In the evening, dark clouds gather in the sky, and mountain rain is coming.

A narrow trail winds its way through the mountains, disappearing and disappearing. A carriage moved cautiously along the path, the sound of horses' hooves echoing through the empty silence of the mountains.

A big man with a beard in the carriage was concentrating on setting up the carriage, shouting or flicking a whip from time to time, for fear that the horse would stumble when the sky was getting dark.

"Uncle Liu, when will I be able to get to the resting place? I've been in the carriage for a day, and my body is about to fall apart. A teenager lifted the curtain and said to the big man who was driving.

The young man looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in blue coarse cloth, with an ordinary appearance, and his face was a little haggard and tired.

The big man turned his head to look at the young man, and said with a smile: "It's almost over, I remember that there is a village over this mountain, and we can rest there." As he spoke, the big man surnamed Liu waved the whip in his hand and sped up the speed of the carriage.

After listening to the big man's words, the young man lowered the curtain and sat down in the car again.

Opposite the boy sat a young man who looked like a scholar, dressed in a blue thick coat and wearing a square scarf, reading seriously in the dimming light outside the car window.

Seeing that the young scholar was reading carefully, the young man stopped talking, picked up a book next to him and read it.

There was silence in the carriage, and only the sound of horses' hooves and the sound of the axles could be heard.

The dark clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker, and the light that penetrated into the carriage became even dimmer, and a little drizzle drifted in with the breeze and fell on the book in the boy's hand, waking up the boy who was immersed in the book.

The young man put down the book in his hand, looked out of the car, and said to the young scholar opposite: "Young master, the sky is a little dark, and reading books hurts my eyes." ”

"Well, there's no rush at this time. The young scholar on the opposite side put down his book after hearing the young man's words, and also looked at the sky outside and said.

The young man said with a smile: "The young master has been studying hard for ten years, and these books have long been familiar to me, otherwise how could he become a talented prince in less than eighteen years with the first result of the Linzhou Mansion case? ”

The scholar scolded with a smile: "How can Xie Yuan be so easy, this is the first time to participate in the township examination, I Shen Mo just want not to fall off the list." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the books at the young man's feet, and saw that the cover read "Shenzhou Yuxian Lu", so he spoke again, "Shen An, you are my scholar, but you are either dancing with guns and sticks or reading some such miscellaneous books all day long, and you don't read with me." ”

The young man picked up the "Shenzhou Encounter with Immortals" at his feet, patted it and said: "Young master, you don't know, I have been good at such fairy and ghost stories since I was a child, and I often think that if I can meet immortals like the protagonist in this book, I will be desperate to ask the immortals to accept me as an apprentice, and ask for the road of eternal life." ”

Scholar Shen Mo waved his hand and said, "These kinds of stories are all made up by those storytellers to earn your money, how can you believe it? It's better to read more books." ”

The young man smiled: "The little one has been studying with the young master since he was a child, although this poetry and book article is far inferior to you, the young master, but if I am asked to participate in the scientific examination, it will be a talent and fame." It's a pity that as a slave, I don't have any hope of trying it in this life. ”

When Shen Mo heard this, he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say it, and the carriage fell silent.

The scholar Shen An silently put away the two books, carefully put them into the bookcase, raised his head to look at the heavier and heavier rain outside the car window, and fell into the past thoughts.

Shen An is not his real name, but a name given by Master Shen after selling himself into the Shen family. His original name was Luo Yin, originally from a place called Earth, he was diagnosed with liver cancer in his freshman year, and finally said goodbye to the world after three years of fighting death in a hospital bed.

Who would have thought that everything would be empty after death, but accidentally crossed into this world and possessed a six- or seven-year-old child who died in the desert.

Luo Yin, with the weak body of a child, continued to flee alone in loneliness, hunger, and fear, struggling to survive, suffering from hunger and the threat of death, until he was rescued by Shen Mo's father, Master Shen.

Later, he became a servant of the Shen Mansion by the grace of Master Shen, and with his own intelligence, he became the companion of Shen Mo, the young master of the Shen family. Counting on my fingers, it has been nearly ten years since I came to this world.

Over the years, Luo Yin has accompanied Shen Mo to study, and at the same time practiced martial arts with the Shen Mansion Nursing Academy, just because he was full of fear of this strange world and was extremely eager to be able to protect his strength.

On the way to escape from the famine in the past, hungry mayflies everywhere made Luo Yin understand the cruelty of this world, and the hungry people killed and robbed each other and even changed their children to eat, which made Luo Yin see the ugliness of human nature. If it weren't for his own alertness and good luck, I am afraid that he would have become a pot of food for the hungry at the beginning of the crossing.

Now that he has been practicing martial arts for many years, although his martial arts are not high, it is no problem to deal with several thieves at the same time. It was also because of this martial art that Luo Yin was given some sense of security.

Luo Yin looked at Shen Mo, his little master was a famous young genius in Linzhou Mansion, and he was only eighteen years old when he participated in the county examination, the government examination, and the hospital examination. This time he entered the state city to participate in the township test, and there was almost no suspense in the middle move, just to see if he could win a Xie Yuan back in the township test this time.

This time, because of something at home, I was delayed for some time, and I was afraid that I would miss the exam date, so I had to take the remote road instead of taking the official road and taking a shortcut.

Just as he was thinking, a voice interrupted Luo Yin's thoughts, only to hear the coachman shout, "There is a light ahead, it should be to that village." ”

Luo Yin leaned out and looked at the big man's point, and there was indeed a little light in the dim world, like the starlight in the dark night sky bringing hope and guidance.

Rushing all the way towards the light, although it didn't look very far, when Luo Yin and the others rushed to the outside of Zhuangzi, it was already completely dark, and they couldn't see their five fingers.

At this time, the rain became heavier and heavier, pouring down like the sky overturned.

The village in front of me was dead silent, no voices could be heard, no popularity could be seen, except for the light in the center of the village, the houses in the whole village were in darkness and silence. Except for the wheezing of horses and the sound of raindrops falling to the ground, there was not even a trace of birds, insects, and dogs.

Dahan looked at the silent village and said in a trembling voice: "Young Master, Shen An, why is this village, this village so quiet, it is so scary. ”

Luo Yin and Shen Mo poked their heads out, looking at the village, and there was also a hint of fear and uneasiness.

Luo Yin turned his head to look at the outline of the village as far as his eyes could see, and said, "It's really too quiet, not even a sound." And you see, apart from the light in the center, how can such a large village not even have any light, and the villagers can't sleep so early?"

Shen Mo glanced at Luo Yin and said, "Shen An, you go first to see if there are people in these families at the entrance of the village." ”

Luo Yin agreed, put on the coat in the car, took the hat, took out a long knife from the bottom of the car, stepped into the rain, stepped out gently, tried not to make a sound, and walked towards the entrance of the village.

Luo Yin was on guard and cautiously came to the gate of the house on the left side of the village. I saw that the gate of the fence was hidden, and after calling a few times, I found that there was no response, so I gently pushed open the gate and slowly entered the courtyard step by step.

There are three rooms in the courtyard, all of which have open doors. Luo Yin cautiously stepped into the first room on the left, took out the fire fold in his arms and lit it, and under the light of the fire, the whole room was in view.

I saw that the seats in the room were placed in an orderly manner, but they were full of thick dust, and the quilts and mattresses were neatly stacked but all moldy and rotten, as if the owner of the house had been gone for a long time.

Luo Yin left the house and looked for the house next to him, only to find that it was the same situation. He went to several nearby houses to check, and found that they were all in a similar situation, and he could not find a living person at all.

Looking at this village, he suddenly felt a little hairy in his heart, and he didn't dare to stay here any longer, so he prepared to go back to the carriage to meet Shen Mo and the coachman.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning illuminated the heavens and the earth, and the houses revealed their forms in the light, and then drowned in the infinite darkness. At this time, the sound of rolling thunder came, deafening, like a landslide and earth-shattering.

"......Neigh," a neighing sound, and the horses, frightened by the earth-shattering thunder, galloped towards the village, which opened its mouth like a devouring demon, waiting for its prey to fall into its net.

"The horse was frightened, and the young master quickly grabbed the handrail and sat down. The big man shouted behind him.

The sound of horses' hooves echoing through the village, and the big man nervously controlled the carriage from overturning. And Luo Yin looked at the carriage and rushed towards the village, not caring about doubts, and ran after the carriage.

The frightened horse galloped fast, and disappeared into the darkness in a blink of an eye, Luo Yin had to prick up his ears and run after the sound of the horse's hooves.

It didn't take long for the sound of the horses' hooves to get quieter and quieter, and at last they disappeared completely, completely muffled by the sound of the rain. Luo Yin chased in the direction where the voice disappeared and struggled on the muddy road in the village.

"Young master, young master, where are you?" Luo Yin called Shen Mo loudly, but in the crackling sound of the heavy rain falling to the ground, how far could his shout be transmitted, and whether he could let Shen Mo and them hear it.

In the dark, Luo Yin was holding a long knife, completely unaware of where to look. After a few turns, he began to feel a little frightened, in this strange and strange village, he was the only one left, the boundless darkness surrounded him, and the only thing that accompanied him was loneliness, fear and darkness.

Suddenly, he thought of the lighted place, where if they couldn't find him, they would probably go, and it was better to go there and find them than to spin around like a fly without a head.

Glancing at the bright light on the back, Luo Yin clenched the long knife in his hand, stepped on the muddy road in the dark, and walked there step by step, shouting the names of Shen Mo and Dahan as he walked......