The Enigma of the Yishui Monster Chapter 2

Inside the north gate of Qishan County, there is a cross street with two restaurants and bars lined up.

The town of Qishan is not big and has no special products, but it is located on a major road with a lot of people coming and going, so most of the shops on the street provide food and accommodation.

Ethan Zhan brought Max Xiao and Leo into the city.

Max Xiao looked around and said, "There are so many inns. Which one should we stay in?"

Ethan Zhan thought for a moment and asked Max Xiao and Leo, "Can you help me check if there are any restaurants and inns with Japanese characters on them?"

"The Japanese character for the side?" Little Sizi blinked, "Like Zhao Zhao?"

Ethan Zhan nodded, reached out his hand, and pinched Max Xiao's cheek accurately.

"Let's walk forward and look for it as we go." Leo led the horse forward, and he and Max Xiao looked left and right.

"There is a Riqing Restaurant here." Leo stopped his horse and asked Ethan Zhan.

Ethan Zhan thought about it and shook his head, "Probably not."

"Meow meow, where is the Sun and Moon Tower?" Max Xiao said, pointing to a restaurant in front.

"Sun and Moon..." Ethan Zhan said to Leo, "Leozi, please ask for me if there is a person named Shen Hao who has lived in the store."

"Okay." Leo ran away and came back after a while, "Brother Zhan, the store owner said there is no such person."

"Really..." Ethan Zhan was a little disappointed and gestured to continue looking.

The three of them walked a little further forward, and the little boy said, "Meow meow, Chaohui Tower."

Leo asked with a smile, "Jin'er, where is the sun character?"

"Are you stuck in the middle?" Max Xiao smiled, "Leozi, go ask."

Leo had already run in, and came out after a while, "Still nothing."

Continue walking forward until you reach the end of the street, and you will see the Xuyang Inn.

Leo ran in without waiting for Ethan Zhan's instructions, and came out in a hurry a moment later, "Brother Zhan, there is one! I just checked out three days ago, number one. Because it's the best one and he paid generously, the waiter remembers it clearly."

Ethan Zhan finally laughed and dismounted.

Seeing that there were guests, the waiter ran over and took the reins of the horse and asked the man to take it to the stable and feed it well. However, he had never seen a civet cat before. He stared at the stone for a long time and thought, what is this? It is as big as a pony, but looks like a half-grown bear... It has round ears and a long tail, and looks stupid. So he asked, "Is it also kept in the stable? Will it bite people?"

"It doesn't live in the stable, it lives with us." Max Xiao patted the stone and took Ethan Zhan to the store. He carefully pulled his sleeve, jumped into the door, and said, "Oh, threshold! There are not many people in the store. Everyone is eating."

Ethan Zhan stepped over the threshold accurately and walked calmly to the counter on his left.

The guy thought Max Xiao was cute and lively, but he talked too much. He didn't notice that Ethan Zhan had eye problems, and Max Xiao was just showing him the way.

"Hey man, I want room number one."

"Sir, the No. 1 room is so valuable."

Ethan Zhan smiled slightly, "No problem."

"Okay." The shopkeeper beside him hurriedly wrote down the name, "Sir, write down your name."

Ethan Zhan took the pen, lowered his head, and wrote his name on the account book handed to him by the shopkeeper. It was Shen Zhao.

"Oh." The shopkeeper laughed as he looked at the two names side by side. "Sir, you and the previous guest are really destined to be together. You have the same name."

The guy interrupted, "I think he knows her. The kid just asked about it."

Ethan Zhan nodded and followed the waiter upstairs to Room No. 1.

After entering the room, Leo put his luggage on the bed. He was quite satisfied to see that there were two beds and the room was spacious and clean.

"Waiter." Ethan Zhan sat down at the table, took out a piece of silver and put it on the table, and asked the waiter, "I want to ask about the previous guest."

When the waiter saw that there was a reward, he immediately smiled and said, "Sir, please ask."

"Is he alone?"

"Yes, one person." The waiter nodded, "But, the guest doesn't look very well."

Ethan Zhan frowned, "Is he sick or injured?"

"That's not the case. I just seem to have something urgent or troubling me." The waiter recalled, "I came here a while ago. I've been living here for half a month now. But I really have some money."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No, he booked a room for half a month and paid in advance. Three days ago, half a month had just arrived and we found that he had already left the room, so we helped him to cancel the room."

"That is to say, you are not sure exactly when he left, right?" Ethan Zhan asked.

"That's impossible!" the waiter said helplessly, "This guest is elusive and doesn't talk to anyone. He often sleeps during the day and goes out at night."

"Is there anything else about him that you find strange?"

"Um...Oh! Sir, have you heard about the murder case here?" the waiter asked in a low voice.

Ethan Zhan smiled slightly, "Not only did I hear it, I also saw it."

"What?" the guy jumped.

"We saw it when we entered the city just now." Leo asked, "By the way, what is a horse's belly? Just now, the constable kicked a beggar and he died immediately with blood coming out of all his orifices."

"Oh... Amitabha!" The guy put his hands together and bowed repeatedly, "It's incredible! Sir, please listen to me, you can do whatever you want in Qishan County but don't bully others, otherwise you will surely die!" As he said that, he told Ethan Zhan the legend of the Belly of Yishui.

Max Xiao and Leo were stunned when they heard this.

Ethan Zhan nodded, "What does the horse belly you just mentioned have to do with Shen Hao?"

"Oh, he seems to be very interested in the horse's belly." The man thought for a moment, slapped his head, and said, "Oh, he also said two strange things."

"What?" Ethan Zhan felt that there might be a clue.

"Well... he said something like, 'Even dogs won't eat evil people.'" The guy said helplessly, "He also said something else..."

"What?" Max Xiao made him feel so depressed that he couldn't breathe.

"His words are hard to pronounce." The man scratched his head, "He said... East-West-East-West, North-South-South-North-South, neither East-Non-West, neither South-North-South... It's just a long list of East-West-North-South, repeating it endlessly."

Ethan Zhan was stunned. What did his elder brother mean by this?

Max Xiao and Leo looked at each other and couldn't help laughing, wondering in their hearts, could it be that Ethan Zhan's elder brother is a stutterer? Why does he speak so strangely?

The guy couldn't think of anything else.

Ethan Zhan didn't ask any more questions and said to him, "Bring me some food."

"Okay." The waiter happily took the money and asked Ethan Zhan, "What would you like to eat, young master?"

Ethan Zhan asked him to pick a few local specialties with light flavors, two egg custards and a boiled fish soup... With two children to take care of, he must eat well. If he loses weight, he won't be able to explain to Gongsun and Zhao Pu.

After a while, the food came.

Max Xiao helped Ethan Zhan pick up the dishes, and Leo helped Max Xiao pick up the dishes. Although this place is remote, the cooking skills are quite good. Sh!tou seemed to like the chicken rice bibimbap very much, and he kept wagging his tail while eating.

"Brother Zhan, is there really something in the horse's belly?" Leo has always been concerned, "Did someone just kill the constable, or is there really a ghost? How could someone be killed without making any sound?"

When Max Xiao heard there was a ghost, he moved closer to Leo, "How scary."

Leo stuffed a piece of pork ribs, which had been boned, into his mouth.

"I really haven't heard of it... It's a pity that Gongsun is not here. He reads a lot of books and may know." Ethan Zhan smiled gently, "Little Fourth Son, don't be afraid. The horse's belly is used to deal with those who bully the weak. It's relatively fair. You are a child, how could it harm you? Don't worry."

"That's true." Max Xiao felt relieved. He looked up at Ethan Zhan's smiling face foolishly. He thought that the person who blinded Miaomiao was so mean. Miaomiao looked best when she smiled, especially her eyes.

After dinner and tea, Ethan Zhan asked the two, "Are you tired?"

Both said they were not tired.

Ethan Zhan nodded, "Then let's digest the food after dinner and get up and move around."

The two children tilted their heads, "How do you move?"

"Help me find something. Look in the walls, cabinets, under the bed...see if there's anything hidden."

"Meow, are you saying your brother hid something for you?"

Ethan Zhan smiled and reached out to touch Max Xiao's head, "How smart."

So, Max Xiao and Leo started looking for him separately.

Ethan Zhan sat there in a daze, thinking carefully about what his friend had just said. What did his brother mean by those words?

"Even dogs won't eat a bad person"... It's just a casual saying to persuade people to be good, nothing special about it.

As for "East-West-East-East-West, North-South-South-North-South, Not East Not West, Not South Not North"... What does this mean? Direction, or did you not understand?

As he thought about it, Ethan Zhan frowned subconsciously. At the same time, he felt a chubby little hand rubbing his brows.

Ethan Zhan reached out and grabbed it. It was Max Xiao’s hand. Max Xiao had been telling him not to frown all the way.

"Meow meow, there is a painting on the bedside."

"painting?"

"Yes, it looks like a scribble, carved on the bed with a knife."

Ethan Zhan quickly stood up and said, "Take me to see it!"

"Yeah!" Max Xiao pulled Ethan Zhan to the bedside.

Leo also came over to take a look, and saw that someone had carved some strange patterns on the wooden bed with a knife.

Ethan Zhan reached out and felt around, imagining what the pattern looked like. After feeling around for a long time, he said to Leo, "Leozi, take some paper and ink and make a copy of it."

"Okay!" Leo and Max Xiao started to make rubbings in a hurry.

...

Still on the main street in the northern part of Qishan County.

"What a hell of a place this Qishan County is." Sifeng looked at the passers-by as she walked, and couldn't help frowning, "Why do they all look like beggars! Sister...why don't we just stick to our old business? Didn't we just say that the horse's belly killed someone?"

"Didn't you see that the constable died?" Sanfeng frowned. "No one has ever seen what a horse's belly is. What if it's real? Be careful or you'll lose your life!"

Sifeng muttered, "A coward cannot be a general."

"It's good enough to have enough to eat, why do you want to be a general?!" Sanfeng touched her body, "We still have some silver. Let's find a small inn to stay in, and then find a rich family to get some silver at night and set off quickly. We can't stay here for long."

Sifeng agreed reluctantly, and when she looked up...she was attracted by a figure in front of her.

"Hey, sister!" Sifeng grabbed Sanfeng and asked her to look ahead, "Look at that person in white!"

Sanfeng looked in the direction Sifeng pointed, and saw a man in white walking out of a restaurant in front. He was tall and thin, wearing a bamboo hat, so his appearance was unclear... But Sanfeng also understood what Sifeng asked her to look at - the outfit of this man in white showed that he was definitely a wealthy man!

"How is it?!" Sifeng said happily, "The one who brought the silver is here!" Then she ran forward.

San Feng chased, "Hey, he seems to have kung fu skills!"

"What are you afraid of? If you get caught, just shout 'molest' and see who runs away!" After saying that, he chased after him.

The man in white walked neither fast nor slow, and did not seem to be in a hurry.

There were so many restaurants and diners on both sides, he walked to each one, and after entering, he looked towards the lobby first, and then asked the shopkeeper or the waiter if he had seen a man in a blue shirt with two children and a little bear.

The guys all shook their heads, so he went out to another store and continued asking.

Si Feng's mind moved. Wasn't the person he was looking for the one he met at the city gate? When he thought of that good-looking but blind young man, Si Feng became inexplicably curious and ran up to him quickly, regardless of San Feng's attempt to stop him.

The man in white is naturally Oliver Bai.

He calculated that Ethan Zhan and the others should be here by now, so he started looking for each inn one by one. If Max Xiao rode on a stone, he should be very conspicuous.

Sifeng imagined that she would run over quickly, pretending to bump into the man accidentally, and touch the other person's purse, just like she did in the past when doing business.

This time when he ran up to her, Oliver Bai didn't show any reaction, not even trying to avoid her. Sifeng frowned, thinking that he was such a good-looking guy, but he turned out to be a fool!

Thinking about it, I was about to crash into it.

But the strange thing is...

Sifeng saw a white shadow flashing by her side... The shoulders that were supposed to touch each other didn't touch, and the man in white disappeared. She didn't understand what was going on, so she turned around and was shocked! The man in white still maintained the same appearance just now, walking forward slowly.

Sanfeng saw it clearly from behind, took a deep breath and quickly went forward to pull Sifeng away, "He's a master, let's go, he's not bothering us!"

Sifeng changed her mind, pulled Sanfeng and refused to leave, turned around and shouted, "Hey! Is the person you are looking for surnamed Zhan?"

As soon as he finished speaking...the man in white really stopped.