20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 433 Lost Soul
The next morning, the sky was dim.

Jiang Lianheng got up early, washed himself properly, prepared dry food, and gave the horses plenty of water. Then he called Zhao Guoyan and Wang Zhengnan to accompany them out of the city.

The three of them walked along the official road for a while, then turned off the main road, stepped onto the narrow path, and rode towards the southeastern mountainous area.

Although many years have passed, Jiang Lianheng still remembers the way up the mountain and has a deep impression on him.

After all, he is a local, and the Thousand Mountains range has risen since then, and there are only a few hills in the southeast. Of course, he will not forget it.

When we first left the city, the morning dew was still there, and the cool breeze was particularly refreshing. But not long after, the hot sun rose, making people dazzling.

Wang Zhengnan took out a sweat towel and wiped his face. He was complaining in his heart, but he didn't dare to complain. He could only secretly hope that the property hidden by the bandit was rich enough, so that the trip would be worthwhile.

"Brother, how long does it take to arrive?"

"almost."

Jiang Lianheng looked up into the distance from his horse, raised his hand and pointed to the green hill not far away, and said, "That's the hill."

Wang Zhengnan nodded and asked, "Wang Guihe has been a beard for more than ten years. He must have a lot of gold bars and silver coins, right?"

"Maybe there are military tickets from Dongyang." Jiang Lianheng also looked forward to it, "He started his career by helping the Japanese to fight off their enemies, so he should have received a lot of benefits."

With Wang Guihe's money, when Fengtian opens a port in the future, the Jiang family will be much more relaxed and wealthy when it comes to construction.

Wang Zhengnan became more and more excited as we chatted. In comparison, Zhao Guoyan seemed calm and hesitant.

He looked up into the distance and frowned.

The hill was indeed not big, but the clue of hunting roe deer alone seemed not enough to determine the location of the bandit's treasure.

While talking, the three of them arrived at the foot of the northern foot of the hill.

In fact, this place is not far from Slingshot Ridge, but there are three or two barren mountains in the middle, which is not easy to pass, so we took a long detour.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, Jiang Lianheng suddenly felt a little emotional.

Back then, when Uncle Qi took him up the mountain, it happened to be icy and snowy, and the road was slippery and difficult to navigate. The uncle and nephew walked from day to night before finally arriving at Shanmen Camp.

Now that the weather was fine, it only took them half a day to lead their horses up the mountain.

I thought that searching for the abandoned camp would take a lot of time, but it turned out to be surprisingly smooth.

The three of them climbed halfway up the mountain and made a circle. They had not gone far to the south when Wang Zhengnan started shouting excitedly next to them.

"Brother, is it over there? There seems to be an earthen wall over there!"

Jiang Lianheng walked a few steps quickly in response, walked around an old tree, tilted his head and looked over, and was stunned for a moment.

The camp in front of him was far from the one in his memory, but all signs showed that this was indeed the place where he once lived briefly.

As far as the eye can see, it is desolate and desolate, full of ruins.

The camp is overgrown with weeds and green, and waist-high shrubs have even grown in several corners.

Dark wooden boards were scattered all over the ground, and there wasn't even a decent village gate.

Most of the fences were in decay and falling apart, and the horse-rejecting formation was covered with unknown green vines. A wild bird flew up in fright, circling in the air and chirping.

Except for one mud house with only half of its roof still standing, all the remaining barracks collapsed, exposing a few mud kangs, left to the wind and sun.

"Is this a hut or a barracks? Why is it so small?" Wang Zhengnan was a little disappointed when he saw this, "This is incomparable to the village at Slingshot Ridge!"

"Nonsense. At that time, Wang Guihe only had about twenty people under his command. How big of a place is there?"

Jiang Lianheng said this, but he hesitated in his heart.

The camp in his impression was indeed not that big, but it didn't seem that small, or maybe it was because he was too young back then that he thought the camp was quite big.

All in all, everything looks somewhat specious.

Zhao Guoyan glanced at the broken wooden boards in the camp, suddenly frowned and said: "Brother, this village seems to have been destroyed by artillery. You see, these broken boards have all fallen to the north."

Jiang Lianheng nodded: "Back then, the Japanese and Maozi fought hard here. It's not surprising that the cannon collapsed."

After saying that, he led the horse and took the lead.

"Let's go in and have a look."

The three of them tied their horses to the wooden stakes at the door, and then waded across the grass with a clatter, heading naturally towards the relatively well-preserved earthen house.

Although this mud house is trembling and seems to be about to collapse at any time, there is still a door dangling there, which is simply unreasonable.

However, the sun was blazing outside, but the rotten door panel was shaking slightly and rattling, as if there were waves of bone-piercing wind blowing out from inside, making people shiver.

Sure enough, as soon as I walked into the shadow in front of the house, I suddenly heard a "clang" in the house.

Immediately afterwards, the door panel opened, and a short khaki figure was seen running three to five meters eastward with a "swish".

Jiang Lianheng and Zhao Guoyan were shocked. They immediately turned sideways and almost simultaneously pulled out the guns in their arms.

Wang Zhengnan followed closely, but forgot to turn on the safety.

After taking a closer look, Zhao Guoyan breathed a sigh of relief, then put down the cannon and cursed in a low voice: "Damn it, it's a weasel."

"Shh!"

Wang Zhengnan quickly made a silence gesture and scolded: "Don't talk nonsense, be careful of bad luck!"

Zhao Guoyan frowned and asked, "Don't you believe in God?"

"Uh - isn't it time to catch up?" Wang Zhengnan was a little embarrassed, "I believe what I have caught up with."

At this time, the yellow leather man had already run to the middle of the camp. Seeing that the three people did not catch up, he suddenly stopped again, stood up straight and looked back. He seemed a little scared or a little curious, but he wanted to run but couldn't. Running, as if confused.

No matter how you look at the two front paws on your chest, they look like they are cupping fists in this direction.

Jiang Lianheng found it interesting, so he put away his gun, clasped his fists and said with a smile, "Master Huang, are you here to visit us?"

Huang Pizi suddenly leaned down and tried to run away, but he still hesitated a little.

"I'm sorry!" Jiang Lianheng smiled and waved to it and said, "I just arrived and I didn't know you were here. I came with nothing, so don't pick on me!"

Huangpizi was frightened, his fur flashed, he jumped and ran out of the camp, stopped on a hillside, and looked back twice.

"Go back, go back!" Jiang Lian waved his hand and laughed loudly, "I won't see you off. I'll just sit down for a while and leave!"

The weed nest trembled twice, and then the khaki figure was no longer visible.

Wang Zhengnan grinned and said with a dry smile: "Brother, you make it sound like it's true. It's scary to hear."

"Stop talking nonsense and come in and take a look."

Jiang Lianheng and Zhao Guoyan turned around and raised their hands to urge them a few words.

Wang Zhengnan responded, and immediately opened the decaying door panel, and was about to enter the house. However, before his toes even touched the ground, he suddenly retracted like an electric shock, took three or two steps back, and almost landed on the ground. , raised his hand and pointed into the house, turned around and shouted:

"Holy shit! Someone!"

Jiang Lianheng and Zhao Guoyan had just put away their guns, but when they heard this, they immediately pulled them out.

"No, no, no!" Wang Zhengnan quickly waved his hand and explained, "It's not a living person, it's a dead person."

"Tsk! What are you afraid of when you're suddenly dead?"

Jiang Lianheng scolded him in a low voice, then opened the door and strode in, only to see a "person" leaning against the wall in the room.

However, I don’t know how long this person has been dead, and he is leaning on the side without a roof. After being exposed to the wind, sun, rain and snow, he has long turned into a set of bones, and the clothes on his body have long been turned into dust. There are still a few rags in the corner, which will fall away when the wind blows.

Wang Zhengnan followed behind to defend himself. "Brother, it's not that I'm afraid, but I'm in this barren mountain. How can I not react if I try to cool it down?"

"Why is there still one person left in this room?" Zhao Guoyan walked into the room and looked around.

Jiang Lianheng shook his head and muttered to himself: "I guess he didn't have time to run during the battle, or he was injured and hiding here. It may not be Wang Gui and his men, otherwise he would have to come back and bury him. Bar?"

"I don't think so." Wang Zhengnan curled his lips and said, "Brother, could it be the Yangzi Room? The beard was moving too fast and he forgot to let go?"

"If you don't let go, you'll be killed immediately. Besides, does your Yangzi room have a kang?"

"Oh, I thought I could just find a random room and lock him up!"

"I'll ask Li Zheng to tie you up tomorrow. Then you'll know."

Jiang Lianheng looked at the withered bones on the ground, still convinced of his judgment.

This man couldn't be Yangzi, his posture didn't look like he had been tied up, and no bullets were found on the ground.

Zhao Guoyan knelt down and took a closer look at the skeleton. He murmured and shook his head: "He must not be very old. He is probably half a boy."

"Old Zhao, okay, you can see this?" Wang Zhengnan was a little surprised.

"I'm a martial arts practitioner. Will I know if my bones are abnormal?" Zhao Guoyan clapped his hands, then stood up and said with a smile, "But I'm just guessing. I just say it for fun, so don't take it seriously."

"Okay, it doesn't matter who he is to us, hurry up and go up the mountain to find what Wang Guihe hid!"

Jiang Lianheng urged the two of them to leave the earthen house.

Although they knew that the gold bars of the Hu bandits could not be hidden in the camp, they still searched around symbolically.

Afterwards, Jiang Lian faced outside the village gate, closed his eyes for a moment and recalled the path his father took when he took him through the forest.

"It should be here."

He raised his hand and pointed to a gentle slope on the left side of his body.

The forest there is not dense. Except for a few leafy elm trees, most of them are small trees as thick as ankles. However, because they grow in the wilderness and are not taken care of, the branches are spread out, which is far less noticeable than in winter. Looking to the end.

The three of them each picked up a long wooden board in the camp, and while tapping the grass nest under their feet, they walked into the forest one after another.

At the beginning, Jiang Lianheng seemed confident and believed that he was definitely not on the wrong track.

Under the old elm tree, on the back of the steep slope, in the snake and rat holes...

No matter where you look, it looks like a golden bump is buried.

However, as the three of them wandered in the woods for longer and longer, his heart became heavier and heavier, and he inevitably fell into self-doubt.

"Did I remember it wrong? No way! It must be this way. Turn left when you go out. I remembered it!"

Zhao Guoyan and Wang Zhengnan looked at each other and reminded hesitantly: "Brother, if we continue like this, we will go directly back to Slingshot Ridge."

Jiang Lianheng was unwilling to give in and said, "You two have nothing to do. Take a wooden board and poke it on the ground twice to see if there is any empty space."

Wang Zhengnan looked up at the sky and saw that the sun had gradually set. Thinking of the skeletons in the camp, he couldn't help but shudder.

"Brother, how about we go down the mountain first and come back tomorrow?"

"You're all here, I think we should go back to the camp first and search separately?" Zhao Guoyan suggested, "The place where the bandit hides the gold bars must have a decent small cave, right?"

Jiang Lianheng nodded.

In the final analysis, he didn't believe that before Wang Guihe died, he just scolded him as a "silly roe deer" - that was too damn idle!

So, the three of them returned to the camp and passed into the mountain, down the mountain and into the woods on the right side of the village gate.

Jiang Lianheng wandered around the top of the mountain for a long time, but still found nothing.

He didn't intend to give up, but God didn't give him time.

Overlooking the mountains, the oncoming sunlight becomes particularly soft, and even if you look directly at it, it doesn't feel dazzling.

If we continue like this, we won't have time to go down the mountain before dark.

After much thought, he had no choice but to slowly return to the camp halfway up the mountain.

Zhao Guoyan and Wang Zhengnan are still searching in the mountains and forests.

Jiang Lianheng sat down against the wall of the earthen house, lit a cigarette, and puffed away memories of his father while waiting for his brothers to come back.

Unknowingly, the distant sky gradually turned orange.

"Chirp——"

A lone bird hovered high in the sky, making bright calls.

The bushes not far away suddenly shook twice, and the "rustling" sound was particularly harsh. It seemed that Mr. Huang was back again, but he turned around and looked for a long time, but did not see the khaki figure.

Jiang Lianheng felt a little bored and depressed.

Four cigarette butts have accumulated at their feet, and one is still held between their fingertips. Zhao Guoyan and Wang Zhengnan still haven't come back.

Suddenly, a cool evening breeze blew slowly.

The decaying door panel made a creaking sound again.

Jiang Lianheng looked sideways as if nothing had happened and looked at the gloomy white skeleton in the corner of the room. He shrugged teasingly, not feeling scared.

However, when his eyes moved up and finally landed on the skull, he was suddenly stunned.

The light inside the room was dim, but not so dark that the scene inside could not be clearly seen.

The flesh and blood eroded, and the pale skull drooped crookedly, leaving only the dark and empty eye sockets, which seemed to be looking at him, staring deeply.

"scare!"

Jiang Lianheng's heart pounded, and he stumbled back three or five steps, and the cigarette in his hand suddenly slipped.

Immediately afterwards, everything around him seemed to become ferocious.

The chirping of the lone bird turned into a shrill cry; countless pairs of green eyes appeared in the trembling bushes; the cool evening breeze also turned into a soothing sigh, as if choking and sobbing...

Jiang Lian looked around in panic.

"Hey!!!"

"Hey Hey hey--"

His own voice echoed in the deep mountains and old forests, sounding like a mocking sneer.

"Human!!!"

"People - people - people -"

His own voice was the only response he could hear.

At this time, the rotten door panel behind him made an inappropriate "creaking" sound...

Jiang Lianheng turned around suddenly, only to see that the door was slowly blown open by the cold wind. The solitary and nameless skeleton was still lying in the corner, with his head drooped and squinting at him, as if he was sneering at him, but also seemed to be Waving to him...

"Fuck you! Scared me?"

Jiang Lianheng took out the box cannon in his arms, charged towards him angrily, kicked the door open, gritted his teeth, aimed at the withered head, and pulled the trigger one after another until all the bullets were fired!
"Bang bang bang bang!"

(End of this chapter)