A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 96 Help

Old Zhang, who had been driven out by the police, looked helplessly at the police station in front of him. He hadn't been able to find out anything about his son, and now even the village chief had been arrested.

I stood in front of the police station for a long time, feeling lost. I didn't know anyone there, so I decided to go home and talk to my third uncle to see if there was anything I could do.

Old Zhang rushed home, not even catching his breath, and went straight to his third uncle's house. He'd deal with the village chief's house later.

Uncle Three sat in a rocking chair listening to Liang Shan's words.

"You're saying this is true? The stone statue is gone?" He looked at Liang Shan with a questioning gaze.

When Jiang Cheng and the others came to inquire in the morning, Liang Shan took it to heart. Wasn't the stone statue standing there perfectly fine last night? Why did they have to come and ask about it?

Filled with questions, I took off running towards the edge of the forest.

The stone statue that was still in the deep pit by the mountain forest last night has now vanished without a trace, leaving Liang Shan completely baffled.

No wonder the police came to inquire, but how could the stone statue just disappear like that? There were no obvious signs of anything running over it either.

"Hmm," she nodded and recounted everything she had seen.

"Could this be the mountain god taking it back? Liang Shan, who grew up in Zhangjia Village, naturally remembers all the legends told in the village. There is a mountain god on Liang Shan, as well as all kinds of gods and immortals."

For example, there is a legend about a monk who lived in the mountains for over ten years. Every day, several children would come to the temple to play.

The elderly monks would select some wild fruits from the mountains for the children to eat. The children were very happy. Several years passed like this. Then, the elderly monks picked a fruit from the mountains that could cause people to fall into a coma and placed it in front of the Buddha statue.

The children, mistaking the fruit for real fruit, grabbed it and ate it, and soon they all collapsed unconscious.

The monk who came out brought a large pot, poured in water, put all the children in the pot, and weighed it down with a large stone. He told his apprentice to cook it well, as he had something to do in his room, and repeatedly instructed them not to let the children escape.

Halfway through cooking, the apprentice thought his master was going to eat the children. Out of compassion, he lifted the lid, and several red figures darted out and disappeared into the vast mountains.

The master, emerging from the pot and seeing the lid lifted, cried out, "It's all over! It's all over!" His apprentice, bewildered, hurriedly asked, "Master, it's all my fault for not explaining clearly. The child who came every day was actually the transformed form of a thousand-year-old ginseng. If you cook that child, you can directly attain enlightenment and ascend to immortality. The child ran away, but there were still the child's clothes left in the pot; those were also transformed from roots. Although eating them won't grant ascension, it won't be a problem for a few hundred years. Otherwise, why would I have stayed in these mountains for so long?"

When he turned back to eat the conjured clothes, a white rabbit appeared before him and devoured everything in the pot. Later, the old monk died of melancholy a month or so later, and his disciple died not long after. The rabbit never appeared again.

Although it's a legend, many things cannot be explained by common sense.

"That's strange. Two stone statues weighing over a thousand pounds disappeared together without any trace around them. It doesn't make sense." He sat in his chair, head bowed, saying nothing.

Could it really be the work of the mountain god? Uncle San, who was used to reading ancient books, was still half-believing and half-doubting.

"Third Uncle, something's happened." Just as he was pondering, a shout came from outside.

That voice... isn't that Old Zhang's voice? Zhang Niu's father does a lot of work and looks a bit old, so everyone likes to call him that.

Pushing open the door, I saw Zhang Liangshan and his third uncle were both there.

"Oh no, the village chief has been arrested by the police too!" Before he could catch his breath, Old Zhang hurriedly said.

Liang Shan was a little panicked when he heard this, "What? The village chief ordered me to be arrested? On what grounds?"

"Pancing for breath, I don't know. We just went in to ask someone when two policemen came out, grabbed the village chief, pinned him to the ground, and arrested him. I even got kicked."

With a loud "bang," Uncle San slammed his hand on the table, his face full of anger. "This is outrageous!" He was so angry that he couldn't say anything more.

"Third Uncle, don't worry, you'll get sick," Liang Shan said, trying to calm his agitated third uncle.

"It's alright, I'll have my son in the provincial capital check it out later, we should have news by tomorrow." After thinking for a while, he remembered his son in the provincial capital.

Old Zhang and the others also knew that their third uncle's son was said to be an official, and that he had bought a house and a car in the provincial capital.

"Then I'll trouble you, Third Uncle."

"You should also go to the village chief's house and tell him first, so that his wife won't worry."

"I know, I just wanted to tell you first, and then I'll go over." Zhang Niu's father naturally knew about this.

After leaving home, Liangshan returned to Kaixin Xiaozhu, and Old Zhang went straight to the village chief's house.

The third uncle stood up, took out the cell phone his son had bought for him from a drawer, and dialed a number.

In an office in the provincial capital, Zhang Xing was engrossed in revising documents. Suddenly, the phone rang. It was his personal cell phone; it was his father calling. He was a little puzzled. His father rarely called.

"Dad, what brings you to call today?"

"Okay, are you free now? Something happened in the village, and they need you to go and take a look."

When something happens in the village, it's usually not a big deal, and they rarely contact me, even though I'm usually very busy. But every time I go back, the village is very welcoming.

"What's wrong? Tell me clearly, and I'll take a look."

He recounted everything that had happened on his third uncle's side in detail.

Hearing this, Zhang Xing also had some doubts. Digging graves was not a rare thing in the village, and it was rare to report it to the government, unless it was a large area of ​​graves. The authorities generally didn't care much.

It's rather unusual for something like this to happen in his own village. Although he still couldn't figure it out, Zhang Xing decided to go and check it out tomorrow.

After receiving his son's agreement, the third uncle finally managed to smile a little.

I'm pretty sure this will work out; I'm not worried. My son always does a great job with things I ask him to do.

After explaining the situation at the village chief's house, Old Zhang expressed his apologies. Fortunately, the village chief's wife was very understanding and didn't say anything more.

After Old Zhang left, the village chief's wife went into the inner room and paced back and forth for a while before finally pulling out a business card from under the bamboo mat. She remembered what the man had said: if any problems arose, she could call him without worrying about the trouble.

Whether it's useful or not, just make the call and see.

The call was answered by a young man, and he quickly recognized the familiar voice. The young man then poured out all the knowledge he knew.

They quickly replied, telling me to wait at home and not to worry, that they would probably be back tomorrow, and that it was a small matter they could handle.

When Zhang returned home, he told his parents what had happened: his son was missing, and even the village chief had been arrested. Neither of them had much of a appetite for dinner, worried about what might happen to their son.

Early in the morning, Zhang Liangshan returned from the vegetable garden. Although Zhang Niu wasn't there, the vegetables still needed to be picked every day, in case tourists came up at any time.

When I came back, I saw a car parked in the open space, and an old man was moving things there.

Hmm, is this a regular customer? Why are they still moving things around?

"Are you a guest?" he asked hurriedly as he stepped forward.

The person carrying the things was Chairman Zhang, who was heading back. The cherries would be ripe when he left, so he hurried over to try his hand at cherry picking.

First update! Please give me some votes! I recommend my friend You Zimu's "The Carefree Farmer," which is also a farming novel. If you're interested, check it out—it's quite long and definitely a satisfying read.