The next day, Zhang Ping and Chen Chou together, took another minor official and left Yiping County early in the morning.

Zhang Ping did not sit in a sedan chair, so Magistrate Shao gave him a horse and two donkeys to carry on, distinguishing the ranking of the master and subordinates by donkeys and horses. However, Zhang Ping had never rode a horse, only rode a donkey and a ox, but Chen Chou could ride a horse. So Chen Chou rode a horse, Zhang Ping and the clerk rode a donkey, all the way to the village.

Yiping County is considered a wealthy county compared to Zhang Ping's hometown. In the farmland, new wheat has been planted, and many tiled houses can be seen in the village. As soon as the boundary of the ghost village, farmland is getting smaller and smaller. The minor official led the way for Zhang Ping and walked on a small fork, saying that he could walk a lot less than on the official road.

The leaves on the roadside have almost fallen, and a few old pikes squat on the branches and scream. The withered vines spread and the autumn grass fades yellow.

The little official said: "This road is close, but if it weren't for the time being with the adults and brother Chen today, the villain would really not dare to leave."

Zhang Ping looked left and right and found that there were no more people around, they were wasteland, and even the little wind seemed to be more shaded than on the official road just now. In the distance, there was a cemetery, with a scattered area of ​​soil coverings stretching high and low, and smoke was emitting.

Chen Chou said: "It's strange. Many days have passed since the Cold Clothes Festival. Why are there still people visiting the grave?"

The little official said, "It's all these days of worship."

Zhang Ping held the donkey and looked at the grave for a while. The county annals of the previous chapter recorded that a few years ago, a plague occurred in this area and many people died. The ghost village was originally called Gujiazhuang. The plague started from that village, and the whole village died of epidemics.

The court sent troops to unify the bodies of the plague-deceased people in one place, burned and buried them deeply. Gujiazhuang was built as a buried place and was abandoned from then on.

The tombs that are smoking in the wasteland now are probably empty tombs set up by people from nearby villages and relatives of the deceased who are infected with the disease, just thinking about them.

Chen Chou helped Zhang Ping and read this passage. When he saw the graves and smoke, he felt the wind became colder. He covered his robe tighter and urged Zhang Ping to leave quickly.

At noon, the little official pointed ahead and said, "The territory of Gujiazhuang is ahead."

Zhang Ping looked at the place he pointed at, a piece of grass and a piece of desolate. The donkey he rode refused to go into the grass and wandered around the roadside. Zhang Ping got down the donkey and led the donkey into the grass. He didn't know what kind of bird was screaming in the grass, flapping his wings and walking away. Chen Chou's horse was so scared that he almost lifted Chen Chou off the horse.

Chen Chou rolled and got off the horse, pretending to be calm and looked around: "This is actually a good piece of land, but it's a pity that the grass grows white."

The little official said: "Who said it was not a good land? Back then, there were all fields. There were 10 miles of villages, and Gujiazhuang was the richest, who had ever thought..."

The minor official's surname is Tian Neng, and he is over forty years old. He is a native of the county. The newly compiled pictures of the county annals were redrawn by him. After being measured by Zhang Ping, he was not very happy. He didn't say much along the way.

But when he arrived at the territory of Gujiazhuang, Tian Neng couldn't help but want to mention the old story. When he was a child, Gujiazhuang was the most arrogant town in the entire Yiping area. Even the people in the county were held, and outsiders could not easily enter their village. Tian Neng pointed to the two charred stones in the grass to Zhang Ping and Chen Chou. This place was originally the gate of Gujiazhuang, carved with white stones, which was tall and pompous. After the plague, the court ordered the burning of the village, and even the gate was knocked down and smashed. Later, the territory of Gujiazhuang was equally divided among the two towns next door, but no one in the two towns dared to use Gujiazhuang's land. County Magistrate Shao also issued a decree to reclaim the fields here to reward the land, which was useless.

Zhang Ping leaned over to look at the remaining stone piles in the grass. Patterns could still be seen on the charred stones.

After passing the stone pile, there were more and more rocks and tiles in the grass. Tian Neng couldn't help but sigh again: "Think about it for a few years, it's a good farmhouse, and it's gone."

Zhang Ping put down a broken tiles in his hand and stood up: "I haven't found out why the epidemic has caused it?"

The county annals in the previous chapter only recorded the epidemic and the results, but did not explain the reasons. Logically, the court should have sent someone to investigate.

Tian Neng sneered, "Mr. Zhang, God made you suffer from plague, and it just started. If you want to do it, you can know how to make trouble. From ancient times to the present, there will be no plague." He looked down on this young man who picked up a Jinshi from the bottom of his heart. He didn't realize that he had tried to speak a little, and then he said, "The court sent someone to investigate, but it was still the same prefect Liu. I heard that he has been promoted to the censor and is talented enough. He personally supervised the inspection, but it was still left alone. He also said it was water, and he said it was rat. How could it be because of the rat in Gujiazhuang? "

Chen Chou interrupted: "The plague is the most powerful, how could it be a mouse?"

Tian Neng seemed to want to say something, but he didn't say anything. Zhang Ping continued to walk forward. Among the few shorter grass, there was a dark stone platform. Zhang Ping circled around the stone platform. Looking at the shape, it was the magic platform under the statues of gods and Buddhas in the temple. Then he asked, "Is this a temple?"

Tian Neng said: "Yes, there is a land temple in Gujiazhuang."

Chen Chou interrupted again: "The people in this village are pious and built the land temple in the village."

Zhang Ping caught a glimpse of Tian Neng's complex expression and remembered an anecdote that he saw when he was flipping through the file. The county magazine compiled by the upper and lower levels were recorded in the county magazine, but the county magazine compiled by the previous one was not included. It may be because he thought it was more like a legend of strange things and was not true.

Thinking back to the fact that Tian could say that Gujiazhuang could not have a plague, Zhang Ping felt a little moved and asked: "Is this land temple the legendary place where the fox fairy and Gu Sheng are related? Gujiazhuang is the descendant of the fox fairy?"

Chen Chou was stunned: "Really, fake? Brother Zhang, don't you never believe in any monsters, weird and gods?"

Tian Neng's expression flashed, he coughed, and said, "There is... such a rumor."

According to the county annals compiled by the Shangshang, there was a scholar Gu who went to Beijing to take the exam. He encountered heavy rain on the road and took shelter from the land temple. The next day, he found that the wine gourd he carried with him was gone, and there were two missing legends in his bag for entertainment.

Gu Sheng thought it was the God of Land that appeared, so he drank his wine and read the book. He was very happy. He then placed some dry food in his bag on the gods platform to offer it to the God of Land and asked him to bless him to take the title of the Golden List.

Gu Sheng continued to go to the capital city, as if he was blessed by gods and Buddhas along the way, and it was extremely smooth. Someone helped him build a quilt in the middle of the night. When it rained, he would not get wet at all. He could rent a very cheap house in the capital city. He went to bed after reading books at midnight. When he woke up, he was already on the bed, and there was a roast chicken on the head of the bed.

Gu Sheng studied hard, and he was very talented and should have been the first to be a master's title. However, at that time, the treacherous ministers were in power, and Gu Sheng criticized the current problems in the test paper, so he failed.

After failing the exam, Gu Sheng was extremely sad and angry. He thought that he would succeed with the blessing of God and Buddha, but he unexpectedly was still empty. He got drunk in the tavern, but he found himself in a warm quilt with a peerless beauty in his arms.

After a beautiful spring night, the next morning, Gu Sheng found that the bed was still there and the peerless beauty was gone. A man in high spirits stood in the room and apologized to him.

The man said that he was a fox and led a nest of foxes to practice near the Land Temple. When Gu Sheng was sheltering from the rain, his children stole Gu Sheng's wine and Gu Sheng's legendary novels. However, Gu Sheng did not blame him, but also took out dry food. The fox felt that he was a fellow who could be intersected, so he took care of him all the way.

Gu Sheng felt that the court was dark and people's hearts were not as good as animals. Instead of being a poor scholar, it was better to have friends with foxes.

So he gave up his fame and fortune and went to the fox's nest.

A few years later, someone passed by the land temple where Gu Sheng took shelter from the rain and found a gorgeous farm nearby, with tall houses and green trees and fertile fields. The man stepped forward to ask, and the boy who put the geese replied, "The owner's surname is Gu."

After listening to Zhang Ping's speech, Chen Chou suddenly said, "Did Gu Sheng marry a female fox and give birth to a small fox, or marry another wife, just live with the fox? Gu and Gu are homophones. This past event refers to Gujiazhuang?"

Zhang Ping said: "Not mentioned in the record."

Tian Neng did not deny: "The villain dared not talk about these strange things. When the county annals were compiled, the villain was already working in the county government office. At that time, Gujiazhuang had just been exterminated due to the plague. When Liu saw this paragraph, he asked the prince to delete it from the county annals, saying that it was too weird and unreliable."

A village with a stubborn family, coupled with some weird origins and legends, is a bit out of place.

Tian Neng looked at the stone platform and shook his head: "If he was really a descendant of the fox fairy, how could he not be able to withstand the plague?"

Zhang Ping said: "There are no ghosts and gods in the world, nor are there any monsters."

Chen Chou said: "This may not be, it's just..." His eyes glanced at some point in the stone platform and suddenly paused.

Zhang Ping raised his eyelids and glanced at him. Chen Chou's gaze paused somewhere on the stone platform for a long time. He bent down and touched it, then stood up in a panic and smiled at Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping didn't say anything. When Chen Chou turned around, he looked carefully at the place where Chen Chou had just touched.

There is a branch carved there, and among the four leaves, three apricot fruits hang.

Back from the countryside to the county government, it was already dark. Zhang Ping had dinner and went to bed early. The next day, he had not seen Chen Chou. It was during dinner that Chen Chou had just appeared in the dining room with two black circles hanging on his eyes.

The black circle on Chen Chou's face was heavier and his expression was dazed day by day. Even the braised hoofs on the dining table could not cheer up his spirit.

Three or four days later, Zhang Ping stayed up late to review the drawings, and suddenly the door was scratching in his ears. He opened the door, and Chen Chou crashed into his head and grabbed his sleeve.

"Brother Zhang, I'm so crazy. Even if you think I'm crazy, I have to talk to you!"

Zhang Ping helped him pull a chair and poured a cup of tea. Chen Chou took the teacup and his eyes straightened: "Brother Zhang, I said I once occasionally went to a place and there was an adventure. Do you still remember it..."

Zhang Ping nodded, of course he remembered. I'm afraid that few candidates in Beijing who are in the current subject do not remember it.

Chen Chou opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it again, closed it again, and after a few times, he pulled something out of his arms: "Look."

Zhang Ping took it, a little surprised.
Chapter completed!