Today's rain seemed much shorter than yesterday's. It stopped not long after it started, but the temperature seemed a little cooler because of the rain.
Feeling the chill, Ji Yuan fumbled to put on a piece of clothing left by the traveling merchant, and then put on the straw raincoat.
From the conversation with the traveling merchant yesterday, I learned that it should be early spring now, so it is normal for the weather to be a little cold. However, the two rains that Ji Yuan encountered did not have the feeling of continuous spring rain.
It was already quite late when I woke up today. Now that the rain has stopped, it is probably almost evening. It gets dark very quickly in the mountains, and the road is slippery now. Even if Ji Yuan had the courage to go down the mountain, the conditions would not allow it.
There are no traveling merchants tonight, which means no fire to keep warm.
"Why… "
Ji Yuan sighed a little, feeling pessimistic about his future and destiny. Currently, he could only hope that tomorrow would be a clear sky, which would create some favorable conditions for his pathetic visibility.
Just as Ji Yuan had expected, it got dark very quickly in the mountains. It was already grey in a short while. It was almost evening and he felt a little scared. He did not dare to sit in front of the altar as he did during the day, so he hid behind the original statue.
The red fox that was originally hiding from the rain in the temple had left at some point.
Ji Yuan now feels more nervous than the day before. After all, he is alone and he just tricked the tiger spirit away last night. It shouldn't be able to react in just one day.
Just as Ji Yuan dozed off, he was disturbed by a new noise. It was not yet dark, and some voices were heard on the distant mountain road.
Ji Yuan suddenly became alert, sat up on the torn straw mat behind the mountain god statue, and listened attentively to the movement.
"No way, what a coincidence? This broken temple isn't a transportation hub, how can people come here every day? Could it be a ghost? No no no, there are footsteps, don't scare yourself!!!"
A little further up the mountain trail, a group of nine people were walking on the trail, most of them with brisk steps.
Among them were men and women, most of whom looked young, and many of them held weapons in their hands, mostly swords. Some were holding long sticks with iron heads. There were also two people in the middle carrying a large hemp sack, and it was unknown what was inside.
It’s just that these people all looked a little embarrassed because they didn’t bring rain gear. Even though they found a place to shelter from the rain in time, they were still drenched by the rain.
The person walking in front was called Yan Fei, a young man holding a tassel sword. He was about 1.8 meters tall, with a well-proportioned and slender figure, and a pair of bright and lively phoenix eyes.
He looked ahead, pointed into the distance and spoke to his companions.
"The mountain temple is just ahead. Let's go there and take a rest, warm ourselves by the fire and recharge our batteries!"
"Okay, everyone, walk faster. It's really hard to walk on this mountain road after the rain!"
A woman was wearing a short top over a tight-fitting outfit that tied her wrists and ankles tightly. The top was now wet and stuck to her body. She walked a few steps and angrily shook off the mud on her boots.
"It's ridiculous that none of us thought to bring rain gear."
The woman quickened her pace and laughed at herself irritably.
The sturdy man carrying the iron-clad long stick smiled.
"Hehe, Junior Sister Luo, the weather in the mountains can change so quickly. The sun was clearly high in the sky before we went up the mountain. Who could have imagined this?"
"What are you laughing at? You're soaked like a drowned chicken too!"
"Okay, stop arguing. We're not here to play. Let's go into the temple and rest!"
Although the ground was muddy and these people walked a little awkwardly, Ji Yuan had to admit that they were still very fast and arrived at the mountain temple in no time.
The dilapidated little temple in the wilderness was surrounded by dead trees, with the light blocked by the rocks and the shade of the trees. In addition, it was already evening, making the area look eerie.
“Ah~Ah~”
The cries of two crows, sounded on the dead tree behind the mountain temple, seemed even more appropriate.
The 9 people's originally brisk steps all subconsciously slowed down, and even their voices became much quieter.
Although the mountain god temple was dilapidated, it could still block the wind and rain except for the lack of a gate. Yan Fei walked to the eaves of the temple, looked inside and saw the piles of charcoal and unburned firewood left by the traveling merchants who had made fire. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"The people in Narcissus Town are right. There should be people stopping here more often, but everyone should still be more careful."
Ji Yuan in the temple felt a little puzzled by the reaction of this group of people. They had complained quite loudly on the road before, but now they were more careful.
But he really couldn't laugh. When no one was around, he was hoping someone would come. But when someone really came, he was worried that the other person was a vicious criminal. After all, he had no ability to protect himself now.
A few people walked around outside the mountain temple before going inside.
Yan Fei was the first to enter the temple, followed closely by the others.
After glancing at the fire and dry firewood several times, they slowly approached the mountain god statue with light steps, frequently looking towards the top of the mountain god temple and some corners, and their main attention was naturally behind the mountain god statue.
Yan Fei was the first to discover Ji Yuan, after all, he was at the front. He walked to the original campfire and pretended to check it out, then looked up behind the mountain god statue and saw Ji Yuan leaning against it.
"A beggar?"
The others also came over and got a rough look at Ji Yuan's appearance.
"Hey, beggar, are you alone here?"
The man holding the long stick yelled at Ji Yuan. His loud voice made Ji Yuan's ears itchy, and he subconsciously stretched out his little finger to scratch his left ear.
The breathing of this group of people is generally stronger and longer than those of the traveling merchants. Ji Yuan's intuition tells him that these people are probably not ordinary people. He doesn't dare to argue too much in front of them, so he decides to just answer the questions honestly.
"Yeah, I was alone before you guys came."
Ji Yuan originally wanted to make a joke, "Aren't you considered human?", but then he thought that this was not typing on the keyboard across the Internet, nor was it the world he was familiar with. He decided to be careful of getting beaten if he said anything wrong.
The so-called Junior Sister Luo among the group looked at Ji Yuan's tattered and disheveled appearance and exclaimed in surprise.
"There are man-eating tigers in this mountain. How dare you come to the mountain alone?"
Although this question might be mainly out of curiosity, Ji Yuan still hoped to get them to take him down the mountain, or at least give it a try, so he gave a half-true and half-false answer in frustration.
"That can't be helped. My eyesight is not very good. The person who brought me here left on his own. Even if I knew there was a tiger on the mountain, it would be difficult for me to go down the mountain alone without help."
Sympathy, you must win sympathy!
At this time, the young man with the phoenix eyes made a gesture to everyone, nodded at Ji Yuan, and then pointed at his own eyes. Everyone subconsciously looked at the beggar's eyes and found that although the beggar's slightly opened eyes were bright, the pupil color was grayish white.
Someone lowered his voice and whispered: "He is a blind man..."
This low voice naturally could not escape Ji Yuan's ears. Ji Yuan thought optimistically that the person spoke in a low voice because he was considerate of his own feelings. So it seemed that at least this person was not too bad.
Therefore, Ji Yuan’s anticipation of leaving also increased a little.
The sturdy man holding a long stick in the crowd glanced at Sister Luo and the others, then said to him:
"You are lucky to have met us. Once we have dealt with that man-eating monster, we will take you down the mountain with us!"
Ji Yuan, who had just been feeling delighted, felt his heart skip a beat when he heard the second half of the sentence.
Want to kill a big insect, which big insect? Could it be Lu Shanjun
"Uh, what are you doing up here?"
Ji Yuan asked them with some trepidation.
The one who answered was the man with the stick and the loudest voice.
“Hahahahaha… We heard that there has been a man-eating tiger in this mountain for quite some time, and the government has been unable to get rid of it for a long time. So, adhering to the chivalrous spirit in our hearts, we accepted the Ning’an County Court’s list and came to Shuixian Town to get rid of this harm to the people!”
"That's right!" "That's right!"
The men and women around also nodded in agreement, confidently showing their chivalrous spirit in front of Ji Yuan.
Ji Yuan was stunned for a moment, and the thought that subconsciously popped into his mind was: "These people are looking for death!"