White Bone Monkey King

"What's going on with these Rakshasa merchants? Why do they like to go to alleys in the capital so much and always go to direct places with few people?"

Fatty Li held the dog leash and frowned as he watched the crowds around him becoming less and less crowded and the streets desolate.

"It's going to be dark soon, haven't you found it yet? Could it be that you got lost and took us in a circle on purpose?" Fatty Li looked up at the sky, then looked at the old dog suspiciously.

The old dog cannot speak human language, so naturally there will be no response.

After being led around by the dog for a long time, Fatty Li suddenly felt his stomach growl loudly because of hunger. He suddenly sniffed hard and said, "It smells so rich and rich of soy sauce and wine. Where did the aroma of wine come from?"

"Old Zhang, do you smell the aroma of the sauce wine, or is it because I'm hungry and dizzy and have an illusion?"

After getting along with each other all the way, Fatty Li, who was familiar with him, had become familiar with Zhang Weishan and several others, and he was like Lao Zhang when he spoke.

Zhang Weishan, who has a calm personality, looked around in surprise: "It's not your imagination, Master Li. There is indeed a strong aroma of wine around here."

"This place is so desolate. We don't even see many pedestrians on the road. I didn't expect that there is a brewing family hidden there. The ancients often said, 'The fragrance of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley.' Today, we are certainly not deceived."

"But I still have official duties to attend to today, so I'll remember the place for now, and I'll have some wine to satisfy my cravings next time."

Brother Zhang Weishan and several others are also good drinkers, and they all nodded in deep agreement.

But the next scene was a bit unexpected. As the old dog led them further inside, the aroma of wine in the air became stronger. Several people looked at each other, and they all saw surprise in each other's eyes.

The old dog gradually slowed down, carefully distinguishing the smells around him, and finally stopped at the door of a house with a walled yard.

There are two small cloth flags hanging on both sides of the door, with "Tao" written on the left and "Wine" written on the right.

Fatty Li high-fived and said, "It seems that the brewer's surname is Tao."

Then, he led the dog leash and knocked on the door. Not long after, footsteps were heard from behind the door, and then the sound of the door latch was heard. The person who opened the door was an old man with a slightly stooped back, about fifty years old. .

When the old man saw Fatty Li wearing official robes, he was not alarmed and said, "Is this gentleman also here to buy wine? Unfortunately, all the wine made by this old man has been sold out."

It seems that he has long been accustomed to people from all walks of life asking him to buy drinks, with a calm look on his face, without the fear and nervousness of ordinary people in the city.

Fatty Li smiled and said, "Old man, you are not telling the truth. We can smell the strong aroma of wine coming from your house from a long distance away."

The old man cupped his hands and replied: "That's the aroma of wine yeast wafting from the old children's courtyard. If you don't believe it, you can go into the courtyard and take a look."

The old man stepped aside, revealing a small pile of koji that was still steaming slightly. It looked like the white rice had just been steamed and fermented.

It’s just that the color of this koji is particularly dark, dark red.

Fatty Li did not step into the yard immediately. Instead, he led the dog and asked the other party: "Old man, do you live alone?"

The old man nodded: "Reporting to your lord, yes."

Fatty Li asked again: "Have you found any suspicious people around here recently? Or have any suspicious people come to buy wine from you? For example, a Rakshasa man with white skin as white as a ghost?"

Facing the old man's scrutinizing gaze, Fatty Li took out his badge from the Criminal Investigation Department and said that he was from the Criminal Investigation Department and was investigating a case. The clues of those Rakshasa people were very important and could help the Criminal Investigation Department solve the case.

Hearing that Fatty Li was from the Criminal Investigation Department, the old man had already believed it: "The little old man is illiterate, which made a few adults from the Criminal Investigation Department laugh. Those Rakshasa people that the adults mentioned have indeed been to my place. I bought wine, but I didn’t sell it to them. They said they were introduced by someone and wanted to buy some wine from me, but I don’t like these people with skin as white as ghosts, and I have difficulty moving my hands and feet. The quantity of each brew was limited, and they were only sold to neighbors and not to outsiders, so I refused them directly that day.”

When he heard that he finally found a clue, Fatty Li's eyes lit up, he gave the old dog a thumbs up, and then continued to ask the old man: "Did those Rakshasa people mention who introduced them to you to buy wine?"

"How many people did they ask you to buy alcohol from? Did they pester you again after you refused to sell alcohol? Did they say where they were going when they finally left?"

The old man thought hard and said, "There seemed to be six people. It was too late that day, so I couldn't see clearly whether the six people were all Rakshasa people. They did stay for a while, and then left when they saw that I was resolute. No. Tell me where you want to go."

"Six people?" Fatty Li was startled. When he reported the crime, he only said that five people were missing. Who could this extra person be?

"Old man, are you sure there are six people, not five?"

The old man nodded firmly: "Six people did come. Although the little old man's eyes are cloudy, he can still see such a big living person."

Fatty Li pondered, and then asked to go into the house to take a look, and the old man readily agreed.

This is a brewer's house. Wine jars, rice wine, distiller's yeast, some spices and other items are piled everywhere. Even the nose of an old dog will fail when it comes here. In the end, no valuable clues were found.

Fatty Li had to take people away.

Before leaving, Fatty Li's drunkard came up and scratched his heart to confirm once again that he was really out of wine? The old man sighed and said that there was really no wine to sell, and Fatty Li left reluctantly.

When we came out of the old man's home, it was completely dark outside. We were all hungry after a day, so we wanted to find a place to have dinner first and discuss the clue about the wine seller.

"Huh?" Just as he was about to leave, Fatty Li suddenly let out a startled cry.

Zhang Weishan and the others were curious and asked what happened?

Fatty Li walked to a brick wall directly opposite the door of the bartender's yard. He kept clicking his tongue and looking around with a surprised expression.

"Old Zhang, have any of you brothers noticed anything wrong with this wall?" Fatty Li waved his hand and called a few people to look at the brick wall with him.

Zhang Weishan looked thoughtful: "It does feel a little different. Does this wall seem like someone is watching us?"

Fatty Li immediately became energetic and said excitedly: "I just said there is something wrong with this wall. Maybe there is a hole in the brick wall, and someone is hiding behind the hole to peek at others crazily."

Fatty Li seemed to have forgotten that he was here to investigate the missing person case and find a place to satisfy his hunger, not to investigate the voyeurism case. He began to carefully examine the brick wall up and down, and carefully rubbed his fingers on each blue brick.

Brother Zhang Weishan also joined in.

It's just that the power of many people is probably useless here. I managed to survive, not to mention holes, not even a single trachoma was found.

Just then, the aroma of food, wine and meat came to their nostrils, and they were surprised to find that the brick wall was a small wine shop.

It happened that they were also hungry and were planning to find something to eat, so they simply went to this restaurant to have dinner.

There was a small wine shop next to the wine seller's house. This was very logical and there was no doubt about it. After entering the small wine shop to satisfy his needs for food and clothing, the old dog soaked in dog urine and couldn't hold it back. He first raised his legs and soaked the dog urine against the brick wall. , just come and eat and drink.

Fatty Li laughed and cursed: "Lazy dogs pee a lot."

After all, Fatty Li finally took the old dog into the small wine shop.

"Boss, do you allow dogs in your store?" Fatty Li asked.

"Does the customer want us to help kill dogs and stew dog meat for hot pot?" The waiter came over.

Fatty Li: "?"

Several people laughed at the same time. Only the old dog bared his teeth at the waiter in an unfriendly manner. Fortunately, it couldn't speak, otherwise it would have caused black smoke to rise from the other's ancestral grave.

Fatty Li found an empty seat and sat down, jokingly asking: "If I help process dog meat hotpot, how will the processing fee be calculated?"

Waiter: "No processing fee, just materials."

Fatty Li was surprised and said that your boss is quite good at doing business and has quite a business mind.

Fatty Li, who was so hungry that he pressed his back against his back, stopped joking and started ordering from the bamboo menu hanging on the wall.

In fact, they are all very ordinary home-cooked dishes, such as roast duck, tripe shabu-shabu, chicken blood soup, roast rabbit...

"Old Zhang, just order whatever you want to eat, and don't be polite about the allowance. We have allowances for eating out." Fatty Li said with his chest raised, which was a typical example of generosity to others.

After ordering and waiting for the food to be served, Fatty Li asked curiously: "Waiter, do you buy wine from the Taoji wine seller next door in your store?"

The waiter nodded and said, "Yes, sir, how many pots do you need?"

Fatty Li's eyes shone, this is another village where there is a bright future. Just order several pots and have a taste of each pot.

While waiting for the food and wine to arrive, Fatty Li noticed that all the other diners in the store had a bottle of wine each, and the aroma was overflowing.

"It seems that this wine is very popular. Every diner must have a bottle of wine. This is called the east is not bright and the west is bright. We thought we couldn't buy it, so we drank it at the small wine shop next door." Fatty Li looked forward to waiting for it. liquor.

But not long after he finished speaking, he discovered a suspicious point. Those diners drank a sip of wine every time they took a bite of food. Are they so addicted to alcohol? More drinks than food?

Next, he found that several of them were so drunk that their skin was completely red. They were still drinking and eating vegetables. Seeing that their skin was so red after drinking, Fatty Li was a little worried that these people would drink themselves to death. In a small wine shop.

As a criminal inspector, Fatty Li was very observant. He discovered another detail. While he was waiting for the meal, he found that everyone here was busy. They were busy eating and drinking with their heads down and unwilling to talk. They were the only ones in the whole small restaurant. The new arrivals at this table are talking. Even if their stomachs are as round as balls and their skin is as red as a crab from drinking, they still keep their heads down and eat and drink like gluttons, and their desires will never be satisfied.

Fatty Li was observant of every detail because of his occupational disease, while Brother Zhang Weishan and his brothers were vigilant because they traveled around the world all year round. Brother Zhang Weishan gave Fatty Li a hint of color.

Fatty Li had changed from joking to being seriously serious. He calmly nodded to a few people, indicating that he had noticed the strange behavior of the diners.

"Guest sir, the four pots of Hongxian wine you asked for are a small plate of peanuts given by our shopkeeper. The guests will enjoy them slowly first, and the other dishes will be served soon." The waiter put down the pot and turned around to go to work. Another table.

Fatty Li, who was cautious, did not drink immediately. Instead, he opened the jug and took a few glances inside. The color of the Hongxian wine was like red liquid, which reminded him of the reddish koji from the wine seller's home.

I don't know if it was because of the newly poured wine, but there was still a layer of small foam like blood foam floating on the top.

Then he picked up the wine bottle and put it in front of his nose and smelled it carefully. The aroma of the wine was so overwhelming that Fatty Li felt dizzy due to lack of oxygen, so he quickly took the wine bottle away.

Then he poured the drinks to the others one by one, and secretly winked, letting them observe the drinks.

No one like Zhang Weishan dared to drink at this time. No one drank the wine no matter how tempting the aroma was. Everyone noticed that there was a problem with this small wine shop. It could also be said that there were many problems with the Hongxian wine sold by the small wine shop.

What happened next was an even more terrifying scene.

One diner ate until he vomited blood, and kept eating and drinking. He vomited blood while eating, and continued to eat like a glutton.

"Are these people crazy?" Seeing this situation, a few people still dared to drink Hongxian wine without even touching the peanuts or chopsticks.

However, the aroma of Hongxian's sauce-flavored wine is so fragrant that when people are in it, they begin to become involuntarily, and their brains keep forcing people to drink Hongxian's wine to satisfy their cravings.

Zhang Weishan secretly winked at Jiang Jun, his youngest junior brother. Jiang Jun calmly took out a few yellow talismans and folded them into amulets. He hid his hands under the table and distributed them in a circle. Even the old dog distributed them equally. .

Jiang Jun dipped his fingers into the wine in the glass and quietly wrote four words on the table: "Keep it in your mouth."

Fatty Li did as he was told. The experience was very strange, like holding mint leaves in his mouth, refreshing his mind and boosting his energy. Not only was the strong desire to drink red fairy wine suppressed in his mind, but also the breath in his mouth and nose. The air also lost the strong aroma of wine.

Although there is still some aroma of wine, it is much better than the strong aroma just now that made me feel dizzy, chest tight and short of breath.

Fatty Li, who had regained his clarity, did not forget the old dog at this time. He opened the dog's mouth and stuffed the yellow amulet into the dog's mouth, signaling it not to swallow it.

This old dog has become a spirit a long time ago and has been quiet since entering the small wine shop.

At this time, Jiao Liang, who was second in rank, took off an ebony hairpin, recited a mantra in a low voice, and then stirred the ebony hairpin into the wine glass.

His ebony hairpin is also a magical weapon. It is carved from a century-old locust wood and has a psychic effect.

As the old locust wood hairpin stirs, a picture gradually emerges in the wine glass.

No one else could see the scene in the wine glass, only Jiao Liang could, and his expression immediately changed. But as an old Jianghu, he immediately pretended to be calm and regained his composure, and pinned the old locust wood hairpin to the back of his head again.

Zhang Weishan and Jiang Jun both knew the origin of the ebony hairpin. Seeing Jiao Liang's expression changed drastically, they already knew what they had encountered this time, and began to prepare secretly, ready to kill at any time.

Just when several people winked at each other and planned to rush out while the waiter didn't pay attention to them, several more diners walked in from the door. The identities of these diners made Fatty Li and the others stunned...

One, two, three, four, five, no more, no less, exactly five people, five white-skinned, bearded Rakshasa people, exactly in line with the missing number and appearance description.