Being fooled by fierce beasts to travel through the beginning is fleeing famine

Chapter 176 Sacrifice (please subscribe for monthly ticket)
Walking out of the door, there is a small yard outside, only about a hundred square meters.

The old lady is cooking in a small shed on the right side of the yard. There is no door in the shed, and she can be seen working in it directly.

Qingyan walked a few steps over there, and could see a fire burning in the stove, and the chimney on the roof of the shed was emitting green smoke. heat.

There was some aroma coming out of the pot, it should be millet porridge.

There is a water tank outside the shed, which is quite big. The water tank is covered with a wooden cover. There is no sign of the man. It must be that he has gone to fetch water again. The water tank must not be filled with a bucket of water.

The old lady obviously also heard the door opening, and walked out of the shed, that is, the kitchen, wiping her hands on the rag apron she was wearing.

She smiled and said: "Girl woke up, I'm making breakfast, people in our village don't have any good things, so we boiled some millet porridge, drinking this in the morning can warm our stomach, and there are some small pickles at home, let's make do with it.

I'll ask later, who in the village is going to town today, and if it doesn't work, let my son take you there. "

Qingyan quickly smiled and thanked, "Then I will trouble you, ma'am, I have really troubled you."

"Miss, you're welcome..." The two said a few more words of politeness, and the old lady went back to the kitchen. Qingyan wanted to help, but the old lady refused because the kitchen was too small for two people.

Qingyan didn't insist anymore, she also wanted to know about the situation of this village, even if it was a dream, she was a little curious now.

There is a circle of stone walls around the courtyard, not high, only about 1.5 meters, Qingyan can look out through the wall.

This wall also prevents gentlemen but not villains. As long as people who are a little taller can see the inside from the outside, they can also see the outside from the inside, and they can sneak in with a little jump.

Qingyan looked around. There were the same yards on the left and right, and the size was similar. This should be the southernmost row in the village. This house faces south, and the south side is the mountain and the bare stone wall they saw before.

The courtyard door was not closed, probably for the convenience of the old lady's son carrying water back.

Qingyan went straight out of the yard, stood on a small path outside, and found a vegetable garden under the opposite stone wall, which should be planted by these people.

Looking back, it's a little strange. Wasn't there a lot of people coming and going just now?There is no one here, and there is no well nearby.

No, there are voices behind the yard.

Qingyan took a few steps to one side, and looked back at a small alley between the small courtyard and the adjacent courtyard. Sure enough, there was a relatively wide road behind, and that was where people came and went.

In other words, the voice she heard so clearly before was because of a stone wall.

There are two rows behind this row of houses, one row has about a dozen yards, and the third row has a total of thirty or forty houses, which is in line with the dozens of families I heard before.

But there is something wrong, didn't you say that there are hundreds of people in this village?According to this family, there are only two people in one family, and there are dozens of people in thirty or forty households. How can there be hundreds of people?
Of course, it may not necessarily mean that other people's families have a large population.

At this time, a young man in his twenties came from the alley. The man was dressed in gray cloth and carried two buckets on his shoulders.

Looking up and seeing Qingyan, she grinned with white teeth and said, "Miss, you're awake, the girl passed out yesterday, what's wrong now?"

Qingyan immediately confirmed that this was the old lady's son, who was said to have brought her back from the entrance of the village.

She was actually a little curious about the conversation between the mother and son last night, especially the old ancestor they talked about, and the old lady seemed to be in a hurry to send herself away. She didn't know what it meant, could it be because of the old ancestor?

It's just that I don't know how to ask these questions, after all, I overheard them.

She nodded to the man with a smile and said: "There is no discomfort, thank you big brother for saving me, otherwise I don't know what will happen if I faint alone.

I still don't know what to call my eldest brother, so I can bring my family over to thank me when I return to the county seat. "

"That's not necessary, it's just a matter of raising your hands. My surname is Yin and my name is Yin Keqin. We in Qi Nian Village all have this surname, and they all belong to the same ancestor. I am of the Ke generation..."

Yin Keqin was very talkative, Qingyan just asked a question, and he almost explained all his family affairs.

This saves Qingyan's clichés, and she immediately knows the general situation of the village.

But I'm sure, she's not in a dream, she doesn't think she can have such a specific dream.

It's just that I don't know what kind of method it is, to separate myself from Chouchou, and to make myself appear here.

She had some doubts that this was a kind of illusion mirror specially aimed at her, because she came here yesterday, and she was wearing the current outfit when she came. The other party should not have seen her situation after going to the county, so the other party did not know that she had changed. clothes.

As for Chou Chou, it should be that the other party's target is himself, and he is worried about Chou Chou's bad things, so he deliberately isolates Chou Chou from himself.

At this time, the man had already walked in front of her, Qingyan turned sideways to get out of the way, and walked back behind while listening to the other party.

Back in the yard again, Yin Keqin directly poured the water into the water tank.

At this time, there was a wooden basin next to the water tank, and the water in it was steaming. The old lady stood at the door of the kitchen, saw them coming in, and said to Qingyan: "I didn't see the girl when I turned around, I thought you went again Resting in the house, it turned out to be out, the hot water in the basin has just been filled, the girl quickly washes up, and you can eat right away."

Qingyan smiled embarrassingly, "I went out to have a look when I heard voices outside. Madam can just call me Hengyue, girl is too polite."

Hengyue is her name in Hong Kong City. Her father gave it to her, meaning a unique treasure. Qingyan was chosen by her mother, representing unique beauty. She likes both names very much, but the name Qingyan is used more , after all, she spends most of her time on the mainland.

The situation here is unclear, she doesn't want to use her usual name, and she doesn't want to make up one, for fear that she won't know that she is calling herself, and it will be easy to reveal her secrets.

The old lady smiled and nodded, "Okay, okay, then I'll call you Heng Yue, come and wash up, I'll serve the porridge out, it's delicious to eat while it's hot."

Qingyan went over to rinse her mouth, washed her face, and it was over. She had no choice, she didn't bring anything, even if she brought toothpaste and a toothbrush, it was hard to take it out.

After washing, he followed the old lady into the main room, Yin Keqin didn't come in, Tian directly filled a bowl and went to another room to eat, only the two of them ate in the main room.

Qingyan drank the porridge with her head down, her eyes twinkled.

The mother and son are so polite, and they speak with restraint, they are really not like the peasants in the countryside. If it is not passed down from generation to generation, or everyone in the village is like this, everyone is used to it under the subtle influence.

This further shows that the people in this village are not ordinary.

Thinking of the tomb that Chouchou mentioned before, Qingyan wondered if this village would be like what later generations said, what kind of gravekeeper?

These villagers may be the descendants of those who waited for the tomb, just like the later generations, there are some clans who made mistakes next to the imperial tomb and ran there to guard the tomb, and gradually the descendants of those people became Some villages and towns.

Chou Chou said before that the tomb has a history of a thousand years, and in a thousand years, it is normal to develop into a county, not to mention a village.

Another one, Chou Chou, also said that the stones used to build the houses in this village are the same material as the stones in the tombs, and they may have been built together.

Also, the village suddenly disappeared before, and Chou Chou found the village with his spiritual sense in the tomb, but there was no breath of living people in it.

Where did these villagers go?Is it a living person?If it is not a living person, it can't be justified. So many people in Yunling County know Qi Nian Village, and there are often people who marry into the village, which means that they should be living people.

But if they were all alive, why did they disappear all of a sudden? Where did these people go?
Thinking of this, Qingyan couldn't help but shudder, there is no such thing as a ghost gate, right?
At this time, the old lady's voice sounded from the side again, "Hengyue, what's wrong with you? Is it a little cold? You are indeed wearing a little thin clothes. I am ashamed to say that the family is poor and there are no extra thick clothes for you." wear."

Qingyan came back to her senses, smiled at the old lady, shook her head and said, "No, ma'am, I just took a sip of porridge and accidentally burned it."

The old lady smiled and said, "The porridge is just out of the pot and it's a little hot. Don't worry about drinking the porridge. You need to blow it."

Qingyan nodded, blew on the side of the bowl, and took another sip of porridge.

She did take a sip of the hot porridge just now, but she didn't notice it at all when she was thinking about it. Now her tongue is a little numb, it seems that it is really hot.

At this time, there was a rumbling thunder outside!
Qingyan was taken aback for a moment. When she just went out, the weather was obviously very good. Although the sun had not risen yet, it could be seen that the sky was blue and white clouds, it didn't look like it was raining.

And it shouldn't be raining anymore this season, especially in the northwest, where it will snow in ten days and half a month.

Just as she raised her head to look outside, she realized that the old lady's expression was wrong. Seeing the light coming from the door, the old lady's face was dark and unclear, Qingyan looked a little scalped.

What's happening here?Are you going to transform?
Then I heard the old lady say, "It seems that it is still a step too late. From now on, you should not leave the door of this house again. It is best to stay inside, don't go anywhere, and try not to make any noise. Just wait for three days."

Qingyan was taken aback again, what does this mean?
I didn't feel any malice from the old lady, knowing that the other party probably didn't want to harm her, I felt a little relieved.

But he still asked cautiously: "Ma'am, what happened? Can you tell me?"

The old lady looked at her with complicated eyes, and paused for a while before saying: "When I said that this is Qi Nian Village, you were a little surprised. I thought you should have heard the name of our village."

Qingyan nodded hesitantly.

A complicated expression appeared on the old lady's face, "Then you must have heard the legend of this village, right?"

Qingyan nodded honestly. If she wanted to know someone's secret, of course she couldn't pretend to be ignorant.

The old lady breathed a sigh of relief, "In that case, let me tell you, anyway, you will definitely not be able to go out for the next three days, and you can also be prepared for what will happen next.

Come to think of it, you have heard that our Qi Nian Village disappears for a few days every three years. Others think that Qi Nian Village can communicate with some gods or ghosts. Once every three years, it means opening the ghost gate or going to the fairyland.

At the beginning, when the people in our village went out, everyone avoided them, thinking that we were also some kind of ghosts. Later, after a long time of contact, they knew that we were ordinary people, and slowly, daughters-in-law from other places married in.

The reason why Qi Nian Village disappeared in those few days was that at least it seemed to be gone from the outside, but it was not. Our village is still there, but it was isolated by the formation.

Every three years is the time to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. At that time, the opening of the altar will be accompanied by formations, and the village will be hidden by the formations, so as not to disturb outsiders, and people in the village cannot go out..."

Qingyan still didn't understand, "To worship the ancestors, I can understand that outsiders can't come in, and people in the village can't go out, why?"

The old lady looked at her, paused for a while, and then said softly: "Because every time we sacrifice, we use living sacrifices, just in case the family members are reluctant to send them out in advance."

Qingyan was startled, it turned out to be a human sacrifice!

Although I knew that there was such a bad custom in ancient times that violated the harmony of heaven, such as the use of boys and girls to sacrifice to the god of the river as written in the text, I didn't expect that Qi Nian Village also had this custom.

She could understand that the old lady didn't let her go out, probably because she was afraid that people in the village wouldn't want to donate their children, so let her be the number one. This is kindness, and she accepts it.

Sure enough, the old lady continued: "Every three years, a young woman and a young man will be used as sacrifices. They are both fifteen or sixteen-year-old young people, and each time they choose the best-looking ones in the village.

This is not chosen by the people in the village, but by the ancestor himself. Whoever he chooses will have a pattern of arabesques on his forehead on the day of the sacrifice, which can be seen directly.

The reason why I don't let you go out is because today is the first day. If you go out, with your looks, you are better than the most beautiful girl in the village. The ancestors don't know whether they are from the village or not, so they will be selected directly. You, then you can't hide.

Because when it's time for sacrifice, you will appear directly on the altar. Now I just want you to go, but you can't. Look at the sky outside now. "

Qingyan looked through the door, the sky was bright just now, but now it has become dim, sand and rocks started to fly outside, and the light inside the house also dimmed, as if the building was full of wind and rain...

(End of this chapter)