After listening to Aunt Liu's vision, Yan Qing remained silent for a long time.
He was just in his early twenties, and he couldn't hide his emotions. Yin Ci could see his thoughts - this place was worse than the Ghost Tomb, which at least put the murderous evil on the table. Yuanxian Village was like a brocade of flowers, but under the flowers were buried deformed corpses, revealing half of a rotten hand.
Yan Qing struggled for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution, so he subconsciously looked at Shi Jingzhi.
Shi Jingzhi finally thought about his duties as the head of the sect. He was full of sorrow and thought for a while before coming up with a plan that was not a big deal: "The village entry ceremony will be held on the full moon, which is still some time away. It is not realistic to find someone to take us out. It is better to look for the villagers of Xizhuang. Maybe someone will stay in Yuanxian Village..."
Su Si: "Yes, I can also help Brother Yin find a matchmaker. I'm not afraid of a thousand but I'm afraid of a million."
Shi Jingzhi's fox tail was stepped on: "No, that's my apprentice! I mean, we can't waste time on this kind of thing. It's better to focus on finding clues. I promise to take you away from here."
Yin Ci patted his master's arm, muttering "yes, yes, yes, okay, okay" to himself, his thoughts flying away.
Just now, the villagers came to visit, and Yin Ci confirmed something.
"People with a predestined relationship with the gods" are very likely to be demons, so it makes sense to select them based on their appearance. According to this logic, it is also possible that all the villagers are demons.
The question is, with the ratio of one million people, can such a great talent be gathered? On the other hand, Yin Ci has seen many talents. Normal talents do not have any restrictions such as "three days of injury means death", and their aging speed is much slower than that of ordinary people.
He couldn't figure out the reason for the existence of Yuanxian Village.
The appearance was not unusual, the answers were probably all in that forbidden area, including the new way of death he had been dreaming about.
As if he had a telepathic connection with him, Shi Jingzhi paced around the room for a few times, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Let's not look for anyone today, let's just hold the funeral."
Yan Qing was surprised: "What kind of funeral is this?"
"Aunt Liu left here, so we have some connections. The villagers seem to like me, so I'm going to beg them now. After all, we are half villagers, and we have the truth in our hands, so can they stop us?"
The more he talked, the more he thought it was feasible: "The villagers will leave the body in a forbidden area. We can just follow them in openly and have a good look at it."
Yin Ci was extremely pleased. This master was indeed very useful.
He immediately cast an admiring look and smoothed the fox's fur until it was smooth and docile.
In order to prove that he was a well-meaning person, Shi Jingzhi dressed up before setting off, and even put two flowers on his head. Su Si and Yan Qing walked on the left and right, pushing the fox who attracted bees and butterflies in front and hiding Yin Ci who was unsightly in the back, and the four of them came to the center of the village.
On the way, Shi Jingzhi was thrown many flowers by the men and women of Yuanxian Village, and was almost hit on the head by fresh fruits. He dodged and tried to keep a smile on his face, which was really miserable.
Yin Ci bit the fruit and continued to observe his surroundings leisurely.
Today was still a sunny day, with flowers in full bloom and a light spring breeze, no different from yesterday. The funeral procession was easy to spot, with everyone dressed in red, and could be seen from eight hundred miles away.
With his good looks, Shi Jingzhi pretended to be a fairy, even more fairy than the goddess. The villagers had no resistance to this kind of fairy spirit, and Shi Jingzhi was very good at fooling people. After a few seconds, he convinced the leader.
"You are accompanying Aunt Liu. This is fate." The leader said dazedly, "I'll have someone prepare clothes for you. Change quickly."
At that time, the head of the sect became more and more sincere: "Thank you, big brother. We will be back soon."
The news that Su Si was a "female prostitute" seemed to have spread. He got a red skirt and his face looked a little bitter. After all, he put it on and tied up his hair.
The other three were much faster.
While waiting for Su Si, Shi Jingzhi glanced at his apprentice and suddenly felt that the discrimination from Yuanxian Village was unreasonable.
The red funeral gown was very close fitting, and anyone could see clearly that Yin Ci had a very good figure. His body was neither bloated nor skinny, his limbs were long and strong, and his lines were beautifully tucked into his narrow waist, as if he had been carved out of the most exquisite mold.
The temperament is also good.
His disciple was clearly wearing a red robe, but he seemed to be in a deep and cold pond. Even if this calmness was without reason, it always made him feel at ease.
As expected of the disciple I chose, Shi Jingzhi thought. He didn't say anything bad about him, so how could other cats and dogs be dissatisfied with him
Su Si combed her hair into a neat bun to facilitate movement, and once again blended into the funeral procession like a passerby.
In the middle of the team, they saw Aunt Liu.
Aunt Liu's eyes were tightly closed, and the corners of her mouth were stuck with something, leaving a strange smile. She was wearing a brand new red satin dress, and her limbs were tied with branches, which were controlled by others, so that she staggered and followed the team.
Her chest was still heaving, and her joints were not stiff. At first glance, Aunt Liu was just a living person with a slightly unsteady step.
The music was so loud that it was unknown whether she heard it or not.
Red paper was flying everywhere, and she looked like a strangely dressed bride. Shi Jingzhi slowly approached Aunt Liu and touched her arm without leaving any trace. Aunt Liu still had body temperature, but her body was soft to the touch, as if a bunch of cotton was wrapped under her skin.
But she didn't look rotten or swollen.
Shi Jingzhi frowned and pinched Yin Ci's arm for comparison to make sure it was not his illusion.
Things are getting weirder and weirder.
However, the sound of the suona was so loud that it hurt people's eardrums. Shi Jingzhi was unable to communicate with his apprentice and had to continue moving forward with the team.
The forbidden area was in the middle of the village, with a big tree at the entrance. The children in the village were gathered around the tree, watching the funeral procession curiously.
I don't know how many years this tree has given birth to, maybe it has become a demon. It is not very tall, but the trunk is very thick, and thirty people may not be able to hug it. There is a gate-like structure near the root of the tree, and the familiar black dog demon is sleeping at the door. When the team came over, it whimpered a few times and moved away.
Walking into the tree gate, you can see a huge pit at the first glance.
The huge pit was wide enough to fill up an entire house. It was terribly deep, and the bottom was invisible. There were spiral stone steps around the pit, the stones were covered with moss, and there were rotten ropes hanging on the edge, which did not look very safe.
The funeral procession staggered down the mountain.
The sound of the suona echoed hollowly on the stone wall, and the red clothes blended into the shadows. Aunt Liu's warm body was pushed forward by the crowd. As the team went deeper, the rotten ropes swayed, and an indescribable strange smell came from the depths of the pit.
The warm atmosphere of Yuanxian Village was gone, leaving only endless weirdness.
When they reached a low depth, Shi Jingzhi began to hesitate.
The funeral procession held torches, and the flickering light made it difficult to observe. But through a few quick glances, he could probably piece together the scene in his mind.
The white-clothed monsters hung on the wall of the pit. Looking at them suddenly, they looked like countless large cocoons stuck to the stone. The chains hanging them swayed gently, as if they were beating the rhythm of the funeral music. The smell of water vapor became stronger and stronger, mixed with the fishy smell of fresh meat and a faint smell of excrement.
The stone steps were completely swallowed up by the shadows, but they felt increasingly sticky. I don't know what was stuck on them, but every step I took would give off a sweet, pus-like smell.
The inner wall of the pit was dug into neat rows of small rooms. These stone rooms were extremely delicate and looked very old, as if they were built thousands of years ago.
Shi Jingzhi suddenly had a strange idea. This place didn't look like a cemetery, but more like some kind of twisted prison.
Everyone stopped at a certain level in the pit.
It was not deliberately chosen, but the stone steps were broken here, and there was only a bottomless pit below.
"Just leave it here, next to Old Liu." Someone whispered.
People carefully moved on the narrow stone steps to make way for Aunt Liu. Two villagers carried her into a small single room and let her lie down steadily. There were several men's clothes scattered around her, which were wet and almost melted into the dark stone slabs.
"Aren't you going to bury her Uncle Liu?" Shi Jingzhi lowered his head and asked.
"Uncle Liu has transformed his corpse into an immortal, and this is his little room. Look, his clothes are still here." Someone nearby explained in a low voice.
Yin Ci moved slightly.
The body disappeared in just one night
He scanned the narrow stone chamber with his eyes, but found nothing wrong. So he quietly stepped back two steps and looked into the bottomless pit. A breeze blew from the bottom up, and the unspeakable smell became much stronger.
The pit wall was uneven, so even if he jumped down, he could still climb up. It would be better to pretend to slip, just like this—
Snapped.
Shi Jingzhi came over at some point and grabbed his wrist: "Aci, it's dark here. Don't run around, be careful not to fall down."
Yin Ci: “…Yes.”
Shi Jingzhi just pinched his wrist and continued to ask: "Can everyone ascend to heaven so quickly?"
"Some may be faster, some may be slower, we can't tell for sure. It's rare that someone ascends to heaven one after another, so normally people won't come down."
"Where are the people from Xizhuang?" Yin Ci asked as he went down the stairs.
As soon as he asked this question, almost everyone turned to look at him with gloomy eyes.
"Aci!"
"Master, it's okay. They won't do anything to you. Fellow villagers, I have no evil intentions. It's just that after seeing this, I'm curious about how I will be 'dealt with'."
"The goddess said that those people are accumulating immortal fate in the pit." Yindeng's mother, Sister Mian, said in a low voice. "There is a small world there, just like you go into the shrine here, they are at the bottom of the well."
Shi Jingzhi held Yin Ci's wrist tightly.
“Goddess, please have mercy on me. Even if it’s against sinners, I…” Sister Mian wanted to continue.
"Xiaomi, you've said enough. Be careful not to offend when talking about immortal matters." The leading villager interrupted her. "This brother doesn't want to accumulate immortal fate. Who knows, some girl might take a fancy to him."
He became more and more hesitant in what he said, and in the end it sounded as if he didn't even believe it himself.
Shi Jingzhi snorted coldly, revealing a hint of anger, and even forgot about being afraid.
"Aci, let's go back."
Sister Mian felt soft-hearted. She quickly came over and whispered, "My daughter took you in. You are also considered a destined person in my family. There are still some people in the village who need to find relatives. You can help them. This way you will have a companion and won't be too anxious."
Yin Ci suddenly stopped and asked, "Are there any more people?"
The firelight was dim, but he could still see the hesitation on Sister Mian's face.
"…Yes, there is another person. His name is Bai Wei, and he is from Xizhuang. He has been staying indoors for most of the month. If he can't get married, he won't be able to continue living in the village."
Shi Jingzhi said with caution: "Sister, from what you said, it doesn't seem like a good thing to 'accumulate immortal fate' in the future."
Sister Mian opened her mouth and finally squeezed out a few words dryly: "Yuanxian Village is better than the next one, that's for sure. Bai Wei also thinks we have some fate, alas..."
She sighed softly and squeezed to the front of the line, obviously not intending to continue talking with them.
Shi Jingzhi was about to catch up with him when Yan Qing patted his arm and lowered his voice: "Master, I recognize Bai Wei. Let's go back first."
Leaving the damp well and walking into the sunlight again, I felt a sense of joy as if I had ascended to heaven. It was a pity that no one was willing to waste time sighing - although there was no major discovery in the forbidden area, the survivors of Xizhuang did find it without any effort.
The three of them didn't even go back to their residence. Only Su Si rushed back, changed into men's clothes, and dragged Mr. Bai out.
When Su Si returned to the team, there was a goose feather stuck on his head, and Master Bai was still twisting his arm. Su Si seemed to have no sense of pain and took out the fresh cabbage leaves he had prepared long ago: "Master Bai, find someone."
Mr. Bai finally relaxed and looked at Su Si seriously with the look of a sour scholar.
"Help me find someone." Su Si coaxed it carefully, "Help us find Bai Wei, okay? He is at least half your family."
Yin Ci suspected that the goose didn't understand human language. It finished eating the leaves and twisted Su Si's calf like a sadist. It didn't let go until Su Si gasped, and walked over angrily.
"Follow it!" Su Si made a quick decision.
Mr. Bai led the group, swaying and twisting for half an hour, and finally reached the southwest corner of the village. There were only a few scattered houses there, and the destination was within sight. It turned its butt and plunged into the nearby pond.
"The house is not big, let's look around." Su Si was obviously used to this kind of treatment, "It's just..."
He glanced at the goose's butt nervously and lowered his voice: "It's just a goose, it doesn't have much brains."
"Bai Wei is the teacher's wife. I used to work for the teacher. He is four or five years older than me and a nice guy. At least he didn't hide from me because of the ghost eye." Yan Qing said to everyone while looking for him. "He has a handsome appearance and can tell stories. He is very popular among the girls in the village."
They even didn't mind the bad luck of the ghost eyes, and asked Yan Qing, who worked in the school, to deliver the small gifts. Yan Qing earned some leftovers as errand fees, and his impression of Bai Wei improved a lot.
However, when everyone pushed open Bai Wei's door, what they saw was not a talented and romantic man in the mountains, but a living skeleton.
The Baiwei Courtyard was in a mess, with torn pages everywhere. The owner of the courtyard sat in the courtyard in a daze, his clothes covered with dust, and only his eyes were clean. With this appearance, let alone pleasing the little girl, it would be good if he didn't scare others to tears.
Yan Qing didn't dare to recognize them, and Bai Wei was the first to recognize them. It was because Yan Qing's red pupils were so obvious.
"Yan family kid." Bai Wei's lips moved, "... You are not dead."
Then he looked away and muttered to himself, "I'm dying. I'm almost hallucinating..."
Su Si asked uncertainly: "Bai Wei, is it you?"
Bai Wei carefully looked at Su Sizhen, his eyes lingering on his teardrop mole: "Su family's Du Juan Jie, it seems that I am blind... What about you, are you the immortal who came to pick me up? Can fox immortals pick up people?"
Shi Jingzhi: “…”
Shi Jingzhi: "Sorry, I'm a human."
Then he strode forward, felt Bai Wei's pulse, and opened the medicine box: "This man is very weak and has not eaten or drunk anything for a long time. Come, open your mouth, this is honey."
Bai Wei shook his head and turned his face away: "I have no appetite."
Shi Jingzhi: “Oh.”
He quickly pressed Bai Wei's acupuncture points, poured the bottle of honey into his mouth, and stuffed a bowl of water into his mouth.
"If you really want to die, I won't stop you. But we just got here and we want to go out. You look like you know something. If you are willing to help, I can let you die more easily."
Hearing this, Bai Wei suddenly tensed up, grabbed Shi Jingzhi's collar, and burst out with terrifying strength: "I don't want to die, who said I want to die? I just want to save A Lu, save our children. At least save them again, I..."
He took a hard breath, as if he was burned by this thought: "I..."
"Take your time." Yan Qing soothed, "Don't worry, there are no villagers here."
Yin Ci silently showed a false face to prove that what Yan Qing said was true.
Bai Wei climbed up with difficulty, broke off a piece of dry biscuit from the table, and forced himself to swallow it. He looked at the four people anxiously: "Xizhuang... Is there no one left in Xizhuang?"
"They brought this upon themselves, all by themselves!... I am also responsible for this. If it weren't for me, everyone would be able to live well."
He looked like he was crying, with dangerous madness in his eyes.
"You came just in time. I was planning to ask the goddess tomorrow to help me find the 'immortal fate'."