Chapter 003 Follow Your Heart
A row of clay dolls stood on the eaves. All of them were the size of a child's palm, with blurry and hollow facial features, as if they were pinched out by someone. One of the clay dolls suddenly opened its mouth and screamed strangely, "The vessel is in the southeast! The vessel is in the southeast! The vessel is in the southeast!"
The Taoists ran out in a hurry, clasped their hands together, and looked up at the clay dolls on the eaves respectfully.
A Taoist priest with an immortal look murmured, "Southeast, southeast, let me think about it, could this southeast be the forest with ghost walls?"
Everyone around him couldn't help but shudder, with fear showing on their faces.
***
In the only inn in the town.
A group of dusty travelers sat down. One of the young men, who was obviously shorter than the others, asked curiously, "Brother, why are we staying in such a nice inn today?"
The person who answered laughed miserably: "You can order whatever you want later, little kid, how pitiful."
The boy understood something from his words and couldn't help but swallow nervously: "No, no, brother, what do you mean?"
The man patted the boy on the shoulder and said, "Little boy, don't ask too many questions. What's the point of knowing so much? Anyway..."
The black and white eyes squinted at the boy and said in an ambiguous way, "You can't run away."
The man turned, and the tools in the tool bag tied to his belt collided with each other and made a clinking sound.
The boy's face turned pale because of the weirdness along the way and the indulgence now. He lowered his head to look at the hideous blood-red tattoo on the tendons of his arm. The tattoo was glaring and ferocious, staring at him as if it had life. The boy shook his hand violently, his Taoist robe fluttered, and he was forced to give up the idea of escaping.
There were only a few pedestrians outside the inn, but a group of Taoist priests inside were already sitting around the table, ordering wine and eating meat, enjoying their meal.
The young man looked at the soothing water in the cup, gritted his teeth and took out a piece of silver from his senior brother's pocket. His senior brother, who was holding the wine jar and drinking in big gulps, glanced at him.
The waiter in the inn was looking at them cracking melon seeds out of boredom. The young man came up to him and said, "Little brother, my name is Xiao Dao Cong Xin. What's your name?"
The waiter sneered, spat out the melon seed shells in his mouth, and looked him up and down: "Niu Miao, Miao with three waters."
Congxin was stunned. "Miao"? For ordinary people, this is not an easy word to recognize. Congxin couldn't help feeling ashamed. You know, he couldn't understand the scriptures now, and his mantras were not good. In short, he was a waste in every way.
The waiter handed Cong Xin a handful of melon seeds and said calmly, "Are you going to see the people going back to the forest to die? I, Niu Miao, have seen quite a few, but I have never seen anyone run away. Instead, they all look like 'the wind is whistling and the Yi River is cold, the warriors will never come back'."
Something whizzed by my ears, and I repeated in confusion, "What cold?"
Niu Miao turned his head away speechlessly: "You little illiterate boy, the teacher will definitely be happy to see you."
Cong Xin's face flushed and his eyes widened: "What, what illiterate! Xiao Dao knows how to read, he knows how to read, but, it's just a poem or something..."
I was so confused that I couldn't say anything.
Niu Miao laughed loudly, then stretched out his arms and pressed down on his shoulders: "You are a lovable kid. If you want to hide in the town, come to your brother's house."
Cong Xin paused, sighed, and shook his head slightly: "I have signed the contract and can't run away. Thank you for your kindness, brother."
Niu Miao couldn't help but touch Congxin's head lovingly. Congxin was young, and his skinny hands stretched out from his loose Taoist robe. The scars on his wrists could be vaguely seen.
He couldn't help but sigh: "Wanggui, Wanggui, has anyone really returned from that strange forest? I, a rough man, don't understand the actions of you masters. How can someone like to seek death? Strange! Sir! I don't understand."
No one knows when Wanggui Forest came into existence. Originally, it was just an ordinary jungle, but with the accumulation of countless lives, the green leaves were stained with blood and the wind in the forest was tainted with fishy smell. It was a murderous jungle, inhabited by countless ghosts, there is no doubt about that.
Originally, the only people who came here were some fools who wanted to become famous overnight. They lost their lives due to their arrogance and contributed to the dry bones under this forest.
Until the prophecy of the clay doll appeared - "The vessel is in the southeast, the vessel is in the southeast."
In the southeast direction, this Wanggui forest cannot be ignored.
Unfortunately, this place is extremely dark and all the cultivators who entered it died without a survivor. It is still a terrifying unknown how many ghosts are lurking in this eerie forest.
The villages and towns around the forest still retain the custom of sacrificing boys and girls to pray for protection. The things in the forest are not like ghosts and gods, but they are better than ghosts and gods.
He was trembling violently in his heart, and the newly-made instrument at his waist also began to tremble.
He was filled with remorse. He was so happy to have been in the temple for so long and finally made a weapon, but who would have thought that he would lose his life in the process. He rubbed the tattoo on his wrist in despair. The tattoo suddenly burned him and he shuddered. His pale lips trembled from the bottom of his heart and his heart completely sank into the bottomless abyss.
The Wanggui forest was dark and quiet, and all the birds in the forest were silent.
The lush treetops blocked out the sun, and the towering and terrifying trees covered the yellow sand of the far north. The sun was scorching in the sky, but it was very cold as soon as Fu entered the forest.
In that dark corner, it seemed that countless pairs of eyes were opened, looking, watching, and staring quietly, like a catcher patiently waiting for his prey to fall into the trap.
The leading brother swallowed hard. This forest full of ghosts was filled with a creepy evil aura. His pupils shrank, his hands clenched his weapons, sweat broke out, and he moved forward cautiously into the forest.
Everyone knew that they would be buried here, either to be eaten or possessed. Who would want to die? Unfortunately, they were in the mountains and had no choice.
It was so quiet, too quiet, as if there were no ghosts in the forest.
Suddenly, as we were walking deeper into the forest, someone whispered, "There's a town!"
Everyone was startled and walked a few more steps, only to see a small town coming into view.
The white walls and black tiles are lined up one after another, showing the water town style everywhere.
The bluestone floor fell on the lawn, and the boundary between the two places was extremely distinct.
Like a dream.
Everyone couldn't help but set foot in this strange town.
Walking into the main street of the town, there are rice shops, meat shops, and cloth stalls all around. At the door, an embroidery stand with a half-embroidered mandarin duck is placed on a low stool, as if the owner was distracted by something and ran away halfway through the work.
The town flag was fluttering in the wind and the whole town was empty.
He paused in his tracks. The white wall in front of him was painted by small children. A dark ghost blocked out the sky, and all kinds of scary and terrifying little ghosts surrounded it.
"Blank? What is that blank?" Cong Xin frowned in confusion. The child's self-portrait had one hand raised high and the other hand seemed to be holding something.
My senior brother and his group had gone far away. I didn’t dare to be left alone, so I didn’t think too much about it and just followed them in small steps.
"——Fragrant grass——"
"Evening wind - the sound of the flute is fading."
"The sunset is beyond the mountains."
Everyone shuddered, and the wind brought the singing.
The melodious flute sounds combined together, creating a terrifying atmosphere in the silent town.
Following the direction of the sound, I saw a low and flat house. A terrifying figure could be vaguely seen through the paper windows on the wall.
The door frame was inlaid with gold and jade, which sparkled brightly under the strong light, making people dare not look closely.
The singing became clearer.
"At the end of the sky, at the corner of the earth, half of my friends are gone—"
"A pot of muddy wine to end my remaining joy, don't dream of the cold tonight——"
The leading brother couldn't help but step forward, as if he was bewitched by something terrible. He carefully poked open the paper window, his pupils constricted, and his whole body trembled with fear.
The ghost fox that sucks people's brains and the rag puppet that was pieced together into pieces, these were the only two ghosts he could recognize.
These extremely violent and aggressive people just sat there obediently.
The one who could make them so quiet...
There were countless deformed creatures dressed in scholar's robes and human clothes, with their hands and claws folded on the table, blood stains on the pure white robes of disciples, and scarlet flesh fragments faintly visible between their white teeth.
The eerie ghost child was laughing, and his childish voice was full of a unique innocence.
Suddenly, the senior brother saw a dark tentacle passing by his eyes. He shuddered violently, and the yin energy was quietly seeping out into the sky.
He couldn't help but think, if a tentacle was this huge, then the main body...
The senior brother forced himself to control his trembling body. The overwhelming fear was like a tide breaking through the embankment. He tried hard to control his facial muscles. Tears had already filled his eyes. He used all his strength to raise his hands and opened and closed his lips, but no sound came out.
--"run!"
"long."
The singing and the flute stopped.
Everyone realized something.
I saw the senior brother suddenly paused, his expression suddenly blank, he collapsed to the ground with his eyes rolled back, revealing the small hole he had poked. From the hole, a pitch-black, furry tentacle was actively squeezing out from inside, and it seemed that it was stuck halfway because of its huge body, and it looked a little distressed.
The scene was silent. For a moment, the only sounds that could be heard were the Taoists' slight breathing and rapid heartbeats.
The tentacle suddenly broke through the window!
My heartstrings are broken.
“Aaaaaaaa——”
At that moment, everyone forgot everything they had learned and fled desperately under the coercion of fear.
He was so frightened that his legs were trembling, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he was frightened to the point where he stood, unable to move his legs.
"Squeak--" the wooden door was pushed open.
Tears suddenly burst out from his heart and he stared at the window sill.
Don’t look, don’t listen, don’t think, you will not know until you realize it.
My skin was covered with goosebumps, my hands were shaking, and I murmured to myself, "How did this window come about? It looks so beautiful, so beautiful."
The light footsteps landed beside him. From the corner of her eye, she could see his dark robe. His lips were pale. "Very good-looking. Very good-looking."
"Brother? The window looks like this? Could it be something else..."
"It's the window! It's the beautiful window! I must find the same window when I go back!" Congxin interrupted hastily, talking nonsense.
"Oh." The gentle and elegant male voice was not annoyed. His voice was really nice. There seemed to be a voice in his heart clamoring for him to turn his head quickly and look at the owner of Yin Li's voice.
"Why are your legs shaking, brother? Are you afraid of something?"
Cong Xin hurriedly shook her head, fearing that she was a second late, and forced an awkward smile: "Xiao, Xiao Dao has been standing for too long, and my legs are numb."
"Brother, why don't you turn your head and look at me when I talk? Is it because I am not good-looking enough?"
The owner of the voice laughed happily, as if he was amused. At this moment, Congxin couldn't help but be dazed. He couldn't help turning his head. His heart suddenly split into two. One half held his head and cried, thinking he would die here today. The other half was excited and said, "Look, look, don't miss it."
It was a gorgeous painting that was beyond description. Her face seemed to be glowing with golden light, her eyes were like the spring breeze in April, and her red lips were curved. Even a god would want to elicit a smile from her.
The sky was covered with pitch-black darkness, and the thick and terrifying tentacles were wriggling and swaying in a wet and sticky manner. The monstrous yin energy permeated half of the sky, and the cold murderous intent mixed with the smell of blood became stronger. Demons and monsters swarmed all over the sky and the ground, casting weird and hideous reflections on the ground.
“…”
"How did it get stuck?" the scholar asked in confusion.
The ghost fox stood up with fur as bright red as fire. It bared its teeth, let out a shrill laugh, and kicked Congxin.
The scholar looked in the direction of the voice and said, "Xiaohong, do you have any idea?"
Xiaohong quietly put the fox's paw into her pocket and shook her head innocently.
**
[18 years old: You caught a timid Taoist outside the school, who was clinging to the window to learn secretly. You were a little helpless. It must be because the school was famous. This little Taoist wanted to study but was incorruptible. He followed the ancients to chisel a hole in the wall to steal light. The little Taoist fainted when his crime was exposed. Looking at this skinny child, you, who are kind, thought of sponsoring poor students. When he wakes up, he will definitely thank you! Don't frown. Your family will satisfy all your wishes. They only hope that your beautiful face will be relaxed! Morality has declined a little! Reputation has increased significantly! ]
Wu You was proud: "Oh, that's great, people actually came here because of our reputation! I said that once education for all comes out, who can compete with it! Once compulsory education comes, the world will be impressed!"
The simulation continues.
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