He knew that there were policemen guarding the entrance of the village, and he would definitely be stopped and questioned if he drove in. In order to avoid trouble and save time, he deliberately parked his car outside the village and took a detour into the village. It was just like the saying, "Sneak into the village, don't shoot."
After walking for about a hundred meters, Li Rui looked around and saw that there was no one around. He smiled bitterly, squatted down, and lay down on the ground. He rolled on the ground like a lazy donkey. When he stood up again, the brand-new camouflage uniform he was wearing had become dirty. There was yellow soil and black ash everywhere, and occasionally there were a few pieces of grass. He wiped his hands on his clothes a few times and brushed them. The obvious traces of dirt became fixed, and he looked like a young farmer digging for food in the soil. However, his temperament did not change significantly because of this. It was incompatible with the clothes he was wearing, as if he was wearing the wrong clothes, but he did not realize it.
"Now, there are no flaws, right?"
Li Rui smiled complacently, but his eyes were fixed on the layer of black ash on the ground. He did not notice this feature on the way here, but after rolling a few times, he finally saw it. He was puzzled. What was this layer of black ash? It seemed like there was a coal mine or a coking plant nearby. Was it caused by the sewage from the chemical plant? He looked around and found that everything was covered with a layer of black ash. Looking in the direction of Dongshui Village, he could see two or three tall chimneys in the distance. He guessed that they were where the chemical plant was located. However, the chimneys did not emit the huge black smoke that he had imagined. He secretly felt strange, but he made a note of this and continued to move forward.
He walked for about ten minutes, crossed a large piece of wasteland, and finally came to the southeast corner of Dongshui Village. There was no intersection, no road to the outside, and no police were guarding here, so he easily sneaked into the village.
After passing through a small forest full of graves and going around a deserted house, the courtyard of Dongshui Village appeared in front of him. Li Rui looked around and saw a middle-aged woman come out of a house with a basket in her hand. He could not see what was in it, and behind her was a brown little woodcutter dog.
Firewood, a village woman, and a dog. It was a typical village scene.
"Big Sister …"
When Li Rui saw the woman hurrying towards the village, he naturally wouldn't let her go. He shouted to stop her and ran forward.
The woman turned her head and looked at him. Seeing that she didn't recognize him, she asked, "Why are you calling me? You're not from our village, right? " Li Rui stopped in front of her and said with a smile, "He's not from your village, but he's not far away. Let me ask you, how do I get to Liu Erkui's house?" The woman listened to him speak the dialect of the northern district of the city and believed him. She didn't doubt him at all. She pointed to the north and said, "Go ahead and turn left at the first intersection. Walk for more than a hundred meters and you'll see the two village committees. The house to the west of the two village committees is their house. Behind their house is an old locust tree that's several hundred years old. It's easy to recognize."
Li Rui memorized the road in his heart. After thanking the woman, he walked along the road north. After walking for about 150 meters, he saw a junction and turned west. This road was the main road of the village, which was also the main road that led out of the village. It was also the road that Li Rui had deliberately taken before. The road was made of cement and was relatively wide. Although there were no lanes, it could at least be used as a two-lane road. At this time, there weren't many people on the road. There was a police car parked a short distance away. Police gathered in twos and threes beside the car or at the entrance of the alley. They were whispering. When they saw Li Rui walking over, they either looked at him cautiously or ignored him. The overall atmosphere could be said to be solemn, yet relaxed at the same time.
Li Rui secretly despised Zhao Xiaotao's actions. Was it something a government official should do? He sent the police to attack the civilians at the drop of a hat? There was a famous saying in the feudal era: If an official doesn't make decisions for the people, it's better to go home and sell sweet potatoes. Zhao Xiaotao, who grew up in a modern society and received higher education and party spirit, didn't realize this point. It was fine if he didn't make decisions for the people, but he actually bullied the people. It was really shameful and abominable.
After walking for more than a hundred meters, a small courtyard appeared in the north of the road. There was a sign hanging at the entrance of the courtyard. It was the location of the two village committees of Dongshui Village. The entrance of the village's two committees was quiet and empty. However, there were two fully armed policemen standing in front of the house on the west side of the village's two committees. One of them was carrying a gun, giving off a cold and murderous feeling. Li Rui looked at the house and thought that it must be Liu Erkui's house. However, he didn't see the century-old locust tree.
He slowed down and thought about how to deal with it. Then, he calmly walked over to Liu Erkui's house. He ignored the two police officers and went to open the iron gate.
"Hey, stop! What are you doing? "
"You … Come here, come here. What are you doing? What do you want? "
The two police officers saw him walking towards Liu Erkui's house in a daze and were unhappy. They hurriedly went forward to stop him. One of the younger police officers even grabbed his clothes.
Li Rui looked back at the two and said blankly, "I'm looking for my second uncle. What's wrong? Can't I? Is it illegal? "
The two policemen saw that the moment he opened his mouth, he was a villager. Only villagers with a lower social class would talk about "breaking the law". This also showed that they were people at the bottom of society who were deeply poisoned by the remnants of feudal class oppression. The word "law" was deeply engraved in their bones. They smiled contemptuously.
The younger police officer let go of him and said, "Liu Erkui is your second uncle? It's not illegal for you to look for him. However, you can't look for him now. Let's talk about it in a few days. Ah, let's go, let's go. "Li Rui asked," Why can't I look for him? I have something to do with him. " The younger police officer said, "He committed a crime and is under strict supervision. The people inside can't come out and the people outside can't go in. Do you understand? If you understand, then hurry up and leave. Don't look for trouble. "Li Rui asked," Is it because of the petition he organized? "The younger police officer stared and said," Nonsense, isn't it because of that? What, you had a part in that? "Li Rui hurriedly shook his head and said," No, no. I didn't participate. I'll go back first. "After saying that, he turned around and walked back the way he came.
The younger police officer sneered and muttered, "I thought he was an unruly citizen. Turns out he's also a coward!"
The middle-aged police officer with the gun nodded and said, "Unruly citizens are also afraid of democratic dictatorship. They know they won't have a good time if they fall into our hands."
Li Rui's footsteps were quick. After passing by the village's two committees, he found a small alley facing north. He looked back and saw that the two police officers weren't looking at him. In a flash, he entered the alley. He wanted to use this opportunity to go around to the back of Liu Erkui's house and think of a way to jump over the wall to find Liu Erkui. His luck was not bad. The alley that he randomly walked into just happened to lead west to the back of Liu Erkui's house. He first walked a dozen steps to the north, then turned west. After walking another dozen steps, he saw a huge locust tree that covered a radius of ten meters. The branches and leaves were lush and the top of the tree was like a canopy. The locust tree was not tall, only a dozen meters tall. However, the trunk was extremely thick, almost a meter in diameter. Most of the core of the tree had already been corroded. It was only supported by the bark and the other half of the trunk. The empty core of the tree was black, as if it had been burned by fire or struck by lightning.
Li Rui saw this huge locust tree and secretly cheered. There weren't many old trees like this in the city nowadays. They could be described as rare. He hoped that it could continue to live healthily … Just as he was sighing with emotion, he suddenly saw something white emerge from the empty core of the tree.
He was slightly startled. He focused his eyes and saw that it was a white-haired human head that emerged from the core of the tree. He never would have thought that such an absurd thing would happen. He was so shocked that his heart jumped. His body involuntarily shivered and he was instantly petrified.
"A person came out of the tree? This … Is this an illusion or is this real? But how can this be real? How can a person come out of the tree? Could it be that the Huai Nan dream happened to me? "
The Huai Nan dream was a legendary story recorded in the Tang Dynasty's Li Gongzuo's Biography of Nanke Prefect. It said that there was a person named Chunyu Chi who was drunk under an ancient locust tree and dreamt that he was in a city. On the city gate tower was written the words' Huai An Kingdom '. Afterwards, he was recruited by the Huai An King as his son-in-law. After that, he served as the Nanke Prefect for thirty years and enjoyed great wealth. After waking up, he found that there were ant nests and tree cavities under the locust tree. This was the Huai An Kingdom and Nanke County in his dream.
In other words, if it wasn't a dream, how could a living person freely enter and exit the locust tree?
Li Rui rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. His heart was even more shocked as he stared blankly at the white head. He watched as the head first came out, then the shoulders, two arms, one of which was holding a sharp butcher's knife. Then it was the upper body, followed by the two legs, and finally the entire person came out of the tree. It was a skinny old man in his sixties or seventies. His hair and beard were already white and his face was full of wrinkles. However, his eyes were bright and his expression was gloomy and full of murderous intent.
"Damn … I'm going to faint. It's actually a real person?! A living person?! This is too inconceivable! "
Li Rui was dumbfounded. He stared at the old man coming out and didn't know what to say.
After the old man stood on the ground, he glanced at him. Seeing that he didn't recognize him, he didn't care. He held the butcher's knife in his right hand and walked out aggressively. He cursed and muttered to himself, "You won't let my family live, so you shouldn't think of living either. Today, we'll all die together. Let's see who dies first!"
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