Golden Stage

King Qi got up in a daze: "What, what's going on..."

Yan Xiaohan looked at the person behind them in surprise.

Ren Miao held the fire stick in her left hand, frowned and moved her right hand, as if she twisted her wrist due to a sudden force.Sensing Yan Xiaohan's gaze, he raised his head and smiled apologetically: "I'm sorry, I was impatient, didn't I get hurt?"

His fire stick had been placed by Yan Xiaohan's side until now, just now the two of them were at the door, Yan Xiaohan went to save King Qi, Ren Miao went to get the fire stick, the distance between the two places was about the same, yet he was able to stay within the room. Before Liang fell down, he pushed Yan Xiaohan and King Qi away together with one stick, and regardless of his amazing arm strength, the speed of this back and forth alone is not something ordinary people can do.

His skill and reflexes are even faster than Yan Xiaohan's, but if this is the case, why Yan Xiaohan can easily snatch his baggage from him when he enters the door?

Either he broke out suddenly at a critical moment, or...he was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

The statue was split into pieces, Ren Miao came over and fiddled with it with a fire stick, and said, "The temple is not safe, who knows for a while..." He remembered his prophecy like a crow's mouth just now, and swallowed the rest of the words , said: "Forget it, let's go out first."

Yan Xiaohan silently helped King Qi out.

Strange to say, after they went out, the thunder gradually died down, the thick clouds dispersed, and after the thunder struck, even the rain gradually stopped.Everyone looked up at the sky, puzzled, confused, and inexplicably awed. Some even knelt down in court and recited Buddhist scriptures silently.

King Qi remained calm in the face of danger, tidied up his clothes, bowed deeply to Ren Miao, and said, "Thank you for your rescue."

Ren Miao leaned on the fire stick in one hand, covered the bamboo hat on her head with the other, and smiled nonchalantly: "What's the matter, if you hadn't taken me in at the beginning, this would not have happened later...It's a coincidence, who said Sure."

Yan Xiaohan said, "You want to go?"

Ren Miao went to lead the horse by himself: "The rain has stopped and the temple has been destroyed. If you don't leave now, are you waiting for the next wave of thunder?" He got on the horse neatly, cupped his hands at everyone, and said heartily: "Everyone, There will be a period of time, see you in Jingzhou City in the future!"

After finishing speaking, he rode his horse forward and walked away without looking back.

King Qi sighed, "What an adventure."

Yan Xiaohan narrowed his right eye unconsciously, staring at the slender figure of Yiqi Juechen, always feeling that this matter is not over yet.

In the early morning of the same day, they endured their tiredness and rushed to a nearby village to spend the night at the homes of local people.The local name is Xishan Village, which is under the administration of Kuangfeng County, Jingzhou, and the folk customs are simple and honest.When foreigners came, the village head and clan elders warmly welcomed them. Not only did they arrange accommodation for them, but they also sent their families various meals.

King Qi couldn't bear it anymore and went to sleep, Yan Xiaohan took a nap, still thinking about what happened last night, he went to the locals to inquire about the Fox Fairy Temple in the suburbs.

Some elderly people still remember the temple, saying that there was a fox fairy who appeared and told the villagers to avoid the flood before the flood came. bye.It's just that the fox fairy never seemed to show his spirit again, and the temple gradually fell into disrepair.

The thunderbolt last night must not have been done by humans, but it was a bit too coincidental that it hit the statue improperly and improperly.Is it really some kind of warning from heaven?

According to the legend, the fox was robbed by heaven because of revealing the secret of heaven, so what is the so-called "secret of heaven" in the Fox Fairy Temple?

He was concentrating on his thoughts, when suddenly there was a knock on the door, and someone said in the yard, "Is anyone there? Passing by your place, can you stay here for a night—"

With a sound of "squeak", the door of the house opened, revealing Mr. Yan's expressionless and cold face behind the door.

"Yo," Ren Miao raised her bamboo hat and said pleasantly, "It's you again! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Yan Xiaohan couldn't find any "luck" on his face, and said coolly: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Fate, it's so wonderful," Ren Miao sighed, tied the horse in the yard, and walked into the house familiarly, "I drove half the night, and I was trapped to death. Big brother, as a convenience, I will lend you This house lets me sleep."

Yan Xiaohan refused to budge an inch, remained motionless, and said, "No way."

"how?"

"I'm a family man," he said, "it's inconvenient to live with outsiders, you should choose another place."

Ren Miao: "...No, I'm a seven-foot man, what can I do to you? Are you so afraid of... my wife?"

Yan Xiaohan said: "My wife is also a man. Forgive me."

Ren Miao: "..."

"All right, all right," he waved his hands helplessly, "I'll go somewhere else... Really..."

Ren Miao left without a word.Yan Xiaohan went out and went to King Qi's place first. Seeing that the person hadn't woken up yet, he called his subordinates to be more vigilant to protect King Qi's safety. He went around the village by himself and saw Ren Miao laying firewood in the next courtyard. He stayed in the house and walked around to the back of the village.In the paddy fields in the distance, farmers are working, children are playing, and women are gathering by the water to wash and wash rice. They all look normal and peaceful.

Maybe he was worrying too much, but the thunder that almost hit his head was always like a shadow haunting his heart, Yan Xiaohan walked aimlessly and randomly, and when he realized that he had gone astray, he was already standing in front of the village's ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall is an important place, and it is taboo for outsiders to collide.Yan Xiaohan turned to leave, but his overly sensitive ears picked up an unusual movement, it seemed that someone was whispering behind the house, and he happened to miss a sentence or two, and he caught it straight. .

"... Those foreigners are here, tonight's ceremony..."

The voices were getting closer and closer, Yan Xiaohan had a thought, and he jumped as lightly as a swallow, his whole body was like a piece of light paper, climbing up to the eaves silently and disappearing in the shadow under the eaves.

The village head and a skinny young man I met in the morning came out from the back of the house and said: "... Guangping and the others won't wait until fifteen, so we will do it tonight. Let the women mix some medicine in the rice." , put them down, and drag them outside tomorrow, as long as they don't get in the way. I think those people are wearing good silk and satin, and you can find a lot of good things in the luggage..."

Yan Xiaohan understood that these people planned to drug them, but he didn't understand what a "sacrifice" was. This seemed to be a ceremony that only people in the village were eligible to participate in, but even if it was worshiping ghosts and gods, what was so shameful?

And what does the phrase "wait less than fifteen" mean?

When the two of them were far away, Yan Xiaohan jumped off the roof and landed lightly like a cat. He stood up straight, and was about to slip away without anyone noticing, when his footsteps stopped, he suddenly turned around, just in time A pair of black eyes at the end of the corridor met their gaze.

The ancestral hall was already gloomy, and the man was still hiding behind the pillars, only showing a pair of eyes that were as black as ink, and he didn't speak, just staring at him.

In an instant, a chill ran down Yan Xiaohan's back, and cold sweat broke out immediately.

He stabilized his footsteps and looked at him as calmly as possible. The first thought that flashed in his heart was to simply kill him to avoid more troubles.

With one hand behind his back, the pocket knife hidden in his sleeve has slipped to the palm of his hand.At this moment, the man suddenly jumped out from behind the pillar, took one last look at him, turned around and ran away—it turned out to be just a boy in his teens.

With Yan Xiaohan's skills, as long as he thought about it, it wouldn't be difficult to kill that kid on the spot.It's just that when it was time to make a move, his almost non-existent compassion suddenly moved, and the knife in his hand was not thrown out in the end.

It is said that after getting married, those who do evil will have more scruples and behave restraintly.Yan Xiaohan hadn't experienced it before, but now he truly felt that there was another force blocking him besides the killing intent. He couldn't help but think of Fu Shen, what choice would he make if he were here at this moment? .

He always thinks too high of Fu Shen, this delusion makes him soft-hearted, and also brings him a series of unpredictable consequences.

If Fu Shen was really present, he would have knocked the child unconscious with a knife first, and then woke him up with a slap.If someone finds out that you have done something bad, even if you don't kill it, you still have to keep your mouth shut. How can you let it go if you say it?

Yan Xiaohan returned to the house where they lived as if nothing had happened, woke up King Qi, told them not to touch any water provided by the villagers, and immediately set off for Kuangfeng County after noon.

A group of people worked hard for a long while on setting up their cars and packing their luggage. When they were ready to pack, Yan Xiaohan lied that he was in a hurry and bid farewell to the village chief, leaving some money behind.Money can make ghosts turn millstones, the village head was still a little puzzled at first, but he forgot everything when he saw the money, and agreed without hesitation.

Yan Xiaohan left with the convoy, and when he was completely outside the boundaries of Xishan Village, he let King Qi and the others take a step ahead, while he turned his horse's head and quietly returned to the woods outside Xishan Village.

It was only when he left the village that he remembered that Ren Miao lived in the yard next to him, and that person could even wake up to the sound of his own footsteps, so it didn't make sense that they were packing their luggage with great fanfare, but he didn't hear it, or even show his face.

After all, Ren Miao had saved his life, Yan Xiaohan was ashamed of receiving this kindness, he should be dragged or dragged, thinking that anyway, after he figured out what the ceremony was, he would just take him away.

Half a day later, twilight fell, dusk was approaching, and the village was lit up with sporadic lights. Yan Xiaohan took advantage of the twilight to sneak into the village ancestral hall along the road in the morning.

The village chief and the elders of the clan gathered outside the ancestral hall. There were three carts in the courtyard, decorated with flowers and silks. On each cart lay a person in white clothes. It was so dark that Yan Xiaohan couldn't see those people clearly. I don't know whether they are dead or alive, but I only heard a clan elder in the courtyard say: "Everything is ready, it's time to go on the road."

Several young and middle-aged men stepped forward to push up the cart, and a group of people lit up white paper lanterns and walked slowly outside.That scene seemed to be a burial for the dead, and it seemed extremely desolate and strange at the end of the dusk.

Yan Xiaohan wanted to follow behind them to find out, but who knew that when he lowered his head, that child appeared out of nowhere this morning, talking to the eaves where he had been hiding during the day, opening and closing his mouth, but No sound came out.

It turned out to be a mute.

No one showed up, a dazed look appeared on the child's face, and he repeated it several times, this time Yan Xiaohan finally saw his mouth clearly, what he said was "Are you there?"

Maybe it's because the compassion in the morning hasn't completely subsided yet, when Yan Xiaohan looked at the child, he always felt that he had no malicious intentions, and that a small child could not pose a threat to a big man like him.He pondered for a while, feeling that he couldn't give up on the clue that came to him, and walked out from his hiding place, holding the knife in his backhand, and asked calmly, "Are you looking for me?"

The child turned around suddenly, like a pale kid, and when he saw him, he gestured anxiously with his hands twice, beckoning him to follow him.Yan Xiaohan didn't know what he wanted to tell him, so he let him lead the way, and the two turned around and came to a courtyard behind the ancestral hall.

The child led him to a house and pointed to the door to let him in.

Yan Xiaohan asked in a low voice: "Aren't you going in?"

The child shook his head vigorously, showed him the bruises on his arms, and made a "hit" gesture.

Yan Xiaohan understood, this place is probably a secret place in the village, ordinary people are not allowed to enter without permission, otherwise they will be beaten like this child.

He nodded and said, "Thank you."

The child took a step back, Yan Xiaohan gently pushed open the wooden door, and walked in.