Early the next morning, the three of them were invited to have dinner at the village chief's house.
The village chief's name is Yao Zhiyuan. During the dinner, Xu Yin observed this person carefully.
He looked to be in his forties, gentle and elegant, and was very curious about the outside world. He asked the three people about the outside world in detail.
Xu Yin said leisurely: "Since the village chief is so yearning for the outside world, and your name is Zhiyuan, it seems that your fathers also have such a great promise, why not take the initiative to step out of the mountains and see this prosperous world of mortals."
Yao Zhiyuan laughed and shook his head: "It is true that prosperity in prosperous times is enviable, but in troubled times, human life is not like that of pigs and dogs.
Three hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Yao and Tie families had already realized this, so they made a family rule to never be born again.
Although Yao is curious about the world outside the mountains, he also knows that peace is rare, and if he brings unprovoked disaster to his tribe because of his birth, he will be punished by death."
Xu Yin smiled and didn't ask any more questions. He looked around and found that there seemed to be only the village chief in the house. When they entered, he saw no one else except Yao Zhiyuan, which was really strange.
Tian Buyi asked about the missing disciples of the Qingyun Sect. Yao Zhiyuan only said that only a few outsiders had visited the village in recent years, but he had never seen any disciples of the Qingyun Sect.
Tian Buyi carefully observed the other party's manner of speaking, and saw that he was frank and without any signs of lying. He couldn't help but feel doubtful.
After breakfast, Tian Buyi planned to look for clues from other people in the village, while Zen Master Puzhi went to the dense forest outside the village to eliminate demons alone.
Before leaving, Xu Yin suddenly turned around and asked: "Village Chief, I would like to ask you a question. Just now you said that you have not seen outsiders visiting in the past few years. So, even if it is a long time ago, there are still outsiders coming?"
An imperceptible light flashed deep in Yao Zhiyuan's eyes, and he smiled softly and said: "Of course, there are always many travelers like Mr. Xu who get lost in the dense forest.
Some of them stayed in the village for a while and then left on their own.
The three of them also know that this dense forest is very strange. Once you go deep into the forest, you can no longer see any roads and it is filled with miasma.
Once you misremember where you came from, you will most likely get stuck deeper and deeper and eventually get lost.
Therefore, people in this village do not dare to go deep into it.
Another group of outsiders deeply believed in the village's idea of escaping from the world, so they stayed and farmed and lived with us.
When the three of them were walking in the village today, they could see some people with foreign surnames. They were all left behind after getting lost.
I think the three of them who were able to save the Tieshan family's wife from the corpse demon must be people with extraordinary abilities, or they may have a way to find a way out."
Tian Buyi smiled proudly, "That's natural! But we have other important things to do here. Thank you to the village chief for your hospitality. I see that the surrounding environment of your village is dangerous, so I'll pay off by killing a few more monsters during this time."
Had these two meals.”
Naturally, the three of them still had doubts in their hearts, but seeing that the village chief performed impeccably in all aspects, it was pointless to ask more questions, so they all walked out.
"Mr. Xu, are you going to work with me to find the whereabouts of this disciple, or..."
Zen Master Pu Zhi said: "The forest is dangerous. Although Donor Xu has advanced martial arts skills, he lacks the skills to deal with evil spirits and monsters. For fear of being harmed, he still stays in the village with Donor Tian."
Xu Yin shook his head and said, "I plan to walk around alone first to see what's going on in the village."
Tian Buyi and Puzhi looked at each other and each left a few talismans and a Buddhist bead for Xu Yin. In an emergency, they could be summoned to help by lighting the talisman or crushing the beads.
There are also some talismans that have the effect of exorcising evil spirits and subduing demons, and can be used to protect yourself in emergencies.
Xu Yin properly accepted it, separated from the two of them, and wandered around the village.
He pretended to be a curious old man and asked villagers everywhere carefully. He especially liked to deal with children.
Because adults have more eyes, only children are innocent and can easily tell the truth.
The big locust tree in the village is as big as five people hugging each other, and it is where many children gather to play.
Xu Yin sat under the locust tree and performed tricks with his hands, making a group of children surprised and happy.
Xu Yin took advantage of the opportunity to get acquainted with them and asked a child with a smile, "Xiao Langjun, how many families are there in your village?"
He was still counting on his fingers, but an older child next to him had already said, "Eighty-one households, Xiaoye is so stupid! The total number of households has never changed since the village moved here!"
I still have to count it on my fingers."
He seemed to be the king of children, and the children next to him were all cheering and laughing. The child named Xiaoye scratched the back of his head and showed an honest smile.
Xu Yin was shocked. For three hundred years, the number of households in the village has not increased or decreased. How strong is the population control ability required? How could it be easily achieved in ancient times?
Xu Yin pretended to be confused and asked: "Didn't there have been any accidents in your village in the past three hundred years? The number of households decreased, or the number of households increased due to the increase in population and the division of households."
The older child naughtily asked Xu Yin to tell him the secret of the trick and teach him how to do it before he would tell him.
Xu Yin chuckled lightly, then performed another trick and said, "If you are willing to tell me, I will tell you the secrets of these two tricks."
Then he said loudly: "Whoever tells me first, I will only tell him, and you can use this trick to tease others in the future."
The children didn't know Xu Yin's inner thoughts, so they rushed to tell him the situation.
Finally, the eldest child overcame everyone and said, "Then what's the secret? Every family in our village only has one pair of children per generation.
When a boy grows up, he will marry a girl from another family who is more distant from his family according to his family's genealogy, thus continuing his family's bloodline.
When a girl grows up, she also marries other boys whose blood is far away from her. Occasionally, when outsiders come, the big guys are still vying to get her!
It's a pity that you are too old, grandpa, otherwise there must be an unmarried sister from some family who falls in love with you and will definitely marry you."
Xu Yin was slightly shocked, but he asked with a smile: "Is it possible that no family in your village has had any accidents in the past three hundred years, with children dying young or being born too late?"
"The village chief has very good medical skills. It is rare for children to die young. If there are, then as long as you go to the ancestral hall to pay respects to your ancestors, you will definitely have another child immediately."
"Hey, what if it's a girl who dies young and a boy is born? Wouldn't this family have to marry girls from two families?"
The older boy didn't think much about it. He just wanted to learn Xu Yin's tricks. In order to prevent other children from taking advantage of him, he said like a fool: "No, no! If there is no girl in the family, there will definitely be a girl. If there is no boy,
You will definitely have a boy! This has been true for generations, and with the blessing of your ancestors, there will be no accidents."
The corners of Xu Yin's eyes twitched slightly, and he asked kindly: "What about outsiders? If outsiders come, won't they destroy the original balance?"
The boy scratched the back of his head and said, "Well... I think I heard my father say that if a family's bloodline is rotten and they are prone to giving birth to deformed children, they need to use outsiders..."