How can the concubine be a lady in women's clothing!

Chi Jin and Xia Mian stayed here and ate the dry food Yu An prepared for them. They thought that the villagers had pots here, so they didn't bring earthen pots for convenience.

During the day, the village was frighteningly quiet, but nothing unexpected happened. It seemed that there was nothing unusual except that there was no one there.

Xia Mian and Chi Jin just waited in fear in the courtyard of the family at the entrance of the village until night, but failed to wait for the villagers to come back.

It's too weird here, and they didn't dare to light the oil lamps. They went back to their rooms as soon as it got dark. For safety reasons, they didn't sleep in separate rooms, but slept in the inner room and the outer room, so that if there was an emergency, they could Take care of each other.

In the middle of the night, Chi Jin heard a very soft cry in a daze, his eyelids moved slightly, and one hand subconsciously touched the quilt under him, but felt the bed board that was very sloppy, and then suddenly realized that they were Now it is in such an unknown empty village, not in the comfortable big bed of my own home.

Slightly confused mind instantly cleared up, sitting up abruptly while holding the sleeve arrow in the palm of his hand, the short arrow was already ready to go.

He lifted the quilt and put on his shoes and went down to the ground. A slight movement woke up Xia Mian, who was sleeping restlessly outside. Xia Mian also turned over, looking nervously at Chi Jin, who was on guard all over by the moonlight from the window, subconsciously holding his breath. , asked in a low voice: "Young Master, what's the matter?"

Holding the sleeve arrow, Chi Jin looked around carefully, and the little weeping sound he heard just now had disappeared, as if it was just his illusion.

But Chi Jin believed in himself, and he slowly approached Xia Mian: "Did you hear a burst of crying just now?"

"Crying..." Xia Mian thought about it carefully, and said with uncertainty: "When I was half asleep and half awake, I seemed to hear something, but I couldn't hear it clearly. I don't know if it was crying."

Saying that, she shuddered, and involuntarily approached Chi Jin to increase her sense of security. This village is so weird, it can't be... Haunted!

The open window was blown open by the cold wind mixed with ice and snow, making a "creaking" sound, as if it was ringing in people's hearts, making Xia Mian shiver uncontrollably.

Chi Jin patted her on the shoulder silently, threw her a long arrow with tail feathers to strengthen her courage, then held the sleeve arrow in front of her chest, and walked towards the door in small steps. As soon as the door was opened, the outside The voices from the village came into the house.

Chi Jin came out of the house against the wall, and was shocked to see the light on the side of the village near the back mountain!The dim candle light is very conspicuous in the dark night. Could it be that the villagers have returned?

So no one was there during the day because the villagers didn't come back!

Chi Jin was overjoyed, and put aside the seeming cries before, looked at the light in the dark night with joy, and happily said to Xia Mian who came out: "The villagers are back, it's not an empty village. .”

"Really?" Xia Mian looked at Chi Jin's line of sight, the light in the dark night was very bright and warm, she said excitedly: "My lord, let's go and have a look!"

Just as Chi Jin was about to nod, one foot had already been raised, and all his movements stopped suddenly when his eyes touched the surrounding environment. His smiling face froze, and he stood still on the spot again.

Holding Xia Mian who was about to jump out with one hand, she said in a heavy tone: "Don't go there, it's too late to disturb you now, let's...let's visit tomorrow in the daytime."

Xia Mian thought about it, so she obediently followed Chi Jin back to the house, this time she fell asleep quickly, her steady breathing sounded in the dark night, but Chi Jin inside was tossing and turning.

Just now, he suddenly discovered that there is only light in this village, and the surrounding area is still dark, and there is no sign of anyone coming back, and as far as the yard where they live...no one has come back.

This is even more abnormal. Maybe the side with light is the reason why everyone in this village disappeared.

In order for Xia Mian to have a good rest, Chi Jin did not reveal this discovery. It was getting late, and he planned to go there tomorrow to find out.

In the middle of the night, just as Chi Jin was about to fall asleep, there was a low sobbing sound outside again, very light, small and immature, and just when Chi Jin was about to stand up, the sound disappeared again.

This went back and forth several times a night, and in the end Chi Jin didn't care about it anymore, kept his whole body alert, closed his eyes and fell asleep lightly.

On the other side of the village, the light of the fire also gradually dimmed, and finally returned to calm.

In the early morning of the next day, he and Xia Mian made some hot porridge with dry food from the stove in the yard, and after they finished drinking, they got up and went out, planning to go to the place last night to have a look.

The simple Xia Mian really thought it was the villagers who came back, and she was very happy along the way, with brisk steps, so happy that Chi Jin didn't want to break her mood, so she had to be wary of the surroundings and move forward slowly.

It's all just speculation, let's let the facts speak for themselves.

Chi Jin pulled Xia Mian close to the wall, and under Xia Mian's puzzled eyes, he quietly led her to the brightly lit yard last night. The journey was surprisingly quiet and safe, without any emergencies.

All was well until they entered the yard. Chi Jin walked around the yard a few times, and carefully opened the door to check one by one. There was still nothing abnormal, not even a trace of people.

In other words, it is precisely this lack of trace that is the biggest anomaly here.

He gently knocked on the door of the last room, and returned to the yard to droop his eyes to meditate. Xia Mian, who was at the side, also noticed that the atmosphere was not right, and followed him lightly, so he took the opportunity to ask, "My lord, what's the matter? "

Chi Jin looked at her gravely, and asked, "Does it look like someone has been here?"

The last trace of joy in Xia Mian's heart disappeared without a trace, she opened her mouth slightly and shook her head, looking around nervously as if falling into an ice cave.

Chi Jin explained in a low voice: "I didn't tell you last night, the whole village is only lit here, and the rest of the place is still deserted. I also observed carefully on the way, and some details of the door are the same as when we came. The same, it has not been passive, so..."

"So maybe it wasn't a villager last night?" Xia Mian continued the second half of the sentence in a low voice.

Chi Jin shook his head, lowered his voice and said, "No, it must not be a villager."

The cold wind blew suddenly, and Xia Mian was taken aback by the weird atmosphere, and followed Chi Jin nervously, looking around even though she was terrified, ready to protect Chi Jin at any time.

Seeing Xia Mian's subconscious protective action, Chi Jin's heart warmed, and he patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, "It's okay, let's go back first, and see if those people will come tonight."

Before leaving, Chi Jin turned back and restored everything to its original state. The shallow footprints on the ground were gently buried with snow to hide the traces of their past. When he walked to a corner to deal with the last traces, his eyes stopped suddenly Tightening, there was a snow-covered dog's head in the corner of the room.

Although it has been covered with a layer of snow, the appearance of the dog can still be seen clearly. Chi Jin's heart sinks again. Perhaps the villagers here are already in danger.

Before Xia Mian looked over, he quickly turned sideways to block the dog's head, so as not to scare the little girl, he quickly cleared away the traces of his presence and left the place with Xia Mian.

Light snow fell in the sky at the right time, covering some of the more subtle traces.

Chi Jin and Xia Mian returned to the yard at the entrance of the village, and the snow fell more and more heavily. The village was quiet again, but it was not peaceful, and even ominous everywhere.

During the day today, Chi Jin and Xia Mian didn't go hunting in the back mountain, and of course they didn't have the heart to hunt.

Xia Mian was so cold that she huddled in the house, and there was no charcoal fire to grill, or they searched all over the house, but they didn't find any warm things or food.

Chi Jin looked around in the yard. He was still brooding over the cry last night. When he passed the big tree in the middle of the yard, the cry sounded again, this time more clearly.

Chi Jin stopped and listened attentively. It was the cry of a woman, weak and immature, as if she was not very old.

Are there any children here?

Chi Jin's spirit was shaken, and he looked around like a torch, and finally fixed his gaze on the dark wellhead in the center of the yard. Just as Chi Jin was about to go closer to find out, the crying stopped abruptly again.

He poked his head carefully and looked in. The well was about one person wide, but not deep, and it had already dried up. It was covered with a layer of falling snow. You could see to the end at a glance. There was nothing, and the snow inside was clean. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Chi Jin secretly wrote this down, planning to come back when the crying sounded again.

After waiting until night, the other side of the village was lit up again, but it was still eerily quiet.

Chi Jin asked Xia Mian to wait in the house. He took off the wet navy blue coat that was stained with snow and mud, and threw it aside casually. He took out a new set of dry coat from the package and changed into it.

This suit is black, stain-resistant and warm. It was originally prepared for hunting, but I didn't expect to use it tonight.

After Chi Jin packed up, he nodded to Xia Mian, took the sleeve arrow and flew to the roof, and cautiously came to the other side of the village. He was dressed in black so that he could better blend into the thick night.

Gradually approaching, Chi Jin also heard louder and louder noises, and slowed down his pace, hiding his breathing, lying on his stomach behind a roof, and the fire not far away jumped into his dark eyes , a pair of cat pupils stared round.

But it turned out that the light over there was really not the candlelight from the villagers coming back, but a group of strangely dressed people carrying torches and carrying linen bags one by one into the cellar!

Chi Jin watched them take all the bags they brought into the cellar without moving, then dealt with the traces left behind, and left quietly.

No wonder he didn't find anything unusual when he came during the day. It turned out that this group of people came and went quietly, and the cellar where they hid things was also very hidden. Under the yard, it seemed that the villagers here used to store food for the winter.

Those people returned to the back mountain in groups holding torches, and a leader-like person walked at the end, holding up the torch and urging: "Hurry up, it won't be good until dawn."

At this time, he happened to be passing under the roof where Chi Jinshu was staying. Because of the weather and angle, he couldn't see anyone on the roof.

The leader said to a person beside him: "The cellar of this family is almost full, go to the next one tomorrow."

"Yes."

Chi Jin thought in his heart that sure enough, these people occupied the villagers' cellars, but... Where did those villagers go?Just as he thought of this question, another voice came from below.

The leader asked: "Have the bodies of those untouchables been hidden?"

Chi Jin was startled, and only heard another malicious voice below said: "It's hidden, it's all buried in the back mountain, no one will find such a big snow."

"That's good, let's go."

After saying these words, these people almost left Chi Jin's hearing range, retreated neatly and quickly into the back mountain, and finally disappeared into the woods.

Like a well-trained army.

Chi Jin was taken aback by the idea that popped up in his mind, and then denied the conjecture. This is the north, and there are scattered small countries nearby. How could anyone dare to drill the army here? It's just that they are well-trained It's just a group of bandits.

It's just that the clothes of these people don't seem to belong to Yan Kingdom?For a moment Chi Jin was lost in thought.

A gust of cold wind blew, and he shivered. Only then did he realize that he was still lying on the roof. He rubbed his arms that were covered in goose bumps and got up heavily to go back.

The most urgent task now is not to find out who these people are, but to figure out what happened here. If it is really the army... He can't sit idly by, maybe he should think of a countermeasure first.

At least he had to report back to the city.

When he returned to the yard, Xia Mian was waiting anxiously at the door of the room. He was relieved to see Chi Jin come back safely, and hurried over to meet him.

Chi Jin squeezed out a smile on his heavy face, shook his head and said softly, "I'm fine, it's cold outside, let's go in and talk."

Xia Mian nodded, and helped Chi Jin to walk back. When passing by the well in the middle of the yard, there was a sudden "boom" sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, and at the same time, the familiar crying sound sounded again.

Chi Jin's footsteps stopped suddenly, and he looked at the well steadily. The dazzling white snow beside the well and the deep well mouth formed a sharp contrast, like a black hole.

Xia Mian was also taken aback by the sound, and moved to stand in front of Chi Jin, carefully looking at the well, while asking in a low voice what to do now.

Chi Jin patted her on the shoulder to get her out of the way, walked to the edge of the well and took a quick look in. Now he saw clearly, there was a vague figure of a child at the bottom of the well, hugging his feet and weeping softly. Seeing that he was discovered, he crawled into a hole in the wall of the well with all his hands and feet in horror.

He flew down, picked up the frightened and crying child, and lifted the cyclone out of the well in one go.

Quickly covering the child's mouth, he said in a low voice, "Shut up, we are not bad people!"

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo." The child obviously hasn't reacted yet, still whimpering in a low voice in horror, but his limbs are too frightened to move.

Chi Jinsong brought the man into the house, and put the child on the bed after closing the doors and windows. Now he saw that it was a little girl with two braids, and she was hiccupping and staring round Looking at them, the whole body trembled like a Kang sieve.

Xia Mian and Chi Jin looked at each other, Chi Jin stepped aside tacitly, and chose to let Xia Mian, who was also a girl with a higher affinity, to appease.

After tossing for a while, the little girl calmed down. After all, she was just a child, and she just looked at them eagerly and said, "You guys, have you seen my mother?"

Chi Jin was keenly aware of what was wrong, and said persuasively, "What's your name? What does your mother look like? How long have you been in the well?"

The little girl racked her fingers and racked her brains for a while, then said, "My name is Huahua, and my mother looks just like my mother. I don't know how long I've been in the well, anyway, it's been a long time..."

"Why is Huahua in the well, and what happened here?"

Seeing that she was about to cry again, Huahua choked and said, "A lot of people came to the village that day, carrying knives, so my mother told me to hide in the cellar to keep quiet. I was very scared to hide in the cellar, and I didn't dare to make a sound at first. , Mother also went out and never came back, those people were outside, Huahua heard a lot of voices, Brother Aqiang was crying so loudly, Huahua was so afraid that she didn't dare to cry."

"Huahua, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Huahua is very brave and obedient." Chi Jin patted her on the head lightly to comfort her, and at the same time restored the scene of that day obediently in her mind.

The slaughtered villagers, the surviving Huahua, the cellar at the bottom of the well...

Looking at the messy and knotted hair and the clothes that were so dirty that they couldn't see the color, he guessed that he must have stayed in the well for no less than five days. Fortunately, there should be food in the cellar so that he would not be starved to death.

He remembered what he had eavesdropped on there in the first half of the night, and gritted his teeth, those damn beasts!

Chi Jin thought for a while, and after coaxing Huahua to sleep with kind words, he motioned for Xia Mian to follow him out.

After closing the door, he walked into the yard and looked at the open space at the entrance of the village. He didn't dare to think about what kind of tragedy happened there a few days ago.

"Young master." Xia Mian said worriedly, she also probably thought that what happened in this village was a man-made disaster.

Sure enough, Chi Jin told her the next moment: "Those villagers have been killed. What I saw in the village just now are murderers."

Xia Mian opened her mouth wide in shock, the shock and horror in her heart caused her to lose her voice for a moment.

Before she recovered from the shock, Chi Jin continued: "After killing all the villagers, those people occupied their cellars and even looted their food, which is why we didn't find any food in the room The reason, and then those people used this village as their territory to store food."

Xia Mian's throat was dry, and Zhang Zhang joined forces several times before he managed to say: "But why did those people do this?"

"How do I know." Chi Jin smiled wryly. He thought of those people's clothes that were different from Yan's, and guessed, "Maybe...they are from another country."

"Other country!" The man-made disaster in the village suddenly escalated to the matter of Yan country, and both of them trembled in their hearts. The stable north they thought was not easy.

Chi Jin looked at the end of the village, every day those people would put the grain they scavenged around into the cellar, if...

A bold idea appeared in his mind, followed by a hostility that swept across his mind, he said to Xia Mian: "We will leave here with Huahua during the day tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Xia Mian agreed very much, this place is too dangerous: "We will return to Tai'an City at dawn tomorrow, and don't come out in the future."

Tai'an City is strictly searched and law and order are good. It must be safer inside than here. From now on, they will settle in Tai'an City and wait for the baby to be born safely.

Xia Mian thought well, but Chi Jin shook his head. He chuckled lightly and said, "No, we won't go back to the city, we'll go through the next mountain, and take a long way back, because..."

"Before we leave, we have to give those gangsters a surprise."

Xia Mian was startled, pulled Chi Jin and said, "My lord, what are you going to do? Don't be impulsive, let's go back to the city first, shall we? Tell the news to the city lord, and wait for the emperor to deal with it..."

"Stop talking, I've made up my mind." Chi Jin brushed her hand away, and said firmly: "Tomorrow morning, I'll go and set fire to the things in the cellar before leaving! The fire will take a while in the cellar It will burn out and we have plenty of time to get out."

"But……"

"No, but, I won't make fun of your lives, I believe I'll be fine." The villagers are all innocent, if the bad breath doesn't stop, he will hold it in his heart for the rest of his life!

But this sounded very dangerous. Xia Mian was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but he couldn't hold back Chi Jin, who wanted to vent his anger on the villagers. In the end, he couldn't help but sighed helplessly, praying that everything would go well tomorrow.

At the same time, Yan Zhuangze, Yu An and his party also rushed to Tai'an City, and after asking the hidden guards to negotiate with the city lord with the token, the closed city gate opened with an exception in the dark morning.

Yan Zhuangze and his group came to the city lord's mansion quietly, the city lord got up from the bed overnight to face the saint, Yan Zhuangze sat in the first place with a sullen face, and the people below were full of fear, fearing that something would offend the emperor.

Yan Zhuangze looked at the middle-aged city lord who was quite energetic, nodded in satisfaction, and asked, "Is there something wrong with Tai'an City recently?"

The city lord explained truthfully: "A lot of refugees have come to Tai'an City recently, but most of those refugees have a tendency to violence. For the safety of the people in the city, I didn't let them in, but I will distribute porridge for relief on a regular basis."

"You did the right thing." Yan Zhuangze nodded, safety is always the first priority, and Jing Chi is very likely to be in the city...

Thinking of this, he stopped talking, and directly took out the portraits of Jing Chi and Concubine Jin and said, "Go to the city and find these two people for me. The man among them is Jing Chi, who arrived probably a few days ago. Tai'an City."

The city lord took the portrait carefully, and took the order: "I take the order, send someone to look for it now, if this person is in the city, I can find it tomorrow!"

"go quickly."

After all the people in the house had left, Yan Zhuangze rubbed his brows tiredly. He had been traveling all night without stopping these days, and he was still thinking about the safety of Qing's army and Jing Chi, so he couldn't bear it.

Yu An who was at the side also saw all these things, and had a slight change in his opinion of Yan Zhuangze. Of course, it is impossible to write off the previous incident. He suggested: "Your Majesty, go and rest first, I will guard here."

Yan Zhuangze thought about it: "Alright, let me know as soon as you have any news."

If Jing Chi is in Tai'an City, he should find it tomorrow, and he will definitely not let him leave by then, and he will not be allowed to leave his sight.

And Concubine Jin, he will make her pay a painful price.