Start with detective Li Yuanfang

Chapter 266 The Secret in the Village, the Head in the Box

Watching Cheng Wuzhong leave with high spirits, Li Yan walked into the house with a smile in his eyes.

Zheng Sanlang, who was tense, was about to sit up immediately, with a pungent blood: "Li Jiyi!"

Li Yan pressed his hand: "No need, lie down!"

Yuan Dalang stepped forward quickly, helped him to lie down, and Li Yan came to the side of the couch: "How do you feel?"

Zheng Sanlang whispered: "Fortunately..."

Li Yan sighed: "I don't say anything to comfort you. I don't know the suffering of others, so don't persuade others to be kind. People who are not disabled can't empathize with what you are going through..."

Zheng Sanlang trembled when he heard the words, Dou Da's tears soon filled his eyes, and he said sadly: "I can no longer shoot arrows, so I might as well be dead, I might as well be dead!"

Yuan Dalang changed color: "You must not think like this!"

Zheng Sanlang shrugged his shoulders and burst into tears, Yuan Dalang also had red eyes and hugged his body tightly.

After a while, he calmed down, wiped his face with his left hand, and said in a hoarse voice: "I made Li Jiyi laugh, does Li Jiyi want to ask about that traitor?"

Li Yan nodded: "I want to know the ins and outs of your disappearance yesterday, how you and Guo Wulang entered the secret passage, what kind of confrontation you experienced, and how you survived afterwards. Don't let go of every detail."

Zheng Sanlang pursed his lips, and after a little silence, he began to talk: "Yesterday, we were ordered to lead the army. We went up the mountain to eliminate bandits. I shot and killed three bandit leaders. The fourth man was wearing leather armor and blocked the arrow. Killed with one arrow, I rushed forward and beheaded with a knife, the thieves were demoralized, but at this moment I found a thief rushing towards the center of the village, his pace was not flustered, it seemed that he had some other purpose."

"I chased after him, but there were thieves rushing me along the way. I dealt with the thieves, but I was a bit slow. Before I arrived at the big house, I found that Guo Wulang had also arrived. He shot fiercely and killed all the thieves..."

"We met in front of the house, and I told him that there must be a reason for these people not to resist foreign enemies and rush here. He also said that when he just came, he heard strange noises inside, so he wanted to go in and have a look."

Yuan Dalang nodded at the side: "I also saw the two of you talking outside the house at that time, and then disappeared. Alas, if I had known this, I would have passed, and nothing later would happen!"

Zheng Sanlang sighed: "Who knew he would be such a person..."

"I naturally followed and found a secret passage. I wanted to wait for others to come, but Guo Wulang said that the opportunity should not be delayed. The thief must have a reason to expose the secret passage. He has always been brave and resourceful, so I followed him. Entering together, I never expected..."

"As soon as we entered, the villain suddenly came out with a knife. The secret passage was narrow, and I was completely unprepared. I couldn't avoid it, and my hand was cut off..."

"My hand! My hand! I shouldn't believe him! I shouldn't believe him!!"

Speaking of this, Zheng Sanlang grabbed his right forearm with his left hand trembling, the veins in his five fingers bulged, his facial features were distorted in pain, and his brows were full of remorse.

This remorse is real and from the heart.

Yuan Dalang was emotionally affected, and he also showed hatred: "This villain is taking advantage of our brotherhood. If I see him, I will definitely cut off his head!"

Li Yan listened calmly, and nodded when he got here: "This kind of betrayal is intolerable!"

Zheng Sanlang wept and said: "Please Li Jiyi to testify for us and Baiqi, a villain like Guo Wu is just an individual, we are loyal to Your Majesty!"

Thinking of Wu Laoshi, Yuan Dalang gritted his teeth: "Is this because of lard? What is the reason for them to commit such a thing at the risk of exile for the whole family?"

Li Yan said: "Don't worry, I will be fair to the innocent. Then, what happened, why did Guo Wulang spare your life?"

Zheng Sanlang looked at the broken wrist and was filled with grief: "After he broke my hand, he seemed to say something else, but I was in too much pain at that time, and I couldn't believe that the brothers in the past would do this, so I didn't hear clearly... ..."

"At that time, there was another sound from outside the tunnel. It seemed that someone was coming, and I realized it. Just as I was about to call for help, he punched me unconscious."

"When I woke up, I was already in the prison of the cave. I don't know why he didn't kill me. Maybe he wanted to use me for something, or maybe he saw that I was useless and left me to fend for myself. I'm afraid you never expected that you would find the secret passage and find it all the way in."

Hearing this, Li Yan made a conclusion: "You were attacked because you found out that the bandits were moving differently. You followed all the way outside the village owner's house and wanted to go in. Guo Wulang saw that the matter was revealed, so he had to reveal his true colors?"

Zheng Sanlang nodded: "Exactly."

Li Yandao: "Since Guo Wulang has completely controlled you, why didn't he return to the team?"

Zheng Sanlang said: "I also thought about this in prison, there may be two reasons..."

Li Yan raised his eyebrows: "Oh?"

Zheng Sanlang said: "Because the secret passage is narrow, he broke my hand and splashed a lot of blood on my face. We kill thieves with bows and crossbows. When fighting close to the body, we will also avoid the head and face, so as not to affect the sight. This is not the case. Embarrassed, he may be afraid of being exposed."

Li Yan said: "It's reasonable."

Zheng Sanlang said again: "And there must be something they want to hide in the village. Guo Wulang should have withdrawn to deal with that matter. Perhaps his original purpose was to come back to deal with me after the matter is settled?"

Yuan Dalang said in a deep voice: "He spared your life, maybe he wants to put the blame on you, and fake his own death to escape!"

Zheng Sanlang closed his eyes: "We used to be brothers!"

Li Yan said again: "It's quite reasonable... By the way, how is the situation at Guo Wulang's family?"

Zheng Sanlang didn't answer, Yuan Dalang said: "His wife is hard-working, filial to the elders, and his children are also very sensible."

Li Yandao: "It's a pity that after this, his whole family will be convicted and exiled."

Yuan Dalang let out a long sigh, while Zheng Sanlang still kept his eyes closed, motionless.

Li Yan said: "You have a good rest."

This meant the questioning was over, Yuan Dalang got up to see Li Yan off, Zheng Sanlang suddenly collapsed on the couch when he heard the sound of footsteps going away, heaved a long sigh of relief.

Li Yan came to the door and suddenly asked: "When you saw Zheng Sanlang yesterday, how did you deal with his severed wrist?"

Yuan Dalang thought for a while and said: "He tore off his shirt, wrapped the wound with cloth, wrapped several layers, and made a thick ball, barely stopped the bleeding."

Li Yandao: "Fortunately, you are the elite of the army. Ordinary people have lost blood and died long ago with such serious injuries. However, we must prevent the wound from deteriorating. Finally, you can bring one back. There will be no more accidents. You have to keep an eye on it. Watch him, and if something happens, call someone to notify me immediately."

Yuan Dalang said gratefully: "Yes! Thank you Li Jiyi for caring about me, I will definitely take care of him!"

Li Yan nodded and started to walk in the village.

Turning around the stockade, he pondered: "The food has long been hidden in the mountainside, and there is no trace of heavy objects dragging on the dark road, so what are you trying to hide, so as not to hesitate to expose the traitors in Baiqi?"

He returned to the village owner's house and called Yan Dazui and Hu Lizi: "Does your village owner have wives and children?"

When it comes to the village master, Yan Dazui is unwilling to talk too much, while Hu Lizi shows flattery: "If you go back to the general, there is only one village master, and we have never seen his wife and children."

Li Yandao: "Then he lives in such a big house alone?"

Cripple Hu laughed together: "How else is he the owner of the village?"

Li Yan shook his head: "But I heard from your village before that your village master is a very loyal person. If you have food, you will be full. The root is broken, and there is no place to rob... His actions are obviously different from ordinary thieves."

Hu Lizi was stunned for a moment: "That's right, I've traveled all over the world, and I haven't seen anything like this before, so I stayed here."

Yan Dazui couldn't help but proudly said: "Our village master is a reckless hero, of course he is different from others."

Li Yan didn't comment on people he hadn't met before, and then asked: "Then your village master lives in such a house, so no one will criticize him, um, just say bad things about him behind his back?"

Yan Dazui said: "This is not what our village majored in. It has been like this for a long time. In winter, the back room can't keep out the cold, and the village owner still lets people live in it. We all believe him and obey him, so how can we say that?" He's talking bad!"

Li Yandao: "Since you believe in the village master, then your village master hastily descended the mountain this time without bringing anyone else with you. What's the matter? Did he often leave before?"

Yan Dazui's expression became depressed: "It has never happened before, the village master will not abandon us, he must have something to do..."

Hu Lizi rolled his eyes and said in a low voice, "General, I know something about the situation."

Li Yan looked at him: "Tell me, if you make meritorious service, I will not be stingy with rewards."

Hu Lizi's eyes lit up: "Six or seven days ago, a box of goods was brought down the mountain and moved into the village owner's house. It was mysterious and happened to be seen by the little one."

Li Yan asked: "What's inside?"

Hu Lizi shook his head: "I don't know, the box is not big, and it should be a treasure when you hold it in your hand... I have a small suspicion. It is because of the box that the village owner hurried down the mountain. They must take care of it!"

Yan Dazui curled his lips when he heard the words: "General, don't believe him, this cripple can play better than me, what kind of careful care, did you see it with your own eyes?"

Hu Lizi was in a hurry: "I didn't see it, but it must be like this! After the village master left, the leaders didn't let us approach the house anymore. If there was nothing wrong, how could it be so?"

Li Yan stopped their argument: "You come with me..."

The three of them entered the house, and Li Yan said to Hu Lizi, "Look carefully to see if the box is in the house."

Hu Lizi looked for it with a limp, shook his head and said, "It's gone, it's gone, but there must be that box, could it be..."

He looked at the entrance of the secret passage guarded by Baiqi, not daring to approach it, but the meaning was very obvious.

Li Yan didn't look at the secret path, but looked around the room.

After a while, he came to a shelf against the wall and reached out to stroke it.

Every tier has a fine dust of dust down to the sides of the shelf on the penultimate tier, which is spotless.

He sniffed lightly with his nose, frowned, and gestured with his hand: "Is it such a big box? Made of wood, the kind that can be burned?"

Hu Lizi was startled: "That's right, it looks like this, how does the general know?"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly: "I also know that what's inside is probably not the jewelry you thought, but a bloody head!"

(End of this chapter)