A sound of pleasure

As a result, Hua Qingming became the most respected matchmaker in the village. He brought brides to many families and produced many offspring. If a bride ran away or became restless, they would seek Hua Qingming's help to persuade them to marry.

Gradually, Hua Qingming became the unspoken choice of the next village chief. He was afraid that this would take away his father's position and make his father angry, so he knelt down and admitted his mistake to his father.

However, my father sincerely thanked him.

Dad said that he was different from Hua Qingming. Although he tacitly accepted the customs of the village and followed the rules, he was a bridegroom just like his ancestors. But he was timid and couldn't accept it in his heart. But if he didn't eat meat, he would starve to death. He couldn't run away and abandon his biological father. Since his first wedding, he had nightmares every night, dreaming that the dead women and children came to him to seek revenge. It was not until his son was recognized that he was able to escape the fate of becoming the village chief and reduced the number of weddings he went out to marry. He would only leave the mountain to buy his wife her favorite food and items.

For the sake of his parents, Hua Qingming chose to accept his fate and became the youngest village chief in Huamian Village, doing things according to the rules left by his ancestors.

The ancestors of Huamian Village believed that women had no other value except giving birth, and it was not appropriate to waste precious food used to save lives. Therefore, women in the village who were unable to give birth and baby girls who were a little fat after weaning were all treated as food.

Only women who gave birth to many sons could live to old age. After they were unable to give birth to children, their only role was to wash clothes, cook, and persuade those restless brides.

For those women who died of old age naturally, a ceremony would be held after their death, and all the women would be called to the funeral. After singing songs praising her life, they would be sunk into the water.

Then, the remaining women who can die of natural causes will take this opportunity to brainwash those restless women.

The excuse is: only those who have made contributions are qualified to sink into the river after death. Only by sinking into the river can one truly merge with Huamian Village, and only then can the soul be blessed by the mountain god after death.

"My dear, most of the legends you told me are actually true. When you told me that, I thought it was ridiculous. Perhaps it was just a rumor. I never imagined... those women and innocent children were so miserable. Isn't it said that karma will prevail? It seems that they haven't suffered any retribution at all. Instead, their family has flourished for so many generations."

Hearing that she still subconsciously called him "husband" after regaining her memory, and that she was the first to express her emotions to him, a warm feeling welled up in Cha Suxun's heart. The loneliness that had accumulated day and night for thousands of years seemed to dissipate a little again because of her more concrete presence.

"But at least, those four women may have truly escaped from the fire pit. They will get their comeuppance, my lady. They will all get their comeuppance. Don't forget who your husband is."

"Um."

Cha Suxun took Hua Qingming's village chief diary from her hand and handed her a village history instead.

"After writing so much, I haven't found any useful records related to the Huangquan Inn. This shows that the village chief's diary is useless. Let's just read this village history. If this one doesn't have it, then there's basically no need to look through the rest."

The village history book records that the people of Huamian Village fled from the border of the Wu Kingdom. They were born in the bitterly cold mountains of the borderland, where the land was barren and mostly covered with huge rocks that could not be dug up or moved.

The region endures nearly half a year of freezing temperatures, making it impossible to grow any good food. Poultry, however, freezes to death when the weather turns cold. Therefore, they send strong young men down the mountain when the weather warms up to gather wild vegetables, hunt, and fish, bringing the meat back home. The meat brought back on weekdays is dried and stored, and the meat brought back in the last month before winter is buried in ice cellars made of snow bricks to keep them alive through the winter.

They had thought about moving down the mountain to live in other towns, but those who tried were all rejected without exception.

Moreover, they spent almost all their time looking for food to survive, leaving them with no time, energy, or means to earn money. Therefore, they had to exchange money for survival everywhere at the foot of the mountain, and it was impossible for them to stay.

Later, at the end of one winter, everyone carefully removed the animal skins that sealed the cracks in the doors and windows, as usual, in preparation for the next cold winter. After putting the skins away, they went out to check on each other to see if they were still alive.

That year, eight elderly people, four women and three babies did not survive the cold winter.

When they came down the mountain again, they learned that other countries had invaded the Jianwu Kingdom, and Jianwu was already at a disadvantage and was expected to be destroyed soon.

Therefore, under the leadership of the first village chief of Huamian Village, everyone began to look for a new place to live.

After several twists and turns, they escaped to Xinjiang.

After their first experience, they no longer chose to force themselves to fit in with others, but chose to live in seclusion in the mountains. Initially, they did not live in the cracks under the cliffs, but lived on Gushu Mountain.

Those were the most comfortable days they had ever lived. They could eat the vegetables they grew all year round, as well as fresh meat and fish, and there was endless water to drink.

However, this kind of life did not last long.

The peaceful and tranquil Gusu Mountain was suddenly plagued by monsters. They began to rampage and hunt down animals and humans, as if they wanted to kill all living things and occupy the mountain.

So, the village chief took them to hide here and established Huamian Village. Not long after they moved in, the village chief began to explore the land with the young men in the village and discovered the stone statue.

They chose this location for the ancestral hall, and after it was built, other villagers were allowed to come in and see the stone statue. As soon as they saw the stone statue, they knelt down with great piety.

Upon seeing this, the village chief immediately told the villagers that this was the mountain god of Gusu Mountain. They lived in the place closest to the mountain god and would definitely receive the greatest protection from the mountain god. They would no longer suffer as much as before.

Originally, the mountain god was just a facade used by the village chief to lull villagers into a state of peace. But one day, in the twentieth year of his term, the mountain god suddenly shifted his gaze. The stone statue, which had been looking straight ahead, silently shifted its eyes as he earnestly wished for the prosperity and safety of Huamian Village. When he looked up again after his wish, he found the statue staring down at him.

Then, a piece of wood fell out of the right ear of the stone statue.

The village chief only knew a few of the words on the wooden board, and he learned them from his wife who he married from outside the mountain. His father-in-law was originally a private school teacher in the village at the foot of the mountain, but later the situation became turbulent and both his father-in-law and his mother-in-law were killed.

He chose to marry her and not treat her according to the village customs. He just wanted to treat her well and follow monogamy so that the villagers could learn to read and understand things under her.

The village chief immediately hid the board and took it home. In the dead of night, he lit his precious oil lamp and asked his wife to read the words on the board to him.

He then realized that the words engraved on the wooden board were:

In the Huangquan Inn standing on the land of yellow sand, there is a proprietress who can know the past and present lives of the visitors.

The earth's rewards are always generous and equal.

The abyss of desire can devour your soul, but it can also give your soul hope.

And on the back of the board was engraved:

The light that follows darkness bears a vast treasure. Objects once buried in the golden sands will shed their dust and become treasures. A mysterious ancient kingdom rests the heroic spirits of loyal warriors and her precious sword. The high priestess prophesies that her beloved will come here to awaken her heroic spirit. In due time, all will return to the desert.

Warriors who refuse to accept their fate, sign a contract with the gravekeeper and offer your most precious treasure, and you will know the most important turning point in your destiny.

The writing on the board was enough to keep the village chief and his wife pondering for several days and nights before they finally half-understood that there was a treasure in the mountain. As if grasping a life-saving straw, the village chief began to frantically search for the place mentioned on the board.

However, he never found it until his death.

When he died, he left a will to the next village chief: they were to follow the diary he left behind to find the treasure. To avoid trouble, they were not to reveal a single word to anyone until the treasure was found. Not even the village chief's diary was allowed to mention the event.

He Qi said, "It's those same three sentences again, playing tricks. Hey, you said the person throwing the wooden board into the statue's ear, could it be related to the person selling information about the Yellow Spring Inn on the demon world's black market?"

Tianshu continued, "I don't know, but if the plank wasn't intentional, then the demonic power of this thing is at least comparable to that of a terrestrial immortal. Even with my 10% divine power and many constraints, I still have a hard time dealing with it. And yet, it was able to stay put and throw the plank into the statue's ear while it was awakening. It's quite remarkable."

He Qi questioned, "What if he placed the wooden plank in the statue's ear beforehand, and then used magic to make it fall when the statue moved? There are so many possibilities. How can you be so sure that it was intentional and that the perpetrator was inside the statue's ear at the time?"

Cha Suxun slowly spoke, "This stone statue is most likely a burial spirit, disguised as a wild Buddha. A burial spirit can also be said to be a tomb-guarding spirit. Once it detects the presence of an inhuman being, it will awaken. Once it determines that its territory has been invaded, it will immediately launch an attack and will not stop until it is sure that you are dead. It is possible that this stone statue has already awakened since we entered Huamian Village."

"So we are doomed?"

"Not necessarily, 90%."

"Ninety percent chance of survival?"

"Ninety percent certain to die."

"What!"

Yuanli could tell at a glance that Cha Suxun was deliberately exaggerating to tease Heqi. Heqi collapsed and hugged her crying, "Sister, I don't want to die yet. You haven't come back to the demon world with me to enjoy happiness yet. We, this pair of unfortunate siblings, are going to die together~"

Patting his arm lightly, Yuanli said helplessly, "Can't you see that he's deliberately teasing you?"

"Hmm?" Heqi stopped crying and wailing, raised his head to look at the two of them, and then buried his head back in Ari's shoulder.