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墨書 Inktalez
The wrapping cloth unfurled, revealing several wilted green sprouts. The oval leaves had finely serrated edges, and hanging between the branches were three or four spindle-shaped red fruits, their skins gleaming as if glazed.
Lin Dahe's breath caught in his throat. This was no Persian product; it was clearly American Chili Pepper! Just as he reached out, a glaring red warning box suddenly popped up from the system: 【⚠️ Risk Alert: This crop is associated with smuggling cases along the Fujian and Zhejiang coasts. Proceed with caution.】
"Uncle Zhang," Cui Xiaoman curiously poked at the red fruit, "Is this herb bitter?"
Huo Lang Zhang leaned in mysteriously and lowered his voice, "Hu Merchant says it's called Fan Pepper; it can make your tongue burn when cooking!" He suddenly turned to Lin Dahe, "That Hu Merchant was also asking about someone who can grow potatoes, mentioning something about... a missionary's bounty..."
Lin Dahe felt a cold sweat trickle down his back. It was true that chili peppers were introduced to China from the Americas through the Portuguese during the late Ming Dynasty, but the system's warning suggested there might be a smuggling network that the court was investigating. Just as he pondered how to extract more information, the Mad Old Woman suddenly squeezed through the crowd and snapped off a branch of chili pepper with her bony fingers.
"Monstrous thing!" The old woman glared at the juice oozing from the broken branch with her murky eyes. "A blood-draining monster!"
The crowd fell silent instantly. The Mad Old Woman had been increasingly eccentric lately; just two days ago, she claimed there was a Dragon King in the well demanding young boys and girls, and yesterday she went door to door collecting "evil-repelling silver needles." But now she trembled like a leaf in the wind, even pushing away Seventh Uncle when he tried to help her.
"Do you recognize this?" Lin Dahe asked softly.
The Mad Old Woman's pupils suddenly constricted. She bent over and coughed violently, spitting out thick phlegm tinged with blood. "White Beard... White Beard used this to feed livestock..." She grabbed Lin Dahe's collar fiercely. "Run! Run!"
Cui Xiaoman quickly helped the old woman to a shaded area and fed her half a bowl of cool tea until she calmed down. Just as Lin Dahe was about to ask more questions, a shepherd boy came tumbling into the yard, shouting, "Not good! The Mad Old Woman's thatched hut is on fire!"
By the time they arrived, only the skeleton of the thatched roof remained. Strangely enough, while the flames raged fiercely, they seemed concentrated only in the bedroom; the ceramic jars and basins in the main room were untouched. Lin Dahe rushed inside with a wet cloth covering his mouth and nose, discovering charred marks on the bed that resembled a curled-up human form, but there were no bones among the ashes.
"Search! Split up and search!" Seventh Uncle's beard trembled with urgency. "The back mountain ravine, abandoned caves—don't leave any corner unchecked!"
Just as Lin Dahe was about to head toward the western mountain, he felt his clothing tugged suddenly. The wild child he had picked up from among the refugees had somehow emerged again, his dirty little hands making strange gestures: first pointing to the sky, then patting the ground, and finally mimicking a carrying motion on his back.
"Up in the sky... down on the ground... carrying it away?" Cui Xiaoman attempted to interpret.
The wild child stomped his feet anxiously and suddenly grabbed a stick to draw on the ground. The crooked lines gradually took shape—it depicted a man with a goatee carrying a small figure on his back against a backdrop of a moon-like circle.
"White Beard took Grandma away?" Lin Dahe's heart raced. "Where did he go?"
The child's finger pointed firmly toward North Mountain. There lay an old forest shrouded in mist year-round, known among villagers as Ghost Wall; even herbalists dared not venture deep into it.
Huo Lang Zhang suddenly gasped sharply. "Hu Merchant... that Hu Merchant must have kept White Beard!"
Lin Dahe and Cui Xiaoman exchanged glances, both recalling what the Mad Old Woman had mumbled about White Beard feeding livestock with red fruits. The autumn wind swirled around them, carrying ashes along with an almost imperceptible scent of sulfur.
【Emergency Mission Triggered: Find Mad Old Woman; Remaining Time: 12 hours】 The system’s holographic screen glowed faintly blue in the dusk, and behind the words "Failure Penalty," there was an ominous blood-red chili pepper graphic.
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