The shopkeeper and the man looked back at Li Xiuran at the same time. After hesitating slightly, the shopkeeper advised him kindly:

"The magistrate issued a closure order to prevent talking about this matter. It is better not to inquire too much. Knowing that too much is not good for you, and it may cause trouble for yourself."

I'm here to investigate this matter, how could I not ask... Li Xiuran thought.

Chi Qingwan curled her lips slightly, looked disdainful, and immediately expressed her identity: "Don't worry, shopkeeper, we..."

"We just passed by here and left early tomorrow morning. Even if the magistrate knew about it, he would have no choice but to do anything to us." Li Xiuran directly interrupted Chi Qingwan.

Although there are not many people in the inn, there are still a few people. If someone goes to report it, not only will their whereabouts be exposed, but the clues that are just about to be found will probably be cut off.

It's better to be careful.

Li Xiuran smiled again and said, "And you have closed the door, and there are only a few of us in the store. We are talking about something privately. How could the magistrate know?"

Chi Qingwan also realized that she almost made a mistake, so she looked at Li Xiuran with a smirk and quickly closed her mouth.

"That's right. There are only a few of us here. It's okay to talk to you. After holding it in for so long, I've wanted to vomit for a long time."

The middle-aged man nodded, poured a glass of wine, drank it all, and then recalled: "This matter has to start more than a month ago. It is said that the first person to discover the corpse monster was a hunter in Shangyu Village. When he went into the mountain to hunt, he accidentally encountered the corpse monster.

Although he was lucky enough to escape, he was injured and poisoned by corpse.

Unfortunately, the hunter didn't know, so after escaping back to the village, he told Muramasa about the matter.

Shangyu Village makes a living by farming and hunting. Almost every household in the village has to hunt on the mountain on weekdays. What if there are corpse monsters on the mountain?

The village chief quickly reported the matter to the village. The corpse monster was a demon and ordinary people could not deal with it. The village chief reported the matter to the county again. As a result, the magistrate felt that they were making a big deal and asked them to deal with it themselves, but ignored it at all.

Shortly after the hunter returned home, the corpse poison attacked and he turned into a corpse monster, killing the whole family. The village was also implicated, killing more than half of them.

Although someone escaped by chance and told Li Zheng, it was already evening and the city gate was closed and there was no way to report it to the county. Li Zheng was limited in staff and was ordinary people. Although he barely got rid of the hunters, the families and villagers who were killed by the hunters also had corpse poison attacks one after another, and they all turned into corpse monsters.

The inside couldn't stop it, so he could only lead people to escape in the panic. These corpse monsters began to cause trouble everywhere again. Several nearby villages were affected, and many people died. The corpse monsters broke out in an instant."

So that's it... Li Xiuran knew it in his heart and frowned again: "The first thing was the hunter who was attacked, and the magistrate could be said to be a big deal and ignored it.

But after so many people died, it is impossible for the magistrate to not pay attention to it, right?

Even if the corpse monster breaks out, the situation is still controllable. As long as the magistrate deals with it as soon as possible and reports the matter, and asks the state and even the capital to send people to eliminate the monsters, it can be completely pacified. How can it affect the whole county and cause the corpse monsters to become a disaster?"

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and said, "Because when the dog official heard the news, the first thing he thought about was not to pacify the corpse monster, but how to cover up the matter!"

"There was such a big mess in the county, so many people died, and the magistrate received a report in advance, but because of his temporary negligence, the corpse monster broke out.

If the matter is spread, the county magistrate will be dismissed from office and investigated, and it is possible to be punished.

The first thing he thought about was of course how to protect the official position under his butt."

The shopkeeper's face was full of mockery and sighed, "It's just that I'm sorry for the people in the county. After that night, the corpse monster broke out, just like a plague, and it began to rage everywhere. In just a few days, the corpse monsters became rampant, and the whole county was affected. My two sons were also killed by the corpse monsters.

Seeing that the magistrate could not cover it up, he reported the matter, but unfortunately it was too late.

The whole county was caused by corpse monsters, and most of them died of the zombie monster's hand, and they were poisoned by corpse, and then they turned into corpse monsters. The corpse monsters were completely flooded and began to spread outside the county, and the situation was irreversible."

"It's really the same as I guess. Chenzhou magistrate was also dragged down by Qiu County magistrate, so he was forced to wipe his butt?"

Li Xiuran thought to himself, and was a little confused. More than half of the people died in Qiu County, and such a big disaster was not a trivial matter. It is impossible for Chenzhou magistrate not to know this. Even if Qiu County magistrate is his confidant, he would not cover up such a big matter for him, right?

Did the magistrate of Qiu County save his life or block the gun for him?

If the matter is revealed in the end, he will be implicated.

Yang Wenxin glanced at the shopkeeper and frowned and said, "You said that the corpse monsters have spread and spread to outside the county, but we have not seen a single corpse monster along the way. What's going on? Could it be that the corpse monster has been pacified?"

The shopkeeper nodded: "A few days ago, a large number of officers and soldiers suddenly came to search for corpse monsters everywhere, and then I never saw them again. It must have been pacified."

The middle-aged man looked angry: "If they had taken action earlier, how could so many people die? None of these dog officials are good things!"

Li Xiuran touched his nose, a little embarrassed, he was also a court official...

However, a few days ago, they were on their way to investigate the matter by receiving the emperor's order. It seemed that Xue Dingqian had indeed received the news in advance, and then urgently sent someone to clear out the corpse monster in an attempt to cover up the disaster.

Li Xiuran thought to himself and glanced at the shopkeeper: "So many corpse monsters have been wiped out, and there are quite a few corpses. How to deal with them in the end? They were buried on the spot, burned, or thrown away wherever they were?"

The shopkeeper shook his head: "I don't know, I was already scared by the corpse monster at that time, so how dare I go out and walk around? It was only after the magistrate sent someone to issue a ban order that I realized that the corpse monster had been pacified.

Since then, I have never seen the corpse monster again, nor have I seen the corpse. It must have been disposed of by the officers and soldiers."

No... Li Xiuran was a little disappointed. He still wanted to find these corpses and use this as evidence to confirm Xue Dingqian's crime. It seems that it is not feasible now.

It’s right to think about it carefully. Since you have to clean up the traces and cover up the disaster, how could Xue Dingqian leave such a big handle for him?

but……

After receiving the emperor's order, they set off that afternoon and arrived at Xingqing Prefecture for five days. Even if it took him three days to take him to take a detour to Dingzhou and then to the city, the whole plan would be only eight days.

And there will be less time left for Xue Dingqian to clear out the corpse monsters.

First, after hearing the emperor's will, Xue E had to pass the news to him first. Xingqing Mansion was not close to the capital, and even if it took 800 miles to speed up, it would take at least two days.

Second, since they left Dingzhou, they encountered fewer and fewer corpse monsters on the road, which means that before that, Xue Dinggan had already wiped out the corpse monsters.

It took them a day and a half to rush from Dingzhou to the city, and then it took a day and a half to minus the two days that Xue E had to send a message to Xue Dinggan, leaving him with time to clear out the corpse monsters, which was equivalent to only four and a half days!

At that time, the corpse monsters had already become rampant, and the whole mansion was affected and even spread outside the mansion. Such a serious disaster was finally settled in just four and a half days, and the corpse was destroyed. The speed was a bit too fast, right?

Since you have this ability, why didn’t Xue Dinggan try to calm down earlier?

The emperor knew that he had to risk his crime of hiding and not being punished. After the disaster spread to the whole mansion, countless people were killed and injured, causing such a big disaster. The emperor knew that he specially sent someone to investigate. After the matter was irreversible, he sent someone to clean up?

It makes sense no matter how you think about it. Xue Dinggan is a prefect and his IQ must be enough. How could he make such an unwise decision?

Or...what is there any reason why he has to do this?

Li Xiuran was secretly pondering in his heart, and suddenly turned his head to look at the shopkeeper and the man and said, "Do you two know, which mountain the hunter encountered the corpse monster?"

The shopkeeper shook his head.

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly: "I don't know much, either."

"I have heard of it. It seems that the mountain next to Shangyu Village is called...Yushan!"

"Yes, what I heard was also called Yushan."

"It is said that Shangyu Village is named because it is backed by Yushan."

The customers next to them listened to the people talking for a long time. As witnesses, they also empathized with each other, and then spoke and started talking together.

The shopkeeper glanced at the few people and suddenly felt relieved.

Although it feels so good that he vomits, there are still people around him. If someone reports to the news, the consequences will be very serious. He regrets it just now and is sweating all the time.

Now they all spoke, at least they didn't have to worry about someone rumoring the news.

Yushan... Li Xiuran thought silently in his heart, and the waiter brought the wine and food. Li Xiuran temporarily suppressed his thoughts, poured a glass of wine, and raised his glass to several people with a smile:

"Thank you for your advice, I wish you a cup."

"Ha ha!"

"Why are you polite?"

"This matter has spread a long time ago, and many people know it. Even if I don't tell me, you can find out if you go outside and ask."

Several people raised their glasses and drank them all in one go.

The shopkeeper glanced at Li Xiuran and advised him kindly: "I advise you not to inquire when you go outside. The magistrate issued a ban on the ban and refused to talk about this matter. If someone reported it, you may really get into trouble."

Li Xiuran smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, I've recorded it."

The shopkeeper smiled, looked at the few people again, and warned: "Today we are only a few of us in the store, so it doesn't matter if we talk about it privately, but we should not spread the word when we go out, otherwise if we are found out by the magistrate, we will not be able to take care of it."

"Don't worry, the shopkeeper."

"Do you still need to remind me of this kind of thing?"

"We know the consequences, and we won't talk nonsense when we go out."

Several people immediately spoke up for promise.

The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief, smiled with satisfaction and stood up and said, "That's good, everyone eat slowly, I won't disturb you."

Chi Qingwan glanced at Li Xiuran and whispered: "It seems that the culprit of this incident is the magistrate of Qiu County. If he had not been negligent and ignored the report from Li Zheng, the corpse monster would not have exploded.

If the outbreak is dealt with in a timely manner instead of thinking about covering it up first, the corpse monsters will not be flooded and the situation will not develop so seriously."

Li Xiuran shook his head slightly: "This matter is probably not that simple."

Chi Qingwan was stunned for a moment, then said with a puzzled look: "Do you think there is still something hidden here?"

Yang Wenxin also frowned and looked at him: "Did you hear any doubts?"

Li Xiuran nodded slightly, glanced at the two of them, and said, "Let's have dinner first, and we will talk about it when we finish our meal."

Yang Wenxin glanced at the people next to her and nodded.

Chi Qingwan also knew that this was not a place to speak, so she didn't ask any more questions and picked up the chopsticks to eat first.

There was also a serious matter, and the three of them didn't delay much. After eating simply, they arrived at the room under the guidance of the waiter.

Chi Qingwan asked when she entered the door: "What doubts did you find?"

Yang Wenxin also looked at him with a serious look on his face.
To be continued...