Next, everyone drank heartily again. General Lin had drunk too much earlier and was already a little dizzy. Fortunately, Lin Xi stopped him in time, otherwise he would have been seriously drunk.
Lin Xi had someone bring some fruit wine. It was the old man's birthday, and he couldn't do without wine. He couldn't drink baijiu anymore, so he could only drink some fruit wine.
Because the birthday banquet was well prepared, everyone enjoyed the meal very much. The last dish was sweet potato starch dumplings.
Sweet potato starch is a substance that people outside of Shuixian Village don't know about. People from other places have no idea what sweet potato starch is, let alone sweet potato starch dumplings.
Everyone knows that "yuanzi" means "round feast" or "completeness," and that once this dish is finished, the birthday banquet will be over, and the guests can leave.
After the banquet, Zhao Xian went to the kitchen, where Zhao Xiaoshan and the others were preparing to eat. Once all the dishes were served, their task was complete.
Seeing Zhao Xian approach, everyone stood up.
"Brother, have you finished eating? How was the birthday banquet? Was it delicious?"
Zhao Xian smiled and said, "Very good. Every dish is exquisite, with perfect color, aroma, and taste. The guests are full of praise."
Upon hearing this, the group laughed. Zhao Xian's words were the best reward for them.
"Please sit down and eat. Are you busy this afternoon?"
"Our mission is complete. We can go back after we finish eating. As for cleaning the kitchen and washing the dishes, that's the job of the Lin family's servants. We don't need to do it."
"Alright, after you finish your meal, go back and get some rest. Don't overwork yourselves. We'll have some tea and chat at the Lin residence before heading back."
“Okay, brother, we understand,” Zhao Xiaoshan said.
By this time, all the guests attending the birthday banquet had left, and Li Xue entered Lin Xi's boudoir, where the two were probably having a private conversation.
In the living room, Lin Yuquan brewed a pot of tea and was waiting for Zhao Xian to come over for tea. General Lin was also in the living room, but his eyelids were drooping and he could not sit still. Lin Yuquan then instructed the steward to help the old general back to his room to rest.
After General Lin left, Zhao Xian returned from the kitchen, and Lin Yuquan invited him to sit down and have some tea.
The two then chatted while enjoying tea.
"When we arrived, Lin Xi told us that Magistrate Lin was serving in Datong. We don't know where Datong County is," Zhao Xian asked.
"Datong County is located in Yunzhou, in the southwest region of the Great Northern Dynasty. It is a sparsely populated and wild place. I have been the magistrate of Datong for nine years, and one more year will mark my tenth year."
My father is over seventy years old, but I work far away from home, and it takes me more than a month to come back. I am unable to take care of him, and I really want to be transferred back to work in the mainland.
Zhao Xian had not expected that Lin Yuquan was serving in such a distant place and had been a county magistrate for nine years. With General Lin's prestige and connections, it would not be a problem to promote Lin Yuquan or transfer him from Yunzhou back to the interior to his side.
General Kelin did not do so, which is related to his personality. He was straightforward and unwilling to ask for favors, which should be one of the reasons.
As the two were chatting, Lin Xi suddenly rushed in with Li Xue.
“Father, I remember you once told me that there is a Devil’s Valley more than 300 miles away from Datong County, where small animals can move freely without any problems.”
But if a person or a large animal goes in, nine out of ten will die. Even if someone manages to escape from the valley alive, they are almost always left mentally impaired. Tell me quickly, what exactly is going on there?”
"Why are you asking this? Didn't I tell you this before?" Lin Yuquan asked, somewhat surprised.
"Father, please explain in more detail. This matter is very important."
"Okay, I'll say it again. About 300 miles from Datong County, there are mountains everywhere and large tracts of primeval forest."
Among these mountains are numerous valleys, which would normally be normal. However, the presence of Devil's Valley imbues this vast area with an air of mystery and awe.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian became interested and asked, "Magistrate Lin just mentioned Devil's Valley. What is this Devil's Valley all about?"
“Every year at a certain time, people entering Devil's Valley suddenly feel dizzy and faint shortly afterward.”
Not long after, the person who fainted will regain consciousness, get up and continue walking, and soon experience the same dizziness again, fainting again, and then regaining consciousness again, and so on.
Ultimately, this person will die in the valley, and his family will enter the valley to search for him, only to find that they too eventually die in the valley.
Of course, a very small number of people escaped from the valley, but they would eventually die. Even if they were lucky enough to escape, they would eventually become mentally impaired.
There are some small animals in Devil's Valley, such as rabbits, wolves, sheep, and wild boars. They are not in any danger in Devil's Valley, but if cattle or horses enter, their fate will be the same as that of humans—they will surely die.
Of course, this situation doesn't occur all the time; it usually happens when it's hot, but not in winter.
Therefore, people usually enter the valley in winter, where there are bones everywhere.
The locals say that there are demons in this valley. They come out in the summer to eat people and livestock, and in the winter, they are afraid of the cold and hide somewhere in the valley to sleep.
Therefore, people and large livestock would disappear in the summer, and people would come to the valley to collect their remains in the winter.
Zhao Xian immediately understood why Lin Xi asked about Devil's Valley. It must be because Li Xue had mentioned going to the southwest to find her brother Li Ru, and Lin Xi suspected that Li Ru might have accidentally wandered into Devil's Valley and disappeared.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xian asked, "Does Magistrate Lin know about the small kingdom of Bagong in the southwest? Ten years ago, it frequently harassed the southwestern border, and the imperial court sent troops to punish it. Does Magistrate Lin know about these things?"
"Of course I know about this. At that time, the imperial army trapped more than 10,000 troops of Bagong in Guangling Town for more than ten days. In the end, only about a hundred people broke through the siege, and the rest of the soldiers were all killed."
After that, the Kingdom of Bagong was well-behaved for many years. However, it seems that in the last two years, this small kingdom has become restless again and has begun to harass the southwestern border of the Great Northern Dynasty.
"How far is Guangling Town from Datong County, and how far is it from Devil's Valley?"
“Guangling is 500 li away from Datong County, and more than 100 li away from that Devil's Valley,” Lin Yuquan replied.
Zhao Xian knew that the southwest region was mostly mountainous and covered in virgin forests, and that the environment and climate there were complex and changeable, so it was entirely possible for such a terrifying valley to appear.
However, some strange phenomena have appeared in this valley, which is hard to understand. Although the valley is scary, it poses no threat to small animals.
The valley is dangerous to people and large livestock, but this is only the case in summer; it is not dangerous in winter.
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