After passing through the clearing and passing a few stone houses, there is a row of flat stone paved stairs, slowly ascending along the hill, there are three or four rows of thick twisted cypress on each side of the stone steps, and in the night there are teeth and claws, covering the stairs, which is extremely terrifying. Tian Xiang thought to himself: Where is this going to take me? Why don't you be killed like this, it's too fucking a loss. He was anxious and angry, struggling a few times to no avail, scolding with hatred, and in an instant someone slapped him twice on the buttocks, which hurt hotly.

Climb the stone steps of about one mile, it is a platform again, there are more than a dozen stone piers erected around the platform, and there is a torch burning on the stone pier; in the center of the platform, there is a square stone that is more than one meter high and more than a foot wide, and there is a huge incense case in front of the square stone, and a handful of coarse incense is burning at this moment, and the smoke is cloudy, and it goes up slowly.

Four or five hundred meters away from the ashlar is a dense forest, between which stand a few old houses, in which two oil lamps are lit, and the faint light reflects the thick and rough black walls, making the room darker and darker.

The stout man walked in with Tian Xiang in his hand, "Two clan elders, it's him!" he threw him to the ground as he spoke. At this time, the crowd also came in one after another, crowding the house.

Tian Xiang crawled on the ground and twisted his head before he saw two old men sitting not far in front of him. One has white hair and a rickety body, while the other has sparse silver hair but black eyebrows and white eyebrows, and a one-inch-long scar on his sideburns, which looks quite fierce and desperate at first glance.

"Why are you arresting me?" Tian Xiang's immature voice shouted.

After a long time, the white-haired old man seemed to say to himself: "It is not easy to travel through the wasteland at a young age. ”

"That's the reason?" Tian Xiang asked angrily.

"Isn't that enough?" said a sly glint from the corner of the white-haired old man's eyes.

"Not enough! You scoundrels. Tian Xiang shouted as he struggled.

"It's not hard to let you go," the white-haired old man said, glaring at the fierce old man.

The fierce old man immediately stepped forward, stretched out his thick palm, and pressed it on Tian Xiang's chest. Tian Xiang suddenly felt a rush rushing in, and swam back and forth in his five internal organs for a few rounds. When the sudden "rapids" disappeared, his body seemed to be hollowed out, and he collapsed and was weak. Tian Xiang was angry, but he couldn't refute it, and stared at him angrily with round eyes.

The fierce old man looked at him in surprise for a while, and said in a rough voice: "There is no cultivation, but this doll has a strange body, which seems to hide a cold air, and it is difficult to see the reality." As soon as he finished speaking, the room burst into applause. It is really surprising that a baby with no cultivation can make the clan elders unable to see the truth.

After a long time, the white-haired old man stared at the fierce old man, as if he was asking for his opinion, and seemed to have another layer of deep meaning, and asked, "Martial Age, leave him by your side?"

The fierce old man stared at Tian Xiang and pondered for a moment, nodded lightly, and muttered to himself: "It's a good seedling, just keep this doll, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse." ”

"When we have the next year's tribute, we will make a decision," the white-haired old man paused and continued, "Let the blessings and misfortunes be determined by heaven!"

The fierce old man nodded, "Since the patriarch has made such a decision, I should be careful." After saying that, he glanced at the crowd, then rolled Tian Xiang up from the ground with a wave of his palm, paced out the door, crossed the platform, and burrowed into the dark night.

Although Tian Xiang was exhausted and couldn't move, his heart was clear. The old man did not come by the way, but followed a small path and plunged into the depths of the dense forest. Tian Xiang didn't understand where he was going, but he didn't bother to think about it, being grabbed by others, there was no choice at all.

The old man was very fast, and he shuttled through the dense forest for more than an hour, leaving the village for at least a hundred miles. Tian Xiang was amazed in his heart: Since this old man is the clan elder there, why did he leave so far? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask: "Old fellow, where are you taking me?"

"Hehe, stinky boy, don't you know how to respect the elderly?" the fierce old man carried him and shook him in the air.

Tian Xiang was dazed, shook his head hard, and retorted: "Arrest me for some reason, and still want me to respect you?"

"Catch you, catch you and look up to you!" said the old man arrogantly as he walked along, "It's here!"

Tian Xiang looked up, a shallow depression in the depths, in the lush dense forest, surrounded by a fence wall, in the middle of the fence two giant trees held up the sky, and two thatched huts were built side by side on one side of the giant tree. The old guy actually lives here, Tian Xiang thought to himself.

At this time, the old man had already pushed open the firewood door, strode into the hut, tore off the rope on Tian Xiang's body, put him on a wooden chair, and said while lighting the oil lamp: "From now on, you will live here, and you will not leave this radius of ten miles without my consent." ”

Tian Xiang stuck out his tongue and grimaced at him, secretly thinking that this old man was really arrogant, but his mouth said, "I haven't eaten for a day." As he spoke, he moved his arms, which had been tied for a day, his arms and legs were already numb, and his stomach was grunting with hunger.

The old man turned his head and smiled at him, pulling the scar on his face, which looked extremely ugly, "There are still some leftovers on the stove in that house, if you can eat it hot, you can eat it hot, if you can't, eat it cold." ”

Tian Xiang secretly scolded this old guy in his heart for not being authentic, but he didn't dare to refute it, so he slipped off the chair and walked down the door.

The old man stared at him silently, and at the moment when he was about to go out, he suddenly asked, "If you don't hold the lamp, can you see it?"

Tian Xiang's heart was shocked, he could indeed see it, but he didn't want the old man to know, because the reason was too difficult to explain. Once the old man becomes suspicious, his life will not be easy. Tian Xiang turned around silently, walked to the table, stood on tiptoe and lit the oil lamp on the tip of his toe to walk out.

The old man suddenly scolded: "Stinky boy, light another lamp." ”

Tian Xiang looked at the other war oil lamp on the table, and the boss was reluctant in his heart, but he still nodded his foot and tried to light it. But the table was higher, and the oil lamp was far away from him, and he tried several times without success, and he was unhappy, and retorted: "Old thing, how can I order the lamp so high?"

The old man was happy when he was scolded, and he sneered and said, "You won't beg me?"

"I'm too lazy to beg you!" Tian Xiang said and walked straight out with the oil lamp in his hand, leaving the old man alone in the dark thatched hut.

The old man's scolding voice came from behind him, "Stinky boy, you're too fucking nothing." But it's an appetite for me, haha......"

In another thatched hut, Tian Xiang found a night's cold vegetable porridge and a few pieces of black nest made of unknown flour on the stove. Waiting for the vegetable porridge and the nest head to go down, pull a small bench and lean against the corner, stroking the belly is extremely comfortable. He didn't want to go to the room over there to see the old man's ugly face, so he stayed here, enjoying himself while thinking nonsense: What kind of place is this? That old guy can't eat people, right? Qiankun Pan doesn't know what's going on? The little hand unconsciously reached into his arms and touched it, Qiankun Pan was still there, and he was secretly relieved in his heart. He didn't dare to take out the Qiankun plate, for fear of being discovered by the old man. Gradually, Tian Xiang entered his dream in a daze......

"This kid is sleeping here. The old man heard that there was no movement here for a long time, came to take a look, and saw that Tian Xiang was sleeping soundly, reached out to pick him up, walked to the thatched hut next door, gently put him on the bed, and covered him with a quilt. He turned around and went out again, sitting cross-legged under a giant tree outside the house.