Hearing this sentence, the expressions of the three people also changed. They also knew how dangerous this was.
"Master is always cautious, how can he fight with the spirit of a monster?" Xiao Bailong murmured to himself in disbelief.
"This monster is not very strong. The realm of Taiyi Sanxian is not yet stable. Even if the master is defeated, any one of us can destroy this monster with just a shout. How could he be in such danger?" Zhu Bajie said silently.
After experiencing the realm of the White Bone Demon, I was also puzzled.
The four of them wanted to help, but were afraid of making things worse. They were frozen in place for a moment. They had no choice but to wait anxiously and worriedly for Tang Sen to wake up.
…
At this time, Tang Sen stood in an open space, looking at everything in front of him in shock.
Everyone in this mountain village gathered in the open space, and in the middle sat an old man wearing a colorful feather on his head. Next to him stood a woman and a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old.
Everyone's expressions were solemn and solemn, as if they were holding some important ceremony, except for the mother and daughter in the middle whose faces were full of fear.
"Everyone, the mountain god protects us every year, and we also need to pay tribute every year. This year, An Ning will be the sacrifice to our great mountain god. Do you have any objections?" The old man sitting in the middle swept the crowd with his sharp eyes. At this time,
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, as if they had escaped some kind of disaster, and their faces were filled with smiles of relief, and no one expressed any objection.
"Village chief, don't, don't sacrifice my child to the mountain god, she is still young." After hearing this, the woman seemed to lick her, and with a "pop", she knelt down in front of the village chief, crying and begging for mercy.
"Shut up!" the old man shouted sharply.
"It is an honor for An Ning to devote his life to the mountain god! The matter is settled like this!" Ignoring the woman's cry, the old man showed no intention of changing his mind.
"After three days, sacrifice to the mountain god."
Li Si looked at the little girl, whose appearance was vaguely familiar, a bit like the transformed girl of the Bone Lady. At this time, she was standing there with a look of despair on her face, her little face was pale and bloodless.
Looking at the crowd of people around, everyone's face was indifferent, and some even had smiles on their faces and were talking among themselves.
Tang Sen eavesdropped and figured out the whole story, and couldn't help but feel angry.
The little girl's name is An Ning. Next to her is her mother. Her father went out hunting a few days ago and did not return. Later, it was learned from people traveling with her that his father had been killed by an animal.
At the beginning of March every year, a sacrifice is held in this village to worship the mountain god and pray for a barn full of prey and plenty of food and clothing in the coming year. The sacrifices...
It’s actually a human being!
The sacrifices are usually children between the ages of 10 and 18, who are randomly selected and who lives and who dies depends on which family's child's life.
And this year, it’s peace!
An Ning among the crowd looked at her mother who kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, with deep despair and sadness in her eyes.
Of course they knew what was going on.
Originally this year was not peaceful, but since the news of his father's death spread, the situation has changed.
One night, An Ning accidentally saw that Goudan, who was originally chosen for sacrifice, followed his father into the village chief's house, carrying a lot of things in his hands. They talked for a long time, and finally Goudan and his father
He was arrogant at first and respectful at the end. He walked out with a lot of thanks, but his hands were empty.
Then, An Ning watched as they entered one house after another, except their own house.
I felt strong uneasiness in my heart.
Sure enough, after a few days, the candidates for sacrifice were re-selected in the mountain village. You must know that after so many years, the candidates for sacrifice have not been changed once determined, and there is no precedent for re-selection.
But under the aggressive gazes of everyone, An Ning still went to draw lots with a sense of luck.
Sure enough, An Ning was drawn and the new sacrifice was her.
Shady! Naked shady!
An Ning wanted to resist, but she didn't have the strength to resist. She wanted to tell the truth, but it was of no use. These people would only be glad that she was not the one being sacrificed, and would not come to help her.
What's more, these people may have been accomplices. She saw with her own eyes that Goudan's father visited one family after another. The family that was originally relatively wealthy was now extremely poor.
These people planned this conspiracy together.
She is just a victim.
To blame, it can only be blamed on her father's unfortunate death. They suddenly lost their support and had no choice but to let the mermaid be their prey.
After understanding this, An Ning did not cry or make a fuss, nor did he kneel down to beg for mercy.
She knew that all this was of no use, she was abandoned, and no one in this village would come to save her.
The people gathered dispersed, and the village chief had also left.
All that was left was An Ning, whose eyes were lifeless, and her mother who had kowtowed her head.
The blood dripped and dyed the loess under her feet red, but she didn't realize it. She just kept kowtowing her head, begging everyone to let her daughter go, and her miserable cries could be heard far away.
No one looked back, and no one reached out to give them a hand, only those cold and heartless eyes.
Tang Sen wanted to go up and help them up, but he passed by them all of a sudden and was helpless.
…
Act 2, night
"Girl, you hurry up and run as far as the night goes. Never come back again. Only in this way can you live." The woman packed her bag and stuffed the few dried meats she had at home into the package.
Inside, he said to An Ning.
"Mom, let's go together." An Ning cried and said
"No, child, no one can leave if we walk together. Mom is here to help you hold them. The farther you go, the better." The woman gently held An Ning's little face and gently pulled back her hanging temples.
He raised his ear and said with a smile.
Stuffing the package into An Ning's hands, he opened the door, carefully stuck his head out, and looked around for a while. After making sure that no one was there, he urged anxiously.
"Let's go quickly. There is no one there now. Remember to hide your footprints along the way so that they don't catch you."
"Also, live, you must live." With the final instruction, the woman pushed An Ning out of the door, leaving An Ning crying quietly outside and knocking on the door without opening it.
After a while, the movement gradually disappeared. At this time, the woman with tears streaming down her face stood up and gently opened the door. It was dark outside the door, but the familiar figure was no longer there.
"Child, you must escape." After closing the door, the woman seemed to have lost her strength, leaning on the door and slowly sliding to the ground, with a smile on her lips.
She understood that after losing their men, they had lost their value and reliance in this mountain village.
These few days of living without going in or out had already consumed all the food they had left, but she didn't plan to live anyway. She wanted to follow the one she loved.
But his daughter is still so young and should not die, especially as a sacrifice.
So what is a sacrifice? It is cannibalism!
The hands and feet of the sacrifices were tied, the mouths were gagged, and the sacrifices were placed in the mountains and forests. When they went back the next day, they would only see a pile of scattered bones.
They had seen this situation many times, but she couldn't accept that her daughter would be the one being tied up.
By now, An Ning should have almost escaped from the village.
Thinking of this, she smiled sincerely.
She has had enough of this cannibalistic village!
Death is a kind of liberation.
Next, we must try our best to hold off the pursuer and buy time for An Ning to escape.
Before I could finish my thoughts, I was woken up by bursts of exclamations outside, the shadow of fire outside the window was shaking, and there was a lot of noise.
But she didn't want to pay attention to it. She didn't care about anything now, except...
"Everyone, come out quickly. As expected, An Ning was trying to escape, but I captured him in one fell swoop." A man with a rough face showed off proudly.
With a wave of his hand, the two men behind him walked out with a thin figure. When he took a closer look, he saw that it was An Ning.
At this time, she was extremely embarrassed, her face was bruised and bruised, and her clothes were ragged, as if they had been hung to pieces by branches.
Sure enough, "This little girl can run quite well. Five of us adults chased her in the woods, but she was as slippery as a loach. However, I finally caught her."
"Okay!" Everyone watching around applauded.
"Ahem." At this moment, a coughing sound came.
"The village chief is here." With an exclamation, the crowd separated into a passage, and an old man walked in slowly.
"Village Chief, what you said is indeed true. An Ning really wants to run away. If you hadn't told us to wait outside the village, she would have escaped tonight. The village chief has a clever plan." At this time, the man looked flattering.
, the flattery keeps coming.
The village chief ignored him, stretched out his hand and raised An Ning's face. After confirming, he put it down expressionlessly.
"Lock this little girl in this room and send someone to guard her day and night. After three days, she will be sacrificed to the gods." After saying this, the old man turned around and walked slowly into the night.
People who are drawn to be sacrificed usually find ways to escape, so it's not surprising. However, for so many years, no one has been able to escape, and tonight is no exception.
A group of people held torches and knocked on the door aggressively. An Ning's mother was awakened and opened the door cautiously.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw the bright firelight, the eyes of many people staring at me, and the thin and pitiful figure at the door.
Couldn't this be it?
The woman had a guess, but she didn't dare to confirm it, and she didn't want to believe it.
The people outside the house ignored her, pushed An Ning into the house, turned around and closed the door, leaving two big men guarding the door to prevent them from escaping again.
Inside the house, only the desperate cries of mother and daughter could be heard.
Tang Sen witnessed the whole process, but could only act like a spectator. Although he was extremely angry, he could not intervene.
…
Act three.
On the second night, An Ning, who had already resigned to his fate after dinner, was in a daze in the house when he suddenly heard the sound of conversation coming from outside the door.
"...accommodating,...buying wine and drinking..."
"Well, okay... hurry up..."
The conversation outside the door was very quiet, and An Ning could only hear part of it clearly. Just when he was confused, the door slowly opened with a "squeak" and a strange man came in, while the two guards at the door turned a blind eye.
The man closed the door behind his back with a lewd smile on his face.
"You, what are you going to do? Don't come over." An Ning backed away in fear.
The man rubbed his hands with a lewd smile on his face, "Little beauty, you'll be eaten by those beasts anyway, why don't you let me play with you first."