The next day, Qiao Yuan slept until 10 in the morning.
When he picked up his phone to check delivery information, he received a WeChat message.
It was from Li Xiaoling.
"Qiao Yuan, save me! Death Horn Village!"
Qiao Yuan frowned. The little lamb was in danger?
After repeatedly trying to confirm it, he realized that he could not get through.
Hence, Qiao Yuan searched on the internet but could not find the place. He only found Sijiao village, a village for leisure and vacation.
Through the pictures... Although it was called a village, it had developed extremely rapidly in the past two years. It was completely different from an ordinary village and had already reached the size of a small town.
If something happened to a spirit, it had to be related to one. Qiao Yuan immediately called Wang Jing.
That person and the spirit were stuck together like glue. They were like one another, one in each other.
However, he did not get a reply. When he called, it said she was not in the service area.
There must be a problem!
...
So, how could he not go to such a dangerous place?
Qiao Yuan picked up his backpack and began to prepare for the battle.
Two catties of chocolate balls, two thermos cups filled with hot water, a small can of golden paint, an electric kettle, two pairs of sunglasses, two sets of clothes, two pairs of underwear...
There weren't a lot of things. After all, he was going there to save people, not travel.
"I'll go to Four-Corner Village first, then continue searching for the whereabouts of the dead corner village on the internet."
Qiao Yuan had a premonition that this Death Horn Village must be near the city. After all, he had just spoken to Li Xiaoling yesterday afternoon. Wang Jing was on a blind date, so it was impossible for her to leave the city.
He went out and looked at the calendar.
Qiao Yuan raised an eyebrow.
[It's good to rest, but don't go out.]
It was inauspicious!
Qiao Yuan tore a few pieces in a row. After a week, he finally got a piece of paper that he was satisfied with.
[It's suitable to go out and get married, avoid lying flat.]
"The Chinese calendar says that today is a good day to go out. It's settled!" Qiao Yuan smiled and drank a mouthful of water with his backpack.
[Cultivation +1]
...
After spending two hours, Qiao Yuan had no clue at all. There was no answer to the Death Horn Village on the internet.
Taking a direct bus, Qiao Yuan arrived at the outskirts of Four-Corner Village.
The sun was scorching, and the heat waves were monstrous. The air was filled with the smell of burning and gasoline.
There was a lot of noise in his ears, and tourist buses were entering the parking lot.
The fence at the side had collapsed, and many dark brown marks were on the ground.
A loudspeaker was placed in the temporary tent nearby, constantly broadcasting repeated messages.
"Welcome to Sijiao village. All drivers, please pay attention to your safety and don't drive while fatigued..."
A few people in the management of the scenic area, who were wearing the same uniform, were talking as they directed the parking.
"Yang, you're lucky you didn't go to work yesterday. Let me tell you. There was a serious car accident at that location. Three cars rear-ended each other!"
"It's that serious?" Yang couldn't believe it. Such a serious car accident had never happened in this scenic area before.
"I heard that the driver suddenly blacked out and lost control!"
"Is your blood sugar low because you've been sitting for too long?" Yang asked.
"It's probably an occupational hazard," answered another manager after taking a sip of mineral water.
"Alright, it's time to work. By the way, did you get your tickets today? Once you've collected it, quickly send it over to old bull. There are so many people today. We should be able to earn a small sum."
"It's a must!" Yang said with a smile.
The scenic area was open for business, so it was impossible to close just because something happened in front of the door.
...
'I really don't understand what's so fun about this place. Isn't it crowded to come here in the summer?' Qiao Yuan went to the ticket counter and looked at the crowd lined up. It would probably take an hour or two to get in.
"Friend, friend, do you have some money?"
Just as Qiao Yuan was frowning, a middle-aged man in a flowery shirt with slicked-back hair approached.
"Friend, it'll take you at least an hour to line up here. I have an employee ticket here. You can go that way." The middle-aged man pointed at a small passage in the distance.
Qiao Yuan pondered for a moment and looked at the long line. In the end, he paid a high price to buy an internal ticket.
After entering, there were obviously more people. People were continuously moving about, and the air was full of the stench of sweat.
There was a notice board on the side, and below it [Mutual aid club] was written to remind tourists to take good care of their items. They would not be responsible if they lost them.
There was another sentence on it.
[Welcome to the street of flowers, snow, and moon.]
Qiao Yuan looked into the distance. Rows of retro, two-story wooden attics got filled with many tourists. Some women were even dancing at the door in ancient clothes, attracting guests in all kinds of ways.
"Where is the dead corner village? Everything here looks normal," he pondered.
...
"Come, come, come. Follow me closely. Today, I'll show you the Fourth Wonder of our Four-Corner Village..." The tour guide with a small red hat shouted into the microphone and waved the flag in his hand, signaling the crowd to follow.
"Tour guide, there's no need to explain. I understand," One of the fat tourists with an oily face licked his dry lips and said with a smile.
"Oh? Did this tourist understand it again? Come, everyone, follow my hand and look at the screen on the right," The tour guide didn't explain further. He pointed at a screen that was as big as a movie theater.
On the huge screen, rows of names and avatars were being shown one after another.
"Do you know what that is? I advise you to put away those improper thoughts in your heart. Don't mess around inside and try to engage in secret transactions. Once you're discovered, in addition to individual fines and detention, the public chat will also be floating for seven days!" The tour guide said seriously.
The so-called snow, moon, wind, and flowers were just a means of promotion. The name was a bit of a side-line because it was built according to the ratio of the ancient wind and moon land to one, and it was especially designed to attract male tourists to come and spend.
However, it was a serious place!
In layman's terms, it was a street of women.
At this moment, a weak voice came from below, "What if we're not discovered?"
The tour guide replied, "The group of people on the floating screens have the same idea as you."
"Alright, I'll continue to show you around this Old Street. Speaking of this Street, I can swear that none of you have heard of this legend!" he continued.
"Do you know what the name of the previous life of this Four-Corner Village was?" He noticed that the male tourists were a little disinterested, so he began to explain the history of the village.
There were only two things that could attract the interest of male customers. One was history, and the other was color.
"About a hundred years ago, this village was actually called... Death Horn Village..."
In the distance, Qiao Yuan's eyes lit up. Then he silently blended into the group.
...
An hour later.
'So it was like this!' he realized.
Four-Corner Village was Death Horn Village. Because of its accent, it was originally called Death Horn Village, but it slowly changed to Four-Corn village.
Just like most famous villages had their own legends, Four-Corner Village also had a story.
According to the legend...
In ancient times, a young lady from a rich family passed by this place and got killed by a group of bandits with evil intentions. Thus, she was unwilling and turned into a resentful ghost, cursing every outsider.
It absorbed the essence of all outsiders.
Therefore, when an outsider passed by the village entrance alone, there would be two paths.
One led to hell, and the other led to reality.
Those who went to hell would be sucked dry, while those who went to reality would receive the young lady's blessing.
Of course, this was just a myth. In fact, some live streamers had cracked down on this rumor a long time ago and thought it was nonsense.
Qiao Yuan left the tourist spot and went back to the village entrance. He found the owner of a snack shop and spent 200 yuan to ask.
There were actually many entrances to Sijiao village, all of which were small paths leading to the village. However, there was nothing much to see in the village. The tourists who came here were all directed to the Four Wonders.
Therefore, it was impossible to sneak into Four-Corner Village through the small path. One will still have to pay for the entrance fee.
After getting the answer he wanted, Qiao Yuan decided to give it a try. So, he filled up with hot water and got ready to set off.
Finally, he found a remote path with no one around.
Now, it was time to verify the legend. If a spirit was involved, it was not impossible that the story was true.
Closing his eyes, Qiao Yuan took a sip of hot water.
[Cultivation +1]
When he opened his eyes again, the scene in front of him had already changed. Two paths had appeared.
The first was a muddy road. It seemed due to the rain, but the weather forecast showed that it had not rained in the past two days.
The other path was a small path that had always existed.
Therefore, the correct answer was obvious.
"I wonder if my body can take it? Whether I'll squeeze it dry or I'll burn it to death, we'll only know after we enter," Qiao Yuan shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave.
Ten minutes later, Qiao Yuan put on his rain boots and stepped onto the muddy road.
...
A very strange feeling suddenly surged in his heart. Qiao Yuan looked up at the sky and found nothing unusual, but his sixth sense kept feeling that something was wrong.
Very quickly, Qiao Yuan arrived at the sign. The words 'Sijiao Village' were carved on it.
Qiao Yuan turned around and looked behind him. He could clearly see the path he had taken!
After hesitating for a bit, Qiao Yuan did not cross the boundary stone. Instead, he retreated and left the non-existent path.
After trying it a few times, Qiao Yuan seemed to have understood something. He kicked the wooden sign with his foot, but there was no reaction.
So he turned back and went to the store to buy a shovel.
After a few minutes, he dug a hole half a meter deep but still couldn't see the bottom of the sign.
He tried to pull it out, but it did not move at all.
Qiao Yuan looked left and right. When he saw no one was around, his body suddenly glowed with a golden light!
Bang~
The wooden tablet got pulled up from the root, and the wooden tablet that was originally as tall as a person suddenly became no more than 20 centimeters.
Qiao Yuan picked it up and put it in his bag.
In front of the sign was the abyss, and behind it was the path of life.
Qiao Yuan didn't know if this tablet would be of any use, but it was only a few pounds, so it wouldn't be a problem to carry it.
...
Not long after Qiao Yuan left...
A white figure appeared at the intersection and looked at the marks on the ground.
He was stunned for a full three minutes.
Then, he placed his palm on the mountain beside him.
Boom Boom~
The sound of the earth shaking and the mountains trembling could be heard.
Suddenly, an incomparably thick and heavy stone replaced the original wooden token.
The boulder weighed 10000 Jun and was about two meters tall, one meter wide, and half a meter thick.
Three characters were written on it clearly.
[Sijiao village]
The white figure thought for a moment and then carved another line of small characters.
[The one who moves the sign will be consigned to eternal damnation!]
The small characters were red as if drenched with blood, and were filled with a strong curse.