As the sun set, a ray of light spread from the sky, reflecting a long and oblique shadow behind the Taoist priest.

This is a village road, there are no people for several miles before and after, and the Taoist priest has never met anyone except a knight delivering a letter.

Li Jiuan looked at the deserted fields on both sides of the road, and his mood was a little heavy.

I don't know how much destruction these villages have suffered before they can give up the land they depend on for survival.

Finally, after crossing a wooden bridge, a stone monument stood on the side of the road ahead.

It reads "Shuiwan Village".

It's finally here.

Li Jiu'an glanced over the stone monument and looked at the village at sunset.

The village stands quietly in the glow of the setting sun, with no smoke in sight, and no people in sight.

According to Zhao Zhiye, the kidnapper of his son was the people of this Shuiwan Village, and the place where he was asked to ransom him was also in this Shuiwan Village.

Water bandits, I've killed a lot along the way.

Li Jiuan retracted his gaze and walked forward calmly.

......

However, the closer he got to the village, the more confused Li Jiu became in his heart.

The gate of the village was just open, and there was no one around to handle it.

Looking through the door, there was no one there.

This is too lax, isn't it afraid that there will be officials and soldiers to suppress bandits?

Li Jiuan thought for a moment at the door, and then decided to continue to probe inside.

And so on.

Suddenly, a murmur came from ahead.

It seems to be praying, and it seems to be praying.

Interesting.

Li Jiuan suddenly felt that this matter was not so simple.

It turned out that everyone was in the ancestral hall in the village, but unfortunately, when Li Jiuan approached, the sound inside had stopped.

Li Jiuan stood under the big locust tree in the open space in front of the ancestral hall, quietly waiting for the people inside to come out.

"Dao Chief?"

An old voice woke up the Taoist priest who was wandering in the world.

Li Jiuan followed the sound, and at some point, the door of the ancestral hall had opened, and an old man with pale hair on crutches came out of it.

Behind the old man, the ancestral hall was crowded, both old and young, and there were many children hiding in their mother's arms, all of whom had their eyes on him.

Li Jiuan looked at these people, his mind moved, put down the words he had prepared at the beginning, and clenched his fists.

"I was in a hurry, I missed the post station, and when I saw that the sky was about to darken, I wanted to come to your village to spend the night."

"I see." The old man pondered for a moment and then continued, "Although our village is not big, it is naturally no problem to let the Taoist stay for one night. ”

"Thank you." Li Jiuan raised his hand and saluted to thank him.

The old man smiled and waved his hand, and then motioned for everyone behind him to come out.

"That Dao Chang will stay with me tonight, Xiao'er has been out for a long time and hasn't come back, and there happens to be an empty room."

Li Jiuan had nothing to do, and walked a few steps forward to the old man's side.

The sun was setting and the sky was dark.

Li Jiu'an didn't see too clearly when he was far away just now, and when he walked in, he found that the old man in front of him had withered.

The old man was thin, his hair was gray, and the folds on his face were innumerable, and the exposed skin was rough and chapped, like the bark of the big locust tree next to him.

Bark?

Just when Li Jiu'an seemed to grasp some inspiration, the old voice came into his ears again, interrupting his thoughts.

"I don't know why I'm in such a hurry?"

So what's going on?

There seemed to be a deep meaning in these words, and the Taoist priest smiled and said directly.

"What he did was just to kill demons, and of course the bandits and rogues also killed a lot."

After speaking, Li Jiu'an shifted his gaze and stared at the old man, wanting to see how the old man reacted.

It's just that the old man's reaction was beyond his expectations.

The old man stopped, his eyes full of surprise, and the folds on his face smiled.

"Dao Leader can also spell?"

"It's... I know a little bit about it..."

The Taoist priest just wanted to explain that he was just a wild Taoist priest, and he really only knew a little bit, but unexpectedly, the old man next to him was impatient and yelled at the top of his throat.

"Aunt Wang, your husband is saved."

......

Only a moment later, Aunt Wang, who had rushed home in a hurry, was pulled back, and at the same time, the idle villagers all surrounded them in the dark, looking at the Taoist priest curiously, wanting to see how he saved people.

"Dao Chief!"

Aunt Wang is a babbling character, and before she arrived, she had already shouted.

Li Jiuan looked at the crowd around him helplessly, and motioned for them to get out of the way and let people in.

"Please say, if there are monsters that harm people, you can get rid of the demons in the poor way, but if you are sick, you should go to Langzhong as soon as possible."

Aunt Wang squeezed into the crowd and looked at the Taoist priest gratefully.

"My husband has been asleep all day long since he hit half a month ago, sleeping during the day and sleeping at night, and recently he can sleep for three or four days at a time, and he can't wake up when he shouts, I'm afraid that he will be fascinated by monsters."

Go to bed?

Li Jiuan thought about it carefully.

"Did your husband bring anything home half a month ago?"

"Nothing." Aunt Wang's eyes flickered, and she thought for a long time, "Just pick up a cyan porcelain pillow outside." ”

"Isn't there something wrong with this pillow?" Aunt Wang asked anxiously.

Li Jiu sneered in peace of mind, how can there be celadon pillows for you to pick up in this wilderness, I'm afraid it wasn't grabbed, but there was a smile on his face.

"That's right, I'll go back and change your husband's pillow, and it will be fine."

After hearing this, Aunt Wang hurriedly ran back.

A few curious kids followed, wanting to be the first to know the results.

After a while, the noisy shouts of the boys came from a distance.

"Wake up."

"I woke up with a different pillow and wine."

When the onlookers heard the sound, they immediately got up and stepped forward to tell the difficult things and strange things they had encountered.

The old man was helpless, and raised his crutches to break everyone up and let them speak one by one.

"I'll come first."

A half-sized man drilled forward from under the crowd and jumped in front of Li Jiu'an with his hands raised.

"Dao Chief, there are monsters coming to my house every two or three days."

Monster? Li Jiuan became serious when he heard this.

"What does that monster look like, and what does it have a vision?"

"I've never seen that monster either."

"Then why do you say there are youkai?"

"Every two or three days, there is always a strange noise in my father's room, and then the next day my father tells me that he is fighting monsters!"

The kid looked innocent, and he didn't know why the people around him burst into laughter.

Li Jiuan held back a smile.

"I'll go home and protect my ass later."

"Huh? Why is this the Taoist? ”

The kid still needs to be asked, but he has been pulled away by the couple who blushed on the side, and said while walking that he will eat "fried meat with bamboo shoots" tonight.

As soon as the boy left, the laughter had not stopped, and a burly young man came up again. The young man's face was dark and gloomy.

"Dao Chief, I have been dreaming a lot lately about a big river, and then many drowned people beckoned to me in the river."

"What does that mean?"