The villain is respected

"Crossing this mountain, you can see Zixun Mountain." Xie Chi stepped on the mottled light and shadow in the forest, and looked around curiously, "I haven't found anything unusual along the way."

Before Yu Jianhan could answer, he heard the forest bird startled flying, and then there was a loud noise, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground.

The two looked at each other, speeded up their pace tacitly, and quietly rushed towards the source of the sound.

Along a hidden path, they saw a hunched figure dragging a branch with great difficulty from among the intertwined shadows of trees.

It seems that the old man is finishing the woodcutter and is preparing to go home with the spoils.

Xie Chi glanced at Yu Jianhan, but saw that he had already looked at him, the meaning in his eyes was so clear that even a blind person could understand it.

He sighed, and said: "You go, you go. It just so happens that it is almost dusk, let's find a place to stay overnight, and then leave for Zixun Mountain tomorrow."

Hearing this, Yu Jianhan's eyes lit up, and he walked slowly towards the old man, and began to help.

Xie Chi looked at his back and was speechless for a long time - he finally understood that Yu Jianhan must have been the reincarnation of the lotus essence in front of the Buddha's seat in his previous life, otherwise how could the compassion all over his body blind him?

Sure enough, the old man was very grateful to these two warm-hearted juniors, and he was going to blow them away along the way, and Xie Chi's ears were warmed by those compliments.

After listening to it, he was able to go to the group of monks to discuss the Tao. Xie Chi's heart trembled, and he quickly interrupted the old man's endless praise, and asked inadvertently, "Old man, why are you out to hunt woodcutters? This shouldn't be the case." Let the young people come?"

The old man sighed slowly, and pointed in the direction he came from: "Our Zhaojia Village is poor and remote, and all the young children have gone to work in the town at the foot of the mountain. Now, in the village, only us old and weak are left. Women and children."

As soon as the voice fell, Zhaojia Village arrived.

Surrounded by mountains and surrounded by dense forests and deep valleys, is an extremely simple small village, with earthen dwellings lined up along a main road. As the old man said, there is no adult man in the village, only women collecting firewood and carrying water. The children were covered in mud, chasing and fighting in the street.

"Grandpa Min Xi!" The sharp-eyed little girl spotted them, and ran over pata pata. She stared at the foreign guests curiously with her big bright eyes.

"Xiao Miao, this is Brother Xie and Brother Yu. They helped Grandpa bring back the berries." Mr. Zhao pointed to the large tree branch behind him, which was full of small purple fruits.

"Thank you brother! Then I will choose Grandpa Minxi first!" Zhao Xiaomiao narrowed her eyes with a smile, she thanked loudly, and dexterously rushed towards the fruit.

The other children also came together with a whoosh, and they jumped up and down among the branches, like little sparrows happily looking for food.

"By the way, the two of you said that you would like to spend the night here... In our village, only Mrs. Lin's wife is suitable. I will ask Zhaozhao to take you there so that I can tidy up."

Mr. Zhao explained to them with a smile. He waved to the child sitting under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, signaling him to come over.

It was a boy about seven or eight years old. His figure was a bit thin, but his eyebrows and eyes were extremely delicate, with a gentle temperament raised by books.

He didn't participate in the chasing and fighting of children of the same age before. Instead, he sat obediently under the shade of a tree, flipping through an old and dilapidated book.

He noticed the guest's arrival the first time, but he didn't rush over rashly. Now that the old man called him, he carefully arranged the scattered pages of the book and walked over slowly.

"Zhaozhao, these two elder brothers are going to spend the night in our village. Please free up the room next to yours first, and tell the second sister-in-law to stay at Xiaomiao's house for a while."

Second Aunt Lin's house had suitable vacant rooms, but they were orphans and widows, and it was really inconvenient to take in two men overnight, so she had to go to another house for a night.

"Okay, grandpa, I'll take the guests there right now." Zhao Zhao nodded, and he showed a slight smile to Xie Chi and the others, and began to lead the way.

After walking a few steps, the old man's instructions came from behind him: "By the way, come to my main room for dinner after tidying up, Zhao Zhao, you come too!"

The child obediently responded, but heard curious questions from beside him.

"Chao Chao, your name is pretty good, is it Chao Chao Mu Mu Chao Chao?" Xie Chi began to befriend him.

"No." Zhao Zhao smiled, and a faint dimple appeared on his cheek, and he explained, "It's Zhao Zhao, who is clearly manifested in heaven."

After finishing speaking, he asked Xie Chi and his two names, and after calling out "Brother" quietly and obediently, he slowly introduced the neighbors around him.

Xie Chi listened with gusto, and when he passed by a firewood pile, he helped pick up the overturned firewood, which attracted the neighbor's aunt to thank him repeatedly, and even gave him a handful of freshly picked vegetables from the field.

The devil held the juicy green leaves with a dazed expression on his face.

Zhao Zhao burst out laughing, and Yu Jianhan also had a smile on his face.

"Heh, that's the charm, extra meal tonight." Xie Chi raised the green vegetables in his hand, like a proud peacock, he walked out with steps that no relatives would recognize.

Even though the meal in the evening is light, it can be seen that it must be richer than what the villagers usually eat.After Zhao Zhao took two bites of the meal, he said he was full and hurried home.

Xie Chi knew in his heart that he was rushing back to tidy up the house for them, and he felt a little bit sorry all the time, as if he was a labor child.

But Mr. Zhao couldn't resist his enthusiasm to stay. When the willows were on the moon and the insects and birds were chirping, they set foot on the way back by the faltering candlelight.

The lights in Zhao Zhao's room had already been turned off, and the child was afraid that he couldn't stand it any longer, so he fell asleep first.

Xie Chi pushed open the door, the room is very simple, the tables and chairs are quite old, but the above is clean and spotless - presumably the child has wiped it carefully.

He glanced at the bed and suddenly became happy.

This guest room only has a simple single wooden bed, and it would be too difficult to squeeze two people in, so after the evening came, Xie Chi had already made up his mind to let Yu Jianhan go to bed to rest if he didn't sleep.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhao Zhao quietly found a few benches to lean against the bed, and built two large planks on top of it, so that the single narrow bed was wide enough for three people to sleep Chase shop.

Xie Chi was a little amused, his eyes glistened in the candlelight, and said: "This kid is quite capable..."

He smiled, but sighed slowly: "I really don't know what they want to do now."

In an instant, the smile on Yu Jianhan's face also subsided, and he was unusually silent.

After all, he couldn't figure it out——

What does the lonely soul in this village want to do?

Zhaojia Village, hidden in the mountains and forests, has no popularity at all.Under their happy and comfortable appearance, there is always a lingering musty smell of decay.

"I've seen a lot of uninhabited villages, but I don't understand why there is no blood here." Xie Chi said in a deep voice.

He is a demon cultivator, and he studies the heart demon technique, so he can see the strangeness in Zhaojiacun immediately.And Yu Jianhan is the head of the Kyushu Righteous Way, so naturally he will not be confused by ghost energy.

In fact, the first time they came here with the old man, they wanted to find out.And when they actually came to this village, they also noticed many inadequacies here.

Xie Chi's face was half shrouded in shadow and half illuminated by the candlelight, making it look extraordinarily deep. He opened his lips and whispered his doubts.

"If ghosts and ghosts want to stay in the human world for a long time, they will definitely need a steady stream of ghost energy and demon energy to support them. The easiest way is to kill people and feed their souls with blood energy."

Yu Jianhan shook his head slightly, and he affirmed: "But there is no murder here."

"So, this is what I can't figure out the most. If there is no indiscriminate killing, how can this village be maintained so well, and how can the villagers be so human-like." Xie Chi said.

If ghosts pretend to be mortals to the point of confusing the real ones, then they can be regarded as a great accomplishment, and their hands will not be so clean.

"Or, they acted too well..." Xie Chi slowly expressed his guess.

But he thought of the simple smile of the aunt next door, and the gentle and pure eyes of the child, but he couldn't bear to think about it anymore.

If you use the worst malice to speculate on others, this is a kind of malice in itself.

Yu Jianhan stared at him and said, "Then we'll stay here for two days until we make sure they don't have any intention of harming anyone."

Xie Chi raised his head abruptly, he seemed startled by this hasty decision, he hesitated: "But... what about Zixun Mountain?"

"As you said, Axie, let them live and die, and be rich." Yu Jianhan made a rare joke.

Xie Chi bent the corners of his mouth in a shameless manner, lowered his eyes, and said in a slightly austere voice, "Thank you."

Thank you for taking my thoughts into account.

Yu Jianhan was noncommittal, with a smile in his eyes, he was about to speak, but the next second he frowned slightly, and said in a low voice: "There is someone."

Sure enough, kicking footsteps came from outside the door, and a thin, twisted black figure passed by the window.The sound of footsteps was particularly piercing in the silent night, and became clearer from far to near, and finally stopped in front of the door.

That thing is right outside the door!

"Tuk-tuk-"

Two regular knocks on the door broke the silent night, Xie Chi stood up vigilantly, and asked with a frown, "Who!"

There was a moment of silence outside the door, as if even the air froze.For some reason, Xie Chi always felt that there was an extremely faint smell of blood seeping in through the crack of the door.

Immediately, a familiar voice sounded, with a slow and unspeakable ghostly air: "Brother Xie, it's me."

Is it coming now?

Knowing the child's inhuman identity a long time ago, Xie Chi had already anticipated their late-night visit.

Maybe it used to be like this, they deliberately sent old and weak women and children on the road to pretend to be in danger, and after deceiving travelers, they took advantage of the night to take their lives—

This is the general method used by most resentful souls.

But Xie Chi and Yu Jianhan are not soft persimmons to chew on.

Xie Chi stepped forward and opened the door, but saw that thin figure standing alone in front of the door.

With a pale face, the child carefully held the swaying oil lamp. Seeing Xie Chi, he lowered his head cautiously, as if a little embarrassed.

"Thank you brother, I can't sleep alone." He said softly, "Can you tell me a story."

Xie Chi stared at his little hair, but remained silent, not knowing what he was thinking.

The silence around was almost drowning, finally, the young man seemed to have figured out something, and slightly raised the corners of his lips.

He stepped aside to get out of the way, revealing the warm room, and slowly invited the child standing in the endless darkness: "Come in."

Little Zhao Zhao stared at him intently with his dark pupils. After a while, a smile finally appeared on that bloodless face.

……

Xie Chi also couldn't figure out why everything happened so naturally.

On the big patchwork bed, Yu Jianhan was sitting inside, Xie Chi in the middle was half leaning against the earth wall, and the child outside was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, wrapped in an old blue quilt.

Two pairs of eyes, one big and one small, stared at the young man in the middle, and saw him with long eyelashes hanging down, reading "Anecdotes of Kyushu" softly in his hand.And the two of them were sitting side by side, just like well-behaved children in school listening to their master reading from a storybook.

Xie Chi was unusually sober, the child beside him had already lost all vitality, but under the warm yellow candlelight, his heart seemed to be soaked in warm water, the warmth was slightly sour, and he couldn't feel any vigilance at all.

Perhaps Yu Jianhan was by his side, which made him feel at ease.With peace of mind, he blamed all the strangeness on Lord Jianzun.

After all, he will never let me be eaten alive by the resentful soul.

Thinking like this, he felt his eyelids getting heavier and his consciousness began to dim. For some reason, his heart relaxed, but his head hit the shoulder of the person beside him.

It was like floating in the air for a long time, and finally landed on the ground.Xie Chi finally leaned on the man's shoulder under the dim light and closed his eyes.

The scroll in his hand slipped down and landed on the bed, making a slight noise.

Yu Jianhan's shoulders sank, and he turned his head slightly to look at the man, with an extremely incomprehensible gloomy look in his eyes, as if he was nostalgic, but also as if he was sighing.

A trace of black air flicked across his fingertips, Xie Chi's head sank slightly, and he fell into a deeper dream.

The child beside him seemed to know it well, he turned a blind eye to Yu Jianhan's actions, just lifted the quilt on his own, and slowly found his shoes.

"Brother Yu, I'm really happy." He looked back in front of the candlelight, and tears welled up in those clear eyes.

He showed a relieved smile, but tears fell instantly: "Thank you brother for the story he owed me, and he paid it off."

After speaking, he straightened his spine and walked slowly towards the door.

The wooden door creaked, making a tooth-piercing sharp friction sound.The child took that last step.

He was completely stripped from the warm light and stepped into the darkness.

At the moment when he was swallowed by the night, he suddenly turned his head and met Yu Jianhan's starry eyes.

At that moment, Yu Jianhan saw him laughing, and mouthed something to him——

Thank you.

What an awkward and shy kid.Yu Jianhan also slowly raised his lips, and he lowered his eyes and smiled lightly, but for some reason, there was some heat in his eyes.

Me too, thanks.