Qingyan imagined the scene Chou Chou described. The village with stone houses was indeed a bit unusual.
When they just came down from the mountain to the west, there was a ruins of a village at the foot of the mountain, but the houses in that village were all made of adobe, and the foundation left behind also showed that this place was unlikely to be used. A house made of stone.
This village is also at the foot of the mountain, not inside the mountain. Even if you want to guard against wild beasts running down the mountain, you only need to build walls with stones, and there is no need to build houses.
Although this mountain has a lot of rocks, there are many trees on it, which means there is a thick layer of soil on it. Mining the stones to build a house is more laborious than removing the adobe, not to mention that most of the people here live in You can imagine how abrupt this village of stone houses is among the cave dwellings.
"I don't know what the name of this village is. By the way, have you ever seen a stone tablet or archway at the entrance of the village before?"
Qingyan looked at Chou Chou and asked.
Most villages will erect a stone tablet with the name of the village at the entrance of the village, or if conditions permit, they will also erect an archway.
Chou Chou nodded, "It's true. There used to be a stone archway here with the word "Qinian Village" written on it.
"Qinian Village? Why such a strange name?" Qinian means praying for a good harvest. Under what circumstances should we pray for a good harvest? Of course it's a bad year.
Therefore, praying for good harvest and offering sacrifices are synonymous. They are not good words and are generally not used as the name of a village.
However, we did get some clues from the name of this village. Just now Chou Chou said that there was an altar in the tomb underneath. Could it be related to this village?
Chou Chou had obviously thought of this, and quickly directed his consciousness towards the tomb again.
This time it was more cautious and did not immediately look under the cemetery. It first looked at the ground and found no difference. It was still the same as before.
Only then did he carefully lower his consciousness deeper and deeper, little by little, for fear of triggering any formation restrictions again.
I was also wondering in my heart whether it was because it had just touched the formation, and that formation connected the village here, so the village disappeared.
The rumbling sound before was not necessarily coming from the tomb, it could also be the sound of the village activating the formation.
That's not right, the previous sound did come from underground over there, and it was impossible to hear it wrong with its hearing.
I was also worried about the formation at that time and didn't dare to explore it again, so it's really hard to say now.
When it reached the ground bit by bit, it suddenly discovered that the appearance of the altar in the previous tomb had changed, and it turned into the appearance of the previous village!
Not only are the stone houses there, but the archway is also there, but there is no atmosphere of life before. It is an empty village, and all the villagers are gone.
Chou Chou quickly scanned the entire village and found no scent of living creatures, so he immediately withdrew his consciousness.
She said to Qingyan: "That village actually went underground!"
"Huh? What does that mean?"
Qingyan didn't understand what Chou Chou meant for a moment, and even looked back at the location of the village.
Seeing that she had misunderstood, Chou Chou explained: "It's not the underground here, it's over there in the tomb. When I explored it before, it was clearly a tomb with many stone statues and a priest's stone platform inside, but now it turned out to be a tomb." It has become what the village looked like before, and many torches were lit for lighting.
However, no signs of living activity were found, and those people seemed to have evaporated overnight. "
Qingyan swallowed with some fear. Fortunately, it was broad daylight now. If it had been at night, she would have been frightened and cried. Just now, the hair on her body stood up.
How could this okay thing turn into a supernatural incident? "No, we can't stay here anymore. Let's get out of here while it's still bright."
Chou Chou also means the same thing. Its current ability is no problem against mortals, but this kind of unknown is not necessarily the case.
And it's not that they are in danger when they come, they just don't want to cause trouble. Those bandits have already left. At most, they will be recognized by Deputy General Wang when they go out. If so, just say that they are their descendants. Chou Chou can also hide in the space. The little leopard can be hidden in the satchel. Qingyan's clothes are different from before, and she has put on some disguise, so she should be able to get away with it.
She and the other party were acquainted and had no grudges, so there was no need to hide.
Turning the horse's head again, she got in the car and asked Big Bear to speed up and go out. She was going to go to the town to inquire about this village. This village was not far from the town. It was only a few miles away. Someone must know the situation here, especially Some old people might know other things.
Before, she thought she had accidentally reached that location, and she thought she had some intuition at most. But now she is frightened when she thinks about it, and she doesn't know what was tempting her there.
Thinking of the plots on TV, she trembled. Wasn't she trying to sacrifice herself to the heavens or release some kind of demon?
Thinking about what Xiangxiang had told her before, her soul was different from ordinary people, much stronger than ordinary people. She could communicate with Xiangxiang and ChouChou with her mind right after she was born. There must be something special about it.
The more he thought about it, the more he became afraid, so he asked Big Bear to speed up again.
But the carriage is heavy and the road is difficult, so now it is the fastest speed.
Just like this, we walked nervously all the way. It took more than thirty minutes to go there before, and it only took ten minutes to walk back to the roadside.
Fortunately, nothing happened. I looked back and drove the carriage onto the main road.
The corpses of the bandits have disappeared, and the blood stains on the ground have been cleaned up and buried with soil. If the people they killed didn't remember their locations, they wouldn't be able to tell if they didn't look carefully.
Looking at the fresh ruts on the ground, it seemed that the people Chou Chou mentioned pushed the cart and pulled the corpses away.
One of the corpses was brought back to verify their identity and confirmed to be a bandit, and the other was found a place to bury them.
In ancient times, no matter whether they were good people or bad people, as long as they saw their corpses, they would not be exposed in the wilderness. In ancient times, the theory of cause and effect of gods and ghosts was more important. Secondly, they were afraid of epidemics.
For example, in ancient battlefields, tens of thousands of people often died. Those corpses could not just be thrown there. They would usually find a place to bury them, which is what later generations called mass graves.
Although it is buried centrally, it is much stronger than being exposed to the air.
After getting on the road, Qingyan's tight string slowly relaxed. Just by relaxing, she felt her stomach churn.
She had already felt uncomfortable during the bumpy ride, but her nerves were tense and she didn't react. Now when she relaxed, she felt like her stomach was churning, as if all the food she had eaten before was being knocked out.
I forced the carriage to move forward for a while, and when it stopped about two to three hundred meters away from the fork in the road, I squatted on the roadside and vomited everything I had eaten.
Chou Chou ran over and handed her a glass of water and a towel.
Qingyan took the cup and rinsed her mouth, then used a towel to wipe the physiological tears that had just flowed out when she vomited, and took a long breath.
Chou Chou asked worriedly: "Is it better? How about we park on the side of the road, and you go to the car and lie down for a while, and then we can leave when you feel better."
Qingyan shook her head, "No, I'm much better."
Chou Chou: "Then let's go to that town? The town is not far from here. If you are really scared, we will ignore the things here and go directly to the county seat."
"It's okay. I'm not scared. I just had some fear of the unknown before. Now that I'm far away, it's okay. I'm just nervous all the time. I've been jostled for a long time. My stomach is cramping. Just spit it out."
Chou Chou nodded, "Would you like to eat some fruit to suppress the taste in your mouth?"
Qingyan nodded. Even after rinsing her mouth, her mouth was still a little sour. It would be better to eat something sweet.
Chou Chou took out a big peach for her. It would not hurt the stomach if eaten on an empty stomach and was milder than other fruits.
The peaches have been washed before, so they can be eaten directly. Chou Chou got the underripe ones, and they didn't need to be peeled if they were crispy and sweet.
Qingyan took it and started to nibble on it. The crispy and sweet texture and the unique fragrance of peaches immediately filled her mouth, relieving her previous discomfort.
After eating the peach, I got on the carriage again, this time letting the big bear walk slowly without being in such a hurry.
Walking slower, the carriage was less bumpy, and the main road was flatter than the small road, Qingyan felt a little drowsy.
It's now past one o'clock in the afternoon, which is a good time for a nap.
She leaned against the carriage shed and fell asleep in a daze. Chou Chou controlled the carriage to move slowly, trying to make her sleep as comfortable as possible.
But the town is not far away, even if we walk about twenty minutes slower, we will still be there.
Qingyan had no choice but to wake up. Qingyan forced herself to open her eyes. Seeing that they were about to arrive at the entrance of the town, Qingyan immediately became energetic.
Because she found that her previous thoughts were a bit naive, and now the entrance to the town was surrounded by officers and soldiers, and they were not allowed to enter at all.
Two soldiers even came to inquire and inspect her carriage.
Fortunately, the carriage was basically empty, so she was not afraid of inspection. When asked what she was here for, Qingyan learned the local dialect and replied: "I came from Xifeng Town and was going to Yunling County. I’m visiting relatives, isn’t it noon? Seeing that there is a town here, I want to eat something in the town and repair myself.”
Seeing that she was a little girl, the inspecting soldier didn't put it in any more trouble. Fortunately, he reminded her: "This town has just been looted by bandits and there is nothing there. You can't buy anything if you go in. It's better to go directly to the county seat." Go to the side.
Some of the bandits escaped, but they didn't go that way. It's safer. You should try to take the main road instead of the small road.
Qingyan quickly thanked her and left in the carriage.
She had indeed thought poorly before. The people in the town had just been robbed by bandits, and she ran there to find out what was going on. Who had time to deal with them? She was probably sad for her own loss.
Thinking of this, Qingyan couldn't help but slap herself on the forehead. What a pig's head.
Drive the carriage back to the main road and continue walking eastward.
She wasn't afraid of meeting bandits. If she did, as long as it wasn't a big bandit, she might be able to take advantage of them again.
Chou Chou said that most of those people ran to the north, and there was also a small group in the south, but not in the east, because the officers and soldiers came from the east.
Now I don’t think about it so much. Let’s go directly to the county seat. Although the county seat is a little far away from here, if the previous village is more famous, maybe people in the county seat have heard of it.
She was just a little curious about what was going on in that village, especially the tomb. It didn't matter if she couldn't find out. Anyway, she didn't live here permanently, so it really didn't have much to do with her.
After walking for three miles, Chou Chou said to her, "Now we can see Yunling County."
Qingyan sighed: "This county is really quite big. We walked more than 20 miles from Xifeng Town to Qingfeng Town just now. We also walked more than 20 miles from Qingfeng Town to the county seat. This is We’ve been out for nearly fifty miles, and this is just in one direction.”
Chou Chou nodded, "Yes, in ancient times, the area was sparsely populated. What's more, the geographical location here is in the northwest. Even the northwest will be similar in later generations. Think about Xinjiang in later generations."
Qingyan immediately fell silent, but in Xinjiang, a county is almost as big as a small province, and the distance from one county to another is across the province.
After walking five or six miles, I came across another town. This town was smaller than the previous two towns. It looked like it should be a larger village before, because it was on the only way to the county seat, or away from it. The county seat is relatively close, and it slowly developed into a town.
This place is called Xiaoyuan Town. I don’t know where this name came from. Of course, I can’t figure out the previous Xifeng Town and Qingfeng Town. I feel that the names here are very random.
There is only one main street in Xiaoyuan Town, with a grocery store, a grain store, and a cloth store, but the rest are gone.
Maybe it's just too small. There is no Mijia Tavern here. Chou Chou said that there is a Mijia Tavern in Qingfeng Town.
They did not enter the town. They would reach the county seat not far ahead, so there was no need to waste time here.
Just get a rough idea through Chou Chou’s spiritual consciousness.
We also passed several villages on the road, none of which were very big, with more than twenty or thirty households, and some with even a few households.
Most of them are not on the roadside, and the layout is very similar to the previous villages.
When she was still one mile away from the county seat, Qingyan found an open space and let the little leopard out, fed it some food, let it go to the toilet in the grass, and then put it in her satchel.
By the way, Chou Chou asked Chou Chou to take out the two baskets and put them in the carriage, so that when the time came to take things out, there would be a cover up.
Put the sheepskin quilt and baggage in a basket, put the pottery bowls and pots in a frame, and let Chou Chou take out the gourd from before, which was full of water.
After looking at the preparations, he drove the carriage forward again. The city tower could be seen from a distance. As he got closer, he found that the county town was really big, almost as big as Handeng.
(End of chapter)
