As we walked along, we saw a large, continuous mountain in front of us. The mountains were towering and the trees were lush, giving people a gloomy and gloomy feeling.
At the foot of the mountain, there is also a small mountain village standing here.
Presumably this is the nearest village at the foot of Niangzi Mountain.
As soon as the group entered the village, they were discovered by local villagers.
When the villagers saw three strangers and two handsome men among them, their expressions became a little abnormal. After looking at each other, they slowly gathered around.
"So many ghosts?"
When Du Yongyu saw these people, he frowned and held the hilt of his sword, intending to fight with them first.
Ye Ming smiled and said:
"These are people, not ghosts."
Hearing that it was a human being, Du Yongyu did not relax his vigilance, but still looked at the villagers who had gathered.
Seeing that a conflict was likely to break out between the two sides, an old man among the villagers suddenly shouted:
"welcome!"
Then I saw the villagers who were surrounding me suddenly dancing and jumping around the oxcart. It looked weird, but it was very interesting.
When Du Yongyu and Miss Shen saw this, they were both confused and didn't know what they were doing.
The sound of dancing here attracted people from one family to come out to check.
It was an old man and a boy and a girl.
The three of them looked over and were surprised to see the people on the bullock cart.
Ye Ming saw the three people there on the bullock cart and greeted them with a bright smile.
Miss Shen saw Ye Ming's movements and went over. Only then did she realize that it was Old Taoist Jingzhou, Ren Rui and Mu Zhi who were here.
The villagers danced around them for a while before stopping, and then there was a burst of cheers.
Du Yongyu still didn't understand what was going on, and looked at everyone in confusion.
At this time, the old man who was headed by someone who looked like the village chief came forward and said:
"Well done to all the guests. This is a ceremony for our Aying people to welcome guests."
It turns out that the people living in this village are not Central Plains people, but the Aying ethnic group with a small population.
After the welcome ceremony, the village chief warmly invited the three of them to dinner.
The village chief said that their village is in a remote location and few outsiders come all year round.
Therefore, every time an outsider comes here, they will perform a special welcome dance.
They have been lucky recently, welcoming two groups of customers.
Over there, Jingzhou Lao Dao and the other three people saw that the welcome ceremony was over and they also came forward to say hello to Ye Ming.
The village chief was greatly surprised when he saw this. He didn't expect that the two groups of guests actually knew each other.
Soon everyone was sitting in the courtyard of the village chief's house, enjoying the delicious food.
It has to be said that the Aying people are very hospitable, and what they serve are oily vegetable cakes that the people are usually reluctant to eat.
"I didn't expect to see fellow Taoist here again. It's really fate."
As Jingzhou Laodao said, he looked at Du Yongyu again.
This one is very strange, the people around him are always changing.
Ye Ming also smiled and expressed that we were all destined, and then asked Jing Zhou why the three of them were here.
Old Taoist Jingzhou said:
"I have been following some traces of evil spirits in recent days.
After tracing all the way, I found that many evil spirits eventually escaped into the Niangzi Mountain here, so they are here. "
Mu Zhi also nodded repeatedly and said:
"Actually, we only arrived one day earlier than you.
By the way, we also encountered a case of patricide in the last village. After inquiry, we found out that it was the old servant who was responsible. "
Ren Rui said: "At present, there are probably a lot of evil monsters hiding in Niangzi Mountain."
When Du Yongyu heard this, he didn't have much fear.
After an epiphany, his mentality became much calmer and he was not alarmed by changes.
After scanning the surroundings, he asked the village chief if there was any evil intrusion in the village.
Upon hearing this, the village chief said that the village had always been peaceful and nothing evil had happened.
Du Yongyu asked his wife if there was anything unusual in the mountain.
The village chief said that their village relies on the mountains and they often go to Niangzi Mountain to collect firewood and collect herbs, and have never encountered any ghosts or the like.
The village chief's statement was obviously inconsistent with what Jingzhou Laodao and the other three said, and Du Yongyu couldn't help but look at the three of them.
Old Taoist Jingzhou said:
“That’s why we stay in this village.
It's really peaceful here, without any evil spirits disturbing it. "
After eating for a while, Master Jingzhou smiled and took his two apprentices away, saying that he wanted to go to the village again and let the three of them eat slowly.
Seeing this, Ye Ming also stood up and left with a smile.
For a moment, Miss Shen and Du Yongyu were the only ones left in the huge courtyard.
After the two of them looked at each other, they were both in no hurry, enjoying the food slowly and saying a few words from time to time. The atmosphere was very harmonious.
After eating for a while, I suddenly saw the village chief holding an account book, followed by several strong villagers.
The village chief pointed at the account book and smiled:
"Two guests, you spent a total of twelve taels of silver on this meal. Should I give you cash or use things as a deduction?"
Du Yongyu was greatly surprised when he heard this, pointed to the food on the table and said:
"So expensive? No, aren't you hospitable? What are you doing?"
The village chief heard this and said with a smile:
“We are indeed hospitable, but for warm service, there is also a hard fee.
Otherwise, life in our small village would be difficult. "
"But isn't this too expensive?"
Du Yongyu was a little dissatisfied.
When the village chief heard this, he smiled:
"So, are you two planning to default on your debt?"
As he said that, several strong villagers behind him were already ready to step forward.
Seeing this, Du Yongyu suddenly sighed:
"Sure enough, there is no free lunch in this world."
"It seems that you two want to take advantage of it for free~~~"
The village chief smiled, and several villagers behind him came forward...
Soon, the screams of the village chief and a group of villagers came from the yard.
Looking again, several people had been beaten and were squatting in the corner shivering.
The village chief had one eye swollen and was pushed forward by several villagers.
"I'm sorry, we were wrong, uncle, we don't dare anymore, never again!"
Seeing the village chief and others begging for mercy, Du Yongyu didn't say anything unnecessary, he just threw down a bunch of copper coins and said:
"Give us a place to stay."
The village chief took the money and nodded repeatedly, indicating that it was no problem.
When the two left the yard, they saw Ye Ming and Jing Zhou Lao Dao waiting outside.
Seeing this, Du Yongyu looked at Old Dao Jingzhou and asked:
"Taoist Priest, you have known about this for a long time?"
Mu Zhi quickly replied:
"We were blackmailed by them when we first came here. After I cleaned up the situation, everything will be fine."
When Du Yongyu heard this, he raised his eyebrows:
"In this case, they still dare to kill us? Did you give the order?"
Hearing this, Mu Zhi pointed at Ye Ming with some dissatisfaction:
"Originally, I wanted this guy to retaliate, but I didn't expect that he was such a thief, so it didn't work out."
"Repay?"
Du Yongyu looked confused, not knowing what was going on.
However, when Miss Shen heard this, she immediately understood what Mu Zhi was referring to and couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle.
Seeing this, Du Yongyu became even more confused.
I don’t know how I feel. This feeling of being out of place is so uncomfortable...
The village chief arranged for the three of them to live in the same courtyard as Jingzhou Lao Dao and the other three, but it was just full.
Ye Ming and Jingzhou Laodao lived in the same house, Miss Shen and Mu Zhi lived together, and the rest were Du Yongyu and Ren Rui.
The sky has turned dark, and it's pitch black outside.
Only the watchman was still walking around in the village.
Du Yongyu looked at Ren Rui who was meditating on the bed. After careful observation, he found that this young man who had been smiling during the day had a slightly painful expression on his face.
It is obvious that I am meditating and should be relatively relaxed, but it gives people a feeling of pain and tension.
When resting during the day, Du Yongyu, who had already had enough sleep, was a little unable to sleep. He didn't understand what Ren Rui was doing, so he stopped paying attention.
He got up and walked out of the yard and started walking around the village.
To a certain extent, he is now regarded as an expert and bold person, and is not afraid of encountering evil spirits.
With the sword hanging on his waist, he just walked in the village.
The village is not big, and after a while, I found that the ancestral hall in the village was still bright.
When Du Yongyu saw this, he went to the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall in the village was not big, with only one room. The light that Du Yongyu saw was the candlelight on the shrine in the ancestral hall.
When I walked into the ancestral hall, I first saw two big red candles burning.
It was normal to light candles in the ancestral hall, but in Du Yongyu's view, these two candles were a little unusual.
It feels like the lighting should not be done in the ancestral hall, but in the bridal chamber.
Looking at the statue on the shrine again, it is not a statue of a god, but an image of a woman wearing a wedding dress.
The clay sculpture of a woman was sitting in a mini sedan. Even though it was just a clay sculpture, Du Yongyu could tell that the woman was extremely beautiful even though it was separated by a curtain.
While he was observing the woman in the mini sedan, the clay statue woman also seemed to look up at him.
For a moment, there was a feeling of staring at each other.
Du Yongyu was shocked when he saw this. He looked again and found that everything was as usual. There was just an ordinary clay statue in front of him, nothing special.
At this moment, Du Yongyu suddenly felt someone appear behind him. He suddenly turned around and saw the village chief standing silently at the door of the ancestral hall, looking at him.
Although the appearance of the village chief at this time had not changed much, under the illumination of candlelight, there was always an indescribable gloomy feeling on his face, which made people uncomfortable.
He is completely different from the image he had during the day when he led people to rob customers.
Seeing Du Yongyu looking back, the village chief forced a smile on his face, and he didn't look kind.
"Guest, you're still up so late, why are you running out?"
"Isn't the village chief sleeping too?"
"I'm old and I'm a light sleeper."
After the two looked at each other for a while, Du Yongyu suddenly pointed at the woman on the shrine and said:
"What kind of god do you worship?"
"The Wedding Dress Lady."
"Which path of immortality is this?"
"The fairy in Niangzi Mountain."
"Is he really a fairy?"
"The one who can keep us safe is naturally a god."
"I see that there are many young men in the village, why are they not missing?"
"The guest really wants to know?"
"It seems you have a real problem here."
Du Yongyu said, his hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
When the village chief saw this, a smile appeared on his lips, he took two steps back and said:
"You meet my requirements very well."
The next moment, I saw someone walking out from the left and right of the ancestral hall door.
No, not a person, but a paper figurine.
Two paper figures, a man and a woman.
Two paper figures appeared here, looking at Du Yongyu together, their eyes shining, their heads turning continuously on their necks, looking excited.
The village chief looked at Du Yongyu and said:
"Guest, something happy is about to happen to you."
The two paper figures took out their paper knives and swords and stepped forward together, intending to capture Du Yongyu.
Facing two paper figures at the same time, Du Yongyu looked very calm. The sword on his waist was unsheathed. When they met each other, with a flash of sword light, the two paper figures were cut into two pieces and turned into ordinary paper figures and fell to the ground.
When the village chief saw this, his pupils shrank first, and then he showed some yellowed teeth in his mouth:
"Guest, I didn't expect you to have such an ability. I think the empress must like it very much."
As he said that, he saw black shadows moving in the darkness around the ancestral hall.
Paper figures came out one after another, both men and women, all turning their heads and looking at Du Yongyu with excitement.
The village chief took a few steps back and said slowly:
"The big chun is like a flower, take it down and offer it to the empress."
Hearing this, many male and female paper figures burst into silent laughter, which made people's scalp tingle.
A group of paper figures with heart-rending smiles on their faces rushed towards Du Yongyu...
...
