Page Boy’s Yin & Yang Road - C14
I suddenly remembered that I saw an old man in the village who was missing half of his right arm. He seemed to be a little crazy and would often sit at the village entrance under the arch to bask in the sun.
I asked my aunt if that person was the only survivor of Xiao Xi Kou, One-armed Ah Three.
The aunt nodded and said that the old man was the one-armed Ah San.
After that incident, his whole life was filled with both good and bad moments. Originally, his family still had his parents and brothers, but in his early years, they all passed away one after the other, leaving him alone in his family.
Everyone in the village said that one-armed Ah San had a tough life, that he did not even accept demons from Xiao Xi Kou, and that he had killed all of his relatives around him.
Wu Ji said that maybe he could get Ah San to tell him some information about Xiao Xi Kou.
But Big Aunt advised me not to think too much, saying that Xiao Xi Kou is an ominous place and that it is fortunate that I managed to return safely.
Moreover, no matter how evil the Xiao Xi Kou was, it would not affect the entire village, so it was best to not be nosy.
Wu Ji immediately nodded and did not say anymore.
But I could tell that Aunt’s persuasion did not dispel his interest in Xiao Xi Kou. Actually, even I am filled with curiosity towards this kind of unknown event, wanting to know what exactly is inside the Xiao Xi Kou.
Moreover, sometimes, even if one did not go looking for trouble, it would come knocking on their door of its own accord.
At noon that day, the village chief came in a hurry to find his aunt for help.
He said that his grandson was lost and that someone saw the child heading to the west. The village chief was worried that the child might accidentally enter the Xiao Xi Kou and begged the aunt to help him think of a way.
The three of us were having lunch, so we put down our chopsticks.
The Village Chief’s grandson was only six years old and was curious about everything. If he really entered the Xiao Xi Kou, even if there were no man-eating monsters in the village, it would still be difficult to find him.
Big Aunt really wanted to help, but she had never been to Xiao Xi Kou before, so she was in a difficult situation.
At this time, Wu Ji stood up and said that he could go towards the Xiao Xi Kou to help find the child.
Because Wu Ji would occasionally come to the village before, the village chief knew that he and Master Zhi Yuan were there. Upon hearing that Wu Ji was willing to help them, the village chief was so excited that he almost knelt down.
“I’ll go help too.” Seeing that Wu Ji agreed to go, he immediately stood up and said.
Before the village chief could answer, the aunt directly said no.
I thought that this matter would end in failure, but I didn’t expect Wu Ji to speak up for me.
He said, “The Nun Qing’s physique is special and sensitive. It might be helpful if I have her to accompany me. Furthermore, I will definitely protect her. ”
Although she was still worried, but she knew that finding the child was more important, so she reluctantly agreed.
When Wu Ji went to prepare the things, the aunt took me to the house of the deity, and told me to kneel down with her and burn incense to the deities, begging them to protect me and protect me.
I followed my aunt and kowtowed three times on the ground. Suddenly, I felt a cold sensation on my body, as if an ice bag had just brushed past my back. However, the feeling disappeared in an instant.
After the incense was given to me by my aunt, she gave me a talisman to wear around my neck, and also gave me a cloth bag to carry two bags of ashes. Then, she let Wu Ji and I leave together.
The Village Chief originally wanted to arrange a few people to accompany us, but when they heard that we were going to enter the Xiao Xi Kou, all of them started to hesitate.
In the end, there was only one person who didn’t believe us. Including the son of the village chief, the four of us headed west in search of traces of the child.
The village chief’s son was called Lin Shouyi, and was a graduate from university. He wore rimless glasses and looked gentle and refined.
I had seen him a few times, but I had not been happy with him.
Lin Shouyi was a genuine atheist. He believed that it was pedantic for the village chief to listen to his big aunt’s advice and thought that both me and my big aunt were gods, a stain on the village.
So every time we meet, even if the village chief is being very courteous, Lin Shouyi’s face is full of disdain. Even towards a little girl like me, he has never shown the slightest bit of kindness.
Along the way, we kept calling out the child’s name, hoping to find the child before entering the Xiao Xi Kou.
However, even after passing through the tomb and entering the forest, he was still unable to find the child. He only found a small piece of cloth that had been scraped off from a tree branch.
Lin Shouyi saw that the cloth was the same clothes his son was wearing today. Furthermore, we discovered a child’s footprint beside a mud puddle at the side.
“No, there is another kind of footprint.” Wu Ji who was observing at the side suddenly said.
Wu Ji pointed to the mud puddle and said, “There is a footprint here.”
There were also some circular footprints about five centimeters in diameter beside the child’s footprints. They looked like they belonged to some kind of animal, but they did not have the quincuncial claws of a normal cat or dog.
“What footprints are these?” Lin Shouyi asked worriedly.
For the time being, no one could answer this question.
I felt that something was wrong and asked Lin Shouyi why did he go missing.
Lin Shouyi said that his son went to play in the courtyard right after lunch. The child who usually never ran around had somehow ran out of the gate himself, his neighbors happened to see the child walking towards the west side.
The neighbor had thought it strange to ask the child where he was going alone, but the child kept walking on as if he hadn’t heard.
The neighbors thought that this child was usually very polite, why did he not say anything when he saw him. However, the more they thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, so they went to the Village Head’s house to tell him that they saw the child leaving alone.
Only then did Lin Shouyi and the others realise that the child was missing, and immediately went to find him.
“Could it be that the children chased after them after seeing some interesting animals?” I looked at the round footprints and speculated.
But Lin Shouyi said that when the neighbor found out, the child was alone and did not see anything else.
Wu Ji snorted and said: “There are many things that you cannot see with your eyes. Moreover, the child’s Yin Eye is not completely closed, so you can see a lot of things that adults can’t see. ”
Because when it came to his own child, Lin Shouyi, who usually turned hostile the moment he heard this, did not refute him for the first time. However, the disbelief in his eyes was hard to conceal.
Wu Ji didn’t pay any more attention to him, and instead asked me if I could sense anything strange about him.
Hearing that, I closed my eyes, and used the method Wu Ji taught me previously, and used my mind to feel my surroundings, but I do not know if it was because I did not cultivate to the peak of perfection or something else, but I shook my head and said nothing.
Wu Ji pulled on his buddhist pouch, saying that it seemed that he had to enter the Xiao Xi Kou. I don’t know if this place is as godly as the rumors say, but I was still told to stay close to him.
Seeing Wu Ji and I being so formal with each other, Lin Shouyi snorted lightly from the side, and said in disdain that there were no monsters in the forest, but there were many trees here, so it was easy for one to get lost and get trapped inside.
I asked him why he was so sure there was nothing in it.
He snorted again, and said that when he was a boy he had entered the woods himself, and that because of the marks he had made beforehand, it had been easy to find the way out and come out unharmed.
It was just that because no one in the village dared to talk about Xiao Xi Kou anymore, the Village Chief was worried that once Lin Shouyi revealed this matter, the villagers would discuss their family like how they talked about one-armed Ah San, so he strictly ordered Lin Shouyi not to talk about this matter to anyone else.
I listened with half believing and half doubting, because although I wasn’t sure what was in the Xiao Xi Kou, that night I was led into the forest by the light, that was the exact truth.
And Lin Shouyi really went in, and came out unharmed?
I didn’t believe him, but when I saw how confident he was and how he didn’t seem to be lying, there was a question mark in my mind. I looked at him a couple more times.
Wu Ji looked at the sky and said that he would probably spend the night in the forest, so everyone should be mentally prepared. He took the lead and the four of us walked towards the depths of the forest.
As no one had entered all year round, the plants were exceptionally lush, and there were no paths at all. Wu Ji had to use his blade to slowly open up a path.
It was difficult to walk in the woods, and we had to divert our attention to the difficult mud as we searched for signs of our children.
After walking for more than half an hour and looking back, we realized that although we were extremely tired, we hadn’t gone far at all.