Chapter 4

"So it's a person; you scared me to death."

The burly man opposite let out a sound of lingering fear, seemingly also startled by Chu Danqing.

"I thought it was some mountain demon or ghost; I was wondering, it hasn't even gotten dark yet."

At this time, Chu Danqing finally saw the other person clearly.

It was a butcher wearing a short shirt with a coarse cloth wrapped around his waist, and there was a carrying pole not far away.

It was clear that when Chu Danqing was collecting the bones, the other person also noticed the movement in the haystack, which was why he walked over with a pig-killing knife.

"Whoa, two wolves." The butcher curiously leaned over, saw the wolf carcasses on Chu Danqing's shoulders clearly, and then commented: "The quality is a bit poor."

"You've got guts, though; you deserve to die here."

As for wolves, the butcher naturally had no good feelings; the best result was for them to become a pot of meat.

Then he also noticed Chu Danqing's appearance and asked: "Little brother, you're not a local, are you?"

"Just passing through." Chu Danqing did not engage in enthusiastic chatter; he was also observing this butcher.

Don't look at how the other person appeared careless; one cannot judge a person by their appearance.

"Little brother, don't be afraid; I'm not a bad person. I live in Xianghua Village just ahead."

"People who know me call me Jiang Tu. I make a living by killing pigs and selling meat. Everyone in the surrounding villages who sees the meat I sell has to say it's good." The butcher didn't get too familiar either, but introduced himself first.

Chu Danqing looked him up and down, revealing a suspicious look: "The wolves were killed here; didn't you encounter them when you went out to sell?"

Not to mention why the other person, as a butcher, would carry meat out to sell, but it was very strange that you didn't encounter them when you walked this road.

"What? Here?!!" Jiang Tu's attitude was beyond Chu Danqing's expectations: "I also changed my route today after resting my feet; few people walk this road on weekdays."

It meant it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, not a regular route.

If the other person wasn't a master of acting, then the truthfulness of his words was not low.

"Wait, what is that around your waist?" Jiang Tu also discovered Chu Danqing's anomaly.

One will always be vigilant toward outsiders.

After all, personnel mobility in ancient times was poor; if a stranger came in, it was basically impossible to hide.

Even for someone like Jiang Tu who walked the streets and alleys, he only had a fixed route.

"A child eaten by wolves; it's a boy."

"I helped collect his remains and am going to take them to Xianghua Village to ask around."

"You said you are a villager of Xianghua Village; you should know something." When Chu Danqing spoke, his eyes were fixed on Jiang Tu; if the other person made any unusual move, he would take action.

Jiang Tu's expression changed correctly, but it was impossible for him to believe a stranger's one-sided words in the wilderness.

Just like in the conversation between Jiang Tu and Chu Danqing, there was also a certain idea of probing.

"I know; the village chief's little grandson, Third Cow, ran away seven days ago." Jiang Tu looked at the cloth fragments Chu Danqing took out; it was indeed the child from the village chief's family.

"We went to the back river to fish for two days, didn't expect..."

Having said this, Jiang Tu suddenly stopped his mouth and didn't continue.

However, his attitude toward Chu Danqing also changed; the polite enthusiasm from just now was gone.

"Little brother, you've traveled a long way, and it's getting late. Let's go to Xianghua Village to rest our feet."

"If you find the remains of the little grandson for that old man, the village chief, he will definitely have to reward you well."

"Let's walk a bit faster; we can be there in another quarter of an hour." Jiang Tu said, put away the pig-killing knife, picked up the carrying pole, and led the way in front.

"Little brother, what is your surname?" Jiang Tu's chatter didn't stop; at this time, he also remembered to ask for Chu Danqing's name.

Before he died, Chu Danqing naturally wouldn't care about saying his name; if he said it, he said it.

But what if?

It was better to choose a pseudonym for himself; when away from home, he didn't take the initiative to harm others, but he still had to have some defensive heart.

"Surname Chu, given name Mo." Chu Danqing said.

Danqing is for painting; the elegant name can be "Silent Poem," so he just took the character "Mo" (Silent).

Just like Jiang Tu, he also only reported his nickname and didn't say his real name.

Both sides could be considered balanced.

"Little brother, your name... is really unique." Jiang Tu heard this and didn't think too much; it was just subconscious flattery.

Doing business, one must definitely say human words to humans and ghost words to ghosts.

As a result, he found that he really couldn't flatter him.

Fortunately, he was a person who could be considered smooth and slick; he quickly found a new topic.

Most of the time, Chu Danqing was listening and rarely interrupted.

He was a modern person; saying more would inevitably lead to more mistakes.

And listening more could also allow him to obtain some information about Xianghua Village from Jiang Tu, even if it was all trivial family matters.

This couldn't help but make Jiang Tu feel that Chu Danqing's name "Mo" was really chosen correctly; he was indeed silent enough along the way.

The two arrived at Xianghua Village very smoothly before dark.

At the entrance of the village, a large banyan tree with lush branches and leaves was very conspicuous.

However, the most conspicuous thing was the person sitting under the large banyan tree.

A man even burlier than Jiang Tu, at least 2 meters tall, appearing very strong and powerful.

But his appearance was sloppy and dirty, and his clothes were tattered and randomly matched.

However, what attracted Chu Danqing the most was not the other person's appearance, but his demeanor, which was different from his rough appearance.

Chu Danqing was not a person who judged people by their appearance, but when he saw the other person, he still couldn't help but impolitely use words describing incomplete intellectual development in his mind.

'The village guardian of the three scenes?' Chu Danqing thought of the Xianghua three scenes described in the mission introduction at the first moment.

Jiang Tu also saw the other person; he shouted loudly: "Dabao, whose house are we eating at tonight?"

After shouting, he turned his head to explain to Chu Danqing: "Dabao is the village guardian; his brain isn't bright, but his heart is very good."

These words were a reminder on the surface, but in reality, it was saying don't provoke the fool; if you get your head broken, you won't be in the right.

Big Treasure heard Jiang Tu's words and said in a muffled voice with a dazed expression: "The village chief's house; Big Virtue hasn't come to call yet."

"Don't wait for him to call; I happen to be going to the village chief's house too. You come with me." Jiang Tu greeted him and took a handful of pork cracklings from his waist pouch and handed them to Dabao.

Dabao didn't stand on ceremony or refuse; he grabbed them directly and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing.

Then he asked vaguely: "Big River, do you want to drive away the stranger you brought?"

"Eat your food; Zhao Xiaoge Chu is the village chief's guest." Jiang Tu was also between laughter and tears: "If you really drive him away, you won't just be hungry tonight, you'll have to sleep with me."

"I don't want to; you like to fart and grind your teeth when you sleep." Dabao said with disgust after swallowing the pork cracklings.

Chu Danqing heard this and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't have any problems at the start; if he hadn't met Jiang Tu, a villager of Xianghua Village, the village guardian Big Treasure definitely wouldn't have let him in.

With Dabao's logic, it would definitely be impossible to reason with him.

And he couldn't take action; regardless of winning or losing, he would offend the villagers of Xianghua Village, which was no different from falling into a vicious cycle.

(End of chapter)