Chapter 51
In the past, Erma was considered a non-staff member, so strictly speaking, my group was not a formal group. Now that Erma has officially joined the Xuanzhen Bureau, Master Miaohua has assigned tasks to the three of us.
The Xuan Detective Bureau has two main tasks: one is to arrest the Xuanmen people who commit crimes, and the other is to deal with supernatural events.
This is the first time our group has received a mission, and it is mainly to test the ability of the three of us to fight alone.
After the three of us understood each other's tasks, we set off.
The last time I captured Gui Changlu, my car was hit by the Gui Zong and it hasn’t been repaired yet, so this time I had to travel by bus.
Speaking of the matter of Ghost Chief Record, it caused an uproar in the ghost tribe. Many tribesmen hoped that I would show leniency. Even the high priest called me and hinted that I should show leniency if I could. After all, there are only a few people in the ghost tribe, and even fewer capable ones.
In the end, I rejected them all. My purpose in joining the Xuanzhen Bureau was to deal with the pests in the Xuanmen. Besides, even if I released Gui Changlu, the feud had already been formed. Why should I do something that would harm myself and benefit others?
As for those people from the Ghost Sect, they kept making things difficult for me, which made me even more annoyed.
Speaking of this assignment, it's to a village in Shou County called Sanhetaoling. It's been a bit unsettled lately, so I was asked to check it out. Shou County isn't far from Shishi City, about an hour by bus. At the Shou County bus station, I had to change buses to get to Sanhetaoling. I asked the driver, and he told me which bus to take. After I got on, I felt a bit dizzy. It seems my motion sickness has kicked in again. The smell of the bus made me nauseous.
I put on my mask, chewed a piece of gum, and leaned back in my seat to rest. The whole ride was a blur, but thankfully I didn't throw up in the end. The driver dropped me off at the side of the road and told me to take the fork in the road to reach Sanhetaoling.
I am not unfamiliar with the country road. After walking for about half an hour, a village appeared in front of me. No wonder it is called Sanhetaoling. The village is at the foot of the mountain. There are three very thick walnut trees at the entrance of the village. It looks like they are probably a hundred years old.
As I walked into Sanhetao Ridge, a gloomy aura hit me. I looked at the three walnut trees at the entrance of the village and had a bad feeling.
Walnut trees are yin-inspired, so even in the hottest of summers, entering the walnut forest brings a refreshing coolness. Yet, such a strong yin aura is undeniable for three century-old walnut trees. Their sturdy trunks require three people to embrace, and their branches are densely packed.
"Girl, you are not from here, are you?" A mother-in-law's voice came from behind me.
I looked back and saw that her hair was gray, her face was wrinkled, and she had a slight hunchback.
The old lady's surname is Lu, and she is over 80 years old this year. She had a son who died of illness a few years ago. Her grandson has already bought a house in the county town. The old lady didn't want to cause trouble for her grandson, nor did she want to leave the village where she grew up, so she stayed. Now she is alone.
After hearing her story, I couldn't help but sigh that many elders are actually reluctant to trouble their children.
"Can I stay at your house for a few days?" I said.
"Sure, sure. I'm the only one at home. You can stay as long as you want." Grandma Lu said with a smile.
Arriving at Grandma Lu's house, the first thing I saw was a large apricot tree. To the right were two enclosures: one with chickens and the other with a pig. To the west was a small vegetable garden with onions. In the center was a cherry tree. Next to it was a grapevine. A grape trellis was set up in the yard, and it was laden with bunches of green grapes.
I followed Grandma Lu into the house. It was very small and had two wooden cabinets painted red, with a small TV on top.
The house is divided into east and west rooms. Grandma Lu lives in the west room. She and I cleaned the east room together, and I will live in the east room tonight.
Grandma Lu made me some dumpling soup, which is just boiling dumplings in water and sprinkling some vegetables. I used to eat this dumpling soup as a child, but I don’t eat it as much now. I didn’t expect to be able to eat it here.
I picked up the bowl and took a bite. It was delicious.
"Grandma, has anything happened in your village recently?" I asked casually.
"Yes, the night owls in the back mountain often meow, which is very creepy in the middle of the night." Grandma Lu said a little fearfully.
"Owls do hoot a lot in the summer, just like a baby crying," I said.
I chatted with Grandma Lu over dinner, and off topic, she told me about things happening in their area. Although she was over eighty years old, she spoke clearly and was not deaf. She told me many strange stories about their area, two of which I remember very clearly.
One was a story she told about a giant snake.
Legend has it that there's a giant snake in the mountains behind their village, its tail on the hill, its head drinking water from the river in front of their village. I saw it when I came here, and the river is at least a thousand meters away. If such a large snake really existed, it would have become a demon king long ago. This tiny Sanhetao Ridge would definitely not be able to accommodate it.
There is another thing, which is about the three walnut trees in front of their village.
I was also wondering about the walnut trees. The three walnut trees in this village are the most suspicious. Grandma Lu said they were once the walking sticks of the Queen Mother of the West. Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh. Why would the Queen Mother of the West use a walking stick? It must be something like a Zen staff.
But I didn't interrupt her, but listened to Grandma Lu continue talking.
The Queen Mother of the West got drunk at the Peach Banquet and accidentally left her walking stick when passing by the Tianhe River. The walking stick fell on Sanwalnut Ridge and turned into the three old walnut trees at the entrance of the village.
"Grandma, I think those three walnut trees are about a hundred years old," I said.
"Yes," Grandma Lu said solemnly, "When I was a child, those three walnut trees were already that big. Now I'm 83, and they haven't changed at all. I heard my family members say that those three trees were growing there when they were children. In my opinion, those walnut trees must be hundreds of years old."
This was beyond my expectation. I didn't expect that the three walnut trees had such a long history.
After eating two bowls of dumpling soup, I followed Grandma Lu to enjoy the cool air in the courtyard.
Since there's nothing unusual about Sanhetao Ridge, why did Master Miaohua send me here? Could it be the wrong location?
I was just thinking about something when Grandma Lu started chatting with me again with a smile.
It seemed like Grandma Lu hadn't had anyone to chat with her in a while, so now that she saw me, she immediately opened up. Since I didn't see anything wrong, I just listened. She talked about her childhood, and I could tell she missed that time very much.
Later, Grandma Lu talked about two of her best friends. One died of a heart attack at night, and her family didn't find out until the morning. The other died of cancer, holding Grandma Lu's hand until her death. Now, of Grandma Lu's generation, she is the only one left.
I listened with a sigh. Grandma Lu probably wanted to live with her grandson, but she always felt that she would be a burden to him, so she was willing to wait alone in her hometown, waiting for her grandson to come back to see her a few times a year.
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