A sound of pleasure
Before the two could react, the man had already trotted into the yard excitedly and hugged the cousin tightly. The cousin, who also hadn't reacted, was instantly furious and raised her leg to hit the man hard. The man fell to the ground, holding his vitals in pain, and curled up into a ball.
The man was in so much pain that he couldn't speak for a long time. It took him a long time to come back to his senses, but he was still gritting his teeth in pain. He forced a smile and said, "Madam, it's me, Hua Xuandu! You are using so much force, are you trying to murder your husband?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Tianshu's voice rang out in Heqi's mind: "Heqi! I'm going down to the mortal world in my true form!"
Knowing it was Tianshu, Heqi felt both guilty and secretly pleased. Too guilty to meet his gaze, Heqi changed the subject, reciting the lines from the storybook: "Where have you been all these years? Do you know how hard my life has been? You didn't care at all, only your own! Do you think that if you suddenly appeared in front of me, I would burst into tears and forgive you for abandoning me? Let me ask you, why did you leave me all these years?"
"I just wanted you to have a better life, my lady. I know I was wrong. During these years of separation, I have been thinking about you all the time, my lady."
Watching the two people arguing passionately in front of them, Ah Li approached Ah Xun and whispered, "My cousin's husband is a smooth talker, full of flattery, and irresponsible. Even if he returns now for some unknown reason and is back together, it's not certain that he will be able to lead a good life for my cousin. It's a waste of my cousin's good looks and figure."
"Didn't my wife say that we shouldn't judge things by appearances? Perhaps this man has some difficulties."
Ah Li nudged Ah Xun with her elbow and said, "Why are you speaking for an outsider? She's your blood cousin. You should think more about her."
"Of course, I stand by my family. I know my wife is worried that my cousin will be wronged. But look, they don't look like they've lost their feelings for each other. How long have we been with my cousin? We don't know her husband very well, and we only see the surface. Let them make their own decision."
Although Ah Xun's words made sense, Ah Li still disliked her cousin's husband. The two continued to argue as the water in the pot began to boil, bubbling and gurgling. The lid clapped against the pot gently due to the steam. Just as the cousin was about to lift it, Hua Xuandu, with exceptional foresight, took the cloth from her hand and lifted the lid for her.
"I'll do it, I'll do it, my lady, step back so I don't burn you."
The cousin didn't fight with him, nor did she react, but turned around to do something else. Hua Xuandu kept circling around her, rushing to help her with the work. After finishing, Hua Xuandu cleared a broken table, set three sets of bowls and chopsticks, and called her to eat with a smile.
"Let's sit down and eat together."
When he heard her calling him to eat, Hua Xuandu brought a set of bowls and chopsticks and sat next to her. He picked up some food for her and then started eating.
During the meal, the few of them were silent, and the atmosphere at the table was a little awkward for a moment. Hua Xuandu took the initiative to break the deadlock and said, "It's getting dark. Gushu Mountain is not peaceful at night. It's strange and weird. My lady, it's better to eat early and go inside to rest."
"Why is it not peaceful?" In order to dispel Ah Li's suspicion of Tian Shu and make Tian Shu's sudden appearance more reasonable, He Qi asked again: "And why are you here?"
"It's a long story."
After receiving Heqi's unhappy roll of the eyes, Tianshu hurriedly said: "Everything starts from when I left home. At that time, Liu Mazi and I came out to make a living, determined to be bandits, but we couldn't find a way out, and we were afraid that the village we would join would be bad. So I asked around for a long time and finally chose the richest Hedong Village. But who knew that when I first got there, I couldn't even enter the interior of the village. I could only do some odd jobs on the outside. I had to endure for a few years and make some contributions to truly become a member of Hedong Village. Liu Mazi felt that his future was hopeless, so he gave up and ran away. Those of us who do odd jobs don't care about us. Without Liu Mazi, no one would notice. I made it until this year, and before I even entered the village, the government took over the nest, so I ran away. After I got out, I didn't want to go back to see you in such a mess, so I plan to give it another try!"
"Get to the point."
"Okay, my lady. Although I've been living outside the village these years, I've been with two people from Dishui Town. They told me about a village called Huamian Village. They talked a lot about Huamian Village, saying that the people in Huamian Village don't need to go down the mountain and can afford to marry beautiful women from outside the village. They must live a rich and comfortable life. So after we ran away, we decided to take a gamble and go find Huamian Village. As a result, we circled the mountain for three days and found nothing. I even got lost with them. And this mountain is very strange! It seems that the road changes every day. I can't find the way down the mountain."
Ah Li asked in confusion, "Why would the road change? This mountain isn't alive. I'm afraid you're simply lost."
"No, really. I've observed this carefully. If I stay awake all night, the places I see appear unchanged at first glance, but if I walk a little further, they become completely unfamiliar. If I dare to close my eyes and doze off all night, the changes when I wake up in the morning are particularly dramatic, as if someone quietly moved me to another place while I slept."
Tianshu is an excellent storyteller, and his lies are so vivid that people can't help but imagine the scenes along with his words.
Ah Li put aside his prejudice and took Hua Xuandu's words seriously. After a moment's thought, Ah Li asked, "What do you know about Huamian Village? Could you please pick out some key points and share them with us, as well as what you said about the strangeness of Gushu Mountain?"
Tianshu nodded and said excitedly, "Are you going too? I can show you the way! I've heard a lot. That fellow villager told me that according to the elders in his family, people who had been to Huamian Village before had told me some stories. For example, the entrance to Huamian Village requires floating downstream along the turbulent, dark river before passing through. Others say that Huamian Village is dimly lit, as if it's somewhere with a lot of light blocked. The most important point, and the most credible one, is that they say Huamian Village is said to be located on the mountainside, but the entrance, or the method of entering Huamian Village, should be at the top of the mountain."
"Top of the mountain?"
"Yes. I've discussed this with those two people. Think about it, where on a mountain is the lightest? And where is it connected to a secret river? It's the cave! Besides, storytellers always talk about how a decent person, forced to jump off a cliff, always has the good luck of falling into a crack in the cliff wall, or landing on a crooked tree growing on the cliff face, and then climbing into a cave beside the cliff. These stories are all based on real life."
"Do you mean for us to try jumping off the cliff?"
Tianshu shook his head and said, "Too dangerous! No way. We can try to use vines or find a thick rope to climb down and see. Floating through the current in the secret passage is more dangerous than jumping off a cliff. The stone walls in the secret passage are uneven and the current is fast. It's easy to get hit and bruised."
"According to what you said, it's not easy to find vines and ropes that can bear the weight." Heqi rejected.
"If I can find the necessary rope or vines, will you allow me to follow you whenever you please, my lady?"
He Qi didn't raise his eyes, his expression was nonchalant, he just picked up the food by himself, as if he was still angry, and said in a cold tone: "I am following my cousin and sister-in-law now. It is not up to me to decide whether to take you with me or not. You'd better get out."
The topic was at the forefront of A-Li's mind. Hua Xuandu's eyes were full of pleading. He stared at her intently and made faces at her frantically.
Ah Li couldn't bear the accusation of being the culprit that affected the couple's reunion. She quickly smiled back and said, "We are all family. It's not a question of who has the final say. As her brother and sister-in-law, we just want to see our cousin happy."
Hua Xuandu was overjoyed and said, "My cousin's wife agreed. What do you think, my lady?"
Although his goal had been achieved, in order to make the play more realistic and intense, He Qi remained silent for a long time. After finishing his meal, he spoke softly, "Okay, but you have to go down the cliff."
"No problem, I'll go."
After saying this, Tianshu immediately used the excuse of going to get something he had hidden, found a deserted place, and conjured up a long, thick rope. However, because it was so long, it looked like a huge heap on the ground, and it seemed too fake to say that it was carried up the mountain.
When in trouble, Tianshu gave up the thick rope and went to the top of the mountain instead, where he conjured up many thick vines that grew wildly.
Holding the bag that he had conjured up randomly, Tianshu quickly returned to the cabin where they were.
Seeing that he didn't bring back a thick rope that could be used, Ah Li looked a little confused. He Qi immediately pretended to be angry and asked, "Where's the rope?"
"I didn't bring any rope either."
"Then you are not allowed to follow me."
"There's a lot of vegetation in this mountain. I'm sure there must be vines or something like that on the top of the mountain, because I've seen a few of those when I was wandering around in the mountains."
He Qi didn't say anything else. After reassuring Ah Li's doubts, he closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep. Later that evening, they decided to take turns keeping watch, a good opportunity to observe the changes in the mountain that Hua Xuandu had mentioned.
However, until the stars disappeared in the morning, the sky gradually turned white, and a corner of the warm sun shone slightly, bringing light, I never noticed any signs of change in the scene before my eyes.
They wanted to set off early to find the way to the top of the mountain. As soon as they left the house, Ah Li heard Ah Xun say, "The surrounding scenery has changed. This path didn't even exist yesterday."
"But we were clearly watching last night, and when we replaced people, we informed each other if there were any changes. It's impossible that we didn't notice it." A Li said.
Chi Xun said, "But what if the surrounding scenery has changed before we start the night watch? It's dark in the mountains at night, and it's easy to be misled and make mistakes. It's normal. We don't start taking turns to watch when it's almost dark."
"It's okay. Yesterday's route was the wrong one anyway. Maybe if we change the route, we'll find the right one by accident. Let's go. Let's hurry to the top of the mountain."
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