Qiye copy

In the early autumn of Yongning 13th, the post station in Ningjiu County, Yuzhou Prefecture.

Today's weather is not very good, and it is still yellow and hazy after several days, like muddy water that cannot be cleared after being mixed up.

The postmen were driven to work before the fifth watch, and they were so busy that they couldn't even touch the ground. Now that they were free and had no time to eat, they gathered together to talk about the mountains with nothing to do.

I don't know who first talked about the flood in Huizhou a month ago, and everyone's chatterbox immediately opened up.

"Many villages were flooded, what a tragedy, tsk." A postman with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks lowered his voice and said that the flood is not the most terrible thing, but the most terrible thing is the piles of drowned domestic animals and human corpses after the water recedes. In addition, it was summer again, and the disease spread quickly, making the whole city look like a ghost town.

"If such a big event happened, the court should take care of it, right?"

Another younger postman frowned and said, and the others burst into laughter.After laughing enough, the postman who had spoken earlier patted him on the shoulder, "That's what you, a brat, would say, but do you know how much of the disaster relief money sent by the imperial court is left when Huizhou Fu Yin is there?" While talking, stretch out your index finger and thumb to twist.

Wang Er did not know, so he shook his head.

When he was a child, he was sent to a private school to read nonsense sage books for several years, but later he really failed to pass the exam as a scholar, so his sister asked him to find a job in this post station for him.It was the first time he had heard what they said.

"That's all."

Leaning into his ear and saying the number, Wang Er opened his mouth wide enough to stuff an egg, and took two steps back, "This is too, too..." He stammered for a long time but couldn't say why.

This time the others didn't bother to make fun of him, and sighed about some family matters.Most of their families have people farming, and Yuzhou and Huizhou are next to each other. They were lucky this summer, but it rained for a few days and did not cause a catastrophe, but next time it will be uncertain.

"If you want me to say, if the emperor doesn't care about such a major matter, the world will be in chaos sooner or later."

"Emperor? My mother-in-law and brother-in-law went to the capital last year and came back to tell us that the person in charge of the court is no longer the emperor." It was another person who spoke. Bitter phase.

"Not the emperor?" Realizing that his loud voice might attract Yicheng, Wang Er immediately fell silent.

If you were at the emperor's feet, you might be killed if you wantonly talk about the state affairs, but this Yuzhou mansion is far away from the emperor, as long as the postman in charge above you doesn't hear it, it's okay to talk occasionally.

"The emperor got seriously ill a few years ago and stopped thinking about government affairs." Kugualian picked up a small stone and threw it far away, raising a cloud of smoke and dust, "I heard that the Queen Mother is even going to court now."

"Dear mother and ancestor, don't scare me. I'm still pointing to working for a few years to save some money for my son to ask for a daughter-in-law to go home so that he can take care of himself."

"Even if there is going to be chaos, what can people like us do, let's live in peace one day." What's more, it's not too peaceful now, it can only be called barely making ends meet.

They should have something to say, but the sound of horseshoes in the distance interrupted the chat, and Wang Er was pushed out to socialize before he could react.

"Go and have a look. It's people from the official family who come in, not drive them out."

Wang Er took a look from afar, one was black and the other was white, they were not official green robes, but probably merchants who didn't understand the rules, he spat in his heart, secretly feeling unlucky.

When the sound of horseshoes approached, "This is an official post, so it's not for use." Wang Eryang said, with a bit of perfunctory reluctance in his words.

The post station is the property of the government, and it is mobilized according to the fire inspection card. These postmen usually charge a small amount of money to help the nearby residents to carry some small things, but it is absolutely impossible to drink horse supplies, and no amount of money is allowed—if the superior If a person is found out, he will lose his job at the least, and be beheaded if he is accused of crime.

"Leave quickly, don't be embarrassed."

"My lord, don't worry too much."

This man spoke Mandarin, with clear enunciations and an elegant tone.

Like a scholar, Wang Er, who is more or less half a scholar, thought to himself that he should not be unreasonable.

"Someone just wanted to inquire about something."

Feeling relieved by this official call, Wang Er raised his head and faced a fairy-like figure.

This young man in white has smiles on his brows and eyes, his facial features are clean and his fur is light, he looks like a man in a boudoir dream who came out of a painting, he is incompatible with this dusty inn and the surrounding environment full of wind and sand.

Before Wang Er refused again, something heavy was stuffed over.

That hand had long joints and was very handsome, but it didn't look like the hand of the son-in-law Wang Erda helped his sister with the farm work, and he could recognize the marks left by years of rough work on it.He quickly took the broken silver and stuffed it into his bosom, making sure that no one else saw it, and quickly said: "Tell me, what's the matter." His tone was more sincere, and he was no longer prevaricated like before.

He added, "But I don't necessarily know."

"Then may I ask the official, how to get to Zhoucun?"

Zhoucun?Wang Er thought for a while, then pointed to a certain direction ahead, "Go straight along this road, and turn over that mountain... yes, the one on the left, if you hurry, you will arrive in the afternoon, if you slow, you will arrive in the evening."

Hearing the words, the young man in white didn't return immediately, but turned his head to discuss with another person.

Only then did Wang Er notice the person who came with him.

The man was dressed in black clothes that blended into the shadows, and he sat on the back of the horse with his back straight. Because of the distance, his facial features could not be seen clearly, only the straight bridge of the nose and browbones could be vaguely seen.Wang Er's gaze slid down and landed on the unsheathed sword in his hand. Feeling the bursts of coldness, he shuddered involuntarily, and quickly turned his gaze away, looking at the young man in white with some consideration.

"I……"

The young man in white nodded, "Thank you in advance."

"It's okay, it's okay." Wang Er shook his head repeatedly.This young man in white is generous, it is more than his monthly salary, this is a great luck for him.

As he spoke, he always felt that he had missed some rather important information and couldn't remember it.

"But this week the village..."

"Ok?"

Just as he was scratching his head, the colleagues on the other side called him loudly.

"Wang Er, are you alright?"

He was still thinking about that, "Wait a minute!"

"The steamed meat buns from Mrs. Li's daughter-in-law were steamed by the cook. No matter how bad you are, I won't keep them for you." Although this group of people always laughed at him for being pedantic, they generally didn't treat him harshly. Thank you so much.

"Wait for you for a while at most, or we'll all get points if you don't come!"

He has a good nose, and when he smells meat, he doesn't want anyone to say that he bleeds out.

When he was in a dilemma, the young man in white helped him make a choice.

"Since I can't remember it, it's not a big deal. It's rare to have an extra meal, so I won't disturb the official." He got on the horse, pulled the rein, and left with the man in black.

When the figures of the two disappeared, Wang Er hurriedly walked back.

The bitter-faced mother-in-law felt sorry for her man who was working outside, so she asked someone to deliver steamed meat buns.The meaty steamed buns are full of white fat meat, and when you bite into it, it will become greasy, and it will make people's hearts bloom beautifully just thinking about it.

Wang Er came late and was only assigned to the last one.His heart ached, he bit open the skin of the bun and sipped the soup inside, he was reluctant to take a second bite for a long time, just a little bit of the dough was waiting for it to melt.

When was the last time my sister steamed meat buns?He was eating meat buns, and all he could think about was that he would take the time off to go home, hand over the money secretly hidden in his bosom to his sister, and ask her to buy some fat meat for himself and his two little nephews... elder sister?There was a flash of inspiration in his mind, and things that he couldn't think of before had just surfaced like this.

"I remembered." He froze for a moment, like a stone sculpture.

Fortunately, he still remembered to hold the meat bun in his hand so that it would not fall on the muddy floor.

"What's the matter?" The rest of the people were puzzled, how could something go wrong after eating a bun?

Wang Er looked at the direction he pointed to the two people from a distance, his upper and lower teeth touched, and he shivered coldly.

"It's nothing, it's nothing." He took a few breaths and managed to catch his breath. No matter how others questioned him, he decided not to say a word.

"There's something wrong with the scholar." The rest of them didn't suspect him, so they stuffed the buns into their stomachs in twos and went to their own things.

Wang Er was holding the steamed stuffed bun that was about to cool down, and he was muttering something—there was Amitabha Buddha and the Tao Te Ching, anyway, it was all nonsense.

A few years ago, his sister mentioned a family from that Zhou village.Originally, the dowry was paid, but for some reason, his parents insisted on annulling the marriage even if someone poked their backs.

I hope that the two of them just happened to pass by Zhoucun instead of staying for a long time.

Because there is nothing else in the village this week, it is just haunted. It has been haunted for a long time, and many people have died in it, but it is not good.

On the other side, the two turned over the mountain on the left as the postman said, and walked a rugged mountain road, and finally saw the faint outline of the village before the sun set.

This week the village is located in a basin among the mountains, surrounded by mountains on three sides, if they want to leave the village, they can take the road they came here.I don't know if it's because of how humid the mountains are, but the whole village is shrouded in mist, and the internal structure is not clear.

When he reached the entrance of the village, Mu Liya, dressed in white, reined in his horse and looked west. The bloody setting sun was hanging on the other side of the mountain, like a red-hot pig iron in a furnace.Two crows were parked on a tree that was mostly dead, their orange eyes staring vigilantly at the uninvited guest in front of them.

It should be the time for the man to return from working in the field, but the two of them stood there for a long time without seeing a single person.

"Azhi, what do you think?" Mu Liya habitually asked the opinions of his colleagues.

The man in black was surnamed Xue Dan.

Xue Zhi didn't answer.His brow bones are straight, his eye sockets are slightly sunken, and his nose looks even more straight, as if he has some exotic blood.Perhaps because of the black clothes, his skin was so pale that there was no trace of blood, and his eyes were sharp, reminding people of a freshly polished blade for no reason.Instead of answering Mu Liya's question, he took off the sword at his waist and handed it over.

It was a completely pitch-black sword. There was neither a gold and jade nameplate nor inlaid gemstones on the ebony scabbard. It only had a small piece of cloud-patterned sword dart attached to the end.Mu Liya was not polite to him, took the saber, and pushed out the edge of the sword that was shining with cold light with one hand, with three fingers resting on it casually, just like a doctor diagnosing the pulse.

If it were someone else, I'm afraid the fingers would be cut off like this, but Xue Zhi's saber became strangely calm in his hands.After "listening" for a while, he returned the sword to Xue Zhi again, "I roughly understand it."

His voice was very soft, but the crow on the tree seemed to have seen something terrible, hoarsely croaked a few times, then flapped its wings and flew away.He didn't say what he knew, but Xue Zhi didn't listen to it like he was born deaf and dumb, and just slowly put the sword back in place.

"Go in." Mu Liya didn't say any more, and Xue Zhi followed closely behind him, not taking another step.

Two figures, one black and one white, the white one pierces the eyes, and the black one looks like the shadow of the person in front.

The moment they entered the village, they realized that something was wrong with the village: the doors of every house were closed, and there was no one on the street, not even children playing around.Suspicious dark traces can be seen everywhere on the stone road, and the wind seems to carry a strange smell of something being burned.Paper lanterns hung on both sides of the eaves, and the candles inside had been burned out long ago but no new ones were added.Mu Liya got off his horse and knocked on the door of any house.

"Excuse me, is there anyone?" He knocked on the door lightly, but the sudden appearance of human voices on the dead and silent street was like thunder on the ground.

He knocked for a while but no one answered, just when he was about to think that there was no one in the room, someone tugged at the corner of his clothes, and when he looked back, he found that it was Xue Zhi.A trace of vivid subtle emotions flashed in Xue Zhi's dark eyes, and he used his eyes to signal him to look around.

Knowing that Xue Zhi is a martial arts practitioner, he is much more sensitive to human voices than ordinary people, so he glanced to the sides from the corner of his eyes calmly, and found that behind the closed doors were full of prying eyes. Eye.It's not that they're not there, it's more like they're afraid of something.

"...Is that so?" He and Xue Zhi were very close, but he didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

Xue Zhi nodded to him, knowing what it meant, he continued to call the door patiently.

"Excuse me..." Just as he was about to repeat this sentence No.20 times, the door opened.

Half of a sallow and thin woman's face appeared from behind the door.She rolled her eyes twice to see clearly the appearance of the person who knocked on the door.

Mu Liya was about to report her family history, when the woman opened her mouth to speak, "You are not welcome here, get out as soon as possible if you want to survive." Her voice was hoarse. He turned a little bloody, and his appearance was even more creepy, "Leave before dark, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Mu Liya's eyes sank, and he no longer smiled as usual, "Here..." But before he finished speaking, the courtyard door was slammed shut with all his strength.

If he hadn't been pulled by Xue Zhi, he might have fallen directly on his face.

As if to prevent him from talking any more, the host behind the door locked the latch again.Hearing the heavy sound, Mu Liya's self-cultivation prevented him from doing too much entanglement, so he could only drag Xue Zhi to continue walking aimlessly on the street.

After autumn, the length of day and night gradually changed, and before they took a few steps, the sky was completely dimmed.

This Zhou village is much bigger than he thought, and it is almost comparable to smaller suburban towns. The only thing that remains the same is that no matter where he goes, he has never seen anyone else.Having never received such a cold reception, he glanced around the corner of the street and saw a red shadow rushing past, but because the speed was too fast and it was dark, he couldn't see what it was, only knew its size It shouldn't be tall, about the size of a small beast.

He looked up at the sky, and found that the burning clouds had all faded away, and the long night, as cold as iron, had already descended.

In the end, they found an abandoned house with its gate wide open.

I don't know what happened to the owner's house here. The front yard is in a mess, and except for one side room in the back yard that collapsed, there are smoky and scorched marks around the walls on the other three sides.Mu Liya leaned against the south-facing window, meditating on the ray of skylight leaking from the patio in front of him.He looks handsome, and when he smiles, he looks like a spring flower, but when he is not smiling, he always looks ruthless.

On the opposite side of him, Xue Zhi lit a fire, holding a sword, and seemed to be asleep.

The tongue of fire licked the wood, crackling and crackling, and it dimmed after a while.

Mu Liya woke up suddenly, walked over and filled some more wood into the fire, so that the temperature in the dilapidated house did not drop.

From the beginning to the end, Xue Zhi didn't move at all.

Not to mention the big movements of opening his eyes and speaking, his chest is almost still, and his breath is so shallow that he can hardly detect it.

It's almost like dying.

"Azhi, remember to take the medicine." Mu Liya sat beside him and whispered.

The two have been getting along for many years, so naturally he won't be frightened, but he still can't feel better: Xue Zhi has an old disease, and this old disease is inseparable from his Mu family no matter what.

I don't know if Xue Zhi heard it, maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but he didn't move at all.

Mu Liya sighed inaudibly, did not sleep, took out something from his arms - about a piece of wood with the middle finger length of an adult, with a vaguely personal shape - and carefully carved it in front of the firelight.Sawdust fell into the fire and was quickly ignited and reduced to ashes before hitting the ground.

Except for the bonfire, the dilapidated house was so quiet that only the monotonous sound of carving knives across the wood remained.

Until a certain moment, he put down the work he was doing halfway, and made a gesture of listening.

The sleeping person beside him quietly opened his eyes, embraced him from behind, and covered his mouth with one hand.

"Hush." ​​Xue Zhi whispered in his ear, "Don't talk."

Mu Liya shook his head.

At this time, Dinghun should have passed, and ordinary people should sleep peacefully.But in this silent night, both of them heard this unusual human voice: from far to near, and then slowly farther away, the farthest moment seemed to come from the bottom of a distant valley, the closest moment It's like someone is talking in your ear.

"it is this?"

Mu Liya didn't speak until the whispering voice was far away.

"It doesn't look like it." Confusion appeared in his eyes, "It doesn't look like what we are looking for."

Xue Zhi shook his head first and then nodded, trying not to know what he meant.

If you look carefully, Xue Zhi at this moment is far more like a living person than the unsmiling person in the daytime.

"Let's go." Mu Liya put the unfinished wooden figurine in his arms for safekeeping, "Catch up and see what is causing the trouble."

Zhoucun is far more dangerous at night than during the day: the streets along the way are dark, without any lights.

The sound of footsteps procrastinating, not belonging to any of them, slowly moving in a certain direction.

The quieter the night, the clearer the voice was.This time they heard clearly, it was a woman's voice, and a baby's cry, intertwined, it was difficult to distinguish a single one.They followed the footsteps of the sound, and they didn't know if it was an illusion. The air became humid and hot, and a sticky fishy smell came over their faces.

Mu Liya held something in his sleeve calmly.

Xue Zhi seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, stopped in his tracks, and gave him a warning look, as if saying no.Realizing his meaning, Mu Liya immediately relaxed, as if he wasn't the one who planned to do something earlier.

"I see." He let go of his hand, "I won't do that."

Xue Zhi didn't continue to pester him on this issue, "It's almost here."

Before they knew it, they had gone a long way.

Just when they were about to catch up to the unknown evil thing, there were numerous footsteps from the other side.

The sound of shuffling footsteps, women's voices, and babies' cries all disappeared, leaving only the rude yelling of men.

"It's them, it must be them!"

"They must be playing tricks, I heard it all!"

The fire illuminated the faces of the two of them, and let them see the writing on the plaque: Zhouci.

Mu Liya turned around and faced a group of menacing faces - even if he concealed it well, he could clearly see the guilt and fear in the eyes of the leading man.They quickly surrounded him and Xue Zhi, approaching slowly with a hemp rope as thick as a finger in their hands.

The identified man was about 40 to [-] years old, whom none of them had ever seen.

"Yes, these two people with foreign surnames." He said tremblingly, "I saw them knocking on the door of Zhou's house in the evening, and they came to the ancestral hall to make trouble at night. Who are they?"

"My surname is Mu and my name is Liya. Here, it's written like this... What are you laughing at?"

"Living means parting. The crow is an ominous bird that will bring disease and disaster to people. Both are not good images. How can parents give their children such names?"

"Qiu Tong..."

Mu Liya opened his eyes, the surrounding was pitch black, and the cold stone beneath him made his bones ache.He subconsciously wanted to sit up straight, but found that his hands were tied behind his back, and he simply gave up because he couldn't exert any strength in this position.He turned his head, and Xue Zhizheng was looking at him from a distance of less than half a foot, his eyes were stunned. Take it easy.

"Did I faint?"

Recalling what happened before, his heart is full of absurdity.

Xue Zhi withdrew his gaze and said seriously, "A quarter of an hour."

"Fortunately."

Mu Liya took advantage of his strength to sit up a little bit, and found that it wasn't that he had poor night vision, but that the house had no windows at all, only a small skylight above his head, and the dim skylight streamed in, so he could barely see the furnishings in the house: It's big, almost an adult man can walk to the end in three or five steps. There are some utensils hanging on the wall, and there seems to be something piled up in the corner.

Mu Liya's fingers kept moving, and he didn't care if he rubbed against any sticky objects on the way.The rope was tied tightly, but the person who tied it was far from perfect, and it took a little effort to break free.

"The group of people left?" He untied the rope while talking to Xue Zhi, "So we are in the Zhou family ancestral hall now?"

Xue Zhi agreed, Mu Liya chuckled, lowered his head and concentrated on untying the rope.

Earlier, they had chased the unknown evil spirit to the Zhou Family Ancestral Hall, just in time to meet a group of villagers looking for them with torches.

"Stop." The leader is not tall, Xue and Mu both have to look down, with high cheekbones, and a pair of eyes protruding like dead fish that have been exposed to the sun for three days. Judging from his more elegant clothes and the attitude of the others, it should be It's from the tribe of the patriarch.He arrogantly looked at the two of them for a few weeks, "What are the names of the two little brothers, where do they live, and what is the business of visiting my old Zhou's ancestral temple late at night?"

"Find someone."

"Looking for someone?" Dead fish eyes sneered, "If you look for someone, you will find this place? Little brother, everyone here is from my old Zhou family. You might as well tell me who you are looking for. If we know each other, we will definitely let you know. No?"

"Woman." Seeing that he didn't believe him, Mu Liya glanced at him and asked, "Didn't you hear the footsteps just now? The woman's footsteps." He looked around and finally fixed his eyes on the gold-plated black background. on the plaque.

"Shut up!" The dead fish's eyes stuck to his neck, "Hey, how can there be any footsteps?"

"You really don't know?"

From Mu Liya's point of view, it is very clear that this person has no blood on his face, and his legs are shaking like sifting chaff. How could there be someone in the middle of the night!"

"I didn't say people were in your ancestral hall."

Since the other party didn't believe him, Mu Liya didn't want to say more, but behind him, Xue Zhi took some wrong medicine, stepped over him and walked towards the man.

His movements were as fast as lightning, and Dead Fisheye was approached before he even had time to dodge.

"You... what are you doing?" No matter how stupid you are, you should be able to see that people have a lot of dead fish eyes. They took a step back unconsciously, and their tone became heavier, "You broke into my ancestral hall at night. This is because you didn't want Zhanli, if you dare to mess around, I want you to look good."

After finishing his speech, the villagers behind him also booed, clamoring to make them look good.

Xue Zhi just moved closer to him and made a sniffing motion.

"You smell of blood." His voice was extremely cold, "It's more than one person."

"You...!" Si Yu's eyes were full of anger, but his face turned even paler, "I don't believe you, pretending to be a fool."

"If I were you, I wouldn't be going out at this hour." Xue Zhi said unhurriedly, unaffected at all.

After the two of them were behind, Mu Liya also sniffed. Although it was very weak, it was undoubtedly the smell of blood, and it was also mixed with the smell of the corpse of the dead.

Not only him, but everyone present smelled of blood. If the sky was brighter, they might still see blood marks——

Knowing roughly what the group of people had done, his expression changed instantly.

"Take it down for me!" I don't know if it was because of the embarrassment after being hit or something else, Si Yuyan shouted: "Shut up, teach him a lesson, know what can and can't be said in the future!"

According to Xue Zhi's skills, it was easy to break free from this group of people, but instead of not doing so, he even let the group of people tie him up completely.

Mu Liya looked up and found that he was looking at him through the crowd—probably only he could read other emotions from the bottomless eyes of the other party—so he gave up struggling and asked the villagers to tie him up, Advance the shrine.

Passing through the Yimen Gate, they were hurriedly pushed into a small house.

The heavy door closed behind him, but the expected lesson did not come.

"I'll clean you up after dawn."

The lock was locked outside, and Si Yuyan yelled like this, but slipped away without letting go.

……

Thinking of this, the last knot was untied by Mu Liya.

He probably fell on his head when he was pushed in, and he felt dizzy, and there was still a dull pain somewhere.

The hemp ropes fell down one after another, he stretched his wrist, and immediately went to untie Xue Zhi.

"You want to enter this ancestral hall, don't you?"

Xue Zhi didn't speak, his eyelashes drooped, and he looked a bit fragile.

His daily energy is limited and cannot be consumed at will. Mu Liya, who knew this, never expected an answer.

"Okay." Mu Liya finished untying the ropes on the two of them, and stretched out a hand to Xue Zhi to pull him up, "I'll leave it to you later."

I don't know if it was because of his haste, but Xue Zhi's saber was still on his body and was not taken away.

This is a good thing, the two of them can use it if they want to escape from the house.Xue Zhi drew his sword out of its sheath and slashed at the door. The sharp blade passed through the crack of the door. Hearing the crisp sound of the golden sword colliding, he pulled his wrist down and kicked open the door with his foot.

The wooden door, which was extremely solid at the last moment, was as fragile as a reed bent on a rainy night when it reached Xue Zhi's feet. Mu Liya followed him and left the cramped room. They are instruments of torture: leather whips, irons... all kinds of things, obviously very old, and at the end of the corner there is a large stick with the thickness of an adult man's arm and a flat bottom.

This is the torture chamber, used for lynching those who violated the clan rules.

The shadows parked on the eaves were startled by the noise they made, and screamed in a hoarse voice.

Sensing Xue Zhi's killing intent, Mu Liya pressed his hand first and shook his head.

"It's just a crow." He said, and the clouds just drifted away, revealing the silver moon, which also illuminated the moving flat-haired beast.

The crow seen at the entrance of the village was staring at them condescendingly, with gloomy eyes, as if seeing carrion.Mu Liya looked back, his eyes were peaceful but without fear, after half a cup of tea, the group of beasts flapped their wings and flew away.

"Look elsewhere."

If they had doubts before, after seeing the reaction of the dead fish eyes and the people under him, he was sure that the owner of the footsteps and cries entered the ancestral hall, and those people not only knew about it, but also Full of fear of this thing.

More importantly, he smelled that thing...

Mu Liya walked in front, and Xue Zhi followed less than half a step behind him, with his hand on the re-sheathed sword from the beginning to the end.

Zhou’s ancestral hall should have a character pattern as a whole. There is a large courtyard in the front hall and two courtyards in the backyard.Because the interior was really tortuous, the two of them took some detours after passing through the corridor, and almost returned to the torture room again.

Even Mu Liya, who knows nothing about Feng Shui, can see that there are some problems with the layout of this ancestral hall: Generally, ancestral halls are built at the rising sun, which means that the rising sun is booming, but this week the ancestral hall is built at the setting sun , not to mention the weird internal layout everywhere.

In the second half of the night, the edge of the sky showed a strange dark red, like dried blood, which made the waning moon in the middle even more gloomy.

"Does it look familiar?" Mu Liya stopped walking and said so abruptly.

Xue Zhi glanced over, as if he didn't know what he was referring to.

"The Mu family... is also like this."

Twisty, dark, huge shadows everywhere.

If he was still at home at this moment, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, as the only son, he should also prepare for ancestor worship.

"Not quite the same."

Xue Zhi said slowly, "This place is very evil, and the Mu family is much cleaner."

"You can speak."

They should have been in the side hall before, but after going around and around, they finally reached the main hall.

This ancestral hall is stepped, and the terrain gets lower as it goes further back, that is to say, the main hall is a little higher than the side hall.

The main hall is not like a side room, with lamps burning inside and some human voices.

Mu Liya held Xue Zhi back and stopped moving forward.

"……who?"

It was late, and the people in the main hall had already noticed the footsteps outside.

Mu Liya raised a finger and put it on his lips.

"come out!"

It should be a young man.His volume was loud, but it was a pity that he was shaking too much and had no deterrent effect, "Come out! I know...I know you are there!"

Mu Liya's eyes fell on the pair of well-crafted and lifelike stone lions at the end of the steps.

"What do you see?" Xue Zhi lowered his voice and bit his ear.

He pointed to his eyes, then shook his head, Xue Zhi showed understanding.

"I... I'm not afraid, you come out... come out, okay?"

For some reason, the man's words changed from the stern voice at the beginning to the begging, "I know it's you, it doesn't matter if you blame me or hate me, it's because I'm incompetent, I can't protect you...Ah Qing, I beg you Come out and see me, okay?" At the end of the speech, he started to cry, "I beg you."

I don't know what kind of relationship he has with Ah Qing, but Mu Liya is finally willing to talk to him, "I'm not Ah Qing."

Perhaps because of being overly frightened, the people inside even forgot to cry, "Then...then what are you?" Realizing something was wrong, he quickly changed his words, "Who is it?"

Mu Liya approached the main hall door, allowing the people inside to see the two of them clearly.

The red candle was half burned, and the dim light illuminated the face of the night watchman and the heavy black wooden coffin.

The pale and thin night watchman widened his red and swollen eyes, "Who are you?"

He had never seen such a person in the village, and if he did, he would never forget it.

Mu Liya glanced across the black wooden coffin calmly.

"Someone is just an ordinary swordsmith who happened to pass by here. As for him..." He paused for a moment, as if thinking of suitable words.

He never thought about how to talk about his relationship with Xue Zhi with others.

They grew up together, if something like that hadn't happened...he calmed down and said in the same tone as before: "It's an old friend." He still didn't say a word, it was an old friend of the Mu family in Jiangzhou.

Most of the arm-thick red candles in the mourning hall were burned, and the faces of the living were illuminated like ghosts.

The man in the hall was slim and naked, like a burlap bag that could breathe.While calling the two of them to come in, he quietly looked at the bottom of their feet when the two of them passed by the lamps and candles. After seeing the shadows under their feet, he was relieved imperceptibly. The man looked at him with a half-smile.

"If someone is a ghost, how can we wait until now?"

He has a handsome appearance, and his gestures are no different from ordinary people. On the contrary, Xue Zhi behind him, if he can't move and pant, he will probably be mistaken for a dead thing.The man who had been shattered in his heart nodded guiltyly, "Yes, yes, yes, I was worrying too much, but I'm also... scared." The second half of his speech was very vague, as if he deliberately omitted something.

"Are you guarding the spirit?"

A seven-foot-long and nine-foot-wide mourning flag hung in front of the main hall, and the fireworks in the hall could not be broken even for a moment. In the center of the table was enshrined a varnish tablet engraved with "The Spirit Tablet of Concubine Zhou Rong" few words.

"……Yes, it is."

Mu Liya and Xue Zhi heard from this sick man with a pale complexion and thin cheekbones that he was surnamed Zhou and named Ren. He lived in the east of the village. .His poor newlywed wife Zhou Rong died unexpectedly just after one year of marriage, because her family members were all buried in the flood water of Ping'an County, Huizhou a while ago. to himself.

Mu Liya listened and comforted him from time to time, but his tone was calm and sad from the beginning to the end.

And Xue Zhi still held his sword in a guarding posture, as if he was guarding against some invisible threats.

Zhou Ren wiped the corners of his reddened eyes, and said in a low voice, "That's about it. I don't want to worry too much about it. I just hope that Ah Qing can be buried as soon as possible." His words did not mention his previous experience in front of the mourning hall. Yelling, saying everything lightly.

"My condolences, if the venerable madam knows, I don't want to see you in such a state of mourning and desolation."

Zhou Ren reluctantly agreed, "Then I will thank you in advance."

The initial horror gradually faded away, and his mind that had read the book was heavy.