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墨書 Inktalez
For three days, the fire at Lin Dahe's home never went out. By the evening of the fourth day, the last batch of patients finally broke their fevers. Cui Xiaoman, struggling with her own illness, helped distribute medicine. While feeding Seventh Uncle, the old man suddenly grabbed 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, "The county magistrate has issued an order! All villages must strictly investigate sorcerers and their practices!"
The villagers' attitudes changed overnight. The farmers who had once greeted Lin Dahe warmly now avoided him at a distance. When he went to fetch water from the well, he often found talismans drawn in the mud with sticks.
That morning, he discovered that the potato seedlings he had just transplanted into the experimental field had wilted completely. Digging into the soil, he found the roots covered in black powder that emitted a sharp metallic smell.
"Wood ash mixed with iron sand..." Lin Dahe muttered as he pinched the powder between his fingers. The system analysis results were even more alarming: [Iron ions exceed 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 her bundle to reveal several herbal roots 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!
The two ran toward the sound and found a gray rabbit caught by its hind leg in the trap. Strangely, its front paw was ensnared in a miniature iron claw trap, which was also 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 left. The sunlight glinted off something at their waist, reflecting a blinding red light—it was a piece of red string fluttering in the wind.
Under the moonlight, the experimental field shimmered with a silvery-gray hue. Lin Dahe squatted at the edge of the field, his 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 in the system analysis report: "Suspected poisoning."
"I have to catch this bastard tonight..." He breathed warm air into his palm and reburied the poison mouse trap in the least damaged furrow. The snake venom smeared on its jaws glowed blue under the moonlight, while a scarecrow nearby had a piece of red cloth tied around its arm—identical to the red string on the mouse's tail earlier.
The night breeze swept across the field, carrying faint barking sounds 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 water channel squatted a shadowy figure stealthily stuffing something into a bag. In the moonlight, Lin Dahe recognized it as Zhao San, Zhou's long-term worker known as Bald Tail because his previous employer had cut off part of his ear for stealing grain.
"Spreading it quite evenly?" Lin Dahe spoke up unexpectedly.
Zhao San jumped in fright, spilling black powder all over himself. He turned to run but stepped on wet rice straw that Lin Dahe had laid out earlier and fell flat on 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 heats up when it comes into contact with water; this fool must have burned himself badly.
The system interface suddenly 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 said as he released Zhao San. "Tell Zhou Liangzhang to come at me directly if he dares."
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