As the sky got darker, the crowds traveling to and from time to time dispersed, insect vendors were walking past me with insect baskets from time to time, and the originally deserted village began to become lively.

Did Ling Zexu really go to the market?

I walked forward, but my steps became heavier and heavier.

Will Ling Zexu discover new clues in the market and have been pursuing them alone?

No, something must be wrong.

I walked slowly and slowly, finally stopped and turned around and ran back.

Run all the way to the bank of the river where you found the caisson.

I looked at the running water, turned my head and looked behind me.

Behind you is the village.

In the village today, not only are there villagers who come back from the market, but many people who used to stay at home have also left their homes, chatting, visiting alleys, or walking out.

This is a normal mountain village. The empty scene before is really strange.

But, in the previous village, there was really no one there?

I recalled it carefully.

There are still some.

There are village women who fetch water, rough men who throw garbage, lost guests, and wandering vendors...

The counting is over.

Although there are very few people and they pass by in a hurry, it is impossible to say that there is no one.

So, what does these four people have to do with our incident this time?

It has nothing to do.

Their appearance just reminded me.

This is not an unmanned village!

What does it mean?

This river is several miles long, so why do those prisoners have to sink their boxes into this section of the river next to the village?

Are they not afraid of being seen by villagers or passers-by?

If it is for convenience, as long as you walk up for four or fifty steps, there will be a tilted boulder on the bank of the river, which can block the sight of the idle people for them.

So, there must be some reason that they chose this river that is easily witnessed.

Maybe this reason...is that's exactly 'easy to be witnessed'.

When choosing this section of the river caisson, it is easy to be seen by others and also by themselves.

In other words, prisoners, or criminals’ accomplices, are most likely to monitor this river nearby to avoid the discovery and removal of mates!

I scanned the village again.

It’s impossible to be wrong. Among these hundreds of houses, there must be a pair of eyes that are eyeing each other.

Which room would it be?

Perhaps Ling Zexu has found the correct answer - this is probably the reason for his disappearance!

I frowned and wandered around the village.

There are more than 200 houses here. If you fight hard, once you start, the prisoner will take the opportunity to escape. Ling Zexu's situation is even more dangerous.

what to do?

"This guest, the market has dispersed, so you might as well go back quickly. If it gets completely dark, the mountain road will be difficult to walk." A villager persuaded.

"Can you stay here for one night?" I asked at the opportunity.

"There is no hotel in this village, and it is even more inconvenient for your own house to receive foreign guests." The villagers said, "If you don't listen to your advice, no one will care about you if you shoot the door."

"Thank you for your reminder, then I'll leave first." I bowed and walked towards the market under the gaze of the villagers.

Leaving his sight, I turned around, quickly climbed up the cliff next to me, and used the mountain to hide my body, and followed the cliff back to the village.

I did not show up again, but lurked in high places and secretly observed the situation in the village.

If what I expected was not bad, then the prisoner would always show clues.

Wait.

Waited for an hour.

The sky was already painted, and the villagers all went back to their houses. The whole village was quiet. Except for the unknown mountain birds, some people came out to make water and pee.

It seems that everything is normal.

I began to wonder:

If the prisoner was determined to stay in the house, how long could I wait here?

No more waiting!

I turned my heart, jumped off the cliff, strode to the door of a room, and knocked hard a few times.

"Who?" A moment later, a familiar voice came from the door.

This is very normal, because the one I photographed was the first one I photographed when I first entered the village.

Although the old man at home was very rude and didn't even open the door, he at least gave me directions.

"Your ancestor!"

I kicked the door panel directly.

The old man was so shocked that he retreated repeatedly and fell to the ground.

"You...who are you?" he stuttered.

"The person you are asking about today." I said.

"Is it... it's you?" The old man's eyes rolled around.

"It's me." I said, "Let's talk nonsense and take me to meet my friend right away."

"What friend?" the old man said with a straight face, "I don't know."

"Although you still pretend to be garlic?" I sneered, "I have seen through everything!"

"You, what have you seen through?" the old man said tremblingly.

"When I asked you before, you once said, 'My friend couldn't get into any house. If there was no one in the village, he would either walk out of the mountain road beside the village or walk away along the river'." I said.

"Did I say that? I can't remember." The old man shook his head, "and, there is nothing wrong with this."

"I originally thought it was fine," I said, "but when I thought about it later, I felt it was not right."

"What's wrong?" the old man said in surprise.

"I said I came to find a friend, and you didn't even have to think about it, so I told me immediately that my friend had walked away from another exit." I said, "Even if the villagers would never let outsiders enter the house, the houses in the village are so complicated. How do you know that my friend was not lost in the village or hiding?"

"I guess it." The old man said.

"Customers who come to the village often leave from those two exits?" I snorted coldly.

"This... I don't know." The old man lowered his head.

"I know." I sternly said, "I have carefully observed the two paths, and there are very few traces of people passing by. This is because those two roads do not reach the official road, and they are narrow and difficult to walk."

"Very rare, that's also true." The old man quickly defended.

"Yes, so on the surface, there is nothing wrong with your answer." I pushed forward, "But when a person gives you advice, will he ignore the greater possibility and point out some directions with very little possibility?"

The old man was silent {he might not understand what I mean}.

"The reason why you mentioned these two exits is actually two meanings." I continued, "One is that you hope to use this to lead me away and not stay in the village; Two, you understand one thing in your heart - my friends and I are not customers who come to buy insects, so the possibility of us leaving from other exits is much higher than that of ordinary outsiders!"

After saying this, I stared at the old man condescendingly.

"Guest, you...you're saying something." The old man shouted, "But I really didn't think so complicated."

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!