"What's so strange about burls?" Shen Lang countered Shang Xueli, looking rather speechless. "Plenty of trees have burls, and the older a tree gets, the more burls it grows. In my pal... at my home, there's a tree that's hundreds of years old. Its whole trunk is covered in burls. It's actually pretty interesting."
"Burls aren't strange, sure. But have you ever seen one with a human face growing on every burl?"
Shang Xueli turned the question back on him.
Hearing that, Shen Lang's eyes immediately widened. "Human faces on the burls? Isn't that terrifying?"
"Why else do you think I singled out this tree to talk about?"
Shang Xueli raised an eyebrow.
Ye Qianfan hurriedly interrupted their drawn-swords-and-bent-bows exchange. "Anything else?"
"If there aren't any other discoveries, let's head out together. We'll take a look at that strange tree first, then visit Lower River Village."
"Yesterday, when the Station Chief and I went to the River God Temple, we ran into some people from Lower River Village. They were escorting a bride to the River God. From what they said, that Daoist seems to be in Lower River Village right now. We need to go investigate!"
"I strongly suspect that Daoist is closely connected to this!"
"Yes, Patrol Constable!"
Everyone answered and headed straight out of the Pavilion Office.
However...
Just as they were about to set off, the Pavilion Chief suddenly spoke up. "If you officers wish to visit Lower River Village, this old man believes you should leave early. Lower River Village is a little over two hours away on foot, so a round trip will take four or five hours. If you stop there to rest and eat something, it may well be dark by the time you return. You officers mustn't waste any time. If