In a remote mountain village in a county in Anhui Province.
Old Man Xu was originally an ordinary old farmer in the village at the foot of the mountain. He had worked in the fields all his life and didn't even graduate from primary school. He couldn't even speak Mandarin fluently. His son, on the other hand, was more promising. He had finished high school and was working hard in Zhejiang Province with his wife, leaving his grandson in the care of him and his wife.
His grandson was very cute, well-behaved and sensible. His eyes were big and bright, full of intelligence. Other than working in the fields, Old Man Xu had two hobbies: drinking and fishing. The wine was home-brewed rice wine. He could only eat with wine for his three meals a day.
As for fishing, there were many ponds outside the village, but Old Man Xu's house didn't have any. The villagers raised clams and fish, waiting for the fish to get fat next year and sell them for a good price. Old Man Xu hated fishing the most, and he didn't want to do it.
Fortunately, there was a reservoir in the mountain. It belonged to the government and was considered a public property. When Old Man Xu was young, he had participated in the excavation of the reservoir. It was dug out by the villagers of the nearby villages with hoes. Over the years, they had relied on the water flowing out of the reservoir to feed acres after acres of crops.
Old Man Xu would take his grandson into the mountain to fish in the reservoir when he was free. The reservoir was very big, and the fish were wild. It was difficult to catch them. The mountain road was rugged and difficult to walk, so no one would come here. However, Old Man Xu was an expert in fishing. Whenever he went into the mountain, he would always bring back a few delicious fat fish.
But not long ago, Old Man Xu took his grandson into the mountain to fish. There was an accident, and his grandson fell into the reservoir and drowned. Old Man Xu was also kicked out of the house and lived in the mountain alone.
"Such a cute baby died just like that. Old Man Xu loved to drink. He didn't bring water with him when he worked, and his flask was always filled with wine. We all know that he must have been drunk and didn't look after his grandson properly. That's why he drowned. "
In the village at the foot of the mountain, in a small shop on the side of the road, the fat sister-in-law chatted with Li Xianyu.
Great-grandmother was a tough woman who kept her word. She said that she would take him to level up, and the next day, she went to Dharmaraja to ask for a mission. Considering Li Xianyu's meddlesome nature, Dharmaraja was no longer at ease to let him get involved with the Blood Kin Family or some large-scale operations.
Therefore, he made a task list for him. There were suspected Blood Kin incidents or incidents that had been confirmed to be caused by Blood Kin. There were big fish and small fish. Even Bosch's difficult diseases were thrown at him.
That was exactly what Li Xianyu wanted. He was enjoying his wretched growth.
The first stop was this small mountain village in Anhui Province. Li Xianyu bought a pack of cigarettes by the roadside at the entrance of the village. He smoked and chatted with the middle-aged woman. The auntie also liked to chat with the handsome young man.
"Tsk, no matter what, it was an accident. Isn't it too much to chase the old man out of the house?" Li Xianyu said.
"You're still young and haven't become a father yet. Of course, you can't understand the pain of losing a son." The middle-aged woman was obviously not on Old Man Xu's side.
"But I'm a son." Li Xianyu was not convinced.
"If that was all, it would be fine. He could just admit his mistake and maybe he wouldn't be chased out of the house. But that old man Xu was so stubborn. He insisted that his grandson was eaten by a monster. He didn't drown because he was drunk. He even said that everyone should go up the mountain to avenge his grandson. Where did the monster come from? It's not like other people haven't gone fishing before. Why did the monster eat his grandson? "
Monster … Li Xianyu pretended to be curious. "Did you find the child? Whether he drowned or was eaten, we'll know when we find the body."
"That's strange. Many people in the village went into the reservoir to look for him. The reservoir is big, so he might have been hooked by the water plants. The police came and looked for him for a while, but they couldn't find him. Then they left it alone, "the middle-aged woman said.
After thinking about it, Li Xianyu said tentatively, "Interesting. Auntie, do you have any folklore about monsters or ghosts in your village?"
Ninety percent of the folklore was fake, but ten percent was real. Those real stories came from the Blood Kin. There was a lot of similar information in the company.
For example, the farmers in the mountains found out that their chickens and ducks were often missing. The number was decreasing every day. They suspected that thieves were stealing the chickens and ducks, so they patrolled the area with hunting dogs. In the end, he heard a rustling sound coming from the other side of the reeds. It sounded like something was crawling, but the sound was too loud to be an animal. Pushing aside the layers of reeds, under the moonlight, he saw a giant python dozens of meters long swimming in the water. Its scales were cold, and its amber pupils were like big lanterns. It had a chicken in its mouth, and the sound was made when it split the reeds.
No one would believe it if he told them about it, but it would gradually become a local folklore.
He had been to the northeast, and the legends of the Five Immortals were everywhere.
The middle-aged woman thought about it and said that there was. There was a waterfall under the reservoir, and it was said that there was a dragon sleeping inside. There was also the Mountain God Temple at the back of the mountain. In the middle of the night, the guardian saw the Mountain God Goddess come to life and walked out of the temple.
These all sounded ridiculous. It was possible that it was a snake, but it was too much to say that it was a dragon. If there were dragons in the world, then my family had a phoenix.
Li Xianyu quickly stopped her. "What about the reservoir? Do you have one?"
"Not in the reservoir. It was dug decades ago. I don't have enough experience, so I don't have the right to have my own legend." The middle-aged woman laughed.
"…" In this day and age, even legends were based on experience.
After asking for directions to the reservoir and understanding the situation, Li Xianyu flicked the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it. "Zu … Let's go."
Great-grandmother squatted in front of the shop, watching a three or four-year-old child rocking and playing cheerful music. "Daddy's daddy is calling me grandpa …"
She looked up with a bright smile. "I want to sit here too."
"We'll play next time, next time." Li Xianyu couldn't afford to lose face, so he dragged her away forcefully.
There was an old saying that went, "Walk to the mountain until you die." Even though it was just behind the village, it took them half an hour to reach the mountain. Then, they followed the weeds and entered the mountain.
Lu Xun once said, "There were no roads in the world, but when more people walked, they became roads."
It was a wise saying.
The mountains in Anhui Province weren't high or steep, but they were deep. There were many small mountains on top of each other. It was summer, and the vegetation was green. Li Xianyu trekked along a small stream in the mountains. Along the way, he came across a pear orchard with orange pears hanging on the branches.
Li Xianyu plucked one and wiped it on his chest. He took a bite, and the juice splashed everywhere. He plucked two more and put them in his pocket. After tasting it, Great-grandmother's eyes turned into crescent moons. She plucked six or seven pears and carried them in her pocket. Her white and tender belly was exposed. Li Xianyu glanced at her belly button and forced himself not to look anymore.
"The countryside is better. Everything is free." Great-grandmother was overjoyed. "I just saw a melon field at the foot of the mountain. Let's steal it tonight."
"You also know it's stealing?" Li Xianyu said grumpily.
"The melon field is so big, and it's full of watermelons. It doesn't matter if one is missing. We can each take half and eat it with a spoon," Great-grandmother said.
"Eh, that makes sense. Let's steal one tonight." Li Xianyu changed his position without any principles.
Li Xianyu grew up in the city. He had only seen the scenery of the countryside on TV. As soon as he entered the mountains, he couldn't tell north from south. Fortunately, there was a stream that flowed out of the reservoir to guide him.
After turning around a col, he saw a tall dam. It was 30 to 40 meters high. He climbed up the stairs and climbed to the top. Suddenly, the view in front of him opened up.
The blue sky was clear, and the green mountains were green. The reservoir was like a huge green ribbon, lying quietly in the middle of the mountains.
This should be one end of the reservoir. He couldn't see the other end because it was blocked by the green mountains.
Li Xianyu looked around and saw a dilapidated house in the woods on the left. According to the aunt of the small store, Old Man Xu had been living there after he was kicked out of his house.
They walked closer to the house. There was no one inside, but there were signs of people living in the house. There were a lot of wood, wood planing and sawing tools outside the house. There were also some nets that looked like fishing nets, but were stronger and thicker than normal fishing nets.
"He should have gone out. He's not home." Great-grandmother came out of the house with half a watermelon. She gently broke it open and chewed on it like a pig.
"Hey, that's not good. Taking without asking is stealing."
"It's so sweet. Try it."
"… Wow, it's really sweet. Is there more?"
"There's more in the house."
The grandmother and granddaughter sat on the doorstep and ate the watermelon. The sun was shining brightly, and the cool wind blew from the reservoir. This was a good place to avoid the summer heat.
"Someone's coming." Great-grandmother spat out the watermelon seeds and looked in the direction of the reservoir.
A small boat rowed over from where the two mountains met, rippling with clear and crystalline light. The man on the boat was vaguely an old man wearing a straw hat. The boat sailed to the shore. The old man tied the rope used to fix the boat to a wooden stake on the shore and walked toward the small house.
He saw a young man and woman sitting on the doorstep and eating watermelon. He was shocked. "Who are you?"
He was an old man in his fifties. His hair was white, but his body looked strong. He was very thin, and his skin was tanned by the sun for many years. His hands were full of calluses.
He looked at the two young people. The young woman was beautiful, and the young girl was as beautiful as a fairy. They didn't look like bad people, so he didn't show any hostility.
"You are Xu Guojun? Can you speak Mandarin? "Li Xianyu stared at him.
The old man nodded and said in not very fluent Mandarin, "Who are you?"
Li Xianyu took out his police ID from his pocket. "We are the police. We are here to investigate your grandson's case. He died in the reservoir more than a month ago, but his body has never been found. "
Xu Guojun's face darkened. He stood there blankly for a moment. "The police said he drowned, so he drowned. Why are you here?"
Li Xianyu magically took out a gun. "But you told the police that your grandson was taken away by a monster. We are here for that monster. If it really exists. "
Xu Guojun looked at the gun and suddenly became excited.
"You believe me? Didn't the police say that I was talking nonsense? I asked you to avenge my grandson, but you didn't believe me. Everyone didn't believe me … "
He was very emotional. When he talked about his grandson, tears flowed down his face.
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