After a night of driving, we arrived at the mountains outside Liaojia Village at dawn. In the early morning, the mountains were filled with fog and a vast expanse of white. Because there were few people walking in Liaojia Village all year round, the only path into the village was already overgrown with weeds.
Fortunately, there has been less cloudy and rainy weather recently, and a traveling businessman happened to have entered the village not long ago. Finally, he found the secret road by relying on the horse hoof prints on the ground and the long-dried horse dung.
Leading a horse to walk on a weedy path in the white mist. Because the white mist makes it difficult to see the way forward, often when walking, snake-like vines suddenly appear in front of the road blocking the road, and the horse will be knocked down by the withered vines on the ground. The tree stumbled and screamed.
Along the way, Jin Mu was emitting spiritual power to observe the surroundings, while Shen Xichen was releasing his spiritual consciousness to search for traces of the black soul. Ayu was flying around, busy calming the horse's emotions. The one who bought it with a lot of money can't run away anymore. .
The short road into the village was extremely slow. When we arrived at the entrance of the village, the fog had almost dissipated.
Although Liaojia Village is surrounded by mountains, the central area is flat. As the main residential area of the village, terraced fields built on the mountains surround the village. Natural mountain spring water is used for irrigation and daily life.
The villagers who live in the mountains and eat from the mountains are all good hunters. Although they are not connected with the outside world, they live a self-sufficient life very comfortably.
"I haven't found any traces of the black soul since I entered the mountain. I still have to go to the village to look for details." Shen Xichen knew that the black soul would always hide.
"However, this place is densely forested, and it is a good place with abundant natural spiritual energy. If we had not come to find the black soul this time, it would be comfortable to practice here for ten days and a half, but without the black soul, we would not be able to find this place."
After the two of them shared this useless information, it was more practical to settle in the village first.
Could such an ordinary, hidden village really have anything to do with the tragedy in the once-prosperous and famous imperial city?
It was already dawn, and the autumn harvest had ended at this time. The open space in the village was ablaze with gold. The villagers were busy threshing and drying millet. When they saw Shen Xichen and the others suddenly appeared in the village with unfamiliar faces, and they were not dressed like ordinary businessmen, they couldn't help but whisper to each other. .
"Grandma, may I ask where in Liaojia Village it is convenient for us to stay overnight."
Here Ayu was still curious about what the villagers were talking about, but here Jin Mu had raised a friendly smile and asked about the old lady passing by.
Grandma wanted to answer enthusiastically, but suddenly a burly man appeared in front of her and said, "Grandma, don't talk to these people from other villages. Go back quickly. Don't go out these days."
After persuading Grandma to go back, the big man turned around and looked at Jin Mu and the others with a fierce look on his face, "Where are you from? What are you doing in our Liaojia Village? Do you think our village is not chaotic enough?"
"Brother, I misunderstood. We are cultivators. We passed by this place and felt that it is full of spiritual energy. We want to practice here. There is absolutely no other meaning. But after listening to the tone of the elder brother just now, have anyone else come to the village recently? If they are We are willing to help those who come to do evil."
Jin Mu still had that friendly expression, and the calmer his attitude was, the more it proved that what he said was true.
Since Jin Mu is willing to intervene, Shen Xichen feels at ease.
The big man looked at Jin Mu and then at Shen Xichen.
"Shen Xichen, don't be so serious, just relax!" Ayu couldn't help but remind him, looking at his expressionless and troublesome face.
Shen Xi curved the corners of his mouth, forced a smile, exposed his big white teeth, and met the big man's gaze.
"so?"
"Yes, yes, that's it."
The big man looked at it for a while and then said hesitantly: "If you are really religious people, go and find out what that strange person did in our village."
"weirdo?"
"Yes, yes, he entered the village the day before yesterday. When he came to pick up someone, he asked questions. When we asked him where he was, he didn't say anything. He didn't leave even if we chased him away." The nearby villagers also approached, chattering. The discussion started tongue-in-cheek.
"The strangest thing is that he meditates there during the day and only comes out in the evening. It's so dark that he's just wandering around the village by himself, so he shouldn't be afraid."
"you do not say."
A weirdo who hides day and night? After looking at Shen Xichen, Jin Mu continued to smile and kindly guide the villagers to describe.
"Then do you know what he looks like and where he is now?"
"He is about the same height as you. He is also dressed in black, but he wears a big hat and is very eye-catching. He should be in the mountain temple on our mountain now."
"The mountain temple is on the north mountain. You can see the mountain road through the village. Just walk up the road."
"Thank you all, please rest assured. We are going to investigate now and we will never let him harm Liaojia Village!"
Everyone cheered at Jin Mu's passionate promise.
The two bowed, said goodbye to the villagers for a while, and disappeared in front of the villagers using the teleportation technique.
The two big sluts were definitely showing off on purpose. The moment they cast the spell, she saw the admiration in everyone's eyes. They relied on tricks to gain trust. Ayu expressed disdain for this move, very disdain!
"What do you think about that weirdo in black?" Shen Xi asked Shen Chao Jinmu a rare question.
"I don't have any ideas. I can keep the good and eliminate the evil... Who knows, I'll know when I see him." Jin Mu seemed disapproving. He was not curious about the identity of the weirdo. What he was curious about was the weirdo. What have I learned these past few days? Sometimes it’s good to get something for nothing.
"Indeed, it seems that we are not the only ones interested in Liaojia Village."
Walking along the mountaineering stone steps, we arrived at the mountain temple that the villagers called a temple. It was actually a semi-open shed. In the center of the house was the statue of the mountain god. The tributes in front of the statue had long been eaten by animals. The blackened skeleton remains show that this mountain temple only has people coming to worship once a year, and there is no aura in the house.
The weirdo the villagers called him was currently sitting in the corner of the house, in a place not exposed to sunlight.
With a strong step, the peach wood sword was pressed against the young man's throat, and the sharp spiritual energy filled the shack.
like a statue? Shen Xichen frowned.
Jin Mu stepped forward and shook the boy's upper body, but there was still no response, and even his expression did not change. Then he slowly moved his fingers under his nose. There was no breath, no pulse beating in his neck, and no body temperature of a normal person. This This is not a weirdo, this is obviously a dead person.
Shen Xichen withdrew his spiritual energy, but not his sword. Jin Mu stood up and looked at the mountain temple carefully. Ayu also stared at the face of the young man curiously. He was sixteen or seventeen years old, with black hair shawl, pale but delicate skin, and eyes. Slender, with a bright red mole at the end of his eye, like a drop of blood and tears. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't even have a trace of breath, Ayu would have thought he was just sleeping.
And those who sleep always wake up.
"Ahhhhhhhhh..." Ayu's voice startled the birds on the roof and fled in all directions.
Jin Mu, who was standing on the altar table, broke the mountain god's wooden ax and looked back at Ayu.
Shen Xichen's spiritual power instantly wrapped around the sword, pressing down on his neck, and the head would be separated with a single force.
The boy who was originally sitting cross-legged now had his eyes wide open with fear, his body tilted backwards, and his hands firmly pressed against the edge of the sword, so as not to let himself die again.
When Ayu came back to her senses, she suddenly realized two things. The young man in front of her had come back to life, and she was exposed again.
"Young...xia...calm...calm!!"
The young man trembled and tried to push the sword away. The sword did not move, but his palm was cut, but no blood was seen.
"Who are you? Why do you come to Liao Village." Shen Xi said in a low voice.
"What's your relationship with Black Soul?" Jin Mu also approached and added.
"My name is Fan Sansan. I'm a ghost officer. I'm here to handle the case. If the Taoist priest has anything to say, please tell me. I don't have any harm!" The young man had a slumped face and spoke very fast. He already knew their identities by looking at the two men's attire, and he didn't hide.
"How to prove your identity?" Now that Ayu had been exposed, she felt very embarrassed to be frightened by the boy, so she also joined the trial.
"I have an underworld spirit tablet around my waist. The Taoist priests will know at a glance that it cannot be fake." He said, pointing towards his waist.
Jin Mu pulled off the dark sign and faced the sun and saw clearly that the front of the sign had Yin Cao engraved on it and the back of it had Thirty Three engraved on it.
After confirming that it was correct, Shen Xichen sheathed his sword.
The young man who called himself Fan Thirty-three grabbed the mud on the ground, mixed it with spiritual power, and rubbed it on his neck and palms. In the blink of an eye, the injury was smoothed away and returned to normal skin. He muttered, "Oh, please don't let Master Ba see such a deep wound."
"Kid, since I've let you go, I still have to explain clearly what case you, the devil, came to Liaojia Village to handle, and what happened to your body." Jin Mu squatted in front of the boy and asked.
"Taoist Master, this body of mine is very valuable. We ghosts come to the human world to capture the soul, so they are all soul bodies, which most people can't see. But this time I have a heavy responsibility, so I borrowed it from Master Ba." As you can see, this false body can be shaped according to the soul body as long as it has spiritual power. Except that it has no temperature, no breathing and heartbeat, it is no different from the real person. In our underworld, this level of false body is also It’s just our Eighth Master and Xie Qiye. The Taoist Priest in white almost destroyed my clay body just now. But let the Eighth Master know that I, Fan Thirty-three, don’t go back to the underworld. It would be easier to just disperse my soul here. ." As he said that, Fan Sanshisan rubbed his palms distressedly.
And the Taoist priest in white clothes in his mouth, Shen Xichen, looked impatient: "It's a lot of nonsense, and if you make other nonsense, I will make sure you never come back, and I will definitely save you trouble in hell."
"Who is Master Eight?! Is there such a wonderful treasure from the underworld? It would be great if I could have a good body." Ayu was a little excited when she saw Guizhao for the first time, an underground immortal, shaking her jade ears.
"Eighth Master! That is a well-known figure in the underworld. The two Taoist masters must also know that he is the Black Impermanence, Fan, Wu, Jiu, which is known as the black and white impermanence in the underworld! And I am the 33rd ghost under the Eighth Master. Oh no, Fan Thirty-three!" Thirty-three felt something strong against his neck again, raised his head, and Shen Xichen's eyes were filled with fire.
"Talk, talk, say it all!!"
"Master Dao, I came to Liaojia Village this time because there was an unsolved case in the underworld. Alas, actually it was nothing to do with me. This was not handed over to the judge by the King of Hell. The judge assigned us to the eighth master's place. The eighth master originally I left it to Brother Fan Twelve, but Brother Twelve had something to do and he left it to Brother Twentieth. But Brother Twentieth also had something important to do, so what should I do? I could only leave it to Brother Twenty-five, but unfortunately, Brother Twenty five......"
"Cough cough... cough cough cough..." Seeing Shen Xichen's face getting darker and darker, Jin Mu couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but remind the child.
"Oh...it was left to me in the end. What kind of unsolved case is it? It's very simple. It's that a group of people died, and one of the corpses had a ghost. After I came back and reported it, I checked. What’s incredible is that these people have not yet reached the end of their lifespan. What’s even more strange is that the fate of the missing soul was suddenly cut off half a year ago, and it was blank until death. The King of Hell ordered a thorough investigation, so I’m here. This The missing soul is the son of the village head of Liaojia Village, Liao Jiafu, that’s all, I’m done.”
After Thirty-three finished speaking, he covered his mouth and glanced at Shen Xichen from the corner of his eye. He was glad that he had been in the underworld for a long time and had developed eyesight. Otherwise... he wouldn't dare to think about it.
Shen Xichen and Jin Mu looked at the underworld child in front of them and had a headache. The identity of this black soul had just been confirmed to be Tong Er. There was another missing soul case. These strange things happened together. They didn't believe that there was no connection between them. , It’s really a wave that has not calmed down, but another huge wave has arisen.
"Kid, we came to Liaojia Village to look for someone. Why don't you share the clues you got these days." Jin Mu smiled.
"Okay, I've been in the village for two days. The people in the village are so strange. They all avoid me. Even though I'm so handsome, I still inquired about some information, but I don't know if it's useful... "
Thirty-three said as if he suddenly thought of something, and collapsed on the ground, "It's over, I forgot that Brother Thirty-one told me not to tell anyone about my case handling, I leaked the secret, Brother Thirty-one , Twenty-fifth brother,...Eighth Master, Lord Judge, if Lord Hell knows...Forget it, I'll just leave my soul here. My most beloved Eighth Lord, I can't do anything anymore. The waiter is here, I should let your clay statue be chopped to pieces, and you can’t reveal the secrets of the underworld, little one, oh oh oh oh..."
Suddenly, Thirty-Three, who was crying, knelt down and sat up, bowed to the person in front of him, and begged: "You two Taoists, please save the little one. Don't tell this matter. Wait until you find your soulmate." I'm sorry, I must thank you two Taoist masters."
Ayu was a little confused by the twists and turns of this kid's thinking, but if she was not stupid, it was clearly Shen Xichen and the others who wanted to beg him, but now, Thirty-three suddenly turned into him and owed Shen Xichen The favor, the reason why the superiors were not allowed to talk about it was probably not because of confidentiality, but more because he didn't want to expose the layers of delegation. Alas, it was probably already determined that this unsolved case would be his turn.
"Help each other, let's help you find ghosts, and we'll pretend we don't know about the rest, and you have to help us find ghosts, how about that?" Shen Xichen was also impressed by Thirty-Three's thinking, and reflected that he shouldn't be like this Simple people are more sincere and their tone is no longer so harsh.
But Jinmu just smiled and nodded in agreement.
After hearing the answer, Thirty-Three seemed to be reborn, "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Thanks, Master Dao, but I still don't know what I should call you two, Miss Yupei."
"Shen Xi Shen"
"You can just call me Jin Mu"
"My name is Ayu, nice to meet you, thirty-three."
