"thanks for treatment."
"Have you two eaten?"
"Eat, eat, eat." Song You said as he took out a small piece of broken silver from his arms, "The host is very warm, and we don't want to eat and drink for free, so we can use it as a gift."
"this……"
The servant was stunned for a moment, and then said: "I have to ask my master."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
After a while, the host came in a hurry.
"I have received your thoughts, but you are an outsider. I was just passing by today. I came here because of fate. However, I invited you to have a light meal and gave you some food and water. I didn't bring anything with you." It's rude to us to charge for money, so how can we accept the gift money from Mr. You?" The middle-aged man said to Song You, "If you two have eaten well, please ask Hong Er to take you two to the old house and spend the night together. If what you hear and see is local custom, please don't take it personally."
"Then thank you, master." Song You also took back the money, "I just don't dare to trouble the master anymore, we can just go find it ourselves."
"How can that be done?" the middle-aged man said, "It's pitch dark outside, the road in the village is narrow, and it's far away. There's no one to guide you. How can you find it there? How can you tell which one it is?"
"It doesn't matter if you can't find it, just spend one night anywhere." Song You looked at him, "I've been used to sleeping in the barren mountains along the way."
"It would be fine if this was a barren mountain, but since you have already come here, how can you let me sleep anywhere?" The middle-aged man said sincerely, "It won't take much effort, so let Hong Er take you two there."
"Thank you very much."
Song You stopped refusing and accepted with a smile.
Then the servants took them out with lanterns.
When I passed by, I turned my head and glanced around. I saw that the courtyard was filled with lanterns, and the decoration was extremely festive. It was not much different from ordinary people getting married, except that there was a dark coffin in the lobby, which was too conspicuous.
"Watch the threshold."
The servant reminded them.
"Thank you."
Song You withdrew his gaze and stepped out.
After retrieving the two horses, they walked out of the house and followed the servants on the dark village road.
This is the easternmost part of the village, and the abandoned old house is at the westernmost part of the village. The village is quite large, and the roads are winding and extending in all directions. If there are no servants to lead the way, you may not be able to find it.
"arrive."
The servant opened the door to the house.
"Thank you."
"It's been unoccupied for too long. It's a little dusty. Do you need someone to clean it up?"
"No need."
"The little man took his leave." The servant said, "The little man wants to go back, so I took the lantern away. You two should rest early."
"Walk slowly."
Song You sent him off respectfully.
As soon as the servant left with the lantern, darkness immediately returned to the place, leaving only the starlight in the sky.
However, the calico cat knew that human eyesight was not good, so he turned into a human form and took his pony lantern and put it on the table.
"Hongyuan Haode, Five Elements Supreme Fire and Yang Divine Power True Lord, I am the Empress of the Three Flowers of the Mao'er Temple next to Fulong Temple in Yinyang Mountain, Lingquan County, Yizhou. Please lend me some firelight to light the lantern."
"call……"
There was a little fire in the lantern.
The house was also illuminated by lights.
Looking at the house through the light, it is indeed empty, with almost nothing except shelter from the wind and rain.
"gentlemen……"
The gray-clothed swordsman looked at Song You: "Something is wrong."
"yes."
Song You also nodded.
The Ding family is indeed enthusiastic, but a little cautious, as if they are deliberately hiding something.
Knowing that they were unwilling to leave today and wanted to live in the village, he took them from the easternmost house to the westernmost house, fearing that there was something he didn't want them to know.
"Maybe it's just a custom and it's not convenient for outsiders to see."
"Then let's..."
"Go and have a look too."
"good!"
The swordsman agreed.
The two people and the cat were sitting in the house, and the two horses were standing outside honestly. As the time got later and later, a burst of firecrackers suddenly came from the distance, faintly.
"..."
Two people and one cat just went out.
Walking in the direction of the sound, the sound of firecrackers became clearer and clearer, followed by a burst of gongs and drums, which was quite festive.
The Taoist and the swordsman in gray retreated to the roadside, hiding in the night.
The stars were clear tonight, and there was a little mist on the ground. The sound of blowing in the distance became clearer and louder, getting closer and closer. Even the villagers in the houses behind the Taoist quietly opened their windows and looked outside.
I saw a wedding team slowly approaching.
The light was dim at night. When you were far away, you could only see a few lights and a group of figures. When you got closer, you could clearly see the group of people welcoming the bride.
What a magnificent wedding team.
There were several servants in the front holding flags to clear the way, behind them were gongs to clear the way, and behind them were those who played the suona, those who carried lanterns, those who carried baskets, those who carried boxes, and those who lit torches. There were at least twenty or thirty people, and in the middle were eight people carrying large sedan chairs.
"I am marrying my first wife..."
The gray-clothed swordsman stared ahead, murmuring softly, and suddenly frowned.
"No! A sedan?"
For such a ghostly marriage, if it wasn't a dead body, it should be a spiritual tablet.
At this time, the wedding team had passed in front of them.
Faintly sobbing could be heard coming from the sedan.
"..."
The gray-robed swordsman looked back at Song You again.
Generally speaking, no one would use a living person to match a ghost marriage.
The reason why people in the world look for ghost marriages for their children is not only because they believe in Feng Shui and want to benefit living people, but also because they want their children to have a companion after death so that they will not be alone. If a living person can be used to match the underworld marriage, the latter goal will not be achieved, and there will be a risk of being cast aside by the world. Generally speaking, there are more special considerations.
Such a woman will be a widow after passing away, and her future will usually not be very good.
In fact, ghost marriage is meaningless. Some people think it is a bad custom, and some think it is not. But even princes and generals rarely use living people to match their dead sons for ghost marriage. This is undoubtedly a kind of even more meaningless practice. The meaning is even more absurd and is something that is not allowed by the etiquette and laws of the world.
It's just that these days, it's hard to say.
Some people can't survive, so they sell their children to others as slaves. Selling them is actually a way of survival. You have to stop them, but you are cutting off other people's livelihood.
However, the cries and sobs in the sedan conveyed despair, but it made people feel that things were not simple.
At this moment, another collision was heard in the sedan chair.
The sedan itself shook.
It's like someone is struggling inside.
"Bang..."
A figure knocked out of the sedan.
The wedding team suddenly stopped, and the sound of blowing and beating also stopped.
By the light of lanterns and torches, a woman wearing a bright red wedding dress could be seen falling out of the sedan. But she was tied up with ropes, unable to move at all, and even her mouth was blocked.
"Woooooooo..."
The gray-clothed swordsman's expression suddenly froze, and the hand holding the sword moved.
There is no doubt that if Song You hadn't been standing next to him, or if he hadn't been entertained by this family tonight, his sword would have been unsheathed by now, and he didn't know how much blood would have been spilled.
"The bride is gone..."
Someone from the front shouted.
The bride was still sobbing and struggling, twisting like a bug on the ground, but two middle-aged men had already come over, grabbed her and stuffed her into the sedan again.
"Get up the sedan..."
Someone shouted again.
The sound of pipes and beatings immediately continued, and the wedding procession started again.
The Taoist and the swordsman stood still.
The swordsman was thinking hard.
The Taoist was listening to the noise in the room behind him.
Behind him is a thatched house in the village, where a couple lives. The Taoist, the swordsman and the cat are standing against the wall next to the window. The people in the house can't see the people outside the house through the window, they can only see the team. The wedding team slowly walked away while they were playing and playing, and then they were talking quietly in the house.
"How come the Ding family has become so wicked? What a good little lady, dragging people to marry the dead! Sooner or later, they will be struck by lightning from the sky!"
"Didn't several people in the Ding family die in succession before? I heard they had committed some Feng Shui taboo..."
"Have you never seen them so wicked before?"
"Who can be as immoral as Boss Cao? My younger brother and sister just died, and the uncle sold his niece to the dead to be his wife. Has this world ever seen such an immoral thing?"
"So what if we don't sell it? Then Boss Cao can't afford to eat, is it possible that he can raise another little wife?"
"what do you know?"
The voice suddenly became quieter.
"I heard that the Ding family bought the Cao family's young lady for a huge price! For such a high price, she didn't buy her to be a widow, but to be buried with their grandson!"
The expressions of the two people outside the room changed.
The swordsman was furious.
But although the swordsman was upright, he was also patient and continued to stand outside the door and listen.
"ah?"
"Can I still lie to you? Otherwise, why do you think I tied up the young lady of the Cao family? Then the second Cao family was starved to death. The young lady of the Cao family married into the Ding family. Although she was married to a dead person, she was still alive. You can afford to eat, how can you live better than before?"
"Then the Ding family is not so wicked, right?"
"I heard..."
The conversation between the two people in the room became quieter and quieter.
People outside the house also listened quietly.
After a while, there was absolutely no movement in the house.
"gentlemen……"
The swordsman lowered his voice and looked at the Taoist beside him.
"Go and have a look first."
Song You took steps and walked east.
The swordsman followed him with his sword and said in a deep voice: "The Ding family seems to be kind, but I didn't expect to do such a thing. It is not allowed by nature..."
"Of course it's not tolerated."
"..."
The swordsman stopped talking, his eyes flickered, and he kept calculating in his heart.
Wanting to forget the previous hospitality, he picked up his sword and went over to see how unfair this place was, so that he could feel better, but he was also afraid that he would not be able to kill all the hundreds of members of the Ding family. Once he left, the Cao family would The little lady can't live anywhere. He wanted to be gentler and save the young lady, but he felt that he could neither persuade the Ding family nor settle the young lady.
"Don't be impulsive."
The Taoist's voice came from the front: "Go over first and see if there is anything fishy about this matter."
"yes."
The gray-clothed swordsman's heart really calmed down a bit.
Slowly walked back to the door of Ding's house.
I saw the Taoist pinching his fingerprints and flicking his hand, and a stream of light flew into the sky.
"Boom!"
Suddenly there was a thunder and lightning lit up the night sky.
However, the wonderful thing is that the night sky is very clear at this time, full of stars and not a single cloud.
(End of chapter)
