The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 3: Village Entrance Festival (Thanks to Ice Slime's Silver Meng)

On the other side, hunter Xiao Liu, who had just delivered the meal, had already come to the village chief's house and informed him of the situation there.

"Second Brother Wen is fine, and looks much better. He's just weak from long-term illness, and even standing is difficult. Literary man, tsk tsk! But I think he should be able to go out and walk in two days."

Hunter Xiao Liu said, "We should send him some more food to replenish his body so that he can draw faster. When I went over just now, he had already drawn a lot!"

The village chief couldn't help but show his delight: "Really? That's great!"

Hearing the crying over there today, he was also worried. Compared with the rice and grain he gave away, he certainly valued the fort more.

Scholars have a lot of knowledge and broad experience. If they don’t review the past, how can the villagers know how to build a fort?

It's true that food is precious, and it's even more expensive in troubled times. Right now, with the plague raging outside, the fields are deserted, and no one dares to plant them, so the stored supplies are becoming less and less.

However, other villages and towns around are basically deserted, and those "people" who have been possessed by "evil spirits" and turned into monsters do not eat rice. In the early stage, the villagers went out to collect food. As long as it is properly stored, even if there is no income, they should have no worries for one or two years.

The supplies are managed by the village chief and several other elders who are older and more fair.

But compared to food supplies, they valued the dock more at the moment. The dock was necessary for defense, and it was built to save lives!
What good is more food if you're already dead? How can you be content with not having enough food when people die?

Hunter Liu then thought of something else: "Oh, yes, Village Chief, how about moving a desk over? We're running out of space to store all those drawings that Second Brother Wen has drawn, and they have to eat at the desk, which is not good. A small desk will do. A bigger one won't fit either."

The village chief nodded in agreement: "I'll look for a suitable one later and carry it over."

Before, I spent most of my time on my sickbed, so I had very little time to draw, and even if I had more tables, I wouldn't have been able to use them. Now that I'm almost recovered and feeling better, I'm sure I'll have more time to draw, so I need to improve.

The village chief's focus was still on the blueprints of the fort. He asked again, "Have you seen the blueprints? What do you think of them?"

Hunter Liu was full of admiration: "What a great painting!"

Village Chief: "...I'm asking what he painted! You've seen it all, tell me about it."

Hunter Liu thought carefully, "It's this, this, that."

He gestured for a long time and concluded, "It looks amazing!"

village head:"……"

Please explain how powerful it is!

Not counting on this brat, the village chief looked at his grandson who was tending to the herbs. "Doumiao, next time you deliver the meal, go check on Wen Er to see if he's recovered. Hmm... grab some more herbs to nourish him."

Doumiao worked as an apprentice in a pharmacy in the city, where he gained more experience and became more reliable in his work.

Medicinal herbs have become more precious nowadays. If it were an ordinary person, the village chief would not be willing to give more medicinal herbs to them. However, in order to build the fort as soon as possible, these things must be given away!
With a little more urgency, I hope Wen Gu can finish the painting before winter. Once the temperature drops, the evil creatures outside will be restrained by the low temperature and the threat will be greatly reduced. That will be the time for them to start building the wall.

As he was speaking, he suddenly heard several whistles outside. They came from the people in charge of security.

Different whistle sounds represent different meanings. The sound just now was telling the villagers that the team that went out to dig medicinal herbs had returned.

The villagers burn medicinal herbs to use the smell to avoid external dangers as much as possible. Several herbs are bundled together and lit and smoked to ward off evil spirits.

I have to thank Master Qingyi for his guidance.

A few days ago, before the Taoist priest went into seclusion, he told them which kinds of fruits needed to be picked and harvested, as they would not be able to be harvested after this season.

They naturally memorized every word of the Taoist priest's instructions and dared not forget them. So, Liu the hunter took a few people from the village out to collect herbs.

Little Hunter Liu, who was sitting bored in the house, quickly stood up and ran out when he heard the noise to see if his father had returned safely.

At the entrance of the village, the high fence was removed to allow the outgoing teams to bring their belongings in.

Those who entered the village did not dare to go home directly. Instead, they went to a shed, took off their leather armor, and untied the scarves covering their faces.

There was a bundle of processed and dried herbs in the house. The leading hunter Liu burned the herbs and created smoke in the house.

The Taoist priest said that this step is to get rid of the evil spirits to prevent them from bringing in evil spirits.

The smoke is not thick and people can tolerate it, but if they are possessed by evil spirits, they will show obvious discomfort.

They would stay in this shed until tomorrow. If they were safe and sound, they could return home. On the other hand, if they showed signs of discomfort, it would mean they had contracted an evil plague and were possessed by an evil spirit.

Soon, some villagers brought food over.

Hunter Liu chatted with his father outside the house through the doors and windows, and also mentioned what they had reviewed today.

Hunter Liu was a relatively steady person and could sit still while talking about other things, but when he heard that Wen Gu had recovered from his illness and was drawing the blueprints of the fort, he couldn't help but show joy.

"We dug up several kinds of medicinal herbs this time. I see some of them are the tonics that Dou Miao mentioned. You can ask Dou Miao to check them out later. I think we dug the right ones."

Meanwhile, Wen Gu was stretching his legs in the room. He couldn't hear what people were saying about him, but he could guess a little.

He also heard the whistle just now. It should be the team that went out returning. There is no big commotion in the village now. It must be that the outing was smooth and everyone is back.

Well, the new medicinal materials have arrived, and it’s time for the Taoist priest who has been in seclusion making elixirs to come out.

Wen Gu walked to the window and looked outside.

The village was dyed red by the afterglow of the setting sun.

The nearest house to them was occupied by a carpenter. He rarely went out, and the only sound he could hear was the occasional hammering of wood in his backyard. He couldn't tell if he was making bows and arrows, or doing some other handicraft.

At this time, there was a revolving lantern under the eaves over there, which was the kind of lantern that would rotate when a candle was lit.

The heat from the candle flame drives the wind wheel to rotate.

Wen Gu sat in front of the window and could vaguely see the rotating fan blades in the lantern.

The hum of the turbine seemed to ring in my ears again.

Suddenly a world away.

Oh, no, it’s been a lifetime.

Wen Gu sighed softly and turned his attention to the circle of talismans pasted on the outside of the lantern.

I heard that the carpenter specially went to the Taoist priest to get the talisman and pasted it on the lantern, saying that it could drive away ghosts and evil spirits!

I don’t know whether exorcism is useful or not, but it certainly provides some psychological comfort.

From an observer's perspective, there are no supernatural powers in this world.

It was already evening and every household in the village had closed their doors and windows.

At night, some light-attracting flying insects and small animals may follow the candlelight into the house, bringing more potential dangers.

Wen Gu also closed the window.

Rest when the sun sets and do as the Romans do.

A good night's sleep.

The next day was another sunny day.

There were more laughs in the village, and it seemed that everyone who came back from outside yesterday was safe.

There are two meals a day, and the morning meal is still delivered by Xiao Liu the Hunter.

Dou Miao, who was originally arranged by the village chief to deliver meals, was busy processing the medicinal herbs brought back by the out-going team, so the task of delivering meals was still snatched away by the hunter Xiao Liu.

Today the young hunter was a bit more cheerful, and his smile was even brighter. Of course, he was happy that his father had returned safely.

Besides the food box in his hand, he also carried a bow. After delivering the food, he went on patrol. When he finished his patrol for the day, he brought a desk over for Wen Gu. After a few sporadic bursts of noise in the village, it returned to silence.

Although there were people in most of the houses, there was no sound at all, as if they were worried that making too much noise would attract the attention of evil spirits.

There was an absurd loneliness.

It feels like the whole world is coming to an end.

If you pass by the open windows, you will see the sad and silent faces in the house.

Even so, compared to those people who are numbly waiting to die in troubled times, this village has not given up hope. At least they still have the courage to struggle and can see more opportunities to survive.

In fact, the evil spirits outside are generally not very good at distinguishing sounds, and they rely more on their sense of smell. Therefore, if there are no evil spirits in the area visible to the naked eye, normal vocal communication will not attract evil spirits.

However, everyone's heart is now shrouded in shadows, they have no desire to communicate, and are wary of each other.

Two days later, with improved food and nourishing medicine, Wen Gu's condition improved visibly and his illness disappeared.

Although he still looked thin, the villagers believed that it was just the bookish air of a scholar, not a pathological weakness.

Early in the morning that day, the village was noticeably more restless than usual.

Wen Gu knew the reason. The person who delivered the food said that the Taoist priest who had been in seclusion for many days was coming out to perform a ritual.

When the Taoist priest first arrived in the village, he gave the villagers some talisman paper with intricate runes and inscribed characters.

The Taoist priest said: When a person dies, he becomes a ghost, and when a ghost dies, he becomes a demon.

People are afraid of ghosts, and ghosts are afraid of demons.

The world is in chaos right now, with evil spirits causing an epidemic, and this talisman can scare evil spirits away.

However, the Taoist priest said that his magic power was damaged and the talisman paper was of limited effect, so he needed to use magic to bless it every once in a while.

The villagers believe it very much.

Now it's time again. The Taoist priest comes out of seclusion and can check whether the herbs he dug up are the ones he needs.

The villagers' stories about the miraculous deeds of Taoist Qingyi made Wen Gu pay attention.

Taoist priest...

At first, I felt a little insecure as an outsider when reviewing the past.

But soon, I adjusted my mentality.

What outsider? “Reviewing the past” means reviewing the past!
"I" is me!

There are no outsiders!
Wen Gu tidied up his clothes and went out with his cousin.

There were also some villagers outside, all waiting for the Taoist priest to perform a ritual today.

When the villagers saw Wen Gu, a stranger, they had no interest in communicating. They just chatted with people they knew and walked away in a hurry.

The cousin also stood by Wen Gu's side, watching the others vigilantly to prevent anyone from suddenly going crazy and hurting Wen Gu.

This time, the Taoist priest decided to perform the ritual at the village entrance. The location was always uncertain, so the Taoist priest would make a temporary decision and then notify each household in the village.

The fence at the entrance of the village has been opened, and an altar has been placed at the outside entrance.

Wen Gu had originally calculated the time to come here, but when he arrived, almost all the villagers were there, with dozens or even a hundred people gathered there.

These are not all native villagers; some have come here to live with relatives or have fled.

No matter where these people come from, they are now very enthusiastic about this matter.

Only when the Taoist priest performs a ritual will everyone look a little more relaxed and more willing to communicate.

In order to facilitate escape and fighting, everyone wore narrow sleeves and tight clothes to ensure convenience and flexibility when going out.

Children's clothes were decorated with ribbons, and the cuffs and trouser legs were tied tightly to prevent poisonous insects and debris infected with evil diseases from entering through the collar, cuffs, trouser legs and other places and harming the body.

Previously, "Wen Gu" had missed many religious ceremonies due to illness, and his memory of the villagers was not complete. This time he came out and recognized some people, and by the way observed the village's simple fortifications.

Several villagers on patrol wore patchwork armor they had scavenged from outside.

Even if the armor looked tattered, it would not have been something that common people like them could own in the past.

A few simple farm tools and crude bows and arrows wouldn't be a big deal, but if there was a suit of armor at home, that would be a big deal! If someone reported it to the higher-ups, it would be a serious crime!
Strong bows, crossbows, and armor were even more difficult to come by. Without a certain level of status, one wouldn't dare possess them. Even if one possessed them, or knew how to make them, they couldn't display them publicly.

But now, no one cares, all the officials in the city have run away!

In order to survive, who would care about the previous restrictions?
Whoever finds it owns it!

Whoever can make it can own it!
No limit on quantity!

Outside the village, in addition to the erected fences and several low stone and earth walls, there are traps and some obstacles, such as sharp spikes made of bamboo and wood, similar to chevaux deer barriers.

Further away, large areas of abandoned farmland were overgrown with weeds, some of which were so dense that they could completely hide people.

At this time, a simple altar had been built at the entrance of the village.

Wen Gu arrived late and didn't have a good seat. The village chief specially reserved a front-row seat for him, otherwise it would have been difficult to see anything.

Next to the village chief was a tall and strong man who looked somewhat similar to the hunter Xiao Liu. This man was the hunter's biological father and the number one force in the village.

When Hunter Liu saw Wen Gu, a slight smile appeared on his serious face, and he also showed special concern for his physical recovery.

Old Liu is much more stable than his son Xiao Liu.

Good front row seat.

It was a rare time for gossip. After exchanging greetings with several important people in the front row, Wen Gu pricked up his ears to listen to the discussions of the men, women, and children in the village, and waited for the Taoist Qingyi to show up.

Not long after, a Taoist priest with good looks... ahem, outstanding temperament appeared.

Today, the Taoist priest was not wearing his usual attire at home, having changed into a professional outfit specifically for going out. With his robes and instruments, wide sleeves fluttering, and his gait as if walking like a dragon or a tiger, one could tell at a glance that he had a sagely and majestic demeanor.

The posture was set, and nothing was done yet, but it already added a touch of sacredness and solemnity.

Reviewing the past will boost your spirits.

Live!

Live version!
Taoist rituals!!
In his original world, as a child, he had only heard of Taoist priests performing rituals, never having witnessed them in person. As he grew older, he encountered war and only knew a little through limited images and text.

Now we have the opportunity to watch it up close!
Wen Gu's eyes swept over the Taoist priest's attire.

In such a dangerous living environment, someone who can still walk around in a loose robe must be extraordinary.

Either stupid or awesome.

　On the first day of the new business, I felt everyone’s enthusiasm!
　　Thanks to the authors of [Separate Each Color], [Mysterious Panting], and [Mo Nianli☆], as well as many new and old book friends who voted and rewarded——

　　thank you all!

　　I will try my best to update every day!
　　There will be another update around 8pm.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)