cough.
Seeing that everyone was paying attention to him, Jin An wanted to change the topic, so he made an excuse casually:
"Two old gentlemen, for this table of camel meat, you didn't just kill one camel, right?"
"You slaughtered the camels and gave them to us to eat. What will happen to your future lives?"
"I haven't seen any desert plants along the way. It's not easy for you to raise a camel. You gave us everything to eat and drink. So what will you eat and drink in the future?"
The fat old man Xikelti who was pouring wine turned around and grinned at Jin An behind him, showing his jagged old teeth, and said with a smile: "We are guests from afar. We have stayed in the desert for too long. The desert It's just sand. It's too boring. It's rare to have so many distinguished guests from far away today, and it's so lively. We don't ask for money, we just want to be happy."
As he spoke, he sighed: "We know that we have only a few years to live, so we have already looked away from whether we can make money or not. No matter how much money we make, we can't take it with us after we die. Several customers don't understand our approach. That's right. We have lived in this desert for generations. From more than a hundred people in our ancestors to only thirteen old men left, in a few years we will all be dead and this Laughing Corpse Village will really be gone. People are coming again, so it’s useless no matter how much camels and water we keep. We have only a few years to live, and we have long been tired of living in this vast desert, and we don’t want to bother anymore.”
"Thank you, Taoist Priest Jin An, for your concern. We old men appreciate Taoist Jin An's kindness." The fat old man Xikelti gave Jin An one last grateful look, and poured a bowl of wine for Jin An, urging Jin An to hurry up. Eat meat, don't be too polite to him.
Jin An originally wanted to distract everyone, but ended up getting angry. He looked at the human-faced phoenix that was fleeing from the camel meat like a poisonous scorpion, and then looked at Mr. Yiyun who was smiling like a 200-pound fool. , he quietly pushed the wine bowl away without changing his expression: "When I came here just now, I heard Mr. Pasha mention the Black Rain Country, and now I heard Mr. Xikelti mention that my ancestors have lived here in Laughing Corpse Village for generations. Here, would you like these two old gentlemen to tell me the reason for this?"
"Taoist Master Jin'an is too polite." The fat old man and the tall and thin old man said in fear.
"Hey, actually this matter is not complicated, so there is nothing to hide."
"We don't know much about what happened back then. We heard it from our fathers orally when we were young... The leader of the Black Rain Kingdom led an army into the depths of the desert to find the Kingdom of the Immortal God, and passed through the Holy Mountain of Guchi Kingdom along the way. , Guchi State encountered a disaster on the way to Wuershi, and many people died."
"...the specific catastrophe was not revealed by our fathers. They just talked nonsense about being careful that walls have ears, that trouble comes from the mouth, and that they don't want to implicate their descendants..."
"Every time we asked more questions, we would get scolded, so later on it became a taboo to never mention it..."
The fat old man continued to talk about what happened that year: "Since that disaster, which caused many casualties, the morale of the army has plummeted. Everyone is no longer willing to stay away from home and risk their lives for the personal selfishness of the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom. Dangerously entering the depths of the desert without rain or water, looking for the Kingdom of the Immortal God that does not exist at all..."
"...In order to revive morale, the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom built a village to store the soldiers who died in the battle, and named it 'Laughing Corpse Village'. The soldiers did not die in the battle, but were temporarily too tired and fell asleep. I hope the soldiers can dream of Apa Ata, his wife and children who are waiting for them to go home with fresh goat's milk wine and grilled hot naan in their sleep, with happy smiles on their faces... The king promises that he will not give up every one. The soldiers will definitely take every soldier back to their hometown. No matter whether they are living or dead, the king will not leave anyone behind. Therefore, there is this Laughing Corpse Manor, and some wounded soldiers and female slaves are left behind. Take care of the body.”
"The desert is very big and boring. When the army marches in the desert, they will also bring some female slaves with them. The guests come from the outside world. People like us must know more about the military prostitutes who accompany the army... Our ancestors stayed in Xiaoxiao back then. The wounded soldiers in the corpse farm have been waiting for the king to find the Kingdom of the Immortal God and bring them back, and then take them home. But they have been waiting for year after year, and they have never seen the king bring anyone back. Our The ancestors gave birth to children with those female slaves, and the children grew up and gave birth to children..."
"But as the land became barren and could no longer feed so many people, the number of people in the Laughing Corpse Village gradually decreased from a few hundred people back then, until no more girls could be born. By the time our generation died, only ten people were left. Three old men sitting there waiting to die... When we die, the Laughing Corpse Village will be completely dead."
As if they were talking about sadness, the fat old man and the tall and thin old man had tears in their eyes. They raised their hands to wipe the tears with their sleeves, their eyes red.
Jin An was thoughtful.
I am afraid that the reason for the sharp decline in the population of Laughing Corpse Village is not only the barren land here, but also a bigger reason. The lack of outsiders to integrate new blood, the development of this place will eventually lead to incest. When a village is full of incestuous marriages, it can only lead to destruction in the end.
After his mood stabilized, Pasha, a tall and thin old man with deep wrinkles on his face that had been eroded by wind and sand, sighed softly: "Actually, it doesn't need to be told by several guests. We old men also know that back then, The king of the Black Rain Kingdom and others who went into the depths of the desert to search for the legendary kingdom of the undead must have died deeper in the desert, otherwise the king and the others would definitely come back and take away the living and the dead in the Laughing Corpse Manor. Without its leader and army, the Black Rain Kingdom would definitely have ceased to exist... But we still took a chance and couldn't help but ask the guests for news about the Black Rain Kingdom. Looking at the reactions on the guests' faces, did you know? The meaning of the answer no longer matters.”
It seemed that he was relieved, as if he had finally let go of the obsession of generations. When he said this, the tall and thin old man took a heavy breath and said that they were old and couldn't move anymore. They didn't want to go anywhere. They just wanted to live peacefully in this life. He died peacefully at Laughing Corpse Manor, accompanying his ancestors on their last journey of life, which could be regarded as sticking to the vows made back then.
If what the other party said is true, it is really a touching story about being in the same robe as my son.
But there is no what if.
As long as you are not blind.
Everyone can see that there is something wrong with this Laughing Corpse Village.
Jin An once again looked at the human-faced phoenix that had self-inflicted blood on the ground and was far away from the camel meat. He pretended to be sad and said: "This is really a sad story."
"As we walked along, there was no rain or water in this desert. It was so desolate that it was not suitable for vegetation to grow. We didn't even see any poplar, saxaul or white thorn. Where are the camels at Xiaoshi Village?"
Facing Jin An's curiosity, the tall and lanky old man directly gave out shocking news: "Because we have found the Wuer clan ruins!"
"Master Yan and the others also know this. They arrived a few days earlier than you and have already gone to Wuer's with us!"
"In order to find a way to survive, I have been looking around for a way out according to some ambiguous clues left by my ancestors. Over the years, I have not only figured out what is in this desert, but also figured out the surrounding terrain. After generations of slow exploration, I have learned about the surrounding area. I'm still confident 70% to 80% of the time."
"The ancestors also visited the Holy Mountain of Guchi Kingdom, but the Holy Mountain of Guchi Kingdom was too dangerous and the ancestors could not get out. They could only follow the footsteps of their ancestors into the depths of the desert to find other ways to survive, which was also unintentional. Found the Wuer clan ruins."
"Now that I think about it, being able to find the Wu'er clan in the boundless desert with just the number of ancestors is all a matter of luck. The desert gods have not abandoned us people."
When he said this, the tall and thin old man smiled happily, with black and yellow teeth in his mouth.
And the Lord Yan he was talking about was the big Han general sitting opposite.
Seeing the tall and thin old man pulling over to his side, the burly general touched the fine iron ring on his finger again, glanced at the former, and nodded with no anger or joy on his face: "Yes, we have indeed been there. No ears."
In this world, if you want to tell a lie well, it must be 70% true and 30% false.
That is the most difficult thing to distinguish between true and false.
Unexpectedly, these suspicious veterans, in order to lure them into being deceived and arouse the deepest greed in human nature, would even throw out such important clues as the Wuer clan.
This is really a waste of money.
But if you think about it carefully, this is the only way to hook big fish like them. I don’t know what these veterans are trying to do by putting so much effort into planning?
Jin An was not in a hurry to inquire about the Wuer clan. Instead, he looked at Lord Yan across from him: "On the way here, I met a man from the Western Regions who was swept up by a sandstorm during the day and fell to death. I don't know if he was Lord Yan's." people?"
He roughly described the appearance of the people from the Western Regions.
Master Yan shook his head without joy and anger: "They are not from my team."
Jin An smiled: "I just asked casually, Master Yan don't need to think too much."
I don’t know how true or false his words are.
"Can you tell me about the situation at Wu'er's side?" Jin An turned to look at the fat old man and the tall and thin old man this time.
The position of these two old men at this time is a bit interesting.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, after filling everyone's wine bowls with wine, the two of them stood at the door, one on the left and the other on the right, just blocking the door, as if to prevent them from escaping.
At this time, the aroma of meat was still rising in the room, and those who drank and ate meat were still biting the meat with gusto, and their mouths were full of oil.
They have been talking for a long time. After eating so much camel meat, it weighs at least three or four kilograms. Logically speaking, people should have eaten to their full capacity, unless they have a particularly big appetite, but these people are still gorging on it all the time. Meat, there is no pain like overeating at all.
On the table and on the ground, there were many thick ribs and leg bones thrown away. Those bones were chewed clean, and even the marrow was chewed out.
In this slightly eerie atmosphere, the tall and thin old man began to mysteriously talk about the Wuer clan: "In the desert, there are two ears of the gods. Whoever finds the ears of the gods can hear the voices of the gods." , becoming the person closest to God, and countless mysterious legends have attracted the yearning of countless people."
"Thousands of years ago, this place was not a complete desert. There were rivers, oases, wild beasts and vultures... The melted snow from the Kunlun Mountains and Tianshan Mountains converged into a vast river, flowing from the desert basin to the outside, where the ancient river must pass There are two gods’ ears on the road.”
"Thousands of years ago, someone found the ear of the gods and called it a miracle. They also established a country on the ears of the gods. No one knew the name at first. Later people used to call them the earless people. They claimed to be close to the ears of the gods. , you can hear the sounds from the north of the Tianshan Mountains, you can hear the sounds from the south of the Tianshan Mountains, you can hear all the sounds in the entire desert, and you can even hear the mysterious sounds from the Kingdom of the Immortal God... In order to hear more gods Sound, they created the ear-circumcision ritual, sacrificing their ears to the gods, so that they can hear more sounds of the gods from the ears of the gods..."
"It is precisely for this reason that the name was later changed to 'Wuershi'."
The tall and thin old man spoke mysteriously, but he never said what the ear of the god looked like.
Jin An: "What does this god's ear look like?"
The night sky outside the door was dark, and the tall and thin old man standing at the door smiled mysteriously: "That is a huge human ear that grows in the desert, leading deep underground. No matter how many stones are thrown into the hole, you will never hear anything." The sound of stones falling to the ground is bottomless, leading directly to the world where desert gods live."
Sinkhole?
An abyss sinkhole that looks like the outline of a human ear?
This was Jin An's first reaction.
Jin An nodded thoughtfully: "Then the desert god's ear canal is quite deep, like a bottomless pit."
Mr. Yiyun, who was sitting next to Jin An, raised his red mouth slightly, his face was as beautiful as snow-white porcelain, and his skin was delicate and white, which made his cold temperament a little lighter.
Seeing Jin An turning around to look, she deliberately made a serious face, making Jin An look confused. She glanced at Brother Jiuwan, who died in pieces. He stopped looking around and continued to look at the two yellow-toothed old men at the door.
Jin An: "Since you have found the Wuer clan ruins, you should also have found the sinkhole... uh, the Ear of the Gods, right?"
Pasha and Xikelti nodded.
Jin An: "Did you hear the voice of the gods? Or the mysterious voice from the Kingdom of the Immortal God?"
The two shook their heads in distress.
The promise was self-evident.
This table of camel meat, if only the people from Master Yan's side would not be able to finish it. With the seven or eight people from the Western Regions who joined later, they could finish the table of camel meat.
When all the camel meat was finished and the strong aroma of the meat disappeared, those people who had lost their minds and had been eating gluttonously came to their senses, holding their stomachs in their hands and saying that they had eaten well.
I don’t know what the two old men were thinking. When all the camel meat on the table was finished, they stopped serving meat. The two of them glanced at the night outside, then looked at each other, and headed back into the house. The person smiled and said: "It's getting late now, and the few guests from far away should be tired. We've already had people tidy up the sleeping places."
"However, there may not be enough beds and quilts. Everyone needs to squeeze in. Master Yan and the others already have a place to sleep. Taoist Jin'an, Mr. Yiyun, and these distant guests coming tonight may have to squeeze in."
