Pei Jing's eyes fell on the little girl. Her skin was so tender that you could pinch water out of it. She was dressed simply, but her eyes were the most eye-catching. They were pure black, without whites, and looked quite creepy at first glance. She was holding the corner of her grandfather's clothes tightly with her fingers, and she looked a little shy.
Pei Jing thought for a moment and asked with a smile: "This is your granddaughter."
The village chief said sternly: "Are you done yet? If you don't leave, I'll call someone to chase you away!"
Pei Jing squatted down and faced the girl. Seeing the stranger, the girl stepped back.
The young man smiled slightly, handsome and unparalleled: "In your eyes, what color am I? Black or white."
The village chief rolled his eyes in anger, quickly pulled his granddaughter over, tapped the ground with his cane, and yelled behind him: "Where are all the villagers? Can't you see that outsiders are bullying us? Hurry up and help me drive them out."
Pei Jing stood up slowly and smiled: "No, old man, why are you so bad-tempered? I just feel sorry for your granddaughter and want to help her." He looked into the girl's dark eyes with a smile: "In your world, it should be black."
The girl stood behind her grandfather, poked her head out, and when her grandfather was furious, she said in a very soft voice: "It's black." Her voice was vague and soft, but with the innocence of a child, it was particularly pleasant to hear.
Pei Jing smiled at her gently.
The village chief's anger suddenly died down because of this sentence. He widened his eyes, turned around suddenly, and said in disbelief: "Aju, you said something?"
The girl named Aju forced a smile at her grandfather.
The village chief tilted his head again and looked at Pei Jing in surprise.
The boy smiled particularly brightly.
"I can cure your granddaughter's illness, but there is a condition."
On a sunny afternoon, Zhuangyuan Village welcomed the plague god.
If they were going to stay here for a few days, it was impossible for them to all stay in one person's house. The village chief arranged other accommodation for the other people, and Pei Jing followed him to his house. The village chief's house was a little hidden, in the deeper forests, which were damp and cold, with many poisonous insects and intermittent bird calls.
On the way, Pei Jing naturally would not be idle and asked the village chief's granddaughter: "How did she get her eyes like this?"
The village chief hit the grass nearby with his cane to scare away the lurking snake and said, "She didn't obey, she deserved it."
Aju pursed her lips.
Pei Jing lowered his head, looked seriously into the girl's eyes, and said with a smile: "How could you do this by yourself? Your granddaughter is a monster, right?"
The village chief obviously didn't want to say more about this matter: "Just cure her, why bother with so much."
Pei Jing: "Old man, you are the most irritable person I have ever met who asks for help."
Village chief: "..."
Fortunately, Pei Jing came here for other purposes, so his temper was pretty good. He continued to ask: "Why did you stop us from coming in at the beginning? Now that I'm in, I look around and there's nothing special."
The irritable village chief tried not to be irritable and said in a muffled voice: "You came at the wrong time. The blessing day will be here in a few days."
"A day of blessing?"
"Well, on the day of worshipping Wenquxing, every household kills chickens and cattle to pray for their children to take the next spring exam."
Pei Jing: "Wow, this is a great thing. Shouldn't the more people there are, the more lively it is?"
The village chief glared at him and said, "Wenquxing only chooses three or four people to bless every year. Why should we give this opportunity to outsiders?"
Pei Jing pretended to be shocked: "Blessing? Your Wenquxing really can show his power."
The village chief was vague: "It's none of your business anyway, so don't have any bad thoughts."
Pei Jing said obediently: "Oh, okay, actually I just came in to take a look, and no one in my family wants to take the imperial examination."
After he finished speaking, he felt a gaze and lowered his head to meet the gaze of the girl with pure black eyes.
Pei Jing smiled.
The girl looked a little confused.
The village chief snorted and took him home. The village chief's house was leaning against a big banyan tree. It was a two-story wooden house with stairs winding around the tree. Before he walked in, Pei Jing saw a man squatting in front of the house. He was a boy of fifteen or sixteen, playing with mud on the ground with a wooden stick. He looked up when he heard the sound. The boy was handsome, but he looked silly.
As soon as he opened his mouth, Pei Jing confirmed his thoughts.
"Grandpa, sister, you are back."
Silly voice and silly manner.
The village chief looked up at the sky in silence and hit his hand with his walking stick: "I've told you so many times, why are you playing in the mud again!"
The blow was very powerful, and a red mark instantly appeared on the back of the boy's hand.
The boy was hurt by the beating. He hid behind his sister and said aggrievedly: "Grandpa, it hurts, it hurts."
Aju was stunned, turned her head, and stared at her brother's face for a long time.
Then she quickly lowered her head, protected her brother behind her, and said nothing.
The village chief looked upset, shook his head, and said nothing. He walked inside with Pei Jing: "If you still have the ability, please cure my grandson's disease."
Before Pei Jing entered the room, he looked back thoughtfully. The nine-year-old girl and the sixteen-year-old boy were clearly siblings, but they looked like siblings. The girl lowered her head and blew gently on the boy's wound, her drooping eyelashes obediently and peacefully. The boy sniffed and his whole face wrinkled.
Lighting the oil lamp, the village chief took two cold and hard buns from the stove and put them on a plate. Sitting at the table, he said slowly, "It's also a sin. One is blind and the other is stupid." Pei Jing said, "I think your granddaughter is quite sensible. She can take care of her brother at such a young age." The village chief's hand holding the chopsticks trembled, and then he sighed deeply, with a somewhat bitter smile, "How can I not take good care of her? Her brother was harmed by her."
Pei Jing remained silent and waited for him to speak.
"The blessing of the gods is such a sacred thing that the rules over the years have been that no one is allowed to get close to it. Those who break the rules will be punished. I told her that her brother was chosen by Wenquxing and was receiving enlightenment in the temple, but she just wouldn't listen. She kept crying and crying, and even sneaked out in the middle of the night when we weren't paying attention."
The old man took a sip of wine and looked a little tired.
"That's the rule. If you break the rule, everything is over. She must have seen something she shouldn't have seen in the temple, so the gods took away her eyes. Her brother also became a fool."
Pei Jing was amused. Gods? Are there such evil gods? But this brother and sister were indeed pitiful.
The village chief picked up some peanuts with chopsticks and chewed them expressionlessly. "I've beaten her and scolded her, but she's my own granddaughter after all, what can I do? Since then, Aju has become a different person. She used to be a lively and smiling girl, but now she doesn't talk to anyone she meets."
Pei Jing said: "If you trust me, let me be alone with her for a while."
The village chief used chopsticks to pick at the few remaining peanuts on the plate and said, "Go ahead. You're the only stranger I've ever met that she's not afraid of. That girl likes you. Go talk to her."
Pei Jing and Aju didn't really chat until the next morning. He didn't know what to say to the child, so he just asked directly: "Can you still remember what happened in the Zhuangyuan Temple that night?"
Aju, still holding the water in her hand, looked behind him, shook her head, and walked past him.
Behind Pei Jing was his brother Aju who had just woken up.
Brother Aju said pitifully, "I'm hungry."
Aju replied seriously: "We can eat soon."
Brother A-ju pouted: "I'm very hungry now."
Aju said, "Wait a little longer."
The village chief came back carrying a hoe and a few bunches of vegetables.
Pei Jing looked at the two children leaving and said, "They have a really good relationship."
The village chief didn't take it seriously: "They were born from the same mother, how could they not have a good relationship? They have been like one heart since they were little."
Pei Jing: "Are you in sync?"
The village chief frowned: "That's what you mean."
When you come to Zhuangyuan Village, you must go to the Zhuangyuan Temple to pay homage. The Zhuangyuan Temple has been particularly busy these days, and the path in the valley is almost flattened by people.
Pei Jing didn't find Chu Junyu, so he came to see him with Yu Qinglian first.
Miss Yu Qinglian was spoiled and it was impossible for her to fall asleep in such an environment. Yesterday, she simply hid herself and checked every house in the village, but she couldn't find the place that Ji Wuduan mentioned.
"One room, one yard, one jar. Every household has this decoration. Is he kidding me?"
Pei Jing said: "I also find it strange. I felt the aura of Shu Yan as soon as he entered the secret realm. But I slept in this Zhuangyuan Village for a whole night and didn't find anything strange at all."
Yu Qinglian curled the hair beside her ears and said slowly, "Yesterday I used soul-stealing to trick someone and got some information. The people in this village believe in Wenquxing so much that they have become crazy. Every three years they hold a prayer event to prepare for the human world. The prayer is weird. Wear a mask and walk around the statue in the temple. Those who are favored by the god will hear the voice of the god."
Pei Jing: "Interesting. I suspect that the immortals in the human world are not the same as the immortals we monks are talking about."
Yu Qinglian smiled and said, "The gods we are talking about are immortal beings who have the ability to destroy the world after ascending to heaven. The gods they believe in are all idle and only protect them."
Pei Jing looked back and warned her: "Keep your voice down."
Yu Qinglian lowered her head and smiled.
The Zhuangyuan Temple has never been renovated. It has always been in the same shabby state as it was at the beginning. The plaque is missing a corner, the red paint on the wall is peeling off, and the steps are even more cracked. The valley is filled with gloomy energy, and the Zhuangyuan Temple looks quite abrupt from a distance. After all, it is hard not to think too much about such a dilapidated and weird temple that appeared inexplicably in this deep forest valley.
After much thought, the villagers concluded that this was built by gods.
So cute.
When the two of them were leaving, they happened to be accompanied by an old lady who said to them enthusiastically, "You two look unfamiliar to me. You must be the boys who came in yesterday."
Pei Jing smiled shyly.
The old lady said, "Don't blame the village chief for forcing you to go out. There were people who came at this time before, catching up with our blessing day. But they were impatient and didn't know the rules, which made Wenquxing unhappy, and in the end no one was selected. That year, no one in the village passed the exam."
Pei Jing scratched his head: "I heard from the village chief that Wenquxing will choose a destined person. Can this destined person be an outsider like us?"
The old lady was good-tempered and smiled: "How would I know? There has never been such a precedent before."
We are almost at Zhuangyuan Temple.
The old lady was delighted: "If this is your first time here, you might be shocked because the Wenquxing in our temple is very handsome."
Yu Qinglian laughed.
Pei Jing pretended to be surprised: "How handsome."
The old lady said, "You will know when you see it."
Entering the Zhuangyuan Temple. The window eaves are dilapidated, and the smoke of incense is heavy. The light is dim, shining from one side of the valley to the center. It is not a statue, but a sculpture, standing on the altar. A young scholar, holding a scroll in one hand and a pen in the other, wearing a silk scarf on his head, simple clothes, his expression changes unpredictably in the light and shadow. Many people are already kneeling on the cushions in the temple.
Pei Jing and Yu Qinglian were standing at the door. The statue had no trace of life, and was cold and damp, like a dark worm living in slippery moss.
Pei Jing laughed and said to Yu Qinglian, "I think it's better to worship me than him."
Yu Qinglian rolled her eyes: "Why would I worship an illiterate person?"
Pei Jing walked forward: "You are making me laugh. How can you talk to the most talented person in Jingtian Academy?"
The statue was clammy.
But what interested Pei Jing more was the world beneath the statue.
It's very lively.
The author has something to say: Try your best~~~
Go home on the 10th, winter vacation begins~~~
Plot Transition