tter despair welling up within me.The bell of the Qingyu Dao Guan rang in my ears.My older brother and Brother Long are helping someone detox. I'm hiding in this solemn and frigid hall, helplessly pra...The man was about to answer, but then he heard the water boiling in the kitchen behind him. He didn't pay us any more attention and turned to go into the kitchen.

I whispered, "How can it still stand when the chickens are like this"

My brother frowned at the chicken, the blood drops all over the courtyard were probably from it struggling and running around everywhere.

That man probably wasn't someone who regularly did slaughtering work, otherwise he wouldn't let the chicken struggle even when killing it. He probably saw that he couldn't catch it, so he just let the chicken die on its own and then went to grab it.

"There's an old saying: 'A man without a head is sure to die, but a chicken without a head can live.' You have to drain the blood when you kill a chicken before it's done. This chicken looks pretty fierce..." My brother tentatively approached the yard.

He walked a few steps inside, and the rooster, which had been standing with its feet tucked in, suddenly moved towards him.

Although it's just a common poultry bird, seeing it in this posture is still somewhat horrifying and pitiful.

"Big brother, if you can't drive into the mountain at night, how else are you going to get in" My older brother shouted from afar towards the kitchen.

The man didn't want to waste words, and without looking back, he said: "What are you doing in the mountains! There's no farm stay or tourist attractions here! What do you come here for every few days!"

"Every other day This is our first time here. Has anyone else been" My brother gave me a knowing look, implying that this man knew something.

If this is really the place where Liu and his two friends came, this man must have seen them and probably knows something about it.

I stood outside, carefully examining the terrain.

This small courtyard has only one dirt road leading into the village, located at the front end of the left side of the U-shaped valley.

At first glance, this place is surrounded by mountains with a good terrain. If you look at it like a satellite map, there's a main peak and flanking hills on either side.

It looks like a good piece of terrain, but it's a pity that there is no "case mountain" at the U-shaped valley.

To put it simply, there isn't a place like a counter that is relatively low and has a gentle shape as a shield, so it's not really a good spot.

However... this isn't a branch of a dragon vein, it's just an unknown little ravine. There's no good water or sand protection here.

And from afar, the trees and grasses on both sides of the mountains were overgrown and chaotic, lacking any elegance. Instead, they felt somewhat dangerous.

My older brother used to frequently go with my father to deal with all sorts of shady matters. As the eldest son and grandson of the Mu family, he learned everything from his grandfather: that air of rascality, boldness, meticulousness, mastery of underworld slang, and skill in dealing with all walks of life.

When I looked, he had already stuffed him with several cigarettes and rolled a few red banknotes.

The man was originally very irritable, but after smoking and accepting gifts, he actually sat down at the kitchen doorway and started chatting with my brother.

"There used to be an old village here, it has been relocated entirely."

"When are you moving" My brother stretched his leg and hooked a dusty little stool, sitting down in the courtyard with an air of familiarity.

The man squinted, took a drag from his cigarette, and exhaled a plume of smoke. "It's been a few years now. Some elderly people in the village were reluctant to leave at first. The government built resettlement housing, and as young people moved out one by one, they did ideological work with the elderly until eventually everyone left."

"Then how are you still here"

"I also came back a few days ago. I went to pay my respects at the ancestral graves and took the bus all the way to the faraway Yamaguchi. I carried things in with me." The man pointed to a corner of the yard where there was a basket and pole.

"Why can't we drive in…" My brother wondered, "Could the road ahead be broken"

"Hey…" The man smiled at my brother. "Little brother, our village relocated because of a landslide. After that, the road base became unstable, and…"

My brother was too lazy to wait for him to act all mysterious. He reached into his wallet and pulled out all the cash, stuffing it into the man's hand.

Not a single one left.

"Big brother, my sister and I are just passing through, taking in the sights. Why don't you tell us your story Satisfy our curiosity, and we'll forgo the adventure." My brother said with a smile.

The man saw my brother empty his wallet, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Little brother, you are also a straightforward person! How much money is in this wallet, you just gave it all to me"

"It's worth hearing you tell stories. We like to hear stories."

The man extinguished his cigarette and said seriously, "Alright, I'll tell you guys."

This village used to have quite a few people. To make some money, they started a collective economy and set up a quarry on the back mountain. They blasted and mined constantly, creating a gaping hole in the hillside.

And the location of this gap is directly opposite the U-shaped opening.

"...Great Heaven's Slashing Evil." I said in a low voice.

The man glanced at me: "Little girl, do you know a bit about Feng Shui"

"Oh, traveling all day long, you only know a little bit on the surface." I replied.

——That's all they have to live on, just their fur.

“There used to be an old charlatan in the village who also said this, claiming that the villagers had angered the earth spirits to get a share of the money. But compared to money, what the old charlatan said was obviously less appealing to everyone.” The man narrowed his eyes and admitted frankly: “We were poor back then, each household could only get a few hundred yuan a year, which was considered good.”

This steep, straight gash on the mountain directly impacts the entire village. It's like a giant sword cleaving through it, leaving the whole village hanging precariously in its shadow.

People who are too straightforward are prone to misfortune, legal trouble, financial loss, and illness.

Years passed, and environmental protection became a concern. The quarry gradually shut down. However, one year, heavy rain caused landslides. Halfway through the night, loose rocks and soil slid down the mountainside, burying half the village.

"Not only are people gone, but even ancestral graves have been scattered. Half of the village is left with crumbling houses. The government has gradually moved everyone out."

The old fortune teller wasn't willing to leave. Whenever someone in the village had a celebration or funeral, they would ask him to come. He said he needed to perform rituals for the villagers who were buried, only then would he leave.

"Is that old fortune-teller still in the village" I couldn't help but ask.

"It can't be possible, I heard the last batch of people moved out seven or eight years ago. How could someone live in a village with no water and electricity" The man snorted: "I don't even know if he's still alive. Anyway, I haven't seen him in the few days I've been here."

“Aren’t you afraid to be here all alone…” I asked.

"What are we, a bunch of cowards Besides, our house is the only one in the village near the mountain pass! Our ancestral graves are nearby too. It's because our ancestors are watching over us that the landslide didn't touch our house. How can I not come back every year to light incense and clean the graves Other families don't even have their ancestral graves left."

My brother pointed to the chicken blood all over the ground: "You made your ancestor worship a bit too gruesome. Someone who didn't know better would think it was a crime scene."

The man frowned and said, "Putting a little chicken blood here is also beneficial. It brings good fortune and wards off evil... A few years ago, some people moved out, and one or two families did well. They came back to sweep the graves and dig things up by car, but soon after they returned home, they died from various reasons."

"What" My brother stared at me with wide eyes. "Haunted"

“So many people are buried there, who knows if it’s haunted or not, but some people walk in and nothing happens! Anyway, I can’t explain it. Let me tell you this, don’t drive in there.” The man shrugged.

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, "A few days ago, some girls were chattering and passing by here. I was busy weeding the graves at the time and didn't know if they left..."ravaged, I couldn't help but blush just looking at them.When I came out again, Jiang Qiyun was gone.What's he doing Is something urgent Then I'll just go out and eat by myself.I hesitated to pick up m...