Based on the drunkard's words, Xie Zhe and the others finally got some important information at the wine shop they arrived at the next day.
This information is no longer related to the disappearing villagers, but... the group of missing travelers - the group of female onmyojis. However, according to information provided by some insiders, not all four of them are real onmyojis, and one of them
He is proficient in the art of controlling fire, and can use it superbly to control the fire that burned down the entire village, just like...a monster.
The three of them have never seen such a person, and have never heard of it. But for the other two, the information they learned is that they "look very similar", one is well-spoken, and the other is silent. Even this little information is not enough.
Enough, enough for Xie Zhe to confirm their identities. It sounds like the sisters of the Ye family have met a reliable person, and their suspenseful hearts are a little relieved.
No one could tell where the four female travelers went in the end. But they finally got a clue: a few villagers who were persuaded approached their camp before dawn. They woke up before dawn
Come, pack up your things, and leave against the rising sun. Xie Zhe could see an illusion in a daze: light falling on them, quiet and desolate.
They headed west.
Without a moment's hesitation, after integrating and analyzing all the intelligence, the three of them all had a clear direction in their minds. Anyway, all the things they should deal with now have no direction, leaving them like a group of headless flies. At least for now, among them
One thing was pointed out to a relatively clear path. As long as you follow it and inquire along the way, you can always learn something. Even if they enter the spiritual vein, the fox's keen sense of smell can detect their traces.
Xie Zhe and the others originally came back from the southwestern side of the continent. Now they have just arrived in the Central Plains and are about to turn back to the west. Although it is not exactly the same direction as before, it gives people a somewhat subtle feeling. But it's nothing, nothing...
They all told themselves this. What matters is the result, and sometimes the troubles in the process can be ignored. As long as they finally find Ye Lingyu and her cousin, all the hard work on the journey will be worth it.
After walking for a while, neither Han Sheng nor Wen Ying could smell a familiar scent. Perhaps too much time had passed and the smell was almost gone. But Xie Zhe always had a feeling in his heart. He felt that the girls must be following this trend.
He is not a person who relies on intuition. Compared with such vague premonitions, he believes in things with solid evidence and smooth logic. However, as an Onmyoji, intuition is also a very important ability, so thank you
Zhe can only say...he is not good at using intuition.
Now, he firmly felt that he was one step closer to finding them, even though there was no direct evidence to support him. Wenying was infected by the emotions he did not express clearly, and she was also full of hope. Only Han
Zang remained calm, vaguely feeling that all this might not be as smooth as they imagined. But confidence is always a good thing, and people with hope have motivation. Besides, at this time, he never wanted to say anything depressing to Xie Zhe - no
As for that, it’s not necessary.
Unfortunately, Han Chang's premonition was fulfilled first.
In the endless wilderness, there are scattered villages. They stand here and are still surviving. But I am afraid that such places will disappear soon. Even if they are not poisoned by evil spirits, they will eventually be too remote and isolated.
Slowly die. This kind of death is nothing
Silently, leaving no traces, so quiet that no one notices. But even so, the population of the world is still expanding day by day. The disappearance of these villages is just like wiping a grain of rice from the corner of the mouth, but in the bowl, basin, and pot
, there are still countless foods that are increasing day by day.
Whose food are humans? Monsters? Or something else?
Or, themselves?
Isn't this how evil angels are born? If we must give them a reason to be born, perhaps, this is it.
While thinking about these questions, Xie Zhe was in a daze alone in the hotel. This town was relatively lively, and at least there was a special hotel to receive outsiders. They didn't come here for the sake of it. Like these three people, they were just passing by.
They randomly picked a place to rest. However, compared to when they came, the nearest town in Scorched Earth Village was still a bit worse.
The reason why Xie Zhe was the only one was because the brother and sister went out to find out the news. After all, the physical strength of monsters is much stronger than that of humans, so Han Chang still let him rest for a while intentionally or unintentionally, while he and his sister took care of the odd things.
work. For example, gathering intelligence, this is what they are doing.
Have four girls passed by here? There seems to be no such news. Rather, the question is too general and people don’t know how to answer it. Some people say that not long ago, the group of girls from outside was only three people at most, and there were no sisters who looked similar.
.
In the afternoon, Han Chang came back first. He was not in a very good mood. He didn't say anything when he entered the room. He only drank the cold tea on the table. Xie Zhe asked him where his sister had gone, and he waved his hand.
, said helplessly:
"A mediocre person has discredited... Wenjiu. She was not convinced, so she argued with others."
"What? At this time, why is there still such news?"
"Maybe he has been too active recently and finally attracted some people's attention."
"Is it okay to ask Yingying? If she gets into a dispute with others over the topic of warming wine, I'm afraid things will not end well."
Of course, what Xie Zhe was most worried about was not Wenjiu, but his senior brother and his former fiancée. No matter what Zhongli Wenjiu had done, whether it was true or not, he at least didn't like Han Sheng and Wen Ying being dragged into unnecessary trouble.
Hanshang shook his head and said:
"I'm done arguing with others, but I can't deal with you. The little girl is too young and loves to make trouble."
"You, you have to speak clearly."
So Han Zhang told him everything that happened. They went to inquire about Ling Huan and the others early in the morning. They didn't get the key information, but their ears were so good that they heard someone discussing the fox demon in the corner of the teahouse.
.It is said that several people were killed in the town not long ago, and they all died by having their hearts ripped out. Everyone said that the only people who can eat people's hearts are foxes, and they can only do this to maintain their human form.
Han Sheng and Wenying both scoffed at this. Such stereotypes are really outdated. How come people's understanding of fox monsters is still so boring and low-end? Only fox monsters that are really too weak need people's support to maintain them.
The appearance of a human being. Or, a big fox demon who urgently needs to survive a catastrophe and become a tail will adopt this risky and extreme method to gain considerable energy in a short period of time.
But this method is too bad and crooked. Only bad foxes do this.
Wen Jiu is not a bad fox. They all think so, but there is nothing they can do about it. People have no choice but to blame some groups for being too lobbying. In the past ten years, whenever any scary fox monster with a head and a face is mentioned, people can only think of it.
Warm wine comes. Over the years, he has become a symbol: a symbol that will inevitably be nominated when betrayal occurs.
However, things like poaching people's hearts will occasionally remind people of him, such as now. After all... this is how his master died. Of course, it is far more than that simple.
"Is that so?" Xie Zhe was quite surprised, "You have never mentioned this."
"Ah? Didn't I mention it?" Han Sheng seemed to have not thought of it himself. "Maybe we are too familiar now, so I forgot to mention it. By default, I told you. Not long after we first met, I naturally couldn't tell you
I'll give you all the money for warming wine. But these things... you know, people like to scaremonger. Among them
You have to decide for yourself which part is a rumor and which part is true. All I can say now is: Yes, my master’s heart... was ripped out. I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but so did my most trusted master.
That’s what they told me. The time of delivery of the message was too short, so they didn’t need to add any extra details to specifically deceive me.”
"Then... so far, it's just that someone mentioned his name. How did you—"
"Isn't this the problem?" Han Zhang clapped his hands, "They said that Wenjiu practiced the art of wind and thunder and the art of metallography. So if he wanted to increase his power, he would choose to kill people who were born in the earth.
Soil raises gold. Okay, just think what they said is right, Wenjiu would not choose to expose himself in this way.
Style. If I want to dig people's hearts out, I won't kill you even to the skin and bones. It's not about how big my appetite is, but it's about not leaving any evidence. Wenjiu is so cautious and hasn't been discovered for more than ten years. How could it be possible here?
At this time, the truth is revealed? Then he has really been lying all these years in vain."
"..."
Xie Zhe was speechless for a moment. Although Han Chang was right, he was becoming more and more rude to his brother.
"But why did Yingying get into a quarrel with them?"
"I'm used to such slander. In the past, I might have slapped the chopstick holder on the table and let the sticks penetrate their throats - just kidding, just bypass the vital point, after all
It's just a warning. Besides, I don't want to kill anyone. I just want them to be in my presence.
Sometimes I shut up. Later, I took it lightly and let them say it. Don't let me fall into a dilemma and have nowhere to argue. But it was different when I asked Yingying. Although Wenjiu had confirmed that he was dealing with evil spirits,
She still doesn't want to hear other people say bad things about Wenjiu... Well, I can understand, it's just..."
Xie Zhe nodded and said, "I understand what you mean. So you are saying that Wenying had a quarrel with them?"
"Yes, I pulled her away. As soon as we left the store, she started arguing with me. I repeatedly emphasized to her that doing so would not only be detrimental to Wenjiu's reputation, but would also put us in danger. But she
How can I listen to someone who is upright and vigorous at this age? She thinks I have changed. I admit, I used to fall out immediately for anyone who said bad things about him. But now, I can finally be more mature and not do those naive things.
, regardless of the consequences. But she felt that I had become bad: she said that I had become weak, timid and afraid of getting into trouble, and I was not loyal. I used to let her fool around, and I would wait for her to calm down before talking slowly.
It makes sense. But by this time, she was tired of hearing everything and didn't want to do anything. She just wanted to vent her emotions. To put it bluntly, I can only wait for you to lose your temper before talking to you. Anyway, she has been like this before, so there is no need.
Too worried."
Xie Zhe sighed softly. It turned out that the brother and sister were having an argument, and Wenying was in mood and didn't want to come back. He stood up and walked two steps in the room, glanced out the window, and then looked away.
"About that rumor... is there a possibility that someone did it deliberately - to slander Wen Jiu? There are three situations, one is purely against him, one is framed, and the other is under the influence of Wen Jiu.
Use him. If it was really Wenjiu who killed him... why didn't he do it simply and beautifully, unlike every time in the past? Why did he use this method to expose the traces that he had worked so hard to hide for ten years? Is someone forcing him?
? Or is his purpose just to attract someone’s attention?”
