Demonic Dao Fanfiction: Protecting You from Worries for a Lifetime

"Master Wei, you mean that the villagers killed people in order to marry wives?" Lan Wangji frowned and stared at Wei Ying sharply, trying to find the answer from his expression.

Wei Ying nodded, a deep glint in his eyes. "My guess is that someone in the village wanted to marry the Zhao family's daughter, but the Zhao couple disagreed. Then someone decided to kill them, or rather, to wipe out the entire family. I don't know how all four of them ended up dead. I also suspect they didn't die at the same time. Of course, this is just my guess; we still need to investigate the details."

Upon hearing this, Xue Yang put aside his cynical attitude and listened carefully to Wei Ying's analysis. "So what should we do now? Should we just ask the villagers directly?"

"Ask the villagers?" Lan Wangji pondered silently, then said, "The Liang family is very likely behind this matter, and they are very likely to be protecting each other. In this situation, I'm afraid no one is willing to reveal the truth."

Wei Ying shook his head, "It's definitely not possible to ask the villagers."

Lan Wangji: "If not the villagers, who should I ask?"

Wei Ying pulled Xue Yang in one hand and Lan Wangji in the other and ran out, "Follow me."

Wei Ying's focus had never been on the adults in the village; his target was actually the children playing at the village entrance! The world of adults was full of complexities and opinions, but the world of children was much simpler. In their eyes, the so-called hatred and disputes were nothing more than trivial matters. Before long, they would reconcile as if nothing had happened.

So, Wei Ying, carrying a large box of colorful candies, arrived at the foot of the ancient, towering tree at the village entrance. He sat down leisurely, as if the entire world had become peaceful and beautiful. Xue Yang sat down beside him, oblivious to the dust on the ground, as if it didn't matter to him. Only Lan Wangji stood there, bewildered, as if bewildered by the scene before him.

As the sun set, its golden afterglow cast a shadow on Wei Ying. He opened the candy box, and the fragrance of the candies drifted away on the breeze. The children who were playing smelled the sweet aroma and ran from all directions to sit around Wei Ying.

Xue Yang leaned close to Wei Ying's ear and whispered, "Are you sure we can get the information we need from them?" A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and there was some uncertainty in his tone.

Wei Ying smiled faintly and replied confidently: "Do you think they are children from Chuchen Mountain? They are so tight-lipped. The children here are not so vigilant. Don't worry!"

The children's eyes were fixed on the tempting box of candy, like a school of small fish drawn to bait. Seeing this, Wei Ying couldn't help but feel playful. He deliberately shook the candy box back and forth, watching the children's eyes follow the swaying of the candy, their little faces filled with desire and anticipation.

"Do you want to eat it?" Wei Ying took out a candy from the candy box and shook it.

"Yes." The children answered in unison, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

Wei Ying couldn't help laughing when he saw the children drooling.

Lan Wangji glanced at Wei Ying gently, his eyes carrying a subtle hint of concern and warning. He coughed lightly, as if to remind Wei Ying not to make the child cry.

Lan Wangji had witnessed children crying before, a scene impossible to ignore. Children tumbled and rolled on the dirty ground, tears, saliva, and snot mingling together in a scene unbearable to watch.

"Want some? It's simple. Whoever can answer my question will have a chance to eat candy! Come on, raise your hand and answer!" Wei Ying's eyes gleamed mischievously. He suddenly stopped shaking the candy box in his hand, and the children's eyes were immediately drawn to it, afraid to miss any chance to win candy. "Whoever can tell me something interesting happened in the village recently can also get candy!"

The children looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion and surprise. Then, they began to talk at once, their voices intertwined like a bustling market.

With the children's scattered answers, Wei Ying, Xue Yang, and Lan Wangji pieced together the whole story of the Zhao family and their speculation about the evil murder:

This small fishing village has relied on the ocean for generations. Their close contact with the sea often leads to accidents, making it difficult for women to marry into the village, often resorting to marriages with women within the village. However, how can a village sustain itself? Even in an era of limited scientific knowledge, the accumulated experience of generations, coupled with frequent exposure to the elements, ultimately fosters certain "traditional customs," even without scientific understanding.

Thus, the small fishing village warmly welcomed those fleeing famine to settle there. This not only brought new family bloodlines to the village, but although they couldn't provide land distribution, the villagers would not stop them from reclaiming wasteland, allowing them to cultivate as much as they wanted. On this point, no one would envy or compete.

Those who have fled their homes in search of a livelihood are usually content with just a sliver of life, and land reclamation is a good option.

However, even so, getting married and having children is still a problem.

A few years ago, the Zhao family fled famine and arrived in a small fishing village. The patriarch, seeing the Zhao family with their two daughters, immediately took them in. The Zhao family earned a good reputation in the surrounding villages for their exquisite carpentry skills. Furthermore, their two daughters made them quite popular in the small fishing village, as many young men in the village still didn't have wives.

The problem was this: the Zhao family doted on their daughters, raising them to have fair, delicate skin. As the girls grew older, bachelors from the small fishing village were ecstatic, eager to marry one of the Zhao family's daughters. However, the Zhao family had extremely high standards for their daughters' marriages and were unwilling to marry any of them to men from the small fishing village.

At first, everything seemed fine. But when the Zhao family repeatedly rejected marriage proposals, rumors began to spread in the small fishing village, saying that the Zhao family looked down on the villagers. Although the Zhao family refuted these rumors by saying that their daughters were still young and they hoped they could stay at home for a few more years, the villagers knew how much the Zhao parents loved their two daughters and did not suspect too much.