Zheng Xiu stared angrily, and without hesitation, he rushed toward the fire.
A dozen strong and dark farmers looked handsome and fierce at first glance, so they looked ferocious, carrying pitchforks and hoes, and stepped forward to stop him.
Even if Zheng Xiu didn't use magic, his physique was not impressive. With three punches and two kicks, he kicked away the farmer who came to stop him. Zheng Xiu stepped on the fire and pulled up the pillar inserted in the fire.
"Killing! Killing! Killing!"
Among the onlookers, a thin old woman pointed at Zheng Xiu who was violently injured and shouted.
Carrying a person and a pole on his body, Zheng Xiu jumped out of the fire, walked to the side, and broke the thumb-thick hemp rope with a little force with his hands. The woman holding the baby's eyes widened and stared at Zheng in horror. Xiu, his legs kept kicking the ground, he hugged the baby in his arms tightly and moved backwards.
"Monk!"
Like a beast in human form, Zheng Xiu trampled the floor with a clang. He held a strong man by the collar in one hand and threw them ten meters away. He pulled the monk up and was somewhat speechless: "You can save people if you save them. Why don't you use thaumaturgy and have to get yourself in?"
The monk glanced at the frightened woman not far away, breathed a sigh of relief, and then said with a smile: "Brother Zheng, didn't you say you want to keep a low profile?"
As he spoke, a drop of dazzling nosebleed slowly dripped from the monk's nostrils.
Zheng Xiuyou was so angry that he was speechless and could only give Ruchen a thumbs up.
Ruchen was still laughing, wiping away the blood with his sleeves, stroking his bald head without saying anything.
After Zheng Xiu broke in, the dancing Shen Tiao Shaman had already stopped dancing and let out strange screams.
"Be careful! It's a divine witch."
The thaumaturge who followed the path of [divine witchcraft] did not leave a good impression on Zheng Xiu.
When Zheng Xiu saw Shen Tiao Wu, he thought of the Fairy Goddess Temple. When he thought of the Fairy Goddess Temple, he thought of Fairy Goddess. When he thought of Fairy Goddess Beauty, he thought of the half-human, half-insect monster. With a cold expression on his face, Zheng Xiu's figure was like lightning, and he punched the thin Shen Tiao Wu.
If he were here, he might start vomiting as soon as he rolls his eyes.
The monk wiped away the nosebleed and ran to comfort the frightened woman.
The monk took out a tattered fan from nowhere, shook his head and said solemnly: "Is this girl injured?"
Zheng Xiu rolled his eyes.
The monk's "scholar's inner demon" bubbled up.
"Be careful, monk."
Zheng Xiu took two steps back and looked at Shen Tiao Wu warily.
"You, what are you doing! Where did you come from? Why are you stopping us from purifying the dirt!"
A young and immature voice came out from behind the Shen Tiao Shaman mask, making Zheng Xiu startled.
The farmers who were beaten by Zheng Xiu with three punches and two kicks got up again. Zheng Xiu realized at first that these strong men were ordinary people, so he did not kill them. At this moment, after they experienced the power of the macho man, they did not dare to step forward and formed a big circle.
Outside the circle, the old, weak, women and children stood far away, lowering their heads and whispering.
"Where did these two people come from? They don't look like they are from the town."
"It's an outsider!"
"Outlanders, get out!"
"Get out!"
An old man, not knowing who gave him the courage, picked up a few wrinkled vegetable leaves from the basket and threw them to the monk.
"Outsiders get out of Jingtang Town!"
Bang, a rotten egg hit the monk on the head.
"Ouch!"
The monk's "scholar demon" was instantly frightened away. More and more rotten eggs, overnight steamed buns, and vegetable leaves were thrown at the monk's head with perfect aim. The monk was running around trying to avoid all kinds of "hidden weapons", and finally hid behind Zheng Xiu in embarrassment.
Everyone stopped in unison.
They dare to hit monks, but they dare not hit macho men.
what happened?
Zheng Xiu felt that the atmosphere was weird, too weird.
Not to mention why the residents of the town wanted to burn the woman and child alive, the woman who was rescued from the fire did not show any gratitude at all. She just sat on the ground, holding her baby tightly in her arms, horrified. Looking at the two outsiders.
"Everyone stop it!"
The Shen Tiao Witch raised his right hand and shouted to the others: "They are from outside!"
As soon as Shen Tiao Wu finished speaking, his eyes blurred, and a thick palm took off his mask.
Under the mask, a young face was revealed, with panic in his eyes.
Zheng Xiu looked at the "Shen Tiao Witch" with a strange expression.
Under the mask is a child. To be precise, he is a child who is only about 12 or 13 years old. He is over the years and still has his childishness.
Zheng Xiu was silent and looked up at the others. After the Shen Tiao Witch revealed his true face, the residents of the town were not surprised at all. They still looked at the two outsiders with anger mixed with fear.
"We seem to have done unnecessary things."
Zheng Xiu threw the mask back to the boy.
At this moment, he was convinced that the "Shen Tune Witch" in front of him was not a strange magician who had peeked into the door, but was simply a profession.
The two of them were chased by Ye Weiyang along the way, and they were too sensitive to the thaumaturge. Zheng Xiu laughed dumbly. There were thousands of people in the world, but there were not so many strange people who had glimpsed the door.
"Cuihua! Cuihua!"
In the strange atmosphere, a middle-aged man in shabby clothes pushed through the crowd and stumbled up to the woman who was almost killed in the fire.
"You're still alive! You're still alive!"
The man's face was filled with tears, and he was about to help the woman up. Suddenly, the tightly wrapped swaddling clothes let out a weak cry. The man was so frightened that he trembled all over, sat down on the ground, and crawled back on his hands and feet as if to avoid the plague. .
"It's not dead yet! It's not dead yet! It's not dead yet!"
The woman who had been silent during all the changes raised her head, looked at her frightened husband, and hugged the baby tighter: "No one can burn my baby! No one can burn my baby!"
"If you don't hit Brother Zheng who is tall and hard, why would you hit this little monk instead!"
"Aren't you bullying honest people?"
Ruchen returned to normal at this moment, cursing as he picked off the vegetable leaves on his bald head and threw them at his feet, while scratching his head and wondering.
The monk and the macho man looked at each other.
"Two big brothers."
At this time, the young man who put on his mask again to cover his expression had been secretly observing the expressions of Ruchen and Zheng Xiu. After seeing that Zheng Xiu didn't look like a completely unreasonable person, he finally plucked up the courage and said cautiously: "You are from outside, right?"
Zheng Xiu nodded.
The young man suddenly understood and said again: "My name is Xiaozhao, I am the 16th generation of 'purification witch' in Jingtang Town. We are doing the 'purification ceremony'. I know that you two don't know the inside story, but this is our internal matter in Jingtang." , no outsiders are allowed to interfere.”
"Hmph," before Zheng Xiu could say anything, the monk snorted coldly: "Why do you have to burn a helpless woman and child alive? But, Brother Zheng, you go ahead and do your business. Leave this to me. Just come and deal with it. If there is any injustice on the road, I can't just watch you burn the living people to death."
Zheng Xiu, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked: "How many times have you performed this purification ceremony recently?"
Ruchen was stunned.
The macho man's words were like a hammer to the ground, and the whispers of others fell silent in an instant.
The young man took two steps back.
Only then did Ruchen realize: "Brother Zheng, you mean..."
Zheng Xiu nodded, acquiescing to the monk's acquiescence. Under the fearful eyes of everyone, Zheng Xiu walked towards the woman with his head held high.
The woman was in shock and whispered to herself: "Don't burn my baby... don't burn my baby... don't burn my baby..."
Zheng Xiu squatted in front of the woman and smiled slightly: "Zheng means no harm. Can I take a look at the child?"
The woman raised her head blankly, holding the swaddling clothes to her side.
"Look, I saved you mother and son just now. Since I can save you, I won't harm you. I just want to take a look and see why they set the fire."
Maybe it's because Zheng Xiu is handsome, or maybe it's because it's the fact that a tough guy is the one who saves people. The woman finally let down her guard and carefully opened the swaddling clothes to reveal the child inside.
Ruchen's head came closer.
Inside the tightly wrapped swaddling clothes was a child with a sallow complexion, delicate features, and a somewhat similar facial features to the woman. At this moment, the child is curled up, his eyes are closed, and his lips are licking from time to time.
"Wow!"
At this time, the child screamed, and Zheng Xiu realized that when the child made a sound, it was not "crying" like ordinary children because they were troubled or hungry. It was not so much crying, let alone... "barking".
Zheng Xiu looked at the child and noticed that there were "birthmarks" similar to mold spots on the child's face and neck. They were dark green in color and extended into the body.
It's not so much a birthmark as it is something weird growing on the baby.
"inspiration."
Zheng Xiuyin sensed it and lost a moderate number of points.
There's something wrong with that baby.
Zheng Xiu's eyes were sharp. In his field of vision, the woman holding the baby seemed to be holding a lump of filth that was as solid as substance. The viscous, waxy stench slowly seeped out from the baby's eyes, ears, mouth and nose. .
Zheng Xiu subconsciously looked at the sky, becoming wary.
There are no ravens circling yet.
Zheng Xiu immediately pulled Ruchen aside: "We don't need to worry about this matter."
"ah?"
Ruchen was stunned when he heard the words, and then said a little disappointedly: "Brother Zheng said it is what he said," Ruchen quickly covered up his disappointment with a smile, paused, and said: "Brother Zheng, please quickly prepare the supplies and go up the mountain. , after all, it’s still important to rescue Fengbei’s benefactor.”
"No," Zheng Xiu shook his head: "Although I don't know the inside story, it is obviously Ye Weiyang's responsibility."
Ruchen laughed dumbly and said in surprise: "You mean...that Ye Weiyang?"
Zheng Xiu nodded seriously: "Yes, that Ye Weiyang."
Zheng Xiu knew the meaning of Ruchen's words.
Ye Weiyang chased them all the way because he was trapped in Fengbei in the scroll. In Ruchen's eyes, Ye Weiyang seemed to have become a "big villain" who harmed the common people, which Ruchen despised. But it happened to be Ye Weiyang, who was responsible for matters related to the conspiracy in the Daqian Dynasty.
Zheng Xiu did not know the inside story of the "purification ceremony" hosted by Wu Xiaozhao of Jingtang Jingtang. But what he saw under his spiritual vision couldn't be faked. There was something wrong with the baby.
Ruchen looked at Zheng Xiu with an extremely serious look and said word by word: "Brother Zheng, if Fengbei's benefactor was here, would she interfere in this matter?"
Ruchen's question suddenly reminded Zheng Xiu of the look in Xiao Fengbei's eyes under his unkempt face when he suffered a family change twenty years ago.
"Yes." Zheng Xiu grabbed his hair hard, said softly first, and then said again as if he was bored: "Yes."
After saying that, Zheng Xiu sighed: "That's why I always don't like my conscience, it always delays things!"
Ruchen was stunned for a moment when he heard the words and didn't understand. But after thinking about it thoroughly, Ruchen raised his hands in the air happily: "Brother Zheng is so righteous!"
"High your sister."
"Xiao Monk does not have a biological sister. If there is one after Xiao Monk finds his true self, Xiao Monk hopes that your younger sister can get acquainted with Brother Zheng and have a glimpse of Brother Zheng's style."
"..."
Leave this girl out of nowhere, right?
When Zheng Xiu checked on the baby, the fire burning on the fire gradually burned out. They said they wanted to "intervene" even though they were still here. The crowd dared to get angry but did not dare to attack. Because of the bravery of the macho men, they not only moved randomly, but also became deadlocked for a while.
At this time, there was a commotion outside the crowd. An old man, holding a cane, ran all the way panting. He pushed through the crowd and squeezed in. He hurriedly said to Jingwu Xiaozhao who was at a loss: "Master Jingwu, the fifteenth generation, the fifteenth generation is back." Got it!"
Jingwu Xiaozhao was stunned when he heard this: "Grandpa is back?"
"That's right! I won't come back sooner or later, but I'm back at this time!" The old man smoothed his breath with his hand on his chest: "The fifteenth generation learned about this and said he wanted to meet two foreign guests!"
"Grandpa wants to see them?" Xiaozhao suddenly became nervous: "Does Grandpa think that Xiaozhao didn't do a good job?"
"That's not true. Since the two guests are determined to interfere in the purification ceremony of Jingtang, if they don't explain clearly, it will be difficult to carry out the purification ceremony. In the end, it will only increase the sadness." The old man comforted.
Zheng Xiu stood up. After learning that this incident might be related to the "suspicious case", Zheng Xiu had been vigilant about his surroundings, worried that what happened here would attract Ye Weiyang. But this place is located on the southwest border of Daqian, not to mention Ye Weiyang and the garrison, not even the county master.
It is said to be a town, but in fact it is a gathering place for local people. The two-person-high earth wall Zheng Xiu can easily demolish with his bare hands, which is far from the word "city".
Therefore, Zheng Xiu, who was wary, listened to the conversation between the two. He took the initiative to walk up to the child known as the "Sixteenth Generation Pure Witch" and said calmly: "Since you can't speak, take me to see your grandfather." , I want to know what is going on. To be honest, Zheng does not want to interfere with your customs, but it is difficult for Zheng to watch you burn innocent people to death. "
The sixteenth generation Jingwu gritted his teeth and reluctantly finally agreed to take them to see the fifteenth generation Jingwu, who was what Xiao Zhao called his grandfather.
The crowd dispersed and a path separated.
Everyone watched with complicated expressions as Zheng Xiu and Ruchen followed Xiao Zhao away.
Before leaving, Zheng Xiu looked back and found that all the people were looking at the woman and the baby in her arms with fear on their faces, hiding far away. The vivid faces reminded Zheng Xiu of a young man who mustered up the courage to confess that he had Hualiu in a land of fireworks. Everyone, including men and women, had complex expressions of fear, fear, and hate.
Although this metaphor is crude, Zheng Xiu indeed thinks so.
Zheng Xiu was actually wondering what strange things happened in this border town.
Ruchen was walking in front, and Zheng Xiu was behind, alert to the surroundings. He made up his mind that once he found a raven, he would quickly kill it with his ultimate move, and he couldn't care less about shocking the world.
A group of people came to an almost abandoned house.
The yard was overgrown with withered grass and piled with fallen leaves. There was a stone table in the yard covered with dust. It was obvious that no one had lived there for a long time.
Xiaozhao slapped his head, walked a few steps forward and unlocked the door - he seemed to have kept the key on him. Xiaozhao asked them to wait outside the courtyard and entered the house. After a while, Xiaozhao let Zheng Xiu and Ruchen enter the courtyard.
I saw Xiaozhao shaking a rickety old man who was over seventy years old and with white hair and beard walking out of the house.
There was an unpleasant musty smell in the air. The old man was holding a thread-bound ancient book in his hand. The writing on the ancient book had long since turned yellow and faded, and he could only barely make out it. It was an antique from many years ago.
"The two little brothers are chivalrous, I understand." The old man sighed: "We have lived in this small place for ten years and hundreds of years, and we have our own rules and customs. If we don't have to, we don't want to burn people alive. Yeah. You will understand the inside story after reading this ancient book."
The old man had almost no nonsense and no self-introduction. He gave Zheng Xiu the answer he wanted at the beginning.
This process went so smoothly that Zheng Xiu became even more curious about the inner story of this "Human Burning Ceremony", so he sat down on the stone table in the yard and read ancient books.
The handwriting on the cover of the ancient book has long faded with time. Among the four words, Zheng Xiu could only distinguish the second word "dark" and the fourth word "lu".
The old man stepped forward and turned to one of the pages for Zheng Xiu.
The cover is terrible, but the content recorded inside is barely complete.
This page records a bug called a "cotton slough".
Cotton slough has another name, called "100-year-old insect".
This book is at least two hundred years old. The fonts on it are significantly different from the common Chinese characters popular in Daqian today. Zheng Xiu recognized them word by word. Suddenly, when he saw one of the lines, Zheng Xiu's finger sliding on the page suddenly moved. After a pause, he murmured:
"Is this a...worm from the darkness?"
(End of chapter)
