Liu Laogen and Aunt Wang were immediately shocked, with a look of fear on their faces.
Li Xiuyuan, who happened to hear the news, frowned and showed a dignified expression.
He had lived in Guobei County for more than ten years. Although he often heard the cheap master talk about various ghosts and strange things, he had never encountered any ghosts, which made him doubt whether he had come to Taoism or demons.
In the world of Liaozhai, I didn't expect to be lucky today and heard about the existence of mandrills.
Mandrills, Li Xiuyuan learned from the cheap master, are apes that have become spirits in the mountains.
Because apes are active and wild by nature, once these beasts become spiritual and develop wisdom, they will most likely do many evil things and cause harm to one party. Folks refer to these evil spirits as mandrills, and their status is the same as the evil spirits in graves.
No wonder the villagers' faces changed drastically when they heard the news about the mandrill, and their eyes were filled with fear.
The village woman ran back to the village as if she was running for her life, not even caring about the clothes she was washing by the river. However, at this moment, Li Xiuyuan strode forward to stop her.
"Mandrill? Please tell me in detail what is going on." Li Xiuyuan asked calmly.
Perhaps Li Xiuyuan's calmness infected the village woman. She took a deep breath and said with some fear: "Sir, young master, I was washing clothes by the river with other women in the village when suddenly I rushed out of the mountains and forests by the river.
He picked up a monster with a devilish face and kidnapped Widow Du in one hand. It must be the mandrill. The wife of the Wang family who was newly married to Xiahe Village more than ten years ago was abducted by the mandrill.
....."
Having said this, the village woman looked at Aunt Wang next to her.
Aunt Wang's face became more and more frightened, because the Wang family's daughter-in-law whom she abducted more than ten years ago was her husband's first wife, and it was only because of this incident that she later married into the Wang family.
"That's it..."
Li Xiuyuan frowned. It seemed that the villagers were also frightened by the situation at that time, and their knowledge was very one-sided.
I don't even know if it's a mandrill.
"I can't ignore such a serious matter as the mandrill kidnapping. I'll go to the river to check the situation. Liu Laogen, go up the mountain and inform my master of the matter. Aunt Wang, go and inform the village chief of the matter, and ask the village chief to inform the people near the village.
Call them all back and try not to go out, maybe the mandrill is still hanging around here and hasn't gone far."
Li Xiuyuan ordered, and at the same time, he was carrying a tiger's mouth to swallow the golden gun and prepared to go to the river to check the situation.
Liu Laogen said hurriedly: "Young Master, that is a mandrill. If you encounter it, you may be killed. You better not go."
"It's okay, just do as I tell you. It's just a beast that preys on women. If you encounter it, you'll kill it."
Li Xiuyuan strode away immediately without saying a word.
He had practiced martial arts with Master Baiyi for so many years, and he also hated the gods and ghosts that harmed one side. How could he give up if he encountered them today?
Even if it is a little dangerous, it doesn't matter. The master said that his martial arts lacks experience. If he practices a lot, he will definitely become a martial arts master. It's better to choose the day than to hit the sun. The experience is today.
Li Xiuyuan is the eldest young master of the Li family, and the villagers in Xiahe Village are all farmhands of the Li family. His words are like orders, and these honest villagers have to obey them honestly. However, Liu Laogen is also worried about him, the eldest young master.
He was killed by a mandrill. After he left, he immediately ran towards the Taoist temple on the mountain. In the eyes of these villagers, Li Xiuyuan's master, the blind Taoist, was a virtuous and immortal figure who must have solved the problem.
"Isn't that the eldest young master? Young master, let's go quickly. A mandrill appeared by the river and kidnapped Widow Du. Don't go to the river at this moment."
On the way, another villager who had escaped was stunned for a moment after seeing Li Xiuyuan, and then shouted hurriedly.
Li Xiuyuan really ignored him and still strode towards the river.
The villager shouted kindly, then stopped trying to persuade him and left as if running away.
"Young Master, please don't go there. I heard that a mandrill will kill people. Young Master, please stay away from there and leave quickly."
Another villager who was working on farming seemed to have heard the news about the mandrill and ran towards the village as if he was running away. When he saw Li Xiuyuan, he also shouted hurriedly.
Li Xiuyuan smiled and said, "If the mandrill was so powerful, he would have rushed into the village long ago. Why would he kidnap people secretly?"
The three of them became tigers. Those villagers who were by the river were scared away, and those who were not by the river were also scared away. But the more so, the more interested he became in the mandrill.
The pace quickened, and soon he came to the river. The river was not big, only more than three feet wide. There were large pebbles along the river. There were many clothes that had not been washed scattered on these stones. They must be those who were scared.
The village woman who ran away was left behind.
On the other side of the river, in the shade near the woods, there is a basin of clothes that is about to be washed among a few soft stones. The clothes are brightly colored and made of brocade. They are completely different from the burlap clothes of other villagers. Needless to say, these clothes are very different.
It was the dirty clothes that Li Xiuyuan asked the villagers of Xiahe Village to starch.
"He doesn't even dare to cross the river bank. This mandrill is really careful. The more he is like this, the more it proves that even if the beast becomes a spirit, his moral character will never be too high." Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.
If it were really a spirit with profound spiritual knowledge, it would have transformed into a human body and lurked in the county. Didn't the thousand-year-old centipede spirit in the Chinese fairy tale turn into a national master and tease the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty?
"Follow me and have a look."
Li Xiuyuan looked at the scattered large and unhuman footprints by the river, stretching along the river and disappearing into the woods.
He was not afraid, and strode into the forest with a golden gun in his mouth.
The mountain forest next to Xiahe Village is not a deep mountain forest. Villagers usually go up the mountain to hunt and cut firewood. Moreover, the mountain forest is not big. Logically speaking, it is impossible for such a place to produce monsters. Who would have thought that more than ten years ago?
A mandrill appeared here, which I had never heard of before.
Li Xiuyuan thought secretly in his heart.
In fact, what he doesn't know is that the villagers here are not as good as people in the 21st century. They like to make even the smallest things known to everyone. Even if they know about taboo things like mandrills, the villagers will keep it secret and never tell anyone about it.
Just like the people in Guobei County in the movie, they knew clearly that the ghost of Lanruo Temple took their lives, but they kept it all secret from the outsider Ning Caichen. If Ning Caichen hadn't been killed by those villagers early in the morning.
"The footprints are missing. Did the mandrill climb up a tree?"
Suddenly, after tracking for a while, Li Xiuyuan immediately lost the mandrill's footprints.
Although this area is not an ancient forest deep in the mountains, the ancient environment was too natural. Even a small mountain forest with large trees and dense vegetation makes it difficult to track.
"Look around and see if you can find any clues."
Li Xiuyuan did not give up. He was not worried about encountering any ghosts in the forest, because the cheap master said that he had an exquisite heart with seven orifices. Although the ghosts wanted to eat him, they were also afraid of him. As long as he was careful about the monsters in the forest, he did not give up.
Wild beasts and poisonous snakes will not be in danger.
After searching for a while, he suddenly saw a small piece of red cloth hanging on a small tree. When he took it off, he saw that the red cloth was very new, as if it had been torn off not long ago.
"It must have been left behind by Widow Du. She was quite quick-witted and knew to leave some clues."
Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed and immediately continued to follow this clue.
Sure enough, he saw another small piece of red cloth dozens of meters ahead.
After Widow Du was kidnapped, she secretly left signs on the road, which was very convenient for him.
Following the mark, Li Xiuyuan gradually went deep into the forest. After several twists and turns, he came to the foot of a very hidden mountain. At the foot of the mountain were several huge rocks. A cave could be vaguely seen among the rocks, and a woman was sobbing inside.
The voice gradually floated slowly in the mountains and forests. People who didn't know it thought it was a ghost in the mountains, but Li Xiuyuan thought that the voice was definitely Widow Du from Xiahe Village.
"found it."
Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed that he finally found the mandrill's hiding place.
It is really well hidden and it is so hidden. No wonder this place has not been discovered all these years. Although this mountain forest is not big, if you want to find such a cave, it is absolutely impossible to find it unless you search the mountain.
"Where did the mandrill go?"
He was not in a hurry to get close to the cave, but looked around carefully and vigilantly, trying to find the location of the mandrill.
To be honest, Li Xiuyuan has never seen a single ghost in the years since he came to this world.
After carefully observing the surroundings, I didn't even see the shadow of a bird, let alone the mandrill.
"It's strange, how come the mandrill kidnapped someone but ran away?"
Li Xiuyuan thought to himself and approached the cave cautiously.
If the mandrill is not nearby, the only possibility is to hide in the cave. It is unlikely to leave here. This is its old nest, and the kidnapped Widow Du may still be here.