Chapter 271

"Hong Chenglue?"

"He lived inside Elm Alley; only his gate didn't have a 'Fu' character posted."

This news was beyond He Lingchuan's expectation: "You mean, he originally lived in Baiting Town?"

The child nodded.

"What does he do?"

"Teaches in the school." The child got the second candy and started eating, "My dad said we have no money and can't afford to find Mr. Hong."

A general who killed like hemp living in seclusion in a small town, actually just working as a teacher? The child went to grab candy from Lingguang's hand again, eating too fast, and hiccuped twice.

Lingguang suddenly tilted its head.

Just at this moment, a man turned out of the alley corner, and seeing the child and He Lingchuan talking, he was shocked, rushed over, and picked up the boy: "What are you doing!"

"The grain transport team was ambushed; we're here to find some clues." He Lingchuan spread his hands, a broken piece of silver lying in his palm, "This is the reward."

That bit of silver reflected in the man's eyes, even shining. But the greed on his face flashed and disappeared, followed by a shake of his head: "I heard the sound of killing and hid at home; I don't know anything!"

"Oh?" He Lingchuan wondered, "Hong Chenglue didn't say anything to you all?"

Hearing this name, the man's mouth twitched: "No!"

He Lingchuan exhaled, suddenly snatched the child away!

The man shouted: "What are you..."

The "doing" didn't come out; a micro-light flashed before his eyes, the broken silver was stuffed into his mouth, and the rest of his words were interrupted.

The child only reacted now, and just as he was about to make a scene, He Lingchuan flicked his temple, and he lost consciousness.

The man just spat out the broken silver, and He Lingchuan had already pinched his neck and pressed him against the wall: "Refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit?"

He Lingchuan was taller than him, and this pinch made his feet leave the ground. "Answer honestly and you'll be safe and sound, and there's money to collect; dare to lie and you two will be on a dead end, understand?"

The man was choked until he couldn't breathe and couldn't break free, nodding repeatedly.

He Lingchuan released him and asked: "You said Hong Chenglue lived in Baiting Town. When did he move here, what does he usually do, what happened a few days ago, speak!"

This person rubbed his throat and coughed several times:

"They couple moved to Baiting Town three years ago, and they were quite good people. I don't know what business they originally did, but Mr. Hong opened a school in the town. You know we are poor here, can't even afford to eat, so what's the point of studying? His school didn't have two children either, and he couldn't collect much money. Mr. Hong also worked at the rice shop at the end of the street, able to carry seven bags of rice at once; he had great strength! Sometimes he also did odd jobs for people to subsidize the family. Recently, the war in the north burned south, and two large households in our town ran away, so Mr. Hong didn't have students either."

"Couple?" He Lingchuan grasped the point, "What about his wife?"

"His wife is named A-Jin, a paralytic; she could still support herself against the wall and walk two steps in the first year they arrived, but later she was completely paralyzed in bed. Mr. Hong always bought medicine for her to eat; his house smelled of medicine all year round!"

"How did she become paralyzed?"

"I heard it was because she didn't give birth well; the son was gone, and the person was ruined."

"Since he's a teacher, how did he become a robber?"

"I don't know. Suddenly several bailiffs died in his house, and when the officials discovered it, the couple disappeared. The officials checked and asked everywhere, but no one knew."

He Lingchuan handed over another broken piece of silver. After the man dug the previous piece out of his throat, he hid it quietly.

One piece is collecting, two pieces are also collecting; this townsman's mouth wasn't that tight. "But I remember one thing: just before Mr. Hong disappeared, the patrol officer had just dealt with Liu Yalin and two others on the charge of stealing military provisions; that child was once Mr. Hong's student, having studied at his place for half a year."

"Stealing military provisions?" He Lingchuan's expression stirred. That's right, counting the time, there was indeed a grain transport team that took the Baiting Town route a few days ago. "How to deal with this charge?"

"Executed on the spot, no need to report." The townsman shivered, "I heard that beheading would have been fine, but the patrol officer let the executioner cut off Liu Yalin's limbs first, and only then beheaded him."

He Lingchuan's eyeballs turned: "Where is this patrol officer?"

"I, I don't know." And he didn't care, and it was best if he didn't appear.

He didn't say the last two sentences, but He Lingchuan read them from his eyes.

"Hong Chenglue brought people back to the town later, killed the officials, and looted the military provisions; didn't he talk to you?"

"No..." The townsman instinctively wanted to deny, but seeing He Lingchuan's gaze suddenly turn sharp, stinging his heart with cold, his tone changed, "He, they killed the officials, and we had no way, so we could only hide. Later, when there was no sound outside, those Xunzhou people searched us out one by one and gathered us together; we saw Mr. Hong and were very surprised. But he told us not to panic, they would leave soon and wouldn't hurt us."

"Just that simple?" He Lingchuan smiled; this castrated version sounded wrong, "They could leave if they wanted to; why did they have to gather you to inform you?"

"He, they still killed people in the town, the two large households in the east of the town, both surnamed Liu, one doing grain and oil business, the other opening a pawnshop. Mr. Hong said these two households colluded with the officials to exploit the villagers, so he brought them to justice to vent our anger."

"So good to you?" This guy probably didn't know that he was fluent when telling the truth, but stuttered when telling lies? "Mr. Hong said, he did it for the sake of us being fellow townsmen."

Just at this moment, a figure flashed at the alley entrance; it turned out to be Mao Tao and Shan Youjun who had rushed back.

Mao Tao reported to He Lingchuan: "I went to the steamed bun shop to ask, and the one kneading flour also didn't know anything; later I saw no one around and gave him some bitterness, and he said that after Hong Chenglue killed the officials last night, he distributed some grain to them. I said, he himself was in rags, looking like he would fall over in a wind, how could there be two full bags of good grain under the chopping board!"

Shan Youjun said: "The Xunzhou people gathered the townsfolk to the open space at the town entrance last night. I went to take a look, and there were traces of piled stones and buried pots, and there were unburned branches and charcoal on the ground."

"Pots?" He Lingchuan turned to the townsman, "Hong Chenglue also treated you to a meal?"

"No, no!" The townsman shook his head so fast it was about to fall off, "Their eating has nothing to do with us!"

The medicine ape Lingguang had been staying on He Lingchuan's shoulder and suddenly interjected: "The child hiccuped just now, and there was a sour, mutton-like smell. I see his belly is a bit bloated; he should have gone without meat for too long, and suddenly ate a large amount of food, especially meat, causing stagnation and indigestion."

"Ate a large amount of meat?" He Lingchuan glanced at the sleeping child, a bizarre thought coming up, could it be?

"You just said, Hong Chenglue and the Xunzhou people took the two households surnamed Liu to the open space and killed them, and then?" He Lingchuan stared at him and asked, "Where are the corpses of these people?"

The townsman's face turned pale, unable to speak.

Shan Youjun grabbed his collar, and a short knife appeared from nowhere, the tip aimed at his eyeball: "What did you use for a midnight snack last night, speak!"

"We were forced too; they said the Liu family exploited the villagers for many years, so it was time for them to become our meat! So, so they forced every one of us to eat!"

"How could I dare?" This man actually cried out, "I only ate a small bite, and vomited it back out."

His child didn't know better and gobbled it up when smelling the meat fragrance; those Xunzhou people were also vicious, giving it to the child if he wanted to eat.

He Lingchuan looked at him: "Did these two households surnamed Liu have grudges with Hong Chenglue?"

"Should be, should be." The townsman thought for a moment, "The Liu family opened a pawnshop, and the pawn price was particularly low; sometimes you couldn't redeem it even after saving enough money. And there were many dirty things... their family were not good people."

"It seems Hong Chenglue also suffered a lot of anger at their house." He Lingchuan frowned, "Such a figure, why did he have to endure humiliation in the town?"

This strange feeling was as if he had condescended to work as a handyman at the house of the Heishuicheng merchant Liu Baobao, and for several years, how could that be!

"I don't know."

Shan Youjun released him, and He Lingchuan threw another piece of broken silver to him: "Don't blabber, at least wait until we leave the town."

Next, the four headed to Hong Chenglue's residence.

Everything they saw along the way was dilapidated, most of the townsfolk were sallow and thin, their gazes cold, and even facing Xiazhou officials like He Lingchuan, they only had guardedness and disgust that wasn't too concealed.

Even without the Xunzhou people ravaging, this place was poor enough.

He Lingchuan passed the town entrance and discovered the traces of piled stones and stoves that Shan Youjun mentioned, as well as a high platform raised by a wooden frame.

There was still residual blood in the cracks of the boards, all turned black, but with He Lingchuan's sense of smell, he could still smell the blood.

This kind of place, this kind of platform, was generally used for public execution to rectify the public.

He Lingchuan suddenly remembered that Hong Chenglue's student was beheaded here on the charge of stealing military provisions. As a result, a few days later, his teacher also took action against the military provisions, and it wasn't stealing, but blatant robbery.

Why did Hong Chenglue distribute the grain to the townsfolk?

Besides currying favor, was there also a bit of pity? After all, he had also lived here and suffered deeply.

Then why did he force the townsfolk to eat meat, and the meat of the two large households in the town—was it to vent his own anger, or to vent the townsfolk's anger? He Lingchuan pondered these questions and soon found Hong Chenglue's home.

This alley didn't even have an even ground, and the wall cracks were covered with mold and moss. It wasn't long, but it housed at least a dozen households.

"Seems to be this one."

"Creak," He Lingchuan pushed the door; inside was only a small courtyard and two low bungalows.

This area was only a bit larger than his wooden house in Panlong City; at least the courtyard was about eleven or twelve square meters. In the courtyard, several wooden frames and two empty jars were tilted, and there were black bloodstains on the ground.

The house wasn't big, and the four people met after walking around once; Mao Tao sighed: "Mr. Hong is truly poor."

A great general of the Beijia Nation living in seclusion here could only be described as having four walls bare.

The bedroom only had one bed and one low cabinet.

Shan Youjun said: "The kitchen is empty as if it had been washed, without even pots and pans, but there are traces of burning fire in the stove for many years; this is not normal."

There's something today, the update is delayed a bit; I apologize to everyone.

(End of chapter)