The creaking sound of the fence gate at the end of the village was still behind him, and the old man who was supporting Ji Yuan did not let go. He led Ji Yuan a dozen steps inside and arrived in front of a house with the exterior walls painted with mud.
“Sir, be careful, the threshold is very high, keep your feet high!”
The high threshold is no joke, it is really high. I vaguely felt like my calves were high. Ji Yuan took advantage of the situation and raised his feet to follow the old man into the house.
This house is not like a normal house, because it has only one room, with neither a kitchen nor an inner hall. There is only a table with an oil lamp, four benches, and two beds beside it. .
‘Well, it’s more like a temporary dormitory! ’
When he got indoors, the old man finally let go of his hand and asked Ji Yuan to sit down.
“Sir, please sit down. The old man’s surname is Xu. I wonder where Mr. Gao lives?”
As he spoke, he took the initiative to move a stool so that Ji Yuan could sit down. The sound of his feet rubbing against the ground drew a colorless line in Ji Yuan’s heart.
“Okay, thank you, old man. My surname is Ji, and I am from Ning’an County.”
As Ji Yuan spoke, he touched the edge of the table and sat down. He put the bags and umbrellas on the table. Guan Hu pours water for Ji Yuan.
“Oh Ning’an people, we generally don’t welcome strangers casually at night. As the old saying goes, a living person has a shadow and warmth. You can’t look back when you call someone by name at night. There are a lot of strange things happening these days, so you always have to be careful. Just now Did you make Mr. laugh?”
The sound of tea pouring into the bowl is crisp and clear, and a little splash of water will appear when the bowl is filled.
“Sir, please drink some water.”
“It’s okay, be careful and you won’t make any big mistakes, thank you!”
After thanking him once more, Ji Yuan took a sniff and drank it without caring about anything. At this time, the old man suddenly asked him.
“Sir, are you a ghost?”
“Pfft…”
Ji Yuan took a sip of tea and spit it out.
“Ahem, cough, cough… the old man is joking, of course I am not a ghost!!!”
Ji Yuan was choked up by this sudden hard-core question. He coughed for a while, and the old man next to him apologized again and again.
“Don’t blame me, sir. Don’t blame me, sir. The old man has a bad memory. Suddenly something occurred to him, and he subconsciously wanted to confirm it. It’s because we are too remote and few people come here alone at night.”
Ji Yuan coughed a few times to circulate his spiritual energy to soothe the irritation in his trachea, and asked helplessly and curiously.
“What are you confirming? Didn’t the old man check your pulse?”
“It’s true what I said. It’s just that some people don’t know that they are not alive even after they die. This kind of person is the most difficult to identify. You need to tell him in front of him. We call this native method ‘Mandarin Duck’ Law’.
‘What a weird name? Ocean? Complaint? It can’t be a mandarin duck, right? ’
Throwing away the thoughts in his mind, Ji Yuan asked the old man directly.
“Old man, are you often haunted?”
Otherwise, why are you so nervous? But as long as it’s not a ghost, it’s not a big problem.
“A few years ago, I did encounter someone looking for a scapegoat. We are the only village within a few dozen miles of this desolate countryside. Everyone is on guard, fearing that something strange will come here, but the ghost is still there. Well, as the saying goes, people are 30% afraid of ghosts, and ghosts are 70% afraid of people. The more people we have, the more brave we will be, and the village will be full of young and strong men with strong tempers…”
The old man paused for a moment, then continued after a slight hesitation.
“It’s just that we have had trouble with beautiful snakes before. This season, when it’s dark, everyone can’t go out unless they go out!”
“Beautiful snake?”
Ji Yuanxin frowned, could it be a demon?
“Well, it is said that there is a big snake with a beautiful head, which likes to trick young and strong men into eating it.”
“Beauty? Can you lie to others? Old man, please don’t try to trick me!!”
Ji Yuan took a breath of cold air and subconsciously thought of Lu Shanjun in Niu Kuishan. Is this something that ordinary people can guard against with just being careful?
The light of the oil lamp in the house flickered, but the room was still dim. The flickering light seemed like Ji Yuan’s mood.
The monsters and monsters that can speak are all well-behaved and have refined their crossbones. They are not little monsters who will be accidentally beaten to death by iron rakes and hoes. And if this snake really has a human head ……
Ji Yuan didn’t dare to think about it anymore, and even had the urge to leave, but if he went outside… his chest would feel so tight.
There is no city **** in this county, right? Don’t you care about this place?
“Hey, many people know about this. It made our village panic for a long time. How could I lie to you? I won’t tell you anymore…”
Having said this, the old man stood up from the stool on one side and went to make the other bed.
“Sir, my family is still in the inner village. This house at the end of the village is temporarily occupied by the people who look after the entrance of the village. Please stay here for one night today. If you want to go to the hut at night, you can wake me up. I will I’ll help you over.”
“By the way, sir, are you hungry? If so, I’ll get you some food?”
“No, I’m not hungry!”
As Ji Yuan declined, he went over to make the bed together. The smell above must have been exposed to the sun, but it didn’t matter even if the smell was strong. He didn’t really care about it, and he didn’t care.
“Woof woof woof… woof woof woof woof…”
There were dogs barking outside and a few curses. Ji Yuan listened carefully and seemed to be able to hear words such as “terrible” and “unlucky”.
Ji Yuan looked at the old man aside and showed no reaction. He temporarily put aside the uneasiness in his mind and asked about his journey.
“Old man, what is the name of your village? Where is it in Shunbao County? What is the best way to get to Jiao County?”
“Shunbao County?”
Hearing the old man’s doubtful voice, Ji Yuan felt a little bad.
“Sir, your road is quite far away. This is Shanghegou Village, which is already the northeastern corner of Suiyuan County. It has already passed Baoshun.”
“Ah!?”
‘Suiyuan County? Did I go through two counties? ’
The paperweight map is very fine, but the lines are too fine and the scale of the map is difficult to grasp. We can only understand the general relationship of each land boundary through this condensed map, which exceeds the limit and covers the thirteen states of Da Zhen. A county is only a small dot on the map. Carving a very small name to mark the official road is already a miraculous work of martial arts. The sense of distance can only be reflected from the land of a prefecture.
‘So I underestimated my foot strength? ’
I am afraid that when I used Qinggong to catch up with the three fast horses, I might have overrun it without realizing it!
‘Racing is a mistake! ! ! ’
Ji Yuan, who was lamenting in his heart, quickly continued to ask the old man.
“Then if I want to go to Chun Hui Mansion, do you think it would be better to go back the same way or choose another way?”
“Here, old man, I haven’t run this far before. Let’s do this. Mr. Ji will rest first. Tomorrow morning, he can ask the merchants who are also staying in the village. I heard that they are going to Dumingfu City eventually. Maybe they know. What’s the right way to go!”
“Hey…that’s the only way to go!”
I miss mobile navigation so much…
. . .
It’s late at night…
People in the village go to bed earlier than people in the city, and there is no clock in the bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com. The old man indoors is already snoring, and occasionally there are a few dogs barking in the village outside. Come.
Ji Yuan was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, but he didn’t fall asleep. On the one hand, the snoring next to him was too obvious in the quiet night, especially in his ears. On the other hand, he was touching the paperweight map. First re-plan the route yourself.
“Woof woof woof… woof woof woof woof… woof woof woof…”
“Woof woof woof woof…”
The barking of dogs suddenly became intensive. Ji Yuan opened his eyes almost at the same moment when he heard the sound. He could tell that many village dogs gathered in a certain place, barking together in one direction.
After waiting for a while, the barking of the dog gradually quieted down.
Old dogs that have been raised for a long time are often very spiritual. I have seen this once in Jiyuan, Ning’an County. In my last life, I have always heard the old man say that dogs have psychic eyes, so Jiyuan is still a bit confused when barking. Care.
‘A little panicked…’
. . .
Beside the river outside the village, a long black shadow slid across the ground, crawling slowly in an S shape along the coastal area. The dense scales made a sizzling sound as they brushed against the stones and branches.
Somewhere, the black shadow raised its body and looked toward the village, revealing its thick body and white scales on its abdomen.
“His~~~hiss~~~”
After standing there for a moment spitting out the letter, a burst of violent barking could be heard in the village. However, in fact, those domestic dogs often just approached the fence and roared, but had no intention of running out.
“Hiss~~~”
The big snake lowered its body and twisted its slightly bloated body a few times along the bank.
After a “Plop~~” sound, mixed with the sound of water waves being pushed away, a long black shadow slid into the river, and some small boats on the side were also shaking due to the changes in the ripples of the water surface.