Chapter 87 Wedding and mourning (18)
Looking at the hand the girl extended to him, Yan Shixun did not hesitate at all. He directly stretched out his slender palm and held the girl's hand.
The tentacles are as cold as ice.
It was not like normal human skin, soft and warm. Instead, it was cold and stiff.
Not angry.
Yan Shixun paused while holding the girl's hand, and his slender fingers subconsciously lifted a little. Then, a smile appeared on his lips and he held her hand tightly again.
"Come on, let me see what the scene is like."
Yan Shixun's firmness and decisiveness made Jiang Yanran stunned.
The smile on her face faded slightly, and she lowered her eyes to look at her hand held by Yan Shixun. That piece of skin was warmed by Yan Shixun's dry and warm palm, a temperature she had not felt for a long time, almost burning her.
But Jiang Yanran suppressed her instinct to pull back her hand. She smiled again and looked at Yan Shixun with bright lights twinkling in her eyes.
"Then don't let go of my hand. Otherwise..."
Jiang Yanran raised a finger with her other hand in front of her lips, and the smile on her lips turned into malicious intent.
"All the flesh and blood will be eaten, and there will be no bones left."
Yan Shixun had just appeared at the corner, and the villagers seemed to be startled, turning to look at him, silently and deeply staring at him. But when Yan Shixun held Jiang Yanran's hand and appeared again from the corner, the villagers seemed to not see Yan Shixun, and still stood there, cheering for the happy event in the yard.
Even if Yan Shixun passed by them, their empty eyes could not see Yan Shixun's figure. They just clapped mechanically, and the smiles on their faces were exactly the same.
Like a programmed machine, it only does the same thing.
Yan Shixun frowned, but did not directly ask Jiang Yanran about his doubts. He just quickly glanced at the villagers he saw along the way without changing his expression.
When he was standing at the corner, he had already seen the hustle and bustle here. But when he got closer, he saw that outside the door of the family where the wedding was held, the entire narrow village road was blocked by villagers, and there were so many people that it seemed as if everyone in the village had gathered here.
But near the wedding, the sounds of laughter and excitement were resounding, the noise hurting one's ears, and the gongs and drums were so loud that it was impossible to ignore them. But in the surrounding village houses, every household had their doors and windows closed, without any sound, and it was impossible to tell what was happening inside, or whether there was anyone inside.
No one curiously opened the window to look outside, and no one cheered for their neighbor's happy event in their own home.
It seemed as if those houses had long been empty.
The villagers' eyes were all fixed on the courtyard. Some were cheering, some were loudly saying auspicious words to the people in the courtyard, and some were clapping, responding to the sounds of suona and drums coming from the courtyard. It was very lively.
Their faces were all filled with exact smiles, but although the smiles were warm, they lacked any warmth.
Yan Shixun was led by Jiang Yanran and walked through the villagers without any obstruction. He stepped over the gate stone of the yard and entered the yard.
This was the first time Yan Shixun saw older female villagers in the village since he entered Jiazifen Village.
The mother-in-law and daughters-in-law crowded from the door of the house to the door of the yard. They were wearing red clothes embroidered with floral patterns. Some of the older daughters-in-law had plastic flowers on their chests. Their clothes were also much better than others, and you could tell them apart from the others at a glance.
Their hair was neatly combed and tied up at the back of their heads, with cheap but colorful plastic flowers bought from the market pinned on their hair, making them look fake.
Like the villagers outside the yard, they also ignored Yan Shixun who walked past them, and just looked into the house intently and happily. The smiles on their faces were so big that their eyes were almost invisible, and their mouths were stretched to their ears.
I don’t know if it’s because these mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are not good at makeup, but they must dress up according to their own understanding on grand occasions.
Each of their faces was painted as white as paper, and the blood color of living people was completely covered. However, a whole piece of bright red blush was painted on both sides of their cheeks, which echoed their bright red but irregularly shaped big red lips.
But the lips looked as if the hand was shaking badly when the color was applied. The red was painted crookedly, with either a dent or the area around the mouth was also painted red, making it look like an oil painting that was casually scribbled by a child.
Perhaps it was because of the excitement, or the warm atmosphere infected them. When they smiled, the two blushes on their faces rose and fell along with the flesh on their faces. Their bright red mouths opened wide, revealing their snow-white teeth and dark oral cavity.
Yan Shixun knew that if Jiang Yanran wasn't there, it would take him more effort to get in alone, and he probably wouldn't be able to walk past the villagers so openly. So he walked very slowly, looking carefully along the way.
Jiang Yanran saw Yan Shixun's actions, but did not stop him. She just frowned and stared at her cold hand held by Yan Shixun. She did not look at the villagers along the way. She didn't know whether she felt it was unnecessary or she was used to this scene.
From the moment she stepped into the yard, the bright smile on Jiang Yanran's face disappeared.
Yan Shixun did not notice Jiang Yanran's changes, his attention was on the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. When he passed by them, he could hear their whispers.
Clusters of them, hidden beneath the sounds of suona, gongs, drums and laughter, seemed like unreal echoes.
"Enjoy your life! Enjoy your life! The second daughter of Yang Lao San's family is enjoying her life."
"Yang Lao San's good days are coming. Now he can have a son."
"I have to give birth to a son. I have to give birth to a son no matter what."
"The eldest girl is unlucky. She is a bad girl. She eloped with someone and brought shame to her ancestors."
"The ancestors will calm down. The three people of Yang Lao San's family have paid for their sins. If he marries a new wife, he will definitely give birth to a son."
"The second young lady was originally married to a idiot from the clan family. When her idiot husband heard that his new wife was gone, he wanted to steal her away from him."
"I can't snatch it, I can't snatch it. How can humans snatch it from God?"
"The second girl should thank the eldest girl. If the eldest girl hadn't eloped with someone, how could good things happen to her?"
"They worried that she would be lonely, so they sent her mother and grandmother to accompany her. What a good marriage!"
…
More unclear words were spoken, drowned out by the laughter and liveliness, like a cold dark river flowing from under the land.
Yan Shixun paused, his originally calm face now looked expressionless and serious, his brows as sharp as knives were terrifyingly gloomy, to the extent that anyone who took a glance at him would be hurt.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to go in?" Jiang Yanran's voice was very soft, but amid the loud sounds of gongs, drums and suona, it still reached Yan Shixun's ears accurately.
She shook the hand that Yan Shixun was holding, raised her head and looked at Yan Shixun against the light. She seemed to be dazzled by the afternoon sun, so she squinted her eyes slightly. Between the light and shadow, it was impossible to see the emotions in her eyes.
"People say they are curious, but they are afraid to see clearly." Jiang Yanran approached Yan Shixun and asked him softly: "Let go of my hand now, you can turn around and leave, the road is behind you."
As she spoke, Jiang Yanran was about to break free from Yan Shixun's hands, her face no longer smiling and no expression of joy or anger could be seen.
The girl's white and slender palms were cold and stiff, but they were beautiful and smooth enough, without any traces of heavy work or calluses. They were like a fish, so cold and smooth that it was impossible to catch them.
Yan Shixun's gaze shifted from the smiling faces of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law beside him to Jiang Yanran's face.
He lowered his eyelashes, and a few strands of hair scattered on his forehead fell down, and shadows fell into his eyes.
"No, I'm just curious..."
Yan Shixun put force on his palm and held Jiang Yanran's hand again. The force was so strong that she couldn't break free: "What kind of status does this family have in the village? The scene of marrying off their daughter is so grand that all the young and old in the village came to see her off. It's as lively as participating in a sacrifice."
Jiang Yanran stopped struggling.
As she stared at Yan Shixun in a daze, the lively scene around her seemed for a moment like wind blowing on the water, the ripples blurred the scenery and made the smiles on everyone's faces become distorted.
Overlapping and intertwining, ferocious as a ghost.
Yan Shixun, who had been vigilantly watching his surroundings with his peripheral vision, was startled and quickly looked to the side.
But before he could see clearly, everything returned to normal.
And a smile appeared on Jiang Yanran's face again.
"It's also possible that it's not the bride's status that's good, but the groom's status that's high." Jiang Yanran tilted her head and asked Yan Shixun: "Is this possible?"
"Gold, silver and jewels are endless, and wealth is before your eyes. Bride, enjoy your life..."
The girl's voice was so soft that it was scattered in the air by the wind and completely covered by the high-pitched sound of the suona.
Jiang Yanran turned around and continued to walk forward with Yan Shixun.
It was as if she was just being childish and acting coquettishly towards Yan Shixun.
But when Yan Shixun looked at Jiang Yanran again, his gaze was filled with deep inquiry.
He remembered clearly that when Jiang Yanran asked him before entering the yard, she clearly told him not to let go of her hand, otherwise she would be eaten until not a bone was left.
The villagers' wariness and hostility when he appeared alone in their sight, and their indifference when Jiang Yanran brought him over, also indicate that what Jiang Yanran said was probably not a casual threat, but the truth.
——Although he still didn't know what was going on here, and didn't know what Jiang Yanran meant by "eaten". But before figuring this out, he didn't plan to act rashly.
However, just now, Jiang Yanran took the initiative to ask him to let go of her hand, and pointed out the way out to him in a seemingly harmless manner.
Is it a way out?
Still a dead end.
Yan Shixun was very sure of one thing: once he stood in the middle of the yard and let go of Jiang Yanran's hand, the villagers who suddenly discovered his presence would surround him.
Even he couldn't escape without alerting anyone in this situation. If he wanted to leave, he would have to fight with the villagers, which would only alert the enemy.
This girl...
Yan Shixun frowned and lowered his eyes to look at Jiang Yanran's back.
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