Outside the window, a strong wind began to blow at some point, and the sound of the wind knocked on the glass window, making a sharp collision sound.

The dim yellow lights reflected the elongated shadows of the trees, and everything was shrouded in a hazy shadow, and the dark moonlight was terrifying and oppressive, completely enveloping this dilapidated little village, as if falling into a dream that could not be woken up.

"Anger the ...... of the gods"

The clock on the wall ticks and ticks, echoing in the quiet room.

Liu Mu's fingertips were against his chin, and he repeated Liu Nansheng's words in a low voice, and then quickly grasped the key point and asked.

"Is there a variability in the sacrifice, an accident or is it man-made?"

"It's really variable, maybe it's really artificial. Liu Nansheng's shriveled lips touched, and then he finally opened his mouth slowly, "The sacrifice two years ago was originally planned by us, everything was prepared, if nothing else, it will be our last sacrifice." After that, the Wu clan will be able to get rid of the fate of being entangled by the gods for generations, no, it's not accurate to say that, it should be said that Liu Zhen can get rid of all this. ”

"But what?" asked Gu Qi.

"On the eve of the sacrifice, a strange man came to the village, an ordinary passer-by, who looked as if he were seriously ill, as if a gust of wind could blow him away. Winter in the Northeast, it was still snowing heavily that day, he coughed so badly, how could we drive him away directly, Liuzhen is such a remote territory, he lived in the ravine and ravine for a night, and half of his life was gone, we can't see death without saving it......"

Liu Mu raised his eyebrows, and said in his heart that it was no wonder that Liu Zhen was so strict this time, and when he and Gu Qi became so strict, it turned out that he had a rather embarrassing experience before, so he was bitten by a snake once, and he was afraid of the well rope for ten years.

"At that time, no one would have thought that taking in this stranger would have such a big impact, who would have thought that? It's hard to say if this was premeditated in advance, hey, seriously, even now, when I recall these things, I don't know where the problem is, we clearly have everything ready, why did the evil god be summoned in the end......"

When this evil god said it, all the secrets about Liu Zhen were completely torn apart.

Liu Mu quickly sorted out the timeline, two years ago, there was a problem with the sacrifice in Liu Town, at that time there was already turmoil within the Bai family, the head of the Bai family encountered accidents one after another, and the news about the treasure of the relict king had just spread a little rumor, but it had already made Bai Mu, who was eyeing him, have a lot of reverie, and began to plan to move his hands and feet behind his back.

At that time, He Sheng was investigating the selection of the topic of Miaojiang, and through the small number of clues given by Gu Period, it can be deduced that on the same timeline, Professor He happened to find the mysterious ancient temple, and it was also because of this discovery that the topic of Miaojiang, which had been shelved, had made a breakthrough. Of course, this kind of progress can't be called good, maybe He Sheng's disappearance is inseparable from that ancient temple, but these specious inferences have no accurate results, and it is impossible to have any more results.

What happened a year ago?

Bai Yicong went to Wucheng with He Sheng, and then there was disappearance and amnesia caused by an accident, but the matter did not end because of this, but it was like some kind of temptation, or someone was always fueling the trouble. Then, now the union of Bai Yicong and He Manzhou, the two of them went to Wucheng again, investigating those hidden mysteries. And Liu Mu was also involved with Gu Qi, the project leader of Miao Jiang's topic selection, because of the folder he found by chance, and he checked all the way to Liuzhen.

All the clues are like coincidences, but when the coincidences accumulate enough, they become inevitable.

After sorting out all these things, Liu Mu curled his fingertips slightly and knocked lightly on the solid wood coffee table.

Everything has a cause and effect, and nothing can happen for no reason, and when you connect those scattered events like beads, it is not difficult to find that all of them began to be radicalized two years ago. Or in other words, the unexpected sacrifice in Liuzhen was the beginning of all bad luck.

"If it's really as I suspect, the man you're talking about is the mastermind behind it. ”

"That'...... Do you know who that person is?" Liu Nansheng raised his head suddenly and looked straight at Liu Mu, "Young man, I just heard what you said about the truth, and it seems that you know more secrets, can you recall what the elders of your family have said and analyze who the man with the silver carved mask is?"

"Silver carved mask?" Liu Mu repeated in a low voice, "Only this one clue?"

"Yes, silver carved masks, black robes, that's all I remember. ”

Liu Nansheng wiped his face in distress and squeezed out such a sentence from his half-closed lips.

This seemingly strong and decisive Northeast man has always been an iron-like man. As the head of a town, Liu Nansheng understands the information that ordinary villagers don't know, and he also bears the pressure that is many times heavier than others, but he has never complained that he is tired. As this sacrifice drew closer, all contradictions became sharpened. And the sudden arrival of Liu Mu and Gu Qi, these clues were quickly used by Liu Nansheng as the last straw.

In life, everyone has their own awe, and there are things they are afraid of, even if it is a big thing, it becomes worthless in the face of life and death.

If you can save yourself, no one chooses to be tied up and will give up the chance to survive.

But if you can live well, who would want to die?

"I don't know who he is, but I know the rough idea...... If you could tell me more about the evil gods of the past, maybe I could make a clearer judgment. ”

Liu Mu's fingers rubbed his chin lightly, and he chuckled and spoke.

"After all, the things I can analyze are all things that I have experienced, and even if I say more, they are just made up, and there is no more meaning. Before I came to Liuzhen, I knew very little about the Wu clan, especially your clan sacrifices, so I have to ask the village chief. ”

For the interrogation at this moment, Liu Nansheng sighed lowly. Then, there was a silence that was neither long nor short.

The quartz clock in the living room was already pointing to eleven o'clock, and before they knew it, they had been talking until late at night.

Liu Nansheng raised the water cup and drank half of the boiled water that had been cooled. He had smoked too much cigarette to-night, and the dryness of his throat was overloaded, but he grabbed another handful of tobacco, stuffed it into his pipe, and lit it, and then slowly opened his mouth with half a puff of cloudy smoke.

"Okay, I know, you two can talk about this, and you can't be ignorant of the situation in Liuzhen. Liu Zhen didn't get anything, and I can only say that I know a little bit about what you want to investigate. The incident of two years ago was a disaster in our town, it is an absolute taboo, I can tell you the original story of that year, believe it or not, I will tell you everything, if you ask me more, I can't say anything. ”

Liu Mu didn't rush to ask anything more, but quietly waited for the old man to speak.

Who knew that after waiting for a long time, Liu Nansheng didn't tell about the terrible sacrifice, and actually said a word that didn't make sense.

"Where did you come from, and there were no detours along the way, right?"

"You're right, it's a difficult mountain road. Liu Mu nodded slightly, and responded generously, "For more than ten hours, I have been walking on the winding mountain road, but fortunately, my driving skills are good, and I arrived in Liuzhen before dark." ”

"Do you know that before we migrated to Liuzhen, our people lived in more remote places. In the early years, our village was not here, but lived with the big guys in the village. Our clan has believed in the gods for generations, and this is all left by our ancestors, and I can't tell what the origin is. In short, as a member of the Wu clan, they are destined to bear those fates that are almost cruel and harsh. Twelve concubines are destined to be glorious, but when they are eighteen years old, they have to sacrifice their lives to the gods, and eighteen is reincarnation, and the cycle repeats itself, endlessly......"

Liu Nansheng sank his eyebrows, sighed lowly, and then continued.

"However, we are different, Liu Zhen cannot be regarded as orthodox Wu people, although we inherit the blood of the Wu clan, we always want to get rid of this fate, instead of dedicating our all to the gods like the others in the village. I have just told you about the totem of the Wu clan, so do you know that even the most noble flower totem is also different - in the Wu clan, there are two kinds of flower totems, one is the budding ink lotus, and the other is the white lotus that blooms unbridledly, which corresponds to the black saint and the white saint of the Wu clan respectively...... This is the biggest secret hidden in our clan. ”

The sharp tingling pain in his temples suddenly struck, and Gu Qi couldn't tell what the trance-like feeling in the past few seconds was coming from. Maybe it's the dizziness caused by the lack of rest during a few days of long distances, or maybe it's the continuous night-to-back stay up that makes her body on the verge of overdraft, or maybe it's because of the fragmented memories that poured into her mind uncontrollably.

Gu Ji clearly remembered He Sheng's description, the totems scattered throughout the strange ancient temple, the goddess who had never appeared in any era's history, and the entangled and beautiful two-color lotus flowers that wrapped around her...... It was only at this moment that she finally confirmed the real reason for the teacher's disappearance.

But no, no, no.

Why are these things so familiar and unfamiliar, as if they can be concluded, and why something is missing?

What's missing?

Gu Qi struggled to scavenge the memories in her mind, why earlier, she vaguely remembered hearing about the lotus tattoo elsewhere.

Where did she hear it? But the most important thing that was missing, she couldn't think of anything.

"The White Saintess is what we call the Saintess, reincarnated every eighteen years, but the Black Saintess is extremely rare, even within the Wu Clan, there are very few Black Saintesses born. Because the appearance of the Black Saintess means disaster and change, it is a fierce girl with a spear in her hand, who will ruthlessly break the inherent deadlock and change all stability. ”

"Anyway, I don't think that's a bad thing. Liu Mu glanced at Liu Nansheng thoughtfully, and said unhurriedly, "I'm not hostile to your beliefs, it's just ...... If you can live well, why should you be a sacrifice of a goddess and risk your life and soul for no reason?"

"You're right," Liu Nansheng replied in a low voice, "That's what the Black Saintess said back then, she persuaded half of the Wu clan, which is why we fled back then. ”

"Escape?" Gu Qi quickly grasped the point, looked straight at Liu Nansheng, and asked, "That's why you said that the villagers of Liuzhen can't be regarded as orthodox Wu clansmen?"

"Yes, flee, betrayal...... That's why we will be punished by the gods later. ”

Liu Nansheng put down the water glass, buried his face in his palm, and sighed very lowly.

"So, we are not witches, but traitors......."