I watched Feng Ruoxing and Ye Yang remain silent, so I continued,

"Those two old travelers initially didn't want to return to Qingyan Village either, but they couldn't withstand the urging and pressure from so many people!

"Plus, the things in Qingyan Village were just too good. If they didn't go and let other old travelers take advantage first, it would be a loss for them.

"After discussing it, the two of them returned to Qingyan Village with people on the fifteenth day.

"The stone outside Qingyan Village was truly as red as if it had been dyed with blood. From far away, you could smell the bloody stench wafting from the stone.

"When the two old travelers saw the stone, they didn't dare to go any further.

"However, the onlookers weren't afraid of making things worse and continued to egg them on.

"Those two were considered figures of some importance among the mountain travelers. If they were really humiliated there, it would be difficult for them to get by in the mountains in the future. So, they gritted their teeth and entered Qingyan Village.

"As a result, the two of them never came out again.

"The people waiting outside to watch the excitement waited until it was dark, but they didn't see the two of them come out. They were also scared!

"But, since things had reached this point, no one dared to be a hero or act tough and risk their lives to go in and find them.

"A group of people waited until dusk, getting more and more frightened. After some discussion, they decided to abandon the two old travelers and ran down the mountain before it got dark.

"However, after all, they were the ones who had urged them to go there, and it wouldn't be good for anyone if they were just left in the mountains like that. None of them dared to go home and squeezed into a small restaurant where the mountain travelers usually went to discuss how to deal with the aftermath.

"As a result, they discussed until midnight, but no one came out.

"The shop assistant pretended to bring tea into the room and saw that everyone was sitting around the table, the food untouched. The room was so quiet that even speaking echoed.

"The shop assistant plucked up his courage and shouted a couple of times, but he was almost scared to death in the room—everyone in the room was dead.

"This matter caused quite a stir at the time.

"Some said that the two old travelers they had urged into Qingyan Village had come back to claim their lives;

"Others said that when they went to Qingyan Village, they had passed the bloodstone. Once you passed the bloodstone, you could never come down again.

"No one knew the real cause of death of those people. No one dared to go up the mountain to investigate the truth anymore.

"Over time, Qingyan Village became a legend and gradually disappeared into this mountain."

After I finished the story, Feng Ruoxing asked, "This is the information Lao Liu gave you? You deliberately told the story of Qingyan Village in the mountains because Lao Liu told you to?"

"Yes!" I nodded, "Lao Liu said: 'If you don't know Qingyan, you won't see Qingyan. Once you mention Qingyan, the bloodstone will appear.'"

Why do the older generations always tell children not to talk nonsense when walking at night, especially not to talk about ghosts and gods? If you talk too much, you might attract them.

When you're walking on the road, you don't know if there are any invisible friends brushing past you, let alone whether there are any friends who don't want to walk, following behind you, drifting forward with the wind you stir up.

If you're talking about them in front, they can't help but chat with you.

You really shouldn't disbelieve this.

Most people haven't seen ghosts. Legends are all things they've heard, and sometimes they become more and more exaggerated as they're passed down.

It's like someone walking under a tree in the middle of the night, pointing at a branch and telling others that someone used to hang themselves here because of such and such.

You can say that the hanging was probably true, but the reason for the hanging may not be what you heard. If you talk nonsense and anger the one on the tree, he will definitely come down to make trouble for you.

So, it's better to shut up and hurry on your way when walking at night.

Feng Ruoxing picked up the thread of my thoughts: "According to you, it's unknown whether the people of Qingyan Village went up the mountain to find that thing back then, or whether they found it or not."

"The only thing that can be determined is that Qingyan Village angered the existence in the mountains, and that's why the village was sealed off and the clan exterminated."

"What exactly is in the mountains? Who is that old traveler? Why did he have to bring that thing down?"

I also felt that this old traveler called Lord Bao was a bit strange.

If you say he's not a sorcerer, he knows how to refine himself into a ghost corpse.

If you say he's a sorcerer, his style of doing things doesn't seem like one.

More importantly, he himself is already dead. Even if the people of Qingyan Village found that thing, who should they hand it over to?

Everything is a mystery!

But no matter how mysterious Qingyan Village is, it has nothing to do with me, right?

What was Lao Liu's purpose in telling me to run to Qingyan Village?

While I was pondering, I faintly smelled a bloody scent carried by the wind. When I looked ahead, I saw a cyan rock that looked like a screen. Beside the rock was a flat dirt road that meandered away.

Qingyan Village has arrived!

After passing this rock, turn a corner along the dirt road, and you'll be in Qingyan Village.

Feng Ruoxing took a slight step back and stood in a position where he could cover me and vice versa.

I waved my hand casually and said, "Don't be nervous, we're not going in yet."

"Lao Liu told me that we must wait until the moonlight shines on the Qingyan, and the Qingyan seeps blood before we go in. Now is not the time."

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard a rustling sound in the bushes.