I become a god in another world

Chapter 354 He Family Courtyard
Chapter 354

When County Magistrate Pang spoke, he couldn't help but pause for breath.

He forced himself to suppress the urge to cover his nose, and when he smelled again, he felt that the stench on the captain's body had dissipated a lot, as if the stench he had smelled before was just an illusion.

The man whom County Magistrate Pang called Captain Fang nodded quickly, cupped his hands and whispered:

"Sir, someone came to report a crime in the He family yard in the north of the city two hours ago."

When County Magistrate Pang heard this, his expression immediately became much more serious.

After the reconstruction of Wan'an County Demon Suppression Bureau, everything is back on track.

The county government offices and urban areas were gradually returning to their previous order.

As the number of ghost cases in the county decreases, there are sometimes more fights and brawls in Wan'an County - but because people are afraid of ghost disasters, most of them go out less often, so there are not many such fights.

The police officers were already accustomed to dealing with street thugs in ordinary alleys and hutongs. If it was an ordinary man-made disaster, they would find a way to solve it themselves.

Rushing to the Demon Suppression Division at this time, I thought that the case reported from the He family courtyard in the north of the city must be related to ghosts.

Thinking of this, County Magistrate Pang lifted his clothes with one hand and pointed to the inner courtyard with the other:
"Let's go find the adults first—"

He stopped talking halfway.
"Don't look for the master yet. The Shilipo case has just been concluded and the master has just been busy. Go find the military commander and tell him about the ghost case first."

When Captain Fang heard this, he nodded quickly.

Pang Qing originally thought that his cousin wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but when he heard about the ghost case, his heart tightened and he stopped the idea of ​​calling County Magistrate Pang.

"Brother Qing, it's freezing cold. Even if we light a brazier, it won't keep you warm. We can't settle this account in a short time. Let's continue after dawn tomorrow." County Magistrate Pang led Captain Fang two steps inside and suddenly turned back to remind him.

His words made the accounting servants, whose noses were almost running from the cold, show gratitude on their faces.

……

After County Magistrate Pang finished speaking, he was afraid that Pang Qing would call him for help, so he hurriedly walked into the hall with Captain Fang, asking what case had happened in the He family's courtyard as he walked.

Captain Fang said:
"The first person to report the case was the foreman of the alley in the He family courtyard, who said someone was missing in the courtyard."

While he was talking to County Magistrate Pang, the two of them had already entered the inner hall.

Zhao Fusheng and others were still discussing matters in the hall in the afternoon, but now they had dispersed and only a few servants were left.

County Magistrate Pang called a man and asked him to invite Wu Shaochun.

When the errand boy saw Captain Fang, he knew something was up and did not dare to delay, so he hurried to call Wu Shaochun over.

Wu Shaochun was still staying in the Demon Suppression Division at this time.

Zhao Fusheng had reminded him this afternoon that a ghost disaster would occur in Wan'an County tonight, so he had been on high alert. When he heard that County Magistrate Pang had sent someone to look for him, he quickly rushed over.

When he arrived, County Magistrate Pang was talking to Captain Fang. When they saw Wu Shaochun and the other two, they were about to greet them, but Wu Shaochun waved his hand:

"Don't be so polite, is there something strange going on?"

"It's suspected to be a ghost case, but I'm not sure whether it is true or not. Maybe Lord Wu needs to go there in person to take a look." Captain Fang said respectfully.

Wu Shaochun's nose twitched.

He took two loud breaths and walked around Captain Fang.

As soon as this action was performed, Captain Fang showed obvious embarrassment on his face.

"We came here in such a hurry that we didn't even have time to wash up—"

In fact, Wan'an County has already entered winter. It is not easy to fetch water or buy coal in winter. Not to mention government servants, most people do not take a bath to save firewood.

But since winter comes, people don’t move much and sweat less, so the smell is not strong.

Perhaps it was because the officer was in the government office and was constantly on the move, Captain Fang also felt that there was a faint stench on his body today.

Previously, County Magistrate Pang had been able to resist asking, but when Wu Shaochun heard this, he immediately felt his face getting hot.

"That's not the reason."

Wu Shaochun shook his head. He always felt that he had smelled this smell somewhere before.

He was young and had a good memory. In addition, he controlled a special stove ghost that was sensitive to smells. Magistrate Pang and Captain Fang could only smell a faint stench, but he could tell that the smell was not right.

"When did you start to smell like that?" Wu Shaochun temporarily suppressed the doubts in his mind and turned to ask about Captain Fang's smell.

Captain Fang glanced at Magistrate Pang uneasily, and then said:
"Maybe I haven't washed enough recently—"

"It doesn't taste like this." Wu Shaochun denied again.

As Captain Fang began to speak, he smelled a faint foul odor from the man, like the stinky burp after drinking alcohol and eating meat.

But the smell was diluted many times, and when it came from his body again, it quickly dissipated, so most people just felt a little uncomfortable being close to Captain Fang. Only Wu Shaochun had a keen sense of smell and could smell it particularly clearly.

"Have you been drinking?" Wu Shaochun asked.

Upon hearing this, Captain Fang waved his hands quickly:
"No no."

County Magistrate Pang was right next to him, and he was still on duty. If he missed the ghost case because of drinking, he would be in trouble later.

"Have you ever drunk alcohol before going to work?" Wu Shaochun asked again.

He asked several questions in succession, leaving Captain Fang confused, so he had no choice but to answer:

"I usually drink a little, but recently Mr. Zhao left Wan'an County to handle a ghost case. The county magistrate told me to be alert during this period, so I haven't drunk for four or five days."

When County Magistrate Pang heard what he said, he felt a little relieved and nodded:

"When this group of officers have nothing to do during their shift change, they usually go out for a few drinks, but I have recently reminded them that if anyone dares to drink and cause trouble, I will not let them off lightly."

"It's not your fault. I smell alcohol on you." Wu Shaochun said.

Captain Fang felt relieved, but also confused:

"Today I only took on the case of the He family courtyard in the north of the city. Apart from that, I was patrolling the streets with my brothers from the government office and didn't drink."

Wu Shaochun frowned and continued:
"First, tell me about the case in the He family yard in the north of the city."

"...Yes." Although Captain Fang felt it was strange, at least the name of "drinking" was cleared. He calmed himself down and continued to talk about the He family courtyard:

"I was just talking to the county magistrate about this earlier..."

He's courtyard is located in the north of the city.

Although it is called a courtyard, this place is not small. It is said that seventy or eighty years ago, it was the residence of a nobleman named He.

It’s just that these years were chaotic, and ghost cases often broke out, so it’s hard to say what will happen tomorrow. In short, this mansion was later abandoned by the gentry and nobles.

Once a house was no longer inhabited, it quickly became abandoned. Within a few years, it was overgrown with weeds, and the wooden beams were infested with termites, and it soon became dilapidated.

It was not until more than 40 years ago that homeless refugees entered the north of the city and lived in this ownerless house. Now the old house is full of people of all surnames, but because the old house belonged to the He family in the early years, it is called the He Family Courtyard.

"There are sixty or seventy families living in the yard, which makes it packed." In the middle of winter, when Captain Fang mentioned this ghost case, he actually broke out in a sweat.

He wiped his face and continued:
"Because there were too many people in the courtyard and it was difficult to manage, the county government established a shift leader position in the courtyard in the early years to specifically manage all the trivial matters in the courtyard."

After noon, a lawsuit broke out in the He family courtyard.

"A family named You in the courtyard took a knife and ran to the neighbor's house next door, beating and hacking. The scene was so big that it alarmed the squad leader."

The foreman who manages the He family courtyard is named Wu, a toothless old man in his fifties. The position of foreman is hereditary and he took it over from his deceased father. Therefore, this old man Wu has a certain status in the courtyard.

When the two sides started fighting, Old Man Wu rushed over diligently.

During the questioning, I found out the reason.

"It turns out that the You family is a widowed mother who raised three sons. Now they all live under the same roof. The youngest son just got married a few years ago, but according to the mother-in-law, the daughter-in-law is not very well behaved and often flirts with the man next door."

Today, after a nap, the mother-in-law got up and didn't see her daughter-in-law, so she became suspicious. She looked around for her but couldn't find her. She called out a few times but no one answered, so she guessed that she was having an affair with the neighbor next door.

"In a rage, she called her three sons back and went to her neighbor's house to make trouble, demanding compensation from the other party. Neither side was willing to give up, so a fight broke out."

Captain Fang has been handling these matters for many years, so he quickly explained the background of the case and continued:

"Then someone reported it to Old Man Wu, who rushed over to mediate. He persuaded the neighbor to keep the peace and convinced the other party to open the door and let people in to search the house to see if they could find the new bride."

When Wu Shaochun heard this, he had already guessed the result:
"Didn't you find anyone in the end?"

Captain Fang nodded:

"No one is there. We have searched inside and outside the house and it is true that the third daughter-in-law of the You family is not there."

Having said that, there was nothing weird about this incident, as if it had nothing to do with a ghost case.

Wu Shaochun was not in a hurry to ask questions, so Captain Fang continued:

"This time they didn't find the person, but the neighbor was not happy. He said that Old Lady You had ruined his family's reputation. He also said that Old Lady You was mean and killed his daughter-in-law in order to turn the tables on him."

The two sides quarreled endlessly and almost came to a fight in front of Wu Bantou.

Although Old Lady You was a widow, she was fierce and aggressive, and she had three sons, so she had a lot of power.

The neighbors were not easy to deal with either. The two sides were arguing loudly, and everyone in the yard came over to watch the fun.

As more and more people came, the neighbors became more and more excited and insisted on searching You's house as well.

"In order to calm the situation down quickly, Old Man Wu asked the You family to open the door and let someone in to look for it."

Mrs. You refused at first, but the neighbors behind her mocked her and said that she was guilty, which made her very angry.

In addition, Old Man Wu also said that he wanted to go into her house and take a look.

She wrongly accused someone first, and her neighbor's house was searched, so there is no reason not to search her own house.

So Old Man Wu ordered her to open the door, and a group of people entered her house.

Captain Fang said:

"As a result, we found a human skeleton in the corner of the firewood pile behind her hut!"

As a result, the He family's yard was in an uproar.

When human skeletons appeared, the situation was different.

Old Man Wu immediately ordered someone to keep an eye on the You family's mother and son, and quickly reported it to the North City Inspectorate.

If the case ended here, even though the sudden appearance of dry bones in the You family was bizarre, it had nothing to do with the ghost case no matter how you looked at it. Logically, County Magistrate Pang should have taken over the case.

Captain Fang showed fear on his face:
"But over the next hour or so, people started reporting that someone in their family was missing."

Along with the news of these disappearances, strange human skeletons similar to those found behind the You family’s toilet were found in the homes of those who reported the missing.

This is where things get weird.

Captain Fang said cautiously:

"After Old Man Wu reported it to the inspector, the inspector did not dare to neglect it and reported it to the county government."

In the Han Dynasty, the Demon Suppression Offices in counties and prefectures were not responsible for government affairs, but only for ghost cases.

The county government has a county magistrate, clerks, chief bookkeepers, various runners, and constables, etc.

However, for such a large county, it is obviously insufficient to rely on just these people, so generally patrol officers are set up to garrison around the city, with several people taking turns to handle daily affairs.

Wan'an County has been relatively peaceful in the past year, with not many trivial matters. However, a major incident occurred in the north of the city today.

Captain Fang received the report at that time. Although he suspected it was a ghost case, according to previous rules, he could not report it to the Demon Suppression Division before the case was confirmed.

The people in the Demon Suppression Division are all ghost handlers. They usually have bad tempers and are not easy to deal with. If you report something based on hearsay, the people in the government office may be in trouble. If you meet someone with a bad temper, you can easily lose your life.

Thinking of this, Captain Fang personally led his team on horseback to the north of the city and visited the He family's yard.

"The courtyard was full of people, and there was a lot of noise. Eleven families reported the crime, and eleven dried bones were found."

Afterwards, Captain Fang visited the homes of every person who reported the case and saw the bodies with his own eyes.

"The bones are black and have a stench left behind—" Captain Fang said this with some hesitation:
"I was afraid of being involved in a ghost case, so I didn't dare touch the bones easily. But the coroner who was with me checked them and said that there were no wounds caused by knives or axes on the bones."

In other words, the cause of death of these people was not external violent attacks.

"But it's hard to say whether he died of drug poisoning." This is just a conservative statement.

In fact, it is impossible for so many corpses and bones to suddenly appear in the He family courtyard in one day. It takes many years for a person to decay to the point of bones after death.

These deaths occurred within one day, and it was obvious that this case could not be explained by common sense.

Captain Fang said with some fear:
"Although these skeletons were in different postures before death, they are all the same. The skeletons are completely black, and there is not a trace of flesh left on the body." He said here and analyzed:

"Combined with the disappearance of people from these families, I actually suspect that these dead bones may be the missing people."

He hesitated and said:

"But the families of these missing persons said they saw them during the day. The old lady You, who first reported the case, directed her daughter-in-law to work in the morning, and disappeared during her afternoon nap."

According to common sense, the dead body of the You family has nothing to do with the missing daughter-in-law of the You family - but when it comes to evil spirits harming people, common sense cannot be used to explain it.

Captain Fang immediately realized that this case was probably a murder committed by an evil spirit.

Thinking of this, he immediately led his men to withdraw from the He family yard, and ordered Wu Bantou and the local inspectors to seal off the Wu family yard, gather the people living in the yard in one place, and not act rashly.

Captain Fang rode back from the north of the city at full speed to seek help from the Demon Suppression Division.