"Oh?"
Li Yan’s eyes narrowed, "What happened?"
The man wielding the broadsword cursed, "Almost every household in our village makes paper. We used to have a fixed rchant to collect the goods and settle accounts every ten days, but the rchant team was robbed by bandits, and even the boss lost his life."
"Those cowardly thieves, even rabbits don’t eat the grass near their nests!"
"The rchants have lost their lives. How can we dare ask for money? But now it’s nearly the end of the year, and other rchant teams are afraid to co, so we can only deliver the goods ourselves."
"Sigh, poor Old Liu and his family, how will they survive?"
Sha Lifei patted their chests to comfort them, "Don’t worry. From here to Chang’an, it is still relatively peaceful. We traveled all the way without any danger."
"Thank you."
The man clasped his fists in gratitude, hesitating a bit before saying with difficulty, "To tell the truth, we are from Ten-Li Village. You all have to pass through Ten-Li Village if you’re heading over Niubei Ridge."
"Our families are waiting for food and drink. We must continue our journey to Chang’an but plan to leave one person to drive the cart, delivering Old Liu’s body back ho."
"We are afraid of encountering wild beasts on the way, so could you let him follow you?"
Li Yan pondered for a mont and nodded, "That will be fine."
The bandit problem near Niubei Ridge was severe. They had to stop for a rest, gather information, and find a way to leave. Having soone accompany them was no issue.
"Thank you," the man expressed his gratitude with a face full of appreciation.
"It’s nothing, just a matter of convenience."
Li Yan appeared calm, but doubt erged in his heart.
No matter how fierce the bandits, they rarely attacked nearby villages because there was little profit and they might know people there.
So bandit camps’ largest source of personnel was even the nearby villages. Those who couldn’t survive would pick up a sword and beco bandits.
But now, with the bandit problem so serious, they neither feared attracting the governnt’s siege nor worried about offending the villagers...
Sothing must have happened on Niubei Ridge!
...
Ten-Li Villages could be found in almost every part of the Divine State.
This na usually originated from two reasons.
The first is that villages and towns surrounding a big city typically include Five-Li Village, Seven-Li Village, etc., indicating that the big city was not far away.
The second reason is related to a relay station. Near Niubei Ridge, there was a Camp Station that was forrly a garrison for the Cao Wei army to defend against Han Zhong, later turned into a relay station.
Because of the Qinling ancient trail’s rampant wild beasts, the caravan didn’t delay and continued the journey after sunset, reaching Ten-Li Village by midnight.
Hearing from the informant that soone died, the dark village was soon lit with torches, and many people rushed over, followed by the gut-wrenching wails of won.
Others tried to console them, but it was of no use. Seeing the mutilated bodies, many felt an acute sense of sorrow.
Li Yan and others couldn’t say anything, just waited on the side.
At this ti, an elder ca forward with a cane, clasped his fists, and said to them, "I am Guo Fuan, the village chief of Ten-Li Village. Thank you for helping us. I have heard that if it weren’t for you, more people would have died."
"I have ordered so hot als for you all..."
"No way!"
Before Guo Cunzheng finished speaking, several n loudly interrupted, "Village chief, as the saying goes, ’a cold coffin shouldn’t enter the village, and hot mourning shouldn’t visit the door.’ They are a team transporting the dead. Recently, the village has had many issues, and we’re afraid of getting bad luck..."
"Silence!"
Guo Cunzheng angrily rebuked them, then awkwardly said, "Please do not mind them. Country folks are not very courteous..."
"No need."
Li Yan shook his head, "Is there a place nearby where we can rest? We don’t need to enter the village, so there’s no need to trouble you."
The village chief visibly breathed a sigh of relief and pointed southeast, "There’s a White Dragon Temple over there. It was once for worshiping the River Dragon King, but after the river changed course, it beca abandoned. If you don’t mind, you can stay there temporarily."
"Thank you."
Li Yan nodded, saying no more, and directly led the team away.
Not far from leaving the village, Sha Lifei coldly laughed, "This village chief is quite cunning. Those noisy ones were clearly his people. If he didn’t want us to enter the village, so be it. Why put on such a show!"
Porter leader Yue Balian smiled wryly, "Hero Sha, transporting the deceased is not allowed into any village in the Divine State."
"If we hadn’t saved their lives, that old village chief might have ordered us chased away from afar."
Sha Lifei clearly understood the custom and said no more.
...
Though Guo Cunzheng was cunning, he didn’t lie.
The team had not traveled three miles before seeing the White Dragon Temple.
The temple stood near a river gully; the nearby river had dried up and was overgrown with person-high weeds. Under the moonlight, it appeared dim, and the night wind rustled, seeming to hide sothing.
The White Dragon Temple was small, rely a little temple built by the village’s collective effort, containing only one tile-roofed house with a brick-paved courtyard enclosed.
Though abandoned, with even the wooden door collapsed, the house was still sturdy.
"Wait."
Li Yan raised a hand to stop everyone, pinched the Yang Jue to sniff the air, then grasped the Guan Mountain Blade and strode into the dark temple.
Soon, a cold killing intent dispersed.
Everyone shuddered, but they were aware of Li Yan’s thods.
After Li Yan exited the decrepit temple, Sha Lifei quickly asked, "How was it? Was there sothing unclean inside?"
Li Yan casually threw a rotten hemp rope on the ground and shook his head, "Nothing much, just a Hanging Ghost, perhaps."
"What?!"
Sha Lifei suddenly felt a chill run up his spine, "Could it be that old village chief wants to harm us?"
Wang Daoxuan chuckled, "Don’t overthink it. The body was likely dealt with earlier; the villagers probably didn’t manage it properly. Brother Yan, is this everything?"
Li Yan nodded, "That’s all."
Wang Daoxuan wasted no ti, taking out so salt and vermillion from his bosom, sprinkled them on the hemp rope, stuck a talisman on it, and then used a spell to ignite it.
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