Return to the Mountains
When I opened the door, a faint cool fragrance floated into my nose, which was even more obvious than the fragrance on A-Lian.
Ding Can looked closely and noticed a box of perfumed ointment with the lid opened on the round table in the middle of the room. "It smells so good! Did you make it yourself?"
"I usually have a lot of pets, and I'm worried that they might get restless in the house during the day. After all, they're guests, so they shouldn't wander around in someone else's home."
As A-Lian was talking, she walked over and put the lid back on. Miraculously, the fragrance in the room actually became lighter and almost disappeared, completely isolating it.
Ding Can looked around the room and saw nothing alive: "Where is the pet you mentioned?"
"We'll see each other soon, so don't be afraid. I don't want to sleep alone again at night." A-Lian's tone seemed to indicate genuine worry.
Then, she heard a crawling sound above her head, accompanied by the buzzing of wings. She looked up and saw a group of small insects appearing on the beams.
In the corner, there was a small snake spitting out its tongue, its tail wrapped around the corner of the beam, and its body was swaying slowly in the air like a vine.
"Come down." A Lian stretched out her hand, and the little white snake swung down, biting its tail the moment it touched her wrist. In the changing light and shadow, it looked like a very ordinary silver circle.
"Why aren't you talking? Are you really scared?"
Ding Can curled his lips. Being around so many snakes and insects, it was impossible for him to not worry. However, thinking that they were all driven and obedient, he did not find it very scary. "No, it's just that I die when I sleep. I hope nothing climbs onto my bed and bites my nose off at night."
A-Lian chuckled. "Don't worry, the ones I raise have no interest in eating people. They feed on absorbing hostility."
"Violence?" These poisonous insects look different from the species we see in daily life. It must have taken a lot of effort to cultivate them into this appearance.
"This has a broader meaning, like demons and ghosts with evil thoughts. In short, they will eat anything that nourishes them. Living people are of no use to them and are tasteless."
"So, if it wasn't an unforgivable monster, they wouldn't necessarily eat it?"
Ah Lian glanced at it and said, "People in the world avoid demons as much as they can, so how can they distinguish between good and bad?"
"That's not necessarily true," Ding Can retorted. "Humans have good and evil sides, and monsters are certainly no exception. Otherwise, how could there be legends of great monsters achieving enlightenment and becoming immortals?"
"It would be great if everyone could think like you. Unfortunately, the aristocratic immortal sects always take it as their mission to exorcise demons and suppress evil. In addition, ordinary people feel insignificant, so when they encounter a demon, they only think of it as a formidable enemy, and they don't think of anything else.
Judging from A-Lian's tone, she doesn't seem to be averse to all monsters.
But Ding Can also vaguely understood that in today's world, demons and ghosts walking among the people are not tolerated by the secular world.
A-Lian didn't have many personal belongings, so there was still a lot of space left in the cabinet. Ding Can asked after he sorted out the things in the bag.
"I'm going to go around the city later, do you want to come with me?"
"I don't like crowds, so go by yourself. But I heard the other day that Caifang Village makes some pretty good rouge. If you pass by, bring me a box." A-Lian shook her wrist, and the little snake on her wrist spat out a red bead. "It always likes to swallow these things, so they must be worth some money."
It's more than just a little. Looking at its color, as bright red as blood, I guess its price is much higher than that of ordinary pearls. If it were circulated in the market, it would definitely be priceless.
"Would you let me exchange this for rouge? I'd think it would cost half the shop."
"Then you can use your own money as errand fee." A Lian waved her hand, looking indifferent.
It turned out that she was a hidden rich woman, so Ding Can did not refuse any more: "Okay, then I'll leave."
Ah Lian saw her wipe the bamboo umbrella that was leaning against the side clean, and then put it back on her back: "You never leave this magical instrument behind, do you?"
"Yes, how did you know?" When Ding Can heard her ask this, he realized that he seemed to have become accustomed to the presence of this umbrella around him.
"The person who made it must have integrated your spiritual energy into the umbrella. The two auras are fused together. If you encounter an emergency, this umbrella can save your life. This must have been a gift from someone you know very well."
Ding Can nodded. "This was given to me by my master when I was a kid, just starting to learn magic. I don't remember much about that time, but my master said that the umbrella was almost taller than me back then, and I often used it as a crutch for fun."
"Let's go quickly! Don't be too late! The hot rouge will be sold out."
After the door was pushed open and closed again, A Lian lowered her eyes. The little white snake wrapped around her wrist tightly, then opened its mouth and made a hissing sound, with the tip of its tail pointing to its belly.
She flicked the snake's head with her finger and said, "I know you're hungry, but be careful and don't eat everything you see that's delicious."
*
Ding Can left the City Lord's Mansion and thought about walking around the city to see if he could find some clues related to the monster.
However, she had not originally planned to go to the northwest of the city first. There were so many people in the City Lord's Mansion who could exorcise demons and monsters. There was no need for her to be the first to step out and face the danger alone.
I just thought that since the news of the monster's appearance was no longer a secret in the city, perhaps I could learn some details that had never been noticed from the people.
The City Lord's Mansion was not in the downtown area, so she returned along the route the guards had taken her.
When passing by the alley, I saw someone burning paper in the corner.
She felt strange, because she had stayed in the City Lord's Mansion for a while, which was not a short time including the time spent waiting for others and the time spent explaining things afterwards.
When ordinary people burn paper to worship their ancestors, they just talk about some family matters and whether their descendants are doing well. It only takes half an incense stick of time at most.
And... Ding Can looked over carefully. These people were not the same ones he saw when he passed by just now. It seemed like they were new faces.
This place doesn't look special, it's just an ordinary corner of the wall. Why did they choose this place?
She was curious and went forward to check it out.
The hot air flow caused by the burning paper money caused some tiny black ashes to swirl. The faces of these people did not have expressions of sadness and nostalgia, but instead looked a little afraid and terrified.
"Aunt, be careful with the corner of your clothes, don't let them catch fire." As Ding Can spoke, he picked up the corner of the woman's clothes that was hanging on the ground and lifted it up.
Seeing someone coming, the woman blinked in panic: "Thank you very much."
"Are you offering sacrifices to relatives and friends? Why did you choose this location? It's not spacious at all, and it will be troublesome to clean up later."
"No, we..." The woman was about to speak again when her companion stopped her: "Okay, put out the fire and then we'll go."
The woman fell silent and stopped talking. The other people were also extremely silent. Ding Can could see that they were indeed hiding something and decided not to ask any more questions for the time being.
She then noticed the vegetable basket beside her, stood up and left, waiting in the dark for a while until these people finished burning the paper. When they left, they actually took different routes, obviously not from the same family.
This is even more strange. How could these people who don’t seem to know each other make an appointment to come to this place?
Ding Can followed the woman who was hesitant to speak, left the alley, and walked to the main street. More pedestrians called out to her.
"It's you, what's going on?"
"Just now I saw a frown between your brows, Auntie. It seems that you have been haunted by something unclean recently, so I thought of asking you."
The woman's eyes flickered, and she couldn't help but look him up and down. Then, she reached out with her hand, still carrying the vegetable basket, and said in a low voice, "How did you tell? Could it be someone from the Immortal Sect? Then is there any hope for me? Could I have been chosen by that monster?"
Ding Can was a little confused by her series of questions. He didn't expect that the other party would start to lose their composure just because he asked a few questions casually.
It seemed like I had stumbled upon a clue by accident. "No, I just felt like there was a dark aura around you. I wrote you a few talismans to dispel evil spirits. Just wear them when you travel. But what about the monsters you mentioned?"
The woman's surname was Wu. She pulled Ding Can to the corner of a shop on the street and stood there. When she saw that no one was around, she spoke: "There have been monsters rampant in the city recently. I'm sure you've heard about it since you came here."
"Of course, Aunt Wu, burning paper in the alley just now won't work. Not to mention that the ones causing trouble weren't ghosts, even if they were evil ghosts, they feed on essence and energy. They won't be interested in gold ingots, paper money, or anything like that."
"We don't know what kind of monster it is. We just want to find peace of mind."
"Are you at ease?" Ding Can seemed to hear some guilt in her tone, but since it was a monster causing trouble, what did it have to do with these ordinary people, especially in the current situation where everyone was in danger.
"Aunt Wu, I'm here to catch a monster with a notice from the City Lord's Mansion. I'm currently investigating the city. You're burning paper to protect yourselves, aren't you? But if you really want to be worry-free, you have to find the monster and get rid of it, so that so many innocent people won't die."
Ding Can held her hand and spoke softly, "So, you know why this monster might have appeared, right?"
Aunt Wu paused for a moment before speaking again, "Well, actually, no one can really explain it. We just feel that since the monster is taking people's eyes, it might be related to some eye injury."
Listening to her story, Ding Can learned about an incident that happened about twenty years ago.
Zhu Mingshan became the lord of Lancheng ten years ago. Even earlier than that, Lancheng was not as prosperous as it is now. At that time, due to the unrest in the south, bandits often appeared outside the city, and sometimes they would sneak into the city to burn, kill and loot.
As the war intensified, the situation became increasingly serious and the people in the city suffered terribly.
At that time, the city lord could only send the city guards to guard the several city gates for strict inspection and strengthen patrols day and night. Once any trace of bandits was found, they had to report it immediately.
One day after noon, at the most tiring time of the day when one was drowsy, Zhao Sheng, the team leader of a guard team stationed on the city wall, noticed some people approaching in the distance.
They were scattered and not close to each other, but their pace was very consistent. If you watched for a long time, you could clearly see that they were significantly different from the other pedestrians next to them.
There wasn't anything wrong with their appearance or attire, but Zhao Sheng felt something was amiss. He quickened his pace and walked down the stairs beside the city wall. He suggested to the soldiers at the city gate, "I see a group of people in the distance who look suspicious. Let's close the city gate first and see what happens."
The situation was not extremely serious, so the city gates were still open during the day. However, every time there was any disturbance, the city gates would be opened and closed repeatedly.
Not only did the soldiers feel tired, but even the civilians found it very inconvenient to travel.
So when Zhao Sheng raised this question, the soldiers guarding the city gate showed a hint of impatience on their faces: "How can there be so many suspicious people? Besides, most bandits sneak into the city at dusk when there are many people. They don't break in in broad daylight."
"That's right," another soldier chimed in. "They've been making trouble twice this morning. We're finally tired and can rest for a while."
Although Zhao Sheng knew this would be a bit troublesome, he still insisted on his own opinion: "It's better to first investigate the identity of the person who came. There's no need to check every single person. I'll ask a few of the people I suspect a few simple questions. If there's nothing wrong, I'll let them go."
"Forget it, forget it. If something happens and the higher-ups ask about it, it'll be hard to explain. Just grab the bolt and close it first."
The city gates were heavy and took time to open and close. Those who were still inside the city and were preparing to leave would jog over when they saw the gates were about to close.
"Sir, could you please wait a moment? My old man is seriously ill and is waiting to go out of the city to seek medical treatment. Look, that's the ox cart on the street. I'm driving it."
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