Chapter 54: People can die, but not social death

The village was silent, not a single dog barking.

The old man's deliberately suppressed chatter was particularly obvious at night.

"Village chief, you can't be so willful anymore. You'll scare people away."

"It's been a long time since any monks came to Xiaohe Village."

"In a few days it will be Xiaoxu's turn to be sacrificed. The only one who can save Xiaoxu is the child of Yantianzong."

No matter what the old man said, the village chief could only mumble.

The old man sighed, helped the man into the dilapidated house, and skillfully picked up a handkerchief to wipe the dirt off the village chief's mouth.

"Village chief, you'd better not run around these days."

After locking the door and bolting it, the old man hunched over and walked away slowly.

The village chief in the room seemed to be mute, just sitting on the bed.

The bells hung with red strings in every household in Xiaohe Village suddenly jingled.

Along with the sound of bells, a fishy smell quietly spread.

It was like rotten mud, with the smell of fish and the stench of killing.

Ye Xingzhou held his breath.

The earthy smell disappeared in an instant and dissipated behind a closed door.

Ye Xingzhou secretly noted the location and returned to his residence to lie down before the old man opened the door.

Ye Xingzhou closed his eyes and looked like he was sleeping soundly.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door.

When the old man turned around, Ye Xingzhou suddenly opened his eyes.

There is something wrong with this old man.

*

The rooster crows at dawn.

There was a knock on the door.

"God! Living God! Please save my Xiao Xu!"

In front of the gate, a crying woman was kneeling.

"What's going on?"

Ye Xingzhou went to help the man, but Mrs. Li cried bitterly.

The old man followed out and said, "Sister-in-law Li, please tell me what happened slowly."

"My little Xu dreamt of the river god again last night. The river god said that the sacrifice should be moved up to the day after tomorrow. Woohoo, if Xiao Xu dies and I'm left alone, how am I going to survive?"

"God, wuwuwu, please save my child!"

As Sister Li said this, she bent her knees and was about to kowtow to Ye Xingzhou.

"No." Ye Xingzhou hurriedly supported the person, "Aunt, take me to see it first."

Sister Li wiped her tears and led Ye Xingzhou to a courtyard.

That location was exactly where the earthy smell disappeared last night.

"Xiao Xu, open the door! Mother has asked the gods to come and help!"

Ye Xingzhou felt embarrassed to hear this name.

"Auntie, just call me Xiaoye."

"Okay, Xiaoye."

Sister Li turned around and continued knocking on the door, "Don't be afraid, Xiaoxu, mother has invited the immortal Ye for you!"

The door with the double happiness logo on it opened from the inside, and a man with dark circles under his eyes and a decadent face appeared.

Xiao Xu didn't even raise his eyes, "Mom, don't worry about me, I can't be saved."

"What nonsense!"

Xiao Xu pulled Mrs. Li into the house and closed the door without mercy.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Xiao Xu has suffered a lot." The old man advised.

"fine."

Xiao Xu was very resistant. Ye Xingzhou lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then decided to start from somewhere else.

"Old man, are the first few bodies still there?"

"Yes, they are all in the ancestral hall. I will take you there now."

"Um."

When the door of the ancestral hall was opened, a strong smell of earth hit me in the face.

There were ten corpses covered with white cloth on the ground, lined up in a row. The earthy smell came from the corpses.

The white cloth had little undulations, as if it had been laid flat.

Ye Xingzhou lifted up one of the bodies, revealing a dry skin. Under the skin, the flesh, blood, and bone marrow were all empty, and the eye sockets were hollow, which looked creepy and smelly.

The old man said, "This is the body of the young man from the Chen family. He was sacrificed five months ago."

Ye Xingzhou examined each body one by one.

The corpse was eaten from the inside out, leaving only the skin, and there was no sign of decay.

The evil spirit on the skin had long since dissipated, and the earthy smell was very strong.

"Take me to see the Daqing River."

"good."

The Daqing River is three feet wide and the water is not deep. On the contrary, it is very clear and you can see fish and shrimp.

Today, the riverside is filled with various offerings, traces of burning incense, paper and candles are everywhere, and incense ashes are floating on the surface of the river, which is cold and absurd.

"When I was little, I loved going to the Daqing River to catch fish and shrimp."

“Ever since the river god sacrifice ceremony took place, no one dares to come here.” The old man looked nostalgic.

Ye Xingzhou lowered his eyes and carefully felt the underwater atmosphere.

There is no evil spirit in the Bairi River.

Monsters must be afraid of light.

There is a line in the nursery rhyme: On the fifteenth day of the lunar month, there is a monster at the bottom of the river looking at the moon.

River bottom.

Fear of light.

Earthy smell.

"Could it be a loach?"

The old man just said, "The several waves of monks who came here all said it was a loach spirit, but it was so cunning that it was impossible to catch it."

Since several waves of monks have come here, the old man, as the contact person, must be familiar with every detail.

Ye Xingzhou looked at the old man's wrinkled face and asked again.

"Old man, what exactly happened on the night you dreamed of the river god?"

"If a woman dreams of claiming to be her husband and the man says the opposite, as long as the dream promises marriage, she must offer sacrifices to the river god at the end of the month."

Men marry and women marry.

So simple?

Ye Xingzhou always felt that something was being hidden.

For example, things that are inconvenient to talk about.

Thinking of Xiao Xu's exhausted look, Ye Xingzhou stood up.

"Uncle, you are busy, I will go around."

The old man understood what Ye Xingzhou meant and said without hesitation, "Okay, I'll go to the ancestral hall and burn some incense."

The old man walked to the ancestral hall with a cane.

Fortunately, after this incident, few people came out of Xiaohe Village during the day, and no one saw Ye Xingzhou climbing over the wall.

Sister Li was crying outside a closed door.

"Xiao Xu, I beg you to meet Immortal Ye!"

The people in the room were silent and no one knew what they were doing.

Ye Xingzhou lifted a tile and looked into the house.

There was not a single mirror in the room, and Xiao Xu was lying on the bed sleeping with his eyes closed.

She seemed to have had a sweet dream, with a happy expression on her face and the corners of her mouth raised.

If you ignore the large dark circles under the eyes.

Ye Xingzhou returned to the courtyard and knocked on the door as if nothing had happened.

Sister Li opened the door with swollen eyes.

Ye Xingzhou whispered a few words in her ear, and Mrs. Li left in a hurry.

Ye Xingzhou pushed the door open and walked in.

Some things must be hidden even when facing death.

For example, when some people get into a car accident, the first thing they do is not to call for help, but to hold on and restore their phone to factory settings.

If your browser history is discovered by others, isn’t that a public execution?

People can die, but they cannot die socially.

As the saying goes, lust is like a knife hanging over your head.

Xiao Xu's appearance just now didn't look like he was being forced by the river god.

Most monks do not attach importance to lust, so they naturally ignore some details.

Ye Xingzhou is different.

Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've probably seen a pig run.

Xiao Xu slowly opened her eyes and woke up, meeting Ye Xingzhou's malicious gaze.

"Why are you here? Get out!"

Ye Xingzhou was not angry, he just looked up and down at the skinny face.

“Tsk tsk.”

These two soft clicks were so meaningful.

The secret hidden deep in her heart was revealed, and Xiao Xu felt ashamed and annoyed.

"W-What do you mean!?"

"That's what I mean."

"What have you seen?"

"I saw everything."

"What on earth do you want to do!"

Xiao Xu is about to collapse.

Ye Xingzhou grinned and casually took out a spirit stone to pretend, "I have a record of this on the photo stone. If you don't want others to discover this secret, just tell me the truth."