Purple, broken, purple fire filled the sky, Xiaochen woke up in confusion, and in front of him was the hillside that had appeared in his dream, but at this time it had ignited a fire all over the sky, and the fallen tree was also covered in flames Devouring, in this place, the vitality seems to have dissipated long ago, and overwhelming destruction and death have enveloped the place.
"I remembered, this is the hillside in my dream." Xiaochen stood up. He remembered the dream he had during the retreat the night before, and he also understood why he was confused that day.
Xiaochen calmed down his emotions, rubbed his eyebrows, and once again explored the white jade statue in the storage bag, but this time it was still there, not like it had disappeared like in the dream.
But Xiaochen was certain that it was this white jade statue that was causing trouble.
Memories returned, and Xiao Chen recalled: "It seems that I got lost and fell here instantly when I stepped out of the sky. If it is according to what Lin Po said, this is the Ruozhu District."
The environment in front of him was really scary. Under the fire, Xiaochen noticed that there seemed to be many figures, but they woke up much later than him.
"Is my soul stronger than theirs?" Xiao Chen thought about it, thinking that this should be the case.
There were old people and newborn children in front of him. Xiaochen even saw a family of four who had met once in the ruined temple. At this time, they were looking around in panic. The children kept crying. The scene was very noisy.
"Brother Xiao! We meet again!"
A voice sounded from behind Xiaochen, causing Xiaochen to turn around suddenly, it was him! Wang often comes.
Xiaochen looked at Wang Changlai, who was smiling lightly not far away. He seemed to be much calmer. Could he have any clues?
Then he nodded and said, "Master Wang, do you know what is going on?"
"I don't know, but I think there will always be someone at the scene who knows what's going on. Look at the people at the scene. Most of them are mortals. There must be a reason for getting involved here." Wang Changlai curled his lips and said hello. Naturally, he wanted to trick Xiaochen into asking him where he was, but the other party asked him first instead, which made him feel a little inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Of course I know this." Xiaochen turned his gaze and thought, but he never thought that this action would be noticed by Wang Changlai, and his eyes immediately gleamed.
"kindness?"
Seeing that Wang Changlai didn't have any clues, Xiaochen ignored him and continued to look around. Soon he found a familiar face. Thinking of Murong Longyue who frequently looked at the white jade statue that day, Xiaochen's heart moved and he quickly went up. He asked, "Miss Murong, do you know where this is?"
When Wang Changlai saw this, he quickly approached and spread out the fan in his hand, fanning Murong Longyue.
"Master Xiao?" Murong Longyue seemed to be a little confused at this time, covering her head and said.
But there was still a wave of excitement in my heart. Then I saw Wang Changlai again, and I was even more shocked and thought: "Why are the two associations here? It's easy to understand Mr. Xiao, but what about this Wang Changlai? What went wrong."
Even though Murong Longyue hid her emotions well, Xiaochen still felt a trace of panic in her.
"Panic, why is she a little panicked when she sees me and Wang Chang coming..." Xiaochen looked at her deeply and didn't ask any more questions.
"I don't know. I dreamed about this place last night, and I didn't remember anything in the morning. I just wanted to come to the Yushu Mountains as soon as possible, and walked around... then I fainted, and when I woke up it was already This is it..." Murong Longyue covered her head and seemed to still have a headache as she spoke little by little.
Xiaochen silently took half a step back. Wang Changlai also silently took half a step back after seeing Xiaochen's movements. Because the two people's movements were too synchronized, their eyes immediately collided. From the surprised eyes of the other party, it was also clear that not only That memory appeared between himself and Murong Longyue.
Everyone dreams of this hillside!
Murong Longyue seemed to have just woken up. She looked at the two people's movements in confusion, and then asked: "What about you?"
Xiaochen and Wang Changlai said in unison: "Same!"
After looking at the two of them strangely, Murong Longyue stopped talking.
"Master Xiao! Master Xiao!" At this time, an old man saw Xiao Chen and ran over immediately.
When Xiaochen heard the sound, he turned around and took a closer look. It was Zhang Laosan, the original owner of the white jade statue, and the one next to him was the yamen servant Zhang Commander from yesterday.
"Everyone who comes in is related to this white jade statue. Is there any inexplicable connection here?" Xiaochen thought, and soon the two people approached.
"No, there is no such thief!" Xiaochen suddenly thought of something.
Wang Changlai on the side also thought of something and said: "You are the yamen servant yesterday, you are the stall owner who lost the goods, the white jade statue!!!"
As Wang Changlai shouted, everyone woke up one after another, and then several people looked at Xiaochen, with questioning eyes. Finally, Zhang Tong asked: "Master Xiao, do you still have the white jade statue in your hand yesterday?"
Although he was asking, the eyes of the people around him were fixed on Xiao Chen. In their eyes, the white jade statue was a very important clue at the moment.
"That white jade statue must be quite important. It's safe to keep this kind of thing in my own hands." Thinking like this, Xiaochen pretended to have just woken up, then rummaged through the storage bag, and finally spread his hands to signal to Bai Yu. It seems to have disappeared inexplicably.
"No more. I already realized it was gone when I was dreaming last night." Xiaochen said in a deep voice.
Everyone's thoughts were a little uncertain, and they could see mixed thoughts flashing through them. Finally, after remembering the strength of Xiao Chen's sword, they looked worried again.
"So, we all came here because of that white jade statue?" Murong Longyue asked curiously. She finally understood why the life lamp was so bright. It turned out that the problem was here.
She wondered, "What on earth does that white jade statue have to do with this place?"
"I don't believe Xiaochen said that the white jade statue is gone, but that person is very powerful, so it's not easy to force him to hand over the white jade statue now." Murong Longyue thought.
"What white jade statue? Where is this?" a woman eavesdropping suddenly said loudly.
Seeing this, Xiaochen asked: "Madam, were you in Bailufang City yesterday afternoon?"
The woman glanced at Xiaochen doubtfully, and then said, "Where is Bailufang City? I stayed at home all the time yesterday."
Everyone's eyes flashed with shock. If this was the case, the reason for entering was not just the white jade statue.
Even though doubts continued, everyone gathered together at Commander Zhang's call, planning to brainstorm and ask anyone who knew where this place was.
"Come here, everyone! I am the official commander of Huize City!"
Under Commander Zhang's call, everyone gathered one after another, but the fire in the distance was still there, and it didn't seem to be going out, even if the tree had been burned.
In the crowd, an old man who was already seventy years old hesitated, and finally walked out, saying in a trembling voice: "Master, I know where this is..."
"What? Come on, come on! Master, come on! I'm inviting you!" After hearing this, Commander Zhang, who was helpless, immediately stepped forward and helped the old man to the center of the crowd.
Xiaochen's eyes also gathered there, waiting for the old man to speak.
Some vicissitudes of memories seemed to flash through the eyes of the old man. After a while, he slowly said: "This is Xiaozhu Village. There are paintings and stories passed down from generation to generation by my ancestors."
"Xiaozhu Village?" Wang Changlai asked in confusion. He seemed to have heard the name of this village somewhere.
On the contrary, Commander Zhang murmured for a few times and then came to his senses: "Xiaozhu Village, is that Xiaozhu Village where the whole village moved out of the Yushu Mountains 600 years ago?" Commander Zhang had the impression because he had served as the city's chief administrator for a period of time. , I saw it when I was looking through the archives.
The reason why I remember it clearly is because the population of Xiaozhu Village recorded in Huize City was more than 1,500 people, but the relocated Xiaozhu Village had less than 300 people. It was quite strange that the number of people was much smaller. However, after this incident was stamped, no one went there. The investigation just ended.
"Yes, the little man's ancestors came from Xiaozhu Village. Although I have never been to Xiaozhu Village, the place is exactly the same as what the elders in the family described. By the way... the little man's ancestor was once a painter. There is a big tree lying in front of him. .. Before it started burning, it was exactly the same as what I saw in the paintings when I was a child, so I dared to identify this as Xiaozhu Village." Zhu Mingzhi said.
After hearing what the old man said, Wang Changlai said flatly: "It's impossible. In 600 years, the environment has changed drastically, things have changed and people have changed."
The old man opened his mouth after hearing this but said nothing, not knowing how to answer.
It didn't look like he was lying, Xiaochen thought about it, and then asked: "Does the old man still remember why the villagers moved out of Xiaozhu Village?"
Hearing Xiaochen's question, Wang Changlai and Commander Zhang also thought about it. They understood Xiaochen's question, and then looked at the old man nervously.
"I don't know... I can't remember clearly. The only thing passed down in my family is that my ancestor came from Xiaozhu Village." The old man thought for a moment and said.
The clue is broken...
Xiaochen secretly felt that the reason why the villagers moved out of Xiaozhu Village might be crucial, but now the other party didn't know, and there was really nothing they could do.
"Does anyone else know the news about this Xiaozhu Village?" Commander Zhang shouted towards the surroundings.
But there was silence in the crowd. Everyone looked around, hoping that others could know some news.
"Stone Spirit!"
One of the people present had a huge reaction after seeing the large number of stone sculptures on both sides of the road. His face turned pale and he hurriedly took a few steps back.
Commander Zhang immediately noticed the abnormality and looked at the stone carvings. This kind of stone carvings were widely distributed in the Ruozhu District. It was a common thing. Why was the man so scared?
Xiaochen naturally turned his attention to the stone carvings. The stone carvings were placed in the bamboo forests on both sides of the road. The bamboos grew beside the stone carvings. Each stone carving was deliberately facing the road, as if all the stone carvings were looking at passers-by and shouting. , and those stone sculptures looked particularly scary in the firelight.
Darong calmed down after panicking for a while, and he slowly revealed the reason for his panic: "Sixteen years ago, something like this happened once. At that time, many people who went into the mountains with others disappeared inexplicably. , and there were such stone sculptures next to those who disappeared. This matter was said by their companions to be extremely scary. The person disappeared as soon as they turned around. The person who was talking with them just now just didn't pay attention to the person. It disappeared, so there were rumors that stone spirits can eat people."
"What's even more frightening is that those people who were rumored to have disappeared have never appeared again." Darong looked like a heir at this time.
After being reminded by Darong, some people in the crowd reacted with horror on their faces.
When he heard Shi Ling, Wang Changlai's eyes flashed with thoughts, and he remembered why Xiaozhu Village sounded familiar.
He quietly pulled Xiao Chen aside and whispered: "I have heard the story about Shi Ling eating people, but I don't think it is that simple. Do you still remember Miss Murong's reaction when you went to pick up the white jade statue that day? ?"
Xiao Chen glanced at him in surprise. He didn't expect Wang Changlai to be thinking about him together. He immediately asked doubtfully: "What does this have to do with Miss Murong?"
