Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 61: Ghost Bamboo Forest

Rong Wanyin squatted in front of the woman, holding her knees with both hands, looking into her eyes, not minding the woman's dirty pants or the stench of camphor emanating from her body: "Sister, don't you remember?"

The woman shook her head blankly, then nodded and said two words in a hard to recognize voice: "Luopin"

Rong Wanyin didn't quite hear it and repeated, "Luopin?"

The woman dipped her finger in water and wrote two words on the stone: Ruoping.

Rong Wanyin smiled slightly and said, "Is this your name? Ruoping?"

The woman smiled happily and nodded.

Rong Wanyin tucked Ruoping's hair behind her ear and said, "Sister Ruoping, can I help you wash up? Can you come back to my uncle's inn with me?"

The woman hesitated and shook her head.

Rong Wanyin comforted her, "It's okay, the old man is a good man. We are all good people."

The woman hesitated and hugged the child tightly in her arms.

Rong Wanyin didn't rush her, but gently pulled her hand up. She didn't refuse and stood up with Rong Wanyin. Rong Wanyin smiled and took her hand and led her to the inn.
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As soon as she entered the inn, she saw an old man chopping wood. The axe chopped the wood together with a loud noise, which scared Ruoping. She immediately hid behind Rong Wanyin.

Rong Wanyin held her hand tightly and squeezed it, signaling her not to be afraid. She said to the old man, "Uncle, please boil some more hot water and bring it to my room."

The old man was also shocked when he saw her bringing Ruoping in. He looked at Rong Wanyin in surprise, with a look of confusion on his face.

Rong Wanyin smiled indifferently, nodded at him, and then pulled Ruoping back to the room.

The old man glanced at Yan Mingzhang and Su Zhan who were following not far away, and nodded at him to indicate that it was okay.
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The dirty water in the house was delivered bucket by bucket. Since Changfeng and Mo Yun were not there, the chore of pouring water had to fall on Yan Mingzhang and Su Zhan.

Su Zhan complained indignantly, "I, the eldest son of the Su family, am pouring bath water for a crazy woman here!"

Yan Mingzhang smiled and ignored him, then picked up two buckets of water and left.

Su Zhan pinched his nose with a look of disgust, but still picked up a bucket of water and walked out.

Finally, Ruoping was clean. Her previously matted hair was washed clean, her inky black hair dried and tied into a simple bun, still dripping with water from time to time. Her face, thickly powdered, was also washed. Her skin was fair and translucent, her features delicate and exquisite. She was actually a beauty. She was wearing Rong Wanyin's clothes. She was taller and thinner than Rong Wanyin, so the clothes were slightly too small for her. The sleeves were a little shorter, revealing her delicate wrists. Even the child in her arms was washed clean and swaddled in a new blanket.

After Su Zhan saw it, he was stunned for a moment and sighed, "I didn't expect it to be a rough jade."

Yan Mingzhang was also a little surprised and sighed: "What on earth happened to her? Why did she become like this?"

Ruoping was a little shy, rubbing a corner of her blanket awkwardly. Rong Wanyin led her to the table and asked her to sit down. She also asked the old man to bring some food and watched Ruoping eat it voraciously.

The old man thought of his own daughter, wiped away his tears and said sadly, "Whose good girl is this? What kind of misfortune has she gone through? If her parents knew, they would be so sad! Is there any way to help her find her family?"

A group of people were standing far away, and only Rong Wanyin was sitting next to her, picking up food for her and telling her to eat slowly.
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Ruoping was eating when a figure rushed in from the door. They rushed to the table, picked up the kettle, and took a few long gulps. Who else could it be but Changfeng? Changfeng panted and said, "Oh, I'm so tired! You don't know how hard it is to find out about these things. ... Hey, who is this girl?"

Ruoping was like a frightened little rabbit, hiding behind Rong Wanyin. When she saw Changfeng, a tall and strong man, looking exhausted and holding a sword, looking at her again, she was so scared that she immediately stood up, turned around and ran out, not even taking the cake in her hand.

"Sister Ruoping..." Rong Wanyin called her from behind.

Ruoping turned around and bowed to everyone to express her gratitude, then turned around and ran away.

Su Zhan stood up and tried to chase after her, but Yan Mingzhang stopped him. Rong Wanyin had no intention of pursuing him anymore: "Let her get used to it. From what I've seen today, she should be able to understand some things, but she's still a little wary."

Yan Mingzhang nodded in agreement, then glanced at Changfeng.

Chang Feng curled his lips guiltily: "I don't know what's going on, who knows..."

Yan Mingzhang interrupted him and asked, "Tell me, what news have you heard?"

Changfeng bowed and reported, "Just as the old man said, the three people have indeed been treated. Old Li's five-year-old grandson is in slightly better condition. He can walk around and has basic behavioral problems, but he doesn't talk or laugh. The husband of the tofu beauty by the well is in the worst condition. He can only lie in bed with his eyes open and can't do anything else. Tofu beauty complains at home every day, saying that she would rather die than live like this."

"There's also the village chief's eldest son. He has several large dogs, and I couldn't get close to him. I saw him sitting on a chair in the yard basking in the sun, so I watched from a distance. I don't know what was going on, but judging by his eyes and movements, he's probably different from ordinary people. Also, Miss Rong specifically told me to smell them for the camphor scent. Aside from the village chief's family being too far away to detect, the other two definitely had that scent."

The old man listened nearby and continued, "That's true. I've asked other villagers about this, and I heard the village chief's son is so mentally retarded he doesn't even recognize his own mother. The man from Tofu Xishi's family is bedridden, unable to get up. He needs help eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating. He's even worse off than the village chief's son. As for Old Li's grandson, I'm afraid he's younger than the other kids, but he looks better than the other two."

Rong Wanyin thought for a moment and said, "In fact, including the old woman, there should be five people in this village who have been treated."

Everyone was surprised and asked, "Five people? Who else?"

Rong Wanyin continued, "Sister Ruoping's child."

Su Zhan frowned and asked, "Are you talking about the child of the woman in red?"

Everyone was a little surprised, but when they thought about the child's abnormal behavior, it was not surprising.

Rong Wanyin nodded seriously. "I was helping her wash up just now. Although she didn't let me touch the child, when she unwrapped him, I could smell the same old woman's scent on him. But before that, he was holding the quilt and his body was smelly, so it covered up the smell, so it wasn't as strong. It seems that this smell is probably related to the 'treatment'. People who have been 'treated' will have this smell."

Everyone understands.