Tang Ning twitched his nose hard, and he became a little uncertain again because there was an even stronger strange fragrance on his body. Tang Ning raised his wrist and smelled the inside of his wrist and shoulders. The strange fragrance was everywhere.
"What's wrong?" Lin Yun asked.
Tangning was about to say something, but then she picked up her phone and started typing, "Do you smell any fragrance on me?"
Lin Yun leaned in to take a closer look. His gaze paused, and as he looked up at Tang Ning, who was waiting for his answer, Lin Yun nodded.
Tang Ning quickly typed, "What's that smell?" Is it that kind of damp, strange fragrance, cold and deep, with a lingering scent that's like wildly growing algae that keeps wrapping around one's limbs and refuses to dissipate easily
"It's a little sweet, very light." Lin Yun said softly.
Tangning: “?”
Tang Ning felt like he and Lin Yun were two different things. Was he the only one who could smell this strange fragrance
He told Lin Yun what he smelled. Lin Yun frowned and said, "Pay attention to the smell of Shao Mingxuan later."
He had a brief conversation. Although he still hadn't figured out who was the witch and who was the prince between Zhang Yun and Shao Mingxuan, one thing was clear: Zhang Yun was very important.
Apart from anything else, before Zhang Yun left, the old boatman and the old woman did not have any abnormal behavior. Only after he left did the two NPCs start to move, so Tang Ning and Lin Yun decided to find Zhang Yun first.
"Thank you for coming this time. I plan to go find Zhang Yun. What about you?" Lin Yun asked.
"What's there to thank me for? You solved it yourself." Jiang Mianmian didn't care: "I'll go too."
The three of them stood at the entrance of the courtyard and waited for a while. Just when Tang Ning was about to give up, a well-dressed figure finally appeared. Shao Mingxuan was wearing a retro light gray suit. His hair was tied back with wax, and a few slightly curled hair fell disobediently on his forehead. He wiped the water droplets off his glasses and nodded slightly, "Sorry for the wait."
Tang Ning felt as if her eyes were brightening. The annoyance she had been feeling after waiting for so long seemed to have subsided a little, because Shao Mingxuan, who had been dressed up carefully, was indeed very handsome.
Shao Mingxuan walked up to Tang Ning in his shiny leather shoes, like a male peacock courting a mate, wanting to show Tang Ning his masculine charm from all angles.
He even sprayed perfume to show off, and the strong smell of perfume covered up other scents.
Tang Ning covered his nose. He felt like sneezing. He finally managed to suppress the itch in his nose. Tang Ning then discovered that his nose was numbed by the smoke and he could not smell the strange fragrance on Shao Mingxuan's body at all.
"Where should I go now?" Shao Mingxuan asked thoughtfully, "I heard there is a wishing fountain in this town. Do you want to go and see it?"
Unlike the players who have to struggle to survive in the dungeon, Shao Mingxuan is completely in the state of a tourist NPC.
Lin Yun replied on behalf of Tangning, "I'm going to look for someone now. I'll go to the wishing well later."
"Then I'll help you find someone too." Shao Mingxuan looked at Tang Ning in a familiar manner.
Tang Ning nodded and got up to head towards the mayor's house. Jiang Mianmian and Zhang Yun had gone to see the mayor early this morning, but no one knew what it was for.
The house where the mayor lived was different from the other houses in this ancient town. It had black tiles and white walls. Outside, a group of people were standing and making a lot of noise. There were sounds of crying, cursing, and talking. Someone was carrying a wooden board covered with a white cloth, and a pair of blue feet were exposed at the bottom of the cloth.
"Shunping! You died such a tragic death! The one who should have died was not you, but that Zhang Yun!!!" The white-haired old woman cried and trembled all over. She could hardly stand, and it was the people on both sides who supported her to prevent her from falling down.
Tang Ning recalled the group message he had read before. An NPC named Zhang Shunping had died. He had his head buried in a foot bath and drowned. It was similar to how Luo Chuxue died. It looked like Zhang Shunping's family was making a fuss.
"Shunping! My son!" The old man cried and grabbed the ground: "If the mayor hadn't insisted on blowing up the bridge and canceling the ceremony, how could you have done it?!"
The mayor, who was accused and complained by her, stood silently in front of Zhang Shunping's body, allowing the old man to point at his nose and scold him.
"It's so pitiful for a white man to send off a black man." "If the mayor hadn't insisted on canceling the ceremony, Shunping wouldn't have had to suffer this." "Well, who wouldn't?" ""
Some young people did not seem to disagree, but in this situation no one spoke out casually.
"Auntie, please accept my condolences and don't hurt yourself by crying." The mayor tried to comfort the old woman who was about to faint from crying. The old woman grabbed the mayor and said, "I have lived enough at my age! What does my life mean to me? If you want to take it, take my life!!!"
"Auntie, don't be silly." The mayor showed reluctance, and the old lady wailed again: "The ceremony should not be cancelled! Who will pay for my son's life! Who will pay for it!"
The villagers who looked older couldn't help but sigh. This was because the incarnation of the river's evil had been punished, so the river allowed the ghosts to run rampant in the town. This group of people attributed Zhang Shunping's death to the ceremony. If someone didn't hold the ceremony, more people would die.
Hearing this, the mayor who had been comforting the old man suddenly shouted: "Enough! Enough?!"
"I know! I know you think the ceremony shouldn't be canceled! Junpei is dead! I don't want this to happen! No one wants this!!!"
His sudden outburst made everyone fall silent. Everyone looked at the mayor with tears streaming from his eyes. "But the ceremony is going on. What about those who died because of the ceremony? Who still remembers my child? He was only six years old! He died because of that crappy ceremony! He was frozen to death!!! I want to use my life to replace my child's life! I want to do that too!!!"
He pounded his chest while yelling, tears streaming down his face. He seemed unable to bear the great pain and slowly knelt on the ground, his forehead falling on the edge of the wooden board. "Auntie, please, let's just cancel this ceremony..."
The chattering crowd quieted down. The old lady broke free from the support of the people around her and knelt down as well. She and the mayor were separated by the corpse covered with white cloth, and both of them shed tears.
Tangning was speechless when she saw this scene.
He felt like it was raining in this world, a sad, suffocating rain. These sad people had shed all their tears and then they cried out a river that could drown people.
"Ahem." An old man with a cane trembled and walked to the mayor and Aunt Zhang. He first said to Aunt Zhang: "Burn more paper money for Shunping, so that he can
Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang burst into tears.
He then said to the mayor: "I know about the incident. You have a problem with it and want to cancel the ceremony. But Ah Zhong, now the bridge has collapsed and those things have escaped. They will take two people away every time, a man and a woman."
After the old man said this, there was an uproar at the scene. He had never realized that there would be such serious consequences before this.
These townspeople had all heard about Zhang Shunping's death, and some of them had also heard about Luo Chuxue's death, that both of them drowned in places where it was impossible to drown under normal circumstances, and there were children's footprints on the back of their necks. If the death of one was just a coincidence, then the fact that both of them died in this way was creepy, and even the young people showed fear on their faces.
"If you really don't want to resume the ceremony, then I will go to offer sacrifices to the river!" The old man said, holding his cane.
What is river sacrifice
Tangning looked at Lin Yun and Jiang Mianmian. They both shook their heads slightly, looking like they didn't understand.
The NPCs who didn't know what the river sacrifice was looked at the old man in shock, as if he was going to do something terrible. The mayor even said, "No! You can't go—"
The old man raised his head and glared, "Who else is suitable to go except me?! There is no one older than me in the whole town. I am already old. If I can only live for the peace of the town, I will die with my eyes closed!"
The old man ignored the dissuasion of the people around him and walked out unsteadily with his crutches.
A young man asked the elders around him, "What is the old man doing?" "What is the river sacrifice?"
The elder slapped the young man who was asking the question, "You! You talked back to the old man a while ago! He is willing to use his life to save the whole town."
Tang Ning followed and saw that the old man first went home to get a bulging package, and then continued walking in one direction with the bag on his back.
Finally, the old man stopped in front of a pool covered with coins. He opened the package and took out a series of miscellaneous items such as incense, offerings, ancient coins, etc. After he arranged all these things, the old man knelt in front of the pool. He prostrated himself devoutly, and his mouth seemed to be muttering something non-stop.
What is he doing? Is he making a wish
Tang Ning looked at the people around him blankly. Lin Yun frowned, and Jiang Mianmian also looked serious. The older townspeople around them had sorrow on their faces. Even though the younger townspeople didn't know what had happened, they were infected by the emotions of their elders.
The only exception is the individual.
Shao Mingxun stood beside Tang Ning. He was very tall, so tall that when he looked expressionless, he simply lowered his eyes, like a spirit looking down at all living beings.
The black eyes behind the lenses were exceptionally cold, without a trace of emotion.
Whether he was watching Zhang Shunping's family members crying heart-wrenchingly, or watching the mayor uncovering old scars, his black eyes were as calm as an ancient well.
As if he had noticed Tang Ning's gaze, Shao Mingxuan turned his head. He still looked at her with his eyes lowered, but there seemed to be something else in his eyes.
The handsome face slowly approached Tang Ning, and Shao Mingxuan whispered in Tang Ning's ear: "That is the wishing well. It is said that as long as you place offerings that will satisfy the river and make a sincere wish, it will fulfill your wish."
"If you have any wishes, you can make them now." Perhaps because he spoke in a soft voice, Shao Mingxuan's tone was particularly gentle: "He will definitely fulfill your wish."