Bailong County doesn’t have a dedicated place for the Evil Suppression Bureau’s work; there is only one Day Traveling Envoy and about ten ordinary constables, usually working in the Bailong County governnt office.
After Sang Que arrived, she presented the docunt, and soon a very young man ca out, who didn’t seem much older than He Buning.
Most of the Evil Suppression Bureau’s Day and Night Travel Envoys are young people, and those who live to middle age are very few.
This young Day Traveling Envoy didn’t treat Sang Que lightly just because she was a woman, "I am Sun Traveling Xu San of Bailong County. Didn’t Miss Mulan co with others?"
The docunt stated that a few people would co, and Xu San was very happy that soone could investigate the affairs of Pinghu Village. In just the past one or two months, the fog over there has already enveloped the entire Ping Lake area, causing many people from the surrounding three villages to disappear.
It also affected the villagers’ fishing, and a few days ago, a group of villagers blocked the entrance of the county governnt, asking the Evil Suppression Bureau to intervene.
In this world, if you can’t survive, you die. Being driven away by the governnt with batons still results in death, so when those villagers were pushed to the limit, they were not afraid of the governnt people at all.
In this world, Incense Fire Wishing Power is very important, and incense is provided by people, so the court has population requirents for each county. Increasing the local population is also an important indicator for the promotion of a County Magistrate.
Villagers causing trouble can only be driven away, not punished severely.
Because of this, Xu San was already overwheld.
Xu San invited Sang Que and Xia Chan into the county governnt for a short rest.
After waiting for half an hour, Qin Ze arrived at the county governnt alone, saying that the other two had gone to other places to inquire about Pinghu Village.
Xu San imdiately sent soone to call Zhang Yuanzhong over.
"Wait, can we go directly to Zhang Yuanzhong’s house to check?" Sang Que suggested.
Xu San looked at Qin Ze, and Sang Que thought Qin Ze would mock her again, but unexpectedly, Qin Ze suddenly beca amiable towards her.
"Let’s follow Miss Sang’s suggestion and go to Zhang Yuanzhong’s house."
Qin Ze even managed an awkward smile at Sang Que, who remained expressionless, ignoring him.
Xu San personally led them there. When they reached outside Zhang Yuanzhong’s courtyard, the neighbors curiously peeked out. Sang Que carefully observed that the courtyard walls were not high, and each household was drying fish.
Their kitchens were mostly built outside, and beneath the sheds, there were large water tanks with a platform on top, an incense burner, and food, offering a small boat sculpture.
There was soone in the boat, seemingly an old man, but his face was covered by a bamboo hat, and even his face wasn’t carved.
Such a normal Divine Statue made Sang Que feel a bit uneasy.
"Zhang Yuanzhong! Zhang Yuanzhong!"
Xu San called at the door, and soon, a boy around ten years old ran out, wearing dirty clothes with an unwashed face, opening the door for Xu San.
"My father is asleep, hasn’t woken up," the boy said.
Xu San frowned, "That lazy man, how can he still be sleeping at this hour? Could it be he’s drunk again?"
Xu San pushed the door open, and the boy nervously squeezed his clothing corner, standing by the door.
Sang Que and Xia Chan were at the back, while Xuan Yu kept eyeing the dried fish in the neighboring yard, licking his lips. Unfortunately, Sang Que had told him not to steal food, so Xuan Yu could only lick his lips.
Xu San went inside and dragged the drunken Zhang Yuanzhong into the courtyard, taking a ladle of water from the kitchen water tank to splash on his face.
The water tank in Zhang Family’s kitchen also had a shen kan, but it hadn’t been worshipped in a long ti, covered with cobwebs.
Zhang Yuanzhong imdiately woke up, "Oh my, isn’t this Mr. Xu San, what wind brought you here?"
Xu San scolded Zhang Yuanzhong, and a six or seven-year-old girl ran out from the house, also dirty, and ran over to hold the boy’s hand, softly calling ’brother.’
"Miss Sang."
Xu San called Sang Que, and Sang Que instructed Xia Chan and Xuan Yu to play outside with the two children, while she followed Qin Ze and Xu San into the house to question Zhang Yuanzhong.
Zhang Yuanzhong reeked of alcohol, his face unkempt with stubble, but his attitude towards their questioning was quite good, though he began to cry after a short while.
"...It’s all my fault, can’t earn money, made Ying Niang despise . In a fit of anger, she left the children and returned to her family. If I had known, I would have knelt and begged her that day, she wouldn’t have left..."
Qin Ze, sitting next to him, said, "Your wife’s temper is quite big."
Zhang Yuanzhong sniffed aggrievedly, while Sang Que listened with a frown.
He talked for a long ti about how pitiful he was and how much he loved Ying Niang, without ntioning anything about Pinghu Village.
Sang Que couldn’t help but interrupt, asking, "Is your wife Qiao Ying from Pinghu Village?"
Zhang Yuanzhong nodded.
"Has she ever returned to Pinghu Village since she married you these years?"
Zhang Yuanzhong shook his head, "She hasn’t gone back."
Sang Que thought for a mont and then said, "If I heard correctly earlier, Qiao Ying married you ten years ago when Pinghu Village was still normal, but after she went back this ti, eight days later, when you went to fetch her, you discovered the heavy fog, right?"
Zhang Yuanzhong nodded again.
Sang Que looked at Xu San, "Before he reported to the Evil Suppression Bureau, did anyone else discover the fog?"
Xu San shook his head, "He was the first to report, but before that, others might have discovered it and vanished into the fog, so the exact ti the fog appeared cannot be determined."
Sang Que pondered, Wangshan Town Evil Suppression Bureau’s Yu Da said that the ghost fog of Pinghu Village might be related to the Yin Child, but she now suspected it had sothing to do with Zhang Yuanzhong’s wife, Qiao Ying.
Sang Que asked the two more questions about Pinghu Village, while Qin Ze silently sat beside, listening, a small puddle of water gathering at his feet. Zhang Yuanzhong and Xu San occasionally glanced at him.
In Xu San’s narration, Pinghu Village is nad after the largest lake in the southern part of that area called Ping Lake. The village is also the largest, with more than three hundred people, who have been fishing for generations, nothing special.
"What ghost does Pinghu Village worship?" Sang Que asked.
Xu San replied, "There are four large villages around Ping Lake, each worshiping different ghosts, all related to water, protecting them from Water Ghosts while fishing."
"Pinghu Village worships the ’Qingjiang Envoy,’ which is the Longevity Turtle. Perhaps due to this unique feature, the villagers of Pinghu Village generally have a longer lifespan compared to others."
At this point, Qin Ze spoke, "To be honest, my ancestors were from a village west of Pinghu. When I was a child, I heard from the elders at ho about an event, not sure if it’s related."
Qin Ze glanced at Sang Que, seemingly trying to be friendly.
"I forgot how many years ago, but there was a sumr when it didn’t rain for several months, and it was said that Ping Lake was going to dry up, revealing an estate at the bottom, full of stone cocoons."
"Later, the Evil Suppression Bureau quickly took over, and no one knew what else was in the estate, but the first person who discovered the estate said the stone cocoons inside were moving. He claid to have seen a stone cocoon’s face crack open, revealing a person’s eyes underneath, surrounded by fish scales, and the eyeballs were moving."
"Not long after, the person who discovered the estate jumped into the lake and died. He only told this to my grandfather and a few close people, so very few know about it. I’m suspecting, could it be that the ancient house at the lake bottom has reappeared?"
Xuan Dynasty people never spread bizarre stories recklessly, so neither Xu San nor Zhang Yuanzhong knew about this.
However, as soon as Qin Ze finished, Zhang Yuanzhong’s face turned increasingly pale, and he started trembling all over.
He gulped hard, "My-my... my wife Ying Niang seed... seed to have dread about that estate and stone cocoons!"
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