Early next morning
Chang Sheng walked out of the house sleepily and saw Chang An practicing his sword.
"elder brother"
Chang An looked at Chang Sheng who had just woken up and smiled.
Shi Kuang sat aside and watched Chang An practicing his sword, his eyes full of surprise, and said to Chang Sheng
"Brother Chang is so awesome."
Chang An's steps were constantly changing, and the sword in his hand was suddenly sharp, sometimes soft as a ribbon, sometimes as fast as lightning, and the last sword thrust out, raising a cloud of dust.
Chang Sheng clapped her little hands excitedly and said proudly
"My brother is the best."
Chang An was all interested and said with a smile.
"Sanliang, let's see my brother show you a move."
Chang An stepped out with his sword in hand and walked to a crooked tree in the yard. Chang Sheng and Shi Kuang opened their eyes wide and stared at the sword in Chang An's hand. They saw a faint air current surrounding the sword. , but the air flow is very light, if you don't look carefully, it can be easily ignored.
Big beads of sweat streaked across Chang An's forehead, and his body trembled slightly. The long sword in his hand suddenly stabbed the crooked neck tree. Chang Sheng and Shi Kuang clearly saw that the tip of the sword stopped about a foot away from the tree. It did not pierce the trunk of the tree, but the sound of "sasha" came, and the crooked neck tree swayed slightly, as if there was an invisible force shaking the whole tree.
Two waves of thunderous applause erupted in the courtyard, and Chang Sheng's face was full of excitement.
"Brother, how did you do it? You were able to hit people from a distance."
Chang An was sweating profusely and panting.
"This is just a gadget. It can only be used for performances, but it cannot be used in actual combat."
Shi Kuang's eyes are filled with admiration
"But it looks amazing."
Chang An smiled
"This move is called sword energy in Jiange, but even if it is used with a master-level internal force, it will lose its power if it exceeds one foot. Therefore, even the disciples of Jiange will basically not use this move. "
Chang An felt weak and smiled bitterly. In fact, only masters above the master level could perform this move. He could barely use this move only because of the effect of Yan Sihai's pill.
Shi Kuang walked up and helped Chang An and said
"Brother Chang, do you still want to go to the river today?"
Chang An nodded and turned to ask
"Brother Shi, we are here for the first time. Could you please be our guide and take us around Chijiang?"
Shi Kuang thought for a while and said with a smile
"good."
The three of them were walking by the Chijiang River. Shi Kuang was explaining Chijiang to Chang An's brother and sister. Chang An suddenly asked
"Brother Shi, all the water in the world is clear, why is the water of the Chijiang River so bright red?"
Shi Kuang was stunned, scratched his head and said
"I don't know either, but I heard from the village chief that the water in Chijiang River used to be very clear."
Chang An asked again
"Someone died last night, why is there no funeral procession today?"
Shi Kuang said
"When people here leave, they are all sent directly to the river to sacrifice to the devil."
Chang Sheng trembled for a while and said tremblingly
"Devil...Demon King"
Shi Kuang suddenly looked at Chijiang and nodded solemnly.
"The legend left by our ancestors is that there is a demon king living in the Red River. The demon king in the river protects us when we get out of the boat safely. In exchange, we have to sacrifice our dead to the demon king."
"oh?"
Chang An suddenly became interested and said with a smile
"The devil is not picky. He wants dead people, but not living people."
"Shh!"
Shi Kuang made a silent gesture to him and said
"You can't blaspheme the Demon King. The village chief said that a hundred years ago, some elders in the village blasphemed the Demon King. As a result, in the next month, all the adults in the village died one after another, leaving only a few children alive. "
Chang An listened and felt ridiculous and said
"Then how did your village chief know about this?"
Shi Kuang said mysteriously
"The village chief is the child who survived a hundred years ago."
Chang An was surprised. He didn't expect that the old village chief was more than a hundred years old.
The three of them were walking along the river when they met a girl standing not far ahead, looking at the Chijiang River.
"Sister Yang."
Shi Kuang recognized the girl Yang Bai at a glance.
The girl heard the sound and turned around to look over, only to see her eyes filled with tears and her face full of desolation.
Shi Kuang was shocked and ran over.
"Sister Yang, what's wrong with you?"
Yang Bai kept sobbing and refused to speak, and Shi Kuang became more and more anxious.
"Who bullied you?"
Yang Bai still didn't speak, just sobbing.
Chang An looked at Yang Bai, with an ominous premonition in his heart, and hurriedly shouted:
"Brother Shi, catch her quickly!"
While Shi Kuang was looking at Chang An blankly, with a "Plop!", Yang Bai jumped into the river.
The wind was strong on the riverside today and the waves in the Chijiang River were rough. The poplar tree plunged into the river and disappeared like a stone sinking into the sea.
Shi Kuang was so anxious that he didn't care about the turbulent river water and jumped in. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the water, he was hit by a wave and almost fainted.
Fortunately, he had grown up by the river and was well versed in the nature of water. He tried hard to stay awake. He took a deep breath and dived into the water. In the dark red river water, Shi Kuang tried his best to determine the direction and recalled Yang. Based on the location where Bai jumped and the approximate flow rate of the water, he estimated where Yang Bai might appear and struggled forward to search.
Relying on his excellent water quality and rich experience, he soon found Yang Bai. As soon as Yang Bai jumped into the river, he was knocked unconscious by the waves. Shi Kuang struggled to catch Yang Bai who had fainted. Swim hard towards the water.
On the shore, Chang Sheng's eyes were red from crying. She grabbed Chang An's arm with all her strength and looked nervously at the river, expecting Shi Kuang and Yang Bai to appear there.
In the strong wind, a wave of waves crashed over, and two small figures appeared on the river. As the waves floated feebly, although Shi Kuang was holding on to Yang Bai tightly, he had exhausted all his strength and could only hold on to Yang Bai. Being able to drift with the current and let the rapids wash away the two of them.
Just when Shi Kuang was about to faint, a figure suddenly appeared not far away. Chang An jumped far to the surface of the river, stepping lightly on the waves with his feet, and his body was as light as a swallow. , with a little effort, he jumped up high on the waves, and jumped forward another ten feet. In a few leaps, Chang An had already crossed dozens of feet of the river. He lightly crossed Shi Kuang's head, He fell directly into the water and came to Shi Kuang's side. He hugged Shi Kuang's body hard and said with a smile.
"You take a rest first, and we will swim back together later."
Shi Kuang said with his remaining strength
"Go back quickly."
He was about to push Chang An away, but found that Chang An was motionless in the torrent. There seemed to be a force pulling Chang An to prevent him from being washed away by the current.
He took a closer look and found that there was a long rope on the river. He then thought that Chang An had tied himself to the big tree on the shore with a long rope before jumping into the water.
When Yang Bai woke up, he only heard Shi Kuang's silly laughter.
"Haha, she woke up."
But Shi Kuang couldn't laugh the next moment. As soon as Yang Bai opened his eyes, he tried his best to break away from Shi Kuang's hand and wanted to jump into the river again.
It's just that Shi Kuang grabbed Yang Bai tightly this time and never let her break free.
"let me go."
Yang Bai roared feebly.
Shi Kuang just grabbed her silently and refused to let go.
Chang An, who was soaked all over, walked up to Yang Bai and asked with a smile.
"Miss Yang, the world is so beautiful, why are you so anxious to seek death?"
Yang Bai's face was ashen, seeing that he couldn't break away from Shi Kuang, two lines of pure tears fell uncontrollably.
"My parents are dead, what's the point of living for me?"
Shi Kuang was shocked and blurted out:
"I just saw him the day before yesterday, why did he die today?"
Chang An had a bad feeling in his head and asked
"Your Majesty and your Majesty may have died of sudden illness last night."
Yang Bai nodded feebly and said with sobs
"For some reason last night, not long after I fell asleep, I heard two screams in my parents' room. When I ran into my parents' room, they... they were rolling on the ground in pain, and then... blood came out of their mouths. After a while, they... they... they... ran out of breath, wuwuwuwuwu..."
Seeing Yang Bai's appearance, Shi Kuang felt so uncomfortable. He immediately held Yang Bai in his arms and kept comforting him.
"Don't be afraid, Sister Yang, I'm here."
After a long time, Yang Bai, who had already lost his strength, finally fell asleep in Shi Kuang's arms.
No matter how stupid Shi Kuang was, he was already suspicious at this moment. He looked back at Chang An with a frightened expression and said tremblingly
"Could it be...that the Demon King is here to claim his life again?"
Chang An sneered. He didn't know how true the legend of the Demon King was, but Shi Meng did die of poisoning. If this was the so-called Demon King seeking his life, this Demon King's method would be too stingy.
Chang An did not respond to Shi Kuang, but just said
"Brother Shi, can you take me to meet your village chief?"
Shi Kuang thought for a while and said
"Okay, just what should Sister Yang do?"
Chang An smiled
"Brother Shi, Miss Yang is helpless. The only one she can rely on at this time is you."
Shi Kuang's face became firm and he said
"Then I will go to Yangjiacun today to propose marriage."
Chang An said
"I'll go with you."
Shi Kuang asked
"What about the village chief?"
Chang An said
"The village chief can go there at night."
It was exactly noon, and the three of them took Yang Bai, who was already sleeping, all the way to Yangjiacun.
Standing at the entrance of the village, Shi Kuang scratched his head and said with a naive smile.
"Oh! I don't know Yang Bai's family."
Chang Sheng looked confused and said
"Didn't you go to her house last time we met?"
Shi Kuang replied
"The first time we met was by the river, so we made an appointment to meet by the river yesterday."
Chang Sheng looked helpless and said
"Then why don't you find someone to ask."
Shi Kuang said
"That's right."
When the three of them entered the village, they felt a little quiet. Although every house had their doors open, no one was seen walking around.
Chang An said calmly
"Brother Shi, Yangjiacun is quite different from your Shijiacun."
Shi Kuang shook his head and said
"Although I don't come here very often, it was quite lively before. Why is it so quiet today?"
Chang An frowned and said
"Just find a house and ask."
Shi Kuang nodded, then carried Yang Bai on his back and walked to a house on the roadside. As soon as he entered the yard, Shi Kuang asked about a faint smell.
"What does it smell like? It smells bad."
Shi Kuang didn't pay too much attention. After all, even if it smelled, it was someone else's home.
He cleared his throat, stood in the yard, and asked loudly
"anyone there?"
no one responded
Shi Kuang shouted again
"anyone there?"
Still no one responded.
Chang An said
"Why don't you find another one?"
Shi Kuang nodded.
They came to another house, and Shi Kuang smelled the faint smell again.
"anyone there?"
Shi Kuang shouted again.
There was still no response, but this time, Chang An faintly heard the sound of children crying.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"
Chang An grabbed Shi Kuang and didn't let him continue shouting.
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu”
The sound of crying came again, Chang Anxin didn't think well, and before Shi Kuang could react, he rushed in with a quick step.
As Chang An entered the house, the sound of children crying became louder and louder. Chang An discovered that not only the yard was open, but the door was also open. The children crying came from the house. Chang An didn't think anything else. Quickly walked into the house.
The pungent fishy smell permeated the house. Several corpses lay scattered in the house. Only one child was crying helplessly. The corpses looked hideous and in pain. On the table in the house, the food was still steaming. There were broken dishes and chopsticks in the hands of the female corpse. Apparently, bad luck suddenly struck the family while they were preparing lunch.
Chang An roughly checked several corpses, and as expected, no wounds were found, and they died of poisoning. Chang An was shocked in his heart, recalling that the legend of the Demon King told by Shi Kuang actually seemed so real.
At this time, Shi Kuang and Chang Sheng also walked in, and Chang Sheng woke up Chang An with a scream.
"ah!"
Upon seeing this, Chang An quickly hugged the crying child away, drove Shi Kuang and Chang Sheng out of the house, closed the door, and said to Shi Kuang
"Brother Shi, please stay here and take care of my sister and child. I'll go look elsewhere. Don't run around. The murderer may still be in the village."
Shi Kuang was shocked
"The murderer, you mean they were killed."
Chang An was noncommittal. He used Qinggong in the yard and jumped to the house next door.
After half a stick of incense, Chang An's figure returned to Shi Kuang, holding a child in his arms without saying a word. His face was extremely ugly, and his anger was beyond words. Even Shi Kuang and Chang Sheng could feel the murderous look in his eyes.
He jumped high again, jumped onto the roof, and looked around the entire village. With his rich-level ears at this time, he could barely hear everything. Therefore, before Shi Kuang and Chang Sheng were aware of it, he He could already hear children crying.
The sound of children crying nearby could be heard endlessly, and his eyes became colder and colder. Suddenly, he saw smoke floating on the roof of a house in the west. He jumped away and jumped towards that house as fast as possible.
The closer he got to that house, the more he felt something was wrong.
The smoke is too thick.
Chang An's head trembled again.
When he finally arrived, his heart dropped to the bottom of his heart. Chang An opened the door, and a woman was sitting there, holding a bunch of firewood in her right hand and sending it to the stove pit. The other end of the firewood had already burned and turned black. , holding a newborn baby in his left hand, crying loudly.
The raging fire burned around the woman's body. The woman's lower body had been scorched, but the woman's pupils were dark gray and her face was bloodless. She was obviously dead. Two lines of tears had not yet dried on the woman's cheeks, and her gray pupils were filled with compassion. looking at the baby in his arms.
She may have been in pain before she died, but she still wanted to keep the last bit of tenderness in her heart.
This moment was frozen, and in the room, only the sound of crackling flames was left, intertwined with the sound of a baby crying.
How tragic!
Chang An's heart was filled with anger beyond measure. There was nothing more evil in the world than this.
For a whole day, Chang An walked back and forth across the village dully. Every time he returned to Shi Kuang and Chang Sheng, he brought back one or two children or babies, and his heart became more and more numb.
Shi Kuang looked at more and more children in the courtyard, and his heart became more and more frightened.
"The devil has really come to claim his life again."
Chang Sheng kept recalling the scene she had just seen. She had vomited several times and tears welled up in her eyes. A mixture of fear and sadness filled her heart, and she fainted for a moment.
