Chang An carefully moved one corpse away one after another until he moved away the bottom corpse. He saw a scene that looked like an evacuation again. The muddy land was glowing red and exuding a strong smell of blood, which was worse than before. The area under Third Uncle's body looks more fertile.
He carefully examined the corpses. Except for the corpse above which still had intact organs, the others seemed to have been hollowed out. From the outside, it looked like a layer of human skin covering the bones. , turned into a mummy.
What surprised Chang An the most was that there were no wounds anywhere on those corpses. It seemed that the organs and blood had left the body out of thin air.
"Woooooooo..."
Just when Chang An was shocked by what he saw, the faint cry of a child reached his ears from not far away.
He looked around, looking for the source of the crying. Then he slowly walked towards the place where the crying came. Then he saw a group of children hiding in the bushes not far from the entrance of the village. The children had frightened faces and covered with mud. It's the children who ran away last night.
Chang An walked over, smiled at them gently, and said softly
"Children, don't be afraid, just follow your brother."
The oldest child among them seemed to be six or seven years old. The child looked dark and strong, but his face was full of fear and his body was trembling. It was as if Chang An had not heard what he just said. He stared horribly at the corpses in front of him without saying a word.
Chang An initially thought that they were just frightened by last night's scene, that's why they looked like this, and now he wanted to continue to comfort them.
Unexpectedly, a three-year-old child among them suddenly spoke to Chang An.
"Brother, the soil will move."
Chang An suddenly turned his head and looked behind him, but found nothing.
Chang An was puzzled and asked
:= "What does it mean."
The three-year-old child said again
"At night, there's movement in there."
The child pointed to the muddy ground at the entrance of the village, where the corpses were stored.
Chang An's complexion suddenly changed
"Tell brother what you saw."
He looked at the group of children seriously and asked seriously.
The oldest child turned his head mechanically, his expression still frightened, and he murmured
"I see the land eating people."
Earth is eating people. Chang An silently recited these four words over and over again. He suddenly thought of something and said to the children.
"You hide here. No matter what you see or hear, don't come out, let alone run around."
The children nodded seriously.
Chang An walked to the wet mud again. His face became solemn, and he stared at the dark red mud silently. He had a crazy idea in his heart. He felt that his previous guess might be wrong, but he Still have to confirm it in person.
He left the entrance of the village, randomly found a shovel in the village, exhaled softly, and started digging in the mud. After digging the first shovel, he could see bright red blood on the soil. It flowed slowly between the gaps, and as expected, his suspicion was further confirmed.
He continued to dig down. The deeper he dug, the dark red soil on the surface began to become lighter. The deeper he dug, until he dug two feet deep. When he dug the last shovel, he felt the shovel being inserted into the soil. After inserting a little more, there was no resistance, and he felt that there was a hollow underneath.
He knew it was coming.
He took away the shovel, and a hollow black hole appeared in front of him.
Although the color of the soil here is very light, there is still a little bit of bright red blood dripping down the hole and into the hole.
"Tick tock, tick tock."
At this time, the truth of this village was finally fully revealed before Chang An's eyes.
Although the hole was dark, even after it was dug by Chang An, it still looked very dim under the direct sunlight at noon.
Chang An stared dumbfounded into the hole. The scene in front of him made his guess come true. Dense black insect eggs covered the entire hole. Chang An looked at it and saw that the bottom of the hole was endless, with no head or tail in sight. , but in such a huge hole, black insect eggs have occupied all the space.
Blood dripped from the hole and landed on an insect egg. The egg trembled with joy, and the drop of blood was easily absorbed, leaving only a red mark.
Chang An broke into cold sweat. What he was most worried about was that this was not a hole at all, but an underground city.
At this time, they were standing on an underground city covering the entire plain along the river.
This city is a huge incubation pool, and all the creatures living above this incubation pool are the nutrients of this incubation pool!
Chang An finally understood at this moment that no one was controlling these Gu insects. Everything had been arranged thousands of years ago. People raised insects and insects killed people. After thousands of years of evolution, it has long become the natural ecology here. chain.
Chang An looked at the dripping blood and was frightened. Such slow eating would not be able to breed a large number of adult Gu worms quickly. Of course, the person planning the plan did not need the Gu worms to grow quickly. Hundreds of Gu worms would be enough. Killing all the adults in these two villages was probably intended to control the growth rate of the Gu insects.
He also remembered something that puzzled him when he first arrived at the Chijiang River: why there were only two villages on the huge plain, and how could people prosper in such a place.
The blood that gurgled away was not completely fed to the Gu worms, most of it flowed elsewhere, he said to himself
"Insects are killers, and people are nutrients. Only a small amount of nutrients are needed to cultivate bugs, so where do most of the nutrients go?"
Chang An suddenly recalled the story told by the old village chief last night.
After all this, Chang An figured out the strange phenomena described by the old village chief. Back then, the villagers were controlled by poisonous insects and went to the bank of the Chijiang River, where they all died because the nutrients were quickly extracted. That's why the old village chief's parents quickly turned into mummies.
Wait, Chang An suddenly thought, why go to the river?
Chang An thought of Shi Meng who died on the first night, and he quickly ran to the place where Shi Meng's body was dumped that night.
Empty!
There was nothing on the shore. Just one day later, Shi Meng's body disappeared out of thin air. Chang An searched the shore for an hour and found that Shi Meng's body did not leave any traces here.
The Demon King's Sacrifice.
At this time, these five characters flashed clearly in Chang An's mind.
Yes, although that legend is made up, the stories in the legend are not necessarily false.
Chang An stared at the surging Chijiang River and murmured
"Is it a sacrifice to you?"
…
By the time Chang An returned to the courtyard, it was already evening.
When Yang Bai saw Chang An coming back, he ran into the kitchen and brought hot meals and said
"Mr. Chang, are you hungry? I left some food for you."
Chang An took the food and smiled.
"Thank you."
Shi Kuang felt that Chang An was a little depressed and asked
"Brother Chang, what happened?"
Chang An said
"It's okay, I just found the group of children who ran away last night."
Shi Kuang looked outside the courtyard and said
"Then why haven't you seen those children?"
Chang An said
"I placed them by the river. It will be dangerous tonight."
He said to Yang Bai again
"Miss Yang, please make some more food later and I will deliver it to them."
Yang Bai smiled and nodded.
"Hey, that's good."
Shi Kuang looked at Chang An worriedly and asked
"Brother Chang, how confident are you tonight?"
Chang An said
"No."
Shi Kuang smiled bitterly and sighed,
Yang Bai gently sat beside Shi Kuang, held Shi Kuang's hand, and said softly
"Brother Shi, whether we live or die, we will not be separated."
Shi Kuang felt the warmth of Yang Bai's palm, and his frustration suddenly disappeared, and he laughed innocently.
"Yes, if we die, we will die together."
The two looked at each other for a long time, and for a moment, it seemed as if there were only two people left in the world. They looked at each other's determined yet gentle eyes, as if other things were not so important.
Chang An looked at them with a smile on his face unconsciously.
"They're so nice."
Chang Sheng stood next to Chang An holding firewood. She was already looking gray. She had been carrying firewood from all over the village for a day. At this time, the yard was already piled up with a hill. Chang An wiped the sweat on Chang Sheng's forehead. , said softly
"That's enough, Sanliang, you should take a rest."
Chang Sheng smiled and nodded, then yawned. Chang An helped her to the wall and said
"Get some sleep."
Chang Sheng looked at Chang An in confusion until his eyes were completely closed.
When Chang An saw Chang Sheng sleeping, he got up, picked up a handful of firewood, and walked out of the courtyard.
Seeing this, Shi Kuang asked
"What is this for?"
Chang An said
"You have to make some preparations outside, just in case."
At night, the bright moon hangs high, and the stars scattered in the night sky dot the dark night sky, leaving a faint light on the dark earth.
Even so, patches of unpleasant dark clouds will always quietly cover the stars and the moon, temporarily taking away the only light on the earth.
Shi Kuang looked at the dark clouds covering the moon and sighed slightly. After a while, the dark clouds covering the moon still did not leave. Instead, in Shi Kuang's sight, the shadow became bigger and bigger.
No, Shi Kuang was frightened, that was not a dark cloud.
The sound of insects sounded again!
They are coming.
"coming."
"coming."
"coming!"
Shi Kuang shouted.
Chang An came to Shi Kuang's side gently. At this time, Shi Kuang and Yang Bai were sitting next to the tall pile of firewood, ready.
Hundreds of black Gu worms formed a net that blocked the starlight and pounced on Chang An and others.
"ignition."
Chang An said.
I saw Shi Kuang and the other two people each picking up a piece of firewood and placing it on the prepared fire to light it. Several people were holding fire sticks and waving them in the air.
The swarm of insects was dispersed by the fire sticks, but became more dispersed. They changed from a net to a circle, surrounding Chang An and others.
An insect broke through the fire sticks of the three people and rushed towards Yang Bai silently. At this time, the three people did not notice it at all, just when it was about to land on the back of Yang Bai's neck.
A sword light came suddenly.
Chang An cut it into two pieces with a sword.
"That does not work."
Shi Kuang said anxiously.
Chang An looked at these insects coldly and said
"Put all the firewood in a circle."
Upon hearing this, the three people quickly picked up the roots and firewood, formed a large circle around them, poured oil on them, and lit the firewood.
In this way, the insect swarm was temporarily blocked from the fire circle.
The four of them were sitting in the ring of fire, looking embarrassed. Shi Kuang said
"There is still a lot of firewood, but it will burn out."
Chang An stood up and said
"You stay in the fire and I'll lure them away."
Chang Sheng said loudly
"don't want."
Chang An smiled at her and said
"fine."
As he spoke, he jumped up and jumped outside the courtyard. The insect swarm was blocked outside the circle and could not attack for a long time. However, he saw a stranger appearing outside the courtyard, so he changed his target and swarmed towards Chang An.
Chang An smiled coldly and disappeared from the sight of the three people.
The insect swarm followed closely. They quickly left the village and chased each other on the plain. Although Chang An was very good at lightness, unexpectedly, the insect swarm was even faster. However, after running for half a stick of incense, the insect swarm was already gone. Gradually the distance between him and Chang An was shortened.
Chang An kept sneering. He was light and hurried towards the river at top speed. After about half an hour, they finally ran to the river. Chang An had his back to the Chijiang River, and the raging river behind him seemed to be swallowing him up at any time.
Ahead, a swarm of insects surrounded him and trapped him, but they did not rush to attack, seeming to mock his stupidity.
It's just that Chang An looked calm, without any sense of impending disaster.
It didn't take long for the swarm to attack again. They headed towards Chang'an with great force, just when they were about to eat this delicious meal.
The fire suddenly shot up into the sky, and the long sword in Chang An's hand quickly scratched across the stone ground on the shore, splashing out bursts of sparks. The sparks flew and splashed onto the nearby muddy ground. However, a thin layer of oil was seen on the muddy ground. Under the moonlight, there was a light that frightened the insects. The fire spread quickly along with the oil layer, and even burned under the mud, revealing the firewood that had been buried here for a long time.
"boom!"
There had been no rain recently and the ground was dry. In a matter of seconds, the fire spread across the shore, trapping the insects in the fire.
The whining sounds of the insect swarm came one after another, and a large number of Gu insects were reduced to ashes in the flames. However, there were still a few Gu insects that did not die. They stood outside the flames and calmly waved their swords to kill the few remaining fish that slipped through the net. Almost exhausted.
As the flames gradually weakened, Chang An let out a long breath and hurried back to the village. When he saw the three people sitting in the fire safely, he felt relieved.
"I have killed all the insect swarms."
When the three of them heard this, they all looked at Chang An happily.
"real?"
Shi Kuang asked
Chang An nodded.
"real."
Yang Bai looked at Shi Kuang, her eyes filled with tears of joy. She and Shi Kuang hugged each other and cried, celebrating the survivors.
Chang Sheng also looked at Chang An happily and said
"Brother, you are so awesome."
Chang An slowly walked towards the ring of fire, opened his arms, and wanted to hug Chang Sheng.
But just when everyone was happy, the sound of insects sounded again!
In the distance, the overwhelming black Gu worms swept in like a violent wind, and their momentum was far greater than before. Thousands of Gu worms gathered together and opened a huge insect net, blocking the sky and the sun.
"Why are there so many bugs!"
Shi Kuang screamed in despair.
Chang An looked at the giant black net, recalling the cave he saw during the day, and secretly regretted his carelessness. Even if the nutrients were provided slowly, how could only a few hundred bugs be hatched in a hundred years.
Chang An laughed at himself. Now that things have happened, he has only one way left.
Under the pile of firewood in the courtyard, there was an inconspicuous and slender oil line that spread outside the courtyard. Outside the courtyard, this slender oil line separated into several branches and traveled to each household in the village. Admissions, down to the haystacks in every home.
This was their last resort. Chang An spread the oil all over the village during the day. Shi Kuang looked at Chang An desperately and said
"Brother Chang, how many are there in this group of bugs?"
Chang An looked at Shi Kuang with pity, recalling the happy scene when the insect eggs absorbed the blood during the day. Only then did he realize that all this was already doomed and could not be changed. He laughed at himself for still pretending to be a savior during the day.
"This bug feeds on the blood of your family. Only now do I understand that your flesh and blood is their morning star in the darkness. If they don't drive you all away, they will attack endlessly."
Shi Kuang looked at Yang Bai and laughed miserably.
"Hahaha, that's it."
Yang Bai also looked at Shi Kuang, his eyes full of determination, and they understood each other's eyes.
Just when Chang An was silent, Yang Bai suddenly pulled out a hatchet from his sleeve and plunged it violently into his heart!
"puff"
Blood gushed out like a fountain, and Yang Bai's tragic smile still remained in Chang Sheng's eyes.
Next to him, there was another "Puff!". Shi Kuang didn't know when, but a hatchet had been pierced into his chest. Two streams of blood bloomed instantly, splashing on the faces of Chang An and Chang Sheng, and splashing in the air. The insects smelled the smell and rushed towards the blood crazily, moaning happily.
Shi Kuang tried his best to maintain a smile and looked at Chang An. The shock in Chang An's eyes still did not dissipate.
Shi Kuang said
"Brother Chang, we made plans during the day. When the time comes, we must not involve you. You... you have helped us enough... I... I can't... let you... be with me... die……"
His voice was broken, but extremely decisive.
Yang Bai gently lay beside Shi Kuang and said weakly
"Two benefactors, please go quickly and we will light the fire."
Chang Sheng burst into tears and shook her head vigorously. She looked at Chang An pleadingly.
"Brother, please save them, please save them!"
Chang An looked at Chang Sheng blankly. There was nothing he could do. Their hearts were broken and it was hard for the gods to save them.
While speaking, Shi Kuang raised the torch in his hand and shouted to Chang An.
"Let's go!"
Chang An looked at the two of them solemnly, with determination in his eyes. He made a decision in an instant and gently tapped Chang Sheng's acupuncture point. Chang Sheng looked at Chang An desperately, but she could not move at all.
Chang An picked up Chang Sheng, and he took one last look at Shi Kuang and Yang Bai, full of respect.
"Chang is very lucky to get to know you two in this lifetime!"
After that, he ran away without looking back.
Yang Bai lay weakly in Shi Kuang's arms, his blood-stained hands trying hard to reach for Shi Kuang's face.
She smiled miserably and said
"I am sleepy."
The hand that was only half-stretched fell down weakly, and her eyes were still looking at Shi Kuang tenderly.
Stopped breathing.
Shi Kuang caressed Yang Bai's face. At this time, there was only the will to die in his eyes. He raised the firewood in his hand, faced the giant black net in the sky, and shouted with his last strength
"Come on! Come on! I will die with you!"
The swarm of insects was about to arrive, and the firewood in Shi Kuang's hand ignited the pile of firewood next to it.
Suddenly, the fire roared.
Splashing sparks ignited the thin line of oil, and the fire spread at a desperate speed. Soon, it spread to the entire village. Shi Kuang's face was illuminated by the fire, and his face was red. His use was already insignificant. The breath hummed
"Oh God, someone come and save us."
A raging fire burned for five days and five nights.
Five days later, Chang An and Chang Sheng stood on top of the ruins, looking at the two bodies that had been burned to charcoal. They remained silent for a whole day.
Another day later, Chang Sheng stood in front of the graves of Shi Kuang and Yang Bai. Chang An came to Chang Sheng's side and took a deep look at the tombstone.
"We should go."
In the distance, in the direction of Shijia Village, the laughter of children could be heard, and Chang Sheng nodded.
"Um."
…………
A few days after Chang An and Chang Sheng left, a man wearing a bamboo hat quietly appeared outside Yangjia Village. A melodious flute played, and the sound of insects could not be heard. The man in the bamboo hat smiled slightly and looked to the north.
"Counting the days, it's time for him to leave the city."
Postscript to the Chijiang chapter.
Three months later, three more strangers came to the bank of Chijiang River.
A one-armed middle-aged man, a high-spirited young man, and an old man who looked like a butler. They looked solemnly and looked at the river hanging straight into the sky like a huge red ribbon, silent.
"Coming."
Another old man's voice appeared, and they followed the sound, only to see a wretched old man standing by the river.
The old man among the three stepped forward and said with a smile
"Brother Yan, I haven't seen you for a few years. How are you?"
