No matter where Jiang Chuyan and his group went, they could feel the silent villagers' gazes, which were very noticeable. It was as if they were looking at some monster.
When they passed by, all the villagers would stop what they were doing and look at them with wide eyes.
Just like Budacuocuo, the people here have very dark eyes, large pupils, and slightly protruding eyeballs.
When approaching these villagers, their silence was suffocating. But as long as you walked a short distance away, you could hear the whispers coming from the crowd. No one could understand what the villagers were saying in their dialect.
The dialect of Longzhao always sounds vague, as if someone is mumbling with a mouthful of water.
Jiang Chuyan felt a little cold behind him.
The tone of those people's voices made him feel very uncomfortable.
Occasionally, the villagers' laughter could be heard on the wind.
Jiang Chuyan knew that his thoughts were irrational, but... but he did feel that the laughter sounded very malicious.
"Excuse me, we rarely see outsiders here. They don't mean any harm. They're just curious about you."
As if she had sensed everyone's discomfort, Budacuocuo turned her head at the right moment, and her originally smooth face was now filled with wrinkles again.
He explained with a smile.
"There's no need to make us act like giant pandas on parade, right?"
Xu Yuanzhou complained softly, then touched the back of his neck and got goosebumps.
"Maybe they do see pandas here, but not city folk like us?"
Bai Ke immediately agreed.
Obviously, after being frightened by Liu Tianyu last night, the relationship between him and Xu Yuanzhou has been restored.
He Yuan's expression was the calmest among all the people. It was obvious that he had long been accustomed to this kind of onlookers.
Of course, it may also be because he often appears in Longzhao, and the villagers' sticky, invisible tongue-like gazes rarely fall on him.
He paused, and as if inadvertently, he leaned towards Jiang Chuyan. With his tall stature, he blocked the focused gazes of many Longzhao villagers for the young man.
They continued to move forward, and gradually, the group got used to the feeling of being watched.
"Don't the young people of Longzhao go out?"
Jiang Chuyan couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
"Hmm…"
He Yuan was about to answer when Budacuocuo, who was walking in front of the group, spoke first.
"We here won't leave. Under the protection of our ancestors, the Dragon God has given us so much strength and happiness. We live very well here and don't need to go to your place at all—"
Jiang Chuyan was startled for a moment, then nodded: "That's indeed... not bad."
Giving up empty material comforts and enjoying a comfortable life in the mountains, perhaps this is also the path chosen by the mountain people themselves...
"Pfft, it's still pretty good. Every time an outsider comes, they keep on watching. How can you call this living a good life... They've never seen anything good before, right?"
Jiang Chuyan heard Bai Ke whispering to someone behind him.
The sound was very soft, but he heard it clearly.
He couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Bai Ke, who was hiding behind Xu Yuanzhou and looking at him meaningfully.
Jiang Chuyan frowned slightly, and seeing that Budacuocuo didn't seem to pay much attention to Bai Ke's whispers because she was not familiar with Chinese, he withdrew his gaze and continued to follow the village chief with a calm expression.
The closer we got to the square, the heavier the smoky smell in the air became. The white smoke was no longer the damp, cold mist of the mountains, but was replaced by a thick, acrid smoke.
The villagers of Longzhao also gradually gathered in this direction. Soon, the college students noticed that many things they had never seen before appeared on both sides of the road.
It was built with branches, stones, and various flowers, and was similar to a small wooden tower.
Each small wooden tower looks very exquisite, and the flowers and various colorful strips of cloth add eye-catching bright colors to it.
The wooden signs and ropes wrapped around the wooden tower, with complex patterns outlined in minority languages, add a unique sense of mystery to the tower.
The villagers were busy beside the wooden tower, and many of them did not even stare at the group of people who suddenly arrived in the village as intently as their fellow villagers.
But what is strange is that they work so hard to decorate and adjust these wooden towers, but then they don't hesitate to set them on fire.
Piles of flames rose up, and the branches and flowers used to build the wooden towers were full of moisture, causing thick smoke to billow.
"Ahem...what the hell is this...?"
Even if you are not interested in folklore courses, it is hard not to feel a strong curiosity when you suddenly step into such a place.
Xu Yuanzhou covered his nose with his hands, tears streaming down his face from the smoke, while he looked around desperately.
At this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something moving in the gap of a wooden tower.
Xu Yuanzhou subconsciously moved closer to the exquisite wooden tower, but before he could see clearly what was inside, he was surrounded by several Longzhao villagers.
"*&*&%——"
"*&%...%#@!!!"
…
Even if he didn't understand, he could tell from the tone that those people were pointing at his nose and scolding him.
Xu Yuanzhou's movements suddenly froze.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to..."
He Yuan frowned, and seeing Xu Yuanzhou being surrounded, he had to speak.
As a result, more people gathered around them.
"*&&...%#￥#——!"
"…￥%￥!"
They kept repeating words that the college students couldn't understand and moved closer and closer.
It has to be said that the ethnic minorities in the Longzhao area all have unattractive facial features.
Like Budacuocuo, they all had pale skin, wide-set eyes, and bulging eyeballs. And, perhaps because of their poor living conditions, they all had a faint, fishy, sweaty odor. When they cursed, their eyes and expressions were strange.
It's the kind of weirdness that makes people feel creepy.
At least when Xu Yuanzhou was surrounded by them at such a close distance, the first thing that rose up in his heart was not anger, but panic.
Thick smoke billowed, and Xu Yuanzhou felt dizzy from the smoke. The faces of the villagers in front of him seemed to be constantly distorted in the smoke, and their facial features seemed to be loosely fixed on their faces and kept moving.
Xu Yuanzhou was so scared that he took several steps back.
But the villagers kept moving towards him with their mouths wide open.
Fortunately, Budacuocuo finally spoke and muttered a few words in the local dialect to those people. Those people suddenly returned to their expressionless looks. They turned their heads and stared at Xu Yuanzhou with their bulging eyes for a long time before slowly dispersing.
"Don't go near our 'Sima'! It's a very sacred object. If the evil spirit escapes before it's burned, everyone will be plunged into misfortune!"
Budacuo looked at the frightened Xu Yuanzhou and explained with a serious face.
"Seema? What is that?"
Jiang Chuyan asked.
"Xima is... it's our stupa..." Budacuocuo explained with great effort, "In each stupa, there is a... an evil ghost... We must burn it. The smell of the dead evil ghost can drive away other ghosts and water monkeys..."
It's the water monkey again.
As soon as the familiar words appeared, everyone's expressions began to become strange again.
As modern people, they really find it difficult to understand the people of Longzhu Village's fear of water monkeys.
But at this time, everyone was tactful enough not to argue too much.
The smoke was so thick that even if everyone wanted to ask more questions, they could hardly stand there.
Compared with the urban college students with tears and snot on their faces, Budacuocuo and the villagers seemed to have long been accustomed to the smoke and fire. They looked extremely calm and didn't even blink.
"Alas, guests from afar will find it difficult, but these cigarettes are good things. They are good and good for you."
Budacuocuo comforted them, and then led everyone over more and more fires and began to work hard to move forward towards the square.
At this time, Jiang Chuyan had difficulty seeing the surrounding environment clearly.
Through tearful eyes, he heard He Yuan whisper a question to Budacuocuo.
"It's been a while since I've seen you burning so many Sima? Why is it so grand?"
Budacuocuo smiled.
He rubbed his hands together and lowered his voice.
"The shaman examined the replacement Sha you brought to the village yesterday... It's a very dangerous, very bad Sha."
The man's face wavered in the smoke.
"But you are honored guests, guests who have come from afar. Suiyi Longzhao is willing to solve your problem."
He Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"So, this is considered a ritual to exorcise evil spirits?"
He asked.
But Budacuocuo just smiled even more deeply: "You don't have to worry about anything, He Yuan, you are our most important guest, and your friends will also be our benefactors. Don't worry, it will be fine soon."
…
After passing through the torturous fire road, Jiang Chuyan and his companions finally arrived at the small square in the center of the village.
Thankfully, there were far fewer Xima Ling Pagodas here than on the road, so the pungent smoke was much lighter. At least after Jiang Chuyan frantically wiped his face with his sleeve, he was finally able to open his eyes.
There are a lot of people in the square.
Before Jiang Chuyan and the others could react, they were surrounded by those silent villagers with strange and focused eyes and pushed to the center of the square.
There is a circle here drawn with an unknown scarlet powder.
In the very center of the red circle is a tall, unburned Xima Lingta.
The outside of the red circle is crowded with Longzhao villagers, but the inside is empty, with only a thin man standing there.
The man had a colorful mask covering his face.
The moment Jiang Chuyan saw the mask, he felt as if the blood in his veins had frozen. An inexplicable chill spread, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
"Chu Yan? What's wrong?"
I could clearly hear He Yuan's worried voice, but it seemed to come from very, very far away.
Even the crowd that had been crowding around him seemed to fade from the world in an instant, turning into a colorless, dim background.
Jiang Chuyan's vision was dark, with only the mask visible.
"rustle..."
"rustle..."
…
It wasn't raining, but Jiang Chuyan could hear the sound of light rain.
The sound of rain came from his own ears.
His breathing began to become rapid, as if he was trapped in some narrow and enclosed place, and he began to feel short of breath.
It was in this trance that he saw several villagers walking towards the masked village witch.
They bowed respectfully and handed something to the village witch.
When their figures dispersed, Jiang Chuyan could see clearly what they handed to the village witch.
It was a red, soft, thin body.
A baby with short limbs and crying all the time.
There were still mottled white vernix cases on the baby's body, as if it had just been taken out of its mother's belly.
…
Then, the village witch lifted the howling and squirming baby high up and threw it to the ground before Jiang Chuyan could react.
"Pah--"
Jiang Chuyan heard a wet sound of falling.
As blood suddenly splattered on the ground, the baby's shrill cry also stopped abruptly at that moment.
The author has something to say:
Whisper: When the monster is a water monkey, I really can't write a horror story. I'm scratching my head…