The person who ran out was not only Manman, but also her parents, who also kowtowed again and again, only hoping that Yu Wuwang and Jiangcheng Taishou could let the old woman go, they burst into tears and said sincerely: "Grandmother is old, and her body is already at the end of her strong crossbow?" Where can you suffer from prison? If the national teacher insists on taking people away, he will take me away, and I am willing to take the guilt of my grandmother! ”

Jade Hopeless narrowed his eyes slightly.

His expression was cloudy, obviously standing on the verge of an outburst, Jiang Cheng was too afraid that something would happen, so he hurriedly stood in front of him.

"The state has a national law, and the family has family rules, how can there be a law to resist crimes? Your grandmother is too old to suffer, so why don't you want to think about the suffering of the girl she sank into the river in previous years? Don't they have relatives of their own? The sin of this old woman is at the discretion of the government. Get out of the way, and if you continue to get in the way, don't blame me for being rude. ”

Manman choked up, scared, but still refused to get out of the way.

She has been with her grandmother all these years, and I don't know how many dirty things she has seen, although her hands are clean from beginning to end and have not hurt anyone, but they are also equivalent to being accomplices.

"No, grandmother can't go ........"

Hearing that the people of the government were going to take the old woman away, the people in the village were all fried, especially those who were already old, and they couldn't even hold back their emotions, so they said with a handful of snot and tears: "Master Guoshi, please don't take your mother-in-law away, she is the hope of our entire village, if she has three longs and two shorts, the people of our entire village will be angered by the river god, and I don't know how many will die at that time!" Have mercy on her, and let her go for the sake of so many lives in the village and outside the village. ”

"Yes, Master Guoshi, since that girl knows you, then you can take her away, we will not stop her, but my mother-in-law can't go."

If one of the living sacrifices is gone, and another is gone, if the person who presides over the sacrifice is gone, who will be on top?

In the whole village, only the mother-in-law knows those magic skills, if she is gone, the priest's inheritance will be broken! Thinking of the anger that the river god might bring, some people were so frightened that their legs went limp, and their heads hit the ground again and again, even blood oozed from the wounds, and they did not frown.

Faced with this situation, Yu's hopeless expression became more and more gloomy.

Seeing that this man was showing signs of anger, Jiang Cheng was too afraid that something would happen, so he hurriedly stood up and played a round: "If you continue like this, you will be charged with intending to murder the imperial court officials, and the person who took the lead may be exiled from all over the house, aren't you afraid at all?"

With the words of Jiangcheng Taishou, the surrounding soldiers lit up their weapons one after another.

The cold light flashed, and people subconsciously turned their eyes, and no one dared to meet the cold blade.

Most people are afraid of death, after all, there is only one life, and everything will be turned to ashes when they die, but there are also people who are not afraid of death, not only do they see not many weapons, but they also rush forward.

"If you insist on taking your mother-in-law away, kill us, anyway, the river god sacrifice is not completed, and the river god will be angry with us at that time, and we will die sooner or later, so it's better to close our eyes early and suffer less!"

The government refused to give in, and the people refused to give in when they thought of their lifeline, and in the chaos, many people even ran home to get the weapons they had in hand, putting on a posture of wanting to fight the government to the death.

"Either keep your mother-in-law or all of them, you can choose for yourself!"

Before, they knew how to hide their careful thoughts, but now after learning that it was useless to intercede, they simply threatened, this kind of situation has never happened once since ancient times, which really made Yu Hopeless open his eyes. At this time, he was standing on the verge of an outburst, if it weren't for Jiang Chengtai guarding in front of him, I am afraid he would have been unable to control it.

Yu Wuwang sneered, and was about to speak, but was preempted by the old woman who had not said a word since just now: "The National Teacher doesn't need to be angry, they don't mean to threaten you, it's just that the poor man wants to find a way to live for himself." They are different from you, you are noble, you have never suffered hardship, your home must be full of gold, silver and jewelry, silk and satin, but they are different, relying on these few acres of thin fields to live, it is not easy, and in troubled times, if you encounter disasters again, it is really better to live than to die. ”

"But will the river god really protect you? Nothing should be used as a reason to kill. ”

The old woman's eyes were half-lowered, and a desolate smile appeared on her wrinkled face: "Master Guoshi, you are right. Over the years, we have worshiped the river god every year, but there are times when there are disasters, so it can be seen that the protection of the river god is not always there, but the national teacher, do you know what faith is? ”

"It's like a light in the dark, if the light goes out, people will fall into the dark, they won't find their way, and when they panic, they're prone to do unreasonable things."

Yu Wuwang's eyes narrowed slightly: "You are also threatening me?"

The old woman looked at Yu Hopeless fixedly, silent for a long time, and didn't know what she was thinking, and suddenly showed a strange expression.

"The old woman is already half buried in the ground, and she is a country woman, with no power and no power, how dare she threaten the national teacher? It's just that I want to make a deal with you, Master Guoshi. ”

The person who is on the verge of disaster is clearly her, but she seems so calm, as if she had expected her end, her expression is frank, and she has no intention of hiding it at all. Such an old woman aroused Yu Wuwang's interest at all. There are soldiers and Jiang Cheng Taishou on the other villagers' side, but there is no need for him to worry, just take care of the old woman's affairs.

"What do you want to do with me?"

The old woman's gaze swept over the faces of the people around her one by one, as if she was emotional, and she seemed to be helpless: "I will go back to the yamen with the national teacher, and those villagers will be persuaded by me, and they will definitely let them get out of the way, this girl surnamed Luo, you can also take it away." With my prestige, it's not hard to do these things. ”

Luo Lian'er, who was mentioned at first glance, stiffened, and asked in surprise, "Why are you doing this?"

At this time, the old woman's eyes were not on him, but stared directly at Yu Wuwang, the decision-maker: "Is the National Teacher willing to agree?"

Yu Wuwang frowned, his expression as confused as Luo Lian'er.

He had the same question in his mind: "Why are you doing this?" What do you want from me? ”

The old woman confessed, "Abolish this bad habit."

Her answer was something that no one had imagined, and even Jiang Cheng Taishou, who was in front of Yu Wuhope, couldn't help but glance back in surprise.

Yu Wuwang suspected that he had misheard, and asked again, "Why?"

There were many soldiers in a circle around them, and with them on one side, those ordinary people did not dare to come forward even if they had a few hundred courages, but only stood in place, watching the old woman talk from a distance.

The old woman deliberately lowered her voice, and they could not hear half of the words at all, and only a few people who were close together could hear the specific content.

"When I was very young, I saw my grandmother perform a sacrifice to the river god and I saw her push a familiar girl into the river. At that time, they were far less merciful than we are now, let alone feeding poison, and it was rare to knock people unconscious. Living sacrifices are often pushed alive into the water and eventually drowned in despair. At that time, I didn't know that I would take over the mantle one day, and I secretly vowed in my heart that I would never stay away when I grew up, and it was best to marry far away and never return here. Later, as the years went on, I realized that I was wrong. ”

In the sympathetic or confused eyes of several people, the old lady smiled dryly: "I wanted to escape here more than once, but after I really escaped, I found that I had nowhere to go, a little girl ran out of the house alone, and she couldn't even guarantee the most basic food and clothing, why live outside?" Forced by reality, I had to go back to the village. ”

After returning to the village, she learned that her grandmother had been cultivating her as the next sacrifice, and she suddenly ran away from home, leaving her grandmother, who had always loved her, sick in bed.

I wanted to escape the responsibility that might fall on my shoulders, but I never expected that this time, the responsibility would come faster.

In order to survive and for the sake of her family, she can only choose the position of succession to the sacrifice, and she will do it now.

The cloudy eyes slowly closed, and the old woman felt the wind passing by her side, and only felt creepy: "In your eyes, I should be an unforgivable devil, I have killed so many lives in my hands, and I deserve to live in this world in peace?" ”

All of them frowned, and their expressions were solemn.

It would be too far-fetched to say that anyone is at fault, the people of this village just want to find a glimmer of life for themselves in the troubled times, and they are helpless to do so. But when I think about it, how innocent are those girls who were pushed into the river as living sacrifices for no reason?

For a while, no one could speak, only Manman was alone, kneeling on the ground and crying.

"Grandmother, you are not that kind of person, I know, I have seen it more than once, after the end of the river god festival, you secretly wiped your tears in the courtyard, and sometimes burned paper money for them, and you wrote down the name of each of them on paper, and you also specially set up a mourning hall and invited people to do things, just hoping that they can rest in peace under the nine springs. Grandmother, aren't you doing enough for them? ”

The old woman smiled and shook her head: "No matter how many things people do after death, they are just to make themselves feel at ease." When a person dies, he dies, without feeling, and no matter how much we living do for them, it is of no use. ”

"Grandmother ......." large tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, and Manman cried breathlessly.

The old woman subconsciously raised her hand to help her granddaughter wipe her tears, but found that she was already imprisoned and couldn't walk out a single step.