Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 632

After the people from Chuiliu Village set off with the troupe, they drove for more than 20 miles.Half of them wanted to go back to Ninghai Prefecture to deal with the Military Control Commission, and then go home for the New Year; the other half wanted to get the food back as soon as possible, so there was no delay on the way.

Near noon, the sky suddenly became gloomy. After a while, velvet-like snowflakes fell, and after only one meal, the distant mountains and near outlines became a dazzling white world of ice and snow. The road has also become more or less hazy.

Everyone in the theater troupe on the carriage was shivering from the cold, and they were all tired after driving for half a day.Seeing that the snow was too heavy to make it easy for the team leader, he had to ask the leader to take everyone up a gentle slope to the west of the post road, where there was an abandoned temple.

This is a courtyard with three entrances. The main hall in the front yard was burned to the ground by the fire, the mountain gate has collapsed, and even the sign is gone.Fortunately, someone opened a big hole in the west wall, so everyone drove their carriages into the yard, and villagers from Chuiliu Village also came in with their wheelbarrows.

Yang Ertang, Li Dachun and others walked around the ruined main hall and came to the empty backyard. They saw that except for the rooms in the west wing, only a corner collapsed, and the row of houses in the east wing had become ruined purlins and broken eaves, falling an inch thick. snow cover.The whistling north wind reverberated throughout the courtyard, if it weren't for the large number of them, it would really make people feel dizzy.

Li Dachun turned his head and looked around, and saw a well in front of the dilapidated east wing, the dark mouth of the well was particularly conspicuous in the snow.After rushing all the way in the morning, he almost drank the water in the gourd, so he thought about getting some water.Unexpectedly, I just took two steps, but unexpectedly there was ice on the ground, but it was covered by snow, and it slipped with a "chick", and I came to a big horse party after sitting down!
Pfft, Yang Ertang and the others were all amused. Just as they were about to speak, the straw curtains of the west wing moved, and a dozen or so unkempt beggars came out.These people were wearing tattered clothes and swollen cysts, holding dog-beating sticks in their hands, and put on a defensive posture.

"What are you doing?"

Yang Ertang and the others were taken aback, they didn't expect that there were actually people living here.The male dancer named Cui Cui whispered in a sharp voice: "Huh~~ It's so embarrassing."

It is not a good thing to say that people are dirty in front of beggars, so Yang Ertang hurriedly said: "I'm sorry, we are passing by, and the snow is too heavy to avoid it."

The beggars didn't move, and after a while, a person said in a hoarse voice: "Go into the house and warm up, what are you doing stupidly!"

Yang Ertang followed the voice, and saw that the man was wearing an old sheepskin robe with oil stains, a pair of filthy coarse cloth boots, and an old felt hat that was pushed down so low that only half of it was dirty. bearded face.

All the beggars turned around and entered the house after hearing the words.Seeing this, Yang Ertang had no choice but to call Li Dachun and others back to the front yard, and told the troupe about the situation.

Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard that someone had occupied the backyard.In the end, he had to go to the remnants of the main hall that had been blackened by the smoke and fire, cleared out an open space, and propped up a large piece of tarpaulin with the flagpoles from the theater troupe and the sticks from Weeping Liu Village, and managed to barely perch.

But it’s not enough just to have a place to hide from the snow, and we have to get firewood to start a fire. It’s best to boil a pot of hot water so that everyone can get rid of the cold and eat dry food.Li Dachun volunteered and took two people to look for wood in the collapsed east wing of the backyard. Yang Ertang didn't want to stay in the cold tent, thinking that there must be hay in the beggar's house, so he decided to ask them to use hay as a fire thing.

He came to the backyard and patted twice on the window edge of the west wing that was blocked by the straw curtain. After a while, the hoarse voice sounded again: "What are you doing?"

"Brother, do you have any hay in ye's house? I'll get some hay with ye, and make a fire."

He waited for a while, then he heard a rumbling sound coming from the room, as if someone was walking, and then the voice said again: "Come in and get it."

"Thanks!"

Yang Ertang opened the straw curtain and entered the room, and a hot air mixed with the smell of sweat and feet rushed towards his face.The light in the room was very dim, and when he came in from the white snow, he could hardly see anything clearly.After calming down for a while, look again, okay, the two wing rooms are actually connected, and a dozen or so people are lying on the floor near the west wall with their backs bent. The scorched jet-black kettle was hanging on the rack, gurgling and steaming from the spout.And on the kang at the north end, the man in the sheepskin robe who was sitting cross-legged was squinting at him.

This person doesn't wear a hat now. He has a slightly thin round face, big eyes, a flat nose, and a shaggy beard. His face looks dirty. The sludge is still smoked.

Before coming to this troupe, Yang Ertang had followed other troupes around the world for more than ten years, and met countless people from all walks of life.At this moment, he felt that there was something wrong with the group of Huazi in front of him, but what was wrong, he couldn't figure it out for a while.

The guy on the kang said hoarsely: "It's almost New Year's Eve, what do you guys like Nen do?"

Yang Ertang said with a sneer: "What else can I do, just hang out with the troupe."

At this time, a beggar on the floor suddenly regained his spirits and asked, "You can sing? Come and listen to me."

"I'm just an errand runner, but I'm not that good at it." Yang Ertang grinned after saying that, and the beggars saw that this guy was missing a front tooth, so their expressions of anticipation dimmed again, and they lowered their heads in disbelief. Leave him alone.

Yang Ertang said again: "Hey, when I passed by the county a few days ago, I heard that the yamen was distributing porridge and food, why don't you go?"

"If the government's words can be believed, old sows can climb trees." Cursed in a hoarse voice, he reached into his bosom and groped for a while, caught a flea, threw it into the fire under the kang, and let out a cry There was a "snap".Only then did he put a bed on the floor and said: "San'er, get some hay from under your bed and give it to someone to light a fire. It's not easy to go out in this situation."

Yang Ertang blinked, took the hay handed over, put it in his arms, bowed to thank him, turned and left the house.He walked out of the yard quickly, then became a stride, and several times almost slipped and fell.When he came under the tarpaulin tent, he grabbed the theater troupe master and whispered a few words under the puzzled eyes of everyone.

The theater troupe leader was stunned for a moment, looked at Yang Ertang and said, "Nenmu got it wrong?"

Yang Ertang said anxiously: "I can't be wrong! I have been in the world for more than ten years, and I still have this sharp eye!"

The class leader pondered for a moment, then turned his head and said to the people hiding in the snow in the tent: "Listen to me now, everyone shut up!"

Although everyone felt strange, they still fell silent.As the theatrical troupe leader began to explain softly, everyone's faces became more and more ugly. become a cold place.

Li Dachun took the two of them and managed to find a few dry rafters from the ruins. When they returned to the front yard, they were dumbfounded. The tents they had set up before had been withdrawn, and everyone was packing their things against the wind and snow. Loading the car, it seems that it is going to be on the road immediately.

He carried the wood and walked to the carriage, and said fatly: "Then?"

A person from the same village leaned over and said softly, "Dachun, don't make a fuss, I'll tell you."

After a while, Li Dachun's eyes widened, and he asked in surprise: "Nen said they are old melon thieves?"

"Exactly!"

"Mother, why run away, fuck them!"

"Fatty! What are we doing here? A hundred and ten people are waiting for us to transport food back!"

Well, Li Dachun sighed helplessly, and had to set off quietly with everyone.

A group of people got on the post road and walked seven or eight miles away. Then the male female role named Cuicui asked Yang Ertang curiously: "Ertang, how do you know that those bastards are old melon thieves?"

Yang Ertang said triumphantly: "I want to hide it from my eyes, but I'm still young!"

"Second cousin, tell us about it, it will also increase your knowledge."

"That's right, don't say anything!"

"Hey~~ How can you pinch someone, old man!" Yang Ertang escaped Cui Cui's "claw", and then told the people around him what he saw in the house, and then explained: "I have been in the rivers and lakes for many years. , Huazi has seen countless, if the real Huazi caught fleas, they would eat them as meat, but that person was fine, but he was thrown into the fire, I saw it wrong, there is no such Huazi in the world."

"When I followed my master to the rivers and lakes, I heard from his old man that on the ground in Shandong, there is a group of old melon thieves who like to pretend to be flowers. They wear tattered clothes, and they are in small groups. Empty temples, empty kilns, and thatched sheds by the roadside. Wait until dusk and five drums. If you encounter one or two travelers who are alone on the road, you will murder them immediately. Either kill them with a knife or strangle them with a rope, and then kill them People strip off their clothes, put on their own tattered clothes, and throw some baskets, dog-beating sticks, bowls and chopsticks next to the corpses, so as to pretend that Hanako has been killed. When the government finds this kind of thing, it often Take it as someone looking for revenge, and idlers can't find out at all."

Everyone clicked their tongues when they heard this, thinking that there is such a vicious person.At this time, the theatrical troupe leader who was sitting in the car and huddling with Cuicui to keep warm said: "I have heard it from a familiar yamen servant before that this old melon is ruthless and ruthless! In addition to what Ertang said, there is another way to pretend If you are a businessman, you mix in and out. If you focus on a single traveler with money, let a thief sleep with him. The relationship is very close, and they are called lobbyists in the industry. If there are two travelers, arrange two thieves to be the lobbyist. guest"

Everyone listened with enthusiasm, but the theater troupe leader suddenly stopped talking, and turned to shout loudly to everyone who was marching in the snow: "Everyone work harder, it seems that we won't be able to reach the city of Zhou in the future. Let's endure it before leaving." Ten miles, go to a village ten miles south of the city to deal with it overnight."

"Got it!"

"Leader, you haven't finished yet! What else?" Everyone listened curiously, walking non-stop, and didn't care about hard work for a moment.

"In addition to the lobbyists, there is also a group of gangsters called Dabang. The thieves of the Dabang gang go to the ground they have found in advance to dig holes. As for the lobbyists, they will lure travelers to get up early the next day and go on the road together. Digging the ground, take advantage of unprepared."

The theatrical troupe owner said, and suddenly hugged Cui Cui from behind, which startled the other party and screamed involuntarily.Only then did the troupe owner say: "The lobbyist will pull out the rope from his sleeve, and just pull it from the back."

Regardless of the cold weather, Cui Cui's face turned red, and she lowered her head in embarrassment. At this time, everyone around her pursed their lips and lowered their heads in joy, and the snow fell from their hats and shoulders.Xin said that the boss is really bad enough to take advantage of it under the watchful eyes of everyone.

The owner of the theater troupe had eaten enough tofu, so he let go of Cuicui's hand, stuffed it into the sleeve with satisfaction, and continued: "They call this "online" in the industry. Walk more than ten steps with your back on your back, no matter how strong you are. I have to die. When I reached the pre-dug earth pit, I was afraid that the person would not die completely, and I would have to vent my breath, so I took a knife and stabbed it in the stomach. Alas!"

Then someone asked, "And then?"

With a lively interface, he said: "Then after grabbing the things, throw people directly into the pit and bury them! Who can find them in the wilderness, these people who have suffered thousands of knives!"

Everyone was silent after hearing this, and the more they thought about it, the more terrified they became. If they stayed in the ruined temple to hide from the snow, they might encounter something unexpected at night.Regardless of how many of them there are, most of them are timid and honest people. If they really encounter old melon thieves armed with weapons, few dare to resist.So they looked at Yang Ertang with gratitude, thanks to his carefulness.

"Dachun, I feel that I have to apologize to my second cousin for being tender."

"Huh?" Li Dachun thought in his heart, what is the situation?Just talk about old melon thieves, how did you get me involved?

"Yes, I think what Erhuai said is right. Dachun, you shouldn't have hit her."

"." Li Dachun's nose was about to smoke, he rolled his eyes, and decided to ignore it.

Afterwards, the group walked for two hours, and when the snow became lighter, they finally arrived at a village ten miles south of Ninghai Prefecture to stay.The Beihai Navy has set up a checkpoint here. Seeing the performance team from the countryside come back, they all greeted with smiles and spoke very kindly.Although the people in Chuiliu Village didn't dare to talk to the troupe, they were very curious.

Yang Ertang found the platoon leader in charge of the checkpoint and told him about the group of Huazi he met in the ruined temple.The platoon leader listened solemnly. In the past month or so, there have been many cases of disappearances of merchants and passers-by in Ninghai Prefecture and Haiyang County to the south. .

The task of the army is to fight wars, and they are not good at investigating cases. In addition, the policemen and servants in the Qing Dynasty were all at home.The matter was brought together to Lu Shoushan and Li Bi, and the two were also very concerned.In desperation, he sent a telegram to Beihai Town a few days ago, requesting the Public Security Police Department to send some experienced people over to investigate the case, and to form a public security police system for the four counties by the way.

The problem is that the Chinese New Year is about to come, and there is no rush until the security police arrive.The platoon leader at the checkpoint recorded all Yang Ertang's reports on paper, and then sent his men to send them to the Ninghai Prefecture Military Control Committee overnight.

In the early morning of the next day, two platoons of soldiers came from Ninghai Prefecture, both on horseback, looking murderous, accompanied by two former Qing police officers in plain clothes.They first asked the platoon leader of the checkpoint, and then asked him to take Yang Ertang and the theater troupe leader to find out the location of the ruined temple according to the map, and then rushed southward at full speed.

At this moment, no one expected that they would find out a shocking case that caused a sensation in Jiaodong.

(End of this chapter)