spooky invasion

The Wangqiao base is actually a village at the foot of Dajin Mountain called Wangqiao Village. This village is at the foot of Dajin Mountain and built along the river. There is only one way into the village, which must pass through an ancient bridge. This ancient bridge has a history of hundreds of years. Legend has it that a prince inspected his fiefdom and found that the feng shui of the place was very good and the people's customs were simple. However, both sides of the river could only be accessed by ferries, so the prince funded the construction of this bridge. It was named Wangqiao. Since then, the village across the bridge has been called Wangqiao Village, and its name has not changed for hundreds of years.

After the bridge was built, after generations of reproduction, Wangqiao Village became larger and larger in size and population, forming a large village that could be counted hundreds of miles around.

In the Sunshine Era, with everyone moving south to work, many villages have become empty-nest villages. Except for left-behind women, children and the elderly, there are almost no adults in their prime.

Although Wangqiao Village is also affected by this, the situation is much better than most places. As a large village, Wangqiao Village has a very good collective economy. It has several large-scale factories and enterprises, and the local employment situation is very good. Therefore, the loss of young adults in the village is relatively good.

Although it is not said that the whole village is fully developed locally, compared with other villages, the situation is definitely very good.

But even such a large village with a population of three to four thousand cannot survive this strange era. When the strange happened, Wangqiao Village also suffered heavy losses, and the vast majority of the population did not escape the waves of strange turmoil. After repeated attacks, Wangqiao Village has become the current Wangqiao Base.

There are many rumors about the Wangqiao base. Some people say that the base in Wangqiao Village is dominated by local wealthy families, while others say that the Wangqiao base is controlled by outsiders.

Of course, as a base, if Wangqiao Base wants to survive and develop, it certainly cannot be limited to the original Wangqiao Village.

After all, after waves of turmoil, the population of Wangqiao Village must have disappeared. According to the normal ratio of two out of ten, the remaining people are only a few hundred people. A population of just a few hundred certainly cannot form a large scale, nor can it become a serious problem for Xie Chun Base.

Xie Chun listed the bases as the biggest threats, and the Wangqiao base was ranked among the top three, and could even be said to be the biggest potential opponent.

No one would believe that a base that could make Xie Chun pay so much attention to it and be jealous of it had no close connection with the Weird Tree.

But again, if we want to target the Wangqiao base and start a war against it, we must find enough evidence.

To punish someone without teaching, and to teach someone without a name, is unjustifiable at any time. Especially for official forces, if they want to take action, they must first grasp the righteousness and sufficient reasons for war. Even if these reasons are made up, they must be made as convincing as possible. At least they must be able to justify themselves and block the outside world's mouth.

Jiang Ying was already cruising around Wangqiao Village at this moment. She was in no hurry to enter the village. Wangqiao Village has a special geographical location. If you want to enter, you must pass the ancient bridge.

And the ancient bridge is heavily guarded. Even if you turn into a fly and fly over, you will probably be discovered.

And working in the water and escaping through the water are not Jiang Ying's specialty.

After observing for a while, Jiang Ying was basically certain that the seemingly calm appearance of the Wangqiao base was indeed an undercurrent. It doesn't seem to have as many formations as the Xie Chun base, with various high walls and gates, but behind its seemingly loose appearance, there is actually a tighter defense.

It will definitely not work if you go in hastily. It is eye-catching, even if your acting skills are amazing, it will not help. For a stranger who has just entered the base, he will definitely be watched closely. Whatever she wants to do, she may not be able to escape the eyes of those who want to do it.

The idea of ​​passing through the ancient bridge can basically be abandoned.

Wangqiao Village is at the foot of Dajin Mountain and backed by Dajin Mountain. There must be a way to enter the village at the end of the village. Moreover, with the mountains and forests as cover, it is much easier to sneak in.

With Jiang Ying's ghost-like movement, there is still a certain chance of sneaking into Wangqiao Village, but it is difficult to say what he will do after sneaking in. Still have to proceed with caution.

It is really difficult to sneak in in broad daylight, even from the back mountain. The best time to be active is naturally at night.

After night falls, Jiang Ying lurks in the back mountain like a shadow, feeling the movement around him.

Wangqiao Base can make Xie Chun feel threatened, so they naturally have their own skills. Although the back hill is very open, the defense is tighter than the front.

Of course, for Jiang Ying, there are still loopholes to be exploited in this strictness.

Jiang Ying's shadow teleportation was so fast and highly concealed that it had indeed reached an extremely high level. After the previous few battles, her level was recognized to be at the level of He Jin and the others, and she was truly the top existence below Jiang Yue.

He is a top expert who can truly stand alone.

No matter how strong these bases are, the average level will eventually be there. Just like Xie Chun Base, Wangqiao Base also has these problems.

Except for a few top combat powers, the level of others is far from keeping up with their supreme combat power. Not to mention compared with the team here in Star City, even compared with ordinary members of the Action Bureau, the gap is not small.

In the final analysis, a ragtag group of people has not accumulated enough experience in actual combat and has not accumulated enough experience, and it is impossible for them to grow into an elite division for no reason.

After some observation, Jiang Ying found a relatively weak breakthrough. She didn't even use any secret method to get through the first line of defense.

As for those so-called tight defenses, there were even people half-dozing off at midnight.

Wangqiao Village covers a large area. Because the village is built on a mountainous area, the buildings throughout the village are relatively scattered and the heights are relatively large.

The area near the river is low-lying and the most densely populated. There are also many houses in the backing area. In the Sunshine Age, the entire village was divided into several areas, mostly based on clan surnames. In the back mountain area, there is a Xu family, which is the surname of Wangqiao Village. Almost all of the hundreds of families around him had the surname Xu.

The Xu family's ancestral hall is more conspicuous, located in a location with excellent Feng Shui in the back mountain.

At this moment, the area around the Xu Family Ancestral Hall is extremely densely manned. The lights in other places are relatively dim, but the area of ​​100 meters here is brightly lit.

Lanterns were hung on some large trees, and there were fires burning in open areas. I don’t know what ritual is going on.

Around the ancestral hall, there are at least dozens of young men, either openly or covertly, guarding it from all directions.

At this moment, Jiang Ying has approached the area 200 to 300 meters outside the ancestral hall, hiding in a hidden corner to ensure that there are no restless factors around.

Of course, Jiang Ying's awakening talent is very sensitive to the void. Whenever there is a threat approaching, she will be the first to sense it.

In the entire Wangqiao base, if someone wants to approach Jiang Ying quietly, I am afraid that such a person does not exist at all.

Jiang Ying observed the direction of the Xu Family Ancestral Hall from a distance, but had no idea what this group of people was doing. Do you want to say that this ancestral hall is one of the eight formations? It doesn't really look like it. However, Jiang Ying did not enter the ancestral hall to observe at this moment, and did not know what was going on inside.

Unless she had Jiang Yue's borrowing skills, she wouldn't be sure what was going on inside the ancestral hall.

If she rushes over, no matter how good her body skills are, she may not be able to reveal her figure in front of so many pairs of eyes. After all, no matter how agile she is, she has not yet reached the level of invisibility.

At this moment, she heard someone running quickly towards the slope in the direction of the ancestral hall, shouting: "Let the kitchen side be more agile, the food for the sacrifice must be properly prepared, and, Brothers are waiting for midnight snack."

kitchen?

Jiang Ying looked in the direction where the man was shouting, and saw a house common in rural areas. The yard at the door was quite open, and there were faint lights flickering. Among the lights, there was smoke rising from the kitchen, but in the night, it was difficult to see the smoke with the naked eye.

But if you use your five senses a little more carefully, you can smell the smell of burning wood in the air. The kitchen was still running most of the night, so it was obviously not just a midnight snack.

Sacrifice?

According to local custom, sacrifices are generally held during festivals or on the birthdays of deceased elderly people. The sacrifices are not only about burning paper, but also preparing some meat. These meats don’t need to be overly elaborate or even fully cooked. But this ritual must be in place.

Commonly used meats include pig heads, geese, or chickens and ducks. Of course, some pastries, drinks and the like are also required.

Generally speaking, preparing these things is not too complicated. As long as there are raw materials, there is no need for fine processing at all.

As for the raw materials, in today's world, it's hard to say whether they can be prepared. Of course, for such a big place, it shouldn’t be a problem to prepare all these things.

Jiang Ying knew that it would be difficult for him to penetrate the ancestral hall, but he might be able to take a look at the kitchen.

After all, even if the kitchen is important, it is not a secret place. Even if there are people guarding it, it will only be a few relatively marginalized characters at most. Who else can stock up and defend the kitchen?

Sure enough, just as Jiang Ying guessed, there were only two people wandering outside the house in the kitchen. They looked like guards, but actually looked very lazy. They were very interested in the food in the house. Both of them poked their heads into the yard. Obviously, they were also looking forward to this late-night snack.

In this weird world, it is a luxury for ordinary people to have a full stomach, let alone extra meals. And late-night snacks are obviously a bonus.

Jiang Ying easily avoided the eyes of these two people and rushed into the house.

The kitchen was built in the open air, with only three earthen stoves built with stones, one large and two small. Something was cooking in a big stove, probably everyone's midnight snack.

The small stove is actually not small, but it is preparing the best for sacrifice. There is a chopping board next to the three earthen stoves. There is a big tree next to the chopping board, and a bunch of pork hanging on the branch. The pig's head was already being processed in the small stove, and another piece of pork was obviously already in the big pot.

In addition to pork, there was also a large amount of food, packed in various large stainless steel pots, and there were many bottles and jars of condiments. Looking at this posture, those who didn't know it thought it was a small banquet.

Jiang Ying was also secretly speechless, this was a strange era. Survivors in many places have no food to eat, but this place is still so luxurious. It seems that life at Wangqiao base is going well.

However, Jiang Ying felt something strange as soon as he glanced at the people in the kitchen.

Even the cooks in the kitchen are all young and strong men. Only two of the people cutting vegetables and helping with the cooking were women. The women were all in their thirties or forties, and they looked incompatible with the good food. Every one of them looked skinny and disheveled, and they looked like they were starving.

In addition to the chef, there are two helpers in the kitchen. Among these three men, the chief cook is assisted by two cooks.

The chef obviously has the most say, and he is very imposing as he shouts and drinks there. The two cooks scolded the two women at every turn. As long as they moved a little slower, they would be beaten and scolded immediately.

The two women accepted everything without any resistance at all. No matter how they were beaten or scolded, they remained silent and tried their best to make themselves faster.

Obviously, it is a great honor for them to be selected to help in the kitchen. As for the food in this yard, they would never dare to touch it.

Not to mention being stared at by a few men, even if no one was watching, they didn't seem to dare to eat secretly.

Soon, Jiang Ying heard some tricks. The chef's accent sounded like he was not a local. Not even from Star City.

His cursing accent was definitely that of a foreigner. The two cooks didn’t speak with Wangqiao Village accents either. Jiang Ying has classmates in Wangqiao Village and is no stranger to the accent of Wangqiao Village. What's more, Panshiling is not too far away from here, and the accents are similar.

In other words, these three men are not locals of Wangqiao Village.

This is a bit strange. Wangqiao Village is said to be a relatively closed village. If a base is formed here, it should be dominated by people from this village. After all, there are not many young and middle-aged people working outside this village. Most of them work in local factories.

So it stands to reason that the survivors here should be mainly local young people. How come these outsiders are allowed to shout and drink here?

The two women were submissive and barely spoke, but Jiang Ying couldn't recognize their accents.

"Brother Zhang, you said that if we hold sacrifices in other people's ancestral halls, wouldn't that mean mourning for others? Will this work?" One of the cooks was very disapproving.

Brother Zhang, who was the chef, frowned and said, "Is this something you, a cook, need to care about? We will do whatever the superiors tell us to do. You don't need to talk so much nonsense, okay?"

The cook was asking for trouble and scratched his head in embarrassment, but did not dare to say anything.

But another cook said: "Today is really weird. The three forces in our base seem to be inexplicably tense. Originally, everyone guarded their own territory and had their own food. Today, after hearing that the three leaders were secretly spying, they actually We reached an agreement and kept saying we wanted to cooperate? Why does it sound like something is going to happen to me?"

Lao Zhang said angrily: "You two are the only ones who talk a lot of nonsense. If you don't speak, no one will treat you as mutes, right?"

The cook who spoke behind him had no fear of Lao Zhang and said with a smile: "Lao Zhang, you are the chef in the kitchen. Don't forget that we are here to help you temporarily. We are not your subordinates. What is your job?" Put your mouth around and put it away as soon as possible. I won’t accept this trick.”