[Ding! The side mission 'Sujin's Disease' is open, do users accept it?]
There are side missions on the way to Duan Peng's hometown, so their thinking is right? Zhou Ziruo looked at the "female ghost" who was still struggling to climb out of the tree hole, Sujin's illness...if it was illness, then it would not be a ghost.
[Does the user accept side missions? ] The system urged.
Zhou Ziruo became angry: "No answer! The reward for completing the branch line last time hasn't been given to the young master yet!"
[…]
[The user automatically gives up the side mission, the achievement of 'Perfect and Nine Perfect' fails to be determined, and the extra points for counterattack are lost...]
"I'll take it! Can't I take it!! Don't mention that stupid counterattack to me anymore!!" Zhou Ziruo growled.
Just now, Mu Qijun was just startled and talking nonsense. Now that he saw clearly that there was a person in the tree hole, he was quite embarrassed, and hurried forward to grab that person's hand: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll help you out!"
After pulling the person out of the tree hole, it took a few people to see that she was a girl about fifteen or sixteen years old judging from her stature. She was supposed to be the most beautiful age, but she was full of gray and white messy hair that is unique to old people, her clothes were worn out, and her face was dirty. The marl couldn't hide the ugly, dark birthmark. Although it's not a female ghost, if you meet it at night, it may have the same effect as a female ghost.
"Girl, where did you come from? Why are you here alone?" Mu Qijun asked.
The girl kept her head down and didn't look at them.
"She should be from Daohe Village at the foot of the mountain." Leng Mo said.
Mu Qijun said to the girl: "We are going to Daohe Village. Although it is broad daylight now, it is inevitable to encounter wild beasts and bandits in the mountains. Girl, come with us?"
The girl was noncommittal, and when the three of them rested and set out on the road again, they silently followed the team.
Mu Qijun thought it was too rude to mistake the girl for a female ghost before, so he took good care of the girl along the way, but the girl remained silent, her messy hair covered her face, and she didn't know what she was thinking.
Although the girl is young, she seems to be used to walking on mountain roads, and her physical strength is very good. At dusk, four people and one fox arrived outside Daohe Village at the foot of the mountain.
A few children who were chasing and beating in front squatted down and picked up stones on the ground and threw them at the girl, cursing: "Monster!"
"The monster is back!"
Mu Qijun hurriedly pulled the girl behind him, and reprimanded the children. The children were afraid of life, and ran back to the village in a hurry. While running, they turned around and shouted: "The ugly monster has returned with the monster from the mountain!"
Mu Qijun was so angry that the girl looked indifferent.
The middle-aged woman who was collecting clothes by the hanger at the entrance of the village was stunned when she saw a few people, and asked, "Are you..."
Lu Lixiao politely clasped his fists, and said, "I'm going to pass by Guicun, it's getting late, I want to come to the village to spend the night."
The middle-aged woman saw that Zhou Zheng, who was born on average, did not look like a villain, and said, "If you want to stay overnight, you need to ask the village chief. You just follow girl Jin, she is the daughter of the village chief." Then she blamed the girl, "Girl Jin, you Went to wander in the mountains again? Your father has been looking for you in the village several times!"
The girl heard the words and walked towards a small road, Lu Lixiao and the others looked at each other, thanked the woman and followed. The woman was still chattering behind her back: "I don't know what the village head did wrong to give birth to a daughter like you! He doesn't help your father with the village affairs, doesn't wash and cook, and runs to the mountains all day long. ...Your mother died early, and your father refused to remarry because of you, so you should be filial to your father anyway... "
The girl turned a deaf ear to it, but Mu Qijun felt uncomfortable being forced to know about other people's family affairs, even Leng Mo frowned, but Lu Lixiao was calm as usual, as if he hadn't heard.
Not too far away, a middle-aged man with a Chinese character face and wearing a linen blue robe hurriedly ran towards him, grabbed the girl and scolded him: "Jin'er, where did you go this afternoon? Why don't you go home?"
Lu Lixiao said: "Your Excellency is this girl's father, the head of Daohe Village?"
The middle-aged man looked Lu Lixiao and the others up and down, and said, "Exactly. How many of you are..."
Lu Lixiao clasped his fists together, "We are disciples of Qingyang Mountain."
When the middle-aged man heard the word "Qingyang Mountain", his complexion changed slightly: "You belong to Brother Duan..."
"It turns out that the village chief recognizes Master Uncle Duan Peng." Lu Lixiao said.
The middle-aged man said: "There are only a few families in Daohe Village, and everyone knows each other. Brother Duan and I are childhood playmates, so we know each other. How has Brother Duan been doing these years? Why doesn't he Come back in person?"
It seems that the news of Duan Peng's death has not been conveyed back to Daohe Village.
Lu Lixiao said: "Uncle Duan is busy with important work, so he can't find time to come back. It just so happened that the three of us were ordered to go down the mountain this time, and Uncle Duan missed the elders and fellow villagers, so he asked us to take a look for him."
The middle-aged man sighed after hearing this: "Brother Duan returned to his hometown 30 years ago and never came back again. He didn't know that the second elder of the Duan family... passed away in the mountain torrents a few years ago! It's the anniversary of their elders' death!"
Duan Peng's parents passed away, so where can I go to learn more about Duan Peng? This gets tricky.
Seeing that Lu Lixiao and the others were silent, the middle-aged man only said that they were worried about how to return to Duan Peng, and comforted them a few words.
Lu Lixiao thought for a while, and asked the middle-aged man, "I'm going to come back for Uncle Duan Peng, so I should pay homage to the elder on his behalf. Could you please trouble the village chief to let us stay in the village until the anniversary of the death of the elder?"
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "If you want to stay here... the village is full of poor farmers, and there are no spare houses. If you don't mind that Brother Duan's house enshrines the two old spirit tablets, I can arrange for you to live in one person, and the other two can live in it." Stay at my house."
Lu Lixiao agreed immediately, it was getting late, the middle-aged man took the three of them back to his home for dinner.
There is a saying in the village of returning to the spirit, that is, to enshrine the tablet of the deceased in the room where he lived, and the soul of the deceased will come back to see it from time to time. There are two rooms in Duan Peng's house. In the room of the second elder, the spiritual tablet of the second elder is enshrined. For fear of returning to the spirit, he dare not let people live in it, so only Duan Peng's house can live in. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Lu Lixiao would live in Duan Peng's old room, while Mu Qijun and Leng Mo would live in the two empty rooms of the village chief's house, which were the rooms of the village chief's two brothers who were away from home.
The village chief's name is Su Zhongfan, and the girl is his only daughter, named Su Jin. At the dinner table, Lu Lixiao chatted with Village Chief Su, and Sujin ate her own food with a bowl in her arms, without saying a word, as if she didn't exist.
Sitting on Lu Lixiao's lap, Zhou Ziruo observed Sujin while eating the meat that Lu Lixiao gave him from his own bowl, wondering what disease "disease" refers to. Apart from being withdrawn and gloomy, Su Jin doesn't seem to be ill. Could it be the gray hair and marks on her face? Isn't that less whiteheads and birthmarks? I don't know if asking Lu Lixiao for a elixir from Qingyang Mountain can explain the side mission.
After the meal, Village Chief Su ordered Su Jin to clean up the table, wash the dishes and clear up the two rooms for the guests, so he personally led Lu Lixiao to Duan Peng's house.
There is no one in the Duan family, and the key has been in the hands of Village Chief Su for several years. The house that had been empty for several years had accumulated a lot of dust. Village Chief Su wanted to help Lu Lixiao clean up the room first, but Lu Lixiao declined.
Before Village Chief Su left, he glanced at the fox in Lu Lixiao's arms, and told him, "Young Master Lu, although the second elder's room is locked, please take care of your fox to avoid collisions."
Lu Lixiao responded and sent Village Chief Su out of the house.
Although Duan Peng's room was not big, Lu Lixiao wiped it three times before cleaning it out. He spread a dry mattress and lay on the bed with his head propped up on one hand, while Zhou Ziruo lay in his arms, thinking about Sujin's branch line.
"What are you thinking about?" Lu Lixiao gently pinched Zhou Ziruo's hairy ears.
Zhou Ziruo probed: "Brother Xiao, do you think that little girl Sujin became like that because of illness?"
Lu Lixiao stopped moving his hands, "You care about her a lot? You have been looking at her in the afternoon and at the dinner table."
Zhou Ziruo's mind was instantly flooded with complaints.
I went to the male lead, weren't you discussing things with the beautiful boy in the afternoon? At the dinner table, weren't you sharing information with Village Chief Su? How do you know everything? ? Have you installed a monitor on Young Master? ? Besides, what does it mean to "always" look at her young master, obviously just peeking at her every once in a while! What's even more unbearable is what kind of person do you think the young master is? ? That girl Sujin is only a junior high school student, even if she didn't grow up to be like that, I wouldn't be able to play tricks on children! !
"I was just curious, so I took a second look... That girl is still so young, how pitiful she would be if she was sick!"
Lu Lixiao didn't know if he believed it or not: "If you're curious, ask around in the village tomorrow."
"Brother Xiao, Uncle Duan Peng's parents passed away, what should we do next?" Zhou Ziruo asked.
"Take a step for the time being and see if anyone in the village knows about Uncle Duan Peng." Lu Lixiao scratched Zhou Ziruo's ear twice, "It's getting late, let's rest tonight."
Zhou Ziruo said "Oh", and leaned his body on Lu Lixiao's strong arm. After a while, he opened his eyes and found that Lu Lixiao was still lying on his side in that position, looking at him intently.
Zhou Ziruo realized that he could not sleep because of Lu Lixiao's hand, he wanted to move away, but when he caught Lu Lixiao's eyes, he jumped forward with his limbs, and hugged Lu Lixiao with his short legs neck.
Lu Lixiao's chest trembled twice, and he turned over and lay on his back. Zhou Ziruo felt his warm breath, his ears trembled sensitively, and he raised his head to lick his lips. Lu Lixiao looked at his pair of black fox eyes, rubbed his furry head, and pressed him into his arms.
In the middle of the night, Zhou Ziruo slipped off Lu Lixiao's body in his deep sleep. He half-closed his eyes and was about to crawl back, when he heard a clear sound in his ears—
"Tick tock..."
His mind was half awake, and he felt a gaze fixed on his body like a nail. When he turned his head to look, his gaze came from the direction of the door, but the door of Duan Peng's room was locked by Lu Lixiao before he fell asleep.
Zhou Ziruo tried his best to focus in the dark and saw a gap in the old wooden door. In an instant, he felt a bloodshot eye behind the door looking at him through the gap.