Chapter 9 Chapter Nine: Barren Mountains and Ancient Pools with Jade Patterns Clear

The night in the air was torn apart by the flames, like a huge burning net, covering the boat bed in the pool!However, the water waves under the boat also surged silently, and suddenly, a wave surged out from the bottom of the pool, forming a vortex around the boat where Xiangsi stood. The boat bed is steadily sinking at the bottom of the valley, while the surrounding water waves are constantly rotating wave after wave, forming a ring screen with the height of a person in an instant. There are water patterns, like crystals. At the moment when those torches were about to fly close to the wooden boat, the ring screen suddenly rose, gathered in the middle, and closed at the top to form a huge tent, wrapping all the people on board in it.And as soon as those torches were touched, they were bounced off by an invisible force, and they were thrown into the distance one after another.

Those Xishe people were dumbfounded, and were about to back away when the water screen suddenly rolled back, accompanied by the sound of roaring water waves, and slammed on all sides with great force.Although Xisheren was excellent in water, he couldn't resist the might of the changing world, they were swept up by the waves and thrown away heavily. For a while, the sound of water waves, screams, and the sound of heavy objects falling into the house rang together. After a while, all kinds of sounds returned to silence, only the water rippled endlessly.A ray of moonlight shines slightly at the door.

Xiangsi looked towards the bright place with surprise on his face: "Sir?" The person who came didn't answer her, and walked across the water, came to Xiaoyan, and said with a smile: "His Highness Xinming pointed out the twelve strokes of spring water swordsmanship to my wife, which is really wonderful. I'm Huayin Pavilion Master, I have taught her for many years, but I have never seen her improve so much." It was indeed Zhuo Wangsun. Xiao Yan looked cold, and said: "Mr. Zhuo injured more than a dozen people's lives with one move of his hand. Although these people are not kind, but such a killing is too much."

Zhuo Wangsun glanced at the surface of the water and said, "These people don't suffer in vain if they live a moment longer." There was a flash of fire at the door, and there was a burst of noisy footsteps. Hundreds of Xishe people had surrounded the house.Those people looked at the blood-soaked pool in the house, with sad and angry expressions, and their thin hands and claws clenched on their chests, as if they were going to fight their enemies desperately at any time.However, they seemed to be afraid of the force of the man in front of them, and their eyes darted around a few people, but they hesitated and dared not go forward rashly.

Xiangsi suddenly discovered that among the newly arrived Xishe villagers, there were no old people or children, and they were all young adults in their twenties. What was even more strange was that each of them had a bright red silk thread in their mouths, dragging their hair on their heads. On the ground, like a glaring bloodstain, I don't know how long it is, winding out in the northeast direction, with no end in sight. The eyes of these Xisheren looked extremely old under the firelight, no different from the group of wrinkled old people just now.As early as when Xiangsi saw them for the first time, she had a strange feeling in her heart. At first, she thought that the group of people had tattoos and were too short, so they looked quite weird.Just now I suddenly saw those old men with white hair and chicken skin, and realized that the reason for the weirdness is that their looks and eyes are very different!

A thought gradually emerged in Xiangsi's heart—could it be that those who were as old as corrupt just now were their real faces?Could it be that this group of villagers is constantly rejuvenating in an incredible way, maintaining the youth they once had so many years ago?And those red silk threads in their mouths, maybe they are the source of their lives? She was thinking, Yang Yizhi didn't know when, he jumped out from Xisheren's encirclement, gently landed on the boat bed, and handed Bu Xiaoluan in his arms to Zhuo Wangsun. Bu Xiaoluan seemed to be still soundly asleep, when Zhuo Wangsun picked her up, he only slightly opened his eyes, rolled over in his arms, and fell asleep again.

Yang Yizhi turned his head and had a few conversations with those Xishe people.Xi Sheren's expression was extremely angry at first, then gradually became sad, and then despaired; the voice also changed from cursing and shouting to mourning and complaining, and finally wept together. Yang Yizhi was silent for a moment, then turned to Zhuo Wangsun and said, "They know that they are not Mr. Zhuo's opponents, they have decided not to take revenge, let us leave." Zhuo Wangsun smiled coldly, before answering, Xiangsi suddenly said: "We can't leave like this." Qianli Zishi said coldly: "Ms. Acacia, do you want to stay and kill the weeds?"

Xiangsixiu frowned, and said, "No, we have to stay and help them." Qianli Zishi said: "Help?" Xiangsi nodded, her eyes flicked over the resentful but timid faces of every villager, she sighed softly, and said, "Don't you see that each of them is suffering?" Qianli Zishi snorted coldly: "In this world, everything is suffering." Xiangsi shook her head and said: "No, what they suffer is different from us..." She pointed casually, and was about to tell the old eyes of those people, but the gesture stopped in mid-air. Because of the direction she pointed, a Xisheren suddenly fell on his back!

The man's body maintained a stiff posture in mid-air, and his hands suddenly stuck to the top of his head, scratching hard, as if he was about to pull out his hair one by one, and there were bursts of screams in the depths of his throat. , like a small beast being torn apart by a herd of beasts, the sound is shrill and heart-wrenching, and it is unknown what kind of great pain it is enduring.What's even more frightening is that from his forehead above, the hair and flesh and blood seemed to be slowly softened and distorted by some invisible thing in the air, and gradually melted and flowed down into mucus. After only a moment, the man's gray and chalky brain had already disappeared. faintly visible.

Seeing this miserable state suddenly, don't talk about lovesickness, even Qianli Zishi couldn't help but change his face.Only those Xisheren, the panic on their faces gradually calmed down.It seems that people have been tormented by this foreseeable disaster for too long, and when it really comes, they are no longer afraid. Xisheren silently lifted up his screaming companion, covered the silk thread in his mouth with one hand, and ran towards the lake quickly, without even looking at them.It seems that the blood feud these people bear is insignificant compared to the disaster in front of them.

Xiangsi turned her head and said to everyone: "We must follow." This time, there was no objection to her proposal.After a while, a group of people came to the crescent-shaped lake. The moonlight has reached the middle of the sky, and the surrounding trees are covered with a thin layer of silver ash. The surrounding mountains and forests are silent, and the cold water is rippling, making it look cold and peaceful. The group of Xishe people knelt by the lake, forming a hexagonal pattern with their bodies.One of them was singing, while raising and lowering his hand symbolically, making a gesture of salvaging something from the lake. And his fingers were wrapped around the red thread that the wounded had just put in his mouth.The rest of the silk thread floated lightly on the water surface for a certain distance, and then plunged straight into the bottom of the water. A ripple was moving slightly when it entered the water, as if something was pulling it under the water. The injured Xisheren was held down by several companions, and he kept struggling in the shallow water. The faces of the Xisheren around him were very serious, and they tried to immerse his brain, which was exposed in the air, into the water. It seemed that this was the only way to relieve him slightly. pain of. The singer in the middle became paler and paler, and his voice trembled and changed, as if crying strangely.The faces of other people also showed panic, as if they had a premonition that a greater disaster was coming. All of a sudden, the tranquil lake wave made a crackling sound under the moonlight, and the light of the wave suddenly broke through the middle, and two Xishe people came out from the water, holding a dark object in their hands.The thing seemed to be sinking and buoyant in the water, as if it was extremely hard, but there was a faint glint of light in it—it was the other end of the silk thread. The two Xishe people had already swam to the shore, the moonlight was shining, Xiangsi clearly saw the almost crazy fear in their eyes, it seemed that what they were holding in their hands was the incarnation of the devil.And the expressions on the faces of the other Xishe people on the shore were exactly the same, as if what they saw was the whole hell. The ball was carefully pushed towards the shore by the two Xishe people, and immediately swam far away. The moonlight and the torches on the shore shone alternately, and the lake water made an uproar, the tension of the water waves was finally broken, and a head of unkempt grass-like hair suddenly broke through the water. Although they were already prepared, everyone couldn't help but scream. Even Zhuo Wangsun and the others couldn't help but be moved by the terrifying and strange appearance in front of them! The messy hair like dry algae was twisted into dozens of strands, and it looked very sparse under the pull of the water waves. It couldn't cover the blue-black skull underneath, but it was allowed to protrude prominently. Under the skull, there was a hideous face of a dead baby spliced ​​together strangely! The flesh and bones of the dead baby from the forehead to the top have also been melted, making them as soft as sky-blue egg whites.And the skull of the adult woman on the top was inserted into it stiffly. The two seem to have not fully fused, and several finger-wide bone gaps were split at the joint, and the gray chalky brain was faintly revealed from the bone gaps.He didn't know how many years he had been soaked in water. Although he wasn't corrupt, his skin was wrinkled and wrinkled, showing a disgusting pale white color.The face was extremely distorted, and the cheeks and chin were covered with stones of various sizes and colors, which were sunk down from the dead baby's swollen face like nails. It looked even more like hell in disguise, extremely weird. Looking down, the whole body of the dead baby is curled up, shrinking extremely small, and its limbs are twisted behind its back at an incredible angle, like a broken doll, or like a prisoner of war who was brutally tortured to death by the enemy in the barbaric era. The injured Xisheren suddenly threw off the two people who were pressing him, and turned his head to stare at the dead baby.Under such severe pain, he gradually calmed down, with a kind of kindness in his eyes, as if seeing a long-lost relative, habitually sucking the red thread in his mouth like a baby.But this calmness was overwhelmed by overwhelming fear in an instant, as if he saw the most terrifying thing in the world, he retched for a while, spit out the silk thread with all his strength, and then screamed heart-piercingly.The sound of this cry was completely different from the scream under the severe pain just now. Apart from the pain, it was more of despair—like the despair of watching one's own life disappear without being able to stop it. The other Xishe people watched him silently, and they shook their heads miserably, as if they were discussing something. Xiangsi was so shocked that her face turned pale, and she murmured: "What's going on?" Zhuo Wangsun said indifferently: "Naturally, I have to ask leader Yang about the scene in the mandala formation. Presumably at this moment, even if the leader has a big difficulty, he will not hide it." Yang Yizhi glanced at him, remained silent for a moment, and said: "I didn't intend to hide the key points of the mandala formation, but I have an unspeakable secret, but since everyone insists on it..." He shook his head, and finally sighed: "This dead baby is the baby spirit that the Xisheren planted in the lake in order to prolong their youth." Xiangsi was stunned and said, "Baby spirit?" Yang Yizhi looked solemn, and said: "Xishe people are a group of ageless people. From the eyes of others, they are short in stature, dark-faced, and extremely ugly. However, they are proud of their youth and beauty, and they are extremely greedy for their appearance. In order to maintain their youthful appearance Look, they did not hesitate to use one of the most evil formations - the formation of the water baby spirit." Xiangsi said: "What is this array of water baby spirits?" Yang Yizhi said in a deep voice: "A pair of Xishe men and women can only give birth once in a lifetime, and they are both twins. They cut the umbilical cord an hour after the baby was born, and then tied a red silk thread into the baby's wound to give birth to the baby. It sinks into the bottom of the icy lake. The other end of the red thread is drawn from the bottom of the lake and tied to each person's boat bed. Every night, Xisheren holds the red thread in his mouth to absorb the baby's spiritual power to nourish his decaying body .If they want to leave the boat bed at night, they must also have red thread in their mouths, otherwise they will not be able to absorb enough energy to resist the sun after dawn. They will keep their youthful looks and strength for hundreds of years until they die." Acacia's face gradually changed from horror to anger: "With such greed, what qualifications do they have to be parents? Aren't they afraid when they lie on the boat bed every day to suck the blood of their children?" Yang Yizhi said: "Of course I'm afraid. The Xishe people are greedy and cowardly. While chasing endless youth, they are extremely afraid of the revenge of the infant spirit. It is said that as long as they see children from other tribes, they will flee. On the day of birth, it is necessary to dive into the bottom of the water and embed the seven-color beads on the baby's face. According to legend, only in this way can the baby's resentment be resolved, and its soul be imprisoned, making them unable to climb out of the water to take revenge on their parents. Therefore, the seven-color beads are also It became what the Xishe people were looking for frantically." Acacia was speechless for a moment, silently looking at Xi Sheren, their greedy and old eyes were now full of fear and despair, turning pale, while the winding red line around their lips was scarlet, like a poisonous snake lurking on their bodies . The anger on her face gradually dissipated, she let out a long sigh, and said, "What's the use of such youth?" Yang Yizhi shook his head, but did not answer. Xiaoyan sighed softly, and said, "What they get is destined not to be eternal life, but eternal punishment." Xiangsi turned around in astonishment and said, "Eternal punishment?" Xiaoyan looked at the weird baby corpse, and said in a low voice, "Eternal punishment has just begun." Xiangsi thought for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Does Your Highness mean something else?" Xiao Yan said: "Miss Acacia, didn't you notice that the combination of the skull and the baby's corpse looks familiar?" Acacia was stunned, a chill suddenly rose from behind her, her voice was trembling: "You mean..." Zhuo Wangsun smiled slightly, and said, "He's talking about embarrassing Mother Du." Xiangsi tremblingly said: "But, isn't Mother Du Du already wiped out by us?" Yang Yizhi said: "It's not eliminated, it's just temporarily preventing them from taking action. Once there is a chance, those corpses will look for hosts again like this fragment of the skull, and emerge from the invisible." Xiangsi said: "You mean this skull is also a part of Du Mu?" Yang Yizhi said: "Exactly." Zhuo Wangsun said with a smile: "Moreover, its owner is not an ordinary Du Mu." Xiangsi said, "Then who is it?" Zhuo Wangsun said: "Wife of the village chief." Xiangsi was stunned for a moment, then said, "Wife of the village chief?" Zhuo Wangsun said: "Xiaoluan had no intention of asking about the wife of the village head of Wuzhen. At that time, he was evasive, which seemed to touch the pain. He only said that she was also one of those who could not be resurrected, and was buried in Furongze. However, the people of Xishe country should only Buried in the soil, it should never sink in the swamp." Xiangsi said in disbelief: "Then, why did the village head do this?" Zhuo Wangsun said: "Only the village head can know this. But we can only speculate like this - the village head's wife has also become one of the mothers of Du Du." Xiangsi said in surprise, "This..." Zhuo Wangsun continued: "If Du Mu's body is not burned to ashes by fire, it will reproduce endlessly in the soil. There is only one exception, which is the swamp." Xiangsi said: "You mean, the village chief already knew that the growth of Dumu can be restrained in the swamp?" Zhuo Wangsun turned his eyes to the depths of the lake: "Hundreds of years ago, the beloved wife of the village chief died unexpectedly. Her head was torn and she couldn't be resurrected. Burn it down. However, the village chief loved him so much that he couldn't bear to do it, so he secretly violated the taboo of the clan and buried his beloved wife's body in Furong Lake." Xiangsi seemed to understand something, and said: "Could it be that he wants to use the water of Furong Ze to stop the corpse change?" Zhuo Wangsun said: "That's right. For hundreds of years, the plan of the village chief has been successful. However, not long ago we drove tens of thousands of Dumu into the swamp, but inadvertently touched the place where the body of the village chief's wife was. A certain part followed the undercurrent at the bottom of the lake and slowly sneaked into the Crescent Moon Lake where the Xishe people buried their babies." Xiangsi murmured: "The water in Crescent Moon Lake is not a swamp, and it has no ability to restrain the action of Dumu, so..." Xiangsi couldn't help shivering all over her body: "Could it be that the only remaining Mudu actually used the water to get rid of it? Has the child's corpse come back to life?" Zhuo Wangsun shook his head and said, "Resurrection is not certain yet. Although Crescent Moon Lake has no power to restrain Mu Du, but after all, it isolates the soil, which greatly reduces Mu Du's power, so it can only slowly eat away the corpses of babies and children who are closest to her." Acacia was stunned, and glanced back at the howling villager in the water, his eyes seemed to have been melted, leaving only two deep dark holes.Xiangsi frowned and said, "If this continues..." Zhuo Wangsun said: "If this goes on, the moment the corpse of the child that this person is carrying is eaten up is the moment when Du Mu will be resurrected." Looking at the villagers by the lake, Xiangsi looked very anxious, and said, "We must stop her as soon as possible!" Yang Yizhi said: "Wait a minute!" Xiangsi turned her head and said, "Mr. Yang, at this time, Mother Du has not yet formed. If we can do it earlier, we can not only save this person from the severe pain, but also prevent her from eating other children's corpses." Yang Yizhi looked at the slightly swaying blue-purple water waves, frowned, shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's impossible!"