Christmas

"Then how do you solve this problem of not returning?"

Shi Xie asked quickly, his tone full of anxiety.

"Sibugui doesn't have any more records in our genealogy, but I found a book when I was cleaning up my Shen family's ancestral hall, and what was recorded in that book happened to be about Sibugui. "

With that said, the village head stood up and opened a cabinet on one side, rummaged through it a few times, and took out a yellowed thread-bound book.I saw that the pages on the book were well preserved, and there were no missing pages. It seemed that they were usually well protected.The village head handed the book to Xia Shixie, who quickly reached out and took it gently.

"This book should be written by Shen Rong. Judging from the content recorded above, during the years when he was looking for Qi'er, he lost his mind somewhere. At first, he was just like this little brother. A small red spot appeared on the tip of the left middle finger, and then slowly spread upwards.

Shen Rong was lucky, and later met an expert who could tell that he had been poisoned at a glance.

Afterwards, under the guidance of this expert, Shen Rong learned the origin of this thought of not returning, and also understood that after being poisoned by the poison of thinking of not returning, there is only nine days to survive.

But Qi'er was not found, Shen Rong couldn't bear to die, so he begged an expert to save him.

Seeing that his attitude was so firm, the expert pointed him to the maze and asked him to find a red fruit called 'Sigui', after eating it, he would be able to detoxify the poison of thinking not returning.

But what exactly is this "Thinking Return"?Shen Rong inquired about many places and asked many respected elders, but he had never seen anyone.

After that, Shen Rong suddenly stopped looking for 'Sigui', and he didn't die after nine days, and he was still living like a normal person

He didn't look like a poisoned person. No one knew that he lost his mind, and no one knew what he had experienced until he died suddenly ten years later.

Only then did Xiao Xi realize that the red thread was still on his body, and it seemed that it had never disappeared.

This is the end of Shen Rong's records. I don't know whether Shen Rong found "Sigui" back then, and I don't know what method he used to survive for ten years after being poisoned by Sigui. "

As soon as the village chief's voice fell, the book in Shi Xie's hand was turned to the last page by him.

After closing the book again, Shi Xie turned his head to Baili Qianyan and Shi Lin, but his eyes still fell on the village chief.

"Sigui...does such a thing really exist?"

"I don't know. I don't know more about thinking about returning to you than you. However, is the little brother next to you suffering from other poisons? As far as I know, although thinking about not returning is a poison that has no cure, But it doesn’t hurt the mind.”

"It's not poison, it's cursed."

Shi Xie stretched out his hand to hold Xia Yao's hand, looking into Xia Yao's puzzled eyes, a trace of pain flashed in his eyes.

"It's a blessing, not a curse. It's a disaster that can't be avoided. It's better to lose your memory, but it's better than waiting soberly for your own death.

"

The village chief sighed and sympathized with Shi Xie and the others, but there was no other way.

"Tomorrow will be the fifth day of nine days. Now that we have come to Xiaxiang Bay, we still know everything. What should we do next?"

What should I do? "

After Baili Qianyan and Shi Lin finished reading the book and handed it back to the village chief, Baili Qianyan leaned on the sofa in frustration and said.

"It's getting dark today, you guys should rest first, it's not too late to continue the discussion tomorrow."

After hearing what the village chief said, Shi Xie nodded in agreement. If even they collapsed now, then Xia Yao really cannot be cured.

Baili Qianyan was tired a long time ago, but he just kept holding on, and now when he heard that he was going to rest, he immediately yawned uncontrollably.

There were only two guest rooms in the village head's house, and the six of them had to make do with sleeping.

"Cousin, I'll hug Little Ginseng to sleep in our room, it's easier for us to sleep separately if the place is small."

Saying Baili Qianyan, he picked up Xiao Shen who was drooling from sleep on the sofa, and wiped the glistening saliva from the corner of his mouth dumbfoundedly.

"Okay, sorry to trouble you."

Shi Xie nodded, took Xia Yao with one hand, and He Bishen with the other, and walked into the room arranged for them by the village chief.

"The stove in the house is always on. If you feel cold at night, you can get up and throw some cinders. This quilt is new and has not been used. Don't hold it against you."

The village chief came in with a quilt in his arms, and Shi Xie quickly took the quilt and put it on the fire pit.

This room is not big, but it is also clean. The kang is also very hot. Since the newly made quilts have been kept in the cabinet, there is a faint smell of wood.

"It's really bothering you."

"It's all small things, and everyone has difficulties."

The village chief waved his hand, rejecting Shi Xie's steps to send him off, and slowly returned to his room.

Shi Xie plugged the latches in the house, turned around and saw He Bishen and Xia Yao who were playing on the pit. Next to them, grabbing one with each hand and stuffing them into the quilt.

"go to sleep now."

Shi Xie has always been the most dignified at home. As soon as he spoke, the two of them immediately stopped moving, lay down obediently under the quilt, closed their eyes and began to sleep.

Shi Xie turned off the light, and went up the pit to get under the quilt. As soon as he entered, Xia Yao immediately entangled him like an octopus.

Shi Xie hugged him and lowered his head to kiss his furry head lightly.

"Good night."

Xia Yao rubbed stickily on Shi Xie's chest, sniffed the familiar smell of Shi Xie, and fell asleep after a while.

A night without dreams.

After a good night's sleep, the six of them were all refreshed. Smelling the fresh air unique to the countryside, Baili Qianyan stretched out his arms and took a deep breath.

"Xiaoyan, let's have breakfast."

Baili Qianyan turned his head, just in time to see Shi Lin who was stretching out his hand towards him, couldn't help but frowned, and handed his hand into the other big palm.

The light porridge and side dishes are not luxurious, but they are well matched. A bowl of porridge will warm the whole body.

The six of them followed the village chief to the Shen family ancestral hall after eating.

There is a large rusty lock on the door of the ancestral hall, which is mottled and has been for a long time.

The village chief took out a large number of keys from his cotton coat, there were dozens of them.

Carefully fiddling with the keys in his hand, it took nearly 2 minutes for the village chief to find a simple copper key from the large set of keys.

The village head inserted the key into the lock, and turned it vigorously a few times, only to hear a soft "click", and the copper lock was finally opened.

"I have no children and no daughters in my life, and now I am too old to move. Since I cleaned the ancestral hall three years ago, this is the first time for me to come in. It is dark inside, so please slow down."

"Village chief, why don't you marry a wife and have children?"

Baili Qianyan was dragged into the ancestral hall by Shi Lin, only seeing a dark shadow.

"Lonely people are at ease, and the Shen family shouldn't go down when it's my generation..."

Unable to understand the meaning of the village chief's words, a burst of strong light suddenly shone in, and everyone couldn't help covering their eyes with their hands.

It turned out that the village head removed all the partitions blocking the windows of the ancestral hall.

Xia Yao let go of the hand covering his eyes after his eyes had fully adapted to the light, then suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at the environment in the ancestral hall, and immediately grabbed Shi Xie's hand and said curiously as if he had discovered a new world .

"Husband, look, there are many brands over there."

"That is the memorial tablet of the ancestors, don't use your fingers, but respect it."

Shi Xie explained that Zhang Kai held Xia Yao's fingers, and Xia Yao immediately nodded repeatedly as if taught, bowed to those tablets, and said something in his mouth.

"The Shen family's collection of books from generation to generation is here. You can browse through them casually. I hope it can be of some help."

Originally, Baili Qianyan was still thinking about what they were doing in this empty ancestral hall, but he saw that the village chief had done something on the other wall of the ancestral hall, and the wall was completely cut to one side, revealing the A huge space.

"This small ancestral hall is surprisingly unique."

Baili Qianyan's eyes widened in surprise, and he went straight to the wall, only to see a huge library behind it.

Baili Qianyan walked in curiously to check, and saw some various collections of books on the bookshelves.

Astronomy and geography, historical notes, folk wonders, Qi Huang's schemes, everything that one expects to find, even compared with historians and Baili's library, it is comparable.

Why bother to pull Xiao Shen into the library, looking at the books in the room, his little face is also full of surprise, they have never seen so many books before.

Shi Xie let go of Xia Yao's hand and let him go to the library by himself, then turned and said to the elderly village chief.

"I never imagined that the ancestors of the village chief would have preserved so many ancient books."

"It has been passed down from generation to generation, and it has accumulated a lot. I have only read a small part of the books here. Unfortunately, I have not seen a single word about 'Sigui'."

"I am very grateful to the village chief for being so generous in helping."

"I met Sibugui again today. This is also the fate of my family. Go check it out."

Shi Xie nodded and took a deep look at the village chief, turned around and walked into the library without saying anything.

Looking at the bustling people in the library, the village head slowly walked to the memorial tablets and stared slightly up.

After half payment, a long sigh came from between his parched lips, the village chief looked at the icy tablets with sad eyes, his lips trembling slightly.

"This time it's the end..."

Shi Xie and the others kept checking from nine o'clock in the morning to past ten o'clock in the evening, and even the lunch and dinner were delivered by the village head himself.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the night was quiet. Because there were no lights in the library, the village chief had to search out all the flashlights and lamps in his home, even the oil lamps and candles.

"I found I found it!"

At this moment, Baili Qianyan yelled suddenly, and Shi Lin and Shi Xie quickly put down the books in their hands and ran towards him.

Xia Yao, who was squatting in the corner and playing the game with Xiao Shen Why Bishen, glanced at them curiously, then turned his head and devoted himself to the game.

"Cousin, look here!"

Seeing Shi Xie approaching, Baili Qianyan immediately handed him the book, which is a book about exotic flowers and plants.

Shi Xie took the book and saw a line of words on it.

Sigui, shaped like a red fruit, without leaves, with black stems, mostly grows in damp and rocky places.

And what excites Shi Xie and the others the most is that there is a small line of notes next to these simple introductions, which should be added later.