I become a god in another world

Chapter 485: Old Zhang's Hometown
Chapter 485

At first, people in the county said that these were just country rumors - people often criticized them on the streets, saying that country people were not well-informed and tended to make a fuss about small things, and spread rumors that a dead person had returned home.

This statement became very popular and everyone treated it as a joke at first, but later on something was wrong.

There were reports of haunted houses in various towns and villages, and at the same time it started to rain in Wenxing County.

People including runners, odd jobs and wealthy families in the county died one after another.

Due to the delay in the transmission of news, many people were slow to realize it, but Qian Zhongying was the only one who was wary - he remembered that Hu Shi had stopped him from getting involved in the tax increase issue earlier, and thinking about the recent ghost rumors, he wondered if there really was a ghost in the county.

As a ghost rider, Hu Shi probably realized something was wrong long ago and wanted to save the Qian family's lives.

The thought came in time and he became even more panicked.

"Afterwards, I intended to check the death list in the past six months—"

As usual, abnormal deaths would be reported to the government and removed from the register. Some people did not take it seriously and reported it slowly; some people were more honest and handled it according to the regulations.

Qian Zhongying was a capable man, and the investigation did help him find some clues.

A lot of people have died in the past six months. You wouldn’t know unless you checked. Once you do, you’ll be shocked.

He found someone inside the government, invited him for a drink, and got the list of people who accompanied County Magistrate Fei Mingguang into the county that day. After comparing them one by one, he discovered that most of the dead matched these people, and they all died of drowning.

A total of seventy or eighty people went there that day, and as many as forty people died within half a year.

Qian Zhongying shuddered as he recalled the time when he found the information:

“…This does not include people who are not on the record.”

Later, he felt uneasy, so he ticked off the dead people on the list one by one. He took the list and went on another visit, and found that more than a dozen people were actually dead.

Strangely, these family members died one after another.

This makes it truly a ghost case.

He went to look for Hu Shi with the information he had found out, but at that time, Hu Shi was no longer in good condition.

Qian Zhongying was silent for a while when he said this.

To be honest, he hated Hu Shi deep in his heart, but Hu Shi saved his entire family's lives in disguise.

"When I went to see him, his eyes looked strange. He didn't look like a living person, but a ghost—"

After a long time, Hu Shicai coldly told him not to investigate the matter any further.

Hu Shi said: "I don't have much time left. I can't leave Wenxing County. You take your family to Shangyang County."

He may have made preparations long before the ghost disaster in Wenxing County. He bought a house in the county, saved some money, and did some work for him.

Qian Zhongying was also a smart man. He immediately followed his instructions and asked his family to pack up their belongings and leave the city immediately.

"It happened last month..." he said sadly:
"On the day we left, I heard that the county held a funeral and the county magistrate fell into the river and drowned."

He shuddered.

The ghost disaster broke out faster and faster. After Qian Zhongying entered the county, he settled down and quickly got the post of Dianshi in the county government office with the money left by Hu Shi and the connections he had established in advance.

He came from Wenxing County and has always been concerned about everything in Wenxing County.

"I could still hear some news in late December. I arranged for the soldiers guarding the city to come, and they said there were people fleeing from Wenxing County. But I never heard anything more after that."

It is estimated that Wenxing County fell completely in January.

Zhao Fusheng heard this and said:

"The ghost disaster in Wenxing County originated from the county, not from the resurrection of the evil ghost of the county town demon master as we initially speculated."

In fact, she had already guessed this when she came out of Wenxing County and stayed at Wuxian Temple on the way, but now she got confirmation from Qian Zhongying.

Meng Po also said:

"According to what Qian Dianshi said, after Hu Shi's evil spirit was revived, it might have suppressed the evil spirit disaster in Wenxing County."

Zhao Fusheng nodded.

Fan Bisi also said:
"Sir, I feel like the ghost disaster in Wenxing County was intentionally caused by Shangyang County."

Liu Yizhen responded:
"After Zhu Guangling became the general of Shangyang County, he raised taxes and specially recruited many people to the county. If he was the source of the ghost disaster, then he intended to drag the entire Shangyang County to be buried with him."

Qian Zhongying's eyes flashed, but he said nothing.

Zhao Fusheng looked at him:

"Go on."

Qian Zhongying said:

"Sir, after I entered Shangyang County, I found that it was also raining in Shangyang County."

He only said this one sentence, and everyone understood what he meant.

After leaving Wenxing County, Qian Zhongying became terrified at the mention of rain.

He thought the situation in the county would be better, but it was still raining. He asked someone afterwards and was told that it had been raining in Qianshangyang County for more than a year.

"I had just arrived and didn't dare to show off. I could only ask questions intermittently. Later I learned that since August of the year before last, there have been no sunny days in the county."

Zhu Guangling, the silver general of Shangyang County, took office in Shangyang County in June of the previous year. If death by rain was part of his rule of killing by evil spirits, then Zhu Guangling began to lose control in August of the previous year, and then in September he summoned the county magistrates and the Ghost Controlling Office under the county.

When Zhao Fusheng made this guess, everyone else nodded, thinking that her guess was very likely close to the truth of the incident.

"I don't know much about the situation of the county's Demon Suppression Division, but I heard that from last year to this year, people have drowned one after another." Qian Zhongying said:
"Many people don't care about this. When the case of the Chang family of Wuxian Temple suing the Yang family was handled a few days ago, the lawyer who recorded the case sighed and said: Another drowning."

From this we can see that drowning was a common occurrence in Shangyang County.

"Has there been any ghost disasters?"

Zhao Fusheng asked.

Qian Zhongying hesitated for a moment and shook his head:

"To be honest with you, sir, no."

"This is strange." Zhang Chuanshi was surprised when he heard this and looked at Zhao Fusheng:
"Sir, now it seems that the source of the ghost disaster is in Shangyang County. People will drown in the county, but the ghost disaster will not happen in the county."

After he finished speaking, Wu Shaochun also spoke:
"In the case of the Chang family, Chang Jinshui drowned in Shangyang County. His evil spirit did not revive at that time. Instead, it was after the Chang family brought him back to the village that his evil spirit revived during the process of placing his spirit."

Zhao Fusheng glanced at Meng Po, and Meng Po said:

"I'm afraid the county has the power to suppress the resurrection of the evil spirit."

"Zhu Guangling." Chen Duozi also said something, but she was a new ghost rider after all, and her previous fear of the Demon Suppression Division was still there. After calling out Zhu Guangling's name, she felt inexplicably guilty and quickly added:
"... Zhu, Master Zhu."

"Fusheng, what do you think of this situation?"

After everyone discussed for a while, Liu Yizhen saw that Zhao Fusheng didn't say much, so he asked a question.

His words drew everyone's attention to Zhao Fusheng.

Qian Zhongying also turned his head and stared at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng did not rush to answer Liu Yizhen's question, but looked at Qian Zhongying:
"You are quite perceptive. You were able to escape from the ghost disaster in Wenxing County, which proves that you have the ability to avoid danger. You also found that something is wrong with the situation in Shangyang County. Have you considered escaping the county?"

"You can't escape." Qian Zhongying said bitterly after hearing this.

"Can't escape?" His words surprised everyone, and they all asked.

"Shangyang County is not far from Bingzhou, and it takes less than ten days to get to the capital. Why can't we leave?" Fan Bisi asked.

Qian Zhongying smiled bitterly:
"I heard from others that someone in the county felt something was wrong earlier and wanted to leave Shangyang County under the pretext of business, but the whole family fell into the Bailing River and drowned as soon as they left the city."

During this year and more, the number of people who drowned in the Bailing River was almost the total number of people who drowned in Shangyang County in the past twenty years.

"Some people privately joked that Lord Zhu Guangling is now simply the 'water god'. With him around, there is no need to worry about rain."

Qian Zhongying said in a low voice.

After a while, Zhao Fusheng spoke:
"We haven't entered the county, so we don't know much about the situation there. What we can say has not been verified, but based on the clues we know so far, this ghost disaster that destroyed Wenxing County and many counties and towns is closely related to Zhu Guangling."

Her tone was calm, with a reassuring power:
"You just mentioned a problem. Over the past few decades, Shangyang County has changed its generals every one or two years. These generals have died in Shangyang County without exception."

As we all know, after the ghost rider dies, the evil ghost will be resurrected.

Where did these dead ghosts go?

When she said this, Qian Zhongying suddenly said:

"By the way, Hu Shi mentioned something."

His words made Zhao Fusheng turn his head. Qian Zhongying was stared at by her and felt a chill in his heart. He said quickly:
"Hu Shi said that the area around the Demon Division in the County is strictly controlled and people are not allowed to go out after dark every day."

He said:
"Hu Shi said that the evil spirit of the Demon Suppression Division was very strong. When he went to the county, the evil spirit he controlled was on the verge of revival, but after he went there, it was suppressed. In the evening, he stayed at the post station of the Demon Suppression Division and heard the woman crying."

Everyone looked at each other.

Zhao Fusheng asked:

"Are there no women in the Shangyang County Demon Suppression Division?"

"I don't know." Qian Zhongying shook his head:

"Sir, Shangyang County has strict regulations. The city is divided into ten districts. Each district has a high wall between them and is not connected to the outside world."

His words stunned everyone. Ding Datong said:

"I seem to have heard that Shangyang County is very special, and Lord Feng also reminded me to be careful at that time."

The road conditions were difficult at that time. There were many remote mountains along the way, and there were also many bandits and robbers. Many people rarely went out - even a ghost rider like Ding Datong was not very clear about the situation in Shangyang County.

At this moment, Zhang Chuanshi said:

"The houses in Shangyang County are divided into blocks, which are divided into ten blocks. Each block is surrounded by a high wall, and each block has a block master or a village head in charge." His words successfully drew everyone's attention to him.

"Except for two of the markets that are used for trading, the rest are places of residence. The Demon Suppression Division should be located in the center of the market, where most of the dignitaries in the county city live." After saying that, he added two more sentences:
"During the day, all doors in the neighborhood should be open for people to enter and exit, and they will be closed at night."

"Yes, yes, yes." Qian Zhongying nodded quickly: "Master Zhang is clear about the situation in Shangyang County."

Zhang Chuanshi's words surprised everyone. Fan Bisi looked him up and down:

"Old Zhang, I didn't expect you to know about Shangyang County—"

Zhang Chuanshi rolled his eyes:

"I know a lot."

After saying this, he calmed down again and continued:
"Sir, actually my ancestral home is Wuqing County in Lizhou, but something happened to my family in my early years, so I moved to the Imperial Capital."

His words surprised everyone. Fan Wujiu widened his eyes:

"Old Zhang, you are actually from the Imperial Capital?"

"I'm from the Imperial Capital, what's so strange about that?" Perhaps because this topic touched upon the past, Zhang Chuanshi was clearly a little annoyed. He didn't have time to argue with Fan Wujiu, so he waved his hand like he was waving away a fly:
"Go away, I'm talking to an adult, don't interrupt me."

"Hehe." Fan Wujiu laughed twice.

Zhang Chuanshi frowned and instinctively wanted to say something to him, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he couldn't help laughing.

After he said this, the annoyance in his heart was relieved a lot, and he became calmer:
"I was born in Teikyo, and my father took me away from Teikyo when I was 9 years old."

"Lao Zhang, how old are you?" Fan Bisi asked.

Zhang Chuanshi didn't want to pay attention to him, Meng Po also asked:
"Xiao Zhang, how old are you?"

Zhang Chuanshi hesitated for a moment before answering the same question:
"67."

Meng Po said, "That is to say, when you moved out of the Imperial Capital, it was 58 years ago, in the 194th year of the Han Dynasty?"

Zhang Chuanshi nodded: "Yes."

Fan Wujiu was shocked: "Lao Zhang, I can't tell you're this old. No wonder you've lost all your hair except for the top of your head—"

Zhang Chuanshi was in a bad mood, but he was almost amused by him. He glared at him fiercely:
"none of your business."

After saying that, he looked at Zhao Fusheng uneasily again.

Zhao Fusheng had a sharp intuition, quick thinking, and amazing memory. He always felt that he had revealed too much about himself, and it was easy for her to see some of the secrets he was trying to hide.

"Sir--" he shouted.

Zhao Fusheng thoughtfully said:
"This timing is a bit of a coincidence."

Her sigh sounded casual, but when it was heard by others, it made everyone pause.

Zhang Chuanshi was frightened and his hands trembled slightly. Then he clasped his hands together and pulled them into his sleeves, trying to put on his usual rogue look.

"What a coincidence?"

Zhang Chuanshi gave a dry laugh.

"Sir, it was not 48 years ago." Meng Po reminded.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded:
"I know."

After she finished speaking, she saw Liu Yizhen staring at her, and it was obvious that Liu Yizhen had also reacted.

"How on earth did you get such a brain?"

Liu Yizhen exclaimed: "There are so many things, involving years and events, so many and so complicated, it's hard for you to remember them so clearly."

As soon as he said this, it was obvious that he already knew what Zhao Fusheng meant by the "coincidence of time".

Fan Wujiu was impatient and urged:

"Yizhen, don't keep me in suspense. Just say what you want to say."

Zhang Chuanshi sighed:
"Yizhen and I are indeed enemies."

Liu Yizhen said:
"58 years ago was the time when the Imperial Capital Headless Ghost Case broke out. My grandfather lost his job and returned to his hometown because of this incident."

After he said this, everyone understood why Zhao Fusheng said this.

"It's really a coincidence—" Fan Bisi hesitated: "Coincidence?"

Zhang Chuanshi showed a look of resignation:

"It's not a coincidence. We left the capital when the headless ghost case happened."