Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 81 Weird Village
Yan Mingzhang quickly took a half step forward to block the man's hand, his eyes full of warning. The man then shyly withdrew his right hand.

"Awu, what are you doing? Don't offend these distinguished guests!" A shrewd old man who was a little older walked out of the village with a group of villagers. Each villager held an iron farm tool in his hand and stood neatly behind the village chief, looking very aggressive.

Like Awu, these people all have ugly faces and some disabilities - these are all sequelae of leprosy!
Awu realized that he had lost his composure, put on a smile that was uglier than crying, and coughed lightly a few times.

The village chief had a smile on his face, but his eyes swept sharply over Yan Mingzhang and others. Finally, when he saw Awu, he glared at him fiercely, with a warning look.

Awu completely lost his previous momentum, became completely wilted, looked scared, lowered his head and hid behind the village chief.

"Dear guests, I am the village chief of Niujia Village. Ah Wu had a brain injury when he was young, and he has some problems. I am really sorry for offending you. Dear guests, what brings you here? Why don't we sit down and talk in detail?" The village chief looked at everyone carefully and saw that they were dressed in fine clothes and had greed in their eyes.

"I'm not going in. I heard that you have leprosy here!" Su Zhan crossed his arms, totally unconvinced, and refused with an unhappy look on his face.

The village chief was a little annoyed and glared at Awu again. Awu was so scared that he trembled.

The village chief smiled broadly, trying to look as friendly as possible. His face was already ferocious, and this smile made it even more frightening. "Dear guests, where are you from?"

Yan Mingzhang pretended to be worried. "Old man, to be honest, we are from the capital's caravan. My surname is Zhang, and this is my second brother and third sister. Unfortunately, there was a landslide ahead, so our caravan can't get through. We have thirty carts of Shu brocade on board..."

He deliberately emphasized the word "Shu brocade," and the village chief's pupils suddenly shrank. "If we can't get to the capital within five days, we won't be able to deliver the goods. What will we do then?"

Yan Mingzhang stomped his feet heavily.

Rong Wanyin held his arm at the right time, and her wide sleeves slid down halfway, revealing the gilded silver bracelet with twined branches pattern on her wrist, which was shining with a warm light - it was obvious that it was of great value.

The village chief paused his gaze on the bracelet and said, "Dear guests, it's late tonight. Why don't you take a break first? I'll have the villagers repair the road together tomorrow."

Yan Mingzhang pretended to be overjoyed and bowed repeatedly: "Don't worry, old man, as long as the road can be repaired, I will definitely reward you generously after the task is completed!"

The village chief laughed heartily: "Hahaha, sir, you don't have to be polite. It's okay. If you, my dear guests, don't mind, I'll let Awu clean up the house and let you stay for one night."

Yan Mingzhang bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you very much, old man."

Ah Wu readily agreed without even a hint of objection. The others remained silent, tacitly approving, even with a hint of suppressed joy. It seemed the village chief held a high prestige within the village.

-

Although Awu's house was a bit shabby, there was nothing valuable in it, so it was cleaned up quickly.

Su Zhan stood in the courtyard with a look of disgust on his face. The room was filled with a foul smell that even he found unpleasant, let alone Rong Wanyin. Su Zhan didn't want to go into the room at all, but seeing the look in Yan Mingzhang's eyes, it seemed that something else was going to happen in the second half of the night, so he had to go in.

As soon as he entered the room, Yan Mingzhang whispered a few words to Mo Yun, and Mo Yun left.

Su Zhan asked in confusion, "Cheng Xuan, I always feel that there is something wrong with these villagers, but I can't put my finger on it. Do you feel the same way? So you asked Mo Yun to check it out?"

"Oh? Not bad. What have you discovered? This is a good opportunity to see if you have made any progress. Think carefully about what you just saw and heard. Who are they? What was it like? What are the details? What did they say? These are all things to pay attention to." Yan Mingzhang looked at Su Zhan with a smile and patiently coaxed him.

"Huh, do you think I'm you? Who can remember?" Su Zhan said so, but he still held his chin and recalled, "What's strange? Apart from the fact that they all look... uh... not very good-looking, there doesn't seem to be anything else..."

Rong Wanyin also began to recall. Indeed, the scene at that time was too shocking, and it was easy for people to ignore other details.

"People...it's people!" Rong Wanyin glanced at everyone, and when she saw Abao, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and an idea flashed in her mind.

Su Zhan was speechless: "...Aren't you talking nonsense?"

Rong Wanyin ignored her and continued, "There are only men in this village, and they are all about the same age, middle-aged men!"

"Indeed! If the village chief didn't lie, then this village really only has middle-aged men. Logically, if taxes really need to be collected, the tax burden on men should be higher than on women and children. If the village wants to conceal its population, it should be the young and middle-aged men!" Su Zhan suddenly realized and began to ponder, "Could it be that he died of leprosy three years ago?"

Yan Mingzhang shook his head and said, "No, the most terrifying thing about leprosy is that it can disfigure people beyond recognition, leaving them utterly ugly and even disabled. However, the death rate is only about 30%. Jing Jun is good, he can think now, and he's making progress."

Su Zhan felt a little proud of the praise, but he also felt that the praise was so awkward, as if an elder was praising a child, so he rolled his eyes at Yan Mingzhang.

Rong Wanyin continued, "So, there's something strange about this village. Even if there were deaths, how could it be so coincidental that only the elderly, women, and children died? This suggests two possibilities. One is that the village chief lied, and the villagers hid all the elderly, women, and children for some reason. The other possibility is that the village chief didn't lie, and all the elderly, women, and children in the village died, but it definitely wasn't all due to leprosy."

A Bao weakly raised his hand. Seeing Yan Mingzhang nod at him, he bravely said, "I've come all the way from my hometown to Niujia Village. Almost all the villages along the way are in ruins. The few villages that are better are only left with the elderly, children and women. Almost all the able-bodied men have been drafted into the army. I've never seen a village with so many able-bodied men like this before."

Su Zhan clapped his hands, feeling very proud. "No wonder you asked Mo Yun to investigate. You wanted to see if there were any old people, women, or children in this village. Am I right? See, I am quite clever. If I could find out where these missing old people, women, and children are, maybe I could find out where Sister Abao went."

Yan Mingzhang smiled and encouraged him, "Jingjun, in time you will surely become a respected official whom the people love."

Su Zhan couldn't help but roll his eyes at Yan Mingzhang again: "It's already this hour, and you're still teasing me! There's another possibility, could it be that all these children and women are sold?"

There are still some people who buy it for women and children, but will there be anyone who buys it for the elderly who are nearly 70 years old?
After thinking about it, everyone was hesitant to jump to conclusions. Because the information was too complicated, the five people remained silent. Could it really be like this?