Chapter 212 Jinjiang (1)
Yan Shixun thought that there was something wrong with the abandoned houses in Changshou Village upstream, but his initial assumption was that the people living here were the young people who had disappeared from the downstream villages.
The style of the coat and the name on it made Yan Shixun understand that those living here were those who lived in seclusion in Changshou Village to the outside world.
From the time when the longevity village first came into everyone's attention decades ago to now, how many backpackers and seriously ill people have come here, and how many people have announced that they will settle in the longevity village.
And in front of him was a large area of abandoned small wooden buildings...
Judging from the hand bones Yan Shixun had seen before, as well as the dust from years of uninhabited life here, it was likely that the captain had met with misfortune.
If the situation in other small wooden buildings is the same as here, and every person who claims to live in seclusion will eventually die here, then according to the number of people willing to live in seclusion here introduced by the guide, and the number of abandoned small wooden buildings here, there are as many as several hundred people.
Yan Shixun's eyes darkened.
He put down the coat in his hand and began to carefully search all the possible places in the small wooden building where things could be placed.
Since everything here remains the same, it means that the captain's personal belongings are likely to be left here.
If he was lucky and could find the few words left by the captain, Yan Shixun would be able to find out what happened at that time and how those people who were supposed to live in leisure and seclusion ended up here.
Nantian felt a little creepy just by looking at such a dilapidated house.
But after Yan Shixun concentrated on searching, he no longer cared about him. He also didn't want Yan Shixun to get in the way because of him, so he stood stiffly in the living room, like a large roadblock, so nervous that he didn't even know what to do with his hands and feet.
After Nantian closed the door, he finally felt comforted and breathed a sigh of relief.
On the other side, Yan Shixun, who had quickly searched the entire wooden building, actually got something.
There weren't many things in all the cabinets, at most two pieces of clothing or wooden sculptures. The food in the kitchen and food storage cabinets had long since turned into a whole piece of charcoal. However, it was still vaguely discernible that it was supposed to be some meat, not crops.
After a brief moment of confusion, Yan Shixun assumed that the vegetables had completely rotted over a long period of time and nothing was left, and then he continued to search.
As he walked to the stove, his Martin boots made a harsh friction sound as they stepped on the wooden floor.
Yan Shixun suddenly stopped.
This voice is somewhat empty.
He lowered his eyes and slowly looked down at his feet.
The ground next to the stove had been burned by flames for many years and was already shiny black. Even though it was covered with dust now, it was still different from other places.
But what attracted Yan Shixun's attention was not this.
It's the gap between the wooden boards.
It is precisely because of the dust that this originally inconspicuous gap can be discovered.
Only in this line, the dust seemed to have fallen down along the crack, revealing a black line in the gray.
Yan Shixun stepped on the floor again. After hearing a creaking sound with a slight echo, he quickly squatted down and reached out to feel the wooden board.
There is some difference between solid and hollow sounds. When you strike the hollow part, the sound will be holier and crisper.
Just like what he had just heard.
The slender fingers slid carefully along the gap and soon found the place where they could pry open the wooden board.
With a slight "bang" sound, the wooden board that had been covered with dust and forgotten for many years was pried open again.
It's like a clams shell opened, revealing the pearls hidden inside to the world.
However, many years ago, what was carefully hidden under the wooden board was not pearls.
It was a ball of dirty cloth.
The irregular shape and rough edges make it look like it was torn off some piece of clothing at random.
Yan Shixun took the ball of cloth in his hand, unfolded it gently, and then he saw words written on it.
The handwriting was very messy, and the pen used was not an ordinary one. It looked more like someone had dipped their fingers in carbon powder and wrote it down with great difficulty, stroke by stroke.
Because of the long time and the fact that it was crumpled together, many of the words had rubbed against each other and became blurred, forcing Yan Shixun to get very close and patiently identify them carefully.
The person living in this small wooden building seemed to have a premonition of what was going to happen to him, or he noticed something was wrong early on, so he briefly recorded his abnormality on a piece of cloth to remind himself.
However, starting from the first sentence in order, Yan Shixun frowned.
[I died, but I am alive again.]
When he wrote down this sentence, the man was still a little dazed. The carbon dust gathered into a clumping mass on the cloth, as if he had been in a daze for a long time while writing, and the carbon dust unconsciously spread across a large area.
Yan Shixun felt surprised, so he continued to look down.
It took Yan Shixun quite some time to sort out what this person was talking about from the messy and confusing narration.
This man is the captain of the hiking team. Many years ago, he led a hiking team into the Changshou Village.
But he didn't know that what awaited them was death from which there would be no return.
Members of the hiking team disappeared one by one in the longevity village. The team leader discovered something unusual after the sun went down, but he would forget all the pain and sorrow during the day and continue his leisurely life.
Until all the members of the hiking team disappeared from the captain's side, and one night he saw someone he was familiar with crawling out of the river with a terrifying look of being swollen and swollen all over.
The captain shouted the other's name, but the other rushed over with resentment and bit through the captain's throat.
In the cold waiting for death, the captain fell to the ground and vaguely saw the figures of the villagers.
The old man who was always smiling became so cold. He looked down at the captain whose blood was flowing rapidly. He felt that this face was strange and terrifying.
Then, the captain felt unspeakable pain, and even couldn't help but roar in agony.
——That old man… was actually peeling off his flesh with his bare hands.
The old man's technique was very skillful, as if he had done it many times.
It was like separating the flesh and blood of livestock from its bones.
The captain, who was still alive, watched his flesh and skin separate from his skeleton. His pale bones were exposed to the air, while his bright red heart was still beating.
He fainted and only vaguely remembered the freezing cold river water. He wondered if the old man was trying to destroy the body by throwing himself into the river behind.
And did his teammates also experience such terrible pain without his knowledge?
The captain thought that he would end up becoming the rotten bodies of his dead teammates, but he didn't expect that when he opened his eyes, he would find himself in a place full of birdsong and flowers.
His body was intact, there was no sign of decay and no pain, as if everything that had happened before was just a nightmare.
But now, the dream is over and he is back to reality.
The man named Liu Ming asked him in surprise why he was sleeping on the ground, and said that they were all villagers of Changshou Village, so he sent the captain back to his so-called "home".
However, when the captain looked at the empty house, he felt a sense of weirdness.
Then, the captain discovered with horror that his remaining memories were slowly fading away.
The frightened captain was very wary of this longevity village and did not completely believe Liu Ming's words.
He tried to write down a few words before his memory completely disappeared, to remind himself not to be fooled by the peace in front of him.
On the other side, the captain was surprised to find that there were other team members in the village!
However, the other party looked as if he didn't recognize him. He smiled and said that he was a villager of Changshou Village and had lived here since he was born. He also said that he had never been out of the mountain and did not know the captain.
The captain felt his blood run cold.
What kind of experience would make a person forget everything in the past as if all his memories were replaced?
Soon, the captain discovered that not only one team member, but even several hiking enthusiasts he had known or heard of, were in the village.
Before this, they all claimed to the outside world that they wanted to settle here because they liked the longevity village. Even the captain's hiking team was attracted here because of their experience.
But now, those people keep saying that they are villagers of the Longevity Village and have lived here since they were born.
Those people also expressed doubts to the captain, asking him if he was thinking too much, and advised him not to have any worries and just live happily here.
Everyone around him had such a consistent attitude, which made the captain feel confused and self-doubting.
——Is it actually him who is abnormal? Are those scenes outside the mountain in his memory just his imagination?
At the moment when the captain began to waver, it was as if a giant beast that had been lurking in the dark finally discovered the weakness of its prey, so it pounced on him and devoured the captain's memory.
He began to forget things rapidly, and would get a splitting headache whenever he tried to recall them.
Gradually, the captain began to feel that he was a villager of the Longevity Village, who had never left the village from birth to death.
However, Yan Shixun knew that the captain who had been able to persist in the confusion for so long was definitely not someone who would give up easily.
Because during the period when the captain was forgetful, he seemed to have forgotten the existence of the cloth strip and never wrote a single word.
When the captain wrote it down again, his handwriting became even more hurried.
It was as if someone was waiting outside the door for him to go out. He had to suppress his pounding heart, kneeled beside the stove with trembling hands and hurriedly recorded everything. Then he hurriedly restored everything, pretended nothing had happened, smiled and walked out of the small wooden building, towards the unknown future.
In the last paragraph, the captain said in an affirmative tone that he must have forgotten a lot of things.
[The village chief who had not appeared for a long time came back. Liu Ming called me to meet the village chief and said that he wanted to discuss the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow. Liu Ming said, this is my honor, because of me, the village will continue to be peaceful.]
[However, none of the neighbors who were taken away by Liu Ming before have returned.]
[I remembered that I had died once and lived again. But it was too late, I couldn't escape. If the future generations have the chance to see this banner, believe me, run!!!]
The last two words were spoken with such force that they tore through the cloth strip. The carbon dust also pierced the captain's fingers, leaving some blood on the cloth strip.
Yan Shixun stood quietly for a few seconds before slowly folding the cloth strip in his hand and putting it back under the wooden board, returning everything to its place.
However, when he was about to get up, he found that there seemed to be some white in the black ash under the stove.
He leaned forward in confusion and reached inside.
The cool and hard feel of the tentacles startled him and he quickly pulled the thing out.
However, the thing stuffed under the stove was much bigger than Yan Shixun had imagined.
The narrow space and the firewood ashes covering it affected Yan Shixun's judgment. He pulled it hard and felt that the weight and size were wrong.
The touch made Yan Shixun think it was a piece of bone, but now it seemed... more like the weight of the entire skeleton of an adult male.
Nantian became more and more frightened as he waited in the living room, and walked into the kitchen cautiously, wanting to ask Yan Shixun how things were going.
“Yan…”
However, before he could finish his words, Nan Tian's attention was attracted by the skeleton in Yan Shixun's hand.
The scene before him was so terrifying that Nantian, who was already afraid of ghosts, even froze in his eyes.
——Yan Shixun grabbed the skeleton's arm and pulled the entire skeleton out of the furnace. He had just pulled it halfway, and half of the skeleton was in Yan Shixun's hand, while the other half was still hidden in the furnace.
The skeleton's head drooped weakly, and its empty eye sockets... were facing the southern sky.
At that moment, Nantian felt like his scalp was exploding.
The audience in front of Yan Shixun's split screen were also terrified.
They never expected that they were watching a travel variety show happily, but suddenly they saw a close-up of the human skeleton.
— and given the style of this show, this is definitely not a model.
This is true!!
Nantian wanted to scream, but was stopped in her throat by Yan Shixun's light glance.
"If you are afraid, just move away and make some room."
Yan Shixun's expression was calm, as if he didn't think there was anything wrong with holding a skeleton in his hands.
Nantian seemed extremely well-behaved. He immediately retreated to the kitchen door, not daring to breathe as he watched Yan Shixun place the skeleton on the ground.
Yan Shixun squatted down and looked carefully from the top of the head down to see if there were any scars on the skeleton.
From what was written on the cloth strip, he had already confirmed the identity of the skeleton.
It was the original resident of this small wooden building and the leader of the hiking team whose flesh and blood were separated by the villagers in Changshou Village.
The only thing Yan Shixun didn't understand was why the remains of Liu Ming, the captain who died after leaving, were stuffed into his own furnace.
However, even after carefully examining the entire skeleton, he could not find any injuries.
There is no cause of death for the captain listed here.
Because there is no flesh and blood, even Yan Shixun, after so many years, cannot accurately judge out of thin air what the captain encountered after the record ended to become like this.
Yan Shixun slowly stood up, took out a handkerchief and wiped his dusty fingers.
When he lowered his eyes, his eyes met the skeleton's eye sockets.
Yan Shixun was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether it was his own subjective emotions at work, but he actually felt that the skeleton's empty dark eye sockets without its eyeballs actually showed a hint of earnest pleading.
It was as if the captain’s pain and obsession had penetrated through life and death and time, returning to the lifeless bones, begging the exorcist who had come before him—
Please, rescue me from the pain of life and death, and please bring back my teammates who led me here that year.
Yan Shixun paused in wiping his hands and let his arms drop.
He stared at the skeleton in silence for a moment, then smiled and said softly, "Yes."
Nantian was watching Yan Shixun talking to himself and felt like a cold wind was blowing from behind his neck. He couldn't help but shiver in fear.
Yan Shixun felt heavy-hearted until he left the captain's small wooden building.
Because the captain mentioned in the records that he met many teammates and people he knew in the village.
Therefore, Yan Shixun quickly searched dozens of small wooden buildings nearby with the captain's house as the center. Nan Tian, who was following him, was so tired that he felt a little weak, but Yan Shixun was still full of energy, and it was hard to tell that he had just done so many things efficiently.
After checking the small wooden building nearby, Yan Shixun discovered that the captain was not the only one who had forgotten something.
On the walls or floors of other small wooden buildings, one could see traces of scratches made by fingernails or sharp objects. Those people had also struggled with oblivion, and some had raised questions, wanting to know why they, who were already dead, appeared here, and why their companions had turned into corpses.
However, those people seemed to have forgotten what happened in the past very quickly. After leaving those marks, even they themselves forgot what they had been trying to remember so painfully and never went back to check again.
Even those scratches... have long been covered with thick dust.
However, Yan Shixun also discovered differences in several of the small wooden buildings.
On the top of a dusty cabinet or under a bed, there is a square mark that looks like a notebook, and the dust is much thinner than other places.
It looks like a notebook was once placed here.
Yan Shixun thought of the captain hiding the cloth strips under the floor.
Perhaps, the captain, who was more thoughtful than others, discovered that the villagers would take away the carriers they used for records, so he hid his records so carefully.
As for those who did not conceal, everything they recorded had been taken away by others.
However, from everyone's fragmentary records, Yan Shixun was able to piece together the complete experience of events from many perspectives and knew what had happened that year.
Everyone who appears in the upstream longevity village has experienced the downstream longevity village.
Some of them went there for a chance of survival, while others were attracted by the scenery of the longevity village that was circulated on the Internet. After going there, they were all deeply attracted.
All the emotions and memories that make them unhappy will be forgotten, and everyone lives happily in the longevity village.
They will not remember what they have forgotten, they will only feel that they are the happiest people in the world. This is what life should be like.
All the pain is gone, and only happiness remains.
Then, one day after the sun went down, things began to change.
The rotten corpse crawled out of the river and hid in the small wooden building by the river.
Some people were attacked by rotten zombies hiding under their beds while they were sleeping, and then watched helplessly as villagers suddenly appeared and stripped of their flesh and blood.
These people have another thing in common - after coming to the longevity village upstream for unknown reasons, they all experienced their memories slowly disappearing.
Moreover, some of those who were in relatively good conditions struggled to leave their last records and then there was no news of them again.
——They went to meet the village chief to prepare for the sacrifice.
Yan Shixun didn't know how those people managed to survive and remain intact after being skinned alive.
However, because of the repeated mention of sacrifice and the similar messages of departure, he had bad guesses in his mind.
Nantian mentioned that in his hometown near Nanming Mountain, there was a custom of using corpses for sacrifice.
Were those people in the longevity village who never returned used as living sacrifices?
Yan Shixun's heart sank heavily. Those records filled with blood, tears and pain weighed heavily on his heart. It suddenly seemed as if he had returned to the Changshou Village of that year, watching those people being called away.
It's like fattening cattle for slaughter.
Yan Shixun stood on the village road in a daze for a while. Nantian didn't dare to ask more questions. He could only look around fearfully, and then look at Yan Shixun worriedly, fearing that his mind had been hurt by the evil spirit and that was why he behaved like this.
While deep in thought, Yan Shixun suddenly felt that he caught a glimpse of bright color out of the corner of his eye.
He looked up subconsciously and saw a figure in a skirt running hurriedly not far away.
Although the figure only appeared for a brief moment between the buildings and was soon blocked by the small wooden building again, Yan Shixun still quickly recognized the man.
She was the first girl he saw when he first went upstream along the river and arrived at Changshou Village.
However, unlike the girl's innocence at that time, Yan Shixun noticed in the quick glance just now that she looked anxious, as if she was in a hurry to do something. Even her breathing was panting, as if she had been running for a long time.
In a flash, Yan Shixun made a decision. He exerted force with his long legs and ran out. With his nimbleness, he supported himself on the railing of the small wooden building next to him, climbed up the eaves and walls, and quickly approached the girl by the shortest route.
"etc!"
Yan Shixun shouted in a low voice: "Ayu!"
He remembered clearly that this was what Liu Ming called the girl at that time.
After hearing the shout, the girl who was running eagerly stopped and looked behind her in surprise.
After seeing Yan Shixun's outfit clearly, the girl's pupils constricted.
"A stranger? How could it be..."
The girl did not respond to Yan Shixun's call, but just murmured in disbelief, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Yan Shixun was also filled with worry.
That is the look of pity that a kind person naturally displays when he sees someone about to die.
She seemed to want to speak up to stop the tragedy from happening and say something to Yan Shixun, but she hesitated again, and a little fear appeared on her young face, as if she was afraid of something.
Because the girl stopped, Yan Shixun immediately caught up with her.
However, before Yan Shixun called out the girl's name again, he noticed that the girl looked at him as if she was a stranger.
They had clearly met before, and at that time the girl had obvious worry on her face. If Liu Ming hadn't suddenly appeared, she would have wanted to say something to him.
So why now…wait!
Yan Shixun suddenly noticed that the girl in front of him looked slightly different from the girl he met when he first arrived in Changshou Village.
The difference is too subtle, and it is more of an acquired change due to one's personality.
Compared to the innocent and naive Ah Yu when he first met her, the girl in front of him now was obviously calmer and more thoughtful, as if she had become mature from years of worrying.
Twins?
This thought passed through Yan Shixun’s mind.
At this time, the girl also hesitated and thought for a moment, then asked: "Have you seen my sister?"
Yan Shixun decided to take a gamble.
Whether it was his previous younger sister or his current elder sister, he did not feel any malice from them, and what Ayu wanted to say before but did not have time to say, Yan Shixun also had a guess in his mind after searching dozens of small wooden buildings.
He felt that what Ayu wanted to say to him at that time was "go away".
This attitude, which was completely different from Liu Ming's, made Yan Shixun believe that A Yu had no ill will towards him and must know something.
so……
"Yes, I have seen Ayu."
Yan Shixun pretended to be confused and said sincerely: "She told me to leave quickly at that time, and then she didn't say anything else and just left."
"Are you Ayu's sister? Do you know what Ayu meant by that?"
After hearing what Yan Shixun said, the elder sister was stunned for a moment, then stomped her feet at Yan Shixun, and said in a low voice: "Ayu told you everything, so why don't you leave!"
Yan Shixun pretended to be confused and innocent: "I don't know how to leave. There seems to be no roads around the village. Besides."
He looked into his sister's eyes and said sincerely, "I don't think Yu likes it here, so I want to take her with me."
My sister didn't expect Yan Shixun to say such a thing, and she was stunned by the surprise.
Then, she immediately came back to her senses, but her expression was softer than before.
She looked around and confirmed that there was no one else around them. She immediately approached Yan Shixun and whispered, "It would have been easy if you had just entered the village. You could just hold the chrysanthemum and walk upstream along the river. But now that you have entered the village and come deep into here, this method has failed."
The elder sister seemed to be hesitating whether to continue speaking, but she looked at Yan Shixun's sincere face, gritted her teeth, and said: "Now, if you want to leave the village, you can only wait for them to leave the village and take you out with them."
"I don't know who they've chosen as the sacrifice. If it's not you, you'll find a chance to lie in the coffin with them. Don't make any noise, don't breathe, and hold it in until you leave the village."
My sister whispered seriously and worriedly, "If you can do it, you can leave. But this method is very risky. If you can't do it... as long as any link goes wrong, you will be discovered by them, and then you will really die."
"I've told you the method. It's up to you to decide whether you want to take a gamble and leave the village to face the pain of reality, or to live happily in the village for a while. I can't help you much."
While his sister was speaking, Yan Shixun had been silently observing her expression.
He felt a little strange. When his sister talked about how to leave the village, she seemed very familiar with it, as if she had said the same thing to many people.
However, although it should have been a well-intentioned reminder, my sister acted as calm as dead water, and did not have the enthusiasm and passion that ordinary people have when helping others.
It was as if my sister had no expectations about the results after helping others, nor did she think that the other party would be able to do what she said.
She was only responsible for providing methods with good intentions, but she knew early on that the other party would fail.
This made Yan Shixun a little curious whether his sister had said the same thing to those people before, but because she had witnessed their final choice to stay, their expectations were dashed time and time again, and finally they developed such a stagnant attitude.
Yan Shixun did not let his sister leave after he finished speaking. Instead, when his sister was about to turn around and continue running, he sincerely thanked her: "Thank you, I will definitely try."
"Do you know where Ayu is? I want to take her out of the village as well."
Because of Yan Shixun's words, my sister stopped in her tracks, turned around, looked at Yan Shixun in disbelief, her lips trembling slightly.
Yan Shixun looked very sincere: "You probably don't like this village either, right? We can go together."
The elder sister was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at Yan Shixun with complicated eyes: "You..."
She seemed to sense something approaching, and looked to the other side warily, then quickly lowered her voice and said to Yan Shixun: "Thank you for helping Ah Yu, but we sisters can't leave even if we want to. Ah Yu will be very happy to know that you have such an idea. I will tell her."
"besides."
The elder sister pulled off the ornament-like thing hanging from her waist and threw it into Yan Shixun's arms: "If you are really ready to leave, hang this on your body before they perform the ritual, and don't take it off no matter what happens or what you see."
"Maybe……"
My sister moved her lips, but in the end she said nothing.
She just took one last deep look at Yan Shixun, then turned around, lifted her skirt and ran, her figure quickly disappearing behind the small wooden building.
Yan Shixun glanced at his arms and found that what his sister threw to him was exactly the same folk fabric he had seen from the proprietress of the B&B outside the mountain.
Only the patterns and colors are different.
Nan Tian, who was left behind by Yan Shixun, ran over panting, holding Yan Shixun's shoulders and breathing heavily.
Because Yan Shixun's speed was too fast, and he was almost a half-flying man, taking the shortest route, Nan Tian only felt a flash before his eyes, and he had lost sight of Yan Shixun.
It took him a long time to guess the direction Yan Shixun might have left. He ran in the wrong direction twice before he finally found the direction.
Before Nantian could catch his breath and ask Yan Shixun why he did that just now, he first saw the folk fabric in Yan Shixun's hand.
"Brother Yan, where did this come from?"
Nantian looked around in surprise: "Did someone come here just now?"
Nantian remembered very clearly that when they were outside the mountain, all the guests were choosing their favorite patterns and colors, but Yan Shixun was standing behind and talking to Director Zhang and others, and did not take any fabric.
And after meeting Yan Shixun again, he didn't see it in his hand.
The only explanation is that Yan Shixun met someone when he ran over just now and got the fabric from the other person.
"Is there anyone in this village who knows these things?" Nantian murmured absentmindedly.
In fact, Nantian had been feeling strange since he was at the B&B. Why could such a traditional culture with such a small number of people be passed down completely and accurately after there was no news about it in his hometown village? Both the colors and patterns were correct, and the weaving was exquisite. You could tell at a glance that it was made with great care.
Now seeing the fabric in Yan Shixun's hand, Nantian suddenly had an idea in his mind.
Could it be that, besides him, there were other people who survived from his hometown and are living in this village?
But soon he shook his head, thinking his guess was a little funny.
How is it possible... If my hometown is fine, why did my parents keep silent about it for many years? I can't find any words about my hometown at all?
You have to know that it is different from the past. Now is the information age. As long as people from my hometown leave the village and walk around the monitored areas outside Nanming Mountain, or have any movements outside, they will be captured.
He spent so much time and energy, but got nothing in return.
Even he himself has given up, how can a miracle happen?
Nantian thought dejectedly, his eyes casually passing over the fabric in Yan Shixun's hand.
The next second, Nantian exclaimed in a low voice: "Brother Yan! Who gave you this fabric? Does he have a grudge against you?"
Yan Shixun frowned and looked over: "Why do you say that?"
Nantian pointed at the fabric and said, "Pure white with this pattern, its meaning...is eternal death."
Yan Shixun lowered his eyes and looked at the fabric in his hand with a serious gaze.
What his sister had just told him was clearly not to take it off. Judging from her tone at the time, she was thinking about him and felt that as long as he kept it on, he could save his life.
Yan Shixun didn't think his sister wanted to harm him.
He has seen many deep emotions in the world, so he can naturally tell what kind of malice is.
As for Nantian, it was even more impossible for him to lie to himself.
Besides, Nantian is the person who knows these folk customs best, and what he said cannot be wrong.
In this case, there is only one explanation left...
"Guest, how did you get here?"
Liu Ming's voice suddenly came from behind.
A trace of panic flashed across Nantian's face.
After following Yan Shixun to see the remaining information in the small wooden buildings, Nantian realized that Liu Ming was not a good person. In fact, Liu Ming was like a announcer of death. Anyone whose door was knocked by Liu Ming would be taken away quickly and would never come back.
Nantian was afraid that it was their turn now.
Yan Shixun sensed Nantian's uneasiness beside him. With one hand, he quickly hid the fabric into the secret pocket of his coat. With the other hand, he immediately grabbed Nantian's arm and squeezed it forcefully, silently signaling Nantian not to panic.
Then, he turned around calmly and looked at Liu Ming behind him with a smile: "The scenery in the village is beautiful, and I walked here unknowingly."
Liu Ming readily accepted this explanation.
No, he never expressed any doubt about what others said to him, as if he believed everything they said.
But in Yan Shixun's view, this is more like saying: No matter what you say, you cannot escape the inevitable death.
Liu Ming is so confident... where does he get the confidence from?
Besides, Liu Ming was also an outsider. Like those residents of the small wooden buildings that had lost their owners, he was attracted by the fame and scenery of Changshou Village and experienced the same thing as the others.
But why didn't Liu Ming get into trouble? He even seemed to be standing on the opposite side of the outsiders.
He worked for the chief of Changshou Village and has lived until now.
Yan Shixun looked at Liu Ming with inquiry.
"The guest must be tired and hungry after walking for such a long time."
Liu Ming rubbed his hands and said naturally, "The food is ready, we can go back and eat. Besides, it will be dark soon, and the village roads will be difficult to travel by then."
Yan Shixun nodded, tightly grasped Nantian's arm, and walked forward with him: "Then let's go back together."
"That's right."
Liu Ming smiled and said to Yan Shixun: "The village chief is back too, and he's waiting at home."
"The village chief was so neglectful that he didn't even ask him to entertain the guests. Let's go back and meet the chief together."
Yan Shixun's eyes widened slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed across them.
But soon, before anyone could notice his outward emotions, his expression immediately calmed down again, as if nothing had happened.
As for Nantian, even though he used his strongest willpower, he failed to control his expression and let his emotions leak out on his face.
If Yan Shixun hadn't been holding his arm, he wouldn't even be able to stand steadily.
The excuse used to take them away in the small wooden buildings we just saw was all "going to see the village chief", and the one who came to pick them up was also Liu Ming.
Disaster
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