This afternoon, Gu Xu arrived in Ju County.
Without a minute's delay, he ordered Dong Zhuangzhuang to drive directly to the destination of his trip - the Fan family residence.
According to Gu Xu’s previous understanding, the Fan family has been engaged in the wine-making business in Ju County for generations. Although they are not wealthy, they can be regarded as a well-off family with a prosperous life.
The victim in the case, Fan Zhou, was the only child of the younger generation of the Fan family.
According to the orders of his parents and the advice of a matchmaker, he made a marriage contract with Qin Xiangyun, a daughter of the Qin family who lived nearby.
Originally, they were going to hold their wedding half a month ago, on September 26th.
However, during the wedding banquet that night, the groom Fan Zhou suddenly disappeared without a trace.
The Fan family members searched the nearby neighborhoods but could not find any trace of Fan Zhou.
They felt extremely anxious and worried about Fan Zhou's life.
The woman’s family believes that the Fan family is not trustworthy.
They even proposed to cancel the engagement - after all, Fan Zhou had disappeared for so long and there was no news, so he was probably dead. They didn't want Qin Xiangyun to become a widow because of this.
…………
When Gu Xu’s carriage stopped outside the Fan family’s house, the Fan family and the Qin family were standing at the door arguing.
The man's parents shouted: "Our son has been missing for so long, and you don't care about his life. Instead, you come here all day long shouting 'break off the engagement', 'break off the engagement'... Oh, we were really blind back then." I have chosen selfish people like you as my in-laws.”
The woman’s parents were not to be outdone: “Speaking of selfishness, you Fan family are just a bunch of selfish people! My son has never considered my Xiangyun’s feelings. Your son will lose his life at most, but my daughter will lose her lifelong happiness!”
The man’s parents angrily said, “You are cold-blooded. You don’t show affection, you are making trouble unreasonably!”
The woman’s parents retorted: “How are we so cold-blooded? How are we so unreasonable?”
"..."
Hearing the quarrel between the two elders, which was like scolding in the market, Gu Xu shook his head helplessly.
At this moment, an errand boy from the Fan family suddenly saw Gu Xu’s black carriage and the Exorcist Department logo shaped like a star chart on the carriage door.
"Sir, the master of the exorcism department is here!" The boy shouted excitedly.
People from the Fan family and the Qin family all turned their heads.
As soon as they saw this black carriage, their eyes suddenly lit up, as if they had found a life-saving straw.
The mistress of the Qin family took the first two steps forward, knelt down in front of the carriage with a plop, and confided in a crying voice: "Sir, the Fan family did not keep their promises and failed my Xiangyun family. You are so affectionate, you must uphold justice for us!"
Seeing her actions, the Fan family couple refused to fall behind.
They also knelt on their knees, hugged the wheels of the carriage and shouted: "Sir, don't believe that woman's words! She is talking nonsense!"
Gu Xu sighed .
He is clearly a practitioner in the Exorcism Department responsible for killing demons.
But at this moment, in front of this group of people, he felt as if he had become the neighborhood committee aunt who coordinated neighborhood conflicts.
"Tell me your name!" He ordered Dong Zhuangzhuang who was driving.
Hearing what he said, Dong Zhuangzhuang stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Master Gu from the Yishui Exorcism Department has arrived——"
Finally, relatives of the Fan and Qin families Stopping the quarrel, he lowered his head respectfully and said, "The common people respectfully welcome Mr. Gu!"
Gu Xu stood up, straightened his clothes, then opened the carriage door and walked out.
At this moment, the eyes of everyone present were focused on him.
I saw this young man wearing a black gauze hat and Qiyao clothes, with clear eyebrows and bright eyes, and a majestic appearance.
"This gentleman from the Yishui Exorcism Department looks so young! He seems to be as old as my son!"
"The Exorcism Department is really ridiculous, to let such Children wear black hats! Do they think that slaying demons is just like playing house? "No, no, no one really thinks that this young boy can solve this problem?" Case?"
"..."
Among the onlookers, some people covered their mouths and whispered.
Although these sounds were as light as mosquitoes, Gu Xu had practiced "Eclipse" and his spiritual perception was far beyond ordinary people, so he could naturally hear these words clearly.
But he was too lazy to waste time arguing with this group of short-sighted mortals.
These people were probably just teasing him.
"You all get up!" Gu Xu glanced around the people present and said calmly, "You need to go to the county magistrate to deal with such matters as marriage between a man and a woman, disputes between neighbors. As my official The exorcism department is only responsible for solving the ghosts involved in the case."
"Ghosts?"
The Fans were shocked when they heard Gu Xu's words.
Is the disappearance of my son Fan Zhou related to ghosts?
I heard that ghosts and monsters regard humans as food...
In this case, will their precious son still have a chance to come back alive?
Mrs. Fan’s heart suddenly felt cramped.
She stretched out her hand and held her husband's arm tightly, feeling that she might faint suddenly at any time.
…………
A moment later, Gu Xu, led by the Fan family couple, walked into the Fan family house.
Along the way, he asked the couple about some details of the case that day: such as the time of Fan Zhou’s disappearance, such as the place where Fan Zhou was last seen, such as the witnesses...
AndThe information he learned was that at the wedding banquet, Fan Zhou was halfway through drinking and claimed that he wanted to go to the toilet; however, after leaving the lobby, he never came back.
Hearing this, Gu Xu's first reaction was - could Fan Zhou be haunted by the legendary toilet ghost who likes to squat in the toilet and harm people?
…………
There is a story recorded in "The Weird Records of Daqi·Toilet Ghost":
A man named Li was talking to his friend When I was traveling, I fell in love with going to the toilet. I would often stay in the toilet for an hour or two without getting out, and my friends would force me to get out.
But other times, he behaves like a normal person.
One day, when everyone was drinking together, the friend discovered that Li was missing.
So the friend went straight to the toilet to look for Li.
This time, Li blocked the toilet door with a seat.
My friend shouted for a long time, but no one responded, so he had to tear down the wall and enter the toilet.
Then he was surprised to find that a pair of Li's feet were exposed in the toilet pit - Li's entire body was almost submerged in the pickled things, and he was no longer breathing.
…………
“Did Fan Zhou have the habit of going to the toilet frequently before he got married?” Gu Xu asked the Fan couple.
"No."
"Did anyone see him in the toilet that night?"
"No."
"Have you ever looked for his body in the cesspit?"
"Yes, but it's not in it."
"Okay."
Gu Xu He nodded, eliminating the first wrong guess.
…………
Notes:
(1) The story of the toilet ghost refers to "Liu Zongyuan Collection·Li Chi Biography".