portrait, she saw a human head.
To be precise, it is a fake human head, a clay sculpture.
This material is not unfamiliar to her.
Five years ago, His Highness Qianqiu had a secret room with the same hanging calligraphy and paintings. The difference was that behind each calligraphy and painting there was a hidden grid and a head. But here, she has only found this one so far.
The expression on the head is very ferocious. Judging from the outline of the bones, it seems that it is a woman.
Xia Zhaoyi looked up at these portraits. There were only paintings without inscriptions, and his painting skills were not very good, which was far from Tang Xiangsi's painting skills.
Xia Zhaoyi put the head back, searched the house carefully, and left.
After searching a few more rooms, she found a trap under the bed board in one bedroom.
The mechanism opened a secret compartment, and Xia Zhaoyi stood up and went over. The secret compartment was very small, about the size of two large beds standing upright.
She did not go in, but stood outside and looked at it with a torch. There were several messy crossbows inside.
This crossbow is also familiar to her.
At this time, the secret door closed automatically, and six crossbow arrows were suddenly shot out from the door. She immediately turned sideways to avoid it, but the ground under her feet suddenly disappeared, and she was suspended in the air and became weightless.
