"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It's okay, as long as you found it, we still have to find the others." He Hongyu did not understand Zhao Ning's apology and continued, "It's so strange here. I only took two steps and you all disappeared. "
He Hongyu asked again, "What happened when you disappeared? Tell me so we can follow the clues to find other people."
"Others are missing too?" Zhao Ning hesitated for a moment, then she spread her hands, "I don't know what happened at that time. I just saw a wooden hairpin and picked it up. The surroundings changed, as if the world was turned upside down. In the starry sky."
Zhao Ning did not hide it, but it was obvious that the other party did not believe such words. He looked at Zhao Ning as if to say, "Are you still dizzy?"
He just took the wooden hairpin from Zhao Ning's hand, "Isn't this Aunt Luo's wooden hairpin? Maybe it's a trap."
Zhao Ning didn't understand his train of thought for a moment.
Another person added, "You must have been tricked by something when you picked it up, and then you fainted and had that weird dream."
They interpreted Zhao Ning's later description of the heaven and earth turning upside down as a dream. Zhao Ning did not speak. That experience was indeed very much like a dream. If the Heavenly Book of Gou Chen had not appeared around them just now, Zhao Ning would indeed have doubts.
However, Zhao Ning did not explain too much. He only heard He Hongyu say, "We need to find other people as soon as possible. I think there are spirits hidden here, and they are invisible spirits. What we saw are indeed footprints, and those footprints were suddenly What happened is that something may have disappeared."
"No, I would say it's the remnant soul of some monster beast, it's wandering in this area." Another person did not agree with He Hongyu's statement.
The two had a few quarrels over this, and everyone was justified.
Zhao Ning had no choice but to interrupt, "Let's get out quickly. If there are really monsters, we will be in danger."
"Yes, let's find someone first." He Hongyu responded.
So the three of them followed closely this time, for fear of falling behind again. They shouted the names of the others. The tall grass had completely covered their heads, and they could only rely on their hearing to catch them.
But unexpectedly, it went smoothly. It only took half a cup of tea for them to call, and they only had to walk a few dozen feet before they responded.
The three of them were overjoyed and walked towards the sound, only to see a few people sitting or lying on the tall grass in a slightly empty space, including Aunt Luo and others.
Zhao Ning lowered her gaze, not letting any thoughts leak out from her eyes.
"Aunt Luo, what's going on? Did you encounter a monster?"
"Where is the monster? Have you met a spirit in the wind?"
The two of them asked each other.
Aunt Luo stood up and said, "We don't know either. After we walked here, we felt an invisible pressure. Before we knew what happened, we fainted. We just woke up."
She looked at the others, some of whom were awake, and nodded, "There is something really weird here, and there are invisible things."
As soon as these words were said, "all" the mortals present felt their hearts tremble. He Hongyu urged, "Now that we are all here, let's leave quickly. Don't pick any more Sky Candle Grass. Your life is important."
Everyone looked at each other and could only do this. They finally arrived at the Tianmen before noon. They walked out of the Tianmen without saying anything more.
Standing high in the sky, breathing in the breath of Yuanming Mountain again, the tension in the secret realm was relieved a lot.
However, there was probably still lingering fear in my heart, and I didn't want to stay, so I quickly went down the mountain and left the secret realm, with some thoughts of communication.
"It's not like there haven't been any abnormalities in this secret realm for so many years. How could something happen suddenly? This will prevent us from coming back in the future."
"Maybe it can come. As long as you don't go deep into it, there may be no danger."
"No, I still have to ask Mr. Mi now. He has a long life and has lived in Yuanming Village for so long, so he must know the situation."
Everyone, you say something, I say something, and the road will go very fast.
Zhao Ning originally fell last, but when going down the mountain, someone was slower than them.
It was Aunt Luo and her group. Although they didn't make any strange movements, their lips moved slightly, probably transmitting sounds.
Zhao Ning just used the straw basket to take a look, and then she didn't dare to look any further.
This Yuanming Village is not the residence of mortals on the surface.
As soon as they returned to the village, they received greetings from many villagers. Seeing the mostly empty baskets on their backs, the villagers were shocked and came up to ask. It happened that He Hongyu and others were also eager to tell others what had happened. .
So the crowd gathered around and started talking on the road.
Zhao Ning finally squeezed out of the crowd and stood on the periphery watching everyone chatting away. Aunt Luo and others also frowned and talked about the "weird things" they encountered. With such a scene, it was impossible to tell who was who. Mortals, who are practitioners or demons.
She didn't want to get involved too much, so she turned around and went to Yue Shengxian's hut. As soon as she saw the shadow of the hut, she saw Yue Shengxian sitting on the steps, listless and lost. Such an expression seemed a bit out of place for Yue Shengxian.
Until Zhao Ning approached, Yue Shengxian didn't seem to react.
"Sister Shengxian." Zhao Ning called.
"Ah? Ah! Zhao Ning, you're back, so fast this time." Yue Shengxian didn't seem to be interested even as he spoke.
Zhao Ning felt weird, so she put down her backpack, sat next to her, and asked, "Sister Shengxian, did something happen?"
"No, nothing can happen in our mortal world." She looked away as she spoke.
Zhao Ning did not expose her lie, but just responded, sat next to her and silently took out the pancakes, which were the dry food distributed by the team.
She tore off half of it and handed it to Yue Shengxian. Yue Shengxian was still in a daze. He took it and chewed it, looking at the whole thing. He was afraid that there was no taste at all.
Zhao Ning ate slowly and looked forward. The crowd was still talking around the road, but they were also moving forward.
Yue Shengxian's hut happened to be on the Sancha Road. One of them came to the hut, but Zhao Ning knew that they were going to find the elder He Hongyu mentioned.
It was probably because their chaotic voices were too close. Yue Shengxian was also disturbed. He recovered his immersed thoughts a little, took a look, and asked, "What are they talking about?"
"We encountered strange things in the secret realm. Some said they were spirits in the wind, while others said they were the remnant souls of monsters."
"What?!" Yue Shengxian was startled and turned around to look Zhao Ning up and down, "You're not injured, are you?"
Zhao Ning shook his head, "No one was injured, they were just lost for a while."
Yue Shengxian breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. I asked you to go, so don't let me drag you down again."
Zhao Ning was keenly aware of the "ye" in her words. During the time they left, did Yue Shengxian meet someone who caused trouble?
At this time, the crowd had already reached the hut and headed for the left-hand fork.
The sounds of their argument became clear.
"We have been gathering Caitian Candle Grass in the secret realm for eighty or ninety years. How could something suddenly happen? I'm afraid you are just lazy."
"So many people have seen the huge footprints. We are not just talking about it. If you don't believe it, forget it."
"You can't believe it or not. Without Tianzhucao, we would have no way to make a living."
"Yes, there is no way to make a living. How can we mortals survive in the realm of practitioners?"
"..."
Yue Shengxian frowned and strode towards them. Just as he was about to ask something, he suddenly heard an old voice coming from in front of him, "Okay."
The voice interrupted their noise, with a bit of majesty and a light sigh.
Zhao Ning stood up and saw someone supporting an old man standing in front of a hut not far away. The old man was like a bone, with skin sticking to the flesh. There were many marks on his face. He looked like he was a hundred years old.
Everyone immediately stopped talking and called out politely, "Mr. Miao."
Mr. Miao said, "The old man has heard about what happened in the secret realm. The old man can also answer your questions - there are indeed monsters in the secret realm."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar. Thinking about it, their behavior of entering it was too risky.
But Mr. Miao then said, "That is the place where the ancient mythical beasts fell. The auras of the mythical beasts still remain in the secret realm. Every hundreds of years, there will be subtle changes in the secret realm, and the auras of the mythical beasts will gather together to form the mythical beasts." Afterimages, maybe the footprints you see are left by afterimages. But such shadows generally don’t last long, and will disappear after three to five years.”
Everyone looked at each other in astonishment, "Ancient mythical beast? Which mythical beast is it?"
Mr. Miao shook his head, "I don't know. What I know was also told by the seniors in the village a hundred years ago. I only said that this beast is extremely sacred and carries the ability of the Shepherd Star to control monsters."
Just saying that this ability makes everyone amazed, it is completely beyond the cognition of ordinary people.
"This... Mr. Miao, what should we do? Will this sacred beast be angry and punish us for disturbing us for many years?"
"Don't think too much. Ordinary practitioners or monsters will be automatically repelled by the aura of the secret realm as long as they get close. We mortals are just like ants to the divine beasts. No matter how we act next to them, we will not attract much attention. . Think about it for yourselves, do you care what the ants under the bed are doing when you are asleep?"
Everyone laughed, but before the laughter subsided, Mr. Miao changed his words and said, "But don't go there again in the past twenty years. Otherwise, just like this time, when the afterimage of the mythical beast passes by, you will follow. The wind doesn’t know where it is lost.”
With Mr. Miao, everyone no longer argued about anything and could only accept it honestly.
Mr. Miao tapped his crutch and asked the people around him to help him back. As soon as his feet moved, he suddenly thought of something. He turned to look at Yue Shengxian and asked, "Shengxian, has your grandpa come back?"
Yue Shengxian was suddenly clicked and just shook his head, "No."
Mr. Miao squinted his eyes, "It's strange, why do you keep hearing the bellows blowing these past few days?"
Yue Shengxian was stunned and said with a sneer, "Mr. Miao, you must be wrong. I swear I didn't touch grandpa's things secretly."
Mr. Miao didn't know whether to believe it or not. Anyway, the words that sounded like the truth about self-destruction were very weightless. He looked at her again and then returned to the house.
After everyone said a few more words on the spot, Aunt Luo asked everyone to go home and gather together again in the evening.
Zhao Ning followed Yue Shengxian back to the hut. She saw another room on the right side of the hut, but all the windows were closed and covered with dust. She thought it was abandoned, but now the dust looked like it came from the bellows. Rolled out crumbs.
"Is there anyone else in Sister Shengxian's family?"
"Oh, my grandfather was invited to forge again."
"forging?"
Yue Shengxian was very proud of this, "Although I am a mortal, my grandfather is not. He entered the Tao through forging, and his craftsmanship is superb. It is much more powerful than the spiritual fetuses forged by those weapon refiners."
"But I don't like these things. They're dirty and tiring."
Zhao Ning responded and watched Yue Shengxian stride towards the house. She took another look at the room and realized that the people in this village did not seem to be as "ordinary" as she imagined.
At night, most of the people in the village gathered together and formed a bonfire in the center of the village. They sat on the ground around the bonfire in twos and threes, and then processed the candle grass they had collected during the day.
The people in the village were very skilled. There were not many Tianzhucao this time, so everyone was relaxed and chatted and laughed together.
The topics among "mortal people" are nothing more than the quarrels between some parents, getting married and having children, but when encountering changes in the secret realm, many strange things are mixed into the chat.
For example, Mr. Liu, who lives at the entrance of the village, said that he could always see green firelight floating outside the whole village at dawn.
For example, Xiao Yue, who is close to Yuanming Mountain, can occasionally see a shadow with a tiger head and human body kneeling down on the steps of Yuanming Village every three steps and kowtowing every nine steps.
For example, Uncle Wu, who likes fishing, can always catch some rare cultivator objects in the pond near the village.
Zhao Ning observed that there was no change in their expressions when they talked about these weird things. There was no fear or guilt. They were just gossiping.
Some people also talk about Yue Shengxian's family, saying that Yue Shengxian's grandfather has become a Taoist but is no different from ordinary mortals. Every time he forges, he has to eat grains, fish and meat; and Yue Shengxian is like a monkey in the mountains. , just pick people up and bring them back.
Yue Shengxian was unhappy with what he said, "How am I a monkey?!"
Instead, everyone burst out laughing, so the topic turned to her picking up people, and their eyes fell on Zhao Ning. Several people next to them asked about Zhao Ning, and Zhao Ning still answered He Hongyu like before.
"The little girl is so pitiful. How did you get the marks on your face?"
