Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 184 - 183: Missing Without a Trace

Lu Qing silently glanced at Zhu Yu, who shook his head slightly.

She was certain that her father knew nothing about this matter. Otherwise, no matter how much he disliked tales of supernatural powers, he couldn’t possibly ignore half the young men in the village mysteriously disappearing without taking action.

This made her involuntarily sigh.

It’s not that she looked down on her father. Emperor Jin sat high in the temple, revered as the Sovereign of the World. Even if something unusual happened far away in Li State, he could know everything clearly and dispatch someone to handle it immediately.

But Zhu Cheng, only guarding the tiny fiefdom of Shuo Country, was unaware of such significant events outside the capital.

Clearly, he only understood external matters through layers of reports from officials below. Whether there was embellishment or concealment among them, Zhu Cheng evidently did not know.

With such political acumen and skills... rebellion? Haha, the mere thought made Zhu Yu laugh out loud.

This was clearly nothing more than a perfect pawn.

"Old man, is this the only place where such things happen, or is it the same in other places?" Zhu Yu withdrew his thoughts and asked the old man running the tea stall.

"Not just our village, many such things are happening around as well," the old man said with a troubled expression, sighing. "If those who disappeared were young ladies, young wives, or young children, it would be easier to deal with. At worst, just hide them indoors and keep them from going out.

But the young and vigorous men can’t stay cooped up in the house every day; they have to go out to work. Yet, one day, they leave and might never come back."

"Did all these people disappear in a short time?"

"Not exactly, it’s sporadic, with one or two disappearing every ten days half a month." The wrinkles on the old man’s face gathered together. "Every time the crowd thinks there might not be anything wrong, someone disappears again.

It’s impossible to guard against, impossible to guard against!

There are rumors everywhere saying that it’s caused by some evil spirits or that they somehow angered the Mountain God, who took those men away?

So everyone thought, could they invite some Daoists or Mages with high abilities to see what’s going on, whether to exorcise demons or offer tribute, there must be a way to resolve it.

Now it’s better! Someone has invited several Daoists, it looks like we are saved!"

"Old man, those strapping lads you mentioned who vanished, where did they disappear?" Zhu Yu asked.

The old man waved his hand: "That I don’t know. I live alone and run this tea stall. There are no others at home.

Those matters are just what I heard from discussions in the village and from passersby.

I can’t tell what’s really going on among all their talk, only that indeed quite a few people have vanished without a trace."

It was obvious that the old man had placed a lot of hope in Zhu Yu and his group of five, so he showed extra hospitality, serving them a bowl of each of his few teas as if presenting precious treasures.

Especially with regard to Fu Lu, the old man was incredibly enthusiastic.

Originally, Fu Wen was worried that his brother’s fierce appearance might scare the old man. Unexpectedly, because Fu Lu looked like the Angry-eyed Vajra, the old man particularly trusted him, thinking he might be the most skilled among the Daoists, afraid of not treating him well and making him unhappy.

This made several people a bit at a loss whether to cry or to laugh.

Even Fu Lu himself was somewhat at a loss, feeling quite uneasy.

In such a rural tea stall, naturally, there couldn’t be any good tea, and you couldn’t even taste the tea leaves in the tea served here.

Zhu Yu didn’t even want to touch the bitter tea, and the salty tea tasted strange after a small sip, not very palatable.

But the bowl of sweet tea wasn’t bad, with a faint sweetness and a slight fragrance of dried fruit, drinking it alleviated much of the thirst from their journey.

After having tea and resting at this tea stall, the five resumed their journey.

Despite the old man’s firm belief that they were skilled exorcists and his refusal to take tea money, Fu Lu still left money behind as per Lu Qing’s instructions, and the five continued on their way.

This time, they slowed their pace and kept an eye on the surroundings, quickly realizing that, as the old man said, they saw women working in the fields and elderly women washing clothes by the river wherever they passed.

Passing through a grove, they even encountered an old woman, looking almost seventy, struggling to drag a bundle of branches tied with cloth strips, so weak that every step was laborious, having to stop every few steps to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her forehead with a tattered sleeve.

Fu Wen looked at Lu Qing, who nodded, and he hurriedly leaped off the horse, approaching the old woman: "Madam, let me help you!"

The old woman was startled to hear a young man speak to her, raising her eyes to see, not recognizing the man until Fu Wen got closer. Her old, dim eyes finally saw that he was a stranger, tall and strong, seemingly full of strength.

Upon seeing who he was, the old woman hurriedly waved at Fu Wen: "You mustn’t, you mustn’t! Young man, you should leave, don’t be in this forest, nor the mountains! Go as far as you can! Don’t let the spirits catch you!"

"Madam, stay calm, stay calm!" Fu Wen quickly reassured her, "Take a look at who I am?"

The old woman squinted her eyes, pulling Fu Wen closer for a better look, finally relieved upon seeing he was in a Taoist robe, patting her chest: "Oh my, a little Daoist! That’s good, that’s good! At least the spirits won’t dare to take a Daoist with them!"

"Come on, madam, I’ll help you carry this firewood back!" Fu Wen picked up the bundle of firewood with one hand, effortlessly shouldering it, and said to the old woman.

The old woman expressed her gratitude repeatedly, took Fu Wen and walked in the direction of her home.

The other four followed behind them, waiting for Fu Wen to return after escorting the old woman home. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Sir, I accompanied the old woman home just now and took the opportunity to inquire about the situation here." Fu Wen mounted his horse and said to Lu Qing, "The old woman told me that many of the young men from her village encountered incidents up in the mountains."

"Were they abducted while on the mountain?" Lu Qing frowned, feeling suspicious.

Abducting people on such a scale would naturally require not a small gang, causing quite a stir.

If that’s the case, how could the local officials and Prince Shuo Zhu Cheng be completely unaware?

Fu Wen shook his head with a strange expression: "No, I heard that during the day they went up the mountain to work, either hunting or chopping wood, and returned home normally at night.

But after returning home, they became listless and went to sleep early. At night, when everyone else had settled down, they would quietly get up, leave the house, and vanish without a trace."