Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 83 Being the Best Man

November had already brought winter to the south of the Yangtze River, with rice-like snowflakes floating in the gloomy sky. When the west wind blew, pedestrians on the road hunched their necks and folded their hands.

A big blue mule, steam coming out of its nose, came briskly from the north.

A young couple sat on the mule's back, and a tabby cat sat on the mule's head, looking forward in a very stylish manner.

These are naturally Ren Yuan, A Yao and his group who left to visit the fairyland.

Ren Yuan found out that Changxing County was on the western shore of Taihu Lake, 200 miles south of Qu'a County.

If the red leopard were allowed to run, it would reach the destination in half a day, but because of the senior sister's illness, they could only travel during the day.

And in broad daylight, it was obviously not right to ride a leopard through the streets. This was not a fairyland, and it would definitely cause unnecessary trouble.

So Ren Yuan used a magic spell to disguise the red leopard as an ordinary animal and drove it at a normal speed. He even changed the red leopard's appearance every day. The day before yesterday, it was a horse, and yesterday it was a donkey.

Today, Chibao became a mule and was ordered to walk only 60 miles a day. So before the sun set, Ren Yuan saw a village not far ahead and said he would not walk today.

"Let's walk for a while longer. It's still early." suggested the civet cat.

Ren Yuan shook his head and said, "No need. We have already entered Wuxing County, and are still 40 miles away from Changxing County. We can rest for a night and enter the city at noon tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." The civet cat was quite obedient. This guy was a bit of a bully and was quite cautious in unfamiliar places.

Ren Yuan led the "mule" and prepared to go to the farm to buy some live chickens, ducks, etc. for the evening.

In fact, most of their luggage and food were on the Qianli ship, but Ren Yuan couldn't bring living things on board, so he could only buy and use them on the spot.

When he got closer, Ren Yuan found that it was still daylight, but the gate of the village had been closed early.

But he had to get a living creature, otherwise he would be in trouble tonight, so he knocked on the copper ring on the iron-clad wooden door.

Then a farmhand poked his head out from the wall and asked unhappily, "What are you doing?!"

"Sorry to bother you." Ren Yuan was not annoyed and said in a gentle voice, "We are just passing by and would like to buy some live chickens and ducks from the village. Can you give us some convenience?"

"It's inconvenient..." Before the farmhand could finish his words, a small string of copper coins appeared in his hand.

"It's really something going on in our village..." He weighed the heavy string of money, then he said calmly, "Well, wait, I'll get you two chickens."

"Thank you." Ren Yuan nodded and thanked him.

Who knew that after waiting for a long time, it was already dark, but the man still didn't come back.

"Yuan, were you fooled by that guy?" the civet cat said anxiously.

"Not really. Even rabbits don't eat grass near their burrows." Ren Yuan shook his head. "This is in front of their house. If we make a noise, we'll be in trouble."

Sure enough, after a while, the tightly closed door of the village opened.

The servant led out a middle-aged man who looked like a butler and pointed at Ren Yuan and said, "This is the young man."

Seeing the housekeeper looking him up and down, Ren Yuan asked curiously, "Why, do you need to check the person before selling the chicken?"

"Hahaha, you misunderstood, little brother." The housekeeper explained with a smile on his face, "It is our owner who invited you in to serve tea."

"You're too polite, aren't you? I'm just buying a chicken..." Ren Yuan declined.

"Hey, you are a guest. The road is not smooth and it will be dark soon. You two should stay at the farm tonight. Besides, our farm owner has something to ask you, please come in and talk." The housekeeper held him tightly and winked at the farmhand. The farmhand then hung a pair of live chickens and ducks on the mule's back.

Ren Yuan glanced at his senior sister. A Yao was wearing a bamboo hat and didn't even raise her head. It was obvious that she couldn't wait any longer. He couldn't afford to waste time, so he agreed, "Okay, but my sister isn't feeling well. Please arrange a guest room for her to rest first."

"Okay, okay." The housekeeper had no interest in A Yao, so he ordered the farmhand to take her to the guest room quickly.

Ren Yuan asked the housekeeper to wait for a moment while he settled his senior sister first.

"No hurry, no hurry." The butler nodded with a smile.

~~
In the guest room, Ren Yuan first killed a chicken and bled it, helping his sister out of her urgent need.

As time went by, the senior sister's demand for blood became greater and greater. Before, one bowl of blood was enough, but now she needs two bowls.

This made Senior Sister feel very bad, and she became more and more depressed day by day. Today, Ren Yuan and Hua Limao teased her for a long time, but they didn't say more than ten words in total...

However, the senior sister still said at this time: "This place makes me happy."

Ren Yuan and the civet cat looked at each other, but instead of being happy, they were worried because A Yao had begun to show a rejection of sunlight and life, and a preference for darkness and death.

"I also think this family is weird, especially the way the housekeeper looked at me, which brought back some bad memories." Ren Yuan nodded.

"Then let's go." Senior Sister said, "I think they have no practice and can't stop you."

"Well, now that we're here." Ren Yuan shook his head and smiled, "Let's see what they're up to first."

"Aren't you afraid of any unexpected complications?" A Yao asked.

"With my senior sister here, what do I have to be afraid of?" Ren Yuan smiled and said, "I'm in the light, and you just protect me in the dark."

Hua Limao was used to cooperating with Ren Yuan, and immediately understood that he was trying to give confidence to his sister who was doubting her life, so he immediately agreed: "We are out in the world, we should fight against evil and protect the good, how can we shrink back when encountering troubles?"

The senior sister shook her head and said, "I don't know any magic now, I'm afraid I can't protect Yuan."

Ren Yuan smiled and said, "Even if Senior Sister cannot use magic for the time being, she is now invulnerable to swords and guns, has great strength, amazing speed, and sharp senses. She can beat three of me by herself. How could she not be able to protect me?"

"Oh, okay." Although A Yao felt that the compliment was strange, he still agreed.

~~
Ren Yuan then came out of the guest room and followed the housekeeper into the inner house.

Then I saw white lanterns hung everywhere in the house, white gauze was hung in the corridor, and white curtains were hung everywhere, as if a funeral was being held.

However, Ren Yuan was not a newcomer. He knew that in this spooky era, it was popular to hold wedding ceremonies as funerals, and even the clothes worn for weddings were white.

So when I saw that no one was in mourning, I knew that this was not a funeral.

When he got closer and saw the word "喜" on the lantern, Ren Yuanfang asked with certainty, "Did you just have a wedding?"

"No, there's a wedding tonight." Then someone answered from the corridor of the main house.

The person who spoke was a fat, smiling official. He cupped his fists towards Ren Yuan and said with a smile, "I am the sixteenth-generation grandson of the Wukang Shen family, and I am honored to be the owner of Shenjia Manor."

"It turns out to be Master Shen." Ren Yuan also politely replied: "My name is Ren Yuan."

Nowadays, people will introduce themselves as soon as they speak. There are only two situations in which people do not introduce themselves: one is that they are well-known all over the world and do not need to introduce themselves; the other is that there has not been any outstanding person in their ancestors for 18 generations, so there is nothing to report.

Obviously Ren Yuan cannot be the former.

Generally speaking, people's attitudes had obviously turned cold, but Manor Master Shen was different. He looked even happier.

He warmly entertained Ren Yuan and asked about Ren Yuan's family situation.

When he heard that Ren Yuan's parents had both passed away and that he depended on his sister for support, Master Shen couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, little brother, you are so pitiful." Master Shen rubbed his face and said, "If you don't mind, you can stay in my manor from now on."

"Thank you for your kindness, but we have something important to attend to." Ren Yuan declined, "I heard from the housekeeper that the owner of the manor wants to see me for something?"

"Yes, my brother saw it too. Today our family is looking for a son-in-law. Unfortunately, the best man suddenly fell ill," said Master Shen pleadingly, "According to custom, people in our village cannot serve as best man for their son-in-law. We were so anxious that God sent my brother here."

As he said this, he stood up straight, bowed his hands and said repeatedly: "I beg you to come to my rescue and be my best man!"

"Ah?" Ren Yuan didn't expect this to be the request.

(End of this chapter)