"You bastard, how dare you say anything? Why didn't I notice that you were so coquettish when you were a man?" Lin Aoxue cursed, trying to suppress the strange feeling in her chest.
"That's different. In our previous life, we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, not husband and wife. We must be more restrained before we get married." Ye Liuyun replied.
This is indeed true. After marriage, men and women will become bolder in some matters.
In this way, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue slowly crossed mountains and rivers, and finally arrived at Qixia Town on the third day. However, they originally planned to just pass by Qixia Town and check on the situation at home.
"Ah...ah...ah." Outside Qixia Town, a donkey was lying outside the town, gasping for breath.
The donkey's speed has been trained these days.
"Oh, little donkey, not bad, not bad. It seems that I need to train you more in the future. My donkey wants to be the fastest donkey in the world." Ye Liuyun teased.
When the donkey heard this, it immediately stuck out its tongue and lay down.
As they spoke, the two of them jumped off their horses and prepared to enter the town.
But as soon as they entered the town, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue's expressions suddenly changed from happy to ugly.
Because, what was once a good town is now only a few ruins burned by a fire, and it seems that it was burned down recently.
"This? What happened?" Ye Liuyun asked in disbelief.
It hadn't been long since they left Qixia Town, so how come the town was destroyed? Who did it?
No wonder the old man was unwilling to tell them directly.
Lin Aoxue's eyes immediately became murderous. She and Ye Liuyun walked in. The streets and houses that they once were familiar with were all gone. This was their home in this world.
The two of them used their spiritual sense to check carefully. Fortunately, they did not detect the breath of death. If the people in the town were attacked and killed, there would definitely be a lingering breath of death here.
But there was no such thing here, not even a trace of death. In this case, although the two were unhappy, they were at least relieved. At least the people in the town should be fine. Of course, it was not a good idea to draw a conclusion so quickly, and they had to investigate thoroughly.
"Aoxue, what do you think is going on?" Ye Liuyun asked.
"Judging from the traces, it should have happened in the past few days. Let's go check around." Lin Aoxue suggested.
Ye Liuyun nodded, and the two of them separated. After Lin Aoxue made sure that there was no one here, he flew up and looked down from the sky for clues. Ye Liuyun asked Lin Qingyou to help look at the situation here.
Lin Qingyou's spiritual power was so strong that she soon saw a large number of horse hoof prints outside Qixia Town. These horse hoof prints all came from one direction and there were a lot of them.
With so many horse hoof prints, it is definitely not a cultivator. Ordinary bandits would not have so many horses. So Lin Qingyou analyzed that there was only one possibility, that is, officials and soldiers from the secular government had been here. This made sense.
When Lin Qingyou said this, Ye Liuyun immediately remembered that his two grandfathers had told them that although their Lin family seemed to be living here carefree, in fact, someone was secretly monitoring them.
Maybe it was someone from the imperial court who discovered that the core members of their two families had secretly left Qixia Town and their whereabouts were unknown, and then they sent officers and soldiers to search and inquire.
In order to cover up some things, all the people in the town were taken away.
Ye Liuyun and Lin Qingyou's analysis was basically correct. About a week ago, a well-equipped cavalry team of several thousand people came to Qixia Town. Their purpose was to inquire about the whereabouts of the Ye and Lin families.
But unfortunately, the Lin family and the Ye family left through a secret passage that they had secretly dug, and the people of Qixia Town had no way of knowing it.
This group of several thousand soldiers came directly from the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty. Their mission was to investigate the whereabouts of the Lin and Ye families and erase all traces of Qixia Town.
As for the people of Qixia Town, they were dispersed in batches to the surrounding towns and were not allowed to stay in Qixia Town. Faced with the power of the imperial court, the people had no power to resist and could only pack up and leave.
So, all the ruins in the town were cleaned up very cleanly, and there were basically no valuable items left. After the officers and soldiers dispersed the people, they burned the town to ashes.
Of course, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue don’t know about these things at the moment.
They are now very worried about the safety of their fellow villagers. Lin Aoxue observed the surroundings carefully and she did not see anything unusual in the surrounding mountains.
So he could only return to Ye Liuyun, who was standing at the gate of the town at this time. Because Qixia Town was a small place, the road leading to the town was a dirt road, and the horseshoe prints were too obvious.
"What's going on? Did you find anything unusual?" Lin Aoxue didn't find anything unusual, so she came to Ye Liuyun's side and asked.
Ye Liuyun pointed to the ground. Lin Aoxue looked into the soil and immediately figured out what was going on.
"So many horse hoof prints? This? Could it be the government's doing?" Lin Aoxue said with a frown.
"I think so. Let's just follow these horseshoe prints and see where they lead to, and then we'll know." Ye Liuyun suggested.
Lin Aoxue agreed with Ye Liuyun's opinion. The two of them rode on their mounts, speeding forward as fast as possible along the large number of horse hoof prints. In fact, they already had a mental guess.
This road is the main road leading directly to Jiangzhou City.
"Liuyun, tell me, if it was done by the secular government, how would they treat the villagers?" Lin Aoxue asked worriedly.
Ye Liuyun really didn't dare to answer this, but he had to prepare for the worst. That is, the government would anger the court because of the secret departure of their two families, and then the court would send people to investigate and vent their anger on the people here.
You know, in this world, the lives of ordinary people are really nothing.
But according to their observations, the officers and soldiers should not have killed the civilians. If they were to massacre the town, they would have killed the people first and then burned it. There was no need to take the people to other places.
So the people are most likely fine.
Chapter 232: The Gloomy Town
Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue followed all the way, but as they entered the main official road from the branch road, the horseshoe prints began to become fewer.
Because the main official road was paved with a large amount of bluestone, it was impossible to continue tracking based on the horseshoe prints.
The pursuit of the two ended here.
"The mark has disappeared." Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue happened to stop at a fork in the road. There were three roads here and they couldn't make a decision.
Not only that, as they got closer to Jiangzhou City, the number of pedestrians coming and going on the road increased, and horse-drawn carriages and caravans often passed by.
However, there are many villages and farmlands around.
The two of them wanted to confirm whether it was government officials who took the people of Qixia Town away, and then find out where they were taken and whether they were safe. As long as they were sure that they were safe, they could rest assured.
The two men looked at the pedestrians coming and going and had no choice but to stop tracking.
"There are so many people. It seems that we have come to the main official road from the remote mountains. I almost forgot that we went to Jiangzhou Prefecture two years ago." Ye Liuyun said helplessly as he looked at the passers-by.
Lin Aoxue nodded. They had been to Jiangzhou Prefecture when they were young, probably around twelve or thirteen years old.
"Aoxue, let's find someone to ask." Ye Liuyun looked around at the people working in the fields.
There must be people here every day. If a large number of people come and go here, someone will definitely see it.
Lin Aoxue nodded, and then the two of them came to the edge of the farmland. Ye Liuyun walked down the farmland with a smile and came to a middle-aged man.
"Uncle, I want to ask you something. Is it convenient?" Ye Liuyun asked with a gentle smile.
The middle-aged man working in the farmland was stunned for a moment, then looked Ye Liuyun up and down. When he saw that the person coming was a young and beautiful girl, he nodded.
By the way, when Ye Liuyun came to the secular world, he deliberately used a camouflage pill to change his hair color back to black. A head of white hair would be too conspicuous when moving around in the secular world.
"Oh, what do you want to ask, little girl?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.
Ye Liuyun immediately told the man what he wanted to ask. Surprisingly, this middle-aged man actually saw a team of several thousand people, along with a group of civilians, passing by here a few days ago.
He didn't understand why Ye Liuyun asked this, but he still told Ye Liuyun what he knew.
After listening to this, Ye Liuyun felt that his idea had been verified.
"Is that really the case? Thank you, uncle, for telling me." Ye Liuyun thanked the middle-aged man slightly, then turned around and returned to Lin Aoxue.
"What happened?" Lin Aoxue asked immediately when she saw Ye Liuyun coming back.
Ye Liuyun sighed.
"What else can we do? It's just as we thought. It was indeed done by the government. As for where they took the people, they really don't know. After all, here is still a few days' journey from Jiangzhou City." Ye Liuyun replied.
The two had no choice but to keep moving forward. At their speed, it would take another three or four days to reach Jiangzhou City. They also had to investigate the whereabouts of people on the way, which would probably take even more time.
The two rode their mounts forward again, and soon another day came to an end.
But today, before dark, they arrived at a town called Youshan Town.
Youshan Town is about twice as large as Qixia Town, with a larger population. The town is built on the official road leading to Jiangzhou City.
The two arrived here at dusk, but after arriving, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue had a strange feeling, because before entering the town, this place gave people a gloomy atmosphere, and the road leading to the town was full of paper money used for funerals.
"Strange, what's going on here?" Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue walked into the town. She looked at the paper money on the ground, then glanced at the streets. It was such a big town, but it was only dusk and there were so few people on the streets. This was not normal.
Lin Aoxue also scanned with her spiritual sense, and found that the people here seemed to have entered their houses early, hiding in advance in case of any danger. There were also talismans pasted everywhere in the houses, but these talismans had no power and could not protect against evil spirits at all.
This feeling makes people uncomfortable.
"It's a bit strange here. Let's find an inn to stay in." Lin Aoxue said.
It was almost dark, and since there were better places to stay, they definitely didn't want to live in the wilderness.
Just like that, the two of them looked around the street. Although there were not many pedestrians on the street, there were still a few people walking around, but most of them were holding gongs, beating them and shouting.
"It's dusk, it's dusk, people on the street, hurry home, close the door, shut the windows, and don't speak loudly."
This scene makes people even more confused.
Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue wondered what had happened here, so they stopped a middle-aged man who was beating the gong and asked him.
"Hey, uncle, what happened in this town? What are you doing?" Ye Liuyun asked.
The middle-aged man who was beating the gong knew that Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue were passing by their Youshan Town as soon as he saw their appearance, so he hurriedly explained.
"Ladies, are you passing through the town? You should either go to the next town or village before it gets completely dark, or find an inn to stay in. There has been some evil happening in Youshan Town recently. After dusk, evil spirits enter the town. More than a dozen people have been attacked by them and lost their lives." The middle-aged man explained in a panic.
Ye Liuyun originally wanted to ask a few more questions, but the middle-aged man glanced at the sky, and when he saw that the sun was about to set, he hurried away. It seemed that he was going home. Judging from the speed of the sun setting, it should be more than ten minutes before it is too dark.
Ye Liuyun looked at the speed at which the other party left, and then looked at Lin Aoxue in confusion.
"Interesting. I'd like to see what happened in this town, any evil spirits?" Lin Aoxue said with interest.
The two of them were planning to stay in Youshan Town. They looked around and soon found an inn that was about to close.
"Owner, our sisters would like to stay in your hotel." Ye Liuyun stepped forward and said.
The shopkeeper was stunned, then quickly motioned for the two to come in.
The inn seemed very deserted, with few guests, and the guests all looked unhappy, looking worried.
"Boss, what exactly happened in your town?" Ye Liuyun asked casually.
But the boss didn't seem to want to answer this question.
"Two girls, don't ask anything. After staying here today, you should leave this town early tomorrow morning." The boss said casually, and then called a young girl to arrange a room for Ye Liuyun and the other person.
All of this, like a layer of haze hanging over their hearts, made Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue even more curious about what happened in this town.
"Sisters, please follow me to the third floor. The first and second floors are full of guests, leaving only the third floor. However, the rooms on the third floor are all superior and may be more expensive." said the girl.
Ye Liuyun originally thought that there were not many guests here, but when Lin Aoxue took a quick look with her spiritual sense, she found that the place was actually full of guests, but they were all in the rooms and didn't talk.
"Well, no problem, but little sister, what's going on here? As guests, we should have the right to know, right? We felt something strange since we entered the town. The people who beat the gong in your town said that there is something evil here?" Ye Liuyun asked in a low voice.
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When the girl heard this, she immediately looked around, then came to Ye Liuyun and said a few words in a low voice.
"My two sisters, you don't know, but since about half a month ago, all kinds of strange things have happened in our town after dark. Many people said they saw evil spirits in the town, and some said the evil spirits went to their homes. The most terrifying thing is that after the evil spirits came to the door, someone in that family would die the next day, and the dead were all young girls."
"You should have seen so much paper money in the town and on the roads outside the town. We have funerals every day in our town now." The girl explained with fear on her face.
At this point, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue knew that there was most likely an evil cultivator lurking here to cause trouble.
But no matter what the reason is, since they have encountered it, they certainly can't pretend not to know.
Although this place is not within the territory of their Yunxia Sect, the entire Jiangzhou Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of the Yunxia Sect. When something like this happens, as a disciple of the Yunxia Sect, it is naturally their obligation to take care of it.
"Such a strange thing happened? Didn't your town ask people from the government for help?" Ye Liuyun asked again.
The girl immediately sighed helplessly.
"Sister, you don't know. It's not that we didn't hire anyone, but the Taoist priest we hired to exorcise evil spirits disappeared that very night. The government also sent people to investigate, but they couldn't find anything." The girl explained.
The so-called Taoist priests are actually the name given by mortals to practitioners. Most mortals do not know the existence of practitioners, but they know the existence of Taoist priests.
I also know that Taoists know some magic, and those who practice immortal cultivation are also called sorcerers in the secular world.
Most of these sorcerers are independent cultivators without any sect or school. When they cannot make it in the cultivation world, they try to find a job in the secular world. Independent cultivators live a much more comfortable life in the secular world than in the cultivation world.
As long as one knows a little bit about how to catch monsters and exorcise evil spirits, even if one's cultivation is only at the Lingxi realm, one can deal with some simple monsters and evil spirits.
Of course, there may not be many cultivators above the Dao Palace level in the secular world, but there are still quite a few cultivators in the Wheel Sea realm.
Ye Liuyun asked this and didn't ask any more questions.
She did not ask, since the townspeople knew there was an evil spirit, why didn't they leave the town and seek refuge somewhere else.
This kind of statement seems to be correct, but it does not conform to the situation in this world.
After all, this world is still a feudal system. If they leave the town, they will become refugees. When refugees go to other places, they basically have no rights protection.
