The village chosen by Su Huai was not particularly large.
From a distance, the most striking feature was the huge, dead banyan tree in the center of the village with a trunk about ten meters thick.
The banyan tree had many branches, and it was not difficult to imagine how lush and flourishing it must have been when it was alive.
Under the tree, there were some simple adobe houses.
Yellow soil walls, covered with black tiles.
Whoosh!
When Su Huai was still a hundred meters away from the village, a long spear made of black stone suddenly shot from the distance and stabbed into the muddy ground beside Su Huai's feet.
The spear was buried three points into the soil, and the end of the spear was still trembling.
"Visitor ahead, stop immediately!"
"Human language?"
Su Huai breathed a sigh of relief.
He raised his head and looked at the ten or so figures in straw raincoats converging at the entrance of the village.
"Don't misunderstand!" Su Huai shouted loudly.
"I'm just a lost traveler, passing by here, and finally found a village with people, so I want to stay in your village for a few days..."
"Stay? Are you human?"
The leading figure in the straw raincoat took out another spear from the basket on his back, held it tightly in his hand, and then walked towards Su Huai's position against the heavy rain.
Su Huai extended his empty hands, took off the ghost face, revealing a harmless, white and clean face.
He showed a smile full of goodwill to the man.
Unexpectedly, the man suddenly stiffened.
"Why do you... look so white!?"
"Ha!?"
...
Su Huai was eventually welcomed into the village.
The village was the same as what Su Huai saw outside, extremely dilapidated, somewhat like the rural style of China in the 1950s and 1960s.
As night fell, most of the villagers who had no entertainment had already gone to bed early.
But Su Huai's arrival still attracted some "night owls" to watch.
The villagers pointed at him, huddled together and whispered, but they all stood far away, no one dared to approach Su Huai arbitrarily.
"Apart from the traveling merchants, the village has not seen outsiders for a long time, they are just curious about you, there is no malice."
"I know."
When entering the village, Su Huai had already exchanged names with the spear-throwing young man in the straw raincoat, and had a rough understanding of the village.
This village is called the Village Under the Banyan Tree, with only sixty years of history, and the villagers all migrated from another village.
The young man's surname is Jin, and he is the village guard captain, responsible for maintaining the daily security of the village.
When he heard about his responsibilities, Su Huai couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.
As everyone knows, the destination of retired old men is idle security, and I didn't expect this person to be a security captain at a young age, saving at least a few decades of detours.
"Please wait here for a moment, I'll go and ask the village head, only she can decide your stay."
"Oh, okay..."
Su Huai watched the back of Jin's captain as he walked away, frowning.
For some reason, he always felt that the other party seemed to have some inexplicable hostility towards him as a guest.
The hostility was very shallow, and it was different from resentment and not on guard, as if it was simply looking at Su Huai.
Psycho!
Not long after, Jin's captain came back.
"Follow me, the village head wants to see you."
The hostility was even stronger.
Su Huai didn't care, and followed him with his hands in his pockets.
The village was very small, and it didn't take long for Jin's captain to lead Su Huai into a courtyard next to the banyan tree.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, Su Huai's attention was attracted by the tall tree in the corner of the courtyard.
It was a fruit tree, with the branches and ends full of yellow oranges, all of which were full and tempting.
This was the first vibrant plant Su Huai had seen since entering the divine realm.
[Chi Shui Orange, has the effect of treating dark injuries]
Treat dark injuries!
Su Huai's heart jumped, and he subconsciously thought of the injury on Su Changge.
"Yin, this orange... it should have some therapeutic effect on the old man's injury, right?"
[It's effective, although the effect is not great]
Effective!
Damn it, I really want to dig the tree and move it back to the old man's courtyard to plant!
"Is Mr. Su thirsty?"
A clear and pleasant female voice penetrated his ears, and Su Huai turned his head to look at the village head of the Village Under the Banyan Tree, Cao Jiaxue, standing under the eaves, and finally understood where Jin's captain's hostility came from.
Dare to think that this kid thinks I am handsome, thinking I am a little white face from the sky, afraid that I will rob him of his wife?
"Mr. Su."
"My name is Cao Jiaxue, the village head of the Village Under the Banyan Tree."
Su Huai took a look at Jin's captain, and Jin's captain was now very honest, standing motionless beside Cao Jiaxue, his eyes occasionally sweeping over Cao Jiaxue, with a fleeting gentleness.
Relying on! Familiar, this is the light of a licking dog!
Su Huai was cursing in his heart, but his face was expressionless.
He greeted Cao Jiaxue with a smile and also stated his situation and request.
Cao Jiaxue was wearing a thick coat, quietly listening to Su Huai's words, and said softly:
"Mr. Su has nowhere to go, and of course, I am willing to accept you based on my personal wishes."
"But... The Village Under the Banyan Tree is not just my village, and I have no right to make a decision directly."
"If you really want to stay, you still need to be recognized by the villagers..."
Su Huai nodded: "I understand, I can understand."
Cao Jiaxue pointed to the wall of her own courtyard.
"By the way, the courtyard next to me is still vacant, if you don't mind, you can rest in it."
Jin's captain was shocked.
"No, it's not okay!"
"Village head, this kid is still unknown, let him live next to you, it's too dangerous!"
Su Huai's mouth twitched.
Unknown... Are you polite?
Cao Jiaxue heard Jin's captain's words, first apologized to Su Huai with a smile, and then turned to look at Jin's captain.
"Jin's captain, pay attention to your words!"
"And there are several rooms in the courtyard next to the house, Jin's captain can also move to the small courtyard next door, just right to introduce our village to Mr. Su."
Hearing that he could also move over, Jin's captain immediately stopped talking.
Cao Jiaxue seemed to want to say something more, but her face suddenly turned pale, and she almost fell to the ground.
Jin's captain hurriedly helped her.
At this moment, Su Huai clearly sensed the ghostly energy coming out of Cao Jiaxue.
He squinted his eyes, but did not speak.
Jin's captain helped Cao Jiaxue into the house, and then took Su Huai to the courtyard next to the small courtyard.
It has been vacant for a long time, and if you want to live, you have to clean it up carefully.
When the two started to get busy, Su Huai took the opportunity to speak.
"Jin's captain, just now the village head..."
"Are you asking me about the ghostly energy on her body?"
Jin's captain was holding a rag in his hand, his head down, and wiping the table in the room hard.
"That is the power left by Rongzu."
"The village head was chosen as the successor of the village head when she was very young, bearing the survival of the village."
"The reason why the Village Under the Banyan Tree can take root here is due to the dead banyan tree in the center of the village."
"That banyan tree is our totem of the Village Under the Banyan Tree."
"The power of the totem is very strong, and only those who have been in contact with the remains of the banyan tree since childhood have the qualification to control this power."
"Therefore, every village head is the strongest person in the village, and the price is... being contaminated by ghostly energy, a short life, and even the possibility of being counterattacked by the totem."
Su Huai was silent.
The cultivation of everyone in the village was clear to him.
Most of the villagers are only one or two stages, which is no different from ordinary people.
The strength of Jin's captain's security team is a bit stronger, but the average strength is only four or five stages, and Jin's captain himself is seven stages.
And the village head of the Village Under the Banyan Tree, the apparent cultivation strength is not much more than three stages, but just now when the ghostly energy appeared on her body, Su Huai smelled the taste of the imperial realm
.
Combined with Jin's captain's words, he suspected that the dead and withered banyan tree in the center of the village is likely to be the remains of an imperial ghost!
Cao Jiaxue, or the entire Village Under the Banyan Tree, is stealing this power to obtain the ability to protect oneself.
No wonder the Village Under the Banyan Tree can still exist in the territory of the ghost tribe to this day.