boyutpedia Chapter 61 One painting
Chapter 61 One painting
Fang Shuwen stood at the village entrance and glanced at the stone tablet again.
Daliushu Village.
Last time, Lu Mingyuan killed a snake demon here, and this time, something "shaped like a giant dog" has appeared in a nearby village.
The feng shui of this place is probably not right.
He shook his head and continued pushing his bicycle forward.
The road is getting narrower and narrower, making it difficult to ride the bike.
But this bicycle was borrowed from Butler Zhao, and it wouldn't be right to just throw it away, so he had no choice but to push it around.
After walking for about two miles, an old locust tree appeared ahead.
Two people were squatting under the tree.
An old man and a young boy.
The old man was in his sixties, wearing a patched-up gray cloth jacket, and his cloudy eyes were dull and lifeless.
The boy was twelve or thirteen years old, as skinny as a monkey, and not even as tall as an eight or nine-year-old child in the city.
They are not refugees, but they are worse than refugees.
Fang Shuwen pushed his bicycle closer.
The young man saw him first, his eyes lit up, and he tugged at the old man's sleeve.
The old man raised his head, his cloudy eyes lingering on Fang Shuwen for a moment.
He grabbed the boy next to him and made him kowtow repeatedly.
Meanwhile, the boy mumbled in broken dialect something like he was starving, and that the wolf demons were all dead.
"This piece of bread is for you."
Fang Shuwen took a piece of cake out of his bag and handed it over.
The boy swallowed hard, wanting to reach out and take it, but after glancing cautiously at the old man, he ultimately didn't reach out.
He just stared longingly at the pancake in Fang Shuwen's hand.
Fang Shuwen put down the cake, glanced at them, and continued walking forward without lingering.
"Young man."
However, they had only taken a few steps when the old man's voice came.
The local dialect of Xikou, mixed with broken local accents.
This time I was able to understand it more or less.
Fang Shuwen paused and looked back.
"You must not go to that village ahead... ahead."
"That village is haunted by monsters."
The old man finally spoke, his voice very low, as if afraid something would hear him.
"Several people have already died. Some have died, some have run away. There are only a few old bones left in the village."
"It's nothing, I'm just taking a look, it's fine," Fang Shuwen said.
The old man shook his head, said nothing more, and squatted back down under the tree roots.
The boy had already broken the pancake in half, giving one half to the old man and stuffing the other half into his own mouth, his cheeks bulging out as he chewed with a crunching sound.
Fang Shuwen continued pushing his bicycle forward.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, an apricot grove appeared ahead.
The apricot trees are not tall, but they are very dense, one next to another, with their branches intertwined.
There was a layer of rotten apricots on the ground, and it felt sticky when you stepped on them.
Fang Shuwen slowed his pace.
Because it was too quiet around.
There were no birdsong, no insect chirping, not even a breeze.
The leaves remained motionless, as if frozen in place by something.
This is not normal!
His serpentine talent grants him heightened senses, enabling him to capture information that ordinary people cannot perceive.
But today, it's like it's malfunctioning; I can't sense anything.
"It seems there really is a problem here. However, there are quite a few Ming Jin martial artists in Xikou County. And this place isn't far from the county seat, so why hasn't anyone come to exorcise the demons?"
Fang Shuwen hesitated, took a deep breath, and continued walking forward.
Actually, this was because Fang Shuwen didn't understand the mission process of the National Martial Arts Academy in eliminating alien species.
He just happened to accept the task as soon as it appeared on the list.
Because it's a solo mission, no one else is coming.
Of course, although Xikou County has a prosperous economy, its population is actually not large.
Martial artists who have reached the Ming Jin level of cultivation are generally from good families and are not short of silver coins for missions.
They would never accept such a quest or adventure.
Coming to his senses, Fang Shuwen found himself in a bright and open space before him, with a cluster of low, mud-brick houses in front of him.
This is the target village.
Fang Shuwen parked his bicycle at the village entrance, not in a hurry to go inside.
He stood under a crooked willow tree, his gaze sweeping across the entire village.
The village is small, with about forty or fifty households.
Most of the houses have adobe walls and thatched roofs, and some of the plaster has peeled off, revealing the yellowish-brown adobe bricks underneath.
In the center of the village stands an old locust tree, its canopy so thick it blocks out the sun, casting shadow over half the village.
A column of grayish-white smoke rose gently into the twilight.
A woman in a blue cloth jacket came out of the courtyard carrying a basin of water and splashed it on the doorway with a splash, raising a cloud of dust.
Two naked little kids chased a yellow dog out of the alley, laughing and giggling.
"this……"
Fang Shuwen's brows furrowed into a knot.
Didn't that old man just say that some people died and others ran away, leaving only a few old bones?
This doesn't look like someone has died.
So he was tricked by that old man?
With doubts in his heart, he unknowingly walked into the village.
At the first house at the village entrance, an old man was squatting on the doorstep smoking a pipe. When he saw Fang Shuwen approaching, he raised his eyelids to look at him, took two puffs from his pipe, and slowly opened his mouth.
"Young man, who are you looking for?"
Fang Shuwen hesitated for a moment, then stopped in front of the old man.
"Old man, I'm just passing by. It's getting dark, and I'd like to find a place to rest."
The old man looked him up and down, his gaze lingering for a moment on the short knife at his waist, then he grinned, revealing a few yellowed teeth.
"Want to rest here? Sure, our village may be poor, but we can afford to provide a meal."
.......
The old man led Fang Shuwen into the courtyard, and through conversation, they learned that this man was actually the village chief.
His surname is Chen, and he is 67 years old this year.
He is very healthy and doesn't look old at all.
Fang Shuwen followed Village Chief Chen into the main room.
The house wasn't big, but it was kept fairly clean.
A portrait painting hangs on the wall in the very center, and a square table is placed below the painting.
Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Village Chief Chen, who was in charge.
A coarse blue tablecloth with white flowers was laid out on the table, and four dishes had already been served.
A plate of scrambled eggs, a plate of stir-fried cured pork with garlic sprouts, a bowl of stewed chicken pieces, and a dish of peanuts.
The portions were generous, with chicken pieces piled high and thick slices of cured meat, making them look very substantial.
"Sit down, sit down, don't be shy."
Village Chief Chen sat down in the main seat and gestured to Fang Shuwen to invite him to sit down.
Fang Shuwen sat down opposite him, her gaze sweeping over the dishes on the table.
It was steaming hot, and the aroma wafted straight into my nose.
But he remained on edge.
I felt something was off when I was in the courtyard, and the feeling got even stronger after I went into the main room.
I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong, but there's just an inexplicable sense of unease about it.
"Come on, have a bowl of soup to warm your stomach first."
Village Chief Chen picked up a blue-and-white porcelain bowl, scooped a bowl of soup from the large bowl on the table, and handed it over.
The chicken soup, with golden oil floating on the surface and a few red dates and goji berries as garnish, looked quite tempting.
Fang Shuwen reached out to take it.
The moment my fingers touched the rim of the bowl, a sudden chill ran up my fingertips.
It wasn't just ordinary coolness; it was a chilling, seeping cold, like touching a stone that had just been taken out of an ice cellar.
His eyelids twitched, and he almost lost his balance.
At the same time, a light screen popped up in front of them.
[Foreign energy detected. Absorb?]