On the banks of the Qinglong River, the wharf made of blue bricks and stone strips is full of people, mostly people who get off the boat and are ready to pay the gold and taxes. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoHalf of the taxes here go to the imperial court, and half to Xijia Village. Because the taxes are very low, and the passing ships arriving in Crystal City from here will be protected by the bodyguards sent by Xijia Village. The hearts of the crew will also be relieved, and they will have a good rest here, and restaurants and inns are densely lined around the pier.

Next to the wharf, there is a two-story grand official house, the first floor is the place where the government collects money, and the second floor is the inn. A thirteen-year-old girl in Tsing Yi named Xiyue was lying on the window edge of the second-floor guest room, looking out the window with her cheeks raised.

People come and go on the wharf, and the village next to it is called Xijia Village. Transport ships, passenger ships, and sailing ships from the lower reaches of the Qinglong River turn from this wharf in Xijia Village to the north, and then go directly to the largest city in the Crystal Country, Crystal City, which is the most prosperous city in the upper reaches of the Qinglong River. The famous "Silk Crystal Road on the Sea" starts from the Crystal City, goes down the Qinglong River, flows 2,000 miles to the end of the Qinglong River - the Sea City, and then goes directly to the southern countries from the Sea City by sea. If you start from Crystal City, you can go up the Qinglong River to the north to reach the capital. Xijia Village is located at the bend of the Qinglong River not far downstream of Crystal City, backed by the vast tadpole lake, which is an important gateway to the south of Crystal City. Therefore, Xijia Village has always been heavily guarded by the imperial court; However, with the continuous harassment of pirates and sea monsters in recent decades, the army could not defend them, and the imperial court began to summon strange people from all over the country to deal with pirates and sea monsters. So the famous exorcist Xilong led his own exorcism team to replace the incompetent army of the imperial court to guard Xijia Village, and at the suggestion of the Lion King, Xilong's exorcism team was named the "Royal Exorcism Team". But in recent years, there have been almost no pirates, sea monsters, etc. The exorcists in Xijia Village have almost nothing to do. Some of the ministers of the imperial court, who coveted the tax revenue of Xijia Village, demanded that the tax share of Xijia Village be canceled on the grounds that there was no exorcism mission, but fortunately, these ministers gave up because of the lion king's opposition.

"My brother has been in the capital for a whole year, but there is no news, I don't know how he is doing? And after my father received the letter from the lion king and the order of the imperial court yesterday, he led the main force of the exorcism team to set off that night, did it go smoothly on the road? Mother Pan Yu went to Crystal City this morning and didn't know when she would come back. Xiyue turned her hand around a piece of black jade jade pendant hanging on her chest, thinking in her heart.

"My brother Xifeng went north to the capital, and after failing to participate in the national official recruitment examination for the last time, he did not return to Xijia Village directly. Failing to pass the national official recruitment means that he cannot become a member of this huge national officialdom, and more importantly, he cannot become an official member of the Royal Exorcism Team. According to the laws of the Crystal Country, to join the Royal Exorcist Army, you must pass the official examination organized by the Crystal Country; And being admitted to this royal exorcism team is my brother's biggest dream! Although his father Xilong is now the leader of the exorcism team, let his brother rely on this relationship to enter the exorcism team, with his brother's personality, he will never do it." Thinking of this, Yuzuki sighed. She went downstairs and walked back and forth by the river a few more times, and it was getting late, and she finally walked towards the village with a sense of reluctance and disappointment.

The wharf is still some distance from Xijia Village, and the road is lined with dense green weeping willows. The autumn breeze blows, and the willow branches flutter in the wind. The willow tree shook its head in the sun like a maiden who had just washed her hair. But there were many red ropes wrapped between the willows, like spider webs. There are many wind chimes wrapped around the red rope, and the bells sound like mountains and seas in the wind. Yuzuki knew that this was a precautionary measure, and the experienced exorcists in the village would be able to tell from the sound of these wind chimes that it was the wind or a person who had touched the wind chimes. If a water monster touches these red strings, these wind chimes will make a special sound. In fact, Xijia Village lives around the water, and the water's edge is full of willow trees wrapped in wind chimes, so that once the water monster comes ashore, it will be the first to be noticed.

Soon, Yuzuki saw the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree on the left side of the village gate. Although it is the middle of the year, the ginkgo tree still has not yet put on the yellowing ginkgo leaves of the golden robe of the previous year. Compared with the capital, Xijia Village is located in the south after all, and although it is late autumn, the weather is still hot. It's already very cold in the capital now, and Xiyue is unconsciously a little worried about her brother.

Under the ginkgo tree, two old men, one fat and one thin, are playing chess with a focused expression; A two-foot-high bronze bell hangs on the ginkgo tree. In fact, these two old men were veteran exorcists, and in case of emergency, they would ring the bronze bell, and the sound would spread throughout the village, announcing that there was an emergency. Behind it is the "terrifying" village gate of Xijia Village. The roots of two large white trees are deeply embedded in the earth, and the gray python-like branches on top twist together to form a huge arch eight feet wide and eight feet high, which is the main passage into the village. On the arch hangs three red lacquered plaques of "Xijia Village", and huge bronze mirrors are hung on both sides of the plaque. In the distance, the eyes of two giant pythons looked like pedestrians who were about to enter the village.

After saying hello to the two old men, Yuzuki flashed into the shrine maiden alley in the village.

There are more than 30 courtyards on both sides of the alley, which is the place where Xijia Village takes in the wandering witches. It turned out that the plague was epidemic in the countries of the Far Western Regions, and tens of thousands of people in the sky died tragically, and soon there were rumors that it was because the witch cast a spell that attracted the plague god, so many witches were burned or drowned. Many witches had to leave the Far Western Regions, hide in the caravans on the Silk Crystal Road to the East, and wander thousands of miles to the Crystal Country. Of course, in addition to Shrine Maiden Alley, there are other alleys, and many persecuted wandering exorcists will also live here temporarily.

Yuzuki entered the first courtyard. The courtyard is clean and clean, and it clearly imitates the style of the courtyard houses in the capital, and the northern dwellings in the Far Western Regions are also in the form of courtyard houses. In the middle of the courtyard is a large blood-red flower that emits a dizzying scent. When it is said to be a flower, the petals are actually red leaves, and the leaves ooze red juice with a strange fragrance. An old lady with yellow hair was squatting on lace to fertilize her, dressed in a brown linen blouse, a gray cloak, and a black wide-brimmed hat tied with a black handkerchief embroidered with gold filigree and a knot tied at her chin. Beside him was a two-foot-tall coarse black clay pot filled with packets of fertilizer. She looked at the flowers intently, sighed from time to time, and gently scraped the red juice off the leaves and put them into a green porcelain bottle.

"It's Miss Xi!"

"It's me, Granny Si Ran (Mother-in-law is the honorific title of the old lady in the Crystal Kingdom), there is nothing to do today, I will accompany you!" Yuzuki said softly.

Si Ran Witch slowly stood up, and Xiyue hurriedly helped her.

"Fortunately, with your company, those three young witches volunteered to go north with your father, after all, it was your father who took us in. The three of them are right, they should be helpful to Xijia Village, and they can also go out to open their eyes and exercise themselves. Siran turned her head and looked at Xiyue gratefully.

"Exorcists in the world are all family, and my father often told me this!" Yuzuki said this, as if she was looking for a reason to visit her.

"Mother-in-law, is your name really Siran? Or is it a new name after coming to the Crystal Country? Yuzuki asked. As for the language, Yuzuki already knew that the Crystal Country had become the de facto lingua franca of Pandora - merchants from all over the world came to buy the crystal and other goods produced by the Crystal Country, and it was essential to know the crystal Chinese language - so he didn't ask the witch how to know the crystal Chinese language.

"Hey, it's a long story, I also have a granddaughter as old as you, named Ran Xi......" Before she finished speaking, Si Ran's eyes were full of tears.

Xiyue hurriedly pulled a chair beside her, helped the witch sit down, and found a white handkerchief from her sleeve and put it in the witch's hand.

Si Ran took the handkerchief and thanked him, and then said: "I'm old, as a witch, I have to go to the Valley of the Witch for the rest of my life......"

"Miko Valley!" Yuzuki exclaimed in surprise, "It turns out that there really is a shrine maiden valley!" ”

"Yes, there really is a valley of the shrine maiden, just like an elephant has an elephant mound, and we must die in the valley of the shrine maiden! In that way, the mana we cultivated during our lifetime would not be stolen by the bad guys, but only the old and dying witches knew the location of the witch valley and couldn't tell it. In addition, the location of the Shrine Maiden Valley is not fixed, but the dying Shrine Maiden can sense the location of the Shrine Maiden Valley. When Si Ran Witch said this, a faint expression of pride appeared on her face.

Si Ran then said with a solemn expression: "Therefore, when there are shrine maidens who are burned or drowned, or other unnatural deaths, it is our duty to bring their bones to the Shrine Maiden Valley...... But...... But the unfortunate ...... There are too many corpses and bones......" As if thinking of the death of the many witches, Si Ran couldn't stop crying again.

Yuzuki gripped her withered hand with her right hand, while her left hand caressed her whimpering chest. I hope to comfort and alleviate the pain of the shrine maiden.

The witch gradually calmed down, and then said, "There are so many bones, we can't take them away, so we can only burn them one by one into ashes, wrap them in paper, and put them in this jar!" She gestured to the fertilizer jar beside her.

"Yikes!" Yuzuki exclaimed in surprise, "This is ......."

"Yes, these are the ashes of the shrine maidens who were put to death! There are still three jars full of them in the house! The shrine maiden's tearful eyes revealed unconcealed anger......

Xiyue finally understood why Si Ran was so respectful of the four black clay pots she brought with her when she first came to Xijia Village!

"Do you know what I'm raising this flower for?"

Yuzuki shook her head.

"Of course it's not for appreciation, this flower is called a soul-sucking flower. Their ashes are the best fertilizer for soul-sucking flowers, and it is said that soul-sucking flowers can fix the souls in the ashes in the fruit, and when they bloom and bear fruit, they can be sent directly to the shrine maiden valley. This will be much more convenient, and the soul will be purified more thoroughly! The mana of each shrine maiden will also be condensed in the fruit! The shrine maiden said with a wistful, holy expression on her face.

Xiyue kept looking at Si Ran in surprise. Seeing her surprised expression, the old witch felt that the atmosphere in which she spoke had become stiff, so she smiled and said, "Hey, did it scare you?" Hehe, I've walked out of this hurdle and come here, and I'm lucky to meet your father and you! ”

"That's as it should be! If we were to have this kind of thing, wouldn't you have helped us too? Yuzuki replied.

"Yes, let me see your palmistry, I'm an old witch, even if I go to the Valley of the Witch, I can rank first with my ability!" Si Ran Witch confidently turned her hand to look at Xiyue's right palm, her face full of love.

After looking at it for a while, I was puzzled, then my hands trembled uncontrollably, and then my eyes were full of tears. Looking at Si Ran's strange expression, Xiyue's heart felt furious.

"What's wrong? ......" Xiyue put a few big question marks in her heart.

"Oh my God, is it true...... No, you can't go wrong! Si Ran watched it several times, afraid that she would make a slight mistake.

Xiyue was even more dazed and at a loss, and asked, "Is my palmistry bad, don't scare me......"

"No, no, yes...... It's great! Si Ran's face was red with excitement, and she looked at her affectionately, as if she was a daughter who had been reunited after a long absence.

She trembled and turned her head to look at the urn next to her, and suddenly climbed onto the urn and cried, choking and saying, "Sisters, I...... We've found her! …… It's true, the prophecy is true...... We were saved......"

Xiyue slowly stood up and looked at Si Ran Witch blankly. Suddenly, she remembered the expression on the face of a Taoist priest who met her in the mountains a year ago when he looked at her palmistry, how similar it was! However, instead of lying on the ground and crying, the Taoist priest ran away crying and madly crying.

"What the hell is going on? Can my mother-in-law explain a little bit more? Xiyue felt a little flustered, feeling as if her palmistry was hiding some shocking secret.

The shrine maiden did not let go of Yuzuki's hand, and stood up like Yuzuki, her eyes overflowing with tears from excitement.

"A prophecy!"

"What kind of prophecy is it, and what does it have to do with me?" Xiyue asked anxiously.

"You are the descendant of the goddess of creation!"

"What?!" Xiyue couldn't help but chuckle in her heart. The rumor that Pan Yu is not her biological mother has long made her miserable, and if the fact that she is a descendant of the goddess of creation is confirmed, then it directly proves this rumor! What's more, her mother Pan Yu once said that she has no blood relationship with the Goddess of Creation family!

Yuzuki felt that her mind suddenly went blank, and she never listened to the words of the shrine maiden again......