When Ding Lou carried the corpse of an unknown man without arms down the mountain, the group of Miao people who had waited from dawn to dark all gathered around, some of them held torches in their hands, vigilantly and curiously approached, but they did not dare to get closer to half a minute, and formed a small circle of several people, leaving an open space in the middle.

"Ah Lou, what are you carrying on your back?" An aunt asked, with concern in her eyes.

Ding Lou said to her, "This is my grandfather, we found him up there and brought him down." ”

"Ding Lou, did these two people hurt you?" A Miao man with a shovel stepped forward and asked Tang Jiuyue and Shen Man in a rough voice with a shovel.

This picture is really weird, a group of armed Miao people surround the two little girls, asking whether the two little girls have hurt their companions, whether they have any plans against the village, but they don't want to cause the village to fall down.

Ding Lou lowered his voice and said, "These two girls are our honored guests, don't snub them anymore." I've found the Elder's body, but I can't take it down. He is on this cliff, and we will worship him here from now on. ”

"But......" Miao Min hesitated.

"But what?!" Ding Lou's eyes □□ light, which made the Miao people shake all over, "Can you go up and transport the elder's body down?" If so, go up yourself, and I will not stop you. ”

The Miao retreated, looked up at the cliff, and was silent.

Ding Lou silently carried the corpse on his back and walked towards his wooden building, and the people around him got out of the way. Ding Lou walked a few steps, turned back to the two women, and said, "I misunderstood you, just stay in my house for one night, and then leave the next day." ”

Tang Jiuyue followed behind her back, since they had already admitted their mistakes and intended to take them in, they naturally would not refuse.

The wooden building of Ding Lou was second only to the elders, and several people sat cross-legged on the ground, and a fire was lit in the middle, on which the mountain delicacies were boiled hot, and the aroma was overflowing. Shen Man saw some dried corn, mushrooms and other things hanging outside the house, and also saw some dried freshwater fish.

Ding Lou disappeared for a while, and when he reappeared, the corpse on his back was gone. He looked down at the two people sitting on the ground, his expression was still as grim as before, "What happened on the mountain, you can't reveal a word to the public. If we reach such a tacit agreement, I can let you out tomorrow. ”

Tang Jiuyue threw a piece of wood into the stove and held her cheeks in a daze.

Shen Man hurriedly said, "Of course we won't say anything about this. She looked carefully at Ding Lou's chest, but she no longer saw those arms stretched out, and felt slightly strange. Turning his head to look at Tang Jiuyue's side face, seeing that she was idle, she covered her mouth and yawned, she was really leisurely, and she couldn't help but envy her mentality.

Ding Lou also looked at Tang Jiuyue, and then replied with a "um", then turned around and lifted the curtain and left, leaving these two people here to bake around the stove, and they didn't know how to go to bed tonight.

Tang Jiuyue was very casual, half-lying and supporting her head with her hands, staring at the flames and not knowing what to think. Shen Man slowly moved over and leaned over to her side to keep warm, and slowly the fragrance on her body wafted over.

"Xiaoman," Tang Jiuyue raised her eyes and looked at her, "what's boiling in the pot?" ”

Shen Man craned his neck and looked, "It smells like stewed chicken." ”

"Oh, it's chickens, reads;." Tang Jiuyue frowned, and immediately became uninterested. His eyelashes slowly closed, and he said a little tiredly, "Rest early, we have to hurry tomorrow." ”

"If you don't drink a little and go to sleep, you haven't eaten at all today."

"No, have you forgotten the pot of fish soup and roast duck?"

Shen Man stuck out his tongue, shrunk his head and said, "It's all an accident, this pot is stewed at someone's house, there shouldn't be any trouble." ”

Tang Jiuyue smiled and said, "You can still eat so many dirty things, but your heart is very relieved." ”

The light of the furnace flickered on and off, and Tang Jiuyue's face became ambiguous under such firelight. Shen Man bent his knees and hugged his legs, sat beside her and was silent for a long time, his stomach was completely flattened, but he was embarrassed to say that he would leave her to eat alone. So he found a topic to talk about, "Miss Tang, you said that you have been to this place before, but what has happened?" ”

Tang Jiuyue's eyes, which had already been closed, slowly opened, looking at Huo Dao, "You also want to ask how I know about so many hidden stories here?" ”

Shen Man whispered "um".

Tang Jiuyue smiled slightly, and said slowly, "Actually, I really just passed by here before, and I haven't even seen the face of the elder. But when I came to the capital, I heard more or less about this village, and realized that I had missed the last time I saw the relatives I admired. ”

Shen Man was shocked, and his weak waist suddenly became stronger, and he straightened up, "Your relatives, who is it?!" ”

Tang Jiuyue also got up, holding the ground with her hands and looking up at Shen Mandao, "The Miao elder we saw is actually my second grandfather. ”

"What?!" Shen Man was dumbfounded, and he had a lot of thoughts for a while.

Tang Jiuyue also sat there like Shen Man, leaning very close. She looked at the fire and said, "My second grandfather is my grandfather's younger brother, and he has been very good to me since he was a child. But then he went out alone and has not been heard from since. When I left the Tangmen in Shuzhong to go to the capital, I passed by this Miao village, but I missed the last time I saw him. It wasn't until later, when I stayed in Kyoto, that I heard the rumors of this village, and sent someone to investigate, and through some clues, I learned that my second grandfather was really in this village and became their elder......"

Shen Manyi thought back to Tang Jiuyue's appearance when he first saw the elder, and then thought of the appearance of the elder dying tragically on the cliff, how should the person beside him feel?

Tang Jiuyue said quietly, "At that time, I was too young, and I only cared about following my goal to go to the capital, but I didn't want to be behind me, I was only a stone's throw away from him. I originally thought that there would be no chance to make up for it again, but I didn't want Ding Feng's 'dreaming' technique to fulfill my long-cherished wish for me, allowing me to verify the conjecture of the year and learn the final destination of the second grandfather......" She tilted her head and said with a smile, "This is thanks to Ding Feng." ”

Shen Man felt that she was being strong. Listening to Tang Jiuyue's tone, she attaches great importance to the flesh-and-blood relationship with this second grandfather. At that time, she did not realize that this qiē was providential, but now she has seen the living with her own eyes, but she has seen his tragic death with her own eyes, and such repeated testimony is not so much that she has fulfilled her long-cherished wish, but that she has suffered a sore spot again.

Shen Man slowly stretched out his hand and leaned on Tang Jiuyue's shoulder, and Tang Jiuyue naturally leaned on her, like a lazy kitten. "I don't know if Grandpa Tang recognized you at the time, if he did, he would be very happy."

Tang Jiuyue's eyelashes moved.

Shen Man said again, "Why did Grandpa Tang leave Sichuan at that time, and why did he come here?" ”

"I left because I didn't get along with my grandfather, and as for why I came here, I think it's because my second grandfather wants to protect these people."

"Protect them?"

"Do you remember the mural in the tomb of the concubine, there is a man in a black robe, this person buried the concubine here, and put a charm on it."

"Could this person be a person in the Yin and Yang Dao?" Shen Man guessed.

"No, it's not a person from the Yin and Yang Dao," Tang Jiuyue shook her head, "He is a person from the Five Elements Gate, only the people of the Five Elements Gate will use this kind of spell, and he also raises that kind of monster to guard the cave." ”

Shen Man felt chills all over his body when he thought of that strange scene, "What do they want to do here, doesn't it mean that the Miao people trust them, why do they still kill these Miao people?" ”

"If you want to take it, you must give it first," Tang Jiuyue said slowly, "What is given to Miao people is only a small favor, and controlling them is the goal." ”

"So now, are these Miao people safe?" Shen Man remembered that the hands on Ding Lou's chest had disappeared, and he felt that the connection between the concubine and them had been broken. But why is it still incredible why she is the only one who can see these hands, her eyes seem to be able to see things that others can't, is this a talent that has never been discovered?

The firelight became faint, Tang Jiuyue seemed to be tired, and her voice gradually softened, "Xiaoman, go to sleep." What happened here was all a dream. ”

She said in a daze, as if relieved, more like reminding herself. It was the first time Shen Man saw Tang Jiuyue who was so out of shape, and it was also the first time he saw her so weak and tired. After all, Tang Jiuyue is still a woman of the same age as herself, and there will always be times when people are tired and slack, and there will always be weaknesses. Even though she's the gatekeeper, that's true.

Shen Man tightened his arms, hugged her in his arms, leaned his back against the wall, and thought that it would be better to sleep all night. saw a porcelain bottle suddenly slip out of Tang Jiuyue's sleeve, and then coincidentally, the cork on it popped out. Shen Man looked at the bottle and seemed to be a little familiar, and when he was meditating, he saw a black multi-limbed crawling insect with tentacles on its forehead crawling out of it!

It's the black blood centipede in the mountains! How could she forget that Tang Jiuyue brought this thing with her!

"Don ...... Miss Tang! Shen Man shook her, but Tang Jiuyue didn't wake up. Tang Jiuyue! When she saw that the centipede had crawled out of the porcelain vase in half of its body, she couldn't help but be very anxious and hurriedly shouted. Centipede, centipede! She stared down at the centipede.

"Huh?" At this time, Tang Jiuyue woke up with sleepy eyes, and as soon as she looked up, Shen Man felt something soft sliding against the corners of her mouth. She was surprised, surprised, and subconsciously looked down again, and this bowed her head, and sent her lips to the other party. So the two of them came face to face and put it mouth to mouth!

“……”

“……”

"What are you calling?" Tang Jiuyue turned her head and asked with a frown.

Shen Man was already so dazed that he almost forgot about the danger he was facing. The head exploded with a buzz, falling into a blank void.

Tang Jiuyue let out a confused "huh", looked down and found that the centipede had escaped, looked left and right, picked out a branch from the stove, and picked up the centipede without caring whether it was already red, and then heard a "bang-" sound, the centipede curled up, and then made a dying state.

Tang Jiuyue felt that it was inappropriate when she saw it, so she picked up the centipede and observed it carefully, and saw that the centipede was already motionless, and then frowned and asked Shen Mandao very seriously, "Xiaoman, do you eat centipedes?" ”