Ruins of the past

That evening, Chu Qiguang inspected the research and development progress of the craftsmen and urged the 12 craftsmen. After all, this business is very important, and he comes to take a look every few days. On the one hand, he pays close attention to the progress, and on the other hand, he exchanges inspiration with the craftsmen.

This fulfilling life seems to make Chu Qiguang feel like he has returned to his green years, remembering the days when he and a group of employees enjoyed blessings every day.

After checking on the progress of the project, he left the city and was now walking towards Hongyan Township in Qingyang County with Qiao Zhi.

Looking at the rugged road illuminated by the dusk sunlight, listening to the strange cries of wolves and owls coming from the mountains in the distance, and Qiao Zhi talking to him about the monsters, he realized again... now This is a world of monsters.

"There is a Nanjian Village in Hongyan Township. It used to be a brewery, but it was gradually destroyed after a fire. A few years ago, I heard that the apportionment was too heavy, and most of the young men and women in the village fled, leaving only Some old, weak, sick and disabled.”

"These are real hardships. They can't get a lot of money out of them, so the government just pretends they don't exist and doesn't even bother to collect taxes."

Chu Qiguang knew that some villages in Qingyang County that were too dilapidated would always be in debt if they could not collect taxes.

Every few years, the court always pardons these tax arrears. After all, they are really too poor to collect them. Forgiving them can also show the benevolent government of the court.

At this moment, Chu Qiguang rushed to Hongyan Township to subdue the demon.

Since Chu Qiguang became the leader of the largest monster gang in Qingyang County, in order not to attract the attention of the Tianshi Sect and the Suppressing Demon Division, he would deliberately guide his monsters not to cause trouble.

But when he summoned all the monsters in the county, not every monster would listen to him. He could only personally suppress some troublemaking monsters to avoid attracting the attention of the Demon Suppressing Division and the Celestial Master Sect.

Chu Qiguang thought to himself: 'These monsters are really disturbing. ’

Qiao Zhi continued: "In recent months, it is said that a monster has appeared in Nanjian Village. It often comes to the village to cause trouble. The villagers are annoyed by being harassed, but they dare not invite the Taoist priests for fear of being exploited by the Taoist priests. . Besides, no one was killed in this incident, and the villagers gradually got used to it and let the monster go and make trouble."

"When Bai Mi went to Nanjian Village yesterday, he originally wanted to call this monster to Wangjiazhuang."

"The monster didn't want to do it, so Bai Mi quarreled with him, and he was attacked and beaten."

"Before Bai Mi left, I heard that someone had died in this village. I'm afraid it wasn't caused by monsters."

"Now I'm afraid that the Taoist priest will go out and catch this monster. This monster already knows about our recent summoning of monsters. If the Taoist priest interrogates him, it will be troublesome."

After listening to Qiao Zhi's report, Chu Qiguang nodded and said: "Okay, let's settle this matter before the Taoist priests come. The masters in the Taoist temple are still busy preparing the merit library, so don't bother them. .”

Behind Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi were Chen Gang, Baimi, and Datou, all of whom were called to kill.

Arriving outside Nanjian Village, Chu Qiguang found that the fields were in good order, and ditches had even been dug around them. It did not look like the dilapidated appearance Qiao Zhi had said before.

Then Chu Qiguang and Chen Gang entered the village, while Qiao Zhi took Baimi and Datou to look around outside the village, looking for traces of the monster.

Walking into the village, I saw that some of the roofs of the mud houses had big holes, some wooden doors fell to the ground, most of the farm tools in the yard were randomly discarded, and you could even see traces of decay on the wooden handles. It seemed that No one has farmed for a long time.

A large area of ​​charred ruins can be vaguely seen further away, obviously all left behind by the fire in the past.

In this dilapidated village, some old people squatted under the wall and looked at Chu Qiguang who entered the village. They were all skinny and looked at Chu Qiguang curiously when they saw him entering the village.

Chu Qiguang asked Chen Gang to inquire about the news, while he chatted with an old man squatting by the roadside.

The other party didn't show any interest, especially after Chu Qiguang gave him ten copper coins, he talked to him about the situation here even more enthusiastically.

Generally speaking, there has been a severe drought in the past two years. This village has always had too much to eat, and people starve to death every year.

Since the monster came to the village to steal food, life has become even more miserable. The villagers can barely survive by helping each other.

After a while, Chen Gang came back and said: "I went to the village head's house to ask. There is a monster making trouble in Nanjian Village recently. It often comes to steal the village's food at night. The villagers are miserable."

So Chu Qiguang followed Chen Gang to the house of the village leader. What appeared in front of Chu Qiguang was an extremely thin middle-aged man, not an old man like other villagers.

Chu Qiguang found that he seemed to be the only one living in this house, and there were no traces of other relatives' lives.

The name of the person in front of me was Zheng Sanshui. When he heard that Chu Qiguang was here to subdue monsters, Zheng Sanshui showed a vigilant expression on his face: "Are you two masters from the Taoist temple?"

Chen Gang said: "Don't be afraid of this village chief. Our young master is not a master in the Taoist temple. He doesn't accept your offerings or your money. He just comes to help the village conquer demons."

Zheng Sanshui immediately relaxed a little when he heard that it was not a Taoist priest from a Taoist temple, but then he said doubtfully: "Can you subdue demons?"

Chen Gang said proudly: "My young master has hard-trained martial arts. He can stand up people with his fists, move horses with his arms, and subdue a little monster with ease."

So Zheng Sanshui talked about monsters again, but Zheng Sanshui obviously had no education. He kept talking about a black shadow crawling around, stealing food, digging holes in the ground, and calling monsters. It didn't seem to matter. Very useful information.

"I heard that the monster killed someone?" When Chu Qiguang asked to see the body, Zheng Sanshui's expression changed, as if he thought of something bad, and said with a gloomy face: "I advise you not to look at it. , I couldn’t sleep after watching it at night.”

Chu Qiguang smiled: "I have long been used to not sleeping."

So at Chu Qiguang's insistence, Zheng Sanshui led the two of them towards the village ancestral hall. Chu Qiguang followed behind. Looking at Zheng Sanshui's limping appearance, he found that there seemed to be something wrong with his right leg, and his legs and feet were very uncomfortable. convenient.

Chu Qiguang casually chatted with the other party on the way and inquired about the situation in Nanjian Village. As expected, there were only a group of old people left, and Zheng Sanshui in front of him was already the youngest one.

He couldn't help but think: 'If there were no young people in this village, how could they take care of the fields outside and dig ditches? Can these old people do it? ’

As soon as he arrived at the ancestral hall, a putrid smell hit his face. Chu Qiguang scanned the altar not far away and found that Taoist Xuanyuan here seemed to have not been worshiped for a long time and was covered with dust.