Following Luo Tianhe's instructions, I continued to turn that way.
I know that this is all an illusion, or rather, some kind of formation.
Only by breaking free from the illusion can one see Old Knife and find information about Fox Village.
"Old Luo, where are you right now?!" I glanced back at the empty cemetery, my eyes itching a little. Strangely, I don't feel joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, but now I miss Old Luo.
Even if it's an illusion, I still believe in Lao Luo.
I snapped out of my daze and turned to look at this place.
This is an entrance formed by the arrangement of tombstones. The placement of the tombstones is quite particular, as they are arranged according to the Big Dipper constellation.
I do know a little about this kind of thing; you need a key to get in.
"key?"
I suddenly remembered that when I left, Luo Tianhe put the betel nut I spat out into my pocket. I reached in and touched it, and sure enough, it was bulging.
I took out the betel nut, and it turned out to be a sculpture of a eagle owl.
The eagle owl, or owl, is a creature that, both in the real world and in folklore, is believed to be the nemesis of foxes.
I know this must be related to Fox Village, and I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to the truth.
The formation seemed to sense the eagle owl statue and actually formed a passage on its own.
I put the sculpture away and started walking in the same direction as before.
The next second, I arrived in a village. I carefully examined the village before me; it felt somewhat familiar, yet also a little strange.
This...this is Fox Village?
I'm a little suspicious.
Although the setting has changed slightly, the core elements remain the same.
No, it was daytime when I arrived, but it's clearly nighttime here!
The illusion caused some confusion in my memory, and I didn't immediately grasp many things.
I moved quickly forward, searching for clues. Unlike the previous fox village, this fox village was full of people.
At the entrance of the village, there is a stone tablet with the original name of the village written on it: Xu Family Village.
The village of Xu was brightly lit, and when they saw me, they formed two neat rows.
It looked like some kind of farewell ceremony, and their faces were filled with ghostly expressions.
"Alright, Ah Feng, you've worked hard. Take the image of the Owl God and place it on the altar."
At the very front was an elderly woman in her fifties, whose skin appeared frighteningly white in the moonlight.
I work at a funeral home all year round, so I'm familiar with this kind of skin; it's something only found on corpses that have drowned.
The old woman's eyes were lifeless, and there were faint signs of rigor mortis on her neck.
I looked at the others in the group, and they were all the same; some of them even had some seaweed tangled around them.
Everyone's clothes were wet except for the old woman.
Wait, Ah Feng?
This is Xujia Village. Could it be that they mistook me for Xu Feng?
I kept thinking about it in my mind.
"Ah Feng, hurry, we don't have much time left, send the Owl God to the altar!"
The old woman's voice rang out once more, and everyone in the welcoming party carried a lantern, following her voice.
The candlelight in these lanterns flickered continuously.
What was reflected were those people's zombie-like faces.
I wasn't afraid; I just moved instinctively and looked in the direction the old woman had indicated.
At the end of the procession, a square platform appeared; perhaps this was the altar the old woman had mentioned.
It's more accurate to call it a ghost altar than a shrine, because the entire altar exudes an eerie atmosphere.
As for the details, I'm a bit too far away to see them clearly.
Carrying the sculpture, I walked step by step toward the altar in front of me, but with each step, I felt as if I were sinking to the bottom of the water, as if I couldn't breathe.
The feeling of suffocation made me think that I was underwater.
I couldn't help but cough, spitting out a mouthful of green lake water.
"step!"
The old woman came to my side, her voice as unpleasant as rubbing two pieces of glass together.
"Two steps!"
"Three steps!"
With each step I took, the old woman called out to me.
I suddenly stopped after completing the seventh step, because both Lao Dao's and Lao Luo's instructions were related to the number seven.
I think the key to this fox village is the number seven.
"Why have you stopped?"
The old woman's words rang out again beside them, and the people on both sides raised their lanterns high above their heads, like ghost messengers, constantly urging them to die.
"Go! Go! Go!"
The voices of the villagers on both sides were deafening, like a death knell; if it were an ordinary person, they would probably have wet their diaper.
“We’ve reached the seventh step!” I stared at the old woman, and when I said this, I wasn’t confident. It was only after thinking of Luo Tianhe that I decided to do this.
After hearing this, the old woman was not angry at all; instead, she showed a satisfied smile.
"Hmm, seven steps, seven steps, it seems this is destiny! Alright, Ah Feng, place the sculpture on the altar!"
No sooner had the old woman finished speaking than the altar in the distance suddenly appeared in front of me.
The various patterns on the altar are quite significant, forming a standard Bagua (Eight Trigrams) shape.
The eight directions are Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui. Kan represents water and symbolizes twists and turns and hardships.
The seventh hexagram is Gen (艮), but according to its meaning, I would choose Kan (坎).
But now, the number seven must be the key.
Without hesitation, I placed the eagle owl statue in the Gen position.
When I placed the statue here, the old woman's expression began to contort, as if she were being torn apart by something.
But it was adjusted very quickly.
However, those who cleared the way turned into mud one by one, and the lanterns in their hands fell to the ground.
The sculpture flew back into my pocket, and on the altar, a huge brass basin appeared, filled with clear water.
"Seven steps to summon the Owl God, Ah Feng, you did a great job!"
The old woman cackled, making a grating sound.
Seven steps to summon the Owl God?
I repeated the unfamiliar word.
“Ah Feng, have you forgotten? The deity we worship in our village is the Owl God. Many years ago, a clansman invited it from seven hundred miles away under the guidance of a master.”
The old woman looked at me and began to tell me the story.
master?
Could it be someone surnamed Chen again?
A chill ran down my spine.
I feel that although this is an illusion, it is also part of the truth.
"Alright, Ah Feng, the god has returned to his place, it's time for you to set off!"
The old woman suddenly raised her voice.
"What road?"
I looked back at the old woman, full of vigilance.
"The Road to the Underworld!"
As soon as the old woman finished speaking, her face suddenly loomed larger, her hair fell down, and she opened her blood-red mouth wide.
I have no doubt that one bite could bite my head off.
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