Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 4 Revealed
After vomiting, Ren Yuan finally felt less depressed.

When he returned to the inner courtyard, he saw the third young master wearing a straw hat, squatting in the garden tending to the flowers and plants, humming a little tune, and seemed very happy.

"Why are you acting like an old man? Walking your birds, tending to your flowers, and even getting up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet." Ren Yuan used him to calm down his mood.

"..." The Third Young Master froze immediately. After a while, he turned around and said coldly, "Is it your business?"

"Okay, whatever you want." Ren Yuan said with a smile, "I'll give you two walnuts later and let you play with them."

"Get out!" The third young master was furious and was about to throw a shovel at him.

After Ren Yuan left with a big laugh, the third young master opened his clenched left hand, revealing two walnuts that had been polished to a patina in his palm.

His face was gloomy, his Adam's apple was shaking violently, and he actually crushed the pair of walnuts into pieces with one hand.

~~
Ren Yuan felt much better and went to talk to the servants and maids, but they seemed to be afraid of him and left after a few words.

But he still managed to find out some information. For example, he did come to the village two years ago, had a serious illness not long ago, and then lost his memory.

Ren Yuan also used various methods to get out some secrets that others didn't want to tell him...

He squatted beside the well and asked the maid who was washing clothes, "I heard from someone that my father's name is Ren Yi. Is that correct?"

"Yes, yes." The maid nodded, then covered her stomach and frowned, saying, "Sorry, young master, I have to go to the bathroom."

Without waiting for Ren Yuan to say anything, he picked up the heavy wash basin and walked away trembling.

Ren Yuan asked several people the same question, and all of them answered "Yes, yes."

What the hell! He didn't even know his father's name. The name "Ren Yi" was just something he made up. But these servants who were born and raised in the family shouldn't even know the name of their own uncle.

Even if you really don't know, you should tell the truth instead of fooling him.

This reaction was nothing but an attempt to hide something. Ren Yuan was now basically certain that there was something wrong with his origins. He was probably not some young master, but like the boy with red spots on his face, a poor child who was turned into a sheep and brought into the village!

But the boy disappeared very quickly, and it was very likely that he met with misfortune that night. But how could he still be alive and well after being here for two years? Even if he wanted to fatten him up before eating him, he didn't have to keep him that long.

Moreover, my cousin's kindness to me is absolutely from the heart and not pretended. How can I explain this?
These questions obviously cannot be asked casually in reality. Since this place is 90% like a devil's cave, if I am exposed, I will probably be doomed, so it is safer to find the answers in dreams.

Ren Yuan also asked the people in the village, and his cousin was not lying, they really didn't dream. So he could let go of his hands and feet in his dreams, toss around as he pleased, and try and make mistakes repeatedly, without worrying about affecting the real situation.

Moreover, the time in reality and dream is not synchronized. One night in reality will take several days in the dream, so I have plenty of time to investigate the truth.

But the prerequisite is to break free from those damn chains.

So Ren Yuan spent the rest of the day studying how to unlock the door.

He remembered clearly that what tied him up in the dream was a common iron padlock. He already had one of these on his door.

Ren Yuan took it in and examined it carefully. Thank God, this lock did not have the complicated mechanical structure of later generations. Its lock core was just a pair of reeds, which were stuck when locked.

When unlocking the lock, use a long key with a "凵"-shaped cross-section to poke it, and the springs on both sides will be reset, and the lock will open.

~~
In a dream that night.

The white goat tilted its head and watched the black goat doing its job. It used its mouth and hooves to bite a bamboo basket, picked out a thin and straight bamboo strip, and stuffed it into the keyhole with its teeth.

This is when the disadvantage of not having a hand comes into play. It keeps pushing and pushing, making the lock sway, but it just won't go in.

The black goat got anxious, stood up, pressed the padlock against the stake with its right hoof, then tilted its head and bit the bamboo strips to poke it in, but... it still couldn't poke it in.

Later, it found that the strips were too wide. The black goat tried for a long time to make the strips narrower, but it was even more difficult...

It was not until the next night that the black goat realized that if it didn't work, just change it! Why hang yourself on a tree?
It was so angry that it banged its head against the pillar, scaring the white goat to death.

Later, Ren Yuan comforted himself by saying that my IQ is that of a sheep, but it does not represent my IQ, and he felt better.

I don't know how many times I tried, but I finally got one piece in, and then the second piece...

For a sheep, unlocking the lock was too difficult. It was not until the second to last night that I finally heard a "click" sound, the reed bounced up, and the lock finally opened.

Ren Yuan stopped at this time.

After a while, footsteps sounded on time, and my uncle and his aunt came in and took away the sheep...

When the footsteps faded away, the black goat bit open the bolt with its teeth, shook its neck, and threw the chain to the ground. Under the gaze of the cattle and horses, the black goat stood up, lay on the gate, opened the bolt from the outside, and then strode out with its head held high.

Taking a breath of free air, Ren Yuan almost couldn't hold back bleating.

After calming down his excitement, he began to sneak around the yard along the wall.

He walked to the backyard with ease and saw the tabby cat on the wall staring at him with wide eyes in surprise, then raised its front paw and made a "hush" sound.

The tabby cat was even more shocked this time. It stepped on empty air and fell off the wall.

Ren Yuan ignored the unlucky guy and quietly walked outside the main room.

~~
At this time, screams were heard from inside. Ren Yuan quickly stood up again, lay on the windowsill, put a sheep's eye to the window crack, and peeked into the room.

I saw the candlelight flickering and the human face looking ferocious. The white goat's experience was no different from my own, except that there was an unfamiliar old man in the room.

The white goat was tied tightly to the table, and another man was still holding its head while my uncle used a sharp knife to skin the goat alive...

As the sheepskin was peeled off, the bleating sound gradually turned into human wailing, and a young man covered in blood was revealed.

At this time, the old lady took out a wax-coated pill and handed it to the old man next to her, saying:
"Give it to him. But don't blame me for not reminding you, this pill is very powerful. Losing your memory is the least of your worries. If you are not careful, you may die directly. Then you will have to find another one."

"Oh, so serious." said the old man in surprise.

"What are you afraid of? You're not going to eat it." The old lady said contemptuously.

"In the end, I will have to bear the consequences, won't I?" The old man held the pill in his hand and hesitated, "Will there be any hidden illness left?"

"How would I know? I haven't eaten it." The old lady frowned and urged, "You've gone to great lengths just for this day, and now you're afraid again?"

The old man hesitated for a while and said, "How about I wait a little longer and let Ah Zhi come first? His illness can't be delayed any longer."

"As long as I'm here, Ah Zhi won't die for a while." The old lady mercilessly exposed his little thoughts and said, "You are afraid of death. If you want to try it on your grandson first, just say so."

"Don't talk nonsense, I'm really worried about the child." The old man naturally refused to admit it.

"Okay, it's up to you. But let me be frank with you, the Kaiqiao Pill is very precious. My eldest brother only got this one pill, and we don't know when he will get the next one." The old lady said lightly.

"It's okay. I can wait." The old man forced a smile and said, "I have been learning breathing techniques from you for the past year. I feel that my body is much better than before."

Then he ordered, "Ada and Aer, bring the other sheep here."

"Yes, father." At this time, the uncle and the man spoke together.

Ren Yuan suddenly realized that the old man was his 'grandfather' and that man was his 'second uncle'.

The old lady shook her head and said, "I'm tired. Let's go tomorrow night."

Grandfather readily agreed and said, "Then wait until tomorrow night and take the child away and take good care of him."

"Yes. Father and mother should go to bed early." The eldest and second uncles responded and carried the child out.

When he opened the door and came out, Ren Yuan recognized at a glance that the child was actually Xie Ke, the third young master of Xiejiazhuang. To be more precise, he was his "cousin" from two years ago.

Although she was shorter and looked a little childish, he would never mistake her features.

~~
After the three men left, the old lady drove "grandfather" away again.

Once the door was closed, there was no one else in the room. Grandma faced the bloody table and no longer concealed her eyes full of desire. She reached out and wiped the blood off the table, then held it in front of her and looked at it carefully.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally couldn't help but stick out his scarlet tongue and lick the blood off his hand.

Grandma took a deep breath, closed her eyes in enjoyment, and sighed in dissatisfaction:
"Not enough, not enough, I can't bear it anymore..."

As she spoke, her silver hair began to grow longer and longer, winding like a snake.

Her body also changed dramatically. A pair of nearly transparent wings sprouted from her back, her skin turned into a dark brown shell, her eyes turned into a pair of blood-red lanterns, and two dagger-like fangs grew in her mouth.

From a kind-looking old lady, she turned into a monster with wings on its back, a ghost face, four arms, and red claws like hooks!

(End of this chapter)