093. Rong County
Qingling's test was open and aboveboard, and after the test, he let it go and never mentioned the matter again. He set out at noon when the rain was light.
The situation was so urgent that heavy rain could easily cause mountain torrents. Qingling had no time to rest. He did not stay in Jingrui City for long when passing through it, and headed straight for Rong County.
Ningzhou is located in the southwest. Its customs and clothing are quite different from those in the Central Plains. It is already autumn, but Ningzhou is still humid and hot. There are many mountain roads and many villages among the mountains. These were originally many small countries, but now they have become the territory of Daxia. It is unlike the northwest where there are many small countries.
Rong County is called a county, but in fact it is a general name for several villages. It is surrounded by high mountains. Fortunately, with Shang Changheng, the carriage did not overturn on the narrow mountain road.
Qingling opened the window and looked outside. Thousands of raindrops fell from the gray sky and landed in the steep mountains. Looking down, he saw a mountain wall covered with lush vegetation. If it tilted even a little, the man, the carriage, and the horse would all roll down. Qingling shrank back in fear.
"Rong County..." Qing Ling said in a low voice with difficulty, "How can this be called a county..."
Miaoyuan looked embarrassed. He had never been here before. The monks of Wunian Temple only traveled around the Central Plains.
"That's how it is in the southwest." Zhu Lezhi crossed his arms calmly, "There were so many evil ways here in the past, but they were all foreigners. There were only a few common methods, either casting spells or poisons, which were sinister and poisonous, so it was easy to cause trouble. In the end, I don't know how many times they fought with magic, but they were defeated. Now those who still know those things are keeping their tails between their legs and don't dare to be like before. If they like someone, they will put a love poison into it and kill them if they don't stay with me. This is totally unreasonable."
Qingling glanced out of the carriage silently.
Shang Changheng has the same bad temper. In the beginning, Qingling suffered a lot because he was no match for him.
"These are all trivial matters." Qingling sighed.
With Shang Changheng around, no evil spirits or evil cultivators should be able to harm their lives.
Then he rubbed his forehead with a headache, "This... I didn't really understand what they said along the way. How can we find someone to lead us into the mountains?"
There was silence in the carriage.
Zhu Lezhi clapped his hands, "Yeah, how about forget it, let's go by ourselves?"
"But... this mountain..." Miao Yuan looked embarrassed. "Rongzhang Ridge is just one of these mountains, and it's all bushes. Donor Zhu, can you see the aura of the tomb?"
"We'll see when the time comes." Zhu Lezhi hesitated. "With Senior Shang's guidance, I'll look for it nearby, but we have to find the entrance to the mountain first. The path we're walking on is probably made by the people in the village."
At nightfall, only a drizzle remained. The carriage stopped outside a village. A suspension bridge spanned the clear water, bamboo houses were built against the mountain, and there were lush terraces in the distance. Lights were on in the ancient village, and loud singing could be heard from time to time.
Probably because it was raining, there were not many people inside or outside the village, but many people leaned out of the bamboo building to look, and all kinds of scrutinizing eyes gathered from all directions.
Zhu Lezhi got off the carriage and looked back at the suspension bridge he had just passed. At this moment, the water level was close to the height of the suspension bridge. If the water level rose a little more, it would flood the suspension bridge.
"The rain is still falling." Zhu Lezhi said.
"Yes." Qing Ling turned around and looked at Shang Changheng, "Is this it?"
"It's near here." Shang Changheng pointed to the back of the village, "Over there. If we go any further, I won't be able to tell the direction."
That's why Shang Changheng stopped in front of the village.
"It's not safe to go into the mountains at night." Zhu Lezhi looked at the mountains and said, "Should we go into the village... or just stay in the carriage for the night and try to go into the mountains tomorrow. If we can't find the way... what if we can't find it?"
In fact, it is very dangerous to rush into the mountains like this, at least for ordinary people, but Zhu Lezhi said it easily. Although they are mortals, Shang Changheng is not. No matter whether they go into the village or into the mountains, the worst result is to return empty-handed, not to lose their lives.
As long as you won't die, you can make mistakes.
"Hey! Stranger!"
A young man came running out of the village, jumping and skipping. He had a fair face and looked about the same age as Qingling. He was wearing ink-colored Yi clothing, a short shirt and shorts, a stone-worn waist chain around his waist, and a silver-embroidered cloth wrapped around his head.
Qingling was a little surprised. He spoke Chinese with clear pronunciation and proper accent.
"Are you from the east?" The young man approached with a smile, his hands behind his back, his eyes curved like the moon. "I see you are dressed like that, are you going to enter the village? We rarely have outsiders here, what are you... doing here?"
The young man smiled kindly and innocently, as if he really knew nothing about the world, but Qingling always felt that something was wrong.
His perception of danger was extremely sharp. Before the treacherous and malicious intentions hidden in the darkness were revealed, Qingling had already sensed the signs of danger.
"Why aren't you talking?" the young man asked again, tilting his head in confusion and looking over the men.
"Qingling." Shang Changheng, who was standing next to Qingling, suddenly whispered, "He can see me."
Qingling didn't notice it, but Shang Changheng clearly found that this person's eyes also swept over him, not just a flash, but a real look at him.
Now Zhu Lezhi and Miao Yuan's faces changed.
"Just passing by." Qing Ling said calmly.
"Passing by?" The young man was still smiling. "Many villages don't allow outsiders to enter, but our village is different. My father took the imperial examination when he was young. Um... he went to the capital. His name is... his name is Mingyang. He speaks Chinese very well. My sister and I can also speak Chinese. Since you are here, why don't you go in?"
Qingling remained calm.
This man could see Shang Changheng, so naturally he could hear him talking, but he chose to play dumb here. Moreover, he didn't seem to care much about what strangers were doing at the gate of his village. Instead... he seemed to be urging them to enter the village.
Qingling looked up at the bamboo buildings with candlelight on them, and for a moment he felt that this beautiful village, like a paradise in the drizzle, was gloomy and eerie, as if it was hiding some unknown strange danger.
"You seem to want us to enter the village." Zhu Lezhi narrowed her eyes slightly, holding an oil-paper umbrella in her hand, her eyes sharp, "We are indeed passing by here, and we don't intend to cause any trouble. We should keep to ourselves. As for whether to enter the village or not... it depends on our mood."
"Hey, why are you so fierce? My name is Aji." The foreign boy who called himself Aji smiled and said, "My sister left the village two years ago and hasn't come back yet. I'm just curious about what's outside the village. My father won't let me go out. I finally met a foreigner, so I want to invite you to my home."
The group was in a stalemate at the entrance of the village.
To be fair, this young man named Aji did not show any malice, and he was even polite in his speech. But from the first moment Qing Ling saw him, he felt that there was something invisible hidden in his eyes that made him resist involuntarily. It was an intuition without any evidence or reason.
"And there is no road ahead." Aji said with a smile, "If you want to go further, it's behind the mountain of our village. The only way to get there is from inside the village. But my father said that the mountain behind is very dangerous, and even people from the village rarely go there."
After saying that, he suddenly looked towards the suspension bridge in front of him and said softly, "The water is going to flood."
Qing Ling looked at the village full of bamboo buildings. There was no gloomy aura. They were all living people. If they were just mortals, there was no need to be afraid. If they were evil cultivators, then he would fight them. So he did not hesitate and said softly, "Let's go into the village first."
Miaoyuan led the horse and the group walked through the archway. The village was filled with bluestone paths, which were washed spotlessly clean by the rain.
Aji was still following them, mumbling, "Do you want to go to my house? My father is the only one at home. It's getting dark now. You don't really want to go to the back hill? There's no road behind except the fields we planted. What are you going to do?"
"Go to your house?" Qingling asked lightly.
Seeing someone paying attention to him, Ah Ji immediately walked around to Qing Ling, but Zhu Lezhi stepped forward to stop him and said sternly, "Talk is one thing, but why are you so close to me?"
"Sister, you have such a bad temper." Aji smiled, but didn't move closer. "I just like to talk close to you. Aren't you coming to the village to find a place to stay? My family is very big, and my father is the chief of the village."
Qing Ling found that he always called her father, and even mentioned her sister, but never mentioned her mother. However, he did not ask rashly. After thinking for a few breaths, he said softly, "Then go."
Shang Changheng leaned close to his ear and asked, "Are you really going? Aren't you afraid of being tricked?"
"Don't I have you?" Qing Ling was fearless and didn't even lower his voice intentionally when speaking, but his eyes were always glancing at the young man named Aji.
Aji did not react, as if he really could not hear what Shang Changheng said. He put both hands behind his head, faced Qingling and the others, and walked backwards with his back to them, but he did not go astray at all, as if he was already familiar with every road and even every turn in the village.
He just walked in the rain, suddenly turned a corner, smiled and said: "This way——"
From time to time, prying eyes could be heard from the bamboo building.
But when Qingling looked up, he didn't see anyone. Just now when he was outside the village, he only vaguely saw someone sticking his head out, but now there was no more, even the sound of talking and the singing just now were gone. The whole village was quiet.
If he couldn't still feel the vitality of living people, Qingling would almost think that there was no one in this village.
Aji was right. His bamboo house was indeed very big and more exquisite and imposing than the ones he had seen along the way.
Aji called out loudly, "Dad! I'm back. There are a few strangers here. Let's sleep in our house tonight!"
After a moment, a hoarse and low "hmm" was heard from the bamboo building.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
