The others had no reaction, or just nodded with a sullen face.
Or just like Wang Yu, Lu Ziyi and Nangong Lingxi nodded indifferently.
But the eyes of the old man and his family were shining brightly, and it seemed that the excitement in their hearts at this moment was even greater than the fear.
The white-haired old man looked at the white-bearded old man and asked: "Brother, do you mean what you said? Come on, we entered a house and were kicked out again."
The white-bearded old man nodded and said: "Don't worry, I am the mayor of this village, and what I say will definitely count. Of course, you have to choose a house that no one will cook!"
"If someone lives in the house and you still want to live in it, I won't care if you are kicked out!"
The white-bearded old man made a little joke, which made the gray-haired old man smile and at the same time feel relieved.
After making a little joke, the old man with white beard said to the person next to him: "Go and open the door."
The young man on his left immediately walked forward quickly, then pushed the unlocked wooden door with both hands, and pushed the door open.
The moment the wooden door was pushed open, a burst of pungent dust was immediately stirred up.
Several people by the door frowned and backed away, fanning their faces with their hands, especially the scholar, who wanted to retreat ten meters away.
"Ahem!" The white-bearded old man also choked on the dust and explained awkwardly: "No one has lived in this house for a long time, so it's normal for it to be a little dusty. There are not many big houses in the village, so many people here at once. This is the only house I can live in."
"Yes, it's okay, brother. This house is already very good. We have never lived in such a good house in the countryside." The white-haired old man tried to smooth things over, easing the village chief's embarrassment.
Wang Yu didn't bother to listen to the polite words from the two of them, so he walked into the house on his own.
At first sight, there are some tables, chairs and benches, and a large large shop.
However, these things are covered with dust, and there are spider webs stuck to them in some places, and spiders are still crawling on them.
Wang Yu turned his head again and looked around.
There is nothing unusual about the surrounding brick walls, but the paper windows on the brick walls are a bit strange.
It is said to be a paper window, but it is actually a window with a wooden frame, but the inside is papered, and the window is also equipped with window lattice.
Ancient windows are different from modern windows.
Modern windows are made of glass, while in ancient times they were made of paper.
Of course, the paper used to paper windows in ancient times was not ordinary paper.
They all use a specially processed bast paper.
This kind of paper has relatively good toughness, is very strong, and is not easily damaged.
Bast paper appeared during the Tang Dynasty. The production process of this kind of paper is more complicated than ordinary paper.
After this kind of bast paper is made, it is soaked in oil. Firstly, it increases the transmittance of the paper. Secondly, it can further increase the toughness of the paper.
However, no matter how tough it is, it is still a piece of paper and will still be damaged if it encounters heavy storms and rain.
In order to solve this problem, the ancients invented window lattice.
Window lattice is the large and small frame on the window, sometimes it is a square grid, sometimes it is an exquisite pattern.
These window lattice are not only used to decorate the windows, but also protect the paper.
Although these square grids are inconspicuous, they can divide the paper into large and small squares. This can make the stress area of the paper more uniform.
The more densely divided the window lattice is, the more uniform the stress area of the window will be. At the same time, it can also disperse the damage caused by wind and rain to the window.
After the emergence of window lattice, the lifespan of paper windows has been greatly improved.
However, unlike ordinary paper windows, the windows in this house, in addition to the window frames, window paper and window lattice, also use two wooden boards, which are nailed together crosswise.
All the windows on the surrounding walls were like this, without exception.
Seeing Wang Yu's attention on these windows, the white-bearded old man said to him: "We nailed these windows deliberately."
"We have nailed up the windows not just of this house, but of all the houses in the village. We are just afraid that someone will open these windows and it will cause a tragedy."
"Old man! You have been talking about danger since the beginning, and now you are saying that it will lead to a tragedy. What danger is there, and what kind of tragedy will it lead to? Stop being so pretentious and say it quickly!" Strong man The second brother has always had a bad temper, and now he can't help it anymore.
But the old man stretched out his right hand, pressed it down, and said in a calm tone: "I can't remember exactly which year it started. Our village seems to have been cursed and suffered a huge disaster!"
"First, a lot of thick fog appeared inexplicably in the woods around the village. These thick fogs, whether day or night, are in the woods and will not dissipate."
"Once upon a time, in order to find out these things, the village sent many people to go into the thick fog to find out what happened, but these people never returned."
"No, it's not accurate to say that they will never return. They will come back, but they will come back at night and turn into man-eating monsters!"
"Eating people???" Several people said this word in unison, their voices full of horror.
It's weird and scary enough to have a road that can't be walked out, but there are also man-eating monsters. Isn't this too outrageous?
Even the old man and his family, who looked happy just now, now looked ashen.
The white-bearded old man listened to their words, looked at their expressions, sighed in his heart, nodded, and affirmed: "Yes, not only can't we get out of our village, but also, at night, we will face man-eating monsters! "
"But you don't have to worry. As long as you pay attention to a few things, you can spend the night safely. According to our many years of experience, there is nothing wrong during the day. Only at night will there be monsters that eat people."
"So, as long as you spend the evening conscientiously and follow our precautions, there will be no big problem."
"Look, we people, after staying in the village for so many years, are still living well! You don't have to worry too much."
Several people looked at the white-bearded old man and thought about the many people on the road to the village before. They could all live well, so why couldn't they?
After figuring this out, several people breathed a sigh of relief.
The anxious second brother, a strong man, looked at the old man and asked eagerly: "Old man, what are you paying attention to? Tell us quickly!"
The white-bearded old man nodded, then tapped the crutch with his hand under the threshold and said, "Young man, dig this place open."
The brawny second brother looked at the white-bearded old man, looked down at his crutch, and then turned to look at his eldest brother.
Seeing his eldest brother lowering his head, he squatted down and dug where the old man Bai Xue's crutch pointed.
The ground inside the house is not paved with bricks or stones, it is just earthy ground that can be dug with a mobile phone.
After a while, the second brother, a strong man, paused with his hands digging in the soil, and took out a fragment of loess stuck to it.
This piece of debris is about one-third the size of a palm. The areas not covered with soil are orange-yellow and even somewhat reflective under the sunlight.
The white-bearded old man took the fragment from the hands of the brawny second brother, raised it, and then shook it in front of everyone and said: "Everyone, this fragment is the key to resisting those man-eating monsters at night!"
"As long as you bury this piece under the threshold and lock all the doors and windows in the house, those man-eating monsters won't be able to get in!"
"So, every time before the sun goes down, you must check to see if there is this fragment under the threshold of your house! If not, quickly find an empty house and dig out this fragment! Then bury it in your own house Under the threshold of the house!”
"Also, with this fragment, those man-eating monsters can't get in, but it doesn't mean that you are not in danger. They will use various methods to lure you and open the door or window."
"As long as the door or window is opened, this piece of debris will lose its protective effect, and those monsters will be able to rush in!"
"There have been several times where the adults guarded the door and did not let the monsters in. But the children at home were instigated by the monsters outside and instigated them to open the windows, which led to tragedy!"
"So, in order to prevent this from happening again, we sealed the windows of all the houses in the village!"
"In short, you should keep two points in mind. First, before the sun goes down, check whether there are any debris under the door frame?"
"Second point, as soon as Yang sets, until the next day, before the sun comes up, no matter who is at your door, no matter what he says, don't let him in, don't even open the door!"
"The best way is to go to bed as soon as the sun goes down and sleep until dawn. Nothing will happen!"
