Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
For three days, the fire at Lin Dahe's home had not gone out. By the evening of the fourth day, the last batch of patients finally recovered from their fevers. Cui Xiaoman, struggling with her own illness, helped distribute medicine. While feeding Seventh Uncle his medication, the old man suddenly grasped her wrist and said, "Girl... Zhou Liangzhang went to the county office this morning..."
Before he could finish, urgent hoofbeats echoed from the village entrance. The constable shouted at the top of his lungs, "The county magistrate has issued an order! All villages must strictly investigate sorcerers!"
The villagers' attitudes changed overnight. The farmers who had once greeted Lin Dahe warmly now avoided him at all costs. When he went to draw water from the well, he often found protective symbols drawn in the mud with twigs.
That morning, he discovered that the potato seedlings he had just transplanted into the experimental field had all wilted. Digging through the soil, he found the roots covered in black powder that emitted a sharp metallic smell.
"Wood ash mixed with iron sand..." Lin Dahe murmured as he pinched the powder between his fingers. The system analysis results were even more alarming: [Iron ions exceeded standard levels, suspected poisoning.]
Footsteps approached from behind; Cui Xiaoman came over carrying a bundle. "I checked Mad Old Woman's vegetable cellar..." She unfolded the bundle to reveal several herbs surrounded by black powder. "Someone is trying to cut off our supply of medicine."
Just as Lin Dahe was about to respond, they heard a familiar "snap" from the field—it was the poison mouse trap given by Seventh Uncle that had been triggered!
They rushed towards the sound and found a gray rabbit caught by its hind leg in the trap. Strangely, a miniature iron claw trap was fastened to its front paw, smeared with fresh black powder.
"Training animals for poisoning..." Cui Xiaoman gasped. "It's Zhou's family!"
On a distant hillside, a figure in brown clothing hurriedly retreated. Sunlight glinted off something at their waist—a piece of red string fluttering in the wind.
Under the moonlight, the experimental field shimmered with a silvery-gray hue as Lin Dahe squatted at the edge of it, fingers fiddling with the black powder. The rusty smell mixed with the acrid scent of wood ash filled his nostrils, reminding him of the glaring red words "suspected poisoning" in the system analysis report.
"I have to catch this bastard tonight..." He breathed warm air into his palm and buried Seventh Uncle's poison mouse trap again in the least damaged furrow. The snake venom smeared on its jaws glimmered blue under the moonlight, while a scarecrow nearby had a piece of red cloth tied to its arm—exactly like the red string on the mouse's tail earlier.
The night breeze swept across the field, carrying faint barks from Zhou's direction. Lin Dahe tightened his coat and suddenly heard a crisp "snap"—not from a mouse trap but from an irrigation ditch on the west side of the experimental field!
He crouched low and crept closer; by the waterway squatted a shadowy figure who was stealthily stuffing something into a bag. With moonlight illuminating his face, Lin Dahe recognized Zhou's laborer Zhao San, nicknamed "Bald Tail," because he had lost part of his ear for stealing grain from his previous employer.
"Spreading it pretty evenly?" Lin Dahe spoke up unexpectedly.
Zhao San jumped in fright, spilling black powder all over himself. He turned to flee but stepped right onto wet straw that Lin Dahe had laid out beforehand and slipped onto his back.
"Don't... don't hit me!" Zhao San cried out while covering his head. "It was Liangzhang who sent me! He said if I finished this bag, I’d get half a liter of millet!"
Lin Dahe yanked him up by his collar and noticed that Zhao San's hands were covered in blisters—iron powder mixed with wood ash generates heat when it comes into contact with water; this fool must have burned himself badly.
Suddenly, the system interface flickered: [Crisis Response Options]
A. An Eye for an Eye (Coordinates for Zhou's twenty acres of wheat have been marked)
B. Win Hearts with Skills (Unlock basic crop rotation technology)
Lin Dahe stared at option A for several seconds, his fists cracking with tension. But ultimately, he selected B.
"Get lost," he released Zhao San. "Tell Zhou Liangzhang to come at me directly if he's got guts."
Comment 0 Comment Count