Righteous rainy season.

At first it was a drizzle, and the raindrops were light, like tiny fluff on the face. But the rain soon became heavier, and from time to time there was rolling thunder in the hazy clouds, as if to herald the arrival of a majestic rainstorm.

Only one night has passed since bidding farewell to the Qi family compound. It stands to reason that the next night you will be able to see the village on the edge of Huansha City. But before evening, the sky was overcast. Before the rain fell heavier, I never thought that an old yellow horse had stumbled on the muddy road, and there was no way to go any further.

The good news is that the shadow of the post station can already be seen as far as the eye can see. The bad news is that when they get there, there are no more rooms left. There is only one inn here, which stands between two large cities, and it is not uncommon for them to be full.

The coachman often came and went here, and he had a good relationship with the shopkeeper, he could tie his horse, and there was a firewood house to make do. But the master and apprentice are not easy to achieve. The coachman collected the money, and it was indeed incompetent not to deliver it to the place. So he borrowed them a white-maned red horse, and said to them:

"Less than three miles further on, there are a few families. There are two pomegranate trees planted in front of the house, and you can see it at a glance when the flowers are blooming. Even if you knock on the door and say that it was entrusted by Coachman Liu, the old lady will know and will prepare a room for you. The horse is there, and I'll go over and get it. I'm really sorry for the two of you. ”

So the master and apprentice braved the increasing rain and rode all the way over. Within a quarter of an hour, I saw a small house with two red pomegranate trees at the door. They knocked on the door for a long time, and finally waited for an elderly woman. It took Shanhai a lot of words to make her understand their intentions. She burst into laughter and went to prepare the room for them.

The yard was not big or small, and it seemed a little empty compared to a lonely old lady. The chickens in the coop were huddled tightly in the wooden house, and the big rooster standing guard with a striking red crown like a pomegranate flower glared warily at the two visitors.

Not long after entering the house, there was another thunderstorm, and the pouring rain poured down, as if the Tianhe River had burst its embankment. It was not yet night, and it was already dark and I couldn't see the northwest clearly.

Fortunately, most of the rain was isolated in the house, and it was not too difficult for Shanhai to communicate with the old woman. After a few simple words, they figured out that the old lady's son died of illness, and he and Liu Chefu were like brothers, so he supported the old man for him.

"And when is he ...... Come back...... ”

After cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks, the old lady asked him this. Shanhai didn't know, but from her slightly anxious look, she could see that there seemed to be something unspeakable, and she needed someone at home to help.

So he really asked, and the old woman just said:

"It's raining so hard today, so it won't come tomorrow."

At that time, neither he nor Ah Luan understood what it meant. They didn't think about it, but the next day they understood.

This night, the mountains and seas did not sleep steadily. The rain was heavy and pounding on the fragile window panels fiercely. Half-asleep and half-awake, he vaguely heard the neighing of horses and the noise of chickens, and he didn't know if it was reality.

The rain fell overnight and stopped. When it was just dawn, the air was still very cold. Shanhai got up and saw the old woman standing at the door in a daze. He went up and found the corpse of a sparrow lying at the old woman's feet.

"...... this?"

The old woman sighed, and finally told the story of the matter.

I don't know when the corpses of small animals appear in front of the old woman's house, every day. Most of them are mice, birds, and larger ones are hedgehogs and even snakes. They are all dead without exception. Every morning, these corpses would appear in front of the old woman's house on time, and it was terrifying.

Ah Luan also woke up at this time and heard two or three.

"Is it the neighborhood kid who is playing tricks?"

The old woman shook her head, saying that there were few children nearby, and she remembered clearly, they were all good children. What's more, some animals are not so easy to find and so easy to catch. If it is said that there are thieves and intimidation, who can a septuagenarian woman threaten, and who is worth threatening? This fact is strange.

"Nothing else, and the chickens in the yard have never been lost."

Shan Hai carefully observed the corpse of the bird and found that it had deep marks on its body, as if it had been done by a wild beast.

"Are those bodies from before still there?" Shanhai asked.

"Whoever can stand it, I'll bury it in the woodland."

The sun has risen. It rained all night, the air was clean, and the sun hadn't warmed up the land, so it was a good time to relax. Just looking at the dead bird on the table, it's really a terrible scenery.

Blame the poor too.

The old woman was sprinkling food on the chickens, and occasionally other birds flew in, and she threw more at them.

"Have there been any other living creatures in the courtyard?"

"I've had a big yellow-haired old cat for seven or eight years...... Somehow, maybe I blamed me for not taking good care of me and ran away by myself. ”

Shanhai stared at the tooth marks again, not like they were left by a cat.

Now the old woman brought some hay and prepared to feed the horses. Ah Luan followed him to look, and when he came back, he said that the horse seemed to be very tired, as if he had been frightened last night.

Don't steal chickens, don't hurt people, and specifically bring dead things to tease people, except for monsters, I can't think of anything else.

Because of the kindness of this meal, Shanhai decided to take care of this idle business.

When it was approaching the Dragon Boat Festival, Rin Shanhai asked the old woman for some realgar wine. At dusk, he sprinkled his drinks in a semicircle in front of the main entrance. In order to prevent the monster from sniffing out the wine, he deliberately put a charm to cover his breath. People and animals can still smell, but this charm is very effective against youkai.

When it got dark, after dinner, Ah Luan guarded the stable with a sword. She saw with her own eyes that the mountains and seas jumped onto the eaves in just one step. She already knew that the disciples of the Lyn Xiaoguan were all made light achievements. Listening to his senior brother, the mountains and seas are more than "treading snow without a trace", even if he passes over the water or volleys over the road with shallow dust, he will not stir up a trace of ripples, or mess up the dust order.

It's just that because of her, he has always walked lightly.

I don't know if it's true or not. If he was so skilled, why did he never show his hands in front of him, let alone teach two or three times?

The night was a little darker after a few sticks of incense. The evening breeze was so cold that Ah Luan wrapped his clothes tightly, and his eyes were sleepy. But at this moment, the red horse suddenly let out a shrill neighing sound, and the chicken coop was in a hurry in an instant.

Luan clutched his sword and poked his head out of the stable to stare at the door. Her mind was still dizzy, and as soon as she poked her head out, she heard a strange scream, which she couldn't tell what kind of animal it was. A black figure the size of a cat "swooped" past the doorway, as if it had been burned by something, and there were wisps of white smoke, and something was thrown down. Then the figure of the mountain and sea pursued after him, and went straight from the old woman's roof to another distant house, and went deeper into the woods.

Ah Luan felt that he was afraid that he was in a daze, when did Shanhai have such a swift skill?

Surprised, she still grabbed her sword, carried the medicine box in the haystack, and chased in the direction of the shadow and Rinyamakai. Before leaving the yard, she deliberately squatted down to check what the little monster had thrown down, and it was really a scarred chipmunk, and her legs were still moving.

Rin Shanhai walked like a fly, his body was as light as a swallow, like a stone that had been thrown out of water, and quickly swept over the scattered eaves, followed by the trunks of trees. His steps were fast and light, and he stepped on the roof without a sound of tiles, and on the branches of the trees there was not a single leaf trembling.

He chased the little shadow into the depths of the woods.

I don't know when, a light white mist gradually rose in the woodland in the dead of night. He sensed that it wasn't a miasma, but he couldn't explain why, as if the fog was deliberately fooling him so that he couldn't find the whereabouts of the little monster.

He stepped on the ground, and the dead leaves were blown away by the silent wind at his feet.

At the moment of landing, there was a distant and empty sound of the piano in the forest. The sound of the piano is like this mist, out of nowhere, but melodiously rippling in the ears. There is no slaughter, and there is no poignant appeal, just an indescribable quiet, quietly soothing people's hearts.

Shanhai held his breath and listened, slightly grasping the direction of the source of the piano sound.

Or rather, it is more like the owner of the sound of the piano deliberately taught him to perceive.

The cold wind blows in the face, and the canopy of the trees rustles side by shoulder. The nameless light shines through the thin trees, just like the fog and the sound of the piano, which is incomprehensible. The shadow of the tree was reflected on the ground, and he knew he was moving towards the light source.

He came to an open field.

In the glimmer of light, there were countless shadows of animals. In the faint glow of the night, he could vaguely see sika deer grazing with their heads down, pairs of squirrels jumping from one tree to another, and rabbits bouncing in the clearing. Even a gray wolf with a hanging tail lingered quietly in this piano sound.

Between the living creatures, there is clearly a shadow of a man sitting upright.

"Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

It's a cool and lukewarm voice.