Seeing that Gu Chen was looking for her, the old lady put the basin aside and walked up to Gu Chen: "Comrade police, if you have anything to say, just tell me."
"Hmm." Gu Chen said "hmm" and said slowly: "Have there been any strange people in this village recently?"
"Weird person? You mean?" The old lady didn't seem to understand.
So Gu Chen quickly explained: "It's just that his behavior is weird, maybe he's not a local."
"However, they have been here before and may have some connections with the villages here."
After a pause, seeing the old lady staying where she was, Gu Chen reminded again: "Excuse me, is there such a person?"
"Uh..." The old lady was stunned, thought briefly, and then said slowly:
"I'm not sure about the kind of people you're talking about, but the village you're talking about refers to the place in the mountains, right?"
"Yes, that's the place." Before Gu Chen could speak, Lu Weiwei quickly answered:
"That village only has some old wooden houses, which are basically uninhabited. But when we passed by, we found that there was only one old lady."
"Oh, that village? In fact, no one has lived in it for a long time, so it is not actually a village." After hearing what Lu Weiwei said, the old lady quickly replied.
Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei looked at each other and felt that the situation was a bit strange.
However, with just those few old wooden houses, it would be far-fetched to call it a village.
So Gu Chen asked the old lady again: "Old lady, you said that it is not a village, then what is this place for?"
"It's harmful." When Gu Chen asked, the old lady also wiped her hands on her apron, and then said;
"That place was not a village before. It was a temporary residence built by the villagers near us who went to the mountains to collect medicine, hunt and so on."
"Collecting herbs? Hunting?"
Hearing this explanation, Lu Weiwei's eyes widened and she felt very curious, so she quickly pestered the old lady and said:
"Auntie, tell us quickly, what's going on? Why is it related to medicine gathering and hunting?"
"Harmful!" Seeing Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei looking so fussy, the old lady quickly replied:
"Actually, in the past, the villagers here all relied on the mountains. It can be said that this Centennial Peak supports all the villagers here."
"Back then, we were poor here, and there was very little land for farming. It was all mountainous. Therefore, the villagers here made a living by going into the mountains to collect medicines and hunt for many years."
"I remember back then that there were hares and wild boars running all over the mountains, as well as all kinds of pheasants."
"The number is getting smaller and smaller now, and the publicity from above is very good. Those wild animals are now protected animals and cannot be killed or sold."
"But, we can still continue to pick medicinal materials in the mountains."
"So, whenever the medicinal materials in the mountains are ripe, we villagers around Centennial Peak will choose to go into the mountains to pick them."
After a pause, the old lady continued: "But, you also know that Centenary Peak is a vast territory. It may take several days, a week, or even ten days to enter the mountain."
.”
"Especially when encountering that kind of bad weather, you will suffer all kinds of disasters, and you won't even have a place to take shelter from the rain."
"Then what will happen next? Are you guys building a wooden house in the mountains together?" Hearing what the old lady said, Lu Weiwei also hurriedly asked.
The old lady nodded silently: "Yes, later on, the villagers nearby gathered together for a meeting, and everyone discussed the problems they encountered in detail."
"Then, everyone agreed to go to the open space in the mountains and build some wooden houses to use as a resting place for everyone to go into the mountains to collect herbs."
"So, since then, all the major village committees have pooled their money together to use mules, horses, and oxen to carry the timber into the mountains in batches."
"That's why there were a few old wooden houses, so in fact, it's not a village, it's a temporary settlement for the villagers in our area."
"So that's it?" After hearing what the old lady said, Gu Chen suddenly realized.
Of course, Gu Chen also knew very well that this was exactly the same as what he had guessed before.
But why did the old lady named Liu Xiangmei become the only resident in that mountain residence?
And why? Liu Xiangmei said that a plague broke out in the village, and then it became desolate?
If Liu Xiangmei is really an aboriginal resident there, then what other secrets exist here?
Since the situation here seemed a bit complicated, Gu Chen also hoped that he could sort out the twists and turns here as soon as possible.
I also hope to understand the interpersonal relationships in this area.
So, Gu Chen asked the old lady again: "Old lady, do you know that Liu Xiangmei?"
"Liu Xiangmei?" After hearing Gu Chen's words, the old lady frowned, but did not react.
Lu Weiwei on the other side quickly reminded him: "It's the old man who lives alone in the mountains."
"Oh, that woman?" After hearing what Lu Weiwei said, the old lady seemed to be thinking of something. Then she said slowly:
"Yes, I heard that there is an old man living there, but we don't have much contact with each other, so we forgot her name?"
"That means you know something?" Gu Chen said.
"Yes, I know something." The old lady nodded.
"Then can you tell us what's going on with Liu Xiangmei? Why does she stay alone in the village, and who keeps sending her food supplies?"
After the words fell, the old lady also fell into thinking.
After scratching the back of her head and trying to think back for a while, the old lady looked at Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei and said slowly:
"Liu Xiangmei is actually not a local. Her husband was a businessman who came to us to purchase medicinal materials."
"Because you also know that we were poor here at the beginning, and transportation with the outside world was not very convenient."
"Especially before roads were built, it was very inconvenient to walk. At that time, mules and horses were used to carry things out."
With a faint sigh, the old lady added: "Now the living conditions are better, and the government has also helped build cement roads in each of our villages. It is also convenient for us to drive out here."
"So once the transportation became convenient, most people in the village went to work outside. When I was young, I also worked outside."
After saying "Alas", the old lady added: "I can't do it now, so I'm going back to my hometown and enjoy my old age in peace."
"But that Liu... Liu what Mei?"
"Liu Xiangmei." Seeing that the old lady was a little forgetful, Lu Weiwei quickly reminded her.
"Yes, yes, that's Liu Xiangmei. I knew her decades ago. At that time, her husband was buying medicinal materials in our area."
"And in many villages here, everyone makes a living by collecting herbs from the mountains."
"There are often a few people together, or a dozen people together. We all go up the mountain together, and then come back after more than ten days. When we come back, the bamboo baskets are full of medicinal materials."
"How much money can you make if you carry back a bamboo basket of medicinal materials after going for more than ten days?" When Lu Weiwei heard this, her heart skipped a beat.
I feel like life is not easy, and it only took me more than ten years to achieve these results.
But the old lady was open-minded and said with a smile: "Girl, you may not know that when people here go to the mountains to collect herbs, they always choose the ones with high prices in the market."
"There are a lot of common medicinal materials in the mountains, but the price is not high."
"It's not cost-effective to go back and forth, so everyone would rather spend more time and go to the mountains to pick some expensive medicinal materials than pick ordinary medicinal materials."
"However, these expensive medicinal materials are all grown in deep mountains and old forests, and some even grow on cliffs. If you are not careful, you may fall off the cliff."
After a pause, the old lady came to Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei and said quickly:
"You must not know this. There are several villages around us. Each village has several widows. Most of the men died after going into the mountains to collect medicine."
"Some did not die, but became disabled."
After saying this, the old lady suddenly felt sad and choked up her voice as she said:
"My old man passed away a few years ago. When he was young, he also went to the mountains to collect medicine, and later broke a leg."
"At that time, it was really difficult to survive. Fortunately, the road was repaired and life in our village gradually improved."
"It's just that there are fewer and fewer people going into the mountains to collect herbs now. Many big bosses directly cultivate those medicinal materials on a large scale using base planting methods."
"So, now almost no one goes to the mountains to collect herbs. How much is it worth? Most of them go to other places to work."
"So, those few houses in the mountains are just empty?" Gu Chen said.
The old lady nodded silently: "Yes, that's how those houses became empty."
"What about Liu Xiangmei's husband? He was in the medicinal material business. What happened next?" Since Liu Xiangmei lived alone in the mountains and forests, Lu Weiwei was particularly interested in Liu Xiangmei's situation.
Especially Liu Xiangmei, when faced with people's inquiries, she always talks about random things and fails to get to the main point at all. She even doesn't know a lot of key information about herself. This is hard not to make people suspicious.
The old lady hesitated for a moment, then said in retrospect: "I remember that after the roads here were built, many people went to work elsewhere."
"Liu Xiangmei's husband seemed to be unable to purchase suitable medicinal materials, so he stopped doing this business. I heard that he later opened a pig farm."
"Pig farm?" Hearing what the old lady said, Gu Chen frowned slightly and quickly asked: "Then do you know where his pig farm is?"
"Where is it? Just... in our Tai City, right? But where exactly? I don't know exactly. Anyway, there were people in our village who followed him and worked for him."
"What about Liu Xiangmei? Why does she stay in that place?" After hearing what the old lady said, Gu Chen continued to ask.
The old lady scratched her cheek and said thoughtfully: "Why did she stay there? It seems...is..."
"What is it?" Lu Weiwei also asked anxiously after listening to the old lady talking for a long time without getting to the point.
After a while, the old lady seemed to have remembered something? So she quickly said:
"Oh, by the way, I remembered that Liu Xiangmei broke her shoes."
"Pfft, what? Broken shoes?" Hearing what the old lady said, Lu Weiwei almost couldn't hold back.
I have thought about many situations, but this is the only one I have not thought of.
The old lady also shook her finger and confirmed, "Yes, I remember that. When his husband was doing business in purchasing medicinal materials, he often passed by our village."
"So, he simply rented a room from someone in our village. Later, Liu Xiangmei didn't want to stay in her hometown anymore and wanted to follow her husband."
"Then, the two of them lived in our village."
"Normally, her husband would go into the mountains with the surrounding villagers. Over time, he would go there for a week or more than ten days."
"Liu Xiangmei could only stay here alone in her empty house. It was very boring. Later, she got together with a person from our village."
"Then, the news spread, and her husband was so angry that he wanted to kill that guy."
"But the man in our village was also afraid and ran away."
"What happened next?" Lu Weiwei felt like she had gotten something wrong when she heard this.
The old lady hesitated for a moment: "Later? Later, that person in our village seemed to have never come back, right? Maybe he was afraid of a bloody disaster, so he hid outside for many years. I heard that he made a fortune, but he never came back.
Pass."
"Some people also said that the man continued to mess around outside and was killed. Anyway, there are many things."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Sighing heavily, the old lady shook her head helplessly: "Anyway, at that time, our village was in a smog. Later, cement roads were opened in our village, and most of the villagers were
Went out to work."
"Liu Xiangmei's husband also used the money he earned from purchasing medicinal materials to open a pig farm. Liu Xiangmei's reputation has also become bad, and her relationship with our villagers has also become tense."
"In the end, she didn't dare to go home, so she kept hiding in the village. But she couldn't stay in the village any longer, so she hid in a few wooden houses in the mountains."
"Oh my god!" Lu Weiwei felt incredible after hearing this. She felt that this completely subverted her own understanding, and she couldn't help but say:
"Old lady, in other words, Liu Xiangmei has been living in the deep mountains and forests for so many years? Isn't this too scary? Is she going to be a savage?"
"That's not true." Seeing Lu Weiwei's expression, the old lady also denied it.
"Huh?" Lu Weiwei looked confused and quickly asked: "Isn't it?"
"Of course not. Who can live in the deep mountains and forests for so many years? Wouldn't that make you crazy?"
"If that's not the case, then Liu Xiangmei usually lives outside, right?" Gu Chen said.
The old lady thought for a few seconds and then said slowly: "It seems so, right? Anyway, no one lives in the old houses there anymore."
"Besides, there was a plague there once, so no one dared to go in."
"Wait a minute." Hearing this, Gu Chen hesitated.
This is somewhat consistent with what Liu Xiangmei explained before.
Liu Xiangmei once said that there was a plague in the mountains, so there were very few people living in the village, and basically everyone had left.
It seems reasonable to say so.
So Gu Chen asked the old lady again: "So, what kind of plague is it?"
"I don't quite remember this. Anyway, it can kill people. Several villagers went to the mountains to collect medicine and lived in wooden houses in the mountains there, but they got sick when they came back."
After thinking about it, the old lady added: "Oh, by the way, that Liu Xiangmei, after she separated from her husband, she didn't dare to go home, so she hid in a wooden house in the mountains."
"I heard that some men, after learning about her situation, used the excuse of going up the mountain to collect medicine and went to the wooden house in the deep mountains and old forests to hang out with her."
"Anyway, I heard someone say this later, and I don't know if it was a rumor."
"Because later people who entered the mountain all got strange diseases. Some people said that they were infected by that woman. Anyway, there are any theories."
"Later, everyone stopped going to the mountains to collect herbs, and this matter was gradually forgotten."
"It's just that I didn't expect that Liu Xiangmei would still be living there after so many years?"
"Then has she been out before?" Lu Weiwei asked.
"Oh." The old lady was a little confused by the question. She crossed her hands on her chest and said thoughtfully:
"Let's put it this way, she was in the village, and after that incident happened, she hid in the mountains."
"Later, the men I was talking about spent some time with her in the mountains under the pretext of going into the mountains to collect medicine. Didn't they all get sick later?"
"Later, I heard that she also went out, but sometimes, someone said that she was back again."
"Wait a minute." Upon hearing this, Gu Chen interrupted the old lady again and asked:
"You said she came back again. When did this happen?"
"About when did it happen? How do I put this? Maybe I heard about it this year?" the old lady said.
"This year?" Gu Chen looked at Lu Weiwei.
Lu Weiwei also felt something strange, so she asked the old lady: "Have you ever seen anyone go into the mountains to deliver food?"
"Because we saw that the rice vats in Liu Xiangmei's residence were full. With her physical condition, she definitely could not have brought the food in by herself."
"Moreover, she has no means of transportation, and to get out of that village, she can rely on two legs or ride a motorcycle."
"Oh." As soon as Lu Weiwei finished speaking, the old lady seemed to be thinking of something? She quickly said:
"When you say that, it reminds me of something."
"What is it?" Lu Weiwei heard this and quickly asked.
Walking back and forth in front of Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei, the old lady also said thoughtfully:
"I remember that in the past few months, there were indeed people riding motorcycles passing by our village."
"I saw it once. There were some things on the motorcycle. It should be food, right?"
"What's going on?" Seeing that the old lady had seen people transporting supplies, Gu Chen quickly asked.
"Let me think about it, let me think about it. Now that I am old, sometimes my memory is not very good." It felt like Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei asked too many questions this early in the morning.
So much so that the CUP in the old lady's head was almost burned out.
After a moment of reflection, the old lady slowly said: "I don't remember what that person looks like. Anyway, he is wearing a helmet. Judging from his body shape and clothing, he should be a middle-aged man."
"Anyway, I met him once, but that person must have come several times, and the intervals are very long. Maybe once every half a month? That's about this time period."
"Half a month?" Gu Chen kept these in mind and quickly asked: "When was the last time supplies were delivered? Do you still remember?"
"The most recent time? This... seems to have some impression." The old lady scratched her cheek and said in retrospect: "The most recent time was just four or five days ago, right? It was probably around this time."
"Four or five days ago?" When Lu Weiwei heard this reply, she looked at Gu Chen with incredulous eyes and whispered:
"Junior Brother Gu, the time Xiao Yuan disappeared was also like this four or five days ago."
"I know." Hearing what Lu Weiwei said, Gu Chen also felt a little strange.
At least the last appearance of this person who delivered food supplies to Liu Xiangmei coincided with the time when Yuan Shasha disappeared.
Of course, Gu Chen could interpret this as a coincidence, or it could be related.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After thinking about it, Gu Chen continued to ask: "Are you sure it was the last four or five days ago?"
"I'm sure." Seeing that Gu Chen didn't believe it, the old lady quickly explained:
"That day I was drying clothes in the yard outside and heard someone riding a motorcycle passing by our village."
"Because there are not many people in the village and the sound of motorcycles is very rare, whose child I thought was back?"
"But later on, I took various walks in the village, but saw no one. But at night, I heard the sound of the motorcycle again, coming from a distance, and then disappearing into the distance. I was still puzzled."
"But after hearing what you said, I feel that the motorcycle may have come out of the mountains at night and then left here."
"Is that so?" It felt like things were getting weirder and weirder, but fortunately Gu Chen understood this, at least he knew what time period the people delivering supplies came.
Gu Chen suddenly became excited when he thought that he could use road monitoring to capture some information.
But village roads are rarely monitored, and this is an indisputable fact.
Especially in a place like Baisui Peak Town.
But at least some roads in the town were monitored, and Gu Chen felt that he might be able to ask Liu Yuan for help.
Thinking of this, Gu Chen quickly asked the old lady: "Then do you know anything else? About that hidden village in the mountains, and about mysterious people?"
"No more, this is all I know." After saying this, the old lady suddenly thought of something again. She was also dumbfounded.
Seeing this, Lu Weiwei quickly asked: "Auntie, did you think of anything?"
"I thought your breakfast wasn't ready yet, so I can't say any more. There are still noodles cooking in the pot, and the water will be boiled away later."
While talking, the old lady hurried to the kitchen and picked up the basin at the door.
Seeing the old lady's back, Lu Weiwei suddenly looked disappointed. She also looked at Gu Chen and said helplessly:
"What should we do now?"
"Let's have a full meal and then go back to town and sort out the specific situation again," Gu Chen said.
"That's all we can do." Lu Weiwei shrugged, feeling quite uncomfortable.
…
…
At 9:20 in the morning, after the various forced marches last night, everyone was physically exhausted, and everyone's legs and feet were a little sore.
Therefore, in this village, everyone can sleep until dawn, and it can be said that everyone is content.
Especially when I woke up, everyone's breakfast had been prepared. Listening to the old lady in the kitchen who kept shouting, everyone came to the yard one after another.
"Everyone's noodles are ready, and everyone has an egg. Come and eat."
"Thanks."
Listening to the old lady's shouts, everyone lined up and walked into the kitchen. Then, they picked up the steaming noodles in the old lady's hands and came to the yard.
Everyone found a wooden bench at random, sat down and started to wolf down the food.
Gu Chen here had already solved the problem of breakfast, so he came directly to the room with two bowls of noodles.
At this moment, the two travel companions also woke up. Since their handcuffs were connected together, it was very inconvenient to move.
Seeing Gu Chen put two bowls of noodles on the bedside table, the man in the red jacket looked helpless and said: "Comrade police, this..."
Before the man in the red jacket could finish speaking, Gu Chen came directly to him and used the key to open the handcuffs of the two of them.
"Hurry up and eat some noodles. We have to rush to the town later."
"Okay." The man in the blue jacket swallowed his saliva while looking at the noodles.
Regardless of the image, I picked up the noodles and started devouring them.
The man in the red jacket is also not far behind.
After everyone finished breakfast, Gu Chen came to Officer Wang and reminded him:
"Senior Brother Wang, please calculate the food expenses of each family, and also include the accommodation expenses of us people. When the time comes, the money will be settled with others."
"Don't worry, we won't let the villagers here suffer. I've already done the statistics again. When the time comes, I will pay the money to each villager," Officer Wang said.
"Yes." Gu Chen nodded slightly and added: "Two of us will bring Liu Xiangmei out from the village today. At that time, we will also have to arrange vehicles, preferably motorcycles, to send them out together.
"
"We need to discuss this with Director Liu in the town and see if we can send a few motorcycles over?"
"Very good." Seeing that Officer Wang would make arrangements, Gu Chen also said slowly: "Last night, after I found that there was signal on my mobile phone, I communicated with Director Liu."
"Ask him to send a car to pick us up this morning. After all, there is still a long distance from here to the town."
"Have you made arrangements?" Seeing that Gu Chen had already made arrangements, Officer Wang was also overjoyed:
"Originally, I was planning to talk to Director Liu."
"Senior Brother Wang doesn't need to worry about this. What I'm worried about now is Senior Brother Lu Qiang. After they entered the mountain, their mobile phones had no signal. I don't know if their group has found the three outdoor travel companions."
"Lu Qiang?" Thinking of this, Officer Wang immediately took out his mobile phone and prepared to make a call.
But there was still no response.
After hanging up the phone, Officer Wang sighed softly and said: "It's still the same, I can't contact you. Maybe I, an old classmate, am still wandering around in the mountains."
"However, after walking all this way, he should be able to return to Hemu Village today."
"As long as he comes back, he can get in touch with us."
"Well, I hope so." Seeing Officer Wang say this, Gu Chen also breathed a sigh of relief.
10:50 am.
Four commercial vehicles drove slowly and stopped at the cultural square outside the village.
After the four drivers got out of the car, they also took the initiative to walk up to Gu Chen.
"Are you the Gu Bureau?" a bearded man asked.
"I'm Gu Chen." Gu Chen nodded silently.
The bearded man also smiled and said: "I was sent here by Director Liu. Director Liu said that I am here to pick up Gu Chen, the deputy director of the Furong Branch of the Jiangnan City Public Security Bureau."
"I asked him, who is Gu Chen? He said that the most handsome one is Zhang, and when I saw it, it was you."
The bearded man seemed to be very good at flattering, but Gu Chen didn't mind. After all, Gu Chen was used to such teasing.
Seeing that Liu Yuan was sent to take everyone back, Gu Chen shook hands with him and thanked him:
"Thank you then. Can we set off now? Do you need to take a rest?"
"No need? Your work is important. We will send you back now." The bearded man is also a sensible person and knows that these police officers have been handling cases recently.
So I quickly called my driver brothers and asked everyone to prepare and take everyone back.
After confirming the number of people, Gu Chen was the last one to get in the car and sit in the co-pilot of the bearded man.
As the four commercial vehicles slowly started and drove away from the village one after another, the villagers still stood there, watching Gu Chen's team leave.
It also took a full 40 minutes on the road with various twists and turns before everyone arrived at Baisui Peak Town.
When the vehicle parked in the parking lot of the Baisuifeng Town Government compound, a fat middle-aged Mediterranean man had been waiting there for a long time.
Next to this Mediterranean man stood Liu Yuan.
After Gu Chen got out of the car, he took the initiative to step forward, shook hands with the Mediterranean man and said, "If I guess correctly, you should be Mayor Ma, right?"
"Oh, you have a really good eye for people. If I guess correctly, you must be the young director Gu Chen?" The Mediterranean man also spoke very politely.
Before Gu Chen could speak, Liu Yuan, who was standing next to Mayor Ma, quickly explained:
"That's right, this is Gu Chen, the deputy director of the Furong Branch of the Jiangnan City Public Security Bureau. Bureau Gu has been handling cases in our town these days. It's just that you have been busy outside. When you came back, Bureau Gu and the others were just there.
leave."
"So, you just met each other today."
"Haha, yes, I have been quite busy with work recently, so I apologize for my poor hospitality."
Mayor Ma also quickly got close to Gu Chen after listening to Liu Yuan's introduction.
Gu Chen also said politely: "Mayor Ma has a lot to do, but he has given us a lot of convenience in work. We also want to thank you."
"Harm! Where is it? It's all right." Mayor Ma glanced at Liu Yuan beside him, and said quickly: "By the way, did the people in the kitchen explain it? There will be extra food in the canteen today, so Jiangnan City must be well entertained.
guests, as well as these police comrades from our city bureau.”
