Inscription of Different Cases

Apparently it was the group of laborers who were sent to build the dam, and then sent to the saltworks.Then for unknown reasons, they all died.

Was it intentional arson?Or accident?

If it was intentional, then why kill them?

Could it be, for the sake of secrecy?

But it's not as if...

Han Lang fell into deep thought.

By accident, he went back to the hut where Ma Youyi lived, trying to find clues again.This time he found something strange, the door was ajar, and there were new footprints at the door.Han Lang was startled, so he lurked outside the room and observed carefully. After a while, he heard the sound of clothes rubbing against each other in the room.Ma Youyi is back?still……

He clenched the hilt of his sword, and dodged into the house.The sword blade was unsheathed, and a sharp cold air rushed towards the person inside, who screamed in fright, his legs softened and he fell to the ground, with his hands in front of him, crying, "Spare me! Spare me! "

Han Lang didn't realize that this person had any internal strength, so he slowly withdrew his sword: "Who are you?"

"Ma... Ma Youyi," the other party said tremblingly, "are you with him? Anyway, I won't live long, and it's useless for you to keep my life. Why don't you let me live for two more days?" When you have accumulated virtue, can you show mercy, show mercy!"

"You are Ma Youyi?" Han Lang asked suspiciously.The person in front of him was as dirty as if he had been fished out of a mire, his hair was knotted, his face was covered with dirt, and his body was stained with dark spots, whether it was blood or ashes.He could just make out that it was a man of about thirty, very thin, almost skinny.

The man froze for a moment, then nodded submissively: "It's me, it's me."

Han Lang intentionally followed his words, deliberately did not mention the matter of the pleadings, and walked around him to increase the invisible sense of oppression: "Tell me, why should I let you go?"

"Small... small one already," the man suddenly stammered, then pounced and knelt down towards Han Lang again, crying, "Hero, let's go! You go! The little one really won't live long It's gone! Xiao promises not to say anything, just go!"

Han Lang was puzzled, and drew out the blade again according to the habit of torturing prisoners in the prison.The shining blade tip illuminated Ma Youyi's face, and the other party was obviously frightened, and his body trembled violently.But Han Lang didn't understand why, Ma Youyi was determined not to say a word, but kept crying and begging for mercy, with tears and snot running all over his face.

This made Han Lang a little confused.In desperation, he could only tell the truth: "Did you write the pleading paper received by the Anping County Government?"

Ma Youyi's expression changed immediately, he glanced at Han Lang nervously, and said, "I don't know what kind of paper it is."

Han Lang sighed slightly, and said, "Look at my robe, do you really think I'm a villain who came to harm you?"

Ma Youyi hesitated for a while, looked at Han Lang carefully, then lowered his head again, wondering what he was thinking.Han Lang took the opportunity to look around the room, the inside was still empty, but a few bloody bandages were thrown on the couch, and there was a medicine pot on the stove.He walked over and saw that it contained only common mugwort leaves, and fresh ones could be picked in the forest.When the lid was lifted, a pungent smell came over his face, Han Lang almost coughed due to choking, and quickly covered the medicine jar.

"Are you injured?" Han Lang asked.

Ma Youyi's left and right hands were all on his body, as if his skin was itchy, he kept rubbing it.After waiting for a long time, Han Lang almost lost his patience, so he said in a very low voice: "...Did the county magistrate see the pleadings?"

Han Lang decided to lie a little: "Yes."

"If I tell you, can you...can you protect me well?" Ma Youyi shuddered, and his voice became smaller and smaller, Han Lang couldn't help but bend down to hear what he was saying, "I don't live long anymore but I want to go as fast as I can. Don't let them kill me, don't let them kill me..."

As he spoke, his skinny, skeleton-like hands grabbed Han Lang's neckline.Startled, Han Lang immediately broke away, pointing the blade at the man's neck again.But the other party seemed to be unable to see the sharp long sword, and entangled him like a huge snake, and his fingers grabbed Han Lang's trousers.For some reason, Han Lang seemed to smell a strange smell for a moment, close to the smell of rotten wormwood.

As soon as Han Lang lowered his head, he suddenly saw a scar so bright red that it could drip blood on the back of Ma Youyi's neck, and the strange smell came from it.Ma Youyi continued to stretch out his skinny palms, grabbing Han Lang's clothes like a life-saving straw.

"I will protect you well." Han Lang could only say so.

Ma Youyi closed his eyes and exhaled heavily.In front of Han Lang, he stumbled to his feet.Close the windows, the door, and then light the charcoal fire in the stove.A pungent and choking smell of wormwood came out again, and Han Lang had to cover his nose with a frown, but Ma Youyi didn't seem to feel it, and he fell back in front of Han Lang again, drifting all over his body.

"Never mind," he said, "it's just in case, just in case."

Then he started telling a story.

"I'm miserable enough. I have no money, no power, and no one takes me seriously. When I got into trouble in the town, I was arrested and said that I would be sentenced to hard labor. I said I could read and write. I can also use punches and kicks, so can I be punished lightly? The official said no, so he sent me to repair the dam."

Han Lang listened quietly.

"There were 31 people who went together. They were carpenters, stonemasons, and some of them were sentenced to hard labor like me. When I went there, it was still very cold and people were frozen to death. No one wanted to work. Not long after that, a foreman came He came to me and asked me if I could read and fight. I said yes, so he took me aside alone, and another person named Luo was with me. Then the foreman gave us a few copper coins, and let us We are the leaders, manage those individuals well, and don't let them cause trouble."

"It's the first time I know that there is still money for labor, and I'm so happy. The man surnamed Luo and I manage the subordinates obediently. He is in charge of beating, and I am in charge of making suggestions. After the dam is repaired, the foreman will not let us go. Instead, they called us to a very remote place in the forest. No one goes to that place, and people nearby call it the Valley of No Return, because if you go there, you can’t find your way back.”

"Is that the salt field?" Han Lang asked hastily.

Ma Youyi avoided his sight and shrank back.Han Lang suddenly discovered that while the other party was talking, the red sores on that person's body seemed to have expanded. He was struggling to breathe with his neck stuck, and the entire back of his ears had turned a terrifying bright red.

"What's the matter with you, do you need to see a doctor?" Han Lang had an ominous premonition. Such scars seemed to be the effect of some kind of aphrodisiac, or it might be...

"Don't go, wait for me to finish!" Ma Youyi got the strength out of nowhere, and his thin hands held Han Lang's leg firmly like iron tongs.Out of thirst for the truth, Han Lang did not leave after all.In this room full of wormwood smell, I found another place to sit down.

"We all went to the saltworks and started to make salt. Some of them felt that the job was not right and wanted to run away, but Luo and I kept their mouths shut. As a result, in the spring of this year, some people got sick. He didn't take it seriously, but the result became more and more serious, and he died suddenly. The superiors found out about this, so they rushed to investigate. It's nothing else, it's Spring Plague."

Han Lang was shocked violently.

"This is a private salt farm. They didn't dare to report it, so they asked me and the surname Luo to secretly kill anyone who might be infected. The two of us never killed anyone, but he gave us a lot of money. , and said that he would help us, and we agreed.”

"A promise is a promise, but we have never dared to do it. After a few days of delay, a person was sent over. It was a man, quite young, and he always wore a colorful mask. This masked person gave me a bag Sweat medicine, let me put it in a water tank and let them sleep to death. I thought it was a good way, at least there would be no blood, so I did it with the surname Luo. I gave medicine to everyone else that night, and it was dark , They fell to the ground. At this time, the masked man came, holding a torch. I said why there was such a big oily smell that day, so he had already prepared it."

Ma Youyi continued to scratch and scratch on his body, Han Lang saw that his nails were covered with black blood and dirt.His tone became more and more calm, which made Han Lang's hair stand on end.

"Did he kill those people?" Han Lang asked.

"...It can be regarded as my killing."

"..." Han Lang didn't answer.If he was not still sober, he would probably jump up at this moment.But his clenched fists were trembling slightly, which was enough to prove his shaken heart.

Ma Youyi's expression was empty, and the voice seemed to come from far away: "They were moved together, in a river valley. I went to find the masked man, but I found no one, but I found Luo, who was stabbed Stabbed to death. That's when I realized that the masked man, or the people above him, had no intention of keeping any of us alive. I ran away in fright and fell off the hillside and into the river The river has many branches, and the current is very fast. I don’t know if it’s because of this, but the masked man couldn’t find me for a while. Later, I saw the mountain was on fire, and I knew that those people were dead.”

"You escaped alone?" Han Lang stared at him coldly.

"I didn't know where I was going, and I went home unknowingly. I was afraid of death. I felt that someone should catch the masked man, so I wrote to the police. But I also knew that there were bigger officials, so I only dare to write that someone set fire here. I can’t starve to death. I have to go out to hunt every day. One day I just walked to the door and found something was wrong, so I turned around and ran. The masked person was in the house. I thought I had been practicing since childhood He worked hard on his feet and ran fast, but he may not be able to catch up. In the end, he was even more ruthless and used a hidden weapon to cripple my leg. He must be an assassin raised by those people, because at this time another person came out and called out They said a few words, and for some reason, I felt that they were suddenly very nervous. They didn’t kill me in the end, so I probably didn’t care about it for a while.”

After finishing speaking, he opened his trouser legs to show Han Lang.Han Lang glanced at it and almost vomited. Ma Youyi's whole body was dry and thin, but his legs were swollen. There was a festering scar on it, covered with ants.Ma Youyi was not surprised by Han Lang's reaction at all. He put down his trousers and said calmly, "I don't know the pain anymore. I just crawled in the woods for several days and decided to come back. He won't think of me coming back. Hahahaha, he wouldn't have thought of it, the most dangerous place is the safest place."

Then, Ma Youyi kept scratching the affected area, and slowly glanced at Han Lang: "I think you must have discovered that I also contracted Spring Plague, and I should have died long ago."

"You protect me, let me live for another two days, I don't want to die at the hands of others," Ma Youyi knelt in front of Han Lang in despair, "I'll tell you everything I know, please let me live, I don't want to die- -"

Han Lang tried his best to hold back the nausea rolling in his chest. The strong smell of wormwood made him dizzy: "Who instructed you to do this? Tell me, who is the owner of the salt field, the one who wears the mask, and the one who talks to him?" Who is the person?"

Ma Youyi panted heavily, the red spots on his neck had expanded to the right side of his face, making him look like a monster without skin: "Yes... it's from the capital... from the capital..."

"Who?!"

The sound of piercing wind was accompanied by the blunt sound of skin being torn apart.Ma Youyi raised his upper body, and a mouthful of muddy black blood spewed out from his mouth.He knelt in front of Han Lang, all the acne all over his body burst open, and the pus and blood spread slowly like a curved snake.A dart stood straight behind his back, and the tail was still trembling slightly.

Han Lang drew his sword and rushed out.

Sure enough, it was the masked one, with a light figure passing behind the tree.Han Lang raised his breath, stepped on the trunk of the tree and jumped up, and then swung like a falcon to another treetop three feet away.Seeing him chasing him, the other party seemed a little bit surprised, his body froze slightly, his right hand was raised, and another row of poison darts was thrown towards him.

"Despicable!" Han Lang yelled violently, swiping the long sword in his hand several times, and finally blocked the poisonous dart.At this time, the other party had almost escaped his sight, and he chased after him, but there was no sign of closing the distance.

Is it really necessary to let him run away like this?The other party was thin, with flexible limbs, and he was obviously good at light kung fu.No, if a strong attack fails, it must be outsmarted.There is another trick, which will definitely make this guy hesitate!

"It's useless to run away! I already know who you are!"

The other party really slowed down by half a beat, and suddenly turned around and glanced at Han Lang.effective!Although it is crooked.Han Lang chuckled secretly, with a lot of energy, and then the spring of the branch suddenly rushed forward.At this time, after the other party hesitated, he raised his arm again.This time it was aimed at Han Lang's feet, and there was a crisp "pop", and the branch broke from the middle!

"Bastard!" Han Lang cursed, suddenly lost his foothold, his body was unstable, and he could only stretch out his arms to grab the opposite branch in a hurry.The distance between the two was less than ten feet, and he vaguely heard the man snort coldly, and five poisonous darts appeared from his sleeves, pointing at Han Lang's only supporting arm.

not good!

Life-saving was the most important thing, Han Lang quickly let go of his arms, who knew that the other party was faster than him, and the poison dart pierced right into his arm without any hesitation.With a cry of pain, he fell down in vain.The hidden weapon must be poisonous, he felt that his arms were numb, his back kept breaking the entangled branches, and finally fell heavily on the ground.

His whole body was in severe pain, and his vision was blurred.Han Lang vaguely saw the masked man glance at him from a distance, then turned around and disappeared from his eyes like a ghost.