After finding out the location of the ruined temple, Mai Xiaorou and I discussed it and planned to go there and take a look first.
There is a dirt road that is not very fast leading to the ruined temple. Although there are many thorns and weeds growing in the middle of the road, the road is still vaguely visible.
This road did not go through the old village of Maogou, but went around the village. This is similar to Liu Shengfu's description. He and my father went around the mountain above the village. Maybe this was the way they took it.
road.
It didn't take long for us to reach the foot of the mountain. There were thick trees here. We could vaguely see a dangerous road going up the mountain, but we couldn't see where the ruined temple was.
Mai Xiaorou looked around and said, "This road on the mountain is quite old. Maybe it was the road your father and Liu Shengfu used to go up the mountain. According to Liu Shengfu's story, after they came down from the mountain, they were chased into the nearby deep mountains and old forests, and then
I was caught in a ruined temple again, so the ruined temple should not be here, but in the nearby woods. Should we go up the mountain first or go to the nearby woods to look for it?"
She suddenly asked me for my opinion, and I didn't know what to say. I didn't have the experience of handling cases like her, and I couldn't distinguish the priorities, so I asked Mai Xiaorou which one was more important.
She smiled and said: "I almost forgot, you have no experience in solving cases. In the past, when my grandfather and I had cases, it was my grandfather who made the decision. Today it seems that I have to make the decision myself. I think we just go up the mountain rashly."
It's a bit rash, it's better to learn more about the situation at the foot of the mountain, so we first go to the nearby old forest to look for the ruined temple."
I nodded and said I had no opinion.
Mai Xiaorou smiled at me again and said, "There is no one in this deep mountain and old forest. Maybe we can have some fun together."
I know, she started teasing me again.
But this time I didn't speak. The more I responded to Mai Xiaorou's words, the more provocative she became. If I stopped speaking, she would find it boring and the excitement would pass.
This forest is quite big. I thought it would take me a while to find something, but I didn't expect that Mai Xiaorou and I found a ruined temple after walking around in the forest for more than ten minutes.
The ruined temple was not big, covering an area of just over a hundred square meters. The temple doors and windows were all missing. The roof of the temple was covered with grass, and there were also large holes in many places.
It is a miracle that this temple is still alive.
Mai Xiaorou and I stood in front of the ruined temple and looked at it for a while. Mai Xiaorou said, there is nothing special here. The yin and yang energy is relatively balanced, and it doesn't look like it is haunted at all.
I couldn't see why, so I just nodded "Yeah" when she said something.
Mai Xiaorou continued: "But someone seems to have set up a large formation nearby. Although the formation has been abandoned, the aura of the formation is still there."
I continued to say "hmm".
Mai Xiaorou smiled and asked me: "Don't always say 'hmm', give me some constructive opinions."
I shook my head and smiled bitterly and said, "I can't tell."
Mai Xiaorou didn't make things difficult for me and walked straight into the ruined temple. I quickly grabbed her and said, "It looks like the ruined temple will collapse at any time, so it's better not to go in."
Mai Xiaorou shook my hand and said, "Don't worry, I won't be beaten to death because of my ability. You wait outside and I'll go in and take a look myself."
With that said, Mai Xiaorou broke away from my hand and stepped into the ruined temple. I hesitated for a moment and followed her in.
The ruined temple was empty, not even a statue of the god.
However, we found a broken stone tablet on the west side of the temple. After carefully identifying it, we found that it was a merit tablet. All the names engraved on it were the names of people who donated money when the temple was built.
.
And all those people are named Liu.
Mai Xiaorou thought for a while and then said: "Chen Yu, when we were asking about Liu Shengfu just now, did we ask a few old people for their last names?"
"yes!"
"What are their last names?"
"One is named Zhang, the others are all named Ma, and there is no one named Liu."
Mai Xiaorou fell into deep thought, and then said: "According to the merit monument, the surname Liu should be a popular surname nearby. We asked those people, and we shouldn't have encountered any of them."
I said: "Maybe we just didn't meet each other."
Mai Xiaojudao: "Maybe, but I think this may be a key. Let's check the situation in this ruined temple first, and then go back to Maomaogou New Village to see how many people surnamed Liu there are.
household."
I understand what Mai Xiaorou means. She suspects that something happened to the people named Liu here. Either they moved away or they all died.
The reason for these changes is most likely related to the rumors of the ruined temple being haunted.
I asked Mai Xiaorou if she thought so. She walked up to me, took my arm and said two words: "Smart!"
Then we walked around the ruined temple again and found no more valuable clues.
We took a photo of the broken stone monument with our mobile phone and left.
We still didn't go up the mountain, but went to Maomaogou New Village first. When we got there, we found out that there was no family named Liu here. Not only that, people in the village also said that their village has always been full of horses.
The surnames are mainly Zhang and Zhang, and there has never been a Liu surname.
We found a few elderly people in their 80s and 90s, and they all said the same thing.
We then asked if there were any people named Liu in other nearby villages. After asking around, we found out that there were people named Li and Wang in other villages, but there were only a handful of people named Liu. Even if there were, they had moved here in recent years and were not local at all.
people.
After some inquiring, we were basically sure that there was something wrong with the merit stele in the ruined temple.
After leaving Mao Maogou New Village, Mai Xiaoju said: "Perhaps if we figure out the whereabouts of those people named Liu, we can unlock the secrets here, and even find out what your father and Liu Shengfu stole from the children's graves on the top of the mountain.
What is that thing?"
I nodded.
This matter is really getting more and more complicated.
I asked Mai Xiaorou if it was time to go up the mountain next. She thought for a moment and said, "Yes, but after so many years, there may not be any clues on the mountain, so we shouldn't have high hopes."
Mai Xiaorou was right. The temple at the foot of the mountain was already abandoned, and the tombs on the mountain were probably in ruins. But then again, if there were no clues on the mountain, there would be no danger.
Finally we decided to go up the mountain to have a look.
The mountain road was already very blurry, and several sections were very steep. Mai Xiaorou moved lightly when climbing and did not encounter any difficulties.
But I felt a little uncomfortable while climbing. I almost rolled down the steep road several times. Fortunately, Mai Xiaorou caught me in time.
Every time she grabbed me, she would smile and say to me: "Chen Yu, you have to be careful. If you die, I will be a widow."
I rolled my eyes at her and had no intention of joking with her, because I was already hanging on the mountainside, and I might fall to my death if I wasn't careful.
You know, my father fell into a ravine and was killed when he went up the mountain to collect medicine.
At this time, I finally realized the fear that Liu Shengfu had when he was climbing the mountain. But at that time, my father was holding him with the rope, so he would feel more at ease.
We continued to climb, and Mai Xiaorou looked back from time to time to remind me where to pull and where to step, which saved me a lot of trouble.
The mountain was not too high. It didn't take long for us to climb to the top. When we reached the top, I collapsed. My feet were weak and my arms were sore.
Mai Xiaorou looked at me and said: "It seems that you need to strengthen your physical exercise in the future. You have climbed a lot of mountain roads now, and you are so tired?"
I didn't speak, I just gasped for air.
Mai Xiaorou asked me to rest first while she went to check around.
I also sat up and looked around. According to Liu Shengfu's description, the grave was in a conspicuous place on the top of the mountain. It could be found at a glance. If the dug grave had not been buried, we should be able to find it soon.
Sure enough, Mai Xiaorou didn't take a few steps before she called me and said, "Chen Yu, come here and find the shovel and hammer left by your father and Liu Shengfu. They are still here."
I quickly stood up and walked over, and sure enough, the rotten shovel and hammer were still there, half of them buried in the soil.
The grave pit is also there, but some soil has been filled in the grave pit. It must have been washed into the grave pit by wind and rain.
The small coffin was half buried, and the exposed half was in a state of decay.
As for the child's body wrapped in red silk, it was right next to it and was also buried in the soil. Only a corner of the red silk was exposed.
Mai Xiaorou wanted to pull out the shovel and hammer buried in the soil to dig the soil in the grave pit, but she grabbed hard and the wooden handle broke off.
I also grabbed the handle of the hammer, and the result was the same.
We dug out the shovel and hammer from the soil, only to find that they were still too rusty to be used. They were not stronger than clods of soil and would break when touched.
Mai Xiaorou looked at me and smiled and said, "Chen Yu, can you go down and dig with your hands?"
I shook my head and said, "No!"
Mai Xiaorou stretched out her hand, looked at it and said, "Are you going to let me use my delicate fingers to dig in the soil?"
I:"……"
Before I could say anything, Mai Xiaorou came over and kissed me and said, "Be good, go down and dig in the soil!"
My body suddenly became uncontrollable, and I jumped directly into the grave pit, and my feet sank directly into the soil.
The sinking feeling made me feel nervous.
After I woke up, I looked at Mai Xiaorou and said angrily, "Don't always control my body. If you do this again, I'll get angry!"
Mai Xiaorou pouted and said, "Okay, then dig quickly, you're already down anyway."
Indeed, when I was outside the grave pit, I was a little scared, but after I came down, the fear was reduced. Instead of digging directly, I stretched out my hand to pull the red silk cloth.
But at this moment, I suddenly felt something touching my ankle.
I looked down and saw a tiny white bone claw gently scratching my ankle... (To be continued)