Shao Qingge and Ye Qi walked into the town side by side.
The town before them was a world apart from the picturesque Qingfeng Town they remembered. If Qingfeng Town twenty years later was a beautiful paradise, then Qingfeng Town during the famine twenty years ago was a devastated hell on earth.
There aren't many houses in the town, and most of them are quite dilapidated.
The roads were riddled with potholes and muddy, and the population was less than 30% of Qingfeng Town's population twenty years later. Coupled with famine, many people who were in poor health and from impoverished families had already starved to death by the roadside.
The two had only taken a few steps when they saw several corpses lying haphazardly in the corner of the alley. The bodies were left unattended, piled up like garbage, their surfaces already rotting and emitting a strong stench.
Ye Qi had followed Xiao Lou through so many secret chambers that he was used to seeing corpses, but the stench was rather unpleasant. He covered his mouth and nose, stepped forward, picked up a branch, and began to examine the corpses.
Now that we've arrived back twenty years, we can't overlook any place where clues might appear.
There were five bodies in total, and they looked like a family. One of the women was holding her emaciated child in her arms until her death. There were no obvious injuries on any of the bodies. Ye Qi said, "This family must have starved to death. Judging from their tattered clothes, they must have had very little money. It would have been very difficult for them to survive during the famine."
Shao Qingge frowned as he glanced at the flies buzzing around the corpse and said in a low voice, "Let's go. These corpses abandoned by the roadside are probably not of much significance. We should find the mysterious organization from twenty years ago as soon as possible."
Ye Qi nodded, turned around and walked out of the alley with Shao Qingge.
As they continued forward, they found scattered corpses every few steps along the roadside, a scene reminiscent of the apocalypse. No animals could be seen in the town; pigs, cows, and other livestock had undoubtedly been eaten, and the starving people might have even devoured rats.
There was no smell of food in the entire town. Every house was locked up tight; at this time, anyone who had secretly stored food would certainly not dare to take it out.
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge grew increasingly alarmed as they walked.
Twenty years ago, Qingfeng Town was like a ghost town. Apart from corpses, bloodstains, and tangled tree branches scattered everywhere, there wasn't a single living person to be seen in broad daylight.
Where should we begin our investigation?
Ye Qi stood in the center of the town, his expression full of confusion.
Twenty years later, the town center is a lake surrounded by weeping willows, a beautiful sight, with the " Drunken Moon Pavilion " in the center for people to cool off. But at this time, the town center is just a wasteland, the "Fulai Inn" where Xiao Lou and his friends stay has not yet been built, and there are many corpses scattered around.
Ye Qi looked around: "We have absolutely no clue. How are we supposed to investigate? We can't just go door to door."
Shao Qingge thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Do you remember the old man we met when we went to buy a rattle drum?"
Ye Qi's eyes lit up as he recalled the old man he had found making rattle drums not long ago: "That old man lived in this town twenty years ago. He survived the famine. We can definitely find him in the world twenty years ago! At this time, he should be... a young man in his thirties, right?"
Shao Qingge nodded: "Yes. According to his description, during the famine back then, more than half of the people in the town died, and he survived by eating sweet potatoes stored in the cellar. I remember he lived at the east end of the town, let's go and look for him nearby."
The two used the sunlight to determine their direction and quickly headed east of the city.
On the way, they saw an old woman with a little girl hurrying past them.
The old woman's face was covered in wrinkles, and she looked to be over fifty years old. Her aged hand tightly gripped the girl's left hand. The girl was thin and small, with sallow skin, looking malnourished, but her eyes were very dark and bright.
As she passed by, she looked up at Ye Qi.
Ye Qi and the little girl met eyes. The little girl was probably not even ten years old. One hand was being held by her grandmother, while the other hand was gently nibbling at her mouth. After meeting Ye Qi and Shao Qingge, she didn't ask them for food. Instead, she glanced at Ye Qi calmly and then turned her head away.
Finally seeing two living people in the deserted town, Ye Qi quickly asked, "Little girl, we're from out of town. Do you know where we can find food?"
He and Shao Qingge disguised themselves, their clothes torn and tattered, their faces smeared with ash, and their hair deliberately mixed with weeds, making them look like they were indeed outsiders who had traveled a long way and were in a very sorry state.
The little girl said, "I haven't eaten anything for three days."
Ye Qi wanted to ask some more questions, but the old man next to her suddenly coughed and whispered, "Go back quickly, look at the sky, it's going to rain again." Little Girl nodded and followed the old man away quickly.
Ye Qi watched their retreating figures, lost in thought.
He noticed that the old woman had a slight limp in her left leg, and her gait was somewhat unsteady. Although the little girl was thin and small, her features were actually quite beautiful. The two didn't look like they were from a wealthy family; he wondered where they had managed to survive until now, finding food in such a way.
Shao Qingge said, "Let's go. I remember that alley ahead is where we bought the rattle drum."
Ye Qi snapped out of his daze and followed Shao Qingge into the alley.
Looking up, the two were surprised to see a shop that looked quite familiar.
The shop signboard is already
Half of it was smashed, but you can still vaguely see the words "Dingdang Shop" written on it.
Twenty years later, at the end of this alley, there is a large shop called "Dingdang Shop," which specializes in selling children's toys. The most popular item is the rattle drum, which the owner makes himself. The drumheads are painted with the twelve zodiac animal patterns, and the whole shop is filled with them.
The shop owner's surname was Ren, and the people in the town called him Uncle Ren.
He was highly skilled, and his handmade rattle drums were very popular with children. When Ye Qi and Shao Qingge went to him to buy rattle drums, he boasted, "Most people in this town have bought rattle drums made by me."
Shao Qingge led Ye Qi to a secluded corner and activated the Telepathic Connection.
A familiar male voice echoed in her mind, this time not in a joking tone, but rather with seriousness: " Uncle Ren, who makes rattle drums, might know the murderer, or the murderer might buy rattle drums from him. Therefore, we must be cautious about our contact with him. It would be more convenient to connect to the Telepathic Connection and communicate mentally."
Ye Qi nodded in agreement, thinking to himself, "This Uncle Ren was already skilled in making rattle drums when he was young, and he ran a toy shop in town. However, his shop was very small twenty years ago, nothing like the one we saw."
Shao Qingge said, "He has a good business sense and a long-term vision. He targeted the 'children's toys' market and made a name for himself. Now his business is just starting out. His shop is very small, and he only dares to do small-scale business. Later, he relied on word of mouth to expand his business. Twenty years later, we can hardly see any other toy stores, which shows that he has successfully monopolized the market."
Ye Qi said, "In other words, because he was skilled in a craft and had no shortage of money, he had the foresight to buy some food in advance and hide it in the cellar at the beginning of the famine in order to get through this crisis?"
Shao Qingge nodded: "Yes, if he hides the food in the cellar, even if someone comes to rob him, they won't find it. Judging from his shop, it has probably been robbed before. But as long as he hides the food, he can survive and make a comeback with this skill."
Ye Qi asked, "How should we approach him?"
Shao Qingge thought for a moment and said, "Let's wear the Invisibility Cloak and scout ahead first."
The two exchanged a glance, then tacitly took out the Invisibility Cloak from their card holders, put it on, and climbed over the wall next to the shop.
There is a small courtyard connected to the back of the shop.
The small courtyard, twenty years ago, was quite dilapidated. Pots and pans were smashed all over the ground, just as Shao Qingge had said; his house had been robbed. Cobwebs even covered the walls, making it look like it had been abandoned for a long time.
Ye Qi couldn't help but wonder, "Could it be that he didn't live here twenty years ago?"
Shao Qingge said, "Let's look carefully."
The two searched the messy yard carefully, but found nothing but weeds.
Suddenly, Ye Qi heard a rustling sound behind him. He turned around and saw a hole hidden in the corner of the yard, covered by some messy branches and weeds.
A young man crept out of the hole.
His eyes darted around like a wary mouse, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he found no one nearby.
Then, he ran quickly to the outhouse in the corner of the yard, and heard the sound of someone urinating.
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge: "......"
The two were wearing invisibility cloaks, so their attackers didn't notice them, yet they could see everything the attackers did. Ye Qi couldn't help but think to himself, "This guy is too cunning. He dug the cellar in a corner and used various branches and weeds for concealment. Is he a rat? He actually dug a hole!"
Shao Qingge laughed and said, "He was cowardly to the extreme in order to survive."
After relieving himself of his urgent need to use the restroom, the man ran back and crawled into the hole again.
The whole process was smooth and efficient; he clearly did this every day and was extremely quick and skillful.
It seems that during the famine, he lived like a rat, hiding in a burrow. It was precisely because of this that he was able to survive and, twenty years later, become a well-known toy shop owner in the town, renovating and expanding the yard three times over.
Ye Qi said, "What should we do? Shall we go inside the cave and take a look?"
Shao Qingge nodded: "Why don't we play the villains and just rob his food supplies? With so many cards in our hands, he definitely can't beat us two at once, so he'll have to cooperate with us. We can then use him as a guide to investigate things about human livestock."
Twenty years ago, they were completely unfamiliar with Qingfeng Town. Having a local help would have made the investigation much easier, at least they could recognize everyone's name.
After agreeing on the terms, the two removed their Invisibility Cloaks.
Ye Qi lifted the branches covering the burrow and, feigning surprise, lowered his voice and said, "Brother, I found a cellar here. Could there be food hidden inside?"
Shao Qingge said, "Let's go in and take a look."
The man hiding in the cave was completely bewildered. Upon hearing this conversation, he immediately became alert and grabbed his weapon.
However, before he could react, he felt as if a gentle breeze had swept past him.
Two strangers suddenly appeared in front of him. One of them, a clever young man, quickly sealed the hole and walked up to him, looking him over curiously. The other, a tall young man, went around behind him, gently put his arm around his throat, and whispered, "Borrow some food. If you want to live, you'd better listen to us."
The man paused, then asked, "Borrow?"
Isn't this blatant robbery?