I just want to be a quiet man

At the moment, there is no one in the courtyard, but some firewood and the like are scattered around.

Qiao Ci looked around, and immediately knocked on the courtyard door.

After a while, an old man with white hair and beard came out of the house. He was wearing relatively new short brown shoes, wearing straw sandals, and holding a handful of half-woven hemp rope in his hand.

Standing under the eaves, through the simple gate, after seeing Qiao Ciguang, the old man's expression changed slightly, and then he returned to normal, walked over and opened the door, and said in a friendly voice: "I am the village chief of Zi Village, a stranger, what's the matter?" ?”

Although his complexion did not change for a moment, and he quickly covered it up, Qiao Ciguang was innocent and innocent, and no slight movement could escape her eyes.

This old man must know something!

Thinking of this, Qiao Ciguang saluted, and said calmly: "I came from afar, and I am grateful to your village for staying here, so I came here to offer my heart."

While speaking, she reached into the storage bag, randomly found a piece of ore, performed the transformation of the five elements, turned it into gold, then took it out, and sent it to the old man, "If you are bothering me, I invite the old man Haihan."

Seeing Qiao Ciguang take out a shiny golden object, the old man frowned first, squinted his eyes and looked at it for a long time before he recognized it was gold.

He shook his head immediately and said: "Our village is located in a remote place, and the caravan has not been here for a long time. Usually, the village is bartering. Although gold is good, it is useless to us. Miss, little boss My son understands that this piece of gold should be taken back."

Hearing this, Qiao Ciguang narrowed his eyes slightly.

This old man is very old, and he almost doesn't even recognize gold. If he wants to come to this whole Zi Village, he has been isolated from the world for a long time.

So she put away the gold and said sincerely: "We came from far away, and we carried a lot for the journey. If the old man is willing, we can also trade with you like a caravan, but we don't know what you need?"

"The village has always been self-sufficient, and there is nothing lacking in it." The old man pondered for a while, and then said, "At most, we can exchange some snacks and toys for the children."

"However, there is a funeral right now, but everything is missing..."

"What is most lacking at the moment is a drummer."

"But I see that the girls are well-dressed, so they must be noble people, and they can't condescend to do such a lowly job, alas..."

Qiao Ciguang took advantage of the situation and asked: "When I entered the village, I heard that your village will hold a funeral tomorrow. According to the customs of our hometown, we should also go to express our sorrow, but we don't know who the owner is. When we go, what will happen?" statement?"

"It's the old Xu's family in front." Hearing this, the old man sighed, and said, "The old Xu's family is young... I can't imagine that this time they will be the ones to draw lots."

lottery?

Qiao Ciguang's complexion changed, and he immediately asked, "Draw lots?"

"This is a rule passed down from the ancestors." The old man said slowly, "Whoever is drawn by lottery will be the funeral of that family."

"Dare to ask, when will the lottery be drawn? And how will the lottery be drawn?" Qiao Ciguang asked in a deep voice, "If no one died in the drawn house, how will it be dealt with?"

The old man answered irrelevantly and asked: "I see that there are many young adults accompanying the girl. Is there anyone who is willing to help with the funeral? Although our village has no money to pay for it, there are some local rituals, just to talk about."

Qiao Ciguang thought for a while, and said: "If the old man is willing to answer my question, I will discuss with my companions and help you, how about it?"

Hearing this, the old man simply shut up, didn't say anything, just shook his head.

Qiao Ciguang questioned for a long time to no avail, so he had to change the question: "May I ask when Zicun settled here? Why did the ancestors pass down the rules of drawing lots for funerals?"

Seeing that the old man was still shaking her head and saying nothing, she frowned slightly and continued, "What's the meaning of the rules in the village?"

This time, the old man finally spoke, his eyes darkened, and he said word by word: "This is also passed down from the ancestors, if you violate it, the curse will come."

... While Qiao Ciguang was talking with the old man, Shi Wanli had already searched and asked questions, and arrived at the door of Lao Xu's house that the villagers said.

A white cloth was hung on the gate of this family.

What made Shi Wanli take a closer look was the Spring Festival couplets on the door of this house. Although they were also green, they were extraordinarily bright, as if they had just been pasted up, and they were a bit out of place with the people around them.

The Spring Festival couplets were supposed to be pasted in the twelfth lunar month, and they were more particular, so they would be replaced on New Year's Eve.

No matter which one it is, normally speaking, in a village, the degree of depreciation of Spring Festival couplets should be about the same...

What's the situation with this family?

Shi Wanli pondered, walked forward and knocked on the door.

For a moment, no one answered.

After hesitating for a while, Shi Wanli looked around and saw that no one was passing by. He took a step back and breathed lightly. The originally closed door opened silently.

With a glance, he was sure that there was no one in the main room, so he quickly dodged in, and with a backhand move, the door closed again.

Chapter 3 and Seven: Blind fish, weeping mourning woman.

After the door was closed, the light in the room suddenly dimmed.

Of course, this has no effect on monks.

Shi Wanli looked around, and saw some old furniture in the main room, besides the normal tables and chairs, there was also a special small chair.

On the open space next to the table and chairs, there was a rough wooden horse.

The wooden horse was painted with red, green and green paint, which looked quite tacky, but a color that children would like. There was also a small faded bell hanging around the horse's neck.

Not far away, there is also a set of Tangram puzzles and Nine Links put away.

Obviously, the family has children.

Shi Wanli frowned slightly, because he didn't sense any vitality.

While thinking about it, he walked into the kitchen next door. This is a common kitchen in a farmhouse. The most space-consuming and conspicuous thing is a black, yellow and yellow clay stove that has been smoked.

There are two pots in the clay stove, both of which are now covered with wooden lids.

Shi Wanli stretched out his hand to test around the edge of the pot, and found that the residual temperature was still there, and this stove had just burnt something.

He pondered for a while, and lifted the lid of the pot from the air, but there was nothing in the pot.

So he turned to the back and looked inside the stove.

In the stove, the dust has accumulated to the mouth of the stove, and it seems that no one has picked it up for a long time.

And leaning against the stove mouth, some firewood was neatly piled up.

Shi Wanli observed the ash carefully, and always felt that something was wrong?

He mused and turned around to look at other things.In addition to the earthen stove, there is a huge water tank in the kitchen, a black, black, yellow and yellow cupboard that has also been smoked, and several bamboo baskets hanging from hooks hanging from the beams of the house.

There is still about half a tank of water in the water tank, and there are several finger-length fish at the bottom of the water. They seem to have sensed the movement of strangers and are swimming fast.

Shi Wanli discovered that these swimming fish... had no eyes.

Blind fish is actually not a rare thing. If the sun is out of sight all year round, the eyes of fish and shrimp will degenerate, and they will change from the original normal aquarium to blind fish and blind shrimp.Fish farming in water tanks is also a common practice in the countryside. After all, ordinary people do not have any quick means to check drinking water. It is also a kind of ingenuity to raise a few fish and shrimps and judge the water quality by observing the survival of fish and shrimps.

But Zi Village is adjacent to a river, so the fish in this tank should be caught from the river most conveniently, so how could it be a blind fish?

Is the river by the village connected to the groundwater?

Shi Wanli pondered, then checked the cupboard and bamboo basket.

The door of the cupboard is facing each other, and there are five floors up and down, but there are only three sets of bowls and chopsticks, which looks empty.

And in those bamboo baskets, there are some whole grains and trivial things, nothing special.

After walking out of the kitchen, Shi Wanli went into the back room.

The house here is actually a bedroom, and there are two beds, one big and one small.

The big bed is obviously a double bedding for couples. At this moment, the bedding on it is neatly folded, without any trace of lying on it.

There are fences around the small bed, which seems to prevent children from being mischievous and rolling down.The quilt on top was also stacked, and a faded rattle was placed beside the pillow.

Obviously, this is a family of three.

And judging from various details, the family atmosphere is quite warm, and the parents love their children very much.

Shi Wanli frowned even more, and immediately, he saw a door in the corner, leading to the backyard.

As soon as he walked out of this door, in the open yard facing him, he saw three coffins displayed one by one.

This made Shi Wan's face change slightly, and he immediately stepped forward, opened the coffin lid and inspected it.

Soon, his expression changed drastically. Among the three coffins lay two adults, a man and a woman, and a little girl about four or five years old!

Husband and wife, and a child...

The whole family of three died!

No wonder no one opened the door for him just now!

Immediately afterwards, Shi Wanli suddenly thought of something, and rushed out of the house without hesitation.

As soon as he moved, he felt his face was sticky, and when he reached out to touch it, it was full of blood.

Whoosh!

Shi Wanli's heart trembled violently, but he didn't dare to stop at his feet. Several afterimages appeared behind him, and he rushed out of the old Xu's house in an instant.

However, although he has already left the empty room, his current situation has not improved at all.

Blood continued to flow out of his seven orifices, and his whole body instantly looked like a blood man.

Soon, an invisible blade cut off Shi Wanli's head, and rolled his head towards the empty room...

※※※

In front of a low hut.

Ruan Zhi and Zhang Jing looked at the old man who was weaving bamboo baskets in front of the house, and asked, "Old man, I came to your place for the first time, but I don't know when your village came into existence?"

The old man looked up at them, kept his hands in his hands, shook his head and said: "Old, long ago, long ago, as for the exact time. Years are not counted in the countryside, but I don't know."

Ruan Zhi and Zhang Jing glanced at each other, their eyebrows furrowed slightly.

They have already asked quite a few villagers, and all of them have the same answer. Up to now, they have not made any substantial progress.

"Old man, what about ten years ago?" Zhang Jing asked unwillingly, "Ten years ago, were you here too?"

Ten years ago, it was the time when the opportunity to build the foundation of the Dao of Heaven appeared.

At that time, there were no mortals on this floating island...

Thinking of this, Ruan Zhi couldn't help revealing a little look of anticipation, hoping that this question would yield something.

But the old man weaved the basket skillfully with his fingers, and said casually, "Ten years ago? Of course we were here ten years ago. We have been here for generations."

how can that be!

Could it be that this floating island is exactly the same as the one ten years ago, but not the same one?

"I don't know if Senior Sister Chu and Senior Sister Zhong have gained anything?" Because no matter how much they asked, the two had no choice but to turn around and leave. After walking for a while, Ruan Zhi couldn't help but say.

Zhang Jing nodded, and then said: "Go and ask a few more questions, and when the agreed time comes, we will meet back in the house where we settled down, so that Senior Sister Qiao won't worry when she goes back."

Ruan Zhi responded, "Okay."

※※※

Residential houses near the river.

This is a tile-roofed house that is rare in the village. Against the background of the surrounding low thatched huts, it looks extraordinarily magnificent.

Chu Hanbei and Zhong Shizhu sat down cautiously in the main hall, looking around calmly.

Sitting on the main seat was an old woman with a wrinkled face and a gloomy expression.

"In the countryside, there is only crude tea, so I'm neglecting the nobles." The old woman said weakly, and beside the second daughter, there were two cups of tea she had just brewed.

In the rough pottery bowl, there are large pieces of crude tea leaves, indeed without any modesty, it is the worst kind of tea.

However, this village is weird. Although Chu Hanbei and Zhong Shizhu didn't look down on cheap tea, they didn't dare to touch their lips. Hearing this, they continued to talk about business: "Old man, what do you mean, as long as we promise to accompany you in mourning tomorrow, you can tell The history of our village?"

"That's right." The old woman nodded slightly, and said, "But to cry with the old man, four people are required, and all of them must be virgins. It's only the two of you, but it's still half the difference."

Hearing this, Chu Hanbei and Zhong Shizhu looked at each other, thinking, the two of them were innocent and still virgins.

Together with Ruan Zhi and Zhang Jing, four people are just enough.

Thinking of this, Chu Hanbei said: "Okay, we will find a manpower for you, but when will you tell us the origin of the village?"

The old woman said: "The funeral will start tomorrow, you should come to me in plain clothes, and I will tell you when the time comes."

So, after Chu Hanbei and Zhong Shizhu agreed, they left quickly to find Ruan Zhi and Zhang Jing.

Chapter 3 and Eight: Taboo in the village.

Mulberry Village.

The deep house compound behind seven pines and cypresses.