Walking out of the house, there is a small yard outside, only about a hundred square meters.
The old lady was cooking in a small shed on the right side of the yard. The shed had no door, so you could directly see her busy inside.
Qingyan took a few steps over there and could see a fire burning in the kitchen, and the chimney on the roof of the shed was emitting green smoke. The old lady opened the lid of the pot and stirred it twice with a spoon. The shed was immediately filled with heat.
There is some aroma coming out of the contents of the pot, it must be millet porridge.
There is a water tank outside the shed. It is quite large. The water tank is covered with a wooden lid. There is no trace of the man. He must have gone to fetch water again. The water tank must not be filled with a bucket of water.
The old lady obviously heard the door opening and walked out of the shed, which was also the kitchen, and wiped her hands on the rag apron she was wearing.
He smiled and said: "Girl, I'm awake. I'm making breakfast. We don't have anything good in the village, so we made some millet porridge. Drinking this in the morning can warm your stomach. We also have some pickles at home, so we'll make do with it."
I'll go and ask later who in the village is going to town today. If that doesn't work, I'll ask my son to give you a ride. "
Qingyan quickly smiled and thanked her, "Then I'm sorry for bothering you, ma'am. I've really caused trouble for you."
"Girl, you're welcome..." The two of them said a few more polite words, and the old lady returned to the kitchen. Qingyan wanted to help, but the old lady refused because the two young men in the kitchen couldn't turn around.
Qingyan stopped insisting. She also wanted to understand the situation in this village. Even if it was a dream, her curiosity was aroused now.
There is a stone wall surrounding the yard. It is not high, only about one and a half meters. Qingyan can look out through the wall.
This wall is meant to protect gentlemen but not villains. As long as a slightly taller person can see the inside from the outside, he can also see the outside from the inside, and he can sneak in with a slight jump.
Qingyan looked around. There were the same courtyards on the left and right, about the same size. This should be the southernmost row in the village. The house faced north and south. To the south was the mountain and the bare stone wall they had seen before.
The courtyard door was not closed, probably for the convenience of the old lady and her son when they came back from carrying water.
Qingyan walked out of the yard directly and stood on a path outside. She found a vegetable garden under the stone wall opposite, which should have been planted by these people.
Looking back, I felt a little strange. Wasn't there a lot of people coming and going just now? There was no one here, and there was no well nearby.
No, there is a sound behind the yard.
Qingyan took a few steps to one side and looked back at a small alley between the small courtyard and the next courtyard. Sure enough, there was a wider road behind it, and that was where people came and went.
In other words, the sound she heard so clearly before was because it was separated by a stone wall.
There are two rows behind this row of houses, one row has about a dozen yards, and there are about thirty or forty houses in the three rows. This is in line with what I heard about the dozens of houses before.
But there's something wrong. Didn't I say before that there were hundreds of people in this village? According to this family, there are only two people in a family, and there are only a few dozen people in a household of thirty or forty. How can there be hundreds of people?
Of course, it may not necessarily be true if someone else’s family has a large population.
At this time, a young man in his twenties walked into the alley. The man was dressed in blue and gray cloth. He carried two buckets on his shoulders and walked toward this direction. A little water spilled out of the buckets.
He looked up and saw Qingyan, smiled with white teeth and said, "Girl, wake up. She fainted yesterday. Are you feeling unwell now?"
Qingyan immediately confirmed that this was the old lady's son and the person who was said to have brought her back from the entrance of the village.
She was actually a little curious about the conversation between mother and son last night, especially the ancestor they talked about. Also, the old lady seemed to be in a hurry to send her away. She didn't know what it meant. Could it be because of the ancestor?
It's just that I don't know how to ask these questions, after all, I overheard them.
She nodded to the man with a smile and said: "There is no discomfort. Thank you, brother, for saving me. Otherwise, I don't know what would have happened if I fainted alone.
I don’t know what to call my eldest brother yet. When I return to the county, I can bring my family over to express my thanks. "
"That's not necessary, it's just a matter of effort. My surname is Yin, Yin Keqin. We all have this surname in Qinian Village. We all come from the same ancestor. I am from the generation of Ke..."
Yin Keqin was very talkative, and after Qingyan just asked a question, he almost explained all his family affairs.
This saves Qingyan from having to talk nonsense, and she immediately knows the general situation of the village.
But it was certain that she was not in a dream, and she didn't think she could have such a specific dream.
I just don’t know what kind of method this is, it can actually separate myself from Chou Chou, and it can also make myself appear here.
She had some doubts that this was a magic mirror specifically aimed at her, because she came yesterday and was wearing the same outfit when she came. The other party probably didn't see her situation after going to the county seat, so the other party didn't know that she had changed. clothes.
As for Chou Chou, it should be that the other party's target is him, and he is worried that Chou Chou will do anything bad, so he deliberately isolates Chou Chou from himself.
At this time, the man had already walked in front of her. Qingyan turned aside to get out of the way. While listening to the other man's words, she followed him back.
Returning to the yard again, Yin Keqin poured water directly into the water tank.
At this time, there was a wooden basin next to the water tank, and the water in it was steaming. The old lady stood at the door of the kitchen. When she saw them coming in, she said to Qingyan: "The moment I turned around, I didn't see the girl. I thought you were going there again." Let's rest in the house, it turned out that we went out, the hot water has just been poured into the basin, girl, please quickly wash up, you can eat soon."
Qingyan smiled sheepishly, "I heard some voices outside and went out to take a look. Madam, just call me Heng Yue. A girl's name is too polite."
Hengyue is her name in Hong Kong City. Her father gave it to her, which means a unique treasure. Qingyan was given by her mother, which means unique beauty. She likes both names, but the name Qingyan is used more often. , after all, she spends most of her time on the mainland.
The situation here was unclear, and she didn't want to use her common name, nor did she want to make up one randomly, for fear that she wouldn't know who was calling her, and it would be easy for her to reveal her identity.
The old lady smiled and nodded, "Okay, okay, then I'll call you Hengyue. Come and wash up. I'll serve the porridge out. Eat it while it's hot."
Qingyan went over and rinsed her mouth and face and that was it. There was nothing she could do, she didn't bring anything with her. Even if she brought toothpaste and toothbrush, she couldn't take it out.
After washing up, he followed the old lady into the main room. Yin Keqin did not come in. Tian directly took a bowl and went to another room to eat. Only the two of them ate in the main room.
Qingyan lowered her head to drink the porridge, her eyes twinkling.
The mother and son are so knowledgeable about etiquette and speak in a controlled manner. They are really not like villagers in the countryside. If it is not passed down from generation to generation, it is the same among the people in the village. Under a subtle influence, everyone is used to it.
This further shows that the people in this village are extraordinary.
Thinking of the tomb that Chou Chou mentioned before, Qingyan wondered whether this village would be like what later generations said, what kind of tomb keeper?
These villagers may be the descendants of the people who guarded the tomb. Just like in later generations, there were some clans that made mistakes next to the imperial tomb and went there to guard the tomb. Slowly, the descendants of those people became some villages and towns.
Chou Chou said before that the tomb has a history of thousands of years. It is normal for it to develop into a county town in a thousand years, not to mention a village.
Another one, Chou Chou, also said that the stones used to build the houses in this village and the stones in the tombs are of the same material, and they may have been built together.
Also, the village suddenly disappeared before. Chou Chou used his spiritual consciousness to detect the village in the tomb, but there was no breath of living people in it at all.
So where did these villagers go? Is it a living person? It wouldn't make sense if he wasn't a living person. So many people in Yunling County know Qinian Village, and people often marry into the village, which means he must be a living person.
But if they were all living people, why did they suddenly disappear? Where did these people go?
Thinking of this, Qingyan couldn't help but shudder. Isn't this really something like a ghost gate?
At this time, the old lady's voice sounded next to her again, "Hengyue, what's wrong with you? Are you a little cold? You are indeed wearing a little thin clothes. I'm ashamed to say that my family is poor and there are no extra thick clothes for you. wear."
Qingyan came back to her senses, smiled at the old lady, shook her head and said, "No, ma'am, I just took a sip of porridge and didn't pay attention to scald it."
The old lady smiled after hearing this and said, "The porridge has just come out of the pot and is a bit hot. Don't be anxious when drinking the porridge. You need to blow it before it's done."
Qingyan nodded, blew on the edge of the bowl, and took another sip of porridge.
She did take a sip of the hot porridge just now. She was thinking about it and didn't notice it at all. Now her tongue was a little numb, and it seemed that it was really hot.
At this time, there was suddenly a rumble of thunder outside!
Qingyan was stunned. When she just went out, the weather was obviously very good. Although the sun had not risen yet, she could see that the sky was blue and white clouds, and it didn't look like rain.
And it shouldn’t rain again this season, especially here in the northwest, where it will snow in ten days and a half.
Just when she raised her head to look outside, she realized that the old lady's expression was wrong. According to the light coming from the door, the old lady's face was dark and unclear. Qingyan felt a little nervous when she saw it.
What's happening here? Are you about to transform?
Then I heard the old lady say, "It seems it's too late. From now on, you shouldn't go out of this house anymore. It's best to stay inside. Don't go anywhere, and try not to make any noise." Just wait three days and it’ll be fine.”
Qingyan was stunned again, what does this mean?
I didn't feel any malice from the old lady. I knew that the other party probably didn't want to harm her, so I felt a little relieved.
But he still asked cautiously: "Auntie, what happened? Can you tell me?"
The old lady looked at her with complicated eyes, paused for a while, and then said: "When I said this was the Qingnian Village before, you were a little surprised, so I thought you might have heard the name of our village."
Qingyan nodded hesitantly.
A complicated expression appeared on the old lady's face, "Then you must have heard of the legend of this village, right?"
Qingyan nodded honestly. If she wanted to know someone else's secret, of course she couldn't pretend to know anything about it.
The old lady breathed a sigh of relief, "In that case, let me tell you. Anyway, you will definitely not be able to go out in these three days, so you can be prepared for what will happen next.
I think you have heard that our Qinian Village disappears for a few days every three years. Others think that the Qinian Village can communicate with some gods or ghosts. Once every three years, it opens the gate of hell or goes to the fairy world.
At first, when people from our village went out, everyone would avoid us, thinking that we were also some kind of ghosts. Later, after getting to know us for a long time, they realized that we were just ordinary people, and slowly, wives from other places got married.
The reason why the Qinian Village disappeared in those few days was that at least it looked like it was gone from the outside. In fact, it was not. Our village is still there, but it was isolated by the formation.
Every three years is the time to worship the ancestors. At that time, the altar will be opened along with the formation, and the village will be hidden by the formation to prevent outsiders from coming in and disturbing them, and people in the village cannot go out..."
Qingyan still didn't understand, "I understand that outsiders can't come in to worship our ancestors, but people in the village can't go out either. Why?"
The old lady looked at her, paused for a while and then said softly: "Because every time we perform sacrifices, we use human sacrifices. This is to prevent family members from being reluctant to give up and send the people out in advance."
Qingyan was shocked, it turned out to be a human sacrifice!
Although I knew that there were such bad customs in ancient times that were against the harmony of nature, such as using boys and girls to sacrifice to the river god as written in the text, I did not expect that Qinian Village also had this custom.
She could understand that the old lady wouldn't let her go out. She was probably afraid that the villagers wouldn't want to give up her children, so she should be used as the number of people. This was goodwill, and she accepted the favor.
Sure enough, the old lady continued: "Every three years, a young woman and a young man are sacrificed, both fifteen or sixteen years old, and each time the best-looking ones are chosen in the village.
This was not chosen by the people in the village, but by the ancestor himself. Whoever he chose would have a vine pattern on his forehead on the day of the sacrifice, so that he could see it directly.
The reason why I won't let you go out is because today is the first day. If you go out, your appearance will be better than the most beautiful girl in the village. Our ancestors will choose you directly regardless of whether you are from the village or not. You, then you can’t hide.
Because when it's time for the sacrifice, you will appear directly on the altar. Now even if I want you to leave, you can't leave. Look at the weather outside now. "
Qingyan looked out through the door. The sky was bright just a moment ago, but now it has turned dim. Sand and rocks began to fly outside, and the light inside the house also dimmed. It looked like a storm was coming...
(End of chapter)
