Hu Qi knew he had made a mistake, so he quickly went back and added a few words: "I have never seen much of the world, so I am just curious. But I wonder what disease your husband has, and he needs to drink this holy water all the time? Since you said this holy water can bring the dead back to life, why?
Will your husband get sick again and again?"
This question made the old woman stunned.
She wrinkled her face and thought for a long time before lamenting: "Hey, to put it bluntly, it wasn't the epidemic that caused the epidemic! My husband is an out-and-out farmer, and he has always been in good health. Even minor illnesses and disasters are gone.
I didn't get it. Unexpectedly, I was affected by this epidemic, and I haven't been able to get sick since then.
At that time, we went to many doctors, but they were unable to do anything. Seeing that my husband was getting weaker and weaker, people in the village suggested asking the goddess. I almost lost all my money before I invited the goddess.
After she saw my husband, she said that the disease was very evil and that the root cause of the disease could not be eliminated at once because the current river and well water were not pure enough. One more sacrifice was needed, and everyone could recover as before! Therefore, the people in the town all
I’m looking forward to the sacrificial ceremony coming soon, so people won’t have to suffer from illness anymore!”
Hearing what the old woman said was extremely vivid and succinct, Hu Qi and Gu Jiyun looked at each other with expressions of disbelief:
Drinking the holy water will make you feel better. If you don’t drink the holy water, you will fall ill. How could there be such an evil disease in the world? It is simply unheard of!
You don't need to think about it to know that this must be a dirty trick played by the Chishui Cult - an attempt to use diseases to control the local people so that they can continuously pay tribute to them!
However, seeing the old woman looking obsessed, they were too embarrassed to raise objections in person.
After walking for half a stick of incense, the three of them arrived in front of the old woman's house.
The old woman couldn't wait to bring the holy water into the house and gave it to her husband to drink.
As soon as they opened the door, they were hit by a dull and rotten smell. Hu Qi and Gu Jiyun held their breath and stood still outside the door.
The two of them looked around, seeing that the walls of the dark and dilapidated house were empty and impoverished. There was only a thin body on an earthen bed, wrapped in a patched quilt.
The two of them watched for a while with great curiosity, and saw that after drinking the holy water, the old man on the bed miraculously sat upright like the man seen by the river, and his face became a little rosy.
It's just that he also seems to be possessed by an evil spirit, and his whole person is crazy and out of control.
But all these abnormalities, in the eyes of the old woman, became a sign of resurrection and recovery from a serious illness.
She completely forgot about the savior outside the door, and quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to God, murmuring constantly: "Thank you Goddess! Thank you Goddess!"
The two of them were not disturbed when they saw this. Now that they had found out some inside information, they left quietly and immediately returned to the inn.
----------------------------------------
When we returned to the inn, Yi Cheng immediately came up to us with a smile on his face: "You two gentlemen, you must be exhausted after running all day! Have you found anything?"
Hu Qi deliberately shook the holy water in front of him and said angrily: "Except for this bottle of broken water, nothing was found! The entire Chishui Sect is mysterious, and the people in the town are unwilling to say anything!"
On the way back, the two of them discussed it and decided to put on a play to find out more inside stories.
Sure enough, Yi Cheng suddenly froze when he saw the bottle of holy water, with an ecstatic look on his face.
"You two, please have a good rest! There are many people in coma now, and the water in our hotel is enough for you to drink!" With a smile on his face, he diligently replenished tea for the two of them, without saying a word about the holy water.
Hu Qi looked at the backyard and asked with concern: "Is everything okay over there, Mr. Xia?"
Yicheng sighed and said: "Hey! The golden armored guard has fainted. He was very worried and kept guarding him. He didn't even eat much all day long!"
Hu Qi and Gu Jiyun were a little too tired after a busy day, so they couldn't eat anything. They only drank a few sips of tea and then went back to their rooms to rest.
.
----------------------------------------
The pillow he slept at night was like ice, and the window was illuminated by the moonlight. Hu Qi leaned on the pillow and couldn't sleep.
What he was thinking about most was Lu Ning's comfort: Where is she? How is she doing now? Is there no chance to escape, or is she trapped by something?
Although he forced himself not to think wildly, all kinds of possibilities kept popping into his mind, making him more and more frightened the more he thought about it.
A cold voice came faintly in the darkness: "Are you so worried about her?"
Hu Qi knew it was Baohua who was coming, and could even feel his breath blowing on the back of her neck.
"It can't be said that I got nothing this day, but it still didn't help much in finding the deer!" Hu Qi didn't look back, looking a little listless.
Baohua seemed to sit down, pondered for a moment, and said: "I have found some clues here, but it's really not easy to rescue the leader of the Lu Gang..."
Hu Qihao sat up and immediately became energetic: "Say quickly! How can we rescue her?"
Baohua's expression suddenly turned grim, and his voice was terrifyingly gloomy: "Shh! Someone is coming outside the door!"
After saying that, he turned around and disappeared into the darkness.
Hu Qi held her breath and concentrated, lying down again and pretending to sleep, but she opened her eyes slightly.
He listened carefully, heard the door being slowly pushed open, and vaguely saw a person tiptoeing into the room. The person walked to the table, stopped, and reached out to touch the glass bottle on the table.
However, what he didn't know was that the glass bottle had been tampered with for a long time. As soon as his hand touched it, the line connected to the bottle affected the bell.
Bells all over the house rang all of a sudden, scaring the visitors into panic.
Hu Qi took the opportunity to sit up from the bed and shouted: "Where did you come from, little thief, dare to steal my things!"
The man turned around and pushed the door open to escape.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door, he saw Gu Jiyun holding a lantern and blocking the door with a heavy face.
Hu Qi also quickly stood up and lit the candles in the room.
When the two saw the burglar, they couldn't help shouting in unison: "Why is it you?"
It turned out to be the Yicheng of the inn.
In the half-darkness, the three of them fell into a brief silence.
Immediately, when Yi Cheng saw that the matter was revealed, he knelt down with a plop: "Two uncles, I was obsessed for a moment and did something stupid! I beg you, please forgive me!"
Hu Qi looked at him again and sneered: "If you steal gold, silver and jewelry, I can understand that you are obsessed with it! You just want to steal a bottle of water, maybe your purpose is not pure?"
He licked his lips and lowered his head slightly: "This... small one... I took the wrong one -"
Before he finished speaking, Yicheng felt an impact going straight to his mind, as if his neck had been broken, and he fell to the side.
The left side of his face felt hot and swollen, and he seemed to have lost consciousness. Only then did he realize that he had been beaten.
"You took it by mistake? Do you think we are three-year-old children? Why don't you recruit us for real! Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!" After all, after some practice, Gu Jiyun shocked Yicheng as soon as he made a move.
He finally couldn't bear it any longer and begged with tears in his eyes: "You two gentlemen, please spare your lives! Whatever you want to know, I will tell you everything! I will never hide it anymore!"
Hu Qi glanced at Gu Jiyun and said to Yi: "Tell us everything that happened here. If you dare to tell half a lie, be careful with your head!".
Yi Cheng raised his hand to wipe his sweat, and then said tremblingly: "The Chishui Sect is regarded as a divine religion by the people of Jiangning Prefecture! They will give everyone in the city a ladle of water every day, and all those who join the religion will receive it every day.
You can get three ladles of holy water for free, so everyone is rushing to join the religion!"
Based on what the old woman said earlier, Hu Qi noticed the secret and asked, "Are there any rules for joining the Chishui Sect?"
Yi Cheng nodded as if he was being honest: "Anyone who joins the religion must hand over a girl or boy as a sacrifice.
Taste!"
"What is a sacrifice?" Gu Jiyun frowned, suddenly feeling something was wrong.
Yi Cheng swallowed and then explained in a low voice: "On the tenth day of every lunar month, the female demon will be attached to the goddess. She needs to hold a sacrifice to send away the drought demon. At the same time, she must also offer a god to the river god.
As a river goddess, she can remove poison from the water——"
Hu Qi suddenly thought of something. He grabbed Yi Cheng's collar and asked, "Did you give those three of us to the Chishui Sect?"
Yi Cheng was startled, his eyes began to dodge again, and he hesitated and did not dare to speak.
Gu Jiyun had already drawn out his sword and shouted coldly: "Speak quickly! Otherwise I will kill you!"
Yicheng quickly waved his hand and gave up: "I say! I say! There are not many boys and girls left in the city, and everyone is anxious for the next sacrificial ceremony! Therefore, once a strange man or woman comes to the city, everyone will understand it tacitly.
Sent to the Chishui Sect! At first it was just to get more water, but later, everyone was eagerly looking forward to the sacrificial ceremony!"
"So, on the tenth day of this month, the little deer will..." Hu Qi felt waves of cold air coming over him. His whole body seemed frozen and he couldn't move, but cold sweat broke out from his pores.
Gu Jiyun also felt something bad and continued to ask: "Where did the three of them go? Please tell me!"
Yi Cheng shrank his neck and said with trembling all over: "We...we are only responsible for sending people there. We don't know where the Chishui Sect hides people! No one can find these people before the sacrifice ceremony.
Arrived!"
Gu Jiyun continued to press, but when he heard a noise next door, he and Hu Qi immediately grabbed the door and ran out.
The room where Jin Jiawei rested was in a mess, and there were actually several empty beds.
Gu Jiyun realized what had happened and immediately exclaimed: "Oh no, several people are missing! It seems they were taken away by people from the Chishui Sect!"
Hu was startled and hurried to Toto's room, only to see Toto lying at the door. There was a long dragging mark from the door to the bed.
Hu punched the wall and cursed: "Damn it! They attack many times, but we don't even notice it! There are still a few days until the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, so it seems I have to take the initiative!"