Lu Yanli also saw An Xingyu, raised his eyebrows slightly, and smiled at him friendly. An Xingyu smiled back and unconsciously walked closer to him.
What he didn't know was that Lu Yanli had given him a psychological hint to deliberately forget about his existence. So he didn't feel strange when his companions and villagers asked about him. It was not until they actually met that he suddenly realized that it was Lu Yanli who had escaped from Honghe Village with him.
Yu Huan asked curiously, "Do you two know each other?"
An Xingyu answered vaguely: "I've seen it before."
Their reminiscence had not even begun when it was interrupted. Lili stood at the door, her eyes fixed on Lu Yanli with a cold smile.
She didn't know where Lu Yanli had gone. Anyway, the fact that Awang suddenly came back hungry was enough to make her angry, not to mention that she later learned that Lin Chu had dared to enter the forbidden area. She was so angry that she wanted to kill someone.
She wanted to kill Lu Yanli, but he was captured by the old lady of the village chief and taken to the forbidden area. Bone Whistle also took the initiative to return her, and the jade pendant on the old lady was also not in his possession. She could not kill people at will without breaking the rules.
What's more, the woman who came with him also had a plan. She wanted to catch all those people who coveted the village in one fell swoop, so she had to keep Lu Yanli as a clue first.
Facing Lili's almost murderous gaze, Lu Yanli shrank back and apologized again: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
Not on purpose
Everyone cast curious glances at him.
Except for An Xingyu, the others in the group did not have much experience. Faced with Lili, who seemed to be rational and communicative, and who had experienced a night of safety without opening the door or responding, they relaxed a little about the mission.
It doesn't seem that difficult.
Perhaps the real difficulty lies on the day of ancestor worship
No matter what they guessed, they would not show it in front of the village chief. After a group of people introduced themselves to each other, the village chief enthusiastically invited them to dinner.
Until noon, Lin Chu still hadn't come back, and Yu Xianguang also disappeared. The others felt like they couldn't eat anything under Lili's gloomy gaze. Lu Yanli also wanted to hide, but the little girl stared at him intently, and it looked like if she wasn't afraid of breaking the rules, she might pounce on him and kill him in the next second.
Lu Yanli was trembling with fear for his life, but he was more excited. This excitement made him more careful and he was always alert not to offend Lili.
After lunch, An Xingyu took the initiative to call Lu Yanli and go with him.
Taskers would naturally conceal their identities when facing local NPCs, and An Xingyu was no exception. He didn't know what would happen after he left the world. He was curious, and after moving away from the villagers, he asked: "After we broke through the village entrance last time, how did you leave?"
Lu Yanli shook his head: "I don't know. I passed out when we passed that door together. When I woke up, I found myself lying alone in a mass grave." At this point, his smile was still a little helpless, "What about you?"
An Xingyu wondered if there was any mechanism in the mission, and answered carefully: "Me too, I woke up and found myself lying on the side of the road. I left quickly, but I didn't see you. Maybe we ended up in different places after we came out."
He looked around, and his dark, inorganic eyes fell on Lu Yanli again: "Are you also here to worship your ancestors?"
Lu Yanli lowered his voice: "No, I'm a reporter, I'm here to investigate."
"and you… "
"Don't expose it. This village has a big secret. We can cooperate." Lu Yanli made an invitation.
An Xingyu agreed without much hesitation.
Except for him, no one else had much experience in this mission. But unlike those people, he clearly sensed the huge danger hidden under the enthusiasm of the entire village. Without cooperation, he would probably have difficulty surviving.
"What is the big secret you mentioned?" he inquired.
Lu Yanli: "Do you know the beliefs of this village?"
An Xingyu: "I know. They believe in the Five Great Immortals." At this point, his brows furrowed unintentionally. It was obvious that he was not fond of these wild gods in folk legends. "And they themselves seem to have been infected and mutated."
Otherwise it would be difficult to explain why the villagers in the entire village look so similar to certain animals.
He immediately understood what Lu Yanli wanted to investigate, it must be the secret about the five great immortals.
"By the way, there was another person who came with me, but she is missing. Please look for her in the next few days."
"Can you tell me the details?"
An Xingyu asked about the details of the disappearance, but Lu Yanli described the missing person's appearance in detail, including her surname, and finally added: "There is a red mark on her arm. By seeing the mark, we can determine whether she is disguised."
Red... mark
An Xingyu's heart skipped a beat: "What kind of mark?"
Lu Yanli roughly drew a pattern on his phone's memo and told him. He had a good foundation in drawing and could draw a complete picture after seeing it once: "If you meet her, remember to find a way to take a look at her arm first, otherwise it is very likely that she is an imposter. Didn't you sleep well last night? Those things are very good at disguising themselves."
An Xingyu shook his head: "No." But his expression was clearly happy.
As soon as he saw the pattern, he was sure that Luo Ying was his companion.
As for why there is a god in another world, it must be the gospel delivered by the omniscient and omnipotent God. He couldn't help but be impressed by the greatness of God.
Lu Yanli was also very happy. An Xingyu and Luo Ying's reunion would be more helpful to him. As for whether Luo Ying would reveal that she was also a believer
He always finds a way.
An Xingyu remembered Luo Ying's name and facial details. He suddenly remembered what Lili said before and asked without hesitation: "You were captured by the village chief's mother after she revived her corpse, right?"
Lu Yanli nodded.
"Then have you seen someone? A girl, not tall, wearing dark brown clothes, her name is Lin Chu."
Lu Yanli said: "I have seen her, but I don't know where she went later."
He looked regretful, but was planning in his heart.
At that time, Lu Yanli pulled Lin Chu out in less than three minutes. The other party was almost on his last breath, and it took a long time for him to recover his energy in the sun. What surprised him even more was that Lin Chu's figure slowly changed in the sun.
The ends of her eyes stretched out a little, and her fists, which were originally clenched due to the cold, were curled into animal claws with sharp nails. She curled up on the ground with her back arched, and animal hair gradually grew on her cheeks.
That's... a fox.
Almost instantly, Lu Yanli thought of the appearance of the villagers and the Grandma Hu Santa who had been worshipped in the village.
Lin Chu became like this after just one trip down. There must be a deep curse contained in the cave, and the price of this curse is obvious.
After Lin Chu recovered her breath, Lu Yanli easily learned the news from her.
What she saw in the cave was a tomb.
An almost boundless mausoleum lying quietly in the darkness underground.
In fact, Lin Chu's words were very doubtful. There was clearly not a trace of light, and according to Lin Chu's description, the mausoleum was quite vast and stretched as far as the eye could see. But she believed that it must be a mausoleum.
Ancestor worship, mausoleums, Lin Chu's changes, the appearance of the villagers, and the five gods they worship...
Is this the reason why the villagers basically stay away from the world
Lu Yanli thought back to the cave, and recalled what he had investigated before—"Xian Village was prosperous for a while, but later, for some unknown reason, the entire village was dying, injured, and almost extinct. In the end, it was only after worshipping the Five Great Immortals that things got better."
A guess popped up in his mind.
I'm afraid the money that was used to make the village rich came from illegal sources.
When Lin Chu told him that there was a mausoleum under the cave, he was wondering why there needed to be a hole in the mausoleum.
On second thought, it was clearly a tomb robbery hole. If the villagers were portrayed as tomb robbers, everything would make sense.
Lin Chu fainted after she finished telling him the news. Lu Yanli took her away from the top, but still did not leave the forbidden area, fearing that Lili would catch up. When she was fully awake, she easily discovered the changes in herself, and she could not help but look desperate.
This is why she didn't dare to come back.
Lin Chu asked Lu Yanli to keep the secret and not to tell them where she went, and just pretend that he didn't see her so as not to drag them down.
Lu Yanli kept her promise and did not tell her companions.
But that did not prevent him from being "forced" to reveal the fact that she entered the forbidden area to Grandma Hu Santa in order to save his life. At most, he kept the fact that she went down the cave a secret from her.
An Xingyu didn't know what the people around him were thinking, so he sighed.
On the second day after arriving, two people were killed. What's more important is that he has no idea why. Both of them disappeared without a trace and never returned. They must have met with great danger.
But the others still felt that this mission was easy and they had no sense of crisis at all.
Lu Yanli comforted him: "It's okay, we'll find it soon. Why don't you ask the Five Great Immortals?"
An Xingyu shook his head.
Putting aside his religious issues, he sensed danger when Yu Xianguang went to worship and ended up disappearing.
Of course, Lu Yanli gave him a reminder.
He could seek cooperation from Luo Ying, and it would be even better if more than one Luo Ying came.
After the two walked together, they separated not long after. Lu Yanli used the excuse that he was injured yesterday and went back to rest, while An Xingyu hoped to find Luo Ying as soon as possible.
After he left, Lu Yanli returned to the abandoned house of the Lu family. He had moved out of Uncle Zhang's house and would live alone from today on.
But he did not rest as he said. Instead, he continued to contact Luo Ying, using obscure symbols to convey messages.
Lu Yanli told Luo Ying everything about how he accidentally entered the forbidden area yesterday, including the old lady with a cat face, Lili and the dog, and the fact that he was now being targeted by Lili and could not move around freely. He told her everything without reservation.
As for what was in the forbidden area, he only talked about the tomb circle on the upper level and did not mention the pit.
Lin Chu was still in the forbidden area. She had some compressed biscuits with her, so she wouldn't starve to death for a while. If the two of them ran into...
No, Lin Chu should avoid her and observe secretly.
Luo Ying had been walking along the village reservoir for a long time and had a general idea of the village's topography. When she received the news from Lu Yanli, her brows were filled with joy.
She had known for a long time that there was a mausoleum guarding the Xian Village, and the forbidden area in the village might be the entrance to the mausoleum, so she tried every means to get in, but unfortunately something went wrong last night.
Now, it would be a good idea for Lu Yanli to make a trip there. He should memorize the route.
Luo Yingba wanted to meet him right away and let him take her there, but now the other party was being targeted, and if she did so again, it would very likely result in the death of two people. She had to suppress her impatience and asked patiently.
In the past, they had not sent enough people, which led to failure again and again. Those stupid and hateful villagers actually exiled the believers of God into the river, leaving their souls and bodies forever restless. Luo Ying had wanted to take revenge for a long time.
After she found out the information about the forbidden area, she began to think about how to enter.
The Pisces jade pendant taken from the old lady, according to Lu Yanli, has been returned to Dali Lili, and he needs to enter again, so...
Her eyes swept across the river and she immediately had an idea.
Lu Yanli deleted all the messages, but he did not lie down immediately. Instead, he returned to Zhang Bo's house.
Uncle Zhang was originally unhappy because he had not seen him last night and was forced to carry the coffin himself. Later, after listening to Lu Yanli's explanation that he left because he was chased by the cat-faced old lady, he naturally forgave him.
The small room at the end of the corridor was sealed off, and Aunt Zhang asked him to clean up a room, which happened to be opposite Zhang Huixuan's room.
In broad daylight, the doors of the two rooms were closed and the people inside were sleeping.
He was indeed very sleepy, having not had a good rest since the moment he arrived. Since the village was under protection, he could just stay still like he did last night.
Years of unstable life had made him develop a habit of half-sleeping. After sleeping for several hours, he could vaguely hear the noise in the village.
He got up from the bed, tidied himself, opened the door and walked out. As he stepped out of the yard, a frightened villager happened to run past him. Seeing him walk out of the door, the villager grabbed him.
"Hurry up, there's another death in the village, go check it out!"
"What? What happened?" Lu Yanli was shocked and ran after him.
"It's Mrs. Li who lives in the east of the village. I don't know how she got hurt. She fell on the side of the road and was dead when she was found." The villagers took him and ran while saying, "Now everyone is going to her house. I wonder if you can help in any way."
Almost half of the village gathered at the home of Mrs. Li, an elderly woman who lived alone. Her children had long since passed away, and her grandchildren were working in other places and had not yet returned. Only a few people who had a good relationship with her during her lifetime burned paper money for her and held her spirit.
Lu Yanli glanced around and saw that Lili was not there.
This makes their movements more convenient.
Just like yesterday, the body of old lady Li was placed in the middle of the main hall, and the villagers began to prepare for the funeral. Old lady Li's death was strange, and it was a chaotic time, and they were afraid that something might happen, so everyone gathered together the shroud and coffin... and the funeral was quickly held.
Just when everyone was busy, a mouse jumped in from outside the yard.
The villagers all looked horrified when they saw it. Even though they usually worshipped mice as gray fairies and made careful tributes, this was the last time they would do that. A newly dead body would most likely turn into a corpse if it encountered such an animal! They had no choice but to drive it out.
However, the villagers miscalculated. The mouse, while being chased by everyone, actually rushed into the main room and jumped into the coffin!
Oh no!
The mouse squeaked a few times and then began to gnaw.
When it was caught, half of Mrs. Li's nose and one ear had been bitten off, and she looked horrible.
But on her face, short, gray hair, the kind that belonged to a mouse, slowly began to appear.
It was obvious that she was about to turn into a zombie.
This discovery caused panic among the other villagers. Some of them were so smart that they rushed to the shrine to pray and ask for the grandmother's blessing.
Lu Yanli also looked anxious and sighed in his heart.
It was indeed Luo Ying’s work.
The villagers would only go to the forbidden area when they were holding a funeral, so she created a funeral. The Pisces jade pendant had the effect of exorcising evil spirits, so she let a mouse in so that the villagers would have no choice but to find someone to exorcise the evil spirits.
Now, she must be hiding in some unknown corner, waiting for the results to be accepted.
The door was kicked open with a bang.
The little girl in the red dress stood at the door with a frosty face. Her hair was not combed yet and she came in a hurry.
Lu Yanli discovered a long time ago that although Lili was powerful, she probably didn't have the ability to clone herself like some ghosts, and she couldn't fully perceive the entire village, but she was more sensitive to evil spirits. She seemed to be a dedicated guardian deity who would appear in time when the village was in danger.
Therefore, in this way, Lin Chu, who was hiding in the forbidden area, was temporarily safe.