Chapter 334

There were two counties in the capital, Taikang and Changle.

Song Tingfeng opened the file to read. Xu Qi'an and Zhu Guangxiu stood on both sides, staring at the file together.

The content of the file was as follows:

To the north of Taikang County, there is a big yellow mountain. The main peak is more than a thousand meters high. The mountain range extends for more than ten miles and is rich in limestone.

It feeds hundreds and thousands of gray households in the surrounding area.

Gray households are craftsmen who collect lime.

Since the middle of the year, a monster has appeared in the river of the big yellow mountain. It often comes ashore and eats living people. Many gray households have died in the mouth of the monster. ]

"Lack of details …" Xu Qi'an, a veteran criminal investigator, made a judgment after reading the file.

This should be a case that has just been reported, so we need to investigate and complete the file.

Li Yuchun looked at the three people and said with a serious face, "Xu Ningyan, tighten the sword two inches. The position of the gong is not straight enough. Tilt it one inch to the left."

… Are you crazy? Are you in the late stage of obsessive-compulsive disorder? Xu Qi'an said, "Yes!"

After walking out of Spring Wind Hall and crossing the threshold, Xu Qi'an suddenly felt a lump under his foot. He naturally lowered his head to pick it up, but he suddenly froze.

The silver … was heavier.

"Let's go." Song Tingfeng turned his head and urged.

"Oh, okay." Xu Qi'an put the silver into his pocket and followed.

…

Inside the hall, Li Yuchun took out the money bag from the box and hung it on his waist. He was about to go out when he suddenly frowned.

He opened the money bag and poured out a pile of silver. He carefully counted it and immediately frowned, "I lost three silver coins …"

As a person who was ridiculed by his colleagues for being unable to live with money, three silver coins was enough to make his heart ache until it was dark.

…

The three people met the constables of the capital magistrate outside the yamen. There were also three people. The leader was actually a woman, and the other two were slightly younger.

The capital magistrate was also known as the magistrate's office.

The uniforms of the three bailiffs were not much different from Xu Qi 'an's uniform. They were black with red edges on the collar and cuffs.

Instead of the word "constable" embroidered on the chest, there was a majestic divine beast Suanni.

One was at the Qi Refining Stage, and the other two were at the Spirit Refining Stage … Xu Qi 'an observed the three of them quietly.

The leading woman cupped her hands and said, "Lords, I am Lü Qing. I have ordered people to bring the horses to the city gate. Let's talk in the carriage. "

Riding a horse was to hasten the journey, and riding a carriage was to give everyone a space to talk without wasting time.

The night watchman had a high status, so when the bailiffs of other yamens saw the night watchman, they were naturally a head lower. Although this Qi Realm woman called the three constables, she was neither humble nor arrogant.

A spacious carriage was parked on the side of the street. Even if six people sat inside, it wouldn't be too cramped.

The three night watchmen sat on the same side, while the three people from the magistrate's office sat on the other side. There was a clear division between them.

"You should know," she said. "Lord, Qi'an" and was Yu, "Qi", and said. "He".

"You should be familiar with this person. He was locked up in the magistrate's office during the tax case."

The three constables of the capital magistrate carefully examined Xu Qi 'an.

The Lü Qing constable cupped her hands and said, "I've heard a lot about you."

The tax case was handled by the government. As the head constable of the government, she remembered Xu Qi 'an.

At that time, I felt that this person was quite capable, and I repeatedly persuaded the prefectural magistrate to recruit him to work in the prefectural government … Seeing that Xu Qi 'an had become a night watchman, Lyu Qing sighed with regret.

Xu Qi'an smiled and said a few humble words. He looked at the female constable.

It was rare to see a woman as a constable.

The women of the Great Feng Dynasty were not all raised in the boudoir. For some of the more talented women, the various yamens would give them a certain amount of training.

The female constable had a pretty face. She was in her early thirties. Her eyebrows were thicker than the average woman's, and she looked valiant.

She had a lithe figure and was as strong as a leopard. Her chest was bulging. She should be wearing a tight bra.

Speaking of which, Xu Qi'an finally knew why the tax case hadn't been handed over to the Ministry of Justice, but the magistrate and the night watchman had worked together to handle it. At the time, he had felt it was strange.

Because Assistant Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Revenue had an accomplice.

He finally understood these details now.

"The contents of the file are simple and there are many details that are not clear. Your magistrate took over the case first. Let's talk about it," Song Tingfeng said.

"When exactly did the monster appear?"

"June or July." The female constable's voice was slightly hoarse and very magnetic.

"Did anyone see the appearance of the monster?" Song Tingfeng asked.

"At the beginning, the local grey households often disappeared. When their families searched, they found the monster's paw prints and blood by the river. After that, grey households disappeared one after another, and there were more and more paw prints by the river bank …

"The local village chief gathered the grey households and cast a net in the river, planning to catch the monster. But they didn't succeed. The net was easily bitten through … "

It was an amphibian! Xu Qi'an thought.

After listening, Song Tingfeng frowned and asked, "What I'm confused about is why it was only reported now that it happened in June or July?"

"The monster only ate the grey households that entered the mountain. It didn't attack the villages, so the magistrate of Taikang County didn't care at the beginning. When more and more people died, he sent the constable and the grey households to kill the monster, but they didn't find anything. "

When Lü Qing was talking, she frequently looked at Xu Qi'an. But to her disappointment, this genius who solved the tax case kept frowning and didn't say anything.

"After a few times, the magistrate of Taikang County didn't want to take care of it anymore. Or, as the capital investigation approached, he didn't deal with the case, but planned to suppress it."

Zhu Guangxiao said in a low voice, "Then why did it be reported again?"

Lü Qing was silent for a moment and said, "The grey households didn't dare to go up the mountain to burn the ashes, but they still had to pay taxes. They had no choice but to go into the mountain to avoid the river. But an accident happened …

"More than twenty people who went into the mountain to burn the ashes never came back. The grey households nearby had no choice but to sue the magistrate's office. "

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao looked at each other and didn't say anything.

Thud, thud …

At this time, Xu Qi'an knocked on the long bench and looked at the three people from the capital office. He asked, "Do you have a map of the Great Yellow Mountain and the nearby villages?"

"Yes. Considering that the monster's realm is unknown, we plan to investigate on our own first. We won't bring the local grey households with us to avoid an accident and being unable to take care of them." Lü Qing looked at her colleague who was sitting next to her. Her colleague took out a scroll from the bag she carried with her.

Xu Qi'an took the map and slowly unfolded it. It was a map of the Great Yellow Mountain range.

After looking at it carefully for a moment, Xu Qi'an said, "I have a guess, and I think you should know."

Everyone in the carriage looked over. Song Tingfeng smiled and squinted his eyes.

The female constable's eyes slightly brightened. She sat up straight and said, "Please speak."

Xu Qi'an said, "It attacked the people regularly, or in other words, it has a very strong purpose. This may not be a simple case of a monster causing trouble. "

Lü Qing frowned her delicate eyebrows. "Why do you say so?"

"At first, it only devoured the grey households near the river. Then, it began to expand its range, radiating from both sides of the river. Until it entered the mountains to devour the grey households. This is not purely for the sake of hunting.

"First of all, the Great Yellow Mountain river stretches for hundreds of miles. There is no shortage of fish and shrimp in the river. Wild beasts choose to eat according to the environment, not their own taste. If there is no shortage of food, it will not deliberately go into the mountains to hunt for the people in order to eat a bite of good food.

"Secondly, if it is a monster with intelligence, it is different from wild beasts. It likes to eat people. Then it would not turn a blind eye to the nearby villages. But it does not. It only devours the grey households near the Great Yellow Mountain.

"According to the analysis of behavioral psychology, this is a kind of conscious drive."

Behavioral psychology?! Lü Qing pondered and said, "Demarcate territory?"

Without waiting for Xu Qi'an to answer, Song Tingfeng shook his head. "No, if it has intelligence, it will not demarcate territory in such a way. Demarcating territory in the suburbs of the capital is no different from seeking death. And if it is only a ferocious wild beast, it will not do something like drive the grey households away. "

Lü Qing thought for a moment. Her pupils shrank slightly. "Is there something in the Great Yellow Mountain that it cares about?"

The carriage fell into a short silence.