Xiaolan walked out of the bathroom and stood quietly at the door.
She had a stiff face and put her hand on her chest, trying to slow down her breathing.
"Xiaolan?" Qin Yin sat on the chair and turned to look at her, "Why did it take so long?"
Seeing that Xiaolan's eyes were wrong, Luo Jiutian quickly stood up and asked, "What happened?"
Xiaolan stepped forward and walked towards everyone quickly, her steps staggering a bit.
The Taoist priest and Qin Yin went up to her and grabbed her.
The Taoist priest looked in the direction of the bathroom, "What did you see?"
"I saw..." Xiaolan looked towards the kitchen cautiously, "Where is that old woman?"
"She is still in the kitchen and hasn't come out. We ordered a takeaway fried rice for Wen Ling."
"Great," Xiaolan said, "Let's go quickly."
Qin Yin grabbed Xiaolan's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Is there something wrong with that old woman?"
"I...I don't know..."
"Then how can we just leave? Isn't this considered defaulting on a debt?" Qin Yin lectured.
Xiaolan glanced at the kitchen again, then tilted her head and frowned, "There seems to be something strange behind this house."
"What?"
"There is a tree behind, and there seem to be many people hanging on the tree," Xiaolan said, "Can you understand?"
Qin Yin's face suddenly changed, "Someone hanged themselves? Many?"
"No...it doesn't seem like this..." Xiaolan shook her head in distress, "It's hard to describe, and it's not very clear through the window. We have to go behind and have a look."
"What does this have to do with that old woman?" Baomu asked.
"The strange thing is this," Xiaolan said, "one of them looks very similar to the old woman."
A group of people's eyes shot toward the kitchen.
"You read that right?"
"I don't know either..." Xiaolan was a little anxious, "It was just because I couldn't see clearly that I wanted to go out and have a look, but the color of the clothes of the person on the tree was very similar to that of the old woman.
"
Now that things have happened, there is nothing to hesitate about.
Everyone resolutely picked up their belongings and escaped from the building on tiptoes, leaving only a hundred-dollar bill on the table.
Then, in the howling cold wind, everyone followed Xiaolan's guidance, walked around the side of the building, and arrived at the backyard.
There is a small, slightly deserted garden in the backyard, and indeed there is a dense old tree standing in the center.
Looking from a distance, there are indeed three or five human-shaped objects hanging between the dense tree crowns, trembling and floating in the night wind.
Qin Yin recognized the off-white jacket he had seen not long ago at a glance.
"That's her!" Qin Yin pointed to the figure in the white coat, "Isn't this the aunt?"
The old woman just now was hanging among the leaves. Two long vines wrapped around her body and fixed her under a branch. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her body swayed slightly with the branches and vines.
In addition, there are four people also hanging on the tree, namely two middle-aged men, a middle-aged woman, and a seven or eight-year-old child.
The five people had expressionless faces, but their faces were rosy and they did not look like dead people.
"I see..." Baomu murmured, "The smells I smell come from here..."
The Taoist priest frowned in thought, Luo Jiutian called Panlongchi and held it in his hands, while Xiaolan looked at the back window of the bathroom warily.
The light in the bathroom was still on, which was the only light source here. Xiaolan looked at the window carefully to make sure no one was peeking, and then turned around with confidence.
"Taoist Priest, do you know what's going on?"
"I have never seen..." the Taoist priest said frankly, "but I am sure that they are all still alive."
Baomu nodded, "That's right."
Qin Yin frowned and looked at Xiaolan, who shook his head helplessly.
Why are you looking at me? How could I have seen more things than you?
"Should we rescue them first?" the fool asked.
“What if they’re bad guys?”
"Why are you afraid of everything? Haven't we seen enough bad guys?"
"No matter how many bad guys we have seen, we are still not sure that we can deal with the next bad guy..."
Qin Yin and Fool started arguing again as usual. Xiaolan squinted her eyes and stood at the feet of the old lady in white coat, looking up at her face.
Suddenly, whether it was due to her own illusion, she felt that the old man's eyelids seemed to be moving.
The next second.
"She moved!" Qin Yin shouted.
The two long vines that tied the old woman began to slowly shrink, and at the same time, the old man also began to descend.
Qin Yin picked up Xiaolan and instantly shrank behind the Taoist Priest.
Everyone retreated.
After the old man landed, his closed eyes gradually opened, and his stiff face relaxed. A few seconds later, the kind and enthusiastic old woman returned to them.
The old woman was fumbling for something in her pocket and walked towards them.
"What are you going to do?!" Qin Yin pointed at the old woman through the Taoist priest, "We are not afraid of you!"
"What are you afraid of me for?" The old woman was startled for a moment, then a look of realization appeared on her face, "Oh... I'm just saying, no wonder you left so much money, do you regard our place as a black shop, haha.
…”
The old woman smiled and took out what was in her pocket, and it turned out to be a handful of change.
"This is money for you," the old man handed the change to the Taoist priest, "I just made the fried rice you took out, and when I turned around, why were all of you gone? There was still so much money left, I was still wondering.
You guys had something urgent to do and you left, I didn’t expect you to come here..."
The old man's attitude was so natural that it made them look a little weird.
"Auntie..." Baomu tentatively pointed to the tree, "What's going on?"
The old man turned his head and looked around, as if he didn't understand what Baomu said, "What's going on?"
"That tree... why are they in the tree? And why are you..."
"They are young people who don't like to work and go to bed early," the old woman glared at the people in the tree and complained, "I am the only old lady who is willing to stay up late to take care of the business. Why else?"
Was she answering their questions?
But Qin Yin seemed to have some understanding, "Are you sleeping in a tree?"
The old man said matter-of-factly, "Where else? Are you sleeping under a tree?"
Everyone exchanged looks.
Is this some unique custom?
"What I mean is..." Qin Yin continued, "Have you ever considered going into the house to sleep?"
The old man showed a look of disdain, "Only those who don't have a sacred tree at home sleep in the house. My sacred tree grows so strong and strong, why do we sleep in the house?"
Luo Jiutian paused, "Is this... a sacred tree?"
The old woman looked at him like she was looking at a madman.
"This tree in my house was one of the first sacred trees to take shape when the gods descended. Everyone in Pingtai knows about it, don't you know?"