I become a god in another world

Chapter 223 The ghost case is closed
Chapter 223

Zhao Fusheng's eyes fell on this family member.

She had a bad impression of Old Man Zhang.

The old man was shrewd, stingy, a little mean, and unreasonable in his actions, but even so, his family's life was not easy.

It was already mid-October, and the weather was getting colder. The women of the Zhang family were all wearing thin clothes, and their clothes were full of patches.

The three women were all holding their children, and there were several children beside them who were hugging the women's legs as thin as a hemp pole, half of their heads peeking out from behind the empty tattered clothes.

Those children's faces were so thin and deformed that their eyes looked extraordinarily large, but lacked brilliance. Their innocence was mixed with a sophistication that did not belong to children and a hostility that could not be completely concealed.

They were all barefoot and their toes were filled with mud.

Zhao Fusheng turned to look at Kuai Manzhou, who was barefoot, and sighed silently.

"That jar of millet, millet?"

The old woman was a little reluctant and said with a sad face:
"That's the last ration for the family."

"Just go when I tell you to! Don't be so long-winded—"

Old man Zhang was scared and distressed at this time, so he shouted at his wife, who lowered her head and wiped her tears and went into the room.

After he finished drinking the old lady, he thought of the jar of corn that he had lost, and his heart ached so much that he just couldn't see it and didn't worry about it:
"Sir, I'm going to change into a pair of pants—"

"Go."

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand.

After seeing the situation of the Zhang family, she spoke in a gentler tone to Old Man Zhang:

"Come out after cleaning up. I have something to ask you."

"Anything else to ask?!"

Old man Zhang was a little reluctant, Cao Dazong glared at him:
"What's your attitude? It's your honor to ask you something."

"What an honor - I think it's bad luck. If the kings of Huihuishan know about it, they won't get the good news from me."

Old Man Zhang was annoyed and regretful at the moment. After saying this, he was afraid that Zhao Fusheng would be unhappy, and he also hated himself for not being able to hold back his anger. He was about to smile with him when he saw Zhao Fusheng looking at him with a smile:
"Mountain Kings? You can tell me later which Mountain Kings there are."

"..." Old man Zhang bowed his hands, not daring to say anything more, and quickly slipped back into the room.

After he left, the Zhang family also went to prepare water to cook and eat. Villagers such as Zhao Fusheng, Cao Dazong, and Lin Laoba stayed behind in the hall.

The Kitchen Ghost has been controlled, and Guo Wei's lost memory has been revived. He is now in agony, mixed with the joy of having his great revenge avenged.

When he saw the pieces of bacon in Wu Shaochun's hand that could not be distinguished, he thought that his wife and children were among them, and he cried again.

When Lin Laobao saw the bacon, he was frightened and asked Zhao Fusheng how to deal with the bacon.

"The source of the evil ghost has been solved. These are the people who died in the ghost disaster. It is no longer possible to distinguish them. People from the town government will dig holes and bury them later."

As soon as Zhao Fusheng finished speaking, the villagers were a little scared, with reluctant expressions on their faces:
"Sir, we are worried that these people will mutate after they are killed by ghosts——"

"Don't worry."

Zhao Fusheng patiently comforted him:
"Whether there is a ghost or not, we can recognize it at a glance. These corpses will not cause trouble."

She knew very well that ordinary people were superstitious about authority, especially when Kuai Manzhou and Wu Shaochun successively showed extraordinary power. These villagers respected them as gods.

The more determined her tone is at this time, the more trustful the people will be.

After saying this, Lin Laoba and others looked relieved.

Everyone talked for a while, but old man Zhang still didn't show up. Zhao Fusheng was impatient and urged people to send him out.

"Sir, do you want to ask Old Man Zhang for questioning?"

Cao Dazong became a man of old age and saw Zhao Fusheng's thoughts.

He remembered that on the way to Fengmen Village, Zhao Fusheng mentioned the red shoe ghost case forty-three years ago, and asked him about it at that time, but he did not know about it. At this time, Zhao Fusheng deliberately wanted to keep Old Man Zhang Son, I guess because old man Zhang is getting older, I want to ask him about this matter.

"Correct."

Zhao Fusheng nodded and looked at Lin Laoba:

"How old is this third child? Is he a local of Fengmen Village?"

"Old man Zhang has a long lifespan. He is already in his sixties. His ancestors all lived in Fengmen Village. He is a native of this village." Lin Laoba said.

At this moment, the old man who was hiding in the house was pulled out by two villagers, cursing all the way:
"I know how to walk by myself. I have never sat in a sedan carried by two people in my life. Now I am enjoying a second blessing."

He had a gloomy look on his face, his skinny upper body was lifted up, his two thin linen pole-like legs were curled up, and his toes were twisted, swaying like a giant monkey, which was very funny.

'Pfft. '

Zhao Fusheng couldn't help laughing.

Old man Zhang, who had been cursing non-stop, stopped talking.

The two villagers were scolded by him for a long time. They had already annoyed him and threw him to the ground. He bowed his hands and handed over his hands with a mournful face:
"I've met my lord."

"Zhang Laosan, I heard that you are in your sixties this year?" Zhao Fusheng asked with a smile.

Old man Zhang was instinctively vigilant.

I don't know why, but this gentleman was young and spoke softly. He didn't give any fierce orders or scold him, but he always had an unspeakable fear of Zhao Fusheng.

As if she could eat people with a smile.

He thought of Li Dachengzi who was sent by Zhao Fusheng to feed ghosts in the Guo family. He panicked and knelt down and said honestly:
"My Lord, you are already sixty-seven years old. You are old and you won't live for many more years."

"You are a rare old man at your age——"

Zhao Fusheng sighed, and then changed his tone:
"Forty-three years ago, you were only twenty-four, in your prime."

"43 years ago?"

When Old Man Zhang heard this, his back suddenly felt numb, the loose flesh on his cheeks trembled a few times, and his lips trembled.

People's knee-jerk reactions cannot be deceived.

What's more, Old Man Zhang is just an ordinary person. He has no way to control his reaction. At this moment, his eyes are darting wildly, his body is shaking again, and he almost falls into some kind of terrifying memories.

Lin Laoba and others didn't know what was going on and looked at each other in confusion.

For ordinary people in this era, accidents and diseases are everywhere, and early death is the norm. Forty-three years is enough to change a village for several generations.

People who have experienced ghost cases in their early years are very secretive about their horrific memories, wishing they could dig them out of their minds and never think about them again.

Decades later, the younger generation knows nothing about the past events - even if they have heard some clues, they have become just legends that are difficult to tell true from false.

"I, I, my lord, have mercy on me."

Old man Zhang kowtowed desperately and began to beg for mercy again.

"It seems that you have remembered something." As soon as Zhao Fusheng finished speaking, Old Man Zhang shook his head: "I can't remember, I can't remember."

"You really can't remember?" Zhao Fusheng stopped smiling and asked again.

Her unusual tone made Old Man Zhang a little alert.

He wanted to shake his head, but he felt something was wrong.

He doesn't think this adult's temperament is that of someone who is easy to talk to. Old man Zhang himself is not a good person, and he often makes assumptions about others with a dark mentality:

"If I can't remember, my lord—"

"It's like this. I originally wanted to ask you about a case. I am a person who has a clear sense of grievances. I am rewarded for my merits and punished for my mistakes. If you answer well and provide me with clues, I originally wanted to reduce your family's tax for a certain amount of time. Endowment——"

When Zhao Fusheng said this, Old Man Zhang, who had previously been on the verge of death, suddenly stood up on his knees. His pair of yellow eyes instantly widened, flattening the creases at the corners of his eyes:
"Sir, do you really mean what you say?"

"Of course it is true, but since you are old and fatuous and can't remember it, I'll ask other people in the village."

Zhao Fusheng deliberately turned his head to look at Lin Laoba and others.

Lin Laoba and others had been anxious when they heard Zhao Fusheng mentioned the words "tax reduction and exemption". When they saw her turning around, many people said:

"Sir, what do you want to know? My mother is also fifty-one -"

Wu Shaochun was stunned for a moment, and then remembered the scene when Zhao Fusheng entered Goutou Village to handle the case.

At that time, he and the villagers in Kotou Village were also rejoicing because of the tax reduction. He just wanted to laugh, but then he thought of his dead mother, and the corners of his raised mouth dropped again, and his eyes became moist.

"No, no, no, I know everything. You little bastard. There are a few people older than me in Fengmen Village. Do you know what the Lord wants to ask?"

When Old Man Zhang saw everyone arguing with him, he immediately became panicked and anxious. He spat at several villagers in a very ungrateful manner:
"Go away! Your mother is only fifty-one. Forty-three years ago, she was just a young girl. She didn't know where she was carrying her basket."

When other people saw that he was disgusted, they all looked disgusted, but Old Man Zhang ignored these people because he was afraid of missing the good opportunity of tax reduction and exemption:

"Sir, do you want to ask about the ghost case in Fengmen Village forty-three years ago?"

"Yes." Zhao Fusheng saw that he finally understood the point, so he stopped beating around the bush and nodded in response.

Tax reductions and exemptions are a tried-and-true strategy for poor villagers.

But Zhao Fusheng did not feel relieved because of this. She had no intention of thinking about the underlying problem at this time. Instead, she calmed down and looked at Old Man Zhang:
"Forty-three years ago, a ghost case also occurred in Fengmen Village. I have read the files of the Demon Suppression Department. At that time, Qiao Daniu, a villager in Fengmen Village, and his entire family died due to a ghost."

"What? Our village has been haunted before?"

"Who is Qiao Daniu?"

When the villagers heard about the ghost case, their scalps went numb, and they whispered to each other and discussed in low voices.

There was fear in Old Man Zhang's eyes. He swallowed and nodded:
"That's what happened."

In fact, when Zhao Fusheng was at Guo's house, in addition to observing Guo Wei and looking for traces of the ghost, he was also observing the old man.

After learning that there was a ghost in the Guo family, others were dubious at first, but he was the most frightened.

Afterwards, the ghost really showed up to kill people. Although everyone was scared, they were emboldened by the large number of people. The villagers behaved relatively calmly. Only this old man was so frightened that he peed all over the floor.

There are two possibilities for this situation:
One is that he is as timid as a mouse; the other is that he has seen powerful ghosts before, so he is particularly afraid of ghosts. After seeing ghosts in the Guo family, he becomes incontinent.

Considering his age, Zhao Fusheng guessed that it was the latter, so he was left for questioning.

For some reason, she always felt that she could learn some clues that were not in the files of the Demon Suppressor from this old man who liked to peep and monitor other people's lives.

Old man Zhang was scared and excited at the same time.

I am afraid that this is related to a ghost case, and he has witnessed the horror of the ghost with his own eyes. Even though more than forty years have passed since the incident, the fear that the ghost brought to him has still not been erased.

The excitement lies in Zhao Fusheng's promise to reduce taxes.

The Zhang family's life is tight. Although they don't have as many meals as the Guo family, old man Zhang almost starved to death when he was young. He attaches great importance to food. If the Zhang family has to pay taxes every year, To get less than half of it is like pie in the sky for him.

In comparison, what are ghosts?
"It is recorded in the files of the Demon Suppression Department that 43 years ago, all six members of Qiao Daniu's family in Fengmen Village were killed by a powerful ghost. The ghost did not appear from the beginning to the end. Everyone in the Qiao family had one symptom before they died, a foot Wearing a red shoe."

"Left foot."

Old Man Zhang collapsed to the ground in fear as he recalled the past.

When Zhao Fusheng heard this, he couldn't help but look at him strangely:
"You saw it with your own eyes."

It was an affirmation, not a question.

"Yes, I witnessed it with my own eyes." Old Man Zhang nodded vigorously, and then said with a shy face:

"Sir, I saw with my own eyes what the Qiao family looked like before they died. It is always helpful to you. Can this tax be exempted more?"

When Wu Shaochun heard this, he frowned and scolded:

"My lord is handling a ghost case for your village. You old man doesn't know what's good and what's good, and you still dare to bargain. You're really ignorant."

Old man Zhang was scolded by this and his expression was sarcastic:

"With so many people in the village, whether we can solve ghost cases or not, what does it have to do with me--"

Zhao Fusheng shook his head and signaled to Wu Shaochun to calm down:
"Don't worry, as long as what you say is helpful to me, I will naturally consider tax reduction as appropriate."

"Thank you, sir!" Old Man Zhang was overjoyed when he heard this.

At this time, he was more excited than afraid, and thought for a moment:

"Actually, before the Qiao family was haunted, many families in the village had died. They had no symptoms before their deaths. Suddenly, the family disappeared after saying they had disappeared——"

It was the village chief's cousin who first noticed something was wrong.

There are five generations in his family, with a total of seventeen or eighteen people. The day before, they were all in good order. But on the next day, the field ridges of his family were covered with mud at night, and the water was accumulated in the fields. The water in the fields downstream was blocked. .

"Gao Laoqi, who was stuck in a traffic jam, went to seek explanation from him. He broke the door but no one came to open it. When they got to the village chief's house, he asked someone to break the door and go in. The door was also bolted from the inside. There is no one inside, which is very strange.”

Old Man Zhang shuddered when he talked about the past.

"There was a smell in the house, as if there was a fishy smell after killing a pig, but there was no blood. After that, the village chief organized people to search for a long time, but no clues were found."

He shook his head:
"Then someone discovered that some people have been missing one after another recently."

In fact, it is normal for people to disappear with their families at this time.

The Han Dynasty had too many excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. In addition to taxes, there were also a large number of corvées. According to regulations, every thirteen-year-old male in every household had to serve in this service. Those who refused to obey had to pay a large amount of 'purchase money'.

Serving at this time was extraordinary. Many people died on the way to serve. This 'money to buy one's body' is equivalent to buying one's life.

Unfortunately, the amount is too high, and many families cannot afford to pay, and are afraid of the death of their male relatives. When tax time comes, many people flee into the mountains out of fear, or change their identities and rush to other counties.

"But others can run away, but the relatives of the village chief's family will definitely not run away. At this time, more than a dozen members of the family disappeared mysteriously, and some people said that it was haunted. Everyone thought about it for half a month before deciding to report it to the official."

"Good for you!"

A young officer said disdainfully:
"The village is already haunted, and you still dare to negotiate for half a month before reporting to the official. Not enough people are really afraid of dying."