Xuanxia

Chapter 360: Strange Village
There has been no rain near Huailin Village in recent days, and the road leading to the cemetery on the back mountain is full of footprints, and there are also a lot of paper money that have been stepped into the mud and have not yet been burned.

Knowing the location of the cemetery, it was easy for Wu Yan to find the new grave.

But as he followed the traces all the way up the mountain, for some reason his stomach kept growling.

It chirped very loudly, as if there was a cicada hiding inside.

This cicada was so noisy that even Wu Yan, who was used to its presence, felt a little annoyed.

Fortunately, I still have a task at the moment. If I focus on the task, I can forget about everything else temporarily.

He followed the traces up the mountain and soon found a grave mound.

It can be seen that the soil around the grave mound is newly turned and surrounded by stone bricks. Compared with this small village, it is a relatively luxurious grave mound.

The same was true of the tombstone in front of the tomb, which was actually fully engraved.

Wu Yan read it carefully.

"First, examine the tomb of Mei Gong Congsheng."

"The public name is Congsheng, and the courtesy name is Wangdong. He lived in Mei's Huaizhuang for generations. He was kind and honest, and was well-behaved. He was respected by the people in the village. He worked hard and studied hard, and his family prospered. He was filial to his parents and loyal to his friends. He never cheated anyone, nor was he cheated by anyone. He died at the age of 62 on September 19, the 19th year of Qianhao in Dayan. As a son, I am saddened by the death of my father and miss his virtues, so I erected this monument to commemorate his immortality."

"Alas! My father's life was like a pine tree standing tall; his death was like a star falling. I wish my father's spirit in heaven can rest in peace; I wish my father's virtue can be passed on forever. Future generations, when they look at this monument, should think about the style of their ancestors, inherit their teachings, and glorify their family name."

"The one who erected the monument: Zimei established himself."

The inscription on the stele does not sound like that of an ordinary villager, but rather like that of an elder from a large family...

Of course, an ordinary villager would not be worthy of his enemies coming to Xiyu Pavilion, and his death would not make his enemies worry.

These are not what Wu Yan needs to consider.

He had looked around when he came here and found that this was the only new grave in the cemetery, so it must be the target of the mission.

But it is still broad daylight, and this grave is not a simple mound of earth. Digging the grave and opening the coffin will surely cause a lot of noise, so we have to wait until late at night when everyone is asleep.

So Wu Yan found a secret place to hide, picked up the wooden stick that contained the sword, closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually calmed down.

But he didn't have to wait too long before he was startled by the sound of footsteps.

"Mrs. Hua, did you really see that? Did that person really come up the mountain?"

"I may be old, but there is nothing wrong with my eyesight! He just went up the mountain and never came down!"

"That person was really sneaky, and he was standing in front of my house. I don't know what he wanted to do..."

Wu Yan frowned slightly.

He could tell that there were seventy or eighty people coming in with the footsteps, including men, women, young and old. Among those who had just spoken were the enthusiastic old woman today and the silly woman's husband.

these people……

He had a bad feeling in his heart, but he did not panic. He just climbed up a big tree with lush branches and leaves and observed from the gaps between the branches.

Soon, all the people went up the mountain along the mountain road and gathered densely in front of the new grave. Some people who couldn't squeeze to the front could only gather at the back and stretch their necks.

"What about people?"

Someone asked irritably, "Why is the person gone?"

"I guess he's a traveler?" an old farmer frowned and asked, "He probably saw that these are all graves and left."

"how is this possible?"

The warm and kind old woman before, now had a sour face and mocked: "I have advised him several times, but he still went straight to this mountain. Have you ever seen a tourist so interested in a cemetery?"

"It seems that the village chief is right."

The silly woman's husband sneered, "After he dies, someone will really want to take his body."

"Do you want to tell Mei Lishen?"

Someone else asked, "Someone wants to dig up his father's grave, but he didn't tell him?"

"What are you talking about?" Someone else retorted, "Although our generation has had a much better life, don't you know how terrible the Mei family is? Why don't we find that stranger first and then go tell him? Do you want to die?"

The villagers started talking at once, and Wu Yan listened with a frown, probably having some thoughts in his mind.

The man who died a few days ago was the village chief. As for why it was not written on the tombstone, he did not know. The village chief was named Mei Congsheng, and he had a son named Mei Lishen. They seemed to have a very high status in the village, and this status... most of it came from "fear".

These villagers both respected and feared the father and son of the Mei family, but Wu Yan didn't know why.

And...these villagers are very good at disguise.

Just like that old woman, even a killer like Wu Yan didn't realize that she had two faces.

The most important thing is, the village chief Mei Congsheng... actually guessed in advance that someone would attack his corpse?

Wu Yan vaguely felt that something was wrong. This task was far more complicated than he had imagined.

He is a killer, not a detective, and unraveling the truth is not what he wants to do.

This is the current situation...

He lowered his head and glanced at the villagers.

At this time, the villagers had dispersed, apparently starting to look for him, the "traveler", while the new grave was still lying there quietly.

What's next? Contact the cabinet?

"Three days ago, someone died in the village, but some people are worried. You go open the coffin. No matter whether the person in the coffin is dead or alive, or something else, kill him again."

"Remember, he's missing three fingers on his right hand and has a big burn scar on his neck."

"If there is no one in the coffin, send a message back and wait for news in the village."

These were the exact words His Majesty said when he assigned the task, and Wu Yan remembered them word for word.

"The coffin must be opened first." He quickly came to the conclusion.

Xiyu Pavilion will not sacrifice the life of a killer for no reason. Even if the killer fails in the mission, even if there is a punishment, he will not lose his life directly.

But at the same time, Xiyu Pavilion does not value the life of the killer.

Your Excellency's instructions will never be wrong. If someone dies while performing a mission, it is only because the killer is not capable enough.

This concept is also deeply engraved in the hearts of every killer, so Wu Yan does not value his own life.

If necessary, he can die for Xiyu Pavilion at any time, but before dying, he must complete the mission first.

Therefore, no matter how strange or complicated the village was, it didn't matter to him.

As long as these people don't interfere with him opening the coffin, it's fine.

If it affects them, kill them all.

Time passed minute by minute. It was naturally impossible for those ordinary villagers who had not yet opened their minds to find Wu Yan, who was deliberately hiding himself. After searching for a few rounds, they left with obvious annoyance.

Wu Yan followed them as they walked away, and saw that one after another they either went back to the house or went to the fields.

It seems that the people in the village are not members of some well-trained mysterious organization, but just a group of villagers with secrets and who can disguise themselves.

This is good. If I really want to kill him, it won’t be too difficult.

Wu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't mind killing people, but it was obvious that there was something strange in the village. If he got into trouble, the mission might fail.

If a mission fails, you will not be assigned any tasks for a long time. Without tasks to do, you will not be able to leave Xiyu Pavilion, and you will also... not be able to eat.

Finally, it got dark.

But Wu Yan was not in a hurry.

He had been hiding in the tree, waiting quietly.

Lights were lit in every household in the village. Soon, another group of people came up the mountain with torches and began another round of search.

But this round of search did not even last as long as during the day. Not long after, the villagers started to shout, "He must have left" and "What a fuss!" and went down the mountain and back to the village.

After waiting for a while and watching the candles in every household in the village go out, Wu Yan finally moved.

(End of this chapter)