In Heishan Village, the sun is scorching.

After Xuanyu took off his "Sage's Battle Suit" under the shade of a tree, he shook his fur, licked his paws and washed his face.

The wind blows the leaves, making a rustling sound.

Xuan Yu paused in washing his face, looked up at the thick and dense old locust tree next to him, and a strange light flashed in his green eyes.

"Cat! There's a black cat here!"

Hearing a child's voice outside the yard, Xuanyu quickly lowered his body and fled.

When He Shouan heard his friend's voice, he ran to the gate of Liu's courtyard. There were many red lines blocking the gate and no one was allowed to enter.

After leaving the village chief's house, Kou Yushan asked He Baosheng and Shouhou to go home and rest first.

The correct content is in %六九% book'bar!

After appeasing the old village chief, the three people were ultimately unable to convince him to lead everyone in performing the Nuo opera.

Meow!

"A strange thing has appeared in the Liu family yard again, run quickly."

Xuan Yu stepped back and squatted, then jumped onto the table. He raised his paw and pushed the lamp to the ground. Xuan Yu looked up at Kou Yushan.

The skinny monkey nodded and said bravely, "Maybe it's because I didn't jump last year that I'm so unlucky this year."

Meow! Kou Yushan frowned, watching Xuanyu run to the front of the main house again, push open the two wooden doors with his head, and look up.

Skinny Monkey is only in his early twenties and has never seen such a grand scene. Kou Yushan and He Baosheng are already over 40 years old and have both experienced such a grand scene. At that time, the witch temple had not been abolished, and the Nuo opera in Heishan Village always attracted people from surrounding villages to come and participate.

Meow? Xuan Yu squatted in the yard and looked at Kou Yushan in confusion. Kou Yushan looked around and climbed over the side wall.

"Twenty years ago, every household in our village believed in the Wu Niangniang. Before the Zhongyuan Festival, every household would decorate their doors and yards, and the children would run around in Nuo costumes. But now you see, it's so deserted. Not many of our older generation survived. How many of you, the younger generation, really believe in the Wu Niangniang?"

Even though the old village chief is a scholar, he used to be the leader of the village's Nuo opera troupe. Only he can play the role of the great Nuo and sing the sacrificial words, for the Nuo opera to be considered authentic.

"Where's Mulan?"

Kou Yushan argued, "It is because there are so many things going on this year and everyone is having a hard time that we need to perform Nuo opera during the Ghost Festival. It is lively and can also drive away evil spirits, avoid epidemics, and pray for blessings."

Kou Yushan kicked the skinny monkey under the table, and Du Enfu sighed softly.

*At the entrance of the village, at the village chief’s home.

But if we do this, we are afraid that some villagers will not know the truth and will not want to follow us.

It would be best to use both methods simultaneously, so we need to find Mulan to discuss this first.

Kou Yushan quickly stretched his head to look outside, beware of anyone eavesdropping. Suddenly, he saw a black cat with green eyes standing outside the yard. It looked at him and even shook its head like a human being, as if to say, "Come out, I want to talk to you."

Unexpectedly, Yan Daozi is actually an evil person who aims to sacrifice the entire village to the evil god.

Meow? Kou Yushan looked at the lamp oil on the ground, then at the old locust tree next to him, "You mean, if I burn this tree, Mulan will appear?"

As ordinary villagers, they had no power to resist the Taoist priest who controlled the evil spirits, so they could only leave Heishan Village before dark tomorrow.

Village chief Du Enfu sighed, "Forget it, we won't do it this year. The incident with Kong Kong'er Mulan just happened ten days ago, and Yan Daozi's evil spirit got out of control, killing many people in the village. The wheat spirit has just been dealt with, and the wheat hasn't been harvested yet, so there's no time to perform Nuo opera again."

Tangyuan County has invited the Nuo opera troupe from their village to perform, starting three days before the Ghost Festival and ending before nightfall on the Ghost Festival.

Ever since Sangque disappeared from the yard, Yan Daozi sealed the gate with a red rope and posted a talisman, not allowing anyone to enter.

"Did Yu Niang... Mulan ask you to come?"

The second was to kill Yan Daozi before the sacrifice began and disrupt the sacrificial ceremony.

Kou Yushan's face was full of confusion, but he still walked over and tried to touch the black jade.

When they arrived outside the Liu family's yard, Xuan Yu jumped in from the top of the wall, but Kou Yushan stopped outside.

Meow~ Xuanyu felt Kou Yushan's blood rushing to his head and cried out.

Kou Yushan thought carefully for a while and came up with two ideas. One was to forge a document from the county magistrate of Tangyuan County and use the excuse of performing Nuo opera to invite all of them to Tangyuan County to prepare.

He Baosheng quickly chimed in, "Yes, we just want to have some fun. Maybe things will go well in the second half of the year. We didn't dance last year, and we won't dance this year either. The children will be disappointed."

The old man with a scholarly temperament sat upright on the left side of the square table, looking at Kou Yushan, He Baosheng and Shouhou in front of him.

Comparing him with the idiot he met last time, Xuan Yu's claws started itching.

"Even if you have ten courages, you still wouldn't dare to worship the witch. If your heart is not sincere, performing Nuo opera is just for fun. Look at each household. They now believe in different ghosts and gods, and the sacrificial rituals are different. Some people don't want to perform Nuo opera at all, and they are afraid of disturbing the ghosts and gods they worship."

Kou Yushan also felt as if he was seeing things. He had only seen mountain cats, but had never seen a cat this small and shiny black.

"Last year, it was cancelled because not many households responded. After all, this Nuo opera was passed down by the witch. After the witch temple was abolished, although various states including Shengjing continued the tradition of Zhongyuan Nuo opera, people's hearts had long been scattered, and Nuo opera became a means for businesses to attract customers."

He was very surprised to find that Xuan Yu did not dodge or evade, and let him take down the note, "What a clever cat." Kou Yushan was sitting on a tree stump nearby and took down the note. After reading it, he was shocked and stood up.

Kou Yushan turned around to look for a knife, wishing he could chop Yan Daozi into pieces right now.

Xuan Yu was thinking about how to act out the scene of tree fire, and when he heard Kou Yushan's words, he was so moved that he wanted to rub him hard.

The little boy pointed to the yard and shouted, "There really was a black cat just now, with a red string tied around its neck."

How could they send someone to guard the place? Kou Yushan originally thought that it was because Sang Que's mother had a special identity that the Suppression of Evils Division sent someone to investigate. He had always been very cautious and didn't dare to reveal anything.

"I'm old, and there's nothing to be afraid of. Let me say something extremely treasonous. The prime minister abolished the Witch Temple. This is a sign of troubled times and a way to death. Sooner or later, the Xuan Dynasty will be destroyed by this!"

"Where's the cat?"

Meow? Xuanyu put down his paw and looked at Kou Yushan for a while. After confirming that it was the person Sangque mentioned, he raised his head to reveal the note tied with a red string around his neck.

But if so many people are to be evacuated together, they can only go to Tangyuan County. It is already afternoon and we cannot reach Tangyuan County before dark. There will be no shelter by then, and it will be very dangerous to spend the night in the wild.

It is still in time to set off early tomorrow morning, but if so many people leave, Yan Daozi will definitely become suspicious. He wants to sacrifice everyone and will probably not let anyone leave easily.

Xuan Yu stood up and ran towards the Liu family's yard. Kou Yushan understood and followed immediately.

This has happened before. The old village chief still has old documents that can be forged. Even if time is tight, Yan Daozi may not dare to stop it.

When they arrived under the old locust tree, Xuanyu raised his paw and pointed at the old locust tree.

Xuan Yu meowed and nodded, thinking, isn't there a signature on the note? Kou Yushan clenched his fist. No wonder he always felt that it was unreasonable for Yan Daozi to come to Heishan Village. After all, a place like the Zhenxie Division that handles important matters would not care about the life and death of a small mountain village like theirs.

Kou Yushan took two steps back and looked up at the old locust tree with lush branches and leaves. In fact, he had been thinking these days about the reason why the mulberry birds disappeared in the Liu family courtyard.

The skinny monkey turned his head curiously, and the black cat disappeared in a flash.

Skinny Monkey and He Baosheng looked at each other and kicked Kou Yushan under the table.

The two children turned around and ran away. A black cat quietly jumped onto the courtyard wall, looked back at the old locust tree, and then hid under the shadow of the courtyard wall.

He Shouan saw the strange book pages scattered in the yard and the paper cover with three holes in it, and hurriedly pulled his friend back.

Kou Yushan asked Xuanyu, Sang Que had caused Yan Daozi to suffer a great loss last time, and one of his arms is still unable to move. Only she can kill Yan Daozi.

Du Enfu tapped the table vigorously, somewhat excitedly.

When he returned to his own yard opposite, Kou Yushan immediately saw a black cat squatting in the shade under the eaves, licking its paws.

Sang Que also mentioned to him that the Liu family had a third son, Liu Tianyou, who had also disappeared in the courtyard.

After thinking about it, the only abnormality Kou Yushan could think of was the old locust tree that was moved from the witch temple.

"To burn this tree, I need to be on guard against Yan Daozi coming to check. Please wait for a moment while I prepare."

There are only two updates today, no more. I still have some chores to deal with. I will try to update more tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)