Mountain Bird
Seemingly familiar.
Jiang Nian collected his thoughts, lowered his eyes to look at the stairs a few steps away from him, lifted his skirt and walked down the stairs briskly. The next second, he took the hand that was extended towards her.
The other person's eyes were gentle when he looked at her, and when theirs touched, Jiang Nian truly felt that what he had experienced was not a dream.
The stone steps circle down the hillside. The further down you go, the flatter the terrain becomes. When the stone steps in front of you extend into a flat surface, a village appears in the distance.
"Did you tell them to keep an eye on Xu yesterday?"
“…”
The silence was broken, and Jiang Nian came back to his senses from his faint trance and responded, "I told Fuling about it when I returned to the mansion yesterday. Did something happen?"
Xiao Yingzhu's gaze swept across the houses in front of him and stopped behind the eaves of one of the houses where smoke was rising.
"Well, you might as well go and have a look."
The hand under his sleeve was empty. Jiang Nian lowered his eyes for a moment, then raised them and looked forward.
The houses ahead looked normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Xiao Yingzhu, walking ahead, looked slightly to the side for a moment, her gaze fixed on a distant point. She followed her gaze again, but saw nothing.
"Where did Manager Xu go?"
Was he frightened by Sun Dun's head? So fragile?
Xiao Yingzhu turned his eyes to the side, as if he understood something from her eyes, and the smile on his lips faded.
"You'll know when you go and see."
…
She couldn't be right.
Xiao Yingzhu was keeping her in suspense here simply because they would meet later and she didn't intend to waste any more words.
Jiang Nian had no intention of asking further questions, so he just followed his steps and walked towards the road ahead.
The houses ahead were gradually approaching, and I could smell the aroma of cooking, but there was no one in sight.
Passing by the roads among the houses, I saw that the doors and windows of the houses were all open, and the utensils used in the morning were placed inside. At first glance, it looked like someone had gone out for something urgent.
There were only the sounds of birds singing everywhere, and there were fruits scattered on the ground beside the stone wall. Some of them still retained their plump roundness when they had just fallen, while others had been trampled into pulp.
In the quiet village, Jiang Nian subconsciously lowered his footsteps. Xiao Yingzhu, standing in front of him, seemed to know where the villagers had gone and was still leading the way. His hand hanging by his side caught Jiang Nian's eye, and she couldn't help but take a few steps forward and tug at his sleeve.
Unsurprisingly, he met the other person's gentle gaze. Jiang Nian raised his hand and pointed forward: "Are they gathering people to do something like the goddess did?"
Xiao Yingzhu pointedly said, "Prayers in some places are different from those in other places. It's considered a local custom."
This piece of land has long been out of the jurisdiction of Pingzhou. Jiang Nian didn't know what the background of this place was, so he kept silent and prepared to observe it next.
The road along the way is not long, and the houses here are close together, sometimes the distance between them is too far for people to walk together. Turning into a place with houses that are far apart, the view suddenly enters an open space, a place as spacious as a temple comes into view, and the sound of chanting can be heard faintly from inside.
Jiang Nian was silent for a moment, standing there, looking at the prayer place in front of him from afar, but was unwilling to take another step forward.
Xiao Yingzhu, who was walking in front, stopped to look at her. Jiang Nian returned her gaze and stared at him for a moment. She raised her hand and pointed ahead:
"Is that place...close to Jiangzhou?"
Xiao Yingzhu paused for a moment, and suddenly remembered that when Jiang Nian went to Jiangzhou yesterday, he stayed in a temple in Jiangzhou for a while.
"This place is not under the jurisdiction of Jiangzhou."
...Is that so.
Jiang Nian slowed down and shook his head: "Then let's go."
The temple she saw yesterday was too strange for her. Jiang Nian wanted to ask Lan about it, but then she remembered that he was no longer in this era.
The last time he felt that kind of resistance, as if his soul was leaving his body, was when he first entered the sect, and this time it was in a temple in Jiangzhou.
Is Jiangzhou related to Shouzan?
She is like a traveler looking for the path Shouzan came from. Only by finding all his past footprints can she piece together all the clues and see her true face as she traveled through time.
...about the part of her memory that was lost due to external stimuli.
Jiang Nian adjusted his somewhat confused mood, lowered his eyes for a moment, and suddenly changed the subject: "Will we go to Cang County again?"
"?" Xiao Yingzhu turned around, his eyes fixed on her face for a moment, "No."
“…”
Jiang Nian paused for a moment: "Will I still be able to meet Meng Zheng?"
She felt the other person's gaze still on her face, but she didn't answer. She only felt the temperature around her slowly drop. Jiang Nian said to herself, "I want to find something about Shou Zan from the princess."
Xiao Yingzhu didn't know what he was thinking about, and finally lowered his eyebrows and looked at her: "You should know everything about Shou Zan."
Indeed, everything Shouzan did in Cang County, as well as the little things between him, the eldest princess, and Emperor Changde, were all completely recorded in the diary that Meng Zheng had intentionally shown her. Later, Lan also completed the other things about Shouzan for her.
Jiang Nian twirled her long black hair, which had been blown away by the wind, and pursed her lips as she said, "I want to know where he came from to go to the capital."
The place where he came from.
Although she is someone he has never met, her memories and herself are inextricably linked to Shouzan.
Meeting her serious gaze, Xiao Yingzhu closed his eyes slightly, then opened them again: "After these things are over, I will take you there."
…
That's strange.
She didn't even know anything about Xiao Yingzhu, yet she was trying to find out about other people's past.
When will she be able to touch upon Xiao Yingzhu's past?
Jiang Nian didn't give himself time to think. He reached out and held Xiao Yingzhu's warm hand and continued walking towards the building in front.
—
The open space in front was surrounded by a stone wall. They did not walk directly into the gate, but stood outside and listened to the movements inside.
The sounds were similar to those of praying to gods and Buddhas that Jiang Nian had heard in modern times, and there was some kind of ritual going on inside that she was not familiar with.
Through the crack in the stone wall where the light was coming through, Jiang Nian leaned over slightly to look inside.
In the empty space, the residents gathered in a circle, praying for something, their postures and expressions all the same. On the ground...
Jiang Nian narrowed his eyes slightly and took a look. There were too many people surrounding him, and all he could see were feet. He couldn't see clearly what was on the ground.
Within the field of vision, those who were chanting something in a low voice suddenly began to make exaggerated movements. Jiang Nian had never seen those postures anywhere else. They must be the local custom. Then they jumped up on the spot.
Amidst the chaotic movements, legs were lifted and lowered. Jiang Nian was observing the movements inside and suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure.
It’s Manager Xu.
Why is he here?
Before Jiang Nian could collect his thoughts, the figure began to move, knelt on the ground, bowed several times in one direction, and muttered something.
Unable to make out what Shopkeeper Xu was saying, Jiang Nian turned around and looked behind him: "What is he saying?"
Xiao Yingzhu's eyes fell on the words she was lip-syncing, and then he glanced at the high stone wall in front of him.
After a moment, he shifted his gaze and lowered it to her face: "He is praying for God's blessing."
Blessing?
It was indeed related to Sun Dun’s head. It seemed that he was scared by that head.
Jiang Nian nodded in understanding: "Does he want to use this ritual to exorcise the ghost?"
"You could say that."
His voice was light, and he was not interested in what was happening inside the stone wall. After a moment, Xiao Yingzhu turned his gaze to the other side.
A few more people came over here. They looked normal and were talking and laughing with the people they were traveling with.
As if they noticed someone standing at the stone wall looking towards them, the group of people subconsciously turned their heads to look over here.
But there was nothing outside the stone wall with a hole in it, and there was no sign of anyone passing by.
"Did you feel that there was someone outside Fu Suo just now?"
"How is that possible? Few people come here. Besides, what's so interesting about praying? Why do we have to stand there and listen?"
"That's not necessarily true... Our Fusuo has the same ability to manifest miracles as the temples in Jiangzhou."
—
My vision went blank, and I saw a blue and white sky, and then I was in another place.
Jiang Nian fell down from the other side of the stone wall in fear. The feeling of weightlessness in his body had not yet dissipated and was still lingering in his mind.
The group of people just now consciously looked over here. The two of them standing outside the empty stone wall were too obvious. Just when they were thinking that they might be discovered, their bodies suddenly became empty. Xiao Yingzhu half-carried them to the other side.
Fortunately, it was not like when I was in Zuihualou, where I was not led around by the scruff of the neck by a maid with a flat face.
An uncomfortable phantom pain came from his neck. Jiang Nian subconsciously touched his neck and turned to meet Xiao Yingzhu's gaze.
Seeing the faint question in his eyes, she couldn't help but smile: "Nothing, when I went to Zuihualou, those people liked to hold my collar and walk away."
Xiao Yingzhu nodded in understanding, but he couldn't wait for the ceremony to end. He asked again, "Who mentioned you?"
"Who mentioned me?" Jiang Nian suddenly recalled the flat-faced man who liked to pull the back of his collar. It was You who was controlling him.
Seeing Jiang Nian's dazed look, Xiao Yingzhu asked calmly, "Who are you thinking of?"
Before Jiang Nian could hide his thoughts, Xiao Yingzhu saw through them. He pursed his lips in embarrassment and looked away slightly: "I was wondering if the boy named You had left."
"You want him to leave?"
Do you hope You can escape from Yu He's pursuit?
Jiang Nian himself didn't have an accurate answer in his mind.
She hoped that the boy could be free and no longer be bound by the Wu Mi people. But the things he had done meant that he was destined to be trapped in the dank dungeon for the rest of his life.
"I don't know." Jiang Nian sighed softly, "What punishment will he receive if he is caught?"
Xiao Yingzhu looked at her quietly, and after a moment, he replied, "Anyone who is a member of the Wu Mi Clan will be killed without mercy."
Yes, how could she forget?
There was always a glimmer of hope in his heart, and he felt that even if he was caught, death would not be waiting for him.
The goddess arranged all that for him, and considering Yiyou's feelings for the goddess, he should accept it well.
Jiang Nian shook his head slightly, raised his hand to touch his chest, not knowing who he was thinking about: "Then I still hope that I will never see him again."
So there is no record of his ending, as he transformed into a free bird, descended to the place where the goddess rested, and drove away those who wanted to disturb them.
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