Chapter 26: Can I call you "brother"?

  We stood on a high mountain ridge, and suddenly the scene in front of us opened up, the fog that filled the mountains was gone, and looking down, it was an ancient village.

  "This is our village!" The young man said to me as he turned his head back.

  I stood at a high place and looked down, discovering that the entire village had dozens of houses, hidden among the green mountains and clear waters, mostly old buildings from ancient times. In such a desolate place where not even birds lay eggs, how could there be any good Feng Shui?

  I recall what Yan Long said to Xiao Ge earlier and I find it somewhat inexplicable.

  Yue Long took me and Xiao Ge down the mountain slope. As we walked forward for a while, an ancient well appeared at the village entrance, with clear spring water constantly gushing out of the wellhead, overflowing, and flowing into the ditch below.

  Next to the ancient well is a large, old locust tree with a crooked neck. There are many red silk ribbons tied to the branches of the tree, which appears to be a auspicious tree used for praying for blessings.

  I was astonished to find that an old copper bell, worn out and dilapidated, was actually hanging from the crooked neck of the ancient locust tree! As I passed under the tree, suddenly "Clang" a sound, the copper bell fell down from the tree.

  It's not just me, even Yuelong and Xiaoge were startled by this sudden sound!

  I stared blankly at the copper bell that had fallen to the ground, and Xiao Ge forced a smile. "Lan Tian, don't be afraid! This copper bell was used by our village in the past to gather villagers, it's been many years, so it's not surprising that it suddenly fell down!"

  Yan Long's face turned pale with a look of horror, muttering to himself, "The bronze bell is warning us, something big must have happened..."

  His voice wasn't very loud, but I still heard it.

  The bronze bell tolls, must there be a big event? Is it that the bronze bell in their Huanglong Village has some special meaning?

  I'm a bit nervous! Seeing that clear flowing water is really refreshing, and I'm extremely thirsty, so I put down the round mirror on my back, rolled up my sleeves and prepared to go to the well to drink water.

  "Wait? That water absolutely cannot be drunk!"

  Can't drink water? Is there something strange about this water? I was so scared that I stopped in my tracks, "Uncle Rock Dragon, this water looks so clear, why can't we drink it?"

  "If you don't want to die, don't drink the water from this ancient well!" he said coldly and walked away without looking back.

  The little brother looked at me and said calmly, "Lan Tian, we're almost at the village. You'd better listen to Uncle Yan Long!"

  I gazed at that clear spring eye, and was shocked in my heart! What on earth is strange about this village, why can't even the ancient well at the village entrance be drunk?

  But Yan Long said it was so scary, I didn't dare to joke with my own life. I picked up the strange round mirror from the ground and followed Xiao Ge around the old well, walking towards the village. Suddenly, I seemed to hear a faint sigh of resentment behind me...

  My scalp felt numb, I turned back and looked, as if I felt that the crooked-necked locust tree of unknown age had lightly smiled at me.

  How can a pagoda tree sigh and laugh? But there is no one else around?

  It must be an illusion caused by the mountain wind! I quickly gathered my spirits and ran to catch up with Xiao Ge and Yan Long.

  After walking for about ten minutes, the rocky dragon led me and my little brother to a large tile-roofed house in the village, opened the door, let us in, brought tea, and smiled foolishly, "Little brother, you've worked hard! Have a cup of tea first, I'll go invite Old Man Eight now and tell him you're back!"

  The young man sipped his tea and replied, "How can this be? I'd better pay a personal visit to Old Man Ba later!"

  "Ha ha! No need to be polite! You're the most promising person in our village, and Eighth Grandfather knew you were back, so of course he'd come to welcome you personally!"

  Yue Long said and went out of the door.

  The little brother turned around and stared at me, his eyes suddenly changed, his eyes made me feel a special kind of sleepiness.

  A voice sounded in my ear, seemingly from a distance, "Lan Tian, I know you're tired! Go to Uncle Rock Dragon's shop and take a nap first, I'll wait for Grandpa Ba here, and I'll call you again when it's time for lunch!"

  No wonder, little brother said so, I suddenly felt drowsiness coming on, and my eyelids were fighting.

  I agreed and followed the young man into another tile-roofed house, where except for a few New Year's pictures on the wall, there was only a simple wooden bed frame left.

  I was so sleepy that I could hardly keep my eyes open, and without saying anything more, I put down the round mirror behind me and fell asleep on the bed.

  In a daze, I seemed to hear someone calling my name, "Lan brother, run quickly, run quickly..." The voice was particularly urgent!

  Who? I struggled to open my eyes and was immediately stunned to find myself in a very large forest!

  The forest is very large and deep, the moonlight shines through the gaps in the leaves to the thorny ground, the surroundings are extremely quiet, occasionally a few owl cries are heard, sad and mournful.

  While the Phoenix Inn, a little girl wearing black and white striped dress, Autumn Swan, was standing beside me, shaking and urging me to run quickly!

  How did I end up in this forest? Why is this little girl appearing here with me? What is she afraid of, and why is she urging me to run quickly?

  I didn't think much, seeing the fearful eyes of the autumn goose, I unconsciously moved my feet and followed her as she ran forward with all her might! Fatigue enveloped my entire body like a tide, as if at any moment a pair of hands would stretch out from under the ground to grab my legs and hold me back.

  "Lan Ge, it's coming after us..." A sharp and delicate voice echoed in his ear.

  Who's coming after us? I suddenly turned my head and saw a disheveled figure grinning as he chased after us.

  Under the moonlight, his face was expressionless, terrifying and ferocious, just like a killer from hell.

  That figure seemed somewhat familiar, as if it was the girl who had sent chrysanthemums at the inn's entrance last night! But her instantly moving shadow was not something a human could do, could she be a ghost?

  "Wait? Why is she trying to kill you?" I asked breathlessly while running.

  "She? She's not human! She wants to kill me! Lan Ge, run quickly!" Autumn Swallow's handsome face turned bright red.

  She's not human?! No way?! I even helped her pick chrysanthemums last night! My heart tightened, and I grabbed Qiu Yan, gritted my teeth, and used all my strength to sprint forward.

  However, no matter how fast I and Qiu Yan ran, she always followed us closely.

  I really wanted to stop and ask her why she was chasing after Autumn Goose. But I knew that once we stopped, she would creep up on us like a ghost.

  I dare not take this risk with Autumn Goose by my side.

  "Ah......" Suddenly, a mournful cry from Autumn Goose echoed in his ears.

  I turned around in horror, and saw Autumn Goose's body slowly falling down, the speed of the fall was extremely slow, it felt very real, blood flowed out from her back, flowing to the ground, just like blooming azaleas.

  "Autumn wild goose, what's wrong with you, what's wrong...... no...... don't...... don't go!" I cried out in terror.

  I saw that fleeting figure pull out the sharp fingers from behind the autumn wild goose, gave me a ferocious smile, and then disappeared before my eyes.

  I was shocked by this sudden accident. Autumn goose's weak cry came over, "Lan brother... Lan brother... I have something to say to you..."

  I wept with both eyes, holding autumn wild goose tightly in my arms.

  Her body had become a sea of blood, the bloody water overflowing my bare feet, and there was still a warm feeling on my bare skin, the pungent smell of blood making me almost faint.

  I saw the autumn wild goose's eyes wide open, staring at me with an unblinking gaze, as if containing countless emotions inside, wanting to look at me enough.

  Tears blurred my eyes, "Autumn Wild Goose... you said!"

  A faint thread of blood trickled from the corner of Autumn Goose's mouth, and a faint smile was squeezed out on her pale face. "Lan big brother... there's a secret I want to tell you..."

  "Hmm, you said, you said......" I'm almost speechless now.

  "You... you know, you look just like my brother who went missing many years ago. From the moment I saw you, I had this strange feeling... but thinking about it again, it's impossible. You don't resemble him at all, and besides, so many years have passed... I think he should have been gone from this world a long time ago..."

  "Your brother? How did your brother leave you?" My heart was suddenly stabbed with a sharp pain!

  "My brother and I have been inseparable since childhood... When I was eight years old, a flood that occurs once in a hundred years hit our village. I should have followed my brother to escape, but he pushed me onto a small wooden raft and yelled at me to flee alone. His mouth was shouting, his eyes were full of frightening gaze!"

  He stood in the chest-deep floodwaters and pushed the small wooden raft away from him with force. I cried out to him, begging him to get on the raft, but he shook his head, laughing maniacally, that smile was especially terrifying...I sat on the small wooden raft as it drifted further and further away, watching as the floodwaters submerged his entire body, I fainted.

  It wasn't until now that I realized why my brother didn't take me with him on the small wooden raft to escape back then. It was because the small raft couldn't hold the weight of two people. My brother left the hope of survival to me, and calmly faced death...

  Autumn goose said with a hint of happiness on her face, as if immersed in the thought of her brother, I was moved to tears by what she said.

  But in my memory, there was no such thing as a flood, no such thing as a little sister... I couldn't possibly be her older brother!

  The two autumn wild geese gazed at me with dull eyes, "Lan big brother, I'm about to die, can I call you brother once?"

  I wiped away the trickle of blood from her mouth with my hand, nodding repeatedly. "Alright! I'm your brother, your long-lost brother... You won't die, you can't die..."

  "Brother!" Autumn Goose raised her right hand and gently stroked my face, a pair of beautiful big eyes quickly dimmed, smiling as she closed them, gradually growing cold in my arms.

  I shouted loudly, "Autumn Goose..."

  "What? Has Miss Qiuyan's spring dream arrived?" A mischievous laugh echoed in her ear.

  I suddenly woke up and opened my eyes to find that it was just a dream, and Xiao Ge was standing in front of the bed with a mischievous grin on his face. The yin soul is forbidden.

  ———————————————————————————————