18 Sacrifice to Gods
◎The Bride of the Mountain God◎
Ji Shijing waved in her direction, and a black crow flew over from somewhere and landed steadily on his shoulder.
Shu Yao took back the step she had just taken, scratched her head, and felt a little embarrassed. It turned out that he was not looking at her.
He gently stroked the crow's feathers, raised his head slightly, and the hot sunlight fell into his eyes like deep pools. He closed his eyes, turned around and went back to the house.
This bright and clean world is not suitable for him.
A few days later, news came that the mistress had died of poisoning. Ji Shijing sat by the window with an expressionless face. Crow curled up quietly in his arms, with a trace of bright red blood at the corner of its mouth.
After a long time, he raised his eyes, stood up, opened the window, released the crow, and looked at the dark clouds in the sky, and he curled his lips and smiled.
It finally got dark.
Shu Yao stood quietly behind him. For some reason, she suddenly felt a cold wind blowing from all directions, and she couldn't help but shiver.
When she came to her senses again, Ji Shijing had walked to her side without her knowing when. He tilted his head, and the corner of his mouth still had a smile that seemed weird and twisted.
He slowly approached her, his cold fingers touching her neck, his fingertips lingering.
Shu Yao shivered from the cold. It was June, but she felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave.
Ji Shijing put his arms around her neck and his hot breath sprayed on her neck. Shu Yao felt very uncomfortable. It felt like there were millions of ants crawling on her body. Su Su felt itchy and she was extremely uncomfortable. Her consciousness became more and more blurred.
In the end, all I heard was a soft "huh" from him, his tone was extremely cold, with a barely perceptible hint of teasing.
Everything she had just experienced suddenly flashed before her like a passing scene.
Shu Yao completely fainted.
…
"Sister Shu."
I heard Ah Qi's voice in my ears.
Shu Yao suddenly came back to her senses and subconsciously reached out to touch her neck. Fortunately, her neck was still there, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at the sky outside and asked Ah Qi, "What time is it now?"
Ah Qi smiled and said, "Chen Shi."
Shu Yao rubbed her head and recalled the dream she had last night. The real feeling made her feel that it was not a dream.
Because she fell asleep leaning against the bed last night, half of her shoulder was sore and her neck seemed to be stiff, so she pounded it with her hand.
Ah Qi looked at Ji Shijing lying on the bed and asked her, "Sister Shu, is this brother okay?"
Shu Yao only looked over at this time. Ji Shijing was lying quietly on the bed, his complexion slightly better than yesterday. She placed her hand on his forehead, and the temperature also dropped: "It's okay."
Ah Qi: "That's good." Then he pulled Shu Yao out of the house and said excitedly, "Sister Shu, my brother shot a snow rabbit in the mountains yesterday."
As soon as Shu Yao went out, she saw a bamboo straw basket on the stove. A rabbit was cowering inside, licking its injured left leg.
Ah Qi opened the cage and the rabbits were frightened and ran away everywhere.
Ah Qi's outstretched hand froze in the air, and he turned to look at Shu Yao: "Sister Shu, this rabbit seems to be afraid of me."
Shu Yao said, "They're used to running around in the woods, so they naturally don't like being restrained. Rabbits are timid, so you can approach them slowly." After a pause, she continued, "The rabbit's left leg is injured. Let's bandage it first."
Only then did Ah Qi notice the wound on the rabbit's foot and exclaimed, "Brother, you were too rough." Then he went back to his room to find gauze.
Shu Yao gently comforted the injured little rabbit. Seeing that the visitor had no ill intentions, the rabbit gradually relaxed and let Shu Yao carry it out.
Ah Qi also carefully wrapped gauze around its injured leg.
Shu Yao looked around and didn't see Qiao Liu, so she asked, "Where's Brother Qiao?"
Ah Qi's bandaged hand trembled, and his voice was a little muffled: "Something happened in the village today, so I went to the ancestral hall early this morning."
Shu Yao nodded, and just as she was about to say something else, she heard someone shouting outside the courtyard gate: "Qiao Family Ah Qi, the clan leader wants to see you. Hurry and go to the ancestral hall now."
Ah Qi froze in place as if struck by lightning. She closed her eyes, let out a long breath, and said with fear on her face: "Okay, I'll go right away." When she listened carefully, she could hear her voice trembling slightly.
Shu Yao felt something was wrong. She grabbed Ah Qi's hand and asked, "What happened?"
Ah Qi forced a smile: "It's okay, it's okay." When she reached the gate, she turned around and reminded Shu Yao: "Sister Shu, you and that brother must not go out, and don't let the villagers see you."
The door opened and closed.
Shu Yao put the rabbit into the cage, her heart beating fast and she felt extremely anxious. She looked towards the gate and fell into deep thought, feeling that something was going to happen.
…
Shanshen Village Ancestral Hall.
The snow has stopped today, but the cold wind is even worse.
The door of the ancestral hall was closed, and the wind outside rushed in through the dilapidated windows. Some villagers standing by the windows stamped their feet in the cold, and kept breathing out air with their hands on their mouths.
There was a crowd of people in the ancestral hall, but it was unusually quiet, without even a trivial sound.
Everyone stood facing the rows, with different expressions on their faces.
The clan leader stood at the front. His hair was gray and his tanned face was full of wrinkles. He had a wisp of gray beard on his chin, which tilted slightly forward. He was over ninety years old and was extremely hunched.
He burned three incense sticks towards the ranking, and after lighting the incense, he turned around and looked at everyone, finally his eyes fell on Qiao Liu.
At this time, Qiao Liu had been tied up, with four or five big men pressing him down. But even so, he was still struggling desperately, begging for mercy from the clan leader with his eyes.
The clan leader stroked his beard, sighed softly, and then spoke slowly, "Qiao family boy, this is the will of our ancestors, you must not disobey it."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone below immediately echoed them.
"Yes, yes, Ah Qi was chosen by our ancestors, which means she is a blessed person."
"Offer Ah Qi to the mountain god. The mountain god will bless our village with good weather and good harvests. Qiao family boy, you can even say that you are the mountain god's brother-in-law in the future."
“…”
Once the conversation started, everyone started talking non-stop.
But there were still some people who looked sympathetic, they lowered their heads and didn't say much.
With a piece of cloth stuffed in his mouth, Qiao Liu could only roar helplessly.
The clan leader coughed twice and everyone immediately quieted down. He asked the strong man to take the cloth out of Qiao Liu's mouth.
Qiao Liu immediately looked at the clan leader and, because of his excitement, he almost shouted: "Clan leader, Ah Qi is only fifteen..."
But before he could finish, the clan leader frowned impatiently and interrupted him: "Qiao Liu, this matter is a foregone conclusion. Arrange for your sister to get married in two days."
After saying that, his eyes flashed, and he said half-threateningly: "You don't want our entire village to suffer because of you two brothers and sisters, do you?"
Qiao Liu looked desperate.
Someone else said, gloatingly, "Qiao Liu, I just drew your sister. This is fate."
Every year, the mountain god village would offer a young girl to the mountain god to bless their village with good weather and good harvests in the coming year.
His daughter is just fifteen this year, and has reached the age to be selected. When he was drawing lots, he was very nervous, fearing that his daughter would be chosen. But fortunately, in front of the ancestors' ranking, he drew the youngest daughter of the Qiao family.
He was so relieved right now.
There has been no news of the virgin girls who were sent to the mountain in previous years, and no one knows whether they are dead or alive.
He didn't want his daughter to take this risk.
Just then, Ah Qi pushed the door open and walked in. Everyone automatically made way for her. Some people looked at her as if they were watching a good show, while others looked at her with pity.
As soon as Ah Qi came in, she saw her brother tied up. She hurried to Qiao Liu, her eyes slightly red, and her hands groped for the thick rope, trying to untie him.
After receiving instructions from the clan leader, several big men also let go of Qiao Liu.
The rope was untied for Qiao Liu. He held his sister's hand tightly, his lips trembling, but he couldn't say a word.
Ah Qi knew that her village had always had the custom of offering sacrifices to the mountain god. She had a pretty good idea of the situation. She patted her brother's hand and tried to comfort him: "Brother, don't worry."
Seeing his sister being so sensible, Qiao Liu felt even worse. A tear rolled down the corner of the sturdy man's eye. He looked at the clan leader again and said, "Clan leader, can I go up the mountain in my sister's place?"
The clan leader glared at him and said, "The mountain god wants a virgin."
Qiao Liu's face was pale. What should he do? What should he do to save his sister?
At this moment, he even wanted to take his sister and escape from the village overnight.
Ah Qi, who had been keeping her head down, now looked up and met the clan leader's sharp gaze: "Clan leader, I will marry you, please don't make things difficult for my brother."
The clan leader nodded in satisfaction and said, "The Qiao family girl is sensible. Come up and burn some incense for the ancestors."
Ah Qi moved numbly, Qiao Liu grabbed her and shook his head.
She smiled bitterly, picked up three incense sticks and wanted to worship. This was her fate. What could she do? She had to accept it, otherwise her brother would be implicated.
But Qiao Liuyi snatched the incense away and pulled Ah Qi out the door. He had made up his mind that even if it meant risking his own life, he would keep his sister safe.
The clan leader was the first to react. He angrily ordered the strong men, "Quick...quick...quickly catch them! This is really outrageous."
…
Shu Yao was cooking porridge, thinking that the Qiao brothers and sisters would have something hot to eat when they came back. She just stood up and wanted to go to the other side to get firewood, when she saw Ji Shijing standing against the door frame with his coat on, his eyes fell on her.
Shu Yao vaguely recalled the scene in her dream. She still remembered the coldness of his fingertips. Suddenly, she felt like a snake was crawling on her neck. She unconsciously touched her neck and forced a smile: "Are you awake? Are you feeling better?"
Although Ji Shijing's face was still pale, he looked much better. He nodded slightly and walked towards her. Just as he was getting closer, Shu Yao took a few steps back to put some distance between them.
Ji Shijing stood still, frowned, but said nothing.
Shu Yao took some firewood and started a fire, then continued with what she was doing.
The fire in the stove grew bigger and bigger, and the system voice also sounded along with the crackling of burning wood. The voice was a little excited: [Master, the trust value has increased again.]
Shu Yao perked up: [How much is it?]
System: [After system testing, the trust value is 7%.]
Shu Yao nodded, secretly happy in her heart. She looked up at Ji Shijing standing beside her, and suddenly felt that he looked quite cute, without the gloomy atmosphere in her dream at all.
He called him over and they both sat by the stove to light a fire.
Ji Shijing was a little puzzled. The woman who had just wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, now had changed her face again.
Sure enough, women are fickle.
The system tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk twice: [Master, your attitude changes so quickly.]
Shu Yao raised an eyebrow. "Isn't this because his trust has gone up? I'm really happy. Do you think it's because I saved him in Banyan Mountain that his trust has gone up?"
The system hummed for a long time before finally uttering: "I don't know."
Shu Yao felt that no matter what the reason was, as long as the trust value increased, it would be fine.
Just when she was happy, a stone popped out from somewhere and hit her waist squarely.
Shu Yao's first reaction was to look at Ji Shijing.
Ji Shijing was a little confused.
"Hahahaha, let me give you a taste of my missile."
On the courtyard wall, a mischievous boy, holding a slingshot, made faces at Shu Yao: "Lululu."
Shu Yao was immediately furious. Where did this naughty kid come from? She pretended to pick up a match on the ground and was about to go over and teach him a lesson. She originally just wanted to scare the naughty kid, but he jumped off the wall and ran away, shouting as he ran: "I'm going to tell the clan leader that the Qiao family is hiding an outsider."
Shu Yao watched the boy running farther and farther away, remembered Ah Qi's instructions, retracted the foot that had just stepped out of the gate, and then closed the door tightly.
Meanwhile, at the ancestral hall, despite being covered in wounds, Qiao Liu still carefully held Ah Qi in his arms. He glared at the clan leader and said, "If you want Ah Qi to get married, you'll have to step over my dead body first."
The patriarch's eyes became fierce, and he slowly uttered a few cold words: "Then it will be as you wish." Then he winked at one of the big men.
The big man immediately understood what he meant and pulled out a machete from under the table. Everyone's face changed when they saw the machete.
Ah Qi was terrified and begged for mercy, knocking his head heavily on the ground: "Grandpa, I want to marry you, please don't hurt my brother, please."
The clan leader remained unmoved.
Ah Qi was held down by the others, and the machete fell brightly on Qiao Liu's head. Qiao Liu's eyes showed no fear, only reluctance to leave his sister. He looked at Ah Qi and said, "Little sister, I can't protect you anymore. You have to take good care of yourself. Wear more clothes when it's cold, and eat more if you're weak."
Ah Qi's vision had already blurred, tears were streaming down her face, and she shook her head.
Just as the big man was about to strike with his machete raised, a child suddenly ran in from the doorway. It was the naughty child who had just been leaning against the wall. He shouted, "Grandpa, I found two outsiders in Brother Qiao Liu's house."
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