Xiakou Village

After lunch, Zhang Wei was put on the village's donkey cart by his family.

Also traveling with them were four cousins ​​who had dealt with the wild boar king the night before, and Blind Wang.

The morning's sacrificial ceremony allowed the village's ancestral gods to enjoy a delicious meal, leaving them in their prime.

Let alone wandering ghosts, even if the small group of ghosts that Zhang Wei dealt with last night came, they could put up a fight.

With the protection of his ancestors, Blind Wang's importance naturally decreased by one level.

In addition, everyone in the village had benefited from the benefits brought back by Zhang Wei, and the young people all patted their chests and promised to patrol the village and keep watch at night for the next two days. This arrangement was so effective that even tigers would have to run away with their tails between their legs when they came down the mountain, so Blind Wang was naturally of little use.

......

On the village road, two donkeys were pulling the cart with heavy heads, while several people leaned against the back of the cart, which was wrapped in quilts. Under the not-so-warm sunlight, they were all a little drowsy, even Zhang Wei.

There's no way around it; it's an instinct ingrained in the bones of the Taihang people.

They get sleepy around noon. Not to mention that they might catch a cold from the cool breeze outside, they would all need to take a nap at that time, even if it were thunder or lightning.

Of course, with seven people crammed into the small donkey cart, it was impossible to sleep in such a crowded environment.

But that doesn't stop them from dozing off or feeling sleepy.

"Speaking of things in Xiakou Village, I, who's been welcoming and seeing off so many people, actually know more about it than anyone else in the village!"

Old Liu, the cart puller, smacked his greasy lips, savoring the flavor of the roasted piglet he had just eaten, and said leisurely:

"We can't say for sure what the exact cause is, but things started to get a bit turbulent in Xiakou Village about three months ago. At first, it seemed that some of the cattle herders said that the older children in the village were acting strangely, but kids, sometimes when they get into trouble, they like to make up stories to avoid getting beaten, so no one paid much attention."

But then, something strange happened. First, the rooster at a house on the edge of the village suddenly stopped crowing.

The purpose of raising roosters is to breed them and get them to crow early. Now that they're half useless, what's the point?

But then again, meat is really scarce these days. Even though the rooster stopped crowing, the family couldn't bear to kill it. They just wanted to raise it until the New Year so the whole family could have a good meal!

As a result, this wait led to a major incident. Within half a month, all the roosters in the village seemed to have contracted a plague. Not only did they all stop crowing, but they also began pecking at people aggressively! Who could tolerate this? And who wouldn't be afraid? So overnight, all the roosters in the village were slaughtered and ended up on the dinner table.

But the rooster's madness was resolved, but the real problem remained. Later, when the widow Wang's little girl was feeding the pigs, she somehow slipped and fell into the pigpen. When the adults found her, all that was left was a tattered cloth and some uneaten bits of food, and only half of her head remained.

From that moment on, all the newborns in Xiakou Village began to stir up trouble.

The sheep can now stand upright and walk upright; the old ox has become emaciated, with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes, and at night it starts muttering and talking like a human; the cat dresses up as a human and frightens the children; and even some of the village's old dogs have dug up half of the ancestral graves in Xiakou Village...

"Chickens flew and dogs barked, livestock were restless. Some said it was because the village's development of the mountain land for farming in recent years had offended the mountain god, and they needed to cleanse the area and offer sacrifices. People did as instructed, but while the newborns calmed down, it was the people who fell ill. It wasn't anything serious, just headaches, fevers, and colds that could be solved with some medicine, but while adults could manage, the elderly and children couldn't. So far, it seems that six or seven people have already died from the illness."

Zhang Wei nodded blankly. Although he had heard many folk tales from his family when he was a child, most of them were not as dramatic as this!

Folklore and mythology are two enormous systems, and there are specialized fields of study in the modern world. The sheer size of these systems, the complex relationships, and the various evil spirits and local deities that have evolved based on local customs and traditions in this vast land mean that even specialized scholars may not be proficient in everything, let alone someone like Zhang Wei who is not even a half-baked expert.

Zhang Wei also has a very accurate understanding of his role in this "silhouette": leave professional tasks to professionals, and he will be responsible for the more specialized areas after negotiations!

Old Liu's words opened up a floodgate of conversation, and Wang the Blind, recovering from his drowsiness, thoughtfully shared his guess...

The donkey cart swayed and wobbled along until four in the afternoon, and finally, around five o'clock, we saw Xiakou Village.

Old Liu entered the village familiarly and, with the help of an acquaintance, led them to Gou Dan's uncle.

"Dog Egg? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home observing mourning? Why are you with Mr. Wang...?"

Just as Cao Xingjia was about to hug Zhang Wei, he saw a bunch of almost brand-new guns in the donkey cart, and the hilt of a peach wood sword vaguely visible in a large cloth bundle.

Zhang Wei was also sizing up his "uncle" at this moment.

He had a buzz cut, a square face, and the typical look of an old farmer. But even though it wasn't the dead of winter yet, he was wearing a thick coat, and even though his forehead was covered in beads of sweat, he couldn't bear to take off a piece of clothing.

Not only him, but all the villagers Zhang Wei and his group saw after the donkey cart entered the village were dressed in the same way, looking like they were freezing to death.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei and Blind Wang exchanged a glance. Although they hadn't started asking about the inside story yet, they both knew that the situation in Xiakou Village was no ordinary problem.

In the entire Chizhen town, based on the information Zhang Wei knew, the only place that could consistently surpass Xiakou Village was that mine that had gathered a large number of people!

"I heard from my uncles that something happened to my uncle's family, and a lot of people are sick. I was worried about them, so I wanted to come and check on them! Look, I even invited Uncle Wang along, to see if he can help!"

"You child, instead of properly observing mourning, you're running around everywhere, giving people a reputation for being unfilial. Let's see what you'll do in the future!"

Although his tone was complaining, Cao Xingjia still reached out and picked up Zhang Wei from the donkey cart.

What should I do?

What else can he do? He's the eldest son of his mother's family. Now that Jianshe and his wife are gone, he, as their uncle, has to take their place. Even if there are any rumors, he can just say that he invited them. Anyway, he's already married and has a child. That's how his life is. He's not afraid of being gossiped about.

"Mr. Wang, my child is being unreasonable, I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come all this way!"

Ultimately, Cao Jiaxing was too weak to hold Zhang Wei up for long, so he put Zhang Wei on the ground, took his hand, and bowed to Blind Wang.

"Hey, of course. It's not convenient to talk here. How about we go to your home first and you introduce me?"

Looking at his nephew, and then at the Liu family relatives who were strapped with rows of ammunition belts, holding guns and grenades at their waists, Cao Jiaxing realized that something was wrong. However, he never imagined that the root of the problem lay with his nephew. He simply assumed that the rumors of unrest in Xiakou Village had spread, and that the Liu family village had made arrangements to guard against any unforeseen events.

But isn't this a bit too exaggerated?