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Chapter 453 It's stuck (Seeking monthly votes)
"I'm so hungry, do you have anything to eat?"

Immediately, an image of an innocent child flashed into Wei Jinyuan's mind, with a little finger touching the corner of his mouth, his round face tilted up, asking him for candy.

But Wei Jinyuan didn't find it cute at all; instead, he felt terrified!

The subtext of this statement is: If there's no food, then you are the food!

But we have already put up door gods, so we should be keeping all evil spirits away.

Why is this strange thing able to knock on the door?!
How are Uncle Xi and the others doing?
Uncle Xi is a fourth-rate scoundrel. If even he falls under the spell of this evil spirit, wouldn't I be doomed?
I still have a lifetime of wealth to enjoy, why should I risk my life in the mouth of evil spirits in this remote and desolate place like Nanjiaozhi for the sake of a woman!
Although the woman was the granddaughter of the Imperial Censor.

Although the woman was gentle, graceful, and naturally beautiful.

Not worth it...

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Wei Jinyuan's mind, with regret making up the majority.

In an era rife with evil spirits, even the lives of the sons of prominent families were not so valuable.

In fact, compared to ordinary people, if a member of a prominent family is killed, they may not actually be dead.

One and a half of the Emperor Ming Dynasty exists and can retrieve people from the underworld!
"One" naturally refers to the Dragon King of the Grand Canal.

That "half" refers to the Chief Supervisor.

The powerful and influential in both the northern and southern capitals, and even members of the royal family, would seek out this "one and a half" to retrieve their outstanding offspring who had unexpectedly perished from the underworld.

As for why the Supervisor is only "half", that is not something to be told to outsiders.

It's not easy to ask the Superintendent to help, and the cost of asking the Dragon King of the Grand Canal to help is even higher!
Wei Jinyuan wasn't sure if his father would be willing to pay such a high price for him.

After all, in an era rife with evil spirits, the lives of the sons of prominent families weren't that valuable. So, these powerful families increasingly emphasized "of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no descendants," and everyone was very prolific.

Wei Jinyuan also has seven younger brothers.

There are even more cousins.

"Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!"

The knocking sounded a second time, as if that "cute" yet "wicked" little thing outside the door was clenching its tiny fists and pounding on the door.

Why won't you open the door?

"Why do not you speak?"

"You must have something delicious to eat and you won't share it with me!"

"You're so mean!"

"If you don't open the door, I'm coming in..."

Wei Jinyuan, on the contrary, calmed down.

Although the lives of scions of prominent families are no longer so valuable, they are not something that can be taken away by just any strange thing.

If you want to eat me, I'll use all my handicrafts and treasures to knock out all your teeth!

Wei Jinyuan wiped his face with his hand, and a theatrical mask was put on his face.

This is a "red face".

His face was as red as a jujube, and his loyalty was impeccable.

This mask can breathe fire, similar to the fire in the abdomen of a cultivator, which greatly counters evil spirits.

In addition to these, there are white-faced and painted-faced characters, each with its own corresponding tricks.

After putting on the mask, Wei Jinyuan's temperament also changed. He became imposing without being angry, and his eyes were bright and piercing as he stared at the door—as long as that strange thing came in, he would burn it down to the ground without saying a word!

"You're not a good person either!"

Suddenly, a sharp sound rang out from outside the door, sounding like the chirping insects kept by the nobles and princes of the Northern Capital!

The voice continued, "But I have a heavy palate; I like to eat filthy things like you!"

Wei Jinyuan breathed a sigh of relief; he recognized that voice all too well.

It was Uncle Xi speaking through his "big worm".

"Big Bug" doesn't refer to a tiger, but to a real worm.

Uncle Xi is alright, he came to save me!

Wei Jinyuan's courage immediately grew, and with the added boost of the mask, he fearlessly stuck it forward.

He peered through the crack in the door.

The first thing you see is a little girl who is less than four feet tall.

He was dressed in tattered clothes, and his shoes were so worn that eight toes were showing.

She was dressed like an ordinary rural girl.

However, her head and face had become half-human and half-snake.

Its scales are fine and colorful!
Vertical pupils, gaping mouth, and drooling.

Not far behind the girl, there was a huge shadow in the darkness.

Several long antennae emerged from the shadows, drooping like willow branches and covered with barbs!

You can still vaguely see the huge insect wings and blade-like legs flashing by.

The girl's face showed terror, but it was too late to escape. Two insect antennae wrapped around her, trapping her tightly and dragging her into the shadows. Then came the sound of chewing and swallowing!
Before long, everything quieted down again.

Uncle Xi let out a burp and said from outside the door, "I'm sorry to disturb you, young master. Please rest well."

Wei Jinyuan, however, was still peeking through the crack in the door.

The huge shadow did not disappear; instead, it paced restlessly around the courtyard. After about half an incense stick's time, the "tiger's" restlessness seemed to subside.

The enormous shadow slowly shrank, eventually becoming a flying insect the size of a fist, which then burrowed back into another room.

Wei Jinyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

In the other room, the others also let out a sigh of relief.

Uncle Xi's "big bug" is difficult to control.

After he was promoted to the fourth rank, his strength did indeed increase, but the probability of him becoming unpredictable also increased significantly.

Every time Uncle Xi uses "Big Bug", those around him are on tenterhooks.

If it gets out of control, the giant worm will eat them all.

Wei Jinyuan possesses something that can restrain Uncle Xi.

Prominent families would not allow their adopted sons to get out of control.

Wei Jinyuan removed the mask and reached down to touch the back of his clothes, which were soaked with cold sweat.

Wei Jinyuan took off his clothes, and there was a bucket of water in the room. He dried himself off and went to sleep.

I already deeply regret coming out this time.

I thought he was a noble young master from the northern capital, touring the southwest and showing off his skills to intimidate the ignorant frogs in the well on the border.

Who would have thought that these ignorant and wicked people outside of Beidu would not be afraid of his identity as the "son of a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet" at all!

“The local evil spirits are so rude.”

"A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall; never do such a thing again!"

……

Outside the courtyard, in the boundless darkness, lurks a pupa.

It's a piron.

There is no river here.

Pisaurus can only crawl using its claws, just like the hog saurus.

However, its claws were far less strong and powerful than those of the hog dragon.

They couldn't even support their bodies.

So it turned into this: the belly dragged on the ground, and the claws were clawing at the sides... just like rowing a boat.

It's practically a "real dragon boat".

Liu Hu's comment about "being greedy" reminded Xu Yuan.

Chen Yang was greedy, so he was unknowingly tempted by the snake eggs.

Among ordinary people, who is the most greedy?

Of course, it's those kids.

Only people about the same height as Dafu could see that pit—that is, of course, children.

Xu Yuan immediately suspected that the village children might have unknowingly become evil spirits.

Evil spirits are mostly active at night, so after Xu Yuan made this guess, he immediately and quietly released the leather dragon.

Sure enough, they spotted the little girl walking alone in the night.

The little girl had a clear goal – she had most likely already chosen her target during the day.

They went straight to Wei Jinyuan's courtyard.

Uncle Xi's "big worm" ate the little girl.

Xu Yuan discovered that Pi Long also had a strong desire to eat that "big worm"!

Pilong is very greedy.

Or perhaps they were simply craving the "Dragon Transformation Technique."

The piranha has indeed gone without food for a while.

Xu Yuan suppressed Pi Long's impulse. Once the courtyard quieted down, he controlled Pi Long and followed the little girl's scent to go to her house.

Pilong awkwardly turned around and suddenly found himself face to face with Dafu!

They stared at each other, wide-eyed!
Xu Yuan was speechless. When did Dafu come out with him?!

Not only does he like to follow me silently, but now he also likes to follow Pilong silently.

Dafu was also puzzled.

It didn't even know how it had managed to follow along.

I was sleeping soundly in the corner of the yard, but somehow I suddenly got up in a daze and inexplicably ended up here.

It's like... some kind of passive trickery has been activated.

The key point is that Dafu doesn't know Pilong at all, but he always feels that Pilong is very familiar, as if he is Fanzhezi.

Xu Yuan ignored Da Fu, picked up the leather dragon, and headed towards the little girl's house.

Dafu stared wide-eyed, not understanding why they were doing this, but still continued to follow behind.

As they continued, Dafu grew a little impatient.

What's wrong with Fan Zhezi? He's walking even slower than me.

It took them quite a while to walk more than ten feet.

Pi Long persevered, firmly believing that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

As Xu Yuan and Pi Longzhen were encouraging themselves, they suddenly felt their heads being lifted up—something had crawled under them.

Dafu...

Dafu shook his head and picked up the rice basket.

You're too slow, let me carry you.

Pilong immediately put its claws on Dafu's wings.

Dafu spreads out its wings to make things easier for Pilong.

Then he swung his big flippers and started running away with a clatter.

Dafu's speed was also impressive.

When she runs fast, she flaps her wings as she runs, flying and running at the same time.

Now, even using only my two feet... I'm still faster than Pilong.

……

Liu Hu woke up in the middle of the night, half-asleep, because he needed to urinate.

I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't, so I had to muster up the courage to get up and urinate. Since I didn't have a chamber pot, I had to go to the yard.

Liu Hu was scared, so he opened the door a crack and stuck the thing out...

Then I saw an incredibly strange evil spirit, with a dragon's head and a goose's beak, claws on its wings, but it only used its two feet to run very fast in the dark night, and it was gone in a flash!
It seemed to be carrying a chilling wind and black sand!

Liu Hu, a county official, had never seen such a strange and malevolent spirit.

He was so frightened that he lost all urge to urinate and instinctively slammed the door shut with both hands...

It's stuck!
Liu Hu's face turned bright red with pain, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out.

He was a tough guy, clenching his teeth and not daring to cry out.

If I shout out, I'll alert the evil spirits outside, and disaster will befall us.

……

Dafu, carrying Pilong on his back, doubled his speed again and again.

Before long, they arrived at the little girl's house. The door was tightly closed, and door gods were pasted on it.

Only the window near the small bed in the room was pried open by a wooden stick, less than a foot wide.

The little girl crawled out like a snake.

Like Wei Jinyuan, Xu Yuan was also wondering why the little girl, who had clearly changed, was able to knock on the door without being driven away by the door gods.
Dafu, with the leather dragon on his head, positioned the dragon's head just above the window so he could see the family inside.

The couple slept on the large bed at the back of the room; the husband snored loudly, while the wife ground her teeth in her sleep.

Three small beds were set up along the wall on the outside.

It was called a small bed, but it was really just a few broken bricks and a wooden board placed on top of it.

The planks were clearly made from trees that had been cut down and split open with an axe, pieced together from several planks.

The little girl's bed was empty, while the other two little boys were sleeping on their backs, their little bellies exposed.

One of them had begun to turn into a snake, its mouth split open, and its teeth were somewhat sharp.

Another one was sleeping while holding a snake egg and subconsciously sticking out his tongue to lick it.

Pi Long twitched his nose, sniffing the scent coming from the window...

It smells so good!

The shrew, having gone without food for a long time, has become quite greedy.

Moreover, Pilong smelled not only the fragrance of the snake eggs, but also the fragrance emanating from the little boy who had begun to turn into a snake!

Xu Yuan's mind raced as he carefully recalled—was Pi Long's craving for the "big worm" because of the worm itself, or because the worm had eaten the little girl?
It was as if... when Pilong was secretly following that little girl, he already had this vague feeling.

Because the crickets pupate slowly and are far from the little girl, the aroma is faint, so the "craving" isn't so strong.

After the "big worm" ate the little girl, it seemed to amplify this temptation.

"I'm afraid... both the snake transformation and the giant insect have some dragon-like elements!" Xu Yuan secretly guessed.

This speculation excited Lord Xu again. Could it be that this trip could kill two birds with one stone?
It can both harvest "Dragon's Mouth Fire" and enhance the "Dragon Transformation Technique"?!

Why was the little girl able to knock on the door without being driven away by the door gods? What if the little girl wasn't an evil spirit? Or was she simply transformed into that strange state by some kind of "dragon" power?
Pi Long peered through the window for a moment longer, then activated his "Looking at Fate" technique.

Pilong can share all of Xu Yuan's abilities.

Inside the house, the "fates" of the two little boys had begun to manifest as evil.

But both parents are normal human beings!

"The family's strange changes began with the little girl."

"But why didn't the little girl harm her parents?"

Xu Yuan had just guessed that the little girl might have been transformed by some kind of power of the "dragon," rather than becoming an evil spirit.

But her two younger brothers were clearly destined to be evil spirits.

unless……

Xu Yuan suddenly had a thought that was extremely disrespectful to the Dragon King of the Grand Canal: In this era, the fate of a "dragon" was not much different from that of an evil spirit.

Xu Yuan recalled that he had never actually used "Looking at Fate" to examine the few members of the Fu family who practiced the "Dragon Transformation Technique".

If she didn't infect adults, why did she knock on Wei Jinyuan's door late at night, wanting to devour them?
Xu Yuan made a series of deductions and guesses, thinking of many possibilities.

There is no reliable conclusion yet.

But all the children in this family have begun to change strangely, and there's no way to save them.

Xu Yuan couldn't gamble that they would never infect his parents, so Pi Long opened his mouth, and fire silently poured out of his belly.

They crawled through the window, then split into two, each grabbing a child and burning them to ashes in an instant.

Each of them burned a pebble that emitted an enticing aroma.

The aroma was more direct, and the sleeping couple each twitched their noses.

Xu Yuan, controlling the leather dragon, gestured to Dafu.

Dafu shook his head, indicating that he wouldn't do it.

Although this goose has a wide diet, there are things it eats and things it doesn't eat!

What do you mean by making me eat stones?!

I followed you because I thought you would feed me, but now I have to hunt on my own. It's one thing if you don't give me food, but you also make me eat stones.

Pilong then used its short, weak claws to gesture at Dafu.

Draw a large worm in the void.

It means if you behave well, I promise to give you a worm this, this, this big to eat.

Dafu looked at him with suspicion: Really?

Pilong nodded vigorously: Absolutely true.

Dafu tilted his head left and right, deciding to trust him one more time.

So he stretched his neck and crawled through the window, picked up the two "pebbles" from the two small beds, and swallowed them.

It's still strange that the stone emits a mouthwatering, mouthwatering aroma to everyone else, but it has no effect on Dafu.

After dealing with the two sources of infection, Dafu returned with Pilong on his back, acting suspiciously.

……

Next door to Wei Jinyuan, Xiao Bin, Lao Zheng, and two others never dared to sleep soundly.

Although Uncle Xi has brought the "big bug" back, he should have it under control.

The three of them remained on guard and observed for a while. Only when Uncle Xi started snoring, and it became very regular and steady, did they finally feel at ease and fall asleep, each hugging their pillows.

As a result, he had only been asleep for a short while when he heard Uncle Xi exclaim "Ah!" and jump out of bed.

It rolled onto the ground, opened its mouth wide, and with its lips turned outwards, it spat out four short and two long worm teeth.

Its limbs were curled up like insect legs, pressed to the ground, its eyes glowed red, and it hissed and growled, it was unclear whether it was fighting insects or hunting prey.

The three woke up with a start and instinctively huddled together, each using their abilities to prepare for battle.

"Uncle Xi..." Xiao Bin called out tentatively.

Uncle Xi suddenly twisted his head, strangely flipping it over from above. After seeing clearly that it was Xiao Bin and the other two, the fierce light in his eyes slowly faded, and his whole body trembled again before returning to normal.

"I scared you," Uncle Xi said apologetically.

Old Zheng asked, puzzled, "What happened to you just now?"

Uncle Xi said with some shame, "I had a nightmare. I dreamt of a strange creature with a dragon's head and a duck's beak, covered in snake scales, and with claws growing from its wings. It swallowed my 'big worm' in one gulp."

Uncle Xi was still a little scared: "That feeling was so real, it really scared me."

The three couldn't help but laugh: "You're a fourth-rate cultivator, and you still get woken up by nightmares?"

Uncle Xi scratched his head and guessed, "Do you think this could be some kind of omen?"

All three shook their heads: "Don't overthink it. Your 'big worm' is so ferocious, what evil spirit could possibly devour it?"

"That's true." Uncle Xi smiled. "I was just scaring myself."

He waved his hand: "Alright, everyone go to sleep."

Although everyone was asleep, no one slept well after tossing and turning all night.

The next morning, Wei Jinyuan opened a pocket-sized almanac, just like the one Fu Jingyu had, and glanced at it. Today's taboos:
Sowing seeds, offering incense, conscripting soldiers, crossing the river.

It didn't conflict with today's plan. He nodded to himself. After washing up, he came out and saw that his four subordinates were not in good spirits, especially Uncle Xi, who looked tired despite being a fourth-rate man.

"Uncle Xi, are you alright?"

"It's nothing." Uncle Xi waved his hand, embarrassed to say that after his nightmare last night, fragments of the nightmare kept flashing through his dreams even after he fell asleep again.

Although I wasn't startled awake again, I really didn't get enough rest.

Xiao Bin prepared a simple breakfast, and everyone sat down to eat together. While eating, Wei Jinyuan said, "We'll split into two groups later. Xiao Bin, you two go and keep an eye on Xu Yuan and the others. Uncle Xi and Lao Zheng, come with me to that old forest in the south."

"As ordered."

In this old forest to the south, most of the trees are willows.

The thick ones are so thick that it takes two people to hug them, while the thin ones are as thin as buckets.

Moreover, almost every tree has a hole in it.

A few days ago, Wei Jinyuan and his team searched carefully and found two important clues that pointed to this old Lin.

The old forest is very close to the village, and the trees in the forest are lush, but there is no sign of logging, which is very unusual.

Unfortunately, all the villagers from before have left, and we can't find out why they didn't cut down the trees in this forest back then.

The last time they came, they found many animal bones in a hollow of one of the old trees. It seemed that something had eaten them clean, leaving the bones there.

Today, the three of them started their search from the tree hole outwards.

Not long after, Old Zheng called out, "Young Master, Uncle Xi, come and take a look quickly."

The two ran over, and Old Zheng stood in front of a large tree that took two people to hug, with an arched hole at the base of the tree.

Behind the big tree was a small earthen mound.

Old Zheng held a craftsman's lantern in his hand, and with a gentle flick, the lantern floated away and disappeared into the tree hole.

In the light, Wei Jinyuan and Uncle Xi saw that there was a vermilion gate inside the tree hole.

Two brass door knockers hung on the gate.

One half of it was pushed open with a crack about the width of a palm.

"It looks like... a temple gate?!"

The lantern moved closer, and Wei Jinyuan and the other two subconsciously took a few steps forward. They saw several colorful snake scales scraping against the threshold!
The three of them looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

……

When the three yamen runners from Pingli County got up today, they noticed that their county magistrate was pale and seemed to have aged more than ten years, and he was even walking with a hunchback.

"Sir, what's wrong with you?"

Liu Hu slowly waved his hand: "It's nothing, no need to make a fuss."

After everyone got up and finished washing up, they looked at Liu Hu expectantly.

Waiting for the chef to start the meal.

Liu Hu instructed his three subordinates: "I am not feeling well today, so you can cook."

The three subordinates were confused: You just said it was nothing, but now you say it's inconvenient...

Forget it, we don't dare ask.

As they went to cook, Liu Hu slowly moved to Xu Yuan's side, his expression grave, and whispered, "Sir, this village may be harboring a great evil spirit! Last night, when I went to the toilet, I saw with my own eyes a strange creature unlike any I've ever seen before: a dragon's head, a duck's beak, a broad belly, a long tail, and wings sprouting from the back of its neck, with two sharp claws on its wings..."

Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Xu Yuan was quite curious to see what he had actually seen. However, his expression turned strange as he heard the latter part. He responded with a few "oh, oh, oh" sounds, but couldn't explain what he had seen.

“Brother Mu,” Xu Yuan called to Mu Han and explained the arrangements for the day: “Today we will pretend to search for clues in the village, but secretly we will need to rely on your ghost soldiers.”

Xu Yuan also had ghost soldiers, but the ghost soldiers among the Six-Eyed Nether Moths were of such high quality that it would be easy to alert them.

Mu Han should still have a few low-level or even third-rate ghost soldiers, which would be just right for use.

“Use those low-level ghost soldiers to disguise themselves as ordinary vengeful spirits and secretly watch the children in the village.”

(End of this chapter)