Chapter 1 First Encounter with Postal Service (8)

  The old man immediately stopped me and said: "You sit here and rest for a while, don't move around."

  I hastily nodded and then asked in puzzlement: "Excuse me, what are these things? Why haven't I seen them before?"

  The old man smiled slightly, and his face was covered with wrinkles. He said: "These things are called Di Gui. You haven't seen them before, which is normal, because they have always lived in special conditions!"

  "What's so special?" I became even more perplexed. What was it about this place that could give rise to such a special creature?

  The old man ignored me and continued walking forward, trampling the blind earthworms that had been pecked at by the "wild chicken", then pulled out a knife to cut open the earthworm's chest, and threw it into his waist bamboo basket. All the movements were smooth and familiar, obviously an old hand. And the "wild chicken" was standing beside me at this time, looking ordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, I found that its eyes were unusually small, and on top of its crimson comb grew a few black spots. At this moment, it stood proudly with its chest out, like a brave guardian.

  The old man picked it up all the way and finally returned to my side, then said coldly: "Now get up and try!"

  I hastily nodded, then laboriously used my hands to prop myself up from the ground and struggled to get up. Perhaps because I had been sitting on the cold floor for too long, my lower back was numb. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand up, but suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground again.

  "What's your name? How did you end up here?" The old man asked cautiously, looking around after I finally stood up.

  "My name is Luo Ze, a postman from the county!"

  "Are you here to deliver a message?" The old man said incredulously.

  "Ah, yes, a letter sent to Beigua Village." As soon as I spoke, I noticed the old man's face changed slightly, his eyebrows furrowing lightly.

  "Right, you caught these... what's the name of this guy who almost killed me?" For a moment, I actually forgot the name of the murderer who had nearly succeeded in killing me.

  The old man smiled slightly and said: "You weren't very curious about where this thing grew up just now?"

  I hastily nodded, I have always had a hobby of hunting for the strange. Today, after narrowly escaping death, I can still see such a bizarre animal, so I must ask clearly.

  "Come with me!" The old man turned his head and walked towards the depths of the valley, I followed behind, while that "wild chicken" quickly ran to the front of the old man to lead the way.

  "Is this pheasant trained by you?" I asked curiously as I walked.

  "Wild chicken?" The old man repeated my words and burst out laughing, then said, "It's not just a wild chicken, I'll tell you slowly in a minute!"

  The path ahead was completely overgrown with weeds, making it increasingly difficult to walk. After passing through a relatively narrow valley, the front suddenly became open and bright, with two mountains forming a small basin here. The weeds in this basin seemed more luxuriant than those outside, with a dark color shining through the greenery. For some reason, standing here made my body feel a little chilly.

  "Here lie buried three hundred and fifty-two villagers of Beigou Village!" The old man said word by word, as if each word was like a heavy bell striking my heart.

  "They're all buried here?" I stammered out in terror.

  He obviously didn't want to answer my question, but calmly said: "You go to my house and stay for a night first!" I followed him for a while, and unknowingly saw a large stone monument at the entrance of a village, with three blood-red characters "Nan Jue Village" engraved on it. My heart was shocked, and it turned out that the names of these two villages were taken in opposition to each other.