Xinkang Town is a small town located at the foot of Weishan Mountain. It is also the largest town in Shilibaxiang.
Due to the limitations of this era and underdeveloped transportation, there will be a large number of villagers on every Fourth Ninth Day, that is, on the fourth, ninth, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fourth, and twenty-ninth days of each month. Spontaneously came to Xinkang Town to attend the market.
So when Pei Wende was walking on the rural and official roads, he saw people from all over the country carrying burdens, pushing carts, and taking their extra things to the market to buy and sell.
"Thank you, junior."
After helping an old man push the cart up the slope, Pei Wende smiled and declined the plan to continue moving with the other man, and instead looked in a certain direction behind him.
"Huh?"
It seemed to be a family of three who came here from a nearby small village to go to the market.
But judging from their clothes, they don't seem to be ordinary civilians.
After all, in this era, ordinary people are very good if they have clothes to wear. People who dress as well as that family of three, even if they are not landlords and gentry, are not much different by birth.
People like this rarely appear in the market, let alone carry burdens and push carts with the people from all over the country.
"Later life! Later life!"
Just when Pei Wende was stunned, the old man who he had helped before suddenly came up to him and pulled him with a slightly serious expression.
"Don't look at that family, stay away from them."
Even though the old man had deliberately lowered his voice, the child in the family of three seemed to have heard what he said, and glanced over at him, making the old man tremble.
"Let's go, young man, go quickly."
Seeing this situation, the old man said no more, forcibly pulled Pei Wende and walked forward at a faster pace.
After a while, until the three members of the family could no longer see their backs, the old man let out a long sigh of relief, and the nervous look on his face dissipated.
"Old man? What's going on?"
After silently glancing at the old man who seemed relieved, Pei Wende finally couldn't help but ask.
"Is there anything strange about that family just now?"
No wonder Pei Wende was so surprised, the old man's behavior was really too strange.
Although the dress of the family of three from before was incompatible with the people around them, they were not so exaggerated that they needed to be avoided, right?
"Young man, once I see you, you rarely go out."
Hearing this, the old man gradually slowed down the speed of his cart and explained in a serious and thoughtful voice.
"Even if the family of three is not evil, they are definitely related to evil spirits. There is a high probability that they are some kind of evil 'ghosts'."
"Huh?"
This time Pei Wende is really full of questions. Does he really have the talent of crow's mouth?
Before going down the mountain, I said I wanted to meet a monster, but immediately after going down the mountain, I met an evil spirit. Isn't this too much of a coincidence?
"Young man, please carefully recall the shoes worn by that family of three. Are they very clean?"
After the old man's reminder, Pei Wende realized that the shoes worn by the family of three were indeed very clean, as clean as new ones.
"But... what does this have to do with them being evil spirits?"
Asking the old man for advice humbly, Pei Wende felt that this might be related to the "not peaceful" his master told him before going down the mountain.
"Except for the main roads built by officials in the eight villages nearby, there is no road that is not a mountain road or a rural road built in my own village."
Seemingly satisfied with the attitude of this young man, Pei Wende, the old man couldn't help but continue to explain,
"These mountain roads and rural roads are already very good if they can be walked on. It is impossible for them to carry out year-round maintenance and repairs like the government does."
"We have walked all the way like you and I. Even if our shoes are not damaged, they will still be stained with some mud, right?"
As soon as these words came out, Pei Wende suddenly realized what he had overlooked.
"That family of three...haven't walked the country road?"
Ancient China is no different from the modern society of the 21st century. These days, if you travel far away without taking rural and mountain roads, it is impossible to travel within a radius of ten miles.
In fact, even those official roads built and maintained by officials are rarely as clean as the cement roads and asphalt roads of the 21st century.
In this way, it seems a bit strange for a family of three who have walked such a long distance without any dirt on their shoes.
"Yes, that family of three are not from the nearby village at all, but are 'ghosts' on this road deliberately arranged by evil spirits!"
The old man's tone was unusually firm, as if he was afraid that Pei Wende wouldn't believe it and he continued to explain.
"If you don't believe me, come back later and take a look. This family of three must still be walking on this road."
Looking at the swearing old man, Pei Wende raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I see, then what kind of evil 'ghost' are you?"
As soon as these words came out, the old man opposite Pei Wende suddenly changed his expression, and then he reacted instantly and forced a smile.
"Ahem, junior, what are you talking about?"
"The little old man is just an ordinary farmer, how can he be a 'ghost'?"
As he said that, the old man patted the cart he was pushing, as if to prove to Pei Wende that he was not lying.
"Old man, a real farmer wouldn't walk for such a long time without sweating!"
With a slight crack in the corner of his mouth, Pei Wende smiled and pointed out some details of the old man's poor disguise.
"Also, at this time and age, real farmers will not push their own rice out to the market on a hot day."
"What's more, do you think I can't see that the pedestrians around me are deliberately avoiding you?"
"Just like you pointed out that the family of three were 'ghosts,' when I was helping you push the cart, I noticed that the people next to me seemed to want to say something to me."
To be honest, Pei Wende didn't think of anything at first.
It wasn't until the old man revealed that the family of three were "ghosts" disguised as market goers that Pei Wende realized what the hesitant expressions of the nearby pedestrians really meant.
The only thing that puzzled Pei Wende was that he had been reincarnated into this era for more than ten years without encountering serious monsters. As a result, he encountered two groups of monsters as soon as he came down the mountain today.
Is this just a coincidence?
Or is there something happening in this area that I don't know about?
"Ahem, I'm joking. If the little old man is really a 'ghost', how could he reveal the identities of a family of three?"
Hearing that the "ghost" disguised as a human opposite him was still quibbling, Pei Wende, who was much more courageous than ordinary people, just asked in a tone that seemed to be a smile but not a smile.
"Maybe you want to eat alone?"
"After all, although I don't know what real monsters are like, I still know that the legendary evil ghosts like to eat people."
"Unfortunately, I happen to be one of those guys with strong blood. Maybe it suits the appetite of you 'ghosts', right?"
—Recommendation ticket—/—Monthly ticket—
