Fantong seemed a little worried, "Well...but my family..."
"What's wrong?" Xiaolan asked knowingly.
"Auntie," Fan Tong told the truth, "what if my parents come back..."
This kid is really worried about this.
"It's okay," Xiaolan said earnestly, patting Fan Tong's head, "Fantong, your parents know that I am a good person, and they will not hurt me."
"But what if someone else is here?" Fantong said, "Are my parents also in danger?"
"It makes sense..." Xiaolan pretended to be deep in thought, "There is no other way, this is the only way."
"what to do?"
"When we return to the village later, if all the villagers come back, then you will be responsible for leading them away. Then I will sneak into your house and hide on the roof of your house first, so that no one will suspect it. How about that?
?" Xiaolan put forward her plan.
Fan Tong seriously thought about the difficulty of implementing this plan, "But..."
"If I were caught by the villagers, I might not be able to escape this time..."
"Okay, Auntie, I promise you," Xiaolan's trick took effect, and Fan Tong agreed immediately, "We will hide in the bushes behind my house later. I will lure others away. You come in quickly."
.”
"OK."
The two set out on their way back to the village. Fantong held the two books tightly to his chest, nervously and expectantly looking at the approaching village.
The good news is that there aren't many people in the village.
Fantong sighed, "Auntie, we are overthinking, they may not have found Ermao at all."
Xiaolan nodded, but her eyes were still wandering around the dark windows.
I always feel...a little too calm.
"Have all the villagers rested?"
"Probably not," Fantong pointed to his yard from a distance, "If my parents find out that we are missing, they will definitely light up the lights. Auntie, look, my house is still dark."
There is nothing wrong with Rice Tong's logic, and his house is indeed dark.
Xiaolan squatted among the trees, hesitant.
I always feel like something is wrong.
"Auntie, let's go quickly," Fantong tugged at Xiaolan's sleeve, "They will be back soon."
"oh……"
Xiaolan followed Fan Tong out of the bushes, and the two crouched figures quickly crossed the empty dirt road and arrived at the gate of Fan Tong's house.
The courtyard gate and the home gate basically remained as they were when they left, but Xiaolan felt an urge to run away.
However, even if he ran away, where could he run to?
There is no answer I want elsewhere.
At the urging of Fan Tong, Xiaolan walked into the courtyard and then into the quiet living room.
Empty.
"Auntie, please go up first," Xantong straightened the ladder under the roof, "I'll watch for you outside."
"Ah...ok."
Xiaolan stood under the ladder and looked towards the open door of the roof. It was so dark above the roof that she couldn't see whether the box was still there.
Xiao Lan grabbed both sides of the ladder and wanted to say something, but Fan Tong had already started to clean up the mess left by the two before leaving. Xiao Lan thought for a while, closed her mouth, and stepped up the ladder.
The creaking sound of the ladder sounded underfoot, and Xiaolan got closer to the darkness on the roof.
She poked her head in and took a look.
With the faint light coming from the room, Xiaolan saw the outline of the box about two meters away.
Great! It’s still there!
Xiaolan quickly climbed up to the roof, knelt on the wooden planks of the roof, picked up the box, and showed a relieved smile.
If I guess correctly, this is the fire lotus...
However, the next second, Xiaolan suddenly felt a cold wind blowing from the top of her head. She raised her head with eyes wide open, just in time to see a yellow talisman approaching her forehead.
The talisman paper had a disgusting smell, and the red lines drawn on the talisman paper were clearly printed on her pupils. The moment she saw the pattern, Xiaolan suddenly lost the strength to avoid it.
Snap!
There was a muffled sound.
Boom!...
The box in his hand fell, Xiaolan stared blankly at the talisman covering his forehead, and slowly leaned over.
She seemed to see her consciousness and all her strength leaving her body. Xiaolan fell from the roof door. Before her body hit the ground heavily, the yellow talisman in front of her could no longer be seen, and she fainted.
When consciousness returned, Xiaolan first felt the piercing pain.
"Uh...ss-"
She reached out and touched the back of her head and back where the pain was most severe.
It hurts even more.
Are you dreaming?
The incident of being attacked by the talisman is still vivid in my mind, as if it happened just a second ago.
Now……
Xiaolan tried to open her slightly swollen and painful eyes, but it didn't bring any change.
It was pitch black all around.
Or are you blind?
"Yes... cough cough... cough cough..."
Xiaolan wanted to speak, but what came out of her mouth was a fishy-sweet smell.
"Cough cough... cough cough..."
It's blood.
I'm coughing up blood.
Xiaolan tremblingly wiped the blood from his mouth, endured the pain and climbed forward a few steps.
The ground is not completely hard. A layer of soft powdery substance covers it, exuding a choking smell.
It's like something is burnt.
"Is there anyone?..." Three unclear words squeezed out from Xiaolan's broken vocal cords.
She crawled forward a few more steps, and finally the fingers of her right hand touched something.
Hard, rough, cold...
It's masonry.
Xiaolan touched both sides.
It is a semi-curved masonry interior wall.
Xiaolan suddenly knew where she was.
Big altar.
This is the place where I once hid, and the place where Ermao died.
The big altar in Fire Lotus Village.
They locked themselves in the high altar.
No……
"Is there anyone?..."
Xiaolan found the iron door and knocked on it with her knuckles.
'"Is there anyone?..." Tidal liquid poured out of his eyes. It should be tears or blood. "Help me..."
After a long, long time, finally, a thin response sounded from outside the door.
"Auntie," the voice was full of complaints and a bit crying, "you lied to me."
"Fan Tong..." Xiaolan leaned weakly against the door, "I'm not lying to you, I'm really not a bad person."
"You killed Ermao." The cry caused Fan Tong's voice to change its tone. He strongly controlled his volume and his emotions.
Unexplainable.
Xiaolan opened her mouth silently, only to feel the warm liquid in her eyes sliding down her cheeks and into her mouth.
It's salty and fishy.
They are tears mixed with blood.
"I..." Xiaolan was speechless, "That's not me..."
silence.
There was a long silence.
"Auntie," after a long time, Fantong said, "they are going to kill you."
Xiaolan pressed her finger on the iron door, feeling the pain from the broken nail.
"Fan Tong, please help me one last time."
"I won't……"
"For the last time," Xiaolan gritted her teeth, "If you help me, I will make you immortal."