The sky slowly darkened, and the caravan of four carts decided to camp temporarily, after all, now the camp can be set up immediately, and it will be really difficult to do it a little later, on the contrary, Ji Ya also stopped in front, she entered the mountain before the caravan, but has always maintained a slight lead, in addition to the meaning of the little brother who helped her, Ji Ya also has a simple idea, that is, to walk together, after all, this is the first time she walks alone, even if it is just from the north of the mountain to the south of the mountain, most of the day's effort.

Keep a certain distance from the caravan, not to mention, there is really no one in this group of guards who can find Ji Ya wandering around, it can be seen that they are all a group of ordinary martial artists.

The caravan was about to settle down, and they found an open space and surrounded the wagons, intending to gather some dry wood to start a fire, when suddenly someone said, "Look, there is a village ahead!"

Everyone saw that there were a few curling smokes rising, and the merchants and guards who walked the rivers and lakes could see that there should be a small village not far away, so everyone immediately packed their bags and walked towards the village, after all, even if it was a piece of tiles to cover their heads, it was better than sleeping in the open. Ji Ya also saw the cooking smoke, and when she saw the caravan walking in the direction of the cooking smoke, she hurriedly followed.

Halfway through, Ziyun asked Uncle Fan, who had a beard, and said, "Uncle Fan, I always feel wrong, when I was down the mountain, the shopkeeper once said that there were monsters on the mountain, and these cooking smoke came strangely." ”

"Well, I guess it's a lie told by the store to keep guests staying. ”

Ziyun shook his head and disagreed: "I still think there is a problem, these cooking smokes seem to rise at the same time, and they were discovered by us almost as soon as they rose, could it be that these people are cooking at the same time?"

Also puzzled is Ji Ya, before entering the mountain, Lin Yue had already instructed her not to expose herself immediately, not to eat what others gave her, and not to make a move when she was unprepared.

Ji Ya changed her actions this time, letting the caravan pass first, and she followed closely. After a while, two pathfinders reported that there was indeed a village in front, and this group of people was not careless people, of course, they would not rush over, and after learning that it was safe, they went to the door smoothly.

Seeing so many people coming, the people in the small village were also startled, when they knew that they were passing merchants, they warmly invited them to stay for dinner, and the old village chief personally accompanied them, Ziyun was always suspicious of this place, so he didn't completely let go, and he didn't even plan to eat what was here.

The merchants began to eat and drink, and some people said, "When I was down the mountain, some people said that there were monsters on this mountain, but now it seems that they are really trying to deceive the guests." ”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he heard this, the old village chief said directly: "Alas, this is not bad, there is indeed a monster on this mountain." ”

Everyone was shocked and hurriedly asked why. The old village chief said directly: "This monster has strong magic power and great magical powers, but the village will send him an offering every year, which can keep me safe in this small village. ”

After listening to the old village chief's explanation, everyone was also afraid for a while, if they didn't happen to see the cooking smoke in the village, they really slept in the wild, and I am afraid that they didn't even know how they died.

Ziyun finished eating the dry food he brought with him, and walked around the small village, and the people of the caravan were arranged to the village mansion tonight, the so-called village mansion is similar to the official office in the village, but most of them are built by the village or clan themselves, and the village mansion in some small villages has the role of an official office, a warehouse, an ancestral hall, and even a theater.

Naturally, there is no good place in this village on the mountain, and the village mansion is already the largest vacant house, and it is only a piece of tiles to cover the head. Ziyun circled around the village, and it didn't take too long, I heard the village chief say that there were only about 20 households in this village, and the mountain has not been peaceful over the years, and people have moved in one after another, and now there are 38 households and more than 100 people. It's not a small village in terms of size.

Ziyun, who was strolling around, could hear someone talking on the side of the road, "Sister, let's go, they are going to sacrifice you tonight!"

A female voice said, "No, I'm leaving, what should you do with Daddy?"

"But I can't watch you die!"

Ziyun followed the sound and saw a girl and a little boy, who seemed to be a pair of sisters and brothers, so he coughed lightly. Both siblings are panicked!

The younger brother protected his sister behind him: "What person!"

Ziyun said: "You don't have to be afraid, I'm a passerby, I wonder if you're in trouble?"

The younger brother didn't answer, he still looked at Ziyun with a wary face, but the elder sister pulled the younger brother: "Xiao Shuo, don't be like this, this son is a traveler passing by tonight." ”

Because of the arrival of the caravan, the village did not prepare enough food, but the caravan people said that they could buy some money, so the old village chief summoned the women of the village to cook for them, and his sister also came to help.

Ziyun asked again: "What happened, listening to your words, it seems that your life is at stake." ”

The elder sister was silent, and the younger brother saw that Ziyun was upright and upright, carrying a long sword, and knew that he was the hero of the rivers and lakes that the elders said when they were chatting, so he immediately knelt down and said: "Please eldest brother save my sister......"

Ignoring his sister's obstruction, the younger brother told the story again, it turned out that there had always been a monster on Jinhua Mountain, where this village was located, robbed and killed passers-by from time to time, and asked the village to offer a virgin or virgin as a sacrifice every year, in exchange for not doing anything within the scope of the village.

The whole village is also under his supervision, if someone leaves with his family, it is guaranteed that he will die on the way if he can't get out of Jinhua Mountain, and the whole mountain is under the control of this monster, because this monster does not go down the mountain to harass, so the rich people under the mountain did not think about getting rid of the demon, and the people living on the mountain became domestic animals kept by the monsters.

Every year a boy or girl is sent to sacrifice, this year it is the boy's sister Xue'er's turn, Ziyun wanted to help up the kneeling brother, but the little boy Xiaoshuo still knelt: "Please, big brother, save my sister's life!"

Xue'er shouted: "Xiao Shuo, don't make trouble for others!" This monster is very powerful, it has nothing to do with the son in front of him, why bother pulling him in, ruining his life.

Ziyun said: "Girl, since the matter happened to me, I must not let go, I can't escape in advance, then I will go with you tonight, although I can't promise to rescue you, but I can guarantee that if the monster wants to harm you, it will definitely be after my death!"

......

After sending off the two sisters and brothers, Ziyun decided to go back to the village mansion to talk to Uncle Fan first, but he didn't expect to see Uncle Fan laughing with a village woman halfway, and when he saw Ziyun coming over, Uncle Fan asked the village woman to leave first. has also been running on the rivers and lakes for two years, and of course Ziyun knows that a man like Uncle Fan who has no family lives a sword and a sword on weekdays, and in addition to eating and drinking, women are naturally indispensable.

Ziyun said: "Uncle Fan, you ......"

Uncle Fan, who has a beard, smiled dryly: "This lady is a widow, although there are a pair of small children in the family, they are not big, and the three of them live very tightly...... Aren't we also happy to help others, hehehehe. ”

Ziyun understands that if there is a big chaos today, there are not a few rural women who drag their children and widows, everyone is not having a good time, and few people will choose this kind of combined family with children, so this kind of secret business is not a minority, like Lao Fan, who walks the rivers and lakes with today and no tomorrow, and is happy to spend a little money after making some money, of course, high-end brothels are not to go, and all such exchanges can be regarded as 'Lang has his intentions'.

Ziyun shook his head, he didn't want to care about these things, this village was no different from an ordinary mountain village except for being monitored by a monster, and he would get rid of that monster himself tonight!

Outside the village, Ji Ya leaned on a big tree, and when she saw that the group of merchants entered the village, she didn't see anything unusual after observing, so she planned to take a break outside the village and continue to hurry at night, because Lin Yue's instructions to her were to arrive at Laijiabao early tomorrow morning, and if she rested now, she was afraid that it would delay time.

The people of the caravan were well fed and drunk, and there was no entertainment, but a few people had a tryst at night like Uncle Fan.

The night was already completely dark, and the strong men in the village gradually surrounded them, and about twenty people held torches high, and the people of the caravan did not know why, and after inquiring, they learned that today was the day of sacrifice, and a girl named Xue'er was going to be sacrificed to the monster, although everyone was a little unbearable, but they didn't say anything to stop it. What is a dead person in this era, and besides, he can spend his night in this village safely, and it is precisely because of the annual sacrifice in the village that he has no reason to intervene.

The young Xiaoshuo saw that his sister Xue'er was taken away by the bamboo raft carried by the four big men, and shouted desperately, but was stopped by his father and the neighbors around him, everyone is a member of the village, and everyone has to contribute to the village, but there are rules in the village, a family does not have to contribute twice, so their father can only choose to leave one between Xue'er and Xiaoshuo, the palms and backs of his hands are meat, but the father still left his son, which is not surprising.

The sacrificial team went out of the village under the leadership of the old village chief, all the way to the mountain, and Ziyun also followed far behind, but did not find that Ji Ya was followed behind him, it turned out that Ji Ya was going to leave, but he saw the fire in the village, and thought that Lin Yue had said that Ziyun would have a disaster, so he sneaked into the village to check, and just saw the sacrificial team set off, because he didn't know the details, so Ji Ya did not appear, and saw Ziyun following from afar, so she also followed.

In the middle of the mountain, the villagers set up four fires around them, the fires illuminated a rectangular clearing, but in the middle of the clearing was a round stone platform, several villagers put Xue'er and people with bamboo on the stone platform, under the leadership of the old village chief, said a word of sacrifice, and then by an old village woman, wearing clothes full of colorful stripes, with a mask carved with horns, babbling and dancing for a while, everyone knelt down and kowtowed three heads and then left one after another.

Ziyun watched the end of this set of procedures, and after waiting for them to leave, he came to Xue'er's side, and said softly: "Don't be afraid, girl, with me, I will protect you." ”

Xue'er shook her head: "Childe's kindness, Xue'er understands it, Childe should go, don't sacrifice for Xue'er in vain." ”

Not far away, Ji Ya was secretly observing.