Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

The next morning, after having breakfast, the two prepared some dry food and set off for Raofeng Cliff.

Xiaoying walked in front, and Xiaomu silently escorted her behind. The two had been inseparable for nearly a month, and they talked about almost everything, but now they hardly spoke, and only chatted a few words when they sat down to rest occasionally.

Xiaoying asked Xiaomu several times not to send her off, saying that she knew how to get back and was not afraid.

Xiaomu said he would walk her another mile or two and then go back. Unexpectedly, after another mile or two, there was another mile or two, and until dark, Chu Xiaomu did not stop to walk her back. Xiaoying simply stopped talking.

It took almost five days of walking and resting along the way to reach the foot of Raofeng Cliff.

Xiaoying turned around and said, "Stinky wood, go back. You can't get through the front."

When Xiaomu heard her suddenly imitate Yang Dou's nickname for him, and thought of their upcoming separation, he couldn't help feeling both sweet and sad.

After a long while, he gradually calmed down and said, "Then I'll wait for you in the village next time."

Xiaoying smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will come to visit you next spring." She waved her hand and said, "You can go back." Then she turned around and left.

Xiaomu called her over, took out a wooden figurine from his arms, handed it to her, and said, "This is for you."

Xiaoying was stunned and said, "Isn't this something your mother left for you? Why are you giving it to me?"

Xiao Mu said: "We are friends now. I... I don't have anything else good to give you..."

Xiaoying smiled and said, "It turns out you're not that stingy."

Xiaomu remained silent.

Xiaoying added: "Okay, I'll take this. Let's write off the matter of you hurting my Dier." After saying that, she reached out to take it and looked at him with a smile.

Xiao Mu swept away the gloom of parting and said with a smile: "Still mentioning those butterflies. You ate and drank at my house for so many days, and I haven't settled the score with you yet."

Xiaoying pouted several times and said, "The food in your house is so disgusting, and you still have the nerve to settle accounts with me."

Xiao Mu smiled and said, "Then you still eat a bowl at every meal, almost more than I do."

Xiaoying's pretty face turned serious and she pretended to hit him again. Xiaomu smiled and ran away.

The two of them said goodbye noisily and reluctantly.

The birds in the mountains were chirping, and a breeze blew, bringing a bit of coolness...

Chu Xiaomu walked very fast on his way back and reached Nanzhai in three and a half days.

When he was almost at the village, he saw the third lord of the Yang family carrying a load of clean water on his way back. He thought to himself, "Why is the third lord carrying water from such a far place to drink? Is there no water in the well in the village?" Just as he was about to ask, the third lord of the Yang family also saw him. His eyes suddenly became full of resentment, and he carried the water and walked away by himself.

He was puzzled: "When did I offend you? Why are you glaring at me so fiercely?" Then he thought that maybe the Third Lord of the Yang Family had something unpleasant at home, or was angry with someone, so he was in a bad mood and didn't look happy when he saw me. Thinking of this, he was relieved.

After walking for a while, they saw Bai Shantang's youngest daughter, Bai Zir, coming over carrying a load of buckets of water.

Chu Xiaomu was even more puzzled, and hurriedly stopped her and asked, "Zi'er, what are you going to do with the bucket?"

Zi'er was still young, only twelve or thirteen years old, and not much taller than the bucket. The bucket was hung on her tender shoulders, with the bottom almost touching the ground.

Chu Xiaomu reached out to take her bucket and put it on his shoulders, but Zi'er dodged and said, "Brother Xiaomu, it's you. I...I'll go get some water."

Chu Xiaomu asked: "Where are your parents and uncle Shantang? Why did they ask you to come out to fetch water?"

Zi'er suddenly burst into tears and said, "Brother Xiaomu, please go back to the village. Many people have died... I... my grandfather is dead too..."

Chu Xiaomu's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and an extremely ominous premonition came to his mind.

Zi'er's words hit him like a bolt from the blue. His mind went blank for a moment, and it took him a while to recover. His heart couldn't help but pound: "Where's Grandpa... Where's Uncle Huai... Where's Xiaodou... Are they okay? They must not be in any trouble..."

He ran all the way, straight to home.

I didn’t know how long I had been running, but as I got closer to home, my heart was beating so wildly that it almost burst out of my chest.

The door was half-open and the room was dark without any sunlight.

Chu Xiaomu shouted loudly: "Grandpa...Grandpa..." But no one answered.

He ran out of the house and shouted loudly several times, but still no one responded...

What's strange is that the village, which is usually bustling, is unusually quiet today. Only a few bees are still collecting nectar from the flowers, making a buzzing sound that is disturbing and annoying.

He ran around the village like a headless fly, not noticing a single person. Tired of running, he sat down on a stone by the roadside to rest. Suddenly, he saw a faint white smoke rising from the roof of the ancestral temple built high up. He was slightly surprised: "The ancestral worship festival has been over for a long time, why are there still people worshipping at the ancestral temple?" He ran towards the ancestral temple.

As he gradually approached the ancestral temple, he heard bursts of crying coming from inside the house. The sound was like a hard and tough rope tied around his heart, tightening more and more.

Just as Chu Xiaomu entered the gate of the ancestral temple, he bumped into someone head-on. He got up from the ground dazed and stumbling.

The man grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard, shouting, "Xiaomu... Xiaomu..."

Chu Xiaomu gradually came back to his senses and looked at the person who was shaking him. It turned out to be Yang Dou.

Looking back at the ancestral hall, there were 20 to 30 people lying in rows on the ground, all of them were obviously dead. Many more people were kneeling in front of the bodies, crying bitterly.

"Grandpa...where is Grandpa?" Xiaomu asked in a daze.

"Your grandfather...he...he...is gone..." Yang Dou said softly.

"Where's Uncle Huai?"

"Uncle Lao Huai... is gone too...and the clan leader, our Yang family's eldest uncle, second uncle, fifth aunt...Uncle Baoshan, Chu family's seventh aunt, sixth aunt...they are all gone." Yang Dou said more than a dozen names in one breath.

"Was it those Snow Country people who did it?" Chu Xiaomu suddenly became unusually calm.

Yang Dou nodded and said, "Yes, it was for the ancient tripod we used for sacrifice. It was stolen by them two days ago..."

Chu Xiaomu snorted coldly and said, "Why would you kill so many of us just for an ancient tripod..."

Suddenly, a man ran over and started punching and kicking Chu Xiaomu, shouting, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault..." He was merciless. It turned out to be Huai Xiaomeng.

Chu Xiaomu did not dodge or evade, letting Huai Xiaomeng's fists rain down on his head, face, and body. He felt a dull pain, and he hoped that Xiaomeng would hit him harder and harder...