The world is in turmoil.

There is chaos in the cultivation world, and there is chaos in the ordinary human world.

No matter how chaotic it is, it is the ordinary people who suffer.

But the people of Gaojiazhuang don't care, the area around Zhutou Mountain is on the border of the Western Regions, and the imperial grain tax can't be collected here.

The only thing they care about is the year.

However, the Western Regions is located on the plateau, and the cost of income is not as good as other places, not to mention the recent drought for many years.

As a result, the whole Zhuangzi was so poor that even the robbers did not want to patronize it.

However, a few days ago, a group of bandits came to Pig's Head Mountain.

Strange to say, this gang of thieves does not rob grain or collect taxes, but they want people.

It is said that their big boss opens meat once a month, and needs to hand over a living person as an offering each time.

That is, if you eat people, you will naturally die when you go up the mountain.

If you don't want to die, you can exchange it for a woman, and you can also subsidize some food for your family every month.

Often foolish people encounter robbers, and they don't even think of resisting, let alone being poor and hungry for a long time, and hearing that they can subsidize food, all of them regard it as a good thing.

For a while, the people of Gaojiazhuang did not wait for the arrival of every month, and sent the girls in the family to the mountains to exchange for food.

Although it sounds evil, the sadness and helplessness in it are incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Instead of leaving the girl at home to starve, it is better to send her up to the mountain, so that the girl can be fed and the family can be fed, and it is also the best of both worlds for the poor family.

But the big girl is not the egg laid by the hen, send one less one.

In the past two months, most of the girls in Zhuangzi have gone up the mountain, and the rest are either too ugly thieves or children who have not yet grown up.

In this way, the only way to send the living to the thieves is to open meat.

The people in Gaojiazhuang began to panic at this time.

Don't send it, don't dare.

Send it, no one wants to send it to death.

As a result, some older people can only take the initiative to change the way of life for their juniors.

The entire Gaojiazhuang is in an atmosphere of panic.

Especially the family where the elderly in the family will be sent up the mountain next month.

Fortunately, everyone in the Zhuangzi knew how to repay the favor, and every family sent some grain and piled it up at the door of that family's house.

"Xiu'er, give me something to eat!"

Outside the door, a fat monk with a fat head and big ears was smiling bitterly at a delicate girl inside the door.

Gao Xiu'er frowned with some disgust and said, "Why are you still here?" My house has been emptied by you, how can there be any surplus food!"

She saw that the fat monk stared at the food at the door, and took a sip: "This is my grandfather's life in exchange, don't mess with your mind!"

The fat monk didn't grab it, but complained: "I'm okay, this belly can still hold on, but our children have been gnawing the bark for a month, and they are about to lose their hunger." ”

Although Gao Xiu'er was disgusted, she couldn't bear it in her eyes, so she picked up two earthen fruits and handed them to him.

She added: "You go quickly, I have promised to be a good match, if someone knows about our relationship, others should not want me!"

The fat monk was not in a hurry to pick up the fruit, and glared around: "Who are you going to marry?"

"You have to take care of it!"

"You're my daughter-in-law, I don't care who cares!"

"Don't talk nonsense!

Gao Xiu'er's expression changed, and she glanced at Pig's Head Mountain worriedly.

"You're going to go up the mountain and be the daughter-in-law of that gang of bandits?"

The fat monk instantly understood, and said angrily: "In order to make your grandfather not send you up the mountain, I promised him that he didn't come to beg for food for a few months, how can this old guy regret it!"

"It's my own idea!"

Gao Xiu'er said with teary eyes: "If I don't go up the mountain, then my grandfather will die!"

The fat monk was silent for a moment, frowned, and said, "No, I won't agree!"

"Every year there is a great drought, and the food at home is empty, and I can only survive if I go up the mountain. ”

Gao Xiu'er sighed bitterly: "What's more, those children of yours...... Little monsters, don't you have to eat too?"

"Our children are not monsters!"

The fat monk explained bitterly, although he didn't know how many times he had explained it before.

He said with a straight face: "And even if our children starve to death, they won't eat the food that their mother exchanged!"

Boom!

The door closed, and a voice came from inside: "Let's go!"

The fat monk stomped his feet angrily, looked at the two earthen fruits that were stuffed in his hands, and put them back at the door.

When he walked to the entrance of the village, he happened to meet two unfamiliar faces, and looked at them a few more strangely.

"Brother Jun, does Zhu Bajie look like this?"

The little boy in the two unfamiliar faces pointed to the fat monk and looked up at the tall boy beside him and asked.

"What nonsense!"

The tall young man hurriedly covered his mouth, a cold sweat on his face.

These two teenagers are the same Jun Buqi and Xiaoshi who passed by here on their way to the Western Regions.

Along the way, Xiao Shi has been very depressed because of the death of his family, and Jun Buqi told him about the journey to the west all the way in order to comfort him.

After all, he is a child, so he naturally likes to listen to this, especially the little stone who yearns for the outside world, and he can't wait to encounter eighty-one difficulties on the road, like Sun Wukong, to descend demons and eliminate demons.

Every time he hears these thoughts, he has to recite Amitabha Buddha a hundred times, praying that he will not be spoken by the crow's mouth.

He now regretted telling this to Little Stone, because children tend to take stories seriously, even to the point of being intimidated.

No, just as he wanted to enter the passing village to rest, the little guy pointed to a fat monk and said that people were like Zhu Bajie.

Fortunately, people in this world don't know Journey to the West, and they don't understand what kind of praise is like Zhu Bajie.

But Jun Buqi still saluted the fat monk with his hands folded, and said with a smile: "Master, our two brothers are passing by here and want to enter the village......

Unexpectedly, the fat monk didn't return the salute, and without waiting for him to finish, he waved his long sleeves again and again.

"Go, go, go, I'm not from this village!"

After speaking, he hurriedly headed towards the direction of Pig's Head Mountain.

Jun Buqi was stunned, nodded at the little stone that was waiting for his answer, and said, "It's indeed a little similar!"

The two walked into the village and found that the doors and windows of the houses were closed.

It wasn't until in front of an old tea pavilion that I saw many figures sitting inside.

When I got closer, men, women and children, surrounded by a thin old man.

I couldn't hear what he was talking about, but the atmosphere was very low and sad.

Just as Jun Buqi wanted to come forward to ask, all the men, women, and children had already noticed them.

"Hey, this isn't our Zhuangzi, is it?"

A man put his arm on the man next to him.

The latter gave him a blank look: "What's wrong with outsiders? It's not like our Zhuangzi hasn't been to the ......?"

But he soon reacted, his eyes rolled and his face showed joy.

Not only these two people, but also the men, women and children around them were all obscure.

"If this outsider is sent up the mountain, then don't our Zhuangzi people have to be sent to death?"

"And two people, you can top it for two months!"

This is the meaning of the communication between the undercurrents of their eyes.

......