Seeking immortality in a deceitful way starts by making oneself into a puppet

The appearance of the flying-winged green bat is not much different from that of a real bat. Outsiders would never notice a bat sitting on the eaves.

Using the characteristics of the "Blue Bat Thought Technique" that can restrain and radiate vibrations, He Ping can hear all the movements inside and outside the main hall even from a considerable distance.

"Uncle Ho, this place is too dirty."

The main door of the Main Hall opened with a creak, and a crisp and delicate female voice was heard.

"Miss, just make do with it. There are no people around here seven or eight miles away. It would be nice if we could find a place to stay in the barren mountains. We have already missed the time and can't make it back to Wubao... and it's snowing. It’s getting bigger and bigger, if the carriage is halfway through and is blocked by snow, something is wrong!”

"Alright alright!"

The female voice seemed a bit too verbose for the old man, so she quickly asked the old man named "Uncle Hou" to stop. The old man had no choice but to smile bitterly and give instructions to the others.

"Everyone, please do a brief patrol, be careful not to go too far, and bring some firewood with you when you come back."

He gave a few instructions, and not long afterward, He Ping noticed several armed guards walking out from the main entrance of the hall, wearing fur felts on their heads, with a handful of red tassels scattered on their heads, wearing strong arrow suits, and carrying waist knives.

"There are a lot of people, and they also brought longbows and quivers, so they are quite well prepared."

He Ping judged in his heart, thinking that even if this group of people were not political figures, they were still very powerful and wealthy families in the local area.

"They also mentioned the 'Wubao' just now. There are many foreign ethnic groups in Xihuang Road. Various ethnic groups live together in large and small groups, including the three branches of Xiqiang and some small people. They often conflict with the Dayou people.

For this reason, many local people are accustomed to building forts according to dangers, gathering people to build docks, and forming strongholds and armed forces to protect themselves. "

He had heard that most of the large Wubao were the sphere of influence of local powerful people, with more than a few thousand people. They cultivated during the farming season and conducted drills during the farm breaks. The Wubao was self-sufficient inside and could be defended when encountering bandits or foreign invaders. Extremely strong;

There are more than a hundred people in the small Wubao, most of whom are centered on the clan and township parties. Their strength is much inferior, but it is not something that a small group of bandits can capture, which is also a characteristic of the Xihuang Road.

"Hey, look here?!"

In the main hall, someone seemed to have discovered something and let out an exclamation.

"Cage? Why is there an iron cage in here?"

"What did you say?"

"What cage..."

His words also attracted the attention of others, who gathered around and discovered a large iron cage covered with black cloth in the corner of the main hall. After opening it, they found several sleeping people lying inside. children.

"Wait, could this be..."

"What could it be?"

"That's right, Miss, there is a saying in our hometown that some villages encounter powerful monsters and ghosts. In order to prevent the ghosts and monsters from worshiping them, they will take the initiative to offer boys and girls as sacrifices."

"This is true!"

The woman seemed in disbelief.

"Since the founding of this dynasty, human sacrifice or burial has been strictly prohibited. How is it possible that after so many years, people are still doing it?"

"Miss."

The slightly old voice naturally came from the old man who looked like a butler.

"You can't expect the foolish men and women in the countryside to know the laws of the imperial court. Most of them can't even read a few big characters."

"I understand, Uncle Ho."

The lady sighed.

"Then what should we do with these children? Should we let them out, or should we just leave them here?"

"Miss, we are here on business. We don't know the situation of the locals. We are just passing through, so there is no need to get involved."

Hubbard shook his head.

"That's right, we can't handle our own affairs, so how can we have time to care about other people's affairs."

The eldest lady nodded.

"But, miss."

The leader of the guard asked in a hoarse voice: "If there are really some demons and ghosts here that are causing trouble, wouldn't it be bad for us to stay here... We people still have skills in our hands, and it will be no problem against the strong beams of the calamity. It’s scary, but if it’s a monster or something like that, it won’t be something we can deal with with just our few hands.”

"Dongyu Prefecture has not heard of a monster infestation for more than 40 years. Although there are many mountains in the area, I have never heard of a monster inhabiting it. Whether this statement is true is a question."

Uncle Ho frowned.

"The snow is falling so fast. Even if we drive together at night, we won't be able to get back. If we break down on the way, there will be no village in front of us and no ground behind us. The wind is strong and the snow is strong. Even if people can hold on, the beasts pulling the cart will We can't hold it back... The only solution now is to find out the situation first. How many children are there in the iron cage? Wake them up, ask about the situation, and then make a plan."

All the children in the iron cage fell into a deep sleep. After the old man's words, several guards also tried to wake up the children in the cage.

"No need to try, they have all been drugged and they can't wake up now."

In the iron cage, a child climbed up. It turned out that the boy had been pretending to sleep the whole time. At this time, he opened his eyes and his voice was cold and crisp.

"I can answer whatever you want to ask...but you must let me out."

"You little brat!"

The guard leader was a little angry and was about to get angry when he was stopped by the old man on the side.

"That's fine, but I can only let you alone."

Uncle Ho waved his hand, and a guard came over and cut off the chain with a knife. When the chain was broken, the child also pushed the door open and walked out.

"Now, can you say it?"

The child nodded slowly and told the cause and effect.

"These people and I all live in Chenjia Village, seven or eight miles away from here. About half a year ago, the people in the village always had the same dream. In that dream, there was a King Niu-headed king who was radiating golden light and asked us to make offerings. He said He wanted five virgins and three virgins, and ordered the villagers to send them to this vacant Golden Bull Head Temple."

"King Tauren?"

The eldest lady was very unfamiliar with this name, but Uncle Hou was very familiar with it and said, "It is a Buddhist deity in the past, also known as the 'Great Mighty King of Deming'. He has red hair, an ox face, two horns, and a skull on his head. He is the protector of Buddhism, good at subduing foreign enemies and protecting devout believers.

Although this Niutou Mingwang looks weird, he has great supernatural powers and a compassionate heart. Both the people of Youguo and the local foreigners in the Western Wilderness Road believe in this venerable god. After the destruction of Buddhism in Xihuangdao, many Buddhists still worshiped privately. This Jinniutou Temple is said to be the place where King Niutou Ming manifested his holiness, so it was also named the temple "Golden Niutou". "

"It doesn't sound like this Minotaur King is an evil god?"

After hearing this, the eldest lady nodded.

"I don't know if it's evil or not, but half a year ago, after the villagers had a dream, they didn't take it seriously. As a result, within a few days, all the hunters who went hunting in the mountains were eaten by something. Later, A lot of livestock in the village also died, and a big buffalo was half eaten. Someone threw it from the air and smashed a house, killing all the family members."

The boy sneered.

"After that, the villagers had no choice but to send boys and girls over, and the matter stopped for a while. Unexpectedly, recently, King Niu Tou Ming asked in a dream to send another group of boys and girls. If this matter cannot be handled, then the entire Chenjia Village will be destroyed. Everyone in the village must die!"

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other, feeling a little cold in their hearts. Uncle Ho coughed quickly and said, "Speaking of which, if this kind of thing really happened, why don't you report it to the official?"

"The county seat is more than twenty miles away from our village. It is quite troublesome to go there. Besides, the county government office is not accessible to poor people. In the past few years, the Qiang Rong people caused a lot of trouble, and the county government office is not accessible. I don’t care either.”

The boy shook his head.

"Chenjiacun is a small place after all. Who cares about us? But the village chief and others secretly found a few witches from neighboring villages, but they were of no use."

After hearing this, Uncle Hou couldn't help but sigh. He was about to continue saying something, but he found a slight vibration in the hall, and dust fell from the top of the beam.

He looked around and found that everyone around him was also a little surprised. Suddenly, a guard at the scene spoke up and said, "Everyone, did you hear the noise outside?"

"sound?"

Only then did everyone listen carefully, only to hear the sound of heavy bass sound one after another outside the windy and snowy hall. It was the sound of heavy footsteps... "Bang", "Bang", "Bang", one step after another, just like that. From far to near, it reached their ears.