"Tian Miao sleeps very deeply and is not easy to wake up." Zhu Tong said. She pushed open the door and saw Tian Miao lying on the bed, covered with a thin blanket. Zhu Tong walked to the bedside and pushed her, "Tian Miao, get up."
Lan Zhi's breathing was steady and she didn't move.
"Tian Miao?"
Zhu Tong pushed hard twice.
"You're still not awake even after all this?"
Lan Jinyu asked, "Could Tianmiao be sick?"
The three of them began to get anxious. They surrounded the bed and lifted Lan Zhi's eyelids.
"What are you doing..." In the distance, Lan Zhi's soul was strolling in the town. Suddenly, she remembered that her body should still be "sleeping soundly", so she separated some of her consciousness and found that her eyelids had been lifted. Her soul quickly returned to its place, she sat up from the bed and rubbed her eyes.
"Tian Miao, we shouted and pushed you just now, but you still didn't wake up. I even wanted to carry you to the doctor." Lan Jinyu said.
"I'm sorry for making you worry. I thought I was dreaming. I was too sleepy and confused." Lan Zhi apologized.
Lan Zheyu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's okay, get up, wash your face and eat."
"good."
…
…
In the early morning, many villagers came out of their rooms.
Some villagers carried hoes and planned to work in the fields; some carried bamboo baskets and went out to cut grass for pigs; some prepared to go to the back mountain to dig wild vegetables.
Some villagers were more unlucky. As soon as they went out, they saw a dead body lying at the door of their neighbor's house. The body was covered with bite marks. If you look closely, you will find that no piece of flesh was missing, but it was just bitten maliciously with countless scars. Even if some flesh was bitten off, it was not eaten. The pieces of meat rolled to the ground and the blood had already solidified.
“Someone’s dead!!”
The villagers were terrified.
The ferocious beasts like to bite randomly, while the scarlet worms like to strangle people. People killed by the worms have their waists strangled and their bodies split into two.
Some villagers were killed by another kind of monster. Their skin turned black and blue, black blood flowed out of their seven orifices, and their faces became hideous and extremely terrifying.
A total of 153 villagers died last night, but the ways of death were different. Those killed by the White Mantles left no bodies, so when the dead were finally counted, only 52 bodies were found.
Many of the corpses were of people who had lost both parents and had no children and lived alone. As most of the corpses died in a miserable way, none of the neighbors dared to touch the bodies and stayed away from them.
"This is the consequence of violating the ancestral rules..."
"Yeah, you should stay home at night."
"I still have to go cut grass for the pigs, so I have to leave quickly."
"I go home to wash clothes, and then I have to go to the fields at noon to deliver lunch to my husband."
The villagers gradually dispersed.
After a while, the village chief brought people and started collecting bodies on the street.
The villagers have gotten used to it. Whenever someone dies, the village chief is responsible for collecting the body, burning it, and burying it.
The village chief is about fifty years old, but he walks with a brisk pace and is full of energy. He brought four helpers with him, and each of them pushed a cart in their hands. Whenever they saw a corpse, two of them would work together to lift the person up, and then continue pushing the cart.
The road was bumpy and very bumpy, so the group was not going very fast.
…
…
After finishing their breakfast, the Lan Zheyu brothers stood up to say goodbye, saying that they would come again when they were free in a few days.
Before leaving, Lan Jinyu held Lan Zhi's hand and chattered endlessly:
"Tian Miao, what size shoes do you wear? I'll send you a new pair in a few days."
"After I'm gone, remember to miss me."
"Miao Miao, don't go out after dark, go to bed early, eat on time every day, and don't be picky about food..."
Speaking of this, Lan Jinyu felt distressed again when she thought about the fact that Zhu's family only had pickles and nothing to choose from. "My eldest brother cooks delicious food. I really want you to come to my house for dinner."
“It’s wonderful…”
Before he could finish his last sentence, he was ruthlessly dragged away by Lan Zheyu.
"Tian Miao, see you another day!" Lan Jinyu waved his hands vigorously, then turned to look at his second brother reproachfully, "Can't you let me say a few more words?"
Lan Zheyu said, "We'll have plenty of time later. Dad and Big Brother will definitely be worried if we don't go back for one night. And the way you were nagging just now was really embarrassing. Didn't you see Zhu Tong's look of disgust?"
"What's wrong with her disliking me?" Lan Jinyu snorted coldly, "Didn't you notice that Tianmiao looked at me with such soft eyes? I was chatting with Tianmiao, not with her. I don't care about her."
The two brothers walked on the road for a while and saw the village chief collecting corpses along the way.
"father!"
Lan Jinyu shouted.
The village chief walked over quickly, glancing up at the Lan Jinyu brothers. Seeing that they were safe and sound, he felt relieved. However, his gaze grew fierce the next second. "Didn't I warn you not to run around after lunch? Who told you two to go out this afternoon?"
"I..." Lan Jinyu looked guilty.
"Also, I asked you to watch over the shop, but you actually closed it!"
“…” Lan Jinyu felt even more guilty.
After scolding his youngest son, the village chief turned to Lan Zheyu and asked, "Have you finished memorizing the book I asked you to memorize?"
Lan Zheyu: “…”
Of course not.
His family has a special study room filled with books. The books are stacked higher than the roof, and his father requires him to memorize all of them.
Lan Zheyu lowered his head and remained silent.
The village chief, with a look of disappointment on his face, said, "You're the only talented student in our family. If you don't study hard, how are you going to take the imperial examination? Only if you pass can you leave this small village and live in the town, or even the capital... Do you really want to stay in Chihu Village forever?"
Lan Zheyu: "I was wrong."
"I'll settle the score with you later. You two go home and are not allowed to leave the house for a month!"
"I know, Dad."
The Lan brothers left in disgrace.
The village chief had a cold face, waved his hand, and continued to collect bodies along the way.
Little did he know, his two good sons hadn't obeyed at all. Instead, they went to the store to get two bags of food and hid them under the bed in the bedroom. Lan Zheyu said, "Someone died last night. Dad will be very busy in the next few days and won't have time to take care of us. We can choose a suitable day and take the food to seek refuge with our brother Tianmiao."
Lan Jinyu agreed: "I think so too."
He felt that his younger brother Tianmiao was more like his real family. Besides, his father and elder brother were adults, and they could live well without them. But Tianmiao needed care and attention.
Lan Jinyu added, "However, the Zhu family's house is too small. It wouldn't be very convenient for the two of us to live there..."
"That's easy. We can build a low mud house next to the thatched hut, or carry a bed over..."
Lan Yingxiong walked in and asked abruptly, "Where are you going?"
He came in late and only heard Lan Zheyu's last words. Lan Yingxiong asked in confusion, "Our house is so big, it's not like we don't have room for you to sleep. Why build a short mud house?"
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