Chapter 38: Spare her, please?

  I was startled by the autumn wild goose's actions, what's wrong with her? Could it be that this excavated tomb buried her most beloved relatives? If so, then she must have a great connection with this abandoned dead village!

  I stepped forward, put my hand on Qiuyan's thin shoulder and comforted her, "Qiuyan..." But as soon as the words left my mouth, I froze again, not knowing how to comfort this pitiful girl in front of me.

  The autumn wild goose turned its head and looked at me, with a handsome face full of tears. That gaze was like the gaze of looking at one's father or brother.

  My heart trembled slightly, but I couldn't comfort her.

  After a while, Qiu Yan finally gently put down the skull in her hand, wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with her sleeve, and said sorrowfully, "Do you know? This was originally a prosperous and wealthy village, but it became a pile of ruins over a hundred years ago due to the invasion of foreign tribes..."

  "Over a hundred years ago? You weren't even born then, were you? What does this have to do with you?" I didn't understand what Qiu Yan meant by saying this.

  Qiu Yan pursed her lips and said, "How can it have nothing to do with me? The person buried in this grave is my grandmother!"

  "Your grandmother? You mean you're from this village? But... but isn't this village already uninhabited for over a hundred years?"

  "You're wrong! My grandmother was the only survivor of that disaster, she refused to leave this village where she had lived for decades, hiding in a mountain cave until those bandits were all gone before returning to the village."

  "But you can't......" I stopped here, what I wanted to say was that Autumn Goose couldn't possibly have no father, right?

  The autumn goose looked at me with a glance, and said in a low voice, "Today I have already said too much, perhaps you will finally understand this matter... Can you help me bury grandma's white bones?"

  My heart inexplicably ached, and I replied, "Alright, I'll help you!"

  I and Qiu Yan picked up all the white bones that were thrown everywhere and put them back in the coffins that had been pried open, closed the coffin lids, and buried them with yellow earth. After doing all this, both of us were exhausted and panting.

  In the thick fog, the crimson cloak on Autumn Goose's body looked particularly eye-catching and a bit frightening. I couldn't help but ask, "You're wearing a cloak and carrying a ghost mask in Huanglong Village, what exactly do you want to do?"

  Qiu Yan let out a deep sigh, her eyes fixed on me as she said, "There's something I want to tell you, whether you believe it or not, this thing has been buried in my heart since the moment I met you..."

  She didn't answer but asked back instead, my heart skipped a beat, I don't know what she would say next, and replied "You tell me!"

  Tears suddenly fell from Qiu Yan's face, "You look just like my brother who went missing many years ago, the features are all the same. In my dreams, my brother is exactly like you..."

  In her dream, is her brother just like me? I was shocked!

  Can there be such a strange thing in this world? On the afternoon of the day I first entered Huanglong Village, I had a dream on the wooden bed at Yalong's home. In the dream, she was being chased and killed by the ghost of her deceased husband. In the dream, she also called me "brother".

  But how is this possible? In my memory, there has never been a concept of having another sister.

  I was stunned.

  "Can I call you brother?"

  Seeing her pitiful and lovely appearance, I softened in my heart and replied, "Alright! From now on, I'll be your brother!"

  Qiu Yan suddenly grabbed my hand and exclaimed, "Brother!"

  "I nodded and said, 'Autumn Goose, now that I'm your brother, I don't care what brought you to Huanglong Village. In short, I won't let you take any more risks, give up! The people in this village seem to have all gone mad..."

  I recall those things that happened in Huanglong Village and I'm worried about her.

  "Yes, they're all madmen, robbers!" Qiu Yan exclaimed excitedly, then suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Brother, thank you for worrying about me! You have to believe me, no matter what my intentions are, in short, I absolutely won't deceive you, won't harm you... I won't let go!"

  Qiu Yan stood up and said, his expression in the thick fog was solemn and stern!

  What is the reason that makes this 15- or 16-year-old girl so persistent? Is it the disaster over a hundred years ago, or the treasure in the ancient well's ominous rumors? Or are these two things originally connected by countless threads?

  I was lost in thought when a long whistle suddenly came from the thick fog not far away.

  Who is it? My heart skipped a beat, could it be the little girl who disappeared earlier? I was just about to call out when I suddenly felt something unusual in the thick fog not far away.

  A group of things with bright red small eyes, I don't know what they are, are rushing towards where I and Qiu Yan are standing, and quickly flew to the front, flying around me and Qiu Yan.

  What was it? I panicked and stretched out my hand to grab something, and in the thick fog, I grabbed something cold, soft, and still alive, which twisted in my palm.

  I was just about to take a closer look, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my middle finger. I quickly threw away the thing I was holding onto. When I looked up, my middle finger was covered in blood, apparently bitten by the thing I had grabbed earlier.

  The distant whistle blew more and more urgently, the group of things surrounding me and Autumn Goose seemed to hear the command, constantly rushing towards us, biting a small mouth from time to time, and feeling that there were more and more coming around.

  No! These biting things are clearly controlled by that whistle!

  I shouted loudly in the thick fog, "Autumn Goose, let's get out of here quickly! These things are being manipulated by someone to attack us!"

  Qiu Yan didn't respond, and was using the red cloak she had taken off earlier to swing and hit the things that were attacking her, revealing the black and white striped skirt underneath. And at the hem of the skirt, there was a clear thread of torn fabric!

  It suddenly became clear in my mind that it was indeed she who had knocked me unconscious with a wooden stick on the small path in the village that night! But why was she together with that red-clothed female ghost? Was that red-clothed female ghost Jin Xiangyu, the owner of Feng Huang Inn? If so, what was her relationship with that charming and beautiful Jin Laoban?

  At that moment when I was stunned, my arm was bitten by that thing again, and the pain was excruciating!

  "I shouted in anger, 'Autumn Goose, let's go quickly!'"

  "Brother, you go first, I'll hold off these detestable creatures!"

  This thing is flying in the sky, let alone a fifteen or sixteen year old girl, even a big man can't stop it!

  A strange warmth rose in my heart, and I shouted loudly, "No, you go first, I'll stay behind!" But the truth is, I knew very well that under the siege of these things, neither of us could escape!

  Are we going to die at the hands of these nameless creatures? The more I struggle, the colder my heart becomes.

  The long whistle grew more urgent and closer, a gloomy voice rang out in the thick fog, "You've just met for less than two minutes, and you're already calling each other brother and sister, don't you think it's too mushy?"

  That voice was actually the young girl who had disappeared in the thick fog just now!

  "Is this group of ghosts under her command attacking us? My head suddenly got bigger, and I shouted loudly, "Girl, stop immediately! Autumn Swallow and I are not what you think... I am her brother! Didn't you see each other at the Phoenix Inn entrance?"

  "Haha……" The girl laughed wildly in the thick fog, "I didn't just meet her at the Phoenix Inn entrance, I've met her many times! Today, she won't be able to escape from me again!"

  The appearance of Ya Tou is terrifying and ferocious, where is the silly and crazy look? It's clearly a devil!

  I was shocked!

  The autumn wild goose, not far away, was waving a red cloak to drive away the group of things, while coldly shouting, "Brother, don't ask her! The grudge between me and her is far from what you imagine!" After finishing speaking, she stubbornly fought with the group of things that were attacking her.

  What feud could two girls under twenty have? Could it be a grudge from their past lives? I couldn't understand, and loudly shouted, "I don't care what feud you have between yourselves, stop it at once!"

  "No! Today you want me to stop, I won't!" The girl shouted fiercely.

  The whistle suddenly changed, becoming mournful and desolate. As the whistle changed, I was shocked to find that those ghostly things had given up their attack on me and swarmed towards a nearby autumn wild goose!

  No, the wild goose is in danger! How can you be so cruel and sinister, plotting to take her life? I rushed towards you like a madman, "Girl, please spare her!"

  Ya Tou saw my crazy expression in the thick fog, her face stiffened for a moment, and a painful expression flashed across her face. She pointed at Qiu Yan who was frantically flapping his arms to drive away the ghosts and asked in a trembling voice, "You're saying that you can beg me for her sake?"

  What did she mean by that? I nodded vaguely in understanding.

  "Ahahahaha... You want me to let her go? That's not impossible, but you must answer one question of mine!"

  The life of Qiu Yan hangs in the balance, my heart is already on tenterhooks, let alone Ya Tou saying that as long as I answer her one question, whether it's a hundred or a thousand questions, as long as she spares Qiu Yan, I will unhesitatingly nod and agree.

  "I hastily replied, 'You speak, you speak, I'll answer you!'"

  The girl's eyes were extremely complex, she stared tightly at my eyes and said slowly, "Okay, then I'll ask you, if one day I'm also surrounded or hunted down like her, will you plead for me like you did today?"

  I originally thought she would ask a question that would put me in a difficult position, but I didn't expect her to ask such a question.

  "What does she mean? I didn't have time to think carefully, nodded and replied, 'Yes, I will!'"

  The girl was taken aback for a moment, then asked again, "Are you telling the truth and not deceiving me?"

  I won't deceive you!

  The girl's face suddenly flowed down two lines of clear tears! The yin soul is forbidden.

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