Qizhou

The mountain road in Zhongshu is rugged, but this section is not difficult.In the hundreds of years since the ancestors of Zhuxi Village settled down, this mountain road has been walked over and over again, and the bumps have already been turned into a thoroughfare.

Paper lanterns are just lanterns after all, and the candlelight shines through the white paper, but it can illuminate the area a few steps ahead of you.

Stepping on the last slope, He Qizhou finally saw the small village hidden at the end of the last winding path, nestled under Zhuxi Mountain.As the night darkened, small villages dotted among the green mountains.The light flickering from time to time in the village makes it more like a faint spark.

Even after driving the mountain road for so long, the visitor in white didn't show the slightest sign of fatigue.

This is the destination he came from afar.But when he got to the front, he didn't have the eagerness he had before.

Because the moment he saw Zhuxi Village, a faint cry came from his ear.

He Qizhou's ears were always good, not to mention that the crying was not ethereal, let alone hazy.

He tried to walk a few steps forward, but it was only a dozen feet.The sound neither far away nor close, like someone close to the ear, no matter how far forward, the sound is neither near nor far, just within the range he can hear.

It was the cry of a woman.

In folklore, such ghosts and ghosts are not uncommon.When walking at night, encountering an evil spirit calling someone's name, the best way is to ignore it.Especially in this barren mountain and wild ridge, there may be a lonely grave without an owner next to the stream.

He Qizhou stood still, looking at the slightly shaking paper lantern in his hand, and fell silent for a while.Suddenly, he turned around and walked towards a bush diagonally behind him. In just two steps, he found the source of the crying sound.

In a dark bush, a slender woman in red was squatting by the side of the road, crying sadly while covering her face.

"This black light is blind, why is the girl crying?" He Qizhou moved the lantern closer, and it was illuminating the face of the woman in red. The woman was stunned, perhaps she did not expect that in this barren mountain, someone would dare to talk to him. At a loss for words, he stammered and replied: "My family... I'm lost."

get lost.He Qizhou nodded, and asked again: "Where is that girl going? Do you need me to give you a ride?"

"Send off..." The woman was stunned again, she hurriedly tugged on his sleeve, and limped to her feet, "Master, you are such a good man, I followed my husband to collect the bamboo wares, on the way... I used my petty temper, I offended my husband, I didn't expect him to leave my family here in a fit of anger, this... I'm so frightened, my family is really scared, I accidentally twisted my foot just now, it hurts so much that I can't move, so I squatted down Weeping on the side of the road, and ask the young master to save the slave family!"

This woman was strange, before He Qizhou could say anything, she explained the whole story like a bamboo tube pouring beans.He Qizhou didn't make a statement, he just lifted the lantern, and looked at her face carefully. The woman was uncomfortable being looked at, but she didn't take the initiative to avoid it. The two stalemate in the night wind in the mountains for a while, and the woman finally spoke first. : "Please my lord..."

"Come up." He Qizhou moved the sword on his back forward, bent down and squatted down, leaving his strong shoulders to the woman.

"Thank you young master, thank you young master!" The woman said with joy, she straightened her sleeves twice, leaned over and stuck them on He Qizhou's back.Thin arms wrapped around the neck, holding the two of them, one white and one red, into an intimate position.As soon as this posture changed, the woman's voice also changed, and it was a bit more charming and enchanting than the previous pitiful one.

"My lord... Are you traveling alone? Where are you going?"

"Zhuxi Village."

"Zhuxi Village... You can't go to Zhuxi Village at night. There are ghosts, and my family is most afraid of ghosts—" The woman leaned on his back, and she still didn't forget to gently touch the lapel of his collar with her fingers. How good... the husband is not here, the slave family has to rely on the young master!"

He Qizhou turned a blind eye to her restless hands, still carrying the lantern, and headed towards Zhuxi Village: "Girl, where are you going? I'll take you to a nearby place. Otherwise, it's late at night, and I won't be able to find it even if I enter the village." to the lodging place."

"Hmm..." Seeing that the gesture was useless, the woman became more presumptuous when she was at a loss for words. She lightly picked up her fingertips and twirled the man's hair hanging by her ears, her tone became softer and softer, "My lord, are you cold? My family is so cold, the wind is too strong in this mountain, it makes my family feel flustered—"

He Qizhou smiled: "It's only July, and the girl starts to be afraid of the cold. I'm afraid her kidneys are deficient and her body is cold, so she must take care of herself."

For some reason, the word "kidney deficiency" in this sentence was emphasized. When the woman heard this, the second half of her speech was blocked in her throat, and her knuckles, which were twisting her hair, froze for a moment. .But after a while, He Qizhou laughed crisply from behind his ears: "Ha, haha, you really know how to joke... I have a daughter's house in my family, so I need a gentleman like you... a gentleman with a lot of yang energy to keep warm. Why are you still laughing at my slaves!"

He Qizhou smiled without saying a word, letting her make trouble.

There is only one road to Zhuxi Village, but there are many roads going down the mountain.He Qizhou, a foreigner, turned left and right, south and north under the command of the woman. The road became more and more deviated and chaotic.

"Didn't the girl get lost? Why are you still directing me?" After following her guidance for several turns, He Qizhou finally stopped.

He wanted to see what the intentions of this red-clothed woman who appeared out of thin air were, but now, she looked neither like a bandit who robbed people of money nor a ghost who took people's lives, but rather... a very boring naughty boy , just leaning on his back like this, directing him to go around like riding a big horse. It took less than half an hour to bring him to such a bamboo forest.

And it was still in the middle of the bamboo forest, He Qizhou looked down, and even the gravel path that came in disappeared.

Speaking of this step, the layer of window paper between the two of them was completely pierced.He Qizhou stopped talking, but secretly became vigilant. In this place, no matter what this woman is, she will never suffer any loss in this good environment where no one is around.Whether it's greed for money or death depends on when she plans to act.

The woman chuckled lightly, tapped He Qizhou's cheek with her frail and boneless fingers, and said, "I lost my way and sprained my foot. The young master kindly helped me. How could I carelessly guide the way? The bamboo in Zhuxi Mountain is tall and tall. Tall and straight, verdant and verdant, the young master has just arrived here, and the slave family just wants the young master to come here and take a good look at the beautiful scenery in this mountain..."

Before she finished speaking, she was thrown out with a burst of force.The hands around her neck didn't use much strength at all, but when He Qizhou exerted strength, she flew forward several feet away.

He Qizhou took two steps back abruptly, and threw the sword in front of him back. The next second, the long sword was out of its sheath with a clang, and all this happened in a matter of seconds.

The white paper lantern fell to the ground, and the woman was falling beside the lantern.She hurriedly picked up the lantern that was almost burned, and placed it on the forked branch of the green bamboo behind her with a smile: "Young master is so fierce, my admiration is so wasted..."

He Qizhou stopped talking to her, pointed his toes, raised his sword and stabbed at the red figure a few feet away.The sword was extremely fast, and happened to pierce through a swaying and falling bamboo leaf.

But failed to stab the red shadow.

With a blunt sound, followed by a piercing cracking sound, He Qizhou's sword pierced the bamboo hanging from the paper lantern.As soon as he exerted his strength, the bamboo with the thickness of the mouth of the bowl instantly split a penetrating gap.The lantern fell to the ground again, but the woman beside the lantern disappeared.

The moonlight cast by the bamboo forest was bright, He Qizhou raised his head, looked at the bright moon in the sky, counted the days, today should be Zhongyuan.

The woman in red disappeared completely.In the quiet bamboo forest, there are only the sound of small insects chirping, and the rubbing sound of tongues of fire bursting out from the burning lanterns.He Qizhou stared at the lantern without saying a word for a long time, and when the lantern was burned to ashes, the seemingly invisible fog that shrouded the bamboo forest disappeared in an instant.

This Zhuxi Village is really getting more and more interesting.

He Qizhou found the compass from his bag, and picked up a bamboo leaf from the ground. The bamboo leaf slipped from his fingers, and when he touched the compass, a slight wind suddenly blew up around him.This wind mixed into the cool summer night wind, and spread round and round to further places around.

He Qizhou closed his eyes, but saw farther and more clearly.

The bamboo forest is not big, and you can walk to the end about two miles to the east. After walking out of the bamboo forest, you only need to walk north along the main road for a while, and you will find another entrance to Zhuxi Village.Where there are many people, this set of pathfinding techniques that spread spiritual power may be easily affected, but in this desolate bamboo forest, this skill is enough for him to find the way forward.

And now, he is in the middle of the bamboo forest.

Putting away the compass, He Qizhou found some bamboo branches from the ground, dug out some things from the package, and tied a simple torch.He stepped on the bamboo leaves piled up all over the ground, facing east, while thinking about the strange encounter along the way.

On the roadside into the mountain, the owner of the tea stall spread rumors and urged him not to enter Zhuxi Village at night.He insisted on moving forward, but met a strange woman who appeared out of nowhere on the side of the road. The woman's persuasion was useless, and her beauty was in vain. In the end, she set up a maze of ghosts hitting the wall and led him into the middle of the bamboo forest.

But that's all.

The woman didn't hurt him, didn't kill him, didn't harm him.Even the chosen position to trap him is just a small bamboo forest where you can find the exit by walking around casually.And now he is almost unscathed except for walking two miles and breaking a lantern he just bought.

He knew his own weight, but that woman didn't necessarily know.He Qizhou bypassed the clusters of green bamboos, and stomped on the dead leaves on the ground.If he was just an ordinary scholar or knight on the road, and when he encountered such a strange thing on the night of the Ghost Festival, he would definitely find the way to leave the mountain as quickly as possible, and escape as far as possible.

"Escape..." From the moment he stepped out of the bamboo forest and onto the main road, He Qizhou suddenly understood that the thing in Zhuxi Village was trying every means to isolate him from the village.

The bright moon on the fifteenth day hangs high in the sky, but the moonlight is gloomy and cold. Without the cover of the bamboo forest, the gloomy coldness comes more directly.He Qizhou calculated the direction, and at the moment he held the torch and headed north, he suddenly caught a faint sigh from the wind.He turned around abruptly, only to find a pale face pressed tightly behind his ear.

There is only one face, no neck, no limbs, only a loose mess of hair, even the messy hair is hanging in the air, there is no scalp and skull connected to it... like a thin layer of paper, but that fainted The cyan paper is conscious, it will stick to people's ears and smile softly.

The night wind blew up, and the blue face that was born on the thin piece of paper was deformed with a smile, and its grinning mouth suddenly let out a ferocious laugh. In just a moment, it circled from behind to the front of the person, against the cold The wind flew in the direction of Zhuxi Mountain in the north.He Qizhou's sword was fast, the cold light came out of its sheath, and the moment it brushed past his side, the sharp blade pierced through.But it was still a step too late, Jianfeng only cut off a corner of the piece of paper, and cut out the crescent moon from the original sharp chin, making the grimace look even more ferocious.

The pieces of paper flew by in the wind, and He Qizhou followed suit.In the middle of the night, there was only Xu Xu's chuckle constantly coming from the wind, and the sound of his footsteps chasing after him.The laughter came and went, but the footsteps never stopped. He Qizhou walked along the piece of paper, and finally entered the gloomy bamboo forest again.

The moment he stepped into the bamboo forest, the piece of paper in front of him also stopped suddenly. There was nothing behind the thin piece of paper, but the shape of a human face could be barely seen.The piece of paper slowly folded a corner, just like turning around, the gray eyeballs squinted at the person behind him.He Qizhou drew his sword again, but that green face burned into a ball of will-o'-the-wisp.The will-o'-the-wisp ignited out of thin air, and then burned out quickly. After a cluster of flames exploded, it immediately disappeared without a trace.

This is another guide.He Qizhou exhaled, and finally took out a piece of turmeric talisman paper from the inner pocket of the skirt.One after another of evil things in this place, people really have to be careful. He concentrated his energy and pulled himself together.

The sound of the wind was harsh, and together with the sound of the wind, there was a series of sounds of snapping bamboo branches. He Qizhou immediately determined the direction of the sound. He turned his head, and heard the sound of trees falling to the ground one after another. Following this series of earth-shattering tossing, A red figure suddenly rushed towards him through layers of bamboo forest.

No, it should be said that he fell towards him.

The figure smashed through several bamboos that were as thick as the mouth of the cup, and slammed into his arms.After all, He Qizhou had a mortal body. Even though the thing had broken several bamboos and slowed down a lot of the momentum, he still staggered backwards after being hit like this, and flew several feet backwards. His chest hurt, " With a bang, together with the guy in his arms, he hit three juxtaposed bamboos.

The bamboo shadow swayed, and the bamboo leaves fell down after rinsing. He Qizhou arched his body in pain, opened his eyes, and looked down.

The moonlight shines through the swaying bamboo leaves, casting mottled light and shadows in the eyes of the man in his arms.The man was dressed in red, his long hair was disheveled, the hairpin on his head was crooked to his ears, the rouge on his face was blurred by thin sweat, and the red lips had long been mixed with rouge, and this outfit... Isn't it the woman who deliberately led He Qizhou into the depths of the bamboo forest half an hour ago, and then disappeared completely in the blink of an eye!

Before He Qizhou, who was knocked down suddenly, could speak, the person in his arms widened his eyes and said angrily, "Are you a donkey? Are you out of your wits or out of your wits? Are you told to run or not, why are you here to cause trouble?!"

It turned out to be...a man's voice.