Chapter 299 Three Doubts

The way down the mountain is much easier than the way up.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect or the gods on the mountain were seeing them off, but both of them felt that the time it took to go down the mountain was much faster than the time it took to go up, and there were almost no obstacles along the way.

They returned along the same route and found Mr. Ma Jiang again.

Mr. Ma Jiang was still leisurely smoking a long-stem cigarette at the door of his shabby little wooden house.

"Oh my, you guys are coming down?!" He dropped his pipe in shock when he saw Xu Xiao and the others. "That's incredible! You two are the only two of us who have come down from the mountain at this time of year."

Xu Chuchu understood what he meant. If one could not come down the mountain, he would either be swallowed by the wind and snow, or get lost in the vast snow and stay there forever.

"Tell us the legend of this snow mountain." She snapped her fingers, grabbed two chairs from Mr. Ma Jiang's room, and sat down with Xiao Yu.

"all."

"Oh, you guys, don't be so overbearing...Okay, okay." Mr. Ma Jiang scratched his head and pulled out a louse, "But it's really no use."

"If it's useful or not, just tell us and we'll know." Xiao Yu said in a deep voice.

"Okay." Mr. Ma Jiang was a little afraid of them and agreed immediately.

He was more afraid of this man with a broken arm than this woman who could spit fire.

Based on his many years of experience in the underworld, he knows that men who listen to women are much more capable than men who shout at women, because they don't need to bully women to get satisfaction.

"That's right," Mr. Ma Jiang told a distant myth. "Legend has it that on Mount Tianshan there's a lake called Tianchi Water. Because no outsider has ever approached it, it's pure and clean, as beautiful as jade."

One day, the Queen Mother of the West passed by Tianshan Mountain and saw the water in Tianchi Lake. She loved it so much that she washed her face with it and said she would come back to wash her face again in another hundred years.

"The Queen Mother is very particular about cleanliness and doesn't want anyone near Tianchi. So she found seven local warriors and blessed them, granting them supreme power and endless life. But she also cursed them, requiring them to defend Tianshan and Tianchi for a hundred years. When she returns next time, she will restore their freedom."

Xiao Yu suddenly interrupted: "The seven warriors you mentioned, are they the seven stone statues at the village gate?"

"Ah, that's right! You saw it." Mr. Ma Jiang took a puff of his cigarette. "These seven warriors are all from our village."

"These seven warriors have guarded Mount Tianshan for eternity. A hundred years passed, and then another hundred, but the Queen Mother never returned. With no one to lift their curse, they could only guard the mountain day after day, until they eventually turned into those stone statues."

"This is the myth of Tianshan Mountain," said Mr. Ma Jiang. "Isn't it useless? I said it was useless."

"Wait." Xu Chuchu raised her hand. "You said the Seven Warriors have always kept outsiders away from Mount Tianshan. Then why did you say we can go up the mountain in the summer?"

Mr. Ma Jiang said, "As for this legend, the seven warriors came from our village and they would take care of us villagers. Every summer, we were allowed to go up the mountain to hunt and gather herbs, especially the herbs. The herbs in the mountains are precious, and the herbs we collect and sell every year are enough to support our village for most of the year."

Xiao Yu pondered, "No wonder we saw traces of seven stone statues when we entered the village. Were the villagers thanking the seven warriors?"

Mr. Ma Jiang paused and said, "Ah, yes, that's right."

"When you led people into the mountains before, have you ever been to Tianchi? Did the seven warriors allow you to get close?" Xu Chuchu asked again.

When this question was asked, Mr. Ma Jiang's expression suddenly turned ugly. His already dark face became even gloomier.

"I don't know if they went! I sent them to the top of the mountain and came back on my own! I didn't violate the Queen Mother's rules!" He looked up at the sky. "That's all! It's almost dark, let's go home and eat!"

It was only noon, so it was certainly not dark yet. However, Mr. Ma Jiang obviously did not want to continue chatting. He didn't even want to sit on the bench, but went back into the house with his long-stem cigarette in hand and closed the door.

Xu Chuchu glanced at the house for a few seconds and said to Xiao Yu, "Let's go and ask other people in the village."

They certainly have the ability to pull Mr. Ma Jiang out for further questioning, but if they continue asking, the information they will get is most likely false, or half-true and half-false.

Instead of being confused by these news, it is better to change the way and think of a solution.

"There are three suspicious points about Mr. Ma Jiang." Xiao Yu suddenly spoke as the two were walking on the road.

"What do you mean?" Xu Chuchu asked.

Xiao Yu said, "First and foremost, he's clearly taken people to Tianchi before, but he's afraid to admit it. This doesn't make sense, as we didn't ask him to take us up the mountain. Something must have happened at Tianchi, and he doesn't want us to question him."

"Secondly, when I asked him if the villagers were paying homage to the Seven Warriors to express gratitude, he clearly hesitated. Now that I think about it, there's a problem. Summer gratitude should be paid in early summer, and it's still early spring, so there's no reason to pay homage several months early. This suggests the villagers aren't paying homage now to express gratitude, but he doesn't want to tell us the reason."

Xu Chuchu was stunned: "Then, what about the third one?"

"Third," Xiao Yu said, "Do you remember when we first asked him to take us up the mountain? He kept telling us how severe the snowstorm was and how dangerous the road was, but he never mentioned the Seven Warriors. Since he believed in this legend so firmly, why didn't he just bring out the Seven Warriors to stop us from the beginning? Wouldn't that be more efficient?"

Xu Chuchu connected these three points and quickly came to a conclusion: "You mean, these seven warriors actually have a secret, but they don't want to tell us?"

"That's right." Xiao Yu said, "And there's the secret of Tianchi."

The two had just finished analyzing these and were wondering where to look for the answer when a strange and gloomy wind suddenly blew up behind them.

Then the sky above my head suddenly darkened, as if someone poured a bowl of ink in the sky, and it became dark in an instant.

"What's going on!" Xu Chuchu was knowledgeable but had never heard of such a scene.

Even when five planets were in conjunction, the sky didn't change so quickly.

But looking into the distance, the sky outside the village was still bright.

Is it a monster coming? !

"Run! Hurry!" The villagers also ran in fear.

"Don't accept the goods, your life is more important! Go home and close the doors and windows!"

"The seven warriors are coming, the seven warriors are coming!"

The street was instantly in chaos. Everyone ignored the goods they were selling and fled straight home, even blowing out their candles.

"Let's go." Xiao Yu pulled Xu Chuchu over, "Let's find a place to hide first."