Niannian woke up. When she opened her eyes, the first things she saw were the frowning faces of her two senior brothers.
Shen Weixun was the first to notice her waking up. He quickly stepped forward and asked, "How are you? Do you feel any discomfort in your body?"
"Where is this?"
Little Tuanzi looked around, a bit dazed.
At this moment, they were on a street.
All around were people in ancient costumes. Their movements were frozen, with men, women, the old and the young looking different from each other, just like a bustling market scroll.
"I'm not sure. This space has completely fallen into chaos. The Ghost King said that the evil spirit wasn't completely eliminated, and a part of it escaped. Maybe this is the illusion it created. We must find it and completely destroy it before we can get out."
Zhang Zicheng was a bit irritated.
During the few days Niannian was in a coma, they had been staying here. The time around them was completely still, and they were confined within a range of about three meters and couldn't get out.
The Ghost King had just said that one sentence and then disappeared, and hadn't shown up until now.
Fortunately, Niannian had made a lot of all kinds of pills before. She had just over - exhausted herself, and after taking the pills, her physical condition gradually recovered.
Otherwise, they would have been extremely worried.
"It's still alive?"
Niannian opened her eyes wide in disbelief. She had almost lost half of her life, but that damned ghost thing was still alive.
Just as her voice faded, a little dog on the street suddenly barked.
At the same time, the pedestrians frozen on the street began to move. People were buying vegetables and shouting, and the sounds came one after another in an endless stream.
Niannian was wearing modern clothes. The locals around her just took a few glances at her and then went about their own business. Their looks were just like looking at a passing stranger, without a trace of curiosity.
"Second Tiger's wife! Second Tiger's wife!"
Suddenly, a man's loud shout came from afar. An old woman heard it and quickly walked forward while leaning on her long stick.
Seeing that there was a commotion, the three of them looked at each other. After reacting for a while, they also followed the old woman.
After walking for a while, they saw a group of people gathered in a circle in front, as if they were watching something.
The old woman pushed through the crowd and squeezed in. Niannian also followed and squeezed forward. Before she reached the innermost part of the crowd, she heard the old woman's miserable sobs.
Niannian quickly quickened her pace and forced her way to the innermost part. She saw the old woman lying on a stretcher, crying heart - rendingly.
"My poor son! My son!" the old woman cried and shouted.
The few strong men beside the stretcher looked at each other, not knowing how to comfort her. One of the men hesitated and stepped forward to pat the old woman on the shoulder and comforted her, "Mother of Second Tiger, don't cry yourself sick. Don't worry. Second Tiger and we are brothers who have been through life - and - death together. We will definitely take good care of you in the future."
"How did Second Tiger die?" the old woman choked and asked the strong man who was comforting her.
"Alas, we went hunting in the forest. A monster suddenly rushed out and pounced on Second Tiger. We didn't have time to save him, so..." The man looked grief - stricken. A good man had gone out and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Mother of Second Tiger, this is our prey today. We don't want it. We'll give it to you."
Another man carried a basket full of dead animals like rabbits and pheasants and put it in front of the old woman.
"Mother of Second Tiger, please accept our condolences. Let us carry Second Tiger back for you. I'll make the coffin for you so that Second Tiger can be buried as soon as possible."
The four strong men spoke one after another, but none of them could persuade the old woman to get up from the ground. Just as they were thinking about whether to forcefully lift the old woman up, the old woman suddenly raised her head sharply, picked up her walking stick and rushed towards the village entrance. The strong man quickly stopped her and asked loudly, "Mother of Second Tiger, where are you going?"
"I'm going to kill that monster to avenge my son! Let go of me!"
The old woman waved her walking stick, her eyes red, and gritted her teeth fiercely.
"Don't be impulsive. That monster is extremely powerful. We almost didn't come back. We risked our lives to carry Second Tiger's body back. If you go, you'll just be throwing your life away. Your daughter - in - law and grandson are still waiting for you at home. Don't be impulsive."
The strong man who stopped the old woman consoled her earnestly.
"Wanniang! My son! Why are you so unlucky!"
The old woman was still immersed in the pain of losing her son and couldn't pull herself out. The few strong men couldn't bear to watch and sighed deeply. In the end, they worked together to send the old woman home.
The crowd dispersed. Everyone wore either a regretful or a solemn expression. Niannian's mind was racing. She planned to find those few strong men later to ask what the monster they were talking about was.
"Alas, how many times has this happened? God really isn't giving us a way out!"
A woman beside them pulled her companion and said with a worried face.
Shen Weixun had sharp ears. Hearing her tone, he knew that she was a gossipy aunt. He quickly stepped forward to strike up a conversation.
"Auntie, has something like this happened to people in the village before?"
"Hey, this young master looks unfamiliar. Do you usually rarely go out? No wonder you haven't heard the news."
The woman sized Shen Weixun up and said with a beaming smile.
"This is already the fourth time in just these few days. You don't know, do you? There's said to be a man - eating monster in the forest outside. When the young men go hunting, they'll meet that monster five times out of ten. Now every family in the village doesn't dare to leave the village. Originally, we lived on hunting, but now every family is extremely poor."
The woman seemed to have opened a chatterbox. Without Shen Weixun asking one by one, she told everything.
"Do you know what the monster looks like?" Shen Weixun continued to inquire.
"Hey, how could I know? When the hunters meet that monster, they run away without looking back. Who would dare to take a look!"
The woman's expression was vivid, vividly showing her fear of the monster.
"Doesn't the monster come to the village?"
"The monster has never come to the village. It didn't exist before either. The monster suddenly appeared last month. I remember that on that day, the Hu family in the east caught a sika deer. It's a pity that the son of the Hu family didn't come back. He died at the hands of that monster."
Then the woman chatted with Shen Weixun about all sorts of things, from dawn until dusk. It was only when it was time to go home and cook that the woman left.
After listening for a long time, Shen Weixun did hear a lot of useful information and had a vague concept of the monster.
According to the woman, the eldest son of the Hu family in the east was the first victim. On the day he died, he had a great harvest in the forest and even caught a very beautiful sika deer. After his death, two more hunters died one after another, all killed by the monster.
This monster never came to the village and always killed people in the forest. Everyone in the village spread the rumor that it was because there was a village guardian in the village who scared the monster away and made it dare not approach.
In every village, there was a kind - hearted, simple, enthusiastic and selfless person. This person might look a bit stupid, or even be a bit mentally ill or physically disabled. They had no relatives or friends and spent their whole lives alone.
They would guard the village where they were born and raised, ward off disasters for the village and protect the villagers. And whenever there were weddings or funerals in the village, this kind of person would be treated as an honored guest. Usually, everyone in the village would support them. This was the so - called village guardian.
There was also such a village guardian in this village. After the rumor that the village guardian scared the monster away spread, whenever the hunters went hunting, they would take the village guardian into the forest with them for safety. Originally, they just did it as a try, but unexpectedly, as long as the village guardian was present, they never saw that monster again.
The woman said that today, because the village guardian had gone to another family's wedding banquet and didn't go into the forest with today's hunters, Second Tiger had an accident and died.
Shen Weixun was skeptical about this statement. There were also such customs about village guardians in some places, but it wasn't that mysterious.
But the monster they were talking about was very likely the escaped evil god.
"Let's first go to the homes of those four hunters to ask, and then go to the home of that village guardian. Maybe if we find the monster, we'll find the evil god, and then we can go back."
Having made up his mind, Shen Weixun randomly chose one of the hunters' homes and asked about the process of their hunting today.
The hunter wasn't on guard against him, only thinking that he was someone who rarely went out and was just curiously coming here to inquire.
He told the story in great detail.
There should probably be a bit of artistic exaggeration. According to the hunter, the monster could do anything from going up to the sky to going down to the earth.
Then the three of them went to the home of the village guardian. This village guardian looked a bit stupid, but fortunately, he could speak clearly.
They heard two different versions from these two different people.
When the village guardian accompanied the hunters to go hunting, he would stop the hunters from skinning and bleeding the animals. Every time he stopped them like this, he would be cursed by the hunters. For the small animals that died on the spot, the village guardian would bow and offer sacrifices, and then let the hunters take them back.
So when the village guardian went hunting with them, these hunters never skinned or bled the animals on the spot. Instead, they would be forced by the village guardian to offer sacrifices together. Just like this, they would always come back safely every time.
Niannian suddenly thought of a kind of ghost called the Disheveled - Haired Ghost. This ghost's hair stood up like needles, and its appearance was very much like the afro of a hippie. It liked to wear bright - colored clothes and appeared in deep forests or places with a large number of animals.
Sometimes it would also be dedicated to protecting the souls of animals.
The Disheveled - Haired Ghost wasn't afraid of sunlight and was a relatively friendly ghost. As long as one respected animals, they would get its respect. On the contrary, if one didn't respect animals, they would be retaliated against.
Could there really be a Disheveled - Haired Ghost here?
This ghost was quite peculiar. Niannian had never seen it before.
A bit of curiosity also arose in her heart.
But if it was the Disheveled - Haired Ghost, it wasn't the escaped evil god.
Niannian glanced at the quiet jungle and looked up at the sun. It was dusk. The mountain road wasn't too difficult to walk on.
With a tentative thought, Niannian and the other two walked into the mountain forest.
After walking for a while, they saw a lively rabbit.
She casually picked up a small stone on the ground and threw it at the rabbit. The rabbit was hit right on and let out a cry before falling to the ground.
Shen Weixun pinched the rabbit's ears and paid attention to the surrounding movements.
Soon, there came a rustling sound from around.
Looking back, a colorful shadow suddenly rushed out of the grass.