Chapter 85 Peach Blossom Spring (4) (1st update + 2nd update + 10.8w nutrient solution 3rd update) [VIP]

This time, both of them couldn't help but show a lot of caution and vigilance on their faces.

Yu Yiming stretched out his hand again and grabbed Xu Zichen's hand like before.

Then, in full view of everyone, their hands crossed and overlapped again -

Yu Yiming's hand passed through Xu Zichen's palm, then fell on the table, overlapping his hand not exactly.

The two people made a grasping motion at the same time, but they seemed to be in different dimensions. They could make movements to each other, but they just couldn't touch each other.

"We..." Yu Yiming was a little confused. He paused, turned around and looked at the person closest to him, "Let me try it with you!"

He turned around and stretched out his hand in the direction of Bai Jinshu.

Still the same result, his hand went straight through Bai Jinshu's shoulder. In contrast, Xu Zichen's hand landed steadily on Bai Jinshu's shoulder.

Everyone in the room looked at each other. Yu Yiming's expression was more helpless and bewildered than ever before. He looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't know what to do.

Bai Jinshu winked at the others, and everyone in the room came forward one by one to try. Yu Yiming stood there as if he had lost the ability to speak. After everyone had taken turns to try, he opened his mouth and said blankly: "You...you all can't touch me?"

Bai Jinshu nodded: "It seems to be like this at the moment."

"None of us can touch you, but we can touch each other, which means the problem is either with you or with us."

"Can you meet other villagers?" He walked through the other person's arms without hesitation, pushed his glasses, and asked in a very academic and calm tone, "Have you tried to contact other villagers?"

"I... I did," Yu Yiming thought for a moment, and spoke in a machine gun-like tone, "I had contact with the village chief as soon as I came in here. I can meet everyone in this village, and I have never had this kind of incontact with them. I even hugged a dog! That child! The first time I saw your child! I, I..."

"I don't know what's going on... Is there something wrong with me?" Yu Yiming said without thinking, "Is there something wrong with me? Have I turned into a ghost?"

"Stop, I know you're anxious, but it's not time for you to be anxious yet," Bai Jinshu glanced at him and calmly stopped him from saying the next thing, "Have the others tried to contact the villagers?"

He turned and looked at the other members of the exploration team.

Everyone shook their heads.

Since they entered here, the villagers looked at them with curiosity mixed with novelty, and mostly friendly emotions.

Until Yu Yiming showed up, they all looked curious but embarrassed to get close. The children were eager to come up and touch them, but were stopped by their elders on the grounds that they "had to be polite", so they did not come forward.

"Then let anyone go out and try to touch it," Yu Yiming saw the amateur guest named Wu Zongzi pick up a piece of paper from the side very smoothly, and then found a ballpoint pen on the table. He opened the pen cap very casually and said without raising his head, "We can't be sure who has the problem now. According to the control variable method, let's record the experimental results now."

Bai Jinshu wrote today's date on the top of the paper and began to list the experimental conditions: "According to the controlled variable method, suppose there are four groups of experimental subjects. We are one group, you are one group, all the villagers are one group, and all the inanimate objects are one group."

"If two pairs of people are put in contact, there will be a total of six control experiments, namely, us and you, the experimental result is untouchable; us and villagers, the experimental result is unknown; us and inanimate matter, the experimental result is touchable; you and villagers, the experimental result is touchable; you and inanimate matter, the experimental result is touchable; villagers and inanimate matter, the experimental result is touchable."

He spoke these long sentences in one breath, then found a stool to lean on before continuing: "There is only one set of experimental results that is unknown, that is, whether we can have contact with the villagers."

He raised his head and looked at Li Zhuan who was running in.

"No," Li Zhuan shook his head. "I just found an excuse to chat with the villagers and tried to touch them, but then I found that I couldn't touch them."

"Okay, no," Bai Jinshu lowered his head and put a cross under the second set of experiments, "which means that the current situation is that we cannot touch anything except inanimate matter, and you and the villagers cannot touch us."

"Then the experimental result is that the problem probably lies with both of us." He signed his name, Wu Zongzi, at the lower right corner of the paper with a quick pen. He was about to hand it forward, but when he found that no one took it, he realized that this was not a real experimental report.

"Oh," he took back the paper in his hand, folded a scrap crease on the corner and then said, "Anyway, it's probably not you and the villagers who are the ghosts, then we are the ghosts."

Yu Yiming's confusion and helplessness were washed away by his long academic analysis of the experiment report. Facing Bai Jinshu's calm eyes, he opened his mouth and said, "You...what do you do?"

What kind of person can write an experimental report when he suspects he has encountered a ghost or suspects that he is a ghost?

The barrage also thought so:

[Fuck, he looks so skilled.]

[Is he really a physics researcher? I thought he just made it up.]

【I also. 】

[It might be true. Look at him writing the date before he starts the analysis, signing in the lower right corner after the analysis is finished, and even folding the creases when he finds out it’s not a formal report. Isn’t this too skilled? The standard rules for writing lab reports are engraved in his DNA…]

[Damn, from the perspective of a physicist, his nature shouldn't be related to physics, right?]

[What will it be? Open the lid of Newton's coffin? ]

[It's hard to say, maybe it's 100% bare-handed. ]

【Perhaps physics no longer exists.】

[All scientists in the area are forced to jump off the building, right? That's great. Don't show up next time. ]

[Why can't all experimental results within the mandatory range be consistent? ]

【That's too devilish. 】

[Which scientific research organization accepted this physicist? What about those teams that are famous for recruiting scientists? Come out and see the newcomers? ]

"Me?" Wu Zongzi looked up at him and said the answer that had just appeared on the barrage, "Researcher at the Institute of Physics."

"You studied physics..." Yu Yiming's expression became even more confused. "Then why did you come to participate in the live broadcast of supernatural adventure? How can you accept that there are ghosts in the world so smoothly?"

Don't these people with PhDs in physics and chemistry refuse to believe that there are ghosts in the world?

Doesn't it count as betraying one's own belief in physics to do a live broadcast of supernatural events?

"Oh," Wu Zongzi answered easily, not at all puzzled by things beyond his understanding, "My family is well-educated, so I know a little bit."

What kind of family knowledge could make a physicist believe that there are ghosts in the world?

The corners of Yu Yiming's mouth twitched, and he seemed to accept his words with great difficulty.

Then he turned to look at Xu Zichen and said silently: "Where did you find the flying guest?"

He has been in this business for so many years, but this is the first time he has seen this kind of profession???

Xu Zichen: ...

How would he know where the original Xu Zichen found the guests? Even if the original Xu Zichen found Wu Zongzi, it definitely wasn't the current Wu Zongzi.

Xu Zichen silently complained in his heart and found a universal excuse: "They submitted the registration form themselves to my mailbox."

After this sudden professional interruption, Yu Yiming seemed to be in a much better mood. At least now he could think and communicate normally.

Xu Zichen quickly changed the subject back to the realm of exploration: "That means, maybe we are ghosts, or maybe you and the villagers here are ghosts?"

Fortunately, Yu Yiming is a host who specializes in supernatural adventures. Faced with such a situation, he was able to adjust himself after a brief collapse: "I say, buddy, don't comfort me anymore."

He seemed to want to reach out and pat Xu Zichen on the shoulder, but after he put his hand through his shoulder, he remembered that he couldn't touch them now, so he shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner: "This broken village is so evil, it's obvious that we can only be ghosts."

He looked a little helpless and a little disappointed: "Xu Zichen, you have been doing supernatural live broadcasts for so many years, but you didn't expect that you would really see a ghost this time, right?"

"I really didn't expect it," Xu Zichen shrugged, "Who would have thought that I was such a staunch materialist before today?"

"You are a materialist," Yu Yiming curled his lips, trying to make the atmosphere more relaxed. "Two years ago, weren't you the one praying to the gods in the unfinished building? At that time, I asked you to be more materialistic, but you said it was better to believe in something than not to believe in it."

Xu Zichen laughed a few times, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became much better.

Yu Yiming sat on the stool and sighed, "Hey, Xu Zichen, you are so lucky. If there is a signal here, your supernatural live broadcast will at least be ranked first on the website. After this live broadcast, you will become the number one adventure live broadcaster in China. I'm afraid you will be overwhelmed by promotions and cooperation."

Xu Zichen also shrugged: "Before that, I have to go out."

"That's right," Yu Yiming seemed to have perked up a bit, "What's going on with you now? You still feel tired and have trouble breathing, so you should still be alive, right?"

"After all, ghosts aren't supposed to feel tired?"

"It should be..." Xu Zichen said thoughtfully, "If the entire village here is a ghost village, and the people inside can't leave and don't realize that they are ghosts, then isn't it similar to the earthbound spirits you mentioned?"

Just as Yu Yiming said, he couldn't leave this area. If he went down, he would never reach the end. If he went up, he would be beaten back when he touched the boundary, just like a groundbound spirit that could not leave this place.

Yu Yiming nodded, agreeing with him.

"Then if I am a ground-bound spirit..." He scratched his head, "Don't they say that ground-bound spirits are formed by unfulfilled wishes? What unfulfilled wishes do I have that would keep me trapped here?"

He looked rather bewildered.

If they are earthbound spirits, perhaps the reason why these villagers and Yu Yiming are trapped here is also one of the clues related to the rules.

The members of the exploration team looked at each other and began to speculate.

"Haven't you earned enough money? You want to make money by live streaming in this place?" Guan Hongyan guessed.

“But I can’t make any money here, right?” Yu Yiming retorted subconsciously, “I can’t even live stream, I can’t charge my phone, and I can’t even use my phone.”

Yes, Guan Hongyan shut up thoughtfully.

"Maybe you are tired of the quarrels on the Internet and want to find a spiritual home?" Lu Changfeng thought of the analysis of "Peach Blossom Spring" and guessed.

"I'm not tired of it," Yu Yiming said sincerely, "I never get tired of hype."

Indeed, Lu Changfeng choked. If this guy didn't enjoy hype so much, his reputation wouldn't be so bad.

"You've never actually photographed a ghost during your career? So you've always wanted to see a ghost with your own eyes?" Yun Guang guessed.

"No, I filmed it," Yu Yiming gave an answer that no one expected. "You don't think that the ghost special I did back then was an act, right? No, I really filmed it, right here, two years ago."

He blinked and said to everyone, "Do you think that was hype by my team? No, I actually captured a ghost with my camera before I signed with the team. It was during a live broadcast."

"Have you taken a picture of it?" Bai Jin asked.

"Yes, I signed with the marketing company because I filmed a ghost and it became a hot topic on the website," Yu Yiming said very seriously, "Not long after I collaborated with Xu Zichen on that video, my account gained a few hundred followers, so I wanted to continue to make it popular on the website and wanted to come to the rumored haunted holy land. At that time, this place was not called a haunted holy land, it was just a deserted mountain in the suburbs, and I came alone."

"As you know, this area has been haunted since ancient times. Many people say they have seen ghosts here. At night, there is no one around but you can hear voices. A few decades ago, there were rumors that this was an ancient mass grave. Two years ago, the live broadcast industry was not as developed as it is now, and not many people did adventure live broadcasts. I was one of the first anchors to bring a camera here."

Yu Yiming subconsciously wanted to take out his phone to show everyone the video, but the moment he took it out, he realized that his phone was out of battery, so he put it back in his pocket and continued, "Anyway, that was the first time I actually filmed a ghost here."

"Haven't you already taken the photo? Why are you here?" Guan Hongyan asked.

"It's just rehashing old stuff," Yu Yiming said calmly. "Hongyan, we are all in this business, and you must know that it's not easy to do business now. The popularity of veteran live broadcasters like me is also declining. If I don't come up with some exciting content, I will be washed up on the beach by the tide of the times."

Maybe it was because he was facing his peers, or maybe it was because the situation was impossible to happen again, Yu Yiming was surprisingly calm: "I haven't photographed a ghost since I actually photographed one two years ago."

"Abandoned hospitals, haunted houses, schools where people are rumored to have jumped off buildings, I've been to them all, but I've never taken a photo like that again," he said with a tone of resignation. "My account became less and less popular, and my income from live streaming became less and less. Later, I tried to save myself. I tried to hype that I was insane because I saw ghosts. As a result, I became popular for a while, but then my account lost its credibility. Many people even came to the live streaming room to taunt me and call me Suicide Brother."

"I actually thought about it before I came here," he said in a carefree tone, "This is my last live broadcast. If I can't capture ghosts here again and create new hot spots, I will quit this business."

"Sometimes I wonder, with the continuous development of electronic products over the years, the accuracy is getting higher and higher, maybe the ghost I photographed back then was really a mistake?"

"I was crazy about making money before, but now it's time to stop. At worst, I can use the money I earned from live streaming to buy a house in my hometown and open a storefront to open a supermarket. It won't be too bad anyway, and my mom wants me to settle down and stop running around," Yu Yiming pulled the corner of his mouth helplessly, "As a result, you can see that even if I am here now, I will probably become a ghost, or a ghost like an earthbound spirit."

"So could it be..." Yun Guang said, "Could it be that because you wanted to take pictures of ghosts so much, you became a ground-bound spirit and couldn't get out of this ghost village?"

"It's possible," Yu Yiming thought for a moment, "Anyway, things have already come to this. If my wish can never be fulfilled, then won't I never be able to leave here again?"

If his wish is to take a picture of a ghost and post it online so that it goes viral, then there is no signal here and his phone is out of battery, so won't he ever be able to fulfill this wish?

"But that's not necessarily the case," he suddenly perked up, "You're not dead yet, maybe you can get out directly from the edge of the peach blossom forest?"

"I'll tell you my account password. If possible, can you take pictures of everything here and then post them using my account after you leave? Then I can leave too, right?"

"Okay." Yun Guang and Xu Zichen looked at each other, and Xu Zichen nodded. Anyway, they were not real self-media, so they didn't have to worry about Yu Yiming's account becoming popular and taking away their jobs.

In contrast, under normal circumstances, no one would take the initiative to make enemies with creatures in the unknown space, after all, a lot of information still needs to be obtained from their mouths. With the help of Yu Yiming, who entered here more than a week in advance, they will be able to obtain information much faster, which will also help their subsequent exploration.

"Then you guys take a rest first," Yu Yiming said to the exploration team members, "Turn off your cell phones to save some battery. I don't dare let you go out in your current state. I'll talk to you after you've rested better."

"I'll go find other villagers to make some beds for you." He hurriedly stood up from the stool and walked out.

After he left the room, Bai Jinshu slowly spoke: "He should not be an earthbound spirit."

"Ah? Why?" Lu Changfeng was very surprised. "Isn't he unable to leave here? Isn't this an earthbound spirit?"

"An earthbound spirit cannot know that it is dead." Bai Jinshu shook his head.

"The reason why earthbound spirits are formed is that they don't know they are dead, so they live in places they are familiar with as if they were alive." Under the eyes of everyone, his face showed the seriousness and professionalism of academic research. "So once the earthbound spirit realizes that it is dead, the balance will be broken, and it will not be trapped in this place."

"If Zongzi said so... Yu Yiming is not actually an earthbound spirit, but another kind of ghost?" Yun Guang seemed to be thinking about it.

"Zongzi, have you ever seen a situation like his? A ghost trapped in a certain area, but not a groundbound spirit?" Among all the members of the exploration team, it seemed that only Wu Zongzi had research on ghosts.

"Well... there are many kinds," Wu Zongzi thought for a moment and said, "Generally speaking, ghosts trapped in a certain place can be divided into two categories. One is willing to be there, and the other is forced to be there."

"Most of those who are here voluntarily are here because they are earthbound spirits and cannot leave," he habitually picked up a piece of paper and displayed it on the table, "There are more cases where they are involuntarily..."

"For example, it is possible that they are possessed by something that cannot be moved, so they cannot move out of the range of the possessed object. It is also possible that they are suppressed here by someone, so they cannot leave until the seal is removed. Or there may be some kind of magnetic field or formation here that prevents them from leaving, so they cannot leave..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Zichen suddenly interrupted and said, "Magnetic field!"

"Didn't we follow the compass and still get lost on the first day we came here?"

Finally, there was a breakthrough.

Yu Yiming, who had gone out to look for the villagers, came back and told them that he had arranged accommodation for everyone. They looked so weak now, so they should take a rest before finding a way out.

Finally, they found a direction. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Yu Miaojiao and Li Zhuan, who were assigned to live the farthest away, followed Yu Yiming out. Among the remaining exploration team members still in the house, Xu Zichen took out a compass from his pocket and thought: "So you think, could the cause of this ghost village be related to the magnetic field?"

"That's Feng Shui..." Wu Zongzi was also thoughtful, "I'm not very good at this... I don't have a compass..."

"You also know Feng Shui?" Xu Zichen looked up blankly.

"I know a little bit," Wu Zongzi thought for a moment and said, "but I'm not good at it."

"What do you do?" Xu Zichen was confused. "Aren't you a physicist?"

This guy looks like a physicist, doesn't he?

Why do physicists know the causes of ghosts and can also read Feng Shui?

Wu Zongzi: "My family is well-educated and I know a little bit."

"Ah?" Xu Zichen was even more confused. "What does your family do?"

Where do so many people with profound family knowledge come from?

Wu Zongzi pushed his glasses and followed Yu Yiming who came to take him to rest, leaving behind only an unspeakable subtle expression.

Xu Zichen: ...

There is a feeling of being subtly neglected.

"You believe everything he says?" Guan Hongyan replied gloatingly, "Haha, I'm Qin Shi Huang, v me 50 and I'll make you the prime minister."

——————————————————————————————

Before the break, all team members set an alarm in the temporary group chat and talked a few words about their plans after waking up.

According to Wu Zongzi, if this is a ghost village, then they'd better not eat the food here, as there may be unknown side effects. Now the foundation's exchange mall is closed due to unstable links, so it's best for them to find the bag they carried before and eat the food exchanged from it.

Although most of the villagers here seemed friendly, they were not friends with Xu Zichen after all. Yu Yiming had witnessed the existence of ghosts in the world, so it was best not to reveal the information that they were dead in the subsequent conversation. If necessary, if contact was necessary, he would say that he was dead and that he was the ghost, so he could not be touched.

Assuming that the ghost village is a different area from the normal world, it is very likely that their real bodies are not in it now. The longer they stay here, the more dangerous it will be. So the rest time should be shorter. If their fatigue becomes more serious after a short rest, they should speed up to find a way out. If they can get better after resting, it means that their lives are temporarily safe, so they should look for more clues here.

After all, according to the content of "Peach Blossom Spring", the fishermen never found their way back after they left. The fishermen could not get back along the same stream, and it was not certain whether they would encounter the same rainstorm as that day.

This is an assessment project. If you rush out and can't get back in, it means you have failed the assessment.

After agreeing on the above content, everyone could no longer hold on to their tired bodies and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up again, it was already the next morning.

Bai Jinshu propped himself up and got up from the bed. He glanced at the time on his watch. It was a little after eight in the morning.

He slept for nearly twenty hours.

He opened the temporary group chat, and the others were doing the same. Guan Hongyan and Xu Zichen, who woke up a few minutes earlier than him, started arguing in the group, calling themselves Qin Shihuang, and seemed to be talking about who should give whom the v50. Yun Guang interrupted in the chaos and said that none of them heard the alarm clock and woke up only in the morning.

The alarm that everyone set yesterday actually rang at around five in the afternoon, but perhaps because of the special magnetic field here, or because their bodies were too tired, no one was woken up by the alarm. Instead, they woke up the next morning.

Lu Changfeng weakly said "I'm hungry", followed by three or four [+1]. It seemed that everyone was in good spirits.

Bai Jinshu raised his hands and waved a few times. Although he still had no strength in his body, his breathing had become relatively stable and the feeling of fatigue had eased a lot. Overall, this twenty-hour sleep did improve his physical condition.

Getting out of bed, they realized that the ancient costumes they had worn when they came were no longer wearable. The enthusiastic villagers brought some clothes that were similar to their sizes. The one Bai Jinshu got was a red and blue sportswear, which looked very designer, as if it was a new model that had only been released in recent years.

When he was getting dressed, he found, as expected, spider webs or tangled traces of tree roots on his shoulders and arms, with a slightly dark red tint, like the marks left by something strangling him.

These marks appear from back to front, and I think those on the back will be more obvious.

Bai Jinshu took a photo and sent it to the group: [Picture]

Wu Zongzi: [Do you have any on you? ]

Yun Guang answered first: [Yes, Zhang Ke and I were in the same room, and we both had it on our backs.]

The remaining team members also responded:

Yu Miaojiao: [Yes, it’s similar to yours.]

Li Zhuan: [Miao Jiao and I looked at each other, and the trend of this mark seems to be formed by dragging from behind, but it does not disappear when pressed. It is more like a mark that comes out from the skin, like a tattoo.]

The remaining few people also answered yes.

Yun Guang asked Bai Jinshu in the group if he had any relevant experience. Bai Jinshu thought about it and said, "I don't know about humans, but if it's a ghost, a spell or a peach wood sword might have this effect?"

Xu Zichen silently sent a message in the group: [Seeing a physicist talking about spells and peach wood swords, there is a sense of absurd black humor. ]

Guan Hongyan: [Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and v50 me. ]

Everyone was arguing in the group, dragging their still tired bodies out of the room and gathering in the village.

Eight o'clock sounds early, but in fact other villagers who still need to plow the fields had already gone to the fields at around six o'clock, carrying their farm tools. The whole village now looks a little empty, with only the elderly and children basking in the sun at the door.

Seeing the eight new people who came in yesterday coming out, the elderly people greeted them warmly and invited them to their homes for breakfast. Curious children also surrounded them and wanted to ask questions about the outside world.

Everyone declined, saying they had already eaten, and by the time everyone gathered together, it was already past nine in the morning.

After discussing it, we decided to go and look around the place where they woke up yesterday to see if we can find their backpacks. If we can find them, then three meals a day for the next few days will not be a problem.

As for the border of the peach blossom forest, there is no rush to go there.

Since their physical condition has improved a lot after a good sleep, it means that no matter what their current situation is, at least there is no problem with their body.

No one knows what the definition of leaving Peach Blossom Spring is. If reaching the border is considered leaving, then they will be at the familiar barren mountains and will never be able to return to Peach Blossom Spring. That would be too unfair.

The road to the place where they woke up yesterday was easy to find. Guan Hongyan was still leading the way. The group followed the same path they took yesterday and climbed towards the cave. Just when they were about to arrive, Guan Hongyan, who was walking in front, suddenly heard someone calling her.

"Hey——" It was a very young female voice.

She looked in the direction of the voice and saw several pregnant women sitting on the grass beside the mountain wall. They seemed to be picking something among the vines. The one who called her was one of the pregnant women she saw in the village chief's house yesterday.

"Are you awake?" The pregnant woman with pigtails sitting on the far left looked like she was about to give birth, her eyes curved with smile, "I thought you guys would sleep until the afternoon."

"Where are you going?" the one in the middle also asked.

"We lost our bag when we came here," Bai Jinshu answered quickly. "We wanted to see if we could find the bag outside where we woke up."

“Is that so?” The pregnant woman in the middle waved her hand. “Then go ahead. We won’t keep you any longer.”

The other party had no intention of chatting more, and the team members were so hungry that they naturally had no desire to continue the conversation.

When the group passed through the small cave they had seen yesterday and arrived at the large meadow where they woke up, everyone was so tired that they began to breathe slightly.

Before, their physical fitness was not that good, but at least it could support them to climb ten such small hills. But now everyone still has some weakness in their limbs, so it is still a bit difficult.

Fortunately, they were really lucky. As they walked down the hillside, they actually saw a backpack lying in a ditch. The bag was covered with all kinds of solidified mud, and it looked like it had been washed down the hillside by rain after they fainted.

However, most of the food in the bags were packaged, so there was no need to worry about getting it stained with mud. Everyone shared a meal of compressed biscuits and finally felt like they were alive again.

After finding the backpack, the next few days were much easier.

Everyone walked back with their backpacks. When they passed through the cave, the pregnant women who were previously at the bottom of the mountain wall seemed to have walked to the vicinity of the cave. Guan Hongyan was walking in front and suddenly made a "hush" gesture.

The exploration team members behind stopped without knowing why.

Outside the cave, the sound of several pregnant women chatting could be heard.

"Hey, have you decided?" This is the voice of the pregnant woman sitting in the middle, "Do you want a boy or a girl for your first child?"

"Not yet," this is the voice of Pigtail, "Let me think about it..."

"You've been thinking about it for almost nine months, and you still haven't made up your mind?" another person said jokingly, "If you don't think about it now, you're going to give birth soon, so hurry up and decide whether to pick flowers or grass."

"Oh, let me think about it," the pregnant woman with pigtails said in a very charming voice, "At worst, I can just pick all the flowers and grass and take them back today."

Yun Guang winked at Guan Hongyan, who poked her head out and asked curiously, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Hey, you guys are back," the pregnant woman with pigtails smiled, "I'm a little confused. I haven't decided whether my first child will be a boy or a girl."

"Can I still choose this myself?" Guan Hongyan was confused. "Wasn't this decided when I got pregnant?"

Even if she has no knowledge of biology, she knows that the boy or girl of the baby is decided by the man from the beginning, right?

"No," the pregnant woman was also confused, "Isn't the gender of the baby determined by the flowers and plants?"

"Ah?" Guan Hongyan was at a loss. "How do we decide this?"

"Drink medicine," the pregnant woman on the left said curiously, "If you use the flowers of the vine as medicine, it will be a girl, and if you use the leaves of the vine, it will be a boy."

"Change the flowers and plants." Bai Jinshu suddenly said.

"What?" Guan Hongyan turned to look at him blankly.

In front of him, the pregnant woman's voice continued: "It has been like this for thousands of years. You can choose whether to have a boy or a girl by taking the corresponding medicine. Every family here has one boy and one girl. Isn't it the same for you outside?"

"What do you mean by changing flowers and plants?" Guan Hongyan lowered her voice and looked at Wu Zongzi, "What do you mean?"

"It's a custom," Wu Zongzi frowned as he looked at her. "In our Guizhou region, there is a village with this custom. In order to keep the secret of changing flowers and herbs, all the people in the village are not allowed to marry outside the village. This herbal medicine can control the sex of the fetus by using different plants as medicine."

"So you are from this village?" Guan Hongyan blinked.

"No," Wu Zongzi looked puzzled. "I saw relevant information in the records of a prince's tomb. It said that when the tomb owner was alive, there was a family with a woman who was a concubine in the harem. In order to let the family members at that time give birth to the eldest son of the emperor, the family members took great pains to send this formula in."

"Does your museum still record this kind of thing? Did they finally give birth to the emperor's eldest son?" Guan Hongyan couldn't help but ask curiously.

Is this thing real or fake?

Wu Zongzi: "In the end, the whole family was executed."

“Because of the practice of witchcraft,” he added, “Guizhou was considered a southern barbarian country at that time.”

Guan Hongyan: "...It's okay then."

Guan Hongyan: "Wait."

"How can this man, whose entire family was executed, still have a tomb?"

"Oh," Wu Zongzi said, "The tomb owner didn't give me the secret recipe."

"The tomb owner's family is the political enemy of that family," he said sincerely, "They were the ones who reported this witchcraft. They were very happy to execute the whole family of their mortal enemy, so they had to record the deeds."

The author has something to say:

If the tomb owner were alive today, he would probably carve a QR code on the tombstone, and when you scan it, you’ll see a video of his entire family being beheaded (not true).

Changing flowers and plants is indeed a custom in a village in Guizhou. The others are artistic processing. There are entries about this on Baidu. I am too lazy to look it up so I will just post it here:

Zhanli Dong Village in Gaozeng Township, Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, is famous overseas for an amazing "zero record": the natural population growth rate has always been close to zero. From 1952 to 2000, the population of Zhanli Village increased by only 9 people in 48 years. The natural population growth rate was very low, close to zero, thus winning the reputation of "China's No. 1 Village for Fertility Culture".

98% of the families in the village have one son and one daughter. Locals say it is because of a herb called Hua Hua Cao. For more than 700 years since the village was built, the village rules passed down from generation to generation strictly state that it is forbidden to marry outside the family, in order to keep Hua Hua Cao secret.

Some media reported that it was a vine-like plant, but the roots were different. The current "pharmacist" in Zhanli is 72 years old, named Wu Shama (transliterated and taken over by Wu Shama's niece Wu Xian'e in July 2011). It is said that the prescription she has mastered can allow pregnant women to give birth smoothly in just 15 minutes, and there has been no accident so far, but the old lady has long been deaf. People usually decide which flower-changing herb to take after giving birth to their first child, and they also have to drink the well water from the male or female well in the village (water samples were taken for testing, and the water from the two wells belongs to the same water system, and the acidity and alkalinity are both 6.5, so the water from the two wells is actually not helpful for giving birth to boys or girls). Flower-changing herb must be boiled with seven other herbs. The pharmacist cannot speak during the boiling process, otherwise it will lose its effect. Flower-changing herb is a vine-like plant that grows on dangerous peaks. The root is used as medicine. It is said that horizontal roots give birth to girls and vertical roots give birth to boys.