Xu Hao went to Hangzhou several times on an official ship, and this time he took a civilian boat on a whim, and it seemed that the whole journey had become different.

When walking against the water, the sailors have to go ashore to pull the fiber, shouting slogans, and the wooden boat moves forward slowly, which is very hard.

Xu Hao told the second daughter not to walk around if she had nothing to do, and the bodyguards lived around the three of them, and there was a clipper boat half a mile away that was responsible for answering.

In the second half of the night, after walking against the current, the tired half-dead sailors slept on the tent and snored like thunder. Xu Hao, who was not sleepy, found that the boat was moored and did not leave, and when he came out, he saw that the reeds on both sides of the bank were thick, the starry sky was reflected in the water, and the boat was rippling with the waves.

Even the helmsman was dozing, and when he heard footsteps, he opened his eyes and shook his head.

Xu Hao asked, "What kind of place is this?" Why stop the boat? ”

The steward-keeper said: "This place is called Ghost Gate, the river in front is narrow, the water is turbulent, and there are many reefs. In the past, when the army was in chaos, there were often strong people and countless dead, so we generally didn't dare to go at night, and the brothers were tired again, so it was not too late to sleep until the day and then go. ”

Xu Hao looked ahead, even in the hinterland of the south of the Yangtze River, there were no people within a hundred miles, and in the dark night, the trees and strange rocks were like goblins, which naturally made the shipwrecks and passengers fearful.

was chatting about the sky, and suddenly heard a "plop" sound, like someone falling into the water.

Xu Hao and the helmsman were taken aback, and several guards rushed out of the cabin, Xu Hao waved his hand at them, signaling that the second daughter should be protected first, he and the helmsman walked to the front cabin to take a look, there was no movement, and there was a snoring sound of people everywhere.

The steward-keeper said: "There are too many water ghosts in this place, guest officer, you can go back and sleep." ”

"That's not right." Xu Hao doesn't believe in ghosts and gods. said: "Wake up all the people, almost down the number of people." ”

"It's not good, the big guys are tired to death, let's talk about it tomorrow." The helmsman was not happy.

"Bastard." Xu Hao flew up and kicked a copper basin away, making a piercing clang, which immediately woke up many people.

"Get up and see, there are few people around you, and there are no lost belongings." Xu Hao shouted.

Everyone looked around sleepily and dazedly, and the alarmed boatman scolded: "What's the noise at night? ”

Xu Hao said in a deep voice: "I heard the sound of falling water just now. I suspect someone stole something and jumped into the water and ran away. ”

"Really?" The guests hurriedly began to check their belongings, and the boatman came out in a rage, and said loudly: "My people will never steal, and even if they do, they are outsiders." ”

Xu Hao ignored him, and suddenly, a guest in the middle cabin didn't even wear clothes, and rushed out with a crawler, shouting, "It's amazing." Go in and have a look. ”

Xu Hao still didn't move, he would definitely not act recklessly, but a few people came over. The guest's face turned pale, and he pointed to the cabin and exclaimed, "God." You go in and see, why is this guy missing? ”

When everyone heard this, their faces were as pale as earth, and a few timid people chattered their teeth. The limp of his hands and feet sat on the deck; There was a bold probe who looked over and shouted, "Dead man, dead man." ”

A guard walked in. I saw a guest lying bent over, his head gone, and blood on the pillow and mattress.

The boatman went in with him, and when he came out, he lay on the board of the boat, staring at his two eyes and staring at him, unable to even say a word.

The guard walked up to Xu Hao and said, "It's that well-dressed son, his head is gone, and his clothes are still there." ”

The frightened guests were furious and shouted at the ship's owner: "There was a human life, and you can't get out of charge of the ship." Don't be stupid, you don't think about it yet. ”

The boatman cried: "Please help everyone! How can I be good for such a great calamity? Oh, it's a big disaster, it's over now. ”

Xu Hao saw that his crying was real, not like pretending, and said: "Don't patronize and cry, crying to death will not help." Let me ask you, what is the young guest's last name and what is his name, do you know it? Is it from Jinling or from outside? ”

"You come and go with the person on the boat, how do I know his name and hometown?" The boatman wept and mourned.

Xu Hao said: "How far is it from the nearest county seat? ”

"More than twenty miles." The boatman replied casually, and then reacted and shouted: "My grandfather, don't see the official, I can't eat." ”

Xu Hao said angrily: "If you don't see the official, if you die, it's just like that?" ”

The boatman was so anxious that he couldn't speak, and one of the elderly guests said, "Don't talk about this yet, get the boat ashore quickly, and let us all go up, who is willing to accompany the dead on board." ”

Xu Hao said coldly: "If someone dies on the ship, no one can get rid of suspicion, and no one is allowed to leave." The ancients said that we should live together in the same boat, so we should advance and retreat together, and we will inevitably be witnesses after reporting to the official, what are we afraid of if we don't do bad things? Whoever wants to leave is suspected of murder. Even if you don't kill people and you run away, can the government not chase the case? When the time comes, it will be difficult to argue, in case you meet a confused official and move a big punishment, just wait for the torture to be beheaded after the fall. ”

Everyone couldn't help but nod their heads, thinking it made sense. The old guest was experienced, and immediately said: "This son is a person who understands, but we are just circumstantial evidence, and we must know the cause, but we can't ask the government and not know anything." What did you hear that you were anxious to wake us up? Also, the first one to call the dead, you sleep next to the dead, don't you know that there is no shadow at all? ”

Xu Hao pointed to the helm and the two guards and explained: "I couldn't sleep at night, when I was chatting with him in the rear cabin, I heard the sound of falling water, so I came over and alarmed everyone, just worried about an accident." ”

The steward-keeper hurriedly nodded and said, "I have been talking to this son for a long time. ”

The old guest said: "If Gongzi is an accomplice, naturally he will not wake us up immediately, as long as we wait until dawn, Bacheng is a headless public case, so it can be seen that Gongzi has nothing to do with this case." ”

"I'm a suspect too." Xu Hao didn't appreciate it, "But since there is a sound of falling water, the wicked man should have already run away, and there is no way to track it down at this time." Boatman, you count the number of people, who doesn't see less? ”

When the shipkeeper sighed and checked the number of people, the middle-cabin guest said, "Alas! It's really damn bad, I went to Hangzhou to visit my mother-in-law, and I originally planned to leave a few days later, just because my mother-in-law at home urged me to get on the boat today, and I didn't want to bump into this unfortunate thing. I slept well at night, and as soon as you screamed, I got up and felt a pool of blood, and when I looked back, I was so frightened that my soul was gone, and everyone saw it. Oh, how can you make it clear when you get to the government? ”

Xu Hao asked, "Your surname?"

"My surname is Feng." The guests sighed again and again, "I do small business in Jinling." ”

Xu Hao asked the old guest again, "Your old surname?" ”

The old guest said: "My surname is Pei, I have practiced medicine for generations, and the people of Hangzhou mentioned that the fifth Shilang surnamed Pei is also a little famous." ”

Xu Hao said: "Since it is Langzhong, then please follow me in to have a look, and the boatman, you have to go in too." ”

Because of Xu Hao's strong advocacy, there is no doubt that the panicked people have a backbone, and when they encounter such an unlucky thing again, they wish that a nosy person would come forward.

The number of people is almost clear, there are a lot of them, Xu Hao knows that the gesture of the guards is true, and he has already figured it out when he gets on the boat, unless there is a villain hidden in secret.

Entering the dead man's cabin, the boatman trembled and didn't dare to look at it, even Doctor Pei frowned, but he was surprised that Xu Hao's face did not change, and asked in surprise: "What is your surname?" Why not be afraid? ”

Xu Hao said: "I have been on the battlefield, and I have seen a lot of dead people. ”

"Oh, no wonder." Doctor Pei arched his hand, "Disrespectful, disrespectful, I didn't expect you to be a military master." ”

"No longer in the army." Xu Hao said while carefully observing the front and back, left and right, there was only one door in the cabin, there was no door that was not locked when traveling, and the pins of the ship window were missing, it seemed that he jumped in from the outside to commit murder, but why only kill the young man with big ears in that area?

looked at the deceased, wearing a blue satin coat and trousers, a cocoon silk scribe's shirt stacked next to it, an agarwood-colored coat on one side, and a scribe's blue satin hat, with no signs of moving. A printed coarse cloth mattress was almost soaked with blood, the green silk quilt was half padded under the corpse, and there was also blood stains, a package was pressed under the pillow, and there was a blue cloth bag behind it.

Dr. Pei said: "If you kill for money, why hasn't the package been moved? It seems that it must be a revenge and a murderer. ”

The boatman was a little more relaxed and said, "Didn't you hear the sound of falling into the water?" It must have been touched from the water, and after killing someone, he jumped into the water and swam away. ”

At this time, the other guests also came back to their senses and talked nonsense. Someone said: "It must be a water demon, in a previous life they were husband and wife, and they encountered something here and abandoned people, and as a result, revenge came in this life." ”

Someone else said: "Maybe it's a swordsman, maybe he offended someone, and after killing someone, Edgeworth flew away." ”

Someone else said, "Isn't this stealing heads?" There is an allusion, I listened to a play with my uncle before, there was such a play, presumably this is the case. ”

For Xu Hao, when he encountered a homicide, he had to notify the local government to deal with it. Because he took the second daughter, it was not good to ask the guards to go to the danger to investigate at night, and then he and the deceased were not related, since it was very likely to be a vendetta, there was no nosy mood.

"Light the torch and sail to the county seat."

Xu Hao said a word, didn't touch the scene, turned around and strode away, returned to the cabin, and comforted the little leaf with a discolored face, Lin Daojing seemed quite calm, but betrayed her with a slightly trembling body.

Xiao Yezi's face turned pale and said, "No wonder my mother always says that it's hard to go out, it's too scary outside." ”

"It's scary, we're out of luck this time." Xu Hao patted her back gently, Xiao Yezi had never experienced this, it seemed that her soul would leave a shadow.

Lin Daojing muttered to himself: "It's really scary to think about it, I actually arrived in Jinling safely from Beiping." ”

Xu Hao was silent, there were as many criminal cases as in ancient times, where there were people, there were rivers and lakes, don't think that ancient times were a paradise, which day would not have several appalling cases in various places? (To be continued......)