Red Dust Daqian

There are more than a dozen cases related to the dog wolf demon. Except for the victim of the first missing bride case, the bride was from the neighboring town called Xiaojia Town, and married to this county. The rest of the victims were unmarried girls in Changnan County, or children under the age of four or five. Some of the missing persons were the personal maids of the missing girls.

For some girls, when their children disappeared, the old maids and servants who accompanied them on the journey did not disappear at the same time, but were just unconscious at the scene of the crime. Most girls disappeared when they were out alone, and the only information found at the scene of the disappearance was the bloody claw marks of the wolf demon deliberately left by the kidnappers. Some of them were personal information provided by the reporter, and there was no more information.

"There is too little useful and usable information. How can I start?" Zhou Sen sighed inwardly.

Then he asked the chief clerk Yan Xue to retrieve the household registration information of all the victims, and invited the county magistrate Shangguan Wuhou to come again. Zhou Sen said to Shangguan Wuhou as if it was a matter of fact: "Shangguan, after my repeated deductions, I found that the monster that kidnapped people this time may be of great origin and powerful. The demonic aura left behind is too thin and almost undetectable. It is still difficult to accurately track the demon king with this information." The county magistrate asked anxiously: "Master Zhang, what should we do?" "Shangguan, don't worry. Next, I plan to visit the homes of these victims and see if I can find more useful clues to locate the demon king." Zhou Sen comforted the county magistrate. The county magistrate Shangguan Wuhou replied with a sense of relief: "Master Zhang, this case depends entirely on you. You can dispatch the county yamen runners at will." Then he instructed Wang Wu and Ma Long: "You must follow Master Zhang closely to prevent him from getting hurt."

In the first case, Zhou Sen and Xiangcao came to the home of Mr. Wang, the first missing bride case. They summoned all the wedding reception staff and asked them in detail about the specific situation on the day of the wedding reception. According to the wedding reception staff, there was not much difference with what the waiter at the inn said that day. What surprised Zhou Sen was that he did not see Mr. Wang's son, the groom, at Mr. Wang's home.

In the second case, Zhou Sen had confirmed that the son of the county magistrate Shangguan Wuhou died of rabies, which should have little to do with the missing case, so Zhou Sen did not dwell too much on it.

The third case is about the family of the butcher Rong. Although the head of the family, the butcher Rong, is a big and strong man with a face full of flesh, his daughter is pretty, plump and tall. Born in a butcher's family, she is carefree and often goes back and forth between her cousin's house alone. On the day of the accident, she went to her uncle's house in the morning and said she would be back in the evening, but she didn't come back all night. The next day, the butcher Rong went to his uncle's house to look for her and learned that she had returned before the evening of the previous day. Relatives and friends searched for several days in a row without success. On the way back and forth between the butcher Rong and his uncle's house, some relatives and friends found blood claw marks when they were looking for Rong's daughter, so they reported her missing to the government.

Most of the victims in the first ten cases disappeared when they went out alone or with only their personal maids accompanying them.

In the eleventh case, the local wealthy Shen family was engaged in many industries, with businesses all over the country and a huge fortune. Generally, the Shen family had guards when they traveled. On the day of the accident, Shen Qianrou, the youngest daughter of the Shen family, went to the temple in the mountains to pray for her mother because her mother was seriously ill. She disappeared on the way back to the city in the evening. According to the recollections of the guards who followed at the time, on the way back to the city, a strong wind suddenly blew, red light flashed, and a huge shadow of a dog-wolf demon was reflected, and a strange fragrance filled the air. Then the guards and the old maids who followed were all frightened and fainted. When everyone woke up, they found that the lady in the sedan chair and the personal maid were all missing, but the guards, old maids, etc. who followed were just unconscious, and there was nothing else unusual. The last few missing cases were similar.

After the eleventh case, the county government began to offer a reward to a hermit to capture the dog and wolf monster. Those who came to capture monsters included monks, Taoist priests, and other types of monster hunters. After receiving the reward, they all claimed that they had captured the monster. Some brave people believed it and went out in the evening, but later several cases occurred. The circumstances of the cases were similar to the previous ones. Those who received the reward were all swindlers.

Zhou Sen, Xiangcao and others interviewed all the people related to the missing cases, but found no direct clues.

Zhou Sen, Xiangcao and others further combed through the case. Except for the first and second cases, the other victims were all locals, unmarried girls or children. The means of committing crimes became more and more sophisticated. At first, they kidnapped people who went out alone, then those who went out with a few people, and finally kidnapped the target people from the crowds of people going out.

Xiangcao asked Zhou Sen worriedly, "Mumu, are you sure it's not the dog-wolf demon who committed the crime? I feel uneasy in my heart. I have been visiting these days. Listening to the mysterious stories told by these eyewitnesses, I feel as if there are really demons. These cases are indeed committed by the dog-wolf demon." Zhou Sen patted Xiangcao's shoulder gently and comforted her, "Senior sister, believe me, there are no demons in this world. It's just a rumor." Xiangcao still asked in confusion, "If it was a human who committed the crime, why could he accurately choose an unmarried girl? And why did so many guards see the huge shadow of the dog demon king? And how could all the followers, except for the abducted young lady and maid, faint at once?"

Zhou Sen thought for a while, thinking, yes, how did these kidnappers do this? The ghost and coma are easier to explain. But why are all the girls they kidnapped unmarried? In the era of Daqian, beauty is based on voluptuousness. According to the information about the missing girls obtained in the past few days, many of them have plump and beautiful figures, such as Zhu Rourong's daughter, who is tall and curvy. It is difficult to determine whether she is a young woman or a girl from her appearance. But how do these kidnappers judge? Is it just a coincidence? It shouldn't be.

Zhou Sen also had doubts in his heart, and replied to Vanilla: "The above questions are also what we need to confirm and find answers to. The demon shadow may be caused by the principle of light; coma, didn't the guards and old women smell a strange fragrance? Maybe it was a kind of incense, plus they were frightened, so they all fainted all of a sudden; as for how to confirm that it was an unmarried girl, I really can't think of this." Vanilla stared at Zhou Sen with her big round eyes: "Mumu, how do you know all this? If I hadn't been with you every day, I would have suspected that you were involved in the kidnapping." Zhou Sen smiled awkwardly: "These are just my guesses. As for how these kidnappers did it, I'm afraid we need to catch them to find out."

After a few days of running around, I had learned all the information I needed to know. However, it had been a while since the last crime, and the crime scene was not protected at all, so it was difficult to find direct clues, and I was once again confused.

Zhou Sen sighed worriedly, "What should we do? We can't start without direct clues, unless the kidnappers commit crimes again. Under the condition of ensuring that the scene is not destroyed, it is possible to find some clues." The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. Xiangcao's eyes suddenly lit up and she said to Zhou Sen excitedly, "As long as the kidnappers commit crimes again, we can find clues or arrest them directly." Xiangcao asked Zhou Sen, who was full of doubts, to lean over and whispered, "Mumu, actually we can lure them to commit crimes again. I will pretend to be an unmarried girl. Bah, I am one. Then I will go in and out of the city gate around dusk to lure them to kidnap me. This way, we can not only find clues, but also have the opportunity to arrest the kidnappers directly."

Zhou Sen shook his head after hearing this. How could this be possible? Xiangcao is my child bride and will be my first wife in the future. How could I let her take such a risk? What would I do if she was kidnapped? Xiangcao asked, "Why not?" Zhou Sen said firmly, "No, you are my first wife. I can't let you take this risk." Xiangcao's face flushed with shame and anger, and she retorted, "Who is your first wife? I am your senior sister. Are you still not confident in my martial arts?" Zhou Sen replied, "Of course Mumu is confident in my martial arts, but I can't bear to do it. This method is not bad, but can we find a yamen runner to pretend to be a girl? My senior sister can ambush with other yamen runners in the dark, and then we can rely on my senior sister's martial arts to lead everyone to catch the kidnappers." The cared-for Xiangcao was secretly happy and didn't argue with Zhou Sen anymore.

Zhou Sen called in Zhao Tiechui, Wang Wu, Ma Long and several other yamen runners, and explained the plan to lure the wolf demon. At first, they were terrified and did not dare to pretend to be a night-walking girl, not to mention that it was embarrassing and scary for a grown man to pretend to be a girl. What if he was caught by the monster? Zhou Sen promised a large reward, and with the pressure of the Heavenly Master's reputation, everyone agreed to pretend to be a girl to lure the wolf demon. But after comparing them, these yamen runners were either big and strong, or had beards and were covered in dust, and none of them could pretend to be like them. After comparing them, everyone's eyes finally fell on Zhou Sen. Although Zhou Sen was a little taller, his face was still well-groomed, and his skin was fair and not rough. Compared with this group of people, he was the only one who could still dress up.

Xiangcao and the others surrounded Zhou Sen with ill intentions. Xiangcao grabbed Zhou Sen with a sly smile on her face and said, "Sister Mumu, you are so pretty. Come and let me dress you up."