Chapter 53: A Monster at the Bottom of the Fifteenth River Looking at the Moon

The shop assistant saw Ye Xingzhou dressed up and took the initiative to talk to him.

"Sir, are you going to Xiaohe Village?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Some time ago, there were always some people dressed as monks passing by here. I heard a lot of them, so I know a little bit about it."

The waiter stopped kneading the dough, picked up the towel on his shoulder and wiped the sweat off his face, saying as he wiped.

"There are so many disciples of Xuanling Sect and Huanyun Sect, but..."

"But what?" Ye Xingzhou asked.

"But after two or three days, he came back cursing. No one has come for almost a month now. Your trip may have been in vain."

This river god is quite capable.

So many people went but no one succeeded in catching it.

"Thanks for the reminder."

After Ye Xingzhou put down the money, he still left.

The guy shook his head and continued frying the butter cakes.

As dusk approached, Ye Xingzhou hurried and finally arrived outside Xiaohe Village.

The stone tablet at the entrance to the village is engraved with the three words "Xiaohe Village".

An old man was sitting beside the stone tablet, mumbling something inaudible.

When he saw people coming, he cried and laughed, ate dirt and recited nursery rhymes in a crazy manner.

"It's not raining... the water isn't rising... on the fifteenth... there's a monster at the bottom of the river... look at the moon..."

"There's a treacherous ghost on earth... with a thousand faces... who's not afraid of mirrors... here... here..."

Before he could finish his words, the village chief's eyes widened and he ran away in fear.

Ye Xingzhou almost understood these lines of the nursery rhyme.

If there is no rain and the water level does not rise, there will be a monster at the bottom of the river looking at the moon on the fifteenth day.

There is a treacherous ghost on earth, with a thousand faces and no fear of mirrors, in...

What a strange nursery rhyme.

Ye Xingzhou looked up and looked around. The village was located halfway up the mountain. There were about a hundred or eighty households, and every household had locked their doors and windows.

The village paths were surprisingly covered with red ribbons, and the doors and windows were all decorated with the word "happiness".

Ye Xingzhou walked around the village and stopped outside the only house with candlelight.

He raised his hand and knocked on the door, the sound of knocking was particularly obvious in the quiet night.

Before Ye Xingzhou could say anything, the door opened slightly.

What greeted him was a bronze mirror.

It was late at night and there was no light. Ye Xingzhou looked at himself in the mirror and felt strangely unfamiliar.

The bronze mirror was put away, and the seventy-year-old man made a gesture to silence and led Ye Xingzhou into the house.

The old man walked in front, and Ye Xingzhou could clearly see that he was hunched over and had white hair.

It was not until the door closed and the old man turned around that Ye Xingzhou could see the old man's wrinkled face and the unremovable sorrow between his brows.

"Kid, which sect are you from?" His voice was old and hoarse.

"Yantian Sect."

The room was very narrow, with a wooden bed taking up a large space. Ye Xingzhou felt a little uncomfortable even when squeezed on a small stool.

"Uncle, what's with all the red cloth hanging in the village? Why is every household putting up wedding decorations?"

"These are all done according to the instructions of the Lord River God."

The old man sighed heavily and said, "I'm old and have nothing to worry about, so I took the initiative to take over."

"Since you've just arrived, I'd better start talking to you about the drought three years ago."

"Three years ago, for some reason, the weather didn't rain for several months, and the crops in the fields died of drought."

"The crops failed, and people were starving to death. The village chief had no choice but to ask a sorcerer to perform a ritual to pray for rain."

"The sorcerer said that Xiaohe Village had offended the river god, and that they needed to build a shrine to worship the god in order to have rain."

"After the ancestral hall was built, the rain came and the crops were more prosperous than in previous years. Everything should have been getting better."

"Just a year ago, the village chief's daughter, Xiaorong, suddenly said she had dreamed of the river god, who wanted her to marry him."

"The village chief only has one daughter, Xiaorong. How could he bear to marry her off? He even asked the sorcerer to perform a ritual. The sorcerer said that this was a blessing from the river god and that it would be an honor to be his bride."

"That very night, there were lightning and thunder, and a heavy rainstorm almost flooded Xiaohe Village."

"The next morning, the village chief's daughter's vital energy was sucked out, and the village chief went mad."

"The river god told me in a dream that a young woman or man must be sacrificed every month, otherwise he would flood Xiaohe Village."

"From that day on, no one from this village could leave Xiaohe Village."

"Some cooperate, some don't. There's Zhang the girl at the village head, and Wu the kid in the middle..."

"Ten babies have been sacrificed in the past ten months."

From what I heard, it was obvious that the sorcerer and the river god were in cahoots.

"Haven't you ever doubted that sorcerer?" Ye Xingzhou asked.

"That bastard ran away a long time ago. The previous waves of monks couldn't find him." The old man was so angry when he talked about the sorcerer that he almost extinguished the lamp.

Ye Xingzhou: "How does the river god choose his bride?"

"It's a dream. If a boy or girl dreams of the river god on the 15th of every month, then on the 25th of the month, they must be carried in a sedan chair and sent to the Daqing River."

"This month's daughter is Xiao Xu from Sister Li's family. Xiao Xu is only eighteen, alas..."

The old man's sigh echoed in the narrow room.

"Those monks who came here earlier tried all sorts of methods, but the river god was too cunning and could even change his appearance to disguise himself, so no one could catch him."

Change appearance?

Ye Xingzhou raised his eyes and looked carefully at the old man in front of him.

The old man took the bronze mirror on the bedside and looked at his face on the spot.

"Don't be afraid, kid. I'm real. The kids from Xuanling Sect once said that the river god is afraid of mirrors. Once he looks in a mirror, his true form will be revealed."

"I'm sorry, old man."

Ye Xingzhou touched his nose.

"It's okay, kid. I'm used to it." The old man left the oil lamp. "Rest here tonight. I'll take you to Xiaoxu's house in the morning."

The old man took a half-burnt candle and walked quietly to the next room.

"Old man, be careful."

Ye Xingzhou helped the old man down the stairs.

The old man walked up the three steps very familiarly and entered a low house by candlelight.

This old man is over seventy years old, but he still walks very steadily.

Ye Xingzhou returned to the house, bolted the door, lay down on the musty bed, and stared at the ceiling in a daze.

The river god can change his appearance, so he has to carry a mirror with him to be safe.

Ye Xingzhou rummaged through his storage bag, pulled out a bronze mirror and stuffed it into his arms.

The moon is on the branches.

I followed Xiao Yuan last night and traveled during the day, so I was exhausted.

Ye Xingzhou closed his eyes and was just about to rest when a face suddenly appeared in the window.

"Haha! Die! All of you die!"

He is the crazy old man you saw when you entered the village, and he is also the crazy village chief.

Ye Xingzhou sat up from the bed, "Village Chief, what's the matter?"

The village chief was leaning against the windowsill, mumbling a nursery rhyme indistinctly.

"Not afraid of the mirror... Not afraid of the mirror... Evil ghost..."

Ye Xingzhou frowned slightly and instantly recalled the nursery rhyme he sang during the day.

There is a treacherous ghost on earth, with a thousand faces and no fear of mirrors, in...

The village chief was reminding him.

Ye Xingzhou raised his eyes and saw that the village chief's mouth was covered by a hand.

"Village chief, you will attract the river god."

The old man scolded in a low voice. The village chief struggled and grabbed a handful of soil again, stuffing it into Ye Xingzhou's mouth and chewing it.

Tears rolled down my eyes.

The old man apologized, "Son, go to sleep first. I'll take the village chief back."

"fine."

The noise outside became quieter.

Ye Xingzhou climbed out of the window and followed quietly.

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