As if he had noticed his gaze, the young man turned around and looked at He Lou. The young man looked a little confused, but he still smiled and nodded at him politely, then looked away.
An Xingyu also noticed He Lou's abnormality. He followed his gaze and found a gentle-looking young man. He gently touched him with his elbow and gave him a questioning look with a sharp gaze.
He Lou then forced himself to calm down and shook his head gently.
He just... He never thought that the other party could survive. Although he acted so smart and cruel, but in front of such absolute power, or in front of that completely crazy Taoist priest, he really couldn't understand how Lu Yanli escaped.
Besides, what did Lu Yanli's eyes mean? Didn't he recognize me? Why did he seem to be looking at a stranger
He Lou still remembered the cowardly, kind-hearted look of Lu Yanli when he first entered this world. He Lou couldn't help but wonder if he really didn't know him and was just pretending
In other words, is there another person in this world who looks so much like him
For a moment, he fell into his own thoughts. On the surface, he was still listening carefully to what the village chief said, but his eyes still involuntarily glanced in the direction of Lu Yanli.
The village chief was speaking passionately when he suddenly stopped and looked straight at He Lou. Under the dim light of the lantern, his face looked eerie.
"We have an unruly guest here..."
Everyone in the room also fell silent, and followed the direction of the village chief, turning their heads to look at He Lou. His expression was as eerie and strange as the village chief's, and they all spoke in unison.
"Guest, why don't you follow the rules?"
His face turned pale, his long, bright red mouth opened and closed, and upon closer inspection, he looked like a paper doll placed under the mourning hall. There was no smile in his curved smiling eyes, but instead they were filled with coldness and cruelty.
Lu Yanli stood among the villagers. He turned his head to look at He Lou and curled the corners of his lips in the same way. The horror and cruelty in his eyes were even greater than those of the villagers.
"Guest, you are not following the rules... You are not following the rules..."
"Those who don't follow the rules... want to..."
He Lou broke out in a cold sweat.
He didn't expect that he was spotted by the village chief just by looking at Lu Yanli a few more times. Lu Yanli was standing next to the village chief, so he shouldn't have been discovered, right
But think about it, the "people" in this village may not be considered human anymore, and their obsession with rules must be far greater than that of ordinary people. So maybe they are particularly sensitive to this aspect
What to do
He vaguely understood the punishment of this village. Letting a group of ghosts punish humans, the consequences can be imagined.
What to do?! What should he do
The other executors who came with him also had cold sweat on their backs.
Even though he had also read the village rules and knew that this might be the key for him to leave the village alive, he was not a villager after all, and currently there was no very clear concept of "breaking the village rules would result in death". Therefore, he might not have listened carefully to what the village chief said just now.
Who knew that He Lou was arrested
An Xingyu, who was standing next to him, immediately shut up and looked at the village chief seriously. He couldn't help but sweat for He Lou.
What will he do
He Lou had done many missions after all, and apart from the time when Lu Yanli underestimated him and got beaten up, he had some experience in dealing with these weird things. After a few seconds of panic, he immediately apologized before saying "I'll be punished": "Village head, the village rules say that everyone must celebrate together at the wedding banquet."
He emphasized the word "happy". After saying this, his palms were full of sweat and his whole body froze in place, but he still forced himself to appear calm. Even his breathing rate was not much disturbed.
If it weren't for the cold sweat on his back that had soaked his clothes, He Lou would have thought he was very calm.
He had discovered before he had stayed at the inn that the innkeeper's wife had also violated the rules on occasion, but no one dared to point it out to him and she did not admit it, so the innkeeper's wife did not accept any punishment.
As he said this, the smiles on the faces of all the villagers froze, and the narrow cracks that had been opening and closing stopped, maintaining a funny angle as if they were trying to raise their heads to speak. Lu Yanli was no exception, standing in the crowd, and like him, a strange smile froze on his face.
The sound of the suona continued, the crackling of firecrackers and the dull sound of the wedding procession in the distance were getting closer and closer. Even the cold wind seemed to have stagnated.
The only one who was still moving was the village chief's son in the black and white photo. His smile slowly drooped, the corners of his mouth and eyes gradually turned down, and his black eyes stared straight at He Lou.
"Village head, the village rules say that during a wedding banquet, everyone must celebrate together happily."
The sudden change made He Lou even calmer. He repeated what he said again.
For his sake, I studied the village rules carefully several times.
Village rules, village rules.
As a villager, he must abide by it. How could he not be happy at the wedding banquet
One second, a few seconds, a few seconds...
A few seconds is longer than a few hours.
Finally, the stagnant wind started to blow again, and the pale, paper-like expressions on the faces of the village chief and villagers began to move.
"Today is my son's wedding banquet, everyone should celebrate happily." The village chief said again.
The whole square came alive again, and the villagers put on happy smiles again and listened quietly to the village chief.
As if the incident just now had never happened, no one mentioned the word rules again, and no one even looked at He Lou again.
Lu Yanli also withdrew his gaze and behaved like other villagers, listening carefully to the village chief and applauding when necessary.
He Lou breathed a sigh of relief, but he never dared to violate the village rules again. This time was okay, but what if there was a next time
The same is true for others.
Just looking at the performance of these villagers, it is hard to convince himself that he is still human. But the mission he is carrying out has its rules, and even ghosts must abide by them. This is the only way for him to escape. They dare not even look at each other, and wait quietly.
The rules for ghost marriages are different from those for ordinary marriages, and the rules in Honghe Village are even more different. When the village chief's son marries a woman, he must calculate the "auspicious date" according to the deceased's funeral date in advance, and move the coffin on the same day. The bride must also calculate the "auspicious date" and carry the new coffin and sedan chair into the man's house in no time.
At midnight, the newlyweds meet. If they are satisfied, they will have a formal ceremony, bowing to heaven and earth, and then to their parents. The couple's remains are placed in one coffin, and then the wedding procession carries the coffin to the Red River at the end of the village, pushing it to the river surface until it reaches the middle of the river and sinks. This is considered the end of the ceremony.
After the village chief finished speaking, he announced that everyone could take their seats. One of the villagers who was sitting with He Lou told him the rules.
The village chief read a long string of words, and listening carefully, he advised his son very much that he had found a very, very good wife for him, and asked him to be at ease in the future, treat his wife well, and not make trouble for the family. The same thing happened to his unmarried wife. If she obeyed the village rules, everyone in Honghe Village would accept her. If she didn't, then Honghe would definitely punish her and make her restless.
There are still rules...
At this moment, this group of task executors refreshed their cognition again: That is how important the rules are to the villagers of Honghe Village.
It was exactly the same as his mission rules.
Therefore, he must absolutely not violate it.
He Lou took one last glance at Lu Yanli's back and looked away.
He could test this person again tomorrow; right now the wedding banquet was more important.
The dishes were served one by one. When the first dish was served, the executor couldn't help but clench his fist.
"Why don't you eat?" The villagers looked up in confusion.
"That's right, why don't you eat?" Upon hearing this, the villagers at the next table immediately turned their heads.
His eyes were filled with cold malice, and his mouth became elongated, opening and closing.
"Why don't you eat?"
"The guests are unruly, unruly guests... unruly guests..."
The other people also had cold sweats on their backs.
The dishes on the table were strange, bright red mushrooms soaked in thick red paste, a monkey head that had just been chopped off and the top of the head was shaved off, revealing the white brain, a newly hatched mouse baby squeaking in a cage, and a bloody red sauce made of unknown ingredients on the side...
A villager opened the cage and picked up a pink and white mouse with no hair or eyes. The mouse kept squeaking. He dipped it in some seasoning and the mouse immediately squeaked even more fiercely. However, the villager ignored him and put the mouse into his mouth with a smile of enjoyment. The squeaking sound of chewing and the mouse's last squeaking were creepy.
"Why don't you eat?" The villager had a pink tail at the corner of his mouth and a mouthful of white sharp teeth.
"You don't follow the rules..."
He Lou said: "It is said in the village rules that you cannot speak if you have something in your mouth."
The villager paused, and the pink tail immediately disappeared.
Then he looked at He Lou, his eyes were even more cruel: "You... don't follow the rules..."
He Lou said, "I'll eat it." Then he picked up the chopsticks, reached out and picked up a piece of red mushroom. He forced himself to remain calm, put the mushroom in his mouth and bit it.
The liquid with a strong and extremely bloody smell splashed out and exploded in his mouth. He Lou endured it, forced himself to swallow it, and smiled, "It's delicious."
The villager then looked away and looked straight at the others.
What else could those people say in this situation? They were originally sitting at the same table, and seeing that He Lou had bravely eaten first, they also stretched out their chopsticks to pick up mushrooms.
I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but after each person got one, the plate of mushrooms was just emptied.
The villager's face looked better and he regained his spirit.
The executors were in a miserable state. They stuffed mushrooms into their mouths without any precautions and were almost vomited by the extremely strong smell of blood. He Louji said, "Everyone should enjoy the food." He remembered the village rules that food should not be wasted, so he swallowed it reluctantly.
Except Chen Zhenghao.
After He Lou finished eating, he was the first to pick up the mushroom with chopsticks, and the first to put it into his mouth. He Lou didn't change his expression, so he didn't care too much. As soon as he took a bite, he vomited at the smell of blood that seemed to have been stored for half a month, and spit it out.
The others had just taken a bite, but with Chen Zhenghao's reaction and He Lou's reminder, they forced themselves to eat it, pretending to enjoy it. Suddenly, the eyes of the whole village turned to Chen Zhenghao.
"Guest, you are not following the rules."
Voices echoed one after another, reminders came from all directions, and pairs of malicious eyes stared over.
Chen Zhenghao was suddenly frightened out of his wits, this was really unbelievable, he actually violated the village rules, what should he do
What to do? !
In a panic, before He Lou could remind him, Chen Zhenghao had already stood up in a hurry and waved his hands: "Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
Because of fear, his whole body was shaking, his voice was trembling, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He tried to appear sincere so that the villagers would let him go.
However, once he admitted it, the smiles on the villagers' faces widened completely, and identical smiles appeared on every pale face.
"Guest, you are not following the rules and will be punished!!"
Oops…
He Lou lowered his head.
An Xingyu sighed faintly. Shen Na sat next to Ding Conglu, holding down the girl who wanted to stand up, and pinning her to the spot with her eyes.
There was no doubt that Chen Zhenghao would die, so there was no need to sacrifice himself.
Ding Conglu's eyes were full of tears, she wanted to struggle, but Shen Na was too strong. An Xingyu's pure black eyes flashed, and he handed over a handkerchief. Shen Na stuffed it into Ding Conglu's mouth, which wanted to scream. He then held down Ding Conglu's twisting body.
In fact, the moment Chen Zhenghao stood up, he felt regretful and wished he could die.
He Lou had clearly just demonstrated that he could escape as long as he refused to admit it and pointed out the villagers' violations.
Why should he admit it
However, the words had already been spoken, and no matter how much he regretted it, it would be useless. Chen Zhenghao stood in front of the table, surrounded by sharp and excited laughter. He knew that he was about to die, and he swallowed his saliva subconsciously. His whole body kept shaking, almost fainting.
I, I'm dying...
This is only the first time. This is only the first time. Why should I be so stupid
If I die, what will happen to Xiaolu
She is the most timid, and no one will protect her from now on...
Looking at Ding Conglu with tears on her face, Chen Zhenghao's eyes flashed with reluctance. He looked at his girlfriend, shook his head firmly, looked at Shen Na and An Xingyu who helped hold her down, and whispered "thank you".
Ding Conglu's stammering became more intense, but she couldn't make any sound because the handkerchief was forcibly stuffed into her mouth. She turned her head to look at the others, her eyes full of pain and a request for help.
Please, please, save him! !
He Lou met Ding Conglu's gaze and slowly shook his head.
He couldn't save anyone, and even the reason he chose to eat the mushroom just now was because he saw Lu Yanli pick up a piece of mushroom and eat it. As for Chen Zhenghao... he couldn't save him.
"You must be punished! You must be punished!"
The shrill and thin sounds became continuous, and several children clapped their hands and sang a ballad in tender voices.
"If you make a mistake, you must be punished. If you want to punish, how should you punish? How should you punish? I'll tell you, village chief! Village chief, how should you punish me?"
After the children finished singing the song, the whole village fell silent and the villagers looked at the village chief excitedly.
The village chief's outline was blurred by the lantern light. The corners of his mouth were almost raised to his ears as he said, "He broke the rules and must be punished."
"Punish him - make a lantern for Uncle Wu tonight."
"Oh, make lanterns! Make lanterns! Big lanterns, small lanterns, lantern dolls bump their heads together, the boy dolls' hands will be cut off, the girl dolls' tongues will be cut off..."
The children clapped their hands and sang nursery rhymes, but they could not be heard clearly over the increasingly close sound of the suona.
The person who broke the rules was punished, and all the villagers were very happy. Chen Zhenghao was also very happy. He relaxed and collapsed on the chair, his chest heaving violently.
Fortunately, he only had to make lanterns. Even if he had to make lanterns for a whole month, it would be better than losing his life.
Chen Zhenghao and Ding Conglu, who thought they had escaped death, hugged each other and cried with joy. He did not notice the sympathetic looks from the others.
Chen Zhenghao said sincerely: "Xiaolu, I accidentally violated the village rules, please don't violate them." Ding Conglu leaned into his arms obediently and nodded: "Make lanterns seriously, be more careful, and don't make mistakes again."
Shen Na and He Lou looked at each other and remembered the lanterns they saw at Wu Bo's house.
The lanterns he had made out of some unknown leather were now hung in front of the mourning hall. On the left and right, boys and girls were smiling happily.
That leather...
He didn't say it out loud, letting the young couple be happy for a while longer.
The cold wind blew stronger, the night was thick and dark, even the colorful lanterns could not illuminate, it seemed that all the light was swallowed up by the night.
The executor dared not say anything more and waited quietly.
Strangely, the sound of the suona that reached their ears became louder and louder. People had discussed for several times that the bride was coming soon, but she never arrived. The sound of the suona was getting closer and closer, but it always seemed like there was some distance between them.
The coffin of the village chief's son had been dug out long ago and placed in the room in front of him.
Just wait until midnight, and then people will open the coffin and perform the ceremony.
"Quick! Bring my son here!" Thinking that it was almost time, the village chief hurriedly called for people.
Several strong laborers put down their chopsticks and went into the inner room.
After a while, a fishy smell came with the wind.
The soil had been buried for a long time, and the smell of rotting flesh was stinking. Four big men carried the coffin and slowly came to the center of the mourning hall. The heavy black coffin swayed slightly with their steps, and it could be seen that it was not light.
An Xingyu noticed that the coffin was not nailed shut, at least the lid was not closed tightly, and there was still fresh soil and a few dead grasses on the bottom of the coffin.
I actually dug it out today.
An Xingyu's eyes scanned the coffin, and his sight fell on the footprints of several big men's shoes. Because it was too heavy, their feet sank slightly into the mud. An Xingyu was staring at it in a trance, and was gently touched by a teammate next to him, who whispered, "What are you thinking about?"
An Xingyu shook his head and said nothing.
Perhaps he had done too many questions. He had just tried to calculate the weight of the coffin by the depth of the footprints, but now he thought it was unnecessary.
"The groom is here—"
The old men in the village shouted in long notes, and their somewhat hoarse voices seemed to have great penetrating power and were not drowned out by the sound of the suona at all.
The next moment, there was loud music!
Four porters carrying a white sedan appeared at the end of the road. They had the same smile on their faces, the same expression as the lantern hanging on the end of the sedan, with the corners of their eyes curved downwards and the corners of their mouths raised upwards. But there was no smile in their eyes.
Suona, trumpet, gong, waist drum... the team came over here playing music.
In the mourning hall, the man's smile was even bigger.
"The bride is here—" the old man shouted again.
The wind suddenly became colder and stronger. Except for the remaining task performers who wrapped their clothes tightly, the other villagers were unaware and stretched their necks to watch.
He really stretched his neck.
An Xingyu glanced at the villager in front of him and keenly noticed that his neck had stretched about five or six centimeters. Most people think that a longer neck is more beautiful, and many girls also pursue a swan neck, but when the neck really grows to this extent... it is actually a bit scary.
Now they were not prohibited from talking and the crowd gathered together to chat. Some said that the bride and groom were a match made in heaven, while others wished them to be blessed by the Red River and to have a smooth marriage.
Several mission executors took the opportunity to gather together and communicate quietly. He Lou looked around while giving instructions.
After this measurement, He Lou discovered something was wrong.
There seemed to be no young people.
Village rules say that the whole village must attend a wedding banquet. Especially today, the village chief's wedding banquet, the whole village should have gathered here, but he only saw middle-aged and elderly people, the youngest of whom was only in his teens.
However, there are still many children in the village.
So where are all the young people, teenagers
Wait, by analogy, this guy must not be from Honghe Village, right? Otherwise, he is the only young man in the village
Just as he was thinking, a familiar figure appeared in front of him. He Lou calmed himself down, walked over immediately and patted the other person on the shoulder.
The young man turned around, his handsome face a little confused, but soon he showed a kind smile: "Okay, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"Okay, your name is Lu Yanli?" He Lou forced a smile.
As soon as he saw him, He Lou couldn't help but think of the tragedy of his last mission. Perhaps due to psychological trauma, he now stood in front of Lu Yanli, and there was a voice deep in his heart clamoring for him to stay away from this man.
Lu Yanli nodded, his eyes full of doubt: "Yes, how did you know?" He seemed to realize that this was not very polite, and stretched out his hand and smiled kindly, "You are also a tourist who comes here to play, right? I think I have seen you before."
He Lou stretched out his hand and shook his. The other party's strength was moderate, not as fierce as the one that pinched his neck. He tried to test him: "My name is He Lou, I came here with my friends to experience the countryside, what are you?"
Lu Yanli smiled and said, "I'm a reporter, and I came here to do a folklore survey."
"Folklore survey?"
"Yes, Honghe Village is very famous. The villagers here are very warm and polite. In addition to the local customs and practices, the most famous thing is the local food and ghost marriage customs." Speaking of this, Lu Yanli said with concern, "The village chief specially used the most famous specialty food to treat me. I should have tasted it just now. How is it? Very good, right?"
Thinking of the horrible "delicious food" on the table, He Lou clenched his five fingers and said, "Mm, it's delicious."
Did he really not remember or was he just pretending not to remember? He Lou wanted to find out, but he was afraid that the other person had already become a ghost, and if he found out, it would remind him that he was dead, thus stimulating his murderous nature.
This happens in many horror movies. When a ghost doesn't know that he is dead, he behaves like a living person. But once he remembers that he is dead, he will become an even more terrifying ghost!
Lu Yanli was already difficult enough when he was alive. He Lou could easily imagine that if he died, he would only become more ferocious and cruel.
Even if the other person was alive, He Lou didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore.
He stood a little further away from Lu Yanli, and a group of people stretched their necks to watch the ceremony of the bride being taken out of the coffin.
A pair of bright red embroidered shoes stretched out from the white sedan chair and stepped on the ground.