I gasped when I heard the whole story.

I suddenly remembered that when I first entered the village, I smelled the smell of grass from the sun on the grass, which seemed to have a faint smell of blood.

At the same time, there are several questions swirling in my head.

And when the mad old man told the whole story, he was already sitting on the ground casually, smoking his yellow cigarette pipe, and trying to tell the story in a very calm tone.

Finally, he took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Our mission here is to get rid of those bugs." ”

"But Master, what are those bugs? A worm that gathers resentment and condenses? I asked, puzzled.

The crazy old man glanced at me calmly and said, "Worms." ”

It dawned on me: it turned out to be the worm among the three corpses and nine insects!

But I remember that the crazy old man treasured a Taoist classic called "Taishang Except for the Three Corpses and Nine Insects to Protect Life", which recorded this kind of worm, which is two black insects, one female and one male.

It is very different from the story told by the mad old man, which depicts black and white, gray and red bugs. And there is no record in the classics that the worm likes to run and eat flesh and blood in the coffin!

I looked at the crazy old man suspiciously, which meant to ask: What about you?

The crazy old man saw the doubts in my heart, sighed and said, "Things are far from being as simple as you think. ”

Hearing this, it was as if a lightning bolt had passed through my mind, and I instantly figured out something, and at the same time, I had several more doubts.

First of all, the hundreds of general jars containing worms were found in the belly of the cave during the construction of the mountain, who put them in? And what was the purpose of his insertion?

Secondly, the mad old man said that it was a worm, but why are the worms here exactly like two creatures as recorded in the scriptures?

Then, according to the scriptures, the worm is a parasite of the human body. In the story of the mad old man, those people did not touch, or even touch, the body of the worm, so how did they die?

In the end, what happened to the old man and the wandering Taoist priest in the story?

This series of questions formed a huge question mark in my mind, but when I thought about it so closely, it was true, as the crazy old man said, that things were far from simple.

And I am keenly aware that there is a key character in the story, that is, the person who proposed to open the mountain when several village chiefs were at a loss.

My instinct tells me that this man is not ordinary, and maybe he and the person who put the worm into the mountain are the same person!

I looked at Brother Yinshan and Brother Zhengren, they were also frowning, looking thoughtful, I believe they also thought of the same problem.

Just when I was about to think about it, the crazy old man picked up the yellow cigarette pipe, pointed to the woman sitting next to him, and said to Brother Yinshan, Brother Zhengren, and me: "This is Yunlan, she is the Gu girl of the Miao family, and all the insects in this mission need to be handed over to Yunlan to deal with." ”

Yun Lan opened her mouth at this time and said, "It's okay to call me Aunt Lan." ”

Only then did I set my eyes on Aunt Lan and take a closer look.

Aunt Lan is about the same age as the crazy old man, although Aunt Lan is older and a little feminine, but she is not fat, she is wearing very simple clothes, and there are no extra accessories to embellish.

But just like that, Aunt Lan's whole graceful and luxurious temperament is hard to take your eyes off! And judging from her delicate and small facial features that have climbed some fine wrinkles, she must have been a charming beauty when she was young!

"Aunt Lan."

"Aunt Lan."

"Aunt Lan."

The three of us shouted to Aunt Lan almost in unison, but Aunt Lan smiled and nodded, and then out of nowhere conjured three sachets embroidered with delicate floral ornaments and gave them to three of us.

I wondered, where did it come from?

"When we met for the first time, I didn't prepare any gifts, and these three sachets contained some ordinary powders that repel mosquitoes and insects. There are many poisonous insects and ants in the mountains and forests, so you can prevent being bitten by sprinkling some on your clothes. ”

Aunt Lan handed us the sachet, and we said in unison, "Thank you, Aunt Lan." ”

I looked down at the sachet in my hand, which was in the shape of a bag with a movable drawstring on it.

The whole sachet should be made of green silk, blue clay cloth, and the edge is inlaid with green twill. The sachet green silk is woven in the round group flower, the double phoenix embroidered with multi-color silk thread wears the peony pattern on the group flower, and the left and right two phoenixes take the peony as the body, raise their wings and swing their tails, and raise their heads high.

The two sides are embroidered with purple satin and grass, and the middle is embroidered with orchid silk with butterfly pattern. The top of the bag is embroidered with butterfly love flowers, scroll streamers and other decorations. It's good-looking.

I held the sachet up to my nose, and before I could reach it, I could smell the scent coming from the sachet.

It looks like jasmine, but it has a slightly different scent from jasmine, and it seems to be mixed with the smell of other flowers.

I can't tell the difference, but so many flavors are mixed together, not pungent or unpleasant, but like a simplification, into a delicate and elegant aroma.

If you smell it carefully, it seems to have a refreshing effect.

I cherished the sachet and put it into the bag, and when I looked up again, I saw the crazy old man's expression change from surprise to sluggishness, and the corners of his mouth seemed to be muttering something, but because the voice was too small, I couldn't hear it clearly.

Jiang Shibo also had an excited and speechless expression, and even Zhu Qinshou had a very envious look on his face. It's just that Hong looks proud.

I was curious about this scene, but I didn't dare to ask anything.

But later, because of some things, I went to Aunt Lan's Miao Village, and I realized why the crazy old man's expression was so complicated at that time.

Aunt Lan's Miao Village is not enough for outsiders, and this Miao Village has a customary custom.

Once the girl in the Miao village likes a man, she will give her hand-embroidered sachet to her sweetheart, if the man takes it, it means that they like each other and can be together.

If the man doesn't take it, or takes out another sachet, it proves that he doesn't like the woman in front of him, or that he is no longer single.

Of course, the sachet that Aunt Lan gave us naturally didn't mean that.

In the Miao village where Aunt Lan is located, there is another meaning of sending sachets, that is, the elders give them to the younger generations, representing love and affection.

If the elders give it to the younger generation who is not Miao Village, it means that the younger generation will be loved as their own descendants.

It was only later that I learned the meaning of Aunt Lan's sachet for us. At that time, I was moved to tears, but at that time, Aunt Lan .....

That's what happened later, and we'll talk about it later in the book, but let's go back to the present.

After seeing that we had all put away the sachets, Aunt Lan smiled and nodded, took out the other three sachets, handed them to me, and said, "There are also apprentices of Lihong, and these three are for Zhengwei, Zhengchun and Zhengqing." You take it and give it to them for me when I get back. ”

I'm not curious at all about how Aunt Lan knows the names of people of our generation, the crazy old man, Liao Hong and Uncle Jiang seem to be very familiar with Aunt Lan, and it would be strange if Aunt Lan didn't know.

I nodded, and after putting away the sachet, Brother Yinshan opened his mouth rarely: "Then what do we do?" ”

The crazy old man also came back to his senses at this time, looked at Brother Yinshan, and said in a soft tone: "The day after the incident here, the relevant departments sent people to carry out a preliminary isolation. The souls of those who died tragically are also imprisoned within the confines of Baijia Village, and what we have to do is to deal with these souls. ”

Brother Yin Shan nodded and stopped talking.

I was about to speak, but the crazy old man had already sensed my thoughts, and when I was about to speak, the crazy old man glared at me and said, "Don't ask again!" Listen to my arrangement. ”

I swallowed the words that came to my lips and began to sort out the magic bag in a huff.

And the others also dispersed, each busy with his own business.

The crazy old man went out with the three Taoist priests, and I don't know what they did.

After the crazy old man went out, Lihong and Zhu Qinshou also went out, and Aunt Lan and a few of us juniors were left in the ancestral hall.

It wasn't until it got dark that the crazy old man came back, and after we simply ate some of the dry food we brought, the crazy old man asked everyone to rest early, because there would be a hard battle tomorrow.

Liao Hong and Zhu Qinshou didn't know where to bring back some dry grass, and some were spread in the main hall of the ancestral hall, and we slept like this.

Maybe it was the fatigue of the journey, or maybe the story that the crazy old man told me today was so addicted that I didn't fall asleep for a long time after lying down, repeating the story over and over again in my head.

I shook my head, trying to shake the image out of my head, closing my eyes and preparing to force myself to sleep.

But at this time, the snoring of Liao Hong and the crazy old man one after another, one is louder than the other, could it be that they have to fight when they are asleep?

I thought boredly, and finally I had to count the sheep by their snoring before falling asleep......

In the middle of summer, the sky always brightens up very early.

Although I slept late last night, my biological clock still woke me up at six o'clock.

The main hall was lined with people who were still asleep, and it was not good for me to do morning classes here, so I had to prepare to go to the open space outside the ancestral hall to do morning classes.

Before I left the main hall of the ancestral hall, I smelled a strong smell of milk.

I walked out of the main hall with the smell of milk, and when I walked out of the ancestral hall, I saw that the house next door was open.

It's a bit of a misappropriation to say that it's a house, it's supposed to be a shop, because there is a banner sign with a bun shop floating on the wall of the shop.

The shop resembles the style of the shop in ancient times, with several long, evenly spaced planks acting as the door, carefully laid aside and set aside.

At six o'clock in the middle of summer, the sky was already bright, but the morning sun was still hazy and sleepy, not as strong as at noon. Perhaps it's because the mountains are cool, and even in the middle of summer mornings, there seems to be a thin layer of fog here.

I walked down the bluestone path and approached the shop.

At the entrance is an aluminum electric breakfast cart with steamers piled on top of them, and as the water under the steamers boils, the steamers begin to bubble up, obscuring the scene inside the store.

I'm curious, isn't this a total lockdown? Why is there still anyone selling breakfast here?

I was about to open my mouth to ask, just in time for a man to uncover the steamer, and the man blew lightly, and a large cloud of white steam hit my face, and the sun shone through the mist, forming a warm and soft beam, which happened to shine on the steam.

The steam rose in the sunlight, and with a flick of my hand, I pushed away the steam that obscured my vision, and I was greeted by a beautiful, cold face.

She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a plain, simple white short-sleeved blouse, and her long hair was casually pulled into a bun with a pair of chopsticks.

Maybe it's a busy relationship, in her Shengxue's complexion, her cheeks are as ruddy as fresh lychees, like a new moon, but it seems to be because of the morning sun, which smeared a trace of warmth on her face.

The curved willow eyebrows bring a sense of tenderness. The apricot-like eyes are like a pool of clear water, and when they are busy looking forward to it, they have an elegant and elegant temperament. The lips are not dotted but red, and when the lips are opened, they bring out the green bamboo forest, a hundred flowers bloom, and like a nightingale chirping softly, the wind blows the octagonal bell!

"Wait, it'll be fine soon."

She didn't raise her head as she spoke, only kneading the dough in her hand.

And what she said was naturally ignored by me, because I was completely immersed in the current scene.

Time seemed to stand still here, and I suddenly remembered that I had read a poem with two lines in which I once thought that the most beautiful images in the whole day.

"When I am drunk, I don't know that the sky is in the water, and the boat is full of dreams and the galaxy."

But now, in the face of such a face, no dream, no galaxy is enough to describe her beauty!

Her beauty is a kind of beauty with a light fairy spirit, a kind of fairy who has fallen into the mortal world, the kind of beauty that does not provoke earthly fireworks! It's like the bright moon sprinkled on the world!

I'll admit, I'm crazy! I don't even want to spoil this beauty because of my response!

But it backfired, and a voice suddenly pulled me back.

"Sister Luo, are the steamed buns ready? Grandma, it's time for them to wake up! ”

As the voice came, another woman walked out from the back of the store and came to the side of what she called "Sister Luo".

Sister Luo? I suddenly remembered the two names mentioned by the crazy old man yesterday - Shen Luo and Scarlet Yan.

Could it be that the woman in front of her is Shen Luo?

If this woman is Shen Luo, then what comes out of the back should be a scarlet face.

I thought to myself, my eyes looking towards Scarlet.

I have never seen a Miao woman before, after coming here, the first Miao woman I saw was Aunt Lan, Aunt Lan's graceful and luxurious, elegant manners, let me have a preliminary impression of the beauty of Miao women in my heart.

Now that I know that Shen Luo is also a Miao woman, the cold temperament on her body has completely changed my initial impression of Miao women.

But when I saw the scarlet face, it once again subverted my perception of Miao women, and I had a feeling that Miao women should be like this!

It looks like the age of the scarlet face is the same as Shen Luo, and the standard melon seed face is inlaid with a pair of lychee eyes full of autumn water, but in those eyes, it exudes a charm that does not match her age, and when she laughs, the dimples on both cheeks are just like a jar full of honey, which is intoxicating!

The scarlet face is also beautiful, but it is different from Shen Luo's beauty.

If there is a reference for beauty, then the beauty of the sinking is like a lotus that emerges from the mud and is not stained.

And the beauty of the scarlet face is the kind of arrogance with a hint of wildness, sweet with a bit of lovely beauty, this complex beauty, just like the peony that moves the capital when the flowers bloom!

I stood in front of the shop and looked stupid, and I didn't know what to do for a while, so I had to stand dumbfounded.

Finally, it was Scarlet who noticed me, and she looked at me and said, "What do you see?" Look again, gouge out your eyes! ”

As she spoke, she wrinkled her nose, then reached out, bent her index and middle fingers, and gestured at me in a motions of gouging her eyes.

That look is cute, but what about the lingering charm in her eyes, which does not match her age?

It's just that Scarlet's words interrupted my thoughts, and I immediately reacted, I'm here to do morning class!

So I smiled apologetically at Scarlet Face, turned around and went back to the open space at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

And from beginning to end, Shen Luo did not raise his head.

Before leaving, I vaguely heard Scarlet Yan whisper to Shen Luo: "Sister Luo, that fool has been staring at you for a long time!" ”

Hearing this, I stumbled and almost tripped over my own foot.