The sky has been covered by haze for three consecutive days, with little bits of frost and snow falling.
Snowflakes as big as rice grains fell on the roof tiles, making a constant crackling sound, making people really feel the coming of winter.
The weather at this time was already very cold, and a thin layer of ice formed on the water surface of the small river at the east end of Datian Village.
The north wind howled across the deserted fields, and the tops of the mountains in the distance were already covered with snow.
However, on this day when everything is quiet, the Houtu Temple in Datian Village is extremely lively and bustling with people.
The temple was full of incense, and nine large pots of astonishing size were placed outside.
The raging flames licked the black bottom of the pot, and the pot was steaming. The diced pork was tumbling up and down in the boiling water, and was fully mixed with various condiments.
There is a mouth-watering fragrance in the air.
Every year at the beginning of winter, there are festivals for the queen in all the villages.
The villagers gathered together to offer incense and sacrifices to Queen Houtu, who protects the people of the earth, and prayed for a good harvest and stability in the coming year.
Of course, you can't go hungry while worshiping the gods. The meat soup cooked in these nine large pots is a delicacy for everyone to share.
It's called a sacrificial soup.
One cauldron can dispense two hundred bowls of sacrificial soup.
What is a little different from previous years is that this year's sacrificial soup contains a particularly large amount of meat.
It’s still the meat of a first-order monster beast!
Xu Miaozhu was originally the one who presided over the sacrifice, but after she was taken away, the position of Miaozhu has been vacant.
Therefore this year, three elders from the village will host the event.
After the sacrificial ceremony was completed, an elder scooped up a large bowl of sacrificial soup from the cauldron, held it in front of Wang Chen with both hands, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, please eat."
"Sir, please eat!"
Thousands of villagers inside and outside Houtu Temple saluted Wang Chen.
This is the highest etiquette on the day after the sacrifice, which means that everyone is convinced of Wang Chen, the village chief, and regards him as their superior!
Wang Chen took the sacrificial soup and raised it high: "Honor God!"
Then put it down: "Thank you!"
Then he drank the whole offering in one go!
He is not afraid of the heat and thinks it tastes pretty good.
After Wang Chen drank the bowl of sacrificial soup, a feast began.
Hundreds of villagers lined up in front of the nine-mouth cauldron, happily sharing the hot meat soup.
In addition to a large bowl of plentiful sacrificial soup, each family also received thirty kilograms of wild boar meat.
In the past half month, Wang Chen led the guards from Datian Village to hunt in the mountains and captured a large number of monsters.
This seven to eight hundred kilogram long-tusked wild boar can separate more than three hundred kilograms of lean meat and hundreds of kilograms of fat. The escort team has hunted hundreds of them.
If distributed equally among the villages, one household would be able to receive more than a hundred kilograms!
After the new season's autumn grain was put into storage, Datian Village's public treasury was full as never before.
As the founder of the Guards and the architect of various systems, Wang Chen's prestige in the village has been greatly enhanced.
Now he is truly worthy of his title!
Next, the whole village entered cat winter mode.
A few days later, a heavy snowfall covered the entire village, and people began to live in seclusion.
Only the young men of the escort patrol back and forth through the thick snow every day.
They have also become the most unique existence in Datian Village.
"village head!"
On this day, Wang Chen was cooking hot pot of animal meat at home, when someone suddenly knocked on the door of the village house.
The person who came was none other than Xiao Hong, the captain of the escort team. He looked nervous and solemn. After saluting, he couldn't wait to say to Wang Chen, "Sir, something happened!"
The accident happened to a family named Huang in the village.
Wang Chen followed Xiao Hong to this house, and when he entered the door, he saw two bodies lying in the yard.
The deceased were an old couple. They were lying on their backs on the snow, with expressions of fear before death remaining on their faces.
Wang Chen noticed that there were black finger marks on their necks.
It looked like he was being strangled to death.
Going back to the back room, there were two corpses on the bed and on the floor, one of a five- or six-year-old child and the other of a young woman.
The way they died was almost the same as that of the old couple.
"This is Chen Laowu, the neighbor of this family."
Xiao Hong brought a middle-aged man in and introduced: "He was the one who discovered that something happened to this family."
The middle-aged man was so frightened that he couldn't hold his head up in front of Wang Chen.
Wang Chen asked: "Are all members of this family dead?"
Chen Laowu quickly shook his head: "Huang Ze is not here."
There were a total of five people in the family, including the grandparents, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Huang Ze, who was the backbone of the family, was missing.
Xiao Hong said: "I have asked people to search for it. I suspect..."
He hesitated to speak.
Wang Chen asked Chen Laowu to go out first, and then asked Xiao Hong: "Do you suspect that this family has been harmed by evil spirits?"
Xiao Hong nodded: "Yes."
"You are right to suspect it."
Wang Chen sighed: "This family was harmed by evil spirits. Huang Ze was most likely possessed by evil spirits, and then he killed his parents, wife and children with his own hands."
This is truly a human tragedy!
The most hateful thing about evil spirits is that they usually have no emotions and no human nature at all.
People who are possessed by evil spirits and have their soul and consciousness can do anything!
Xiao Hong's heart trembled: "Then I have to ask the brothers to be careful."
Evil spirits are not wild boars that can be easily shot with a monster hunting bow. They are extremely strange and difficult to deal with, and their methods of harming people are all kinds of weird, making it difficult for people to guard against them in many cases.
Wang Chen reached out and took out a large stack of talismans from the storage bag: "This is the evil-destroying talisman I refined. It can be activated by sticking it with your own essence and blood. You can send them all."
Xiao Hong didn't expect Wang Chen to have the ability to refine talismans, so he quickly accepted it: "Thank you, Sir."
Wang Chen waved his hand: "This is nothing. Let everyone be more vigilant to prevent the evil spirits from attacking again. By the way..."
He asked Xiao Hong again: "What is the relationship between Huang Ze and Huang Deqi?"
The answer is the relationship between relatives and old friends. The relationships within the surname are complicated and there are countless connections between them.
Xiao Hong thought for a while and replied: "There should be no direct blood relationship between the two. I remember that Huang Ze once worked for Huang Deqi, but later quit."
Wang Chen nodded.
This is most likely the source of disaster.
He didn't expect that Huang Deqi had been arrested for so long, and that there were still things in Datian Village involving Mr. Huang.
Wang Chen asked Xiao Hong to place all four corpses in the yard.
"Ashes return to ashes, soil returns to earth, dead souls return to thick soil..."
He took out the talisman of rebirth and the talisman to ward off evil spirits, and began to save these poor people.
Let their souls return to the thick soil and no longer be used by evil spirits to make unforgivable mistakes.
The wood has become a boat, and the water will overturn it and it will be difficult to recover!
Under such circumstances, Wang Chen decided to handle the matter personally.