Early the next morning, Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue ate the breakfast made by the old stubborn man and went up the mountain. The mountains here are all undeveloped virgin forests. The locals are cultivating land in the hills around the village, but the land is also limited, and the mountains here are well preserved.

Ji Ziyue walked all the way with a sketchpad on his back, and Shen Zezhi followed him, with a camera around his neck, looking like a curious tourist. The villagers in the mountains were very hardworking, and Shen Zezhi felt that they had gotten up early enough, but as soon as they went out, they found that the villagers had already gone out to the fields.

Ji Ziyue walked out of the village and said to Shen Zezhi beside him: "Team leader, have you noticed it, the people in the village don't seem to be curious about us at all." ”

Shen Zezhi nodded: "Yes, they are very xenophobic." Generally speaking, when outsiders come to the village, curiosity is the most normal expression. But the villagers, whether they were old people, adults or children, looked at us with wary eyes. There is also hostility. ”

Kiko Yue said: "Why is this happening? ”

Shen Zezhi: "The people in this village live almost a life of isolation, and there are only two possibilities for rejection from the outside world. The first is out of fear, out of instinctive protective rejection of the unknown. There are also secrets in the village that they don't want outsiders to know. ”

Noriko said: "I think they should be the second type. ”

Shen Zezhi asked, "Oh? How to say. ”

Ji Ziyue said: "The son and daughter-in-law of the old stubborn family where we live are working outside, which shows that they are not completely ignorant of life outside. So they don't exclude their own people from going out, but they are afraid that others will come in. ”

Shen Zezhi: "The analysis is good. ”

The two of them walked to a high mountain, it was already more than ten o'clock at this time, although it was the height of summer, but the temperature in the mountain was very low, and even one person was wearing a long-sleeved thin shirt. Standing on the top of the hill and looking down on the entire village, Shen Zezhi frowned: "I can't see it." ”

Noriko asked, "What can't you see?" ”

Shen Zezhi said: "I remember that there is an enchantment outside this village that I told you yesterday. But the layout of the village is very ordinary, and there is no trace of deliberate arrangement. ”

Ji Ziyue said: "What does this mean? ”

Shen Zezhi said: "This shows that the enchantment outside the village is strange. ”

Ji Ziyue said: "We can't ask directly, the people in the village are very wary of us. It was here that the three missing policemen disappeared. Team leader, do you think they're still alive? ”

Shen Zezhi said: "The possibility of living is very small. If there really was any secret in the village, it was discovered by the three policemen. Then it is most likely to be extinguished. ”

Ji Ziyue said: "The three of them came here to hunt down the fugitives, what about the fugitives?" ”

Shen Zezhi: "Judging from the materials they gave, the fugitive also disappeared here." ”

Kiko frowned: "What is the secret here?" ”

Shen Zezhi: "Sooner or later, I will find out." ”

The two of them didn't find what they were looking for, so they had to go down the mountain. By the time we got back to the village, it was already noon.

The old stubborn man has a son and a daughter, the son works in the city, and the daughter has married into a family in the village. These things were said by Shen Zezhi when he was chatting with the old stubborn man during dinner. Because his son earned a lot of money from part-time work, the old stubborn man only had two acres of land at home, and very few acres of land, growing a little food for himself. The mountains basically rely on the sky to eat, and the weather is good for the wind and rain, so you will collect a little more. In a year with bad weather, it is possible to have a major drought or a major flood and no harvest.

At noon, Shen Zezhi took down two bottles of liquor from the car, the old stubborn man likes to drink, and he also likes people who love to drink, so he and Shen Zezhi drank a few glasses and slowly talked more.

A few people were eating, and the old stubborn daughter came over. The old stubborn daughter's name is Yingzi. Yingzi hurriedly ran in: "Dad! Father! ”

The old stubborn man put down his chopsticks and walked out: "What's wrong, look at you in a panic." ”

Yingzi said: "The big boss's Nizi is gone this morning. Daddy......"

"Ahem!" The old stubborn coughed heavily: "Let's go out and talk." ”

Hearing this, Yingzi glanced into the house and saw two men who looked like movie stars sitting in the room eating. She turned around and went to the kitchen with the old stubborn.

"Dad, the people in the house are the outsiders they say?" Yingzi asked in a suppressed voice.

The old stubborn asked: "The big boss's Nizi is gone?" ”

Yingzi said: "Yes, I didn't have it this morning." At the beginning of spring this year, he said that his Nizi couldn't live to the summer, but sure enough, it was not there this morning. Alas! It's a pity, that Nizi is good-looking. ”

The old stubborn asked, "Didn't you get engaged to their family at the beginning of today?" ”

Daying said: "Yes." Our brother-in-law was gone the year before last. They are also the right age, and when they go underground, they are just a pair to relieve each other's boredom and be companions. ”

The old stubborn said: "I have to ask the patriarch about this matter." ”

A sad look appeared on Daying's face: "At the beginning of the year, it was already agreed. But now there are outsiders in the village. I'm afraid of the patriarch......"

"And what do you mean?" The old stubborn man asked with a frown.

Daying said: "Dad, you have a good relationship with the patriarch, you go and ask for me." This was originally my idea, and if it can't be done now, our family will definitely blame me. ”

The old stubborn man thought for a while and said, "Cheng, I'll ask at night." But before I ask, don't come around. ”

Yingzi nodded: "Hey! Got it, dad. ”

Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue sat on the table and chewed slowly, until the old stubborn man came back. Shen Zezhi asked without a trace: "Uncle stubborn, is it Sister Yingzi who came?" ”

The old stubborn man said absentmindedly, "Ah. ”

Shen Zezhi asked, "Then why don't you come in?" ”

The old stubborn man picked up the bowl to eat: "Something." ”

Looking at the old stubborn man's unkind tone, Shen Zezhi did not ask again. After eating, I went back to the room with Kikoko.

In the summer, the sun is so poisonous at noon that everyone basically sleeps at home at noon. Shen Zezhi stood on the edge of the bed and watched the old stubborn head go back to the hall to sleep.

Ji Ziyue said: "Team leader, is something wrong?" ”

Shen Zezhi said: "If you stop Yingzi, it seems that someone is dead." ”

Ji Ziyue said: "Does it have anything to do with our case?" ”

Shen Zezhi shook his head: "It shouldn't matter." But it's also an opportunity? ”

Ji Zi looked at him puzzled, and Shen Zaizhi explained: "This is an opportunity to discover the strangeness of this village. ”

In the afternoon, the old stubborn man ate a few bites of the rice and put down the dishes and chopsticks and went out. The old stubborn man walked to a house. Inside, an old man bowed to the shrine on the table.

The old stubborn said, "Team leader." ”

The patriarch turned around and said, "Sit down, I already know what you said." The big boss's Nizi is gone this morning, and at the beginning of the year, the matter between her and the second child of your Yingzi's mother-in-law was still given by me. ”

The old stubborn asked: "Then is it a day to do things?" ”

The patriarch said, "But, the two people who live in your house ......"

The old stubborn said: "They are just ordinary people who come to play, and they won't go out at night." Won't find out. Besides, even if you find out, it's nothing. We're having a secret marriage, so it's not illegal. ”

tribe

The chief hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay." I have the eight characters of the two of them here, and you ask your family Yingzi to come to the house at noon tomorrow to pick up the day. In the summer, the weather is hot, and people can't let it go, so if you want to do it, you have to do it quickly. ”

The old stubborn man stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go and talk to Yingzi right away." ”

After the old stubborn man left, the patriarch's brows furrowed, and he always felt uneasy, especially the two people who came from the village recently, so that he couldn't see the details. Especially tall men, unfathomable.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the heat outside subsided, and Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue went out with their sketchpads again. In the morning they went out from the head of the village to the mountain, and in the afternoon they walked towards the end of the village. This village is not large, that is, dozens of households. Most of the villagers' houses are not very good. The village chief's house that Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue entered on the first day and the old stubborn house they lived in recently were actually the best houses in the village. It can be seen that the economic situation in the village is not very good. But think about it, the village is so closed, they don't want to make a fortune at all.

At the end of the village, there was a small grove of trees, and there was a very beautiful bird in the forest. Noriko found a stone and sat down, he put the drawing board on his lap and began to draw.

Shen Zezhi also took off his camera and began to take pictures. For a while, there were only bird calls, the sound of Shen Zezhi's camera shutter, and the rustle of Ji Ziyue's pen.

Suddenly, there was a movement in the woods. Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue looked at each other alertly, and the two of them looked at the place where the voice came. Shen Zezhi put away the camera and said, "I'll go over and take a look." ”

Kiko Yue said: "I'll go with you." ”

Shen Zezhi smiled: "Okay." ”

This grove is not big, but the trees that live in it are very old, and they grow one by one. As soon as he entered the forest, Shen Zezhi immediately felt that the temperature around him had dropped by a few degrees. Kiko rubbed his arm, and a dense layer of goosebumps appeared on his arm.

"Why is it so cold here?" Noriko asked in a lower voice.

Shen Zezhi frowned: "The yin qi here is too heavy. ”

Yin Qi? The more Kiko looked around, he asked, "How can there be yin qi?" ”

Shen Zezhi said: "Let's go inside." I guess there will be a cemetery around here. ”

The more Ji Zi heard the words, he walked and looked, and soon they saw the cemetery that Shen Zezhi said. There is indeed a cemetery here, and it is still a large cemetery. The cemetery is full of graves, and the cemetery in the countryside is different from the one in the city. This cemetery has only one tombstone with a name on it. There are hundreds of mounds in the back, and these mounds are also called grave bags. Buried under the mound are dead people.

Ji Ziyue said: "This is the cemetery of Jiaojia Village, and the dead people in the entire village are buried here." There is only one tombstone, how do they distinguish who is whose grave? ”

Shen Zezhi squatted down and looked around and said, "They are collectively sacrificed, for so many years, such a Jiaojia village is a relative." ”

The two of them were checking here, and suddenly a few young people came running from behind, and the man in the lead went straight to Shen Zezhi, Ji Ziyue instinctively wanted to block in front of Shen Ze, but before he could move, the man pushed him hard. The more Kiko's center of gravity is unstable, and she almost falls. Shen Zezhi supported him from behind, and he took Ji Ziyue behind him and asked, "What are you doing?" ”

"What? What do you think you want to do? The leading man still wanted to push Shen Zezhi, but Shen Zeyi pinched his arm faintly.

The man shook off his arm violently, and he pushed back half a step and looked at Shen Zezhi cautiously.

Shen Zezhi asked with a pleasant face: "We just came out to paint." ”

The man snorted coldly: "Drawing? What did you come to the cemetery in our village to paint? I think you're just trying to do bad things. ”

Shen Zezhi said: "I'm sorry, we just found out that this is a cemetery. If I had known in advance, we wouldn't have come. ”

The man sneered: "I know in advance, you people in the city have too many eyes, I won't say anything else, pack up your things and get out of our village immediately, forget about this matter." Otherwise......"

"What else?" A majestic voice came from behind him.

The man was stunned and immediately turned around, the people behind him got out of the way, and several people stood up from behind the young man, and the official village chief and the old stubborn man stood at the front.

Shen Zezhi said: "I'm sorry village chief, we really didn't know that this was the cemetery in the village. We didn't come here with the intention of doing so, but we just saw that the environment was good, so my brother wanted to come and paint a few pictures. ”

The man said angrily: "Come to the cemetery to paint? It's all nonsense. ”

The village chief said, "Okay! He looked at Shen Zezhi: "We have the rules of our countryside in our countryside, and outsiders in the cemetery are absolutely not allowed to come in." But. He changed his voice and said, "This is the first time for you, and those who don't know are not guilty." Forget it this time, but you are definitely not allowed to come here in the future. ”

Shen Zezi immediately said, "Yes, yes." We got it. ”

The village chief said to the old stubborn: "Take them back, go back and tell them, don't let them violate the taboos in the township." ”

The old stubborn man glanced at Shen Zaizhi and said, "Okay, I'll tell them when I go back." I was negligent before. ”

The village chief nodded, he turned to look at the young man with an unconvinced face and said, "Such a big person, still so reckless." Who gave you the power to bring people here to make trouble? Monkey business! ”

The young man muttered in a low voice, "Village Chief, they were the ones who broke through here first." ”

The village chief shouted: "Shut up, you have learned to talk back." Get back. ”

"Yes." A few young men walked away dejectedly

The village chief said to the people who came: "Let's all go back." ”

The village chief said so, everyone dispersed, and Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue followed the old stubborn man home. The old stubborn man had a straight face all the way, and Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue glanced at each other and didn't speak.

After returning home, the old stubborn said, "I won't talk about the place you just went." In addition to the holy pool behind the woods, you can go to see it, but you must not go into the water, and you must not do anything disrespectful to the pool. There are only two places in the village. If you know this time, don't run around. Next time, I won't be able to protect you, so you can pack up your things and leave the village. ”