Card Room

Chapter 495

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi walked into the town side by side.

The small town in front of them and the beautiful Qingfeng Town in their impression are simply different from the mud. If Qingfeng Town is a paradise for beautiful mountains and waters 20 years later, then Qingfeng Town was a devastated human purgatory in the famine period 20 years ago.

There are not many houses in the town, most of them are dilapidated.

The roads on the ground are potholes and muddy, and the population living there is less than 30% of Qingfeng Town two decades later. Coupled with the famine, many people in poor health and poor families have been starved to death by the roadside.

The two had just walked a few steps, and saw a few crooked corpses appearing in the corner of the alley. Those corpses were left untreated, and the garbage was piled together in one place.

Ye Qi has gone through so many secret rooms with Xiao Lou. He has already seen the corpses, but the smell is a bit unpleasant. He covered his nose and mouth, stepped forward, took a branch and turned it over to look at the bodies.

Since it came twenty years ago, any place where clues may appear cannot be omitted.

There are five corpses in total, which look like a family. One of the women was holding the yellow-faced skinny child in her arms until she died. No obvious wounds were found on all the bodies. Ye Qidao said, "This family should be starved to death. Seeing that they are well-dressed, they certainly have no money at home. It is really difficult to survive the famine."

Shao Qingge frowned and looked at the flying flies around the corpse. He lowered his voice and said, "Come on, these corpses discarded on the roadside should not make much sense. We still find the mysterious organization 20 years ago as soon as possible.

Ye Qi nodded, turned around and walked out of the alley with Shao Qingge.

Along the way, scattered corpses can be found on the roadside almost every few steps, this scene is like the end of the world. No animals can be seen in the town. Domestic animals such as pigs, goats, and cows must have been eaten up. People who are hungry or crazy may not even let go of mice.

The whole town can't smell any food. Every house door is locked, and people who secretly store food at this time will certainly not dare to take it out.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge walked in shock.

Twenty years ago, Qingfeng Town was like an empty city. Except for the corpses, blood stains and messy branches of trees in the town, there was no living person in the daytime.

Where should I check?

Ye Qi stood in the center of the town, his face filled with confusion.

Twenty years later, the center of the town is a lake, surrounded by weeping willows and beautiful scenery. There is also a "Drunken Moon Pavilion" at the heart of the lake for people to cool off. But at this time, the center of the town was just a wasteland, and the "Fulai Inn" they lived in Xiaolou had not yet been built, and there were many corpses scattered nearby.

Ye Qi looked around. "It's completely clueless. How should we check? You can't knock door to door."

After thinking about it, Shao Qingge suddenly said, "Do you remember the old man we met when we went to buy the rattle?"

Ye Qi remembered the old man who made the rattle that he found not long ago. His eyes lit up. "The old man lived in this town 20 years ago. He is a person who survived the famine. We are sure that the world 20 years ago Can find him! At this time, he should be... a young man in his thirties?"

Shao Qingge nodded. "Well. According to his description, the people in the town died for more than half of the famine. He survived by eating sweet potatoes stored in the cellar. I remember him living in the east end of the town. Let’s go Look around."

The two recognized the direction according to daylight and quickly walked towards the east of the city.

On the way, they saw a mother-in-law with a little girl passing by in a hurry.

The mother-in-law's wrinkles on her face seemed to be more than fifty years old, and the old hand held the girl's left hand tightly. The girl was thin and small, her skin was waxy, and she was malnourished, but her eyes were very dark and bright.

As she passed by, she looked up at Ye Qi.

Ye Qi and her eyes are opposite. The little girl should be less than ten years old. One hand is held by her mother-in-law and the other hand is placed on the mouth to nibble. After meeting Ye Qi and Shao Qingge, she didn't ask for food, but her eyes were calm. She only looked at Ye Qi and turned her head.

The empty town finally saw two living people. Ye Qi quickly asked, "Little girl, we are from a field. Do you know where to find food?"

He and Shao Qingge were dressed in disguise, their clothes were ragged, their faces were covered with gray, and some weeds were deliberately made in their hair. They did look like a foreigner from afar, and they traveled a long distance. Very embarrassed.

The little girl said, "I haven't eaten in three days."

Ye Qi also wanted to ask something. The old man next to him suddenly coughed and whispered, "Go back, see this day, it will rain again." The little girl nodded and walked away with the old man.

Ye Qi looked at their backs and thoughtfully.

He noticed that the old lady's left foot was lame, and the walking posture was not easy. Although the little girl is thin and small, the facial features are actually pretty. The two didn’t look like rich people, they could live to the present, and they didn’t know where to find the food?

Shao Qingge said, "Come on, I remember the alley in front is where we bought the rattle."

Ye Qi recovered and followed Shao Qingge into the alley.

Looking up, they unexpectedly saw a rather familiar shop.

The plaque of the shop has been smashed in half, but the words "Dingdong Xiaopu" can be seen faintly on it.

Twenty years later, at the end of this alley, there is a large shop, which is a "dingle shop", which specializes in selling children's toys, the most is the rattle made by the owner himself, and the zodiac pattern is painted on the drum surface. The house is full.

The owner of the shop is named Ren, and everyone in the town calls him Uncle.

His superb skills and his hand-made rattle are very popular with children. When Ye Qi and Shao Qingge went to ask him to buy a rattle, he also showed off that "most people in this town have bought the rattle I made."

Shao Qingge took Ye Qi to the corner where no one was nearby, and opened his mind.

The man’s familiar voice sounded in his head. This time it’s not a joke, but a serious expression. “Uncle Ren who can be a rattle may know the murderer, or the murderer will buy a rattle from him. So, we must be cautious in contact with him. . It’s more convenient to connect with the heart and communicate with spirit."

Ye Qi nodded his head and said in his mind, "This uncle Ren has already mastered the craft of making rattles when he was young, and he opened a shop to sell toys in a small town. It was just that his shop was small 20 years ago, and we have seen That shop is incomparable."

Shao Qingge said, "He is very business-minded and far-sighted. The market targeting "children's toys" has launched his own signature. Now his business has just started, and the storefront is very small. To make the business bigger by word of mouth. We can hardly see other toy stores in twenty years, which shows that he has successfully monopolized the market."

Ye Qidao "That is to say, because he is proficient in a craft and does not lack money, when the famine started, he had the foresight to buy some food in advance and hide it in the cellar to use to survive this crisis? "

Shao Qingge nodded, "Well, hiding the food in the cellar, even if someone comes to rob it, he can’t find it. Looking at his shop, he should have been robbed. But as long as he hides the food, he can survive by this craft. Come back again."

Ye Qidao "How should we approach him?"

Shao Qingge thought about it and said, "Wear the cloak and look for the way first."

The two looked at each other, and tacitly found the invisibility cloak from the card case and put it on the body, and over the wall next to the shop.

There is a small courtyard behind the shop.

The small yard 20 years ago was very dilapidated. The pots and pans in the yard were smashed to the ground. As Shao Qingge said, his house had been robbed. There were even spider webs on the walls, which looked like a long deserted.

Ye Qi couldn't help but wonder, "Don't he live here 20 years ago?"

Shao Qingge said, "Look carefully."

The two rummaged carefully in a messy yard, with no gains other than the weeds.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound behind him. Ye Qi turned his head and saw that in the corner of the yard, under the cover of some messy branches and weeds, there was a hole in the ground.

A young man sneaked out of the cave.

His eyes looked around like an alert mouse, and he was relieved to find that there was no one around.

Then he quickly ran to the dry toilet in the corner of the yard, and there was a peeing sound in his ear.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge "............"

The two wore stealth cloaks. The other did not find them, but they saw each other's actions clearly. Ye Qi couldn't help but spit in his head. "This man is too cunning. He dug the cellar in the corner and used various branches and weeds as cover. Is he a mouse? He actually made a hole!"

Shao Qingge smiled and said, "In order to live, he also counseled the extreme."

After solving the internal anxiety problem, the man ran back and drilled into the hole.

The whole process went through clouds and water. Obviously he was doing this every day, and his hands and feet were extremely brisk.

It seems that in the famine year, he lived in a cave like a mouse. It is for this reason that he can survive smoothly and become the owner of a well-known toy shop in the town twenty years later, renovating and expanding this yard by as much as three times.

Ye Qidao "What should we do, let's go to see the cave?"

Shao Qingge nodded. “It’s not as good as us to play a villain and grab his grain directly. We have so many cards in hand. He will definitely play with one or two. He can only cope with us. About people and animals."

For Qingfeng Township 20 years ago, the two of them were really "unfamiliar". If a local person helps, it will be much easier to investigate. At least they can recognize the name of each person.

After the agreement, the two removed the cloak.

Ye Qi opened the branch covered in the ground cave and pretended to lower his voice in surprise. "Brother, I found a cellar here, will it be hidden in it."

Shao Qingge said, "Go in and see."

The man hiding in the cave looked awkward. Hearing the conversation, he immediately picked up his weapon—

However, he hadn't recovered yet, and he felt a breeze blowing around him.

Two strangers suddenly appeared in front of him. One of the clever teenagers swiftly sealed the hole. He walked in front of him and looked at him curiously. Holding his throat, he whispered, "If you want to borrow some food and want to live, just listen to us honestly."

The man was stunned. "Borrow?"

Isn't this a clear grab?