Ying Zhuo looked at the worried, young faces before him and smiled.
"Just go back with me with peace of mind..." He would figure out the rest.
Before he could finish speaking, a small figure stepped forward.
It was the ten-year-old girl who had been sent away by her brother, escaping the sacrifice.
She looked at him with determination and said, "Brother Ying Zhuo, I've decided!"
"I'll go back with you! I'll figure out food and shelter for myself!"
All she needed was a place to shelter from the rain and some wild vegetables and fruits.
She wanted to live.
First, she had to survive, then there would be more possibilities.
"Then, then I can do it too!"
The eight-year-old boy also raised his hand. "I can too! I'm good at finding fruit!"
One led to another.
The rest of the children looked at each other and nodded.
"Brother Ying Zhuo, we'll build our own shelters then, and we won't cause you any trouble."
First, settle down, first, survive.
Then, think about going home.
For now, all they needed was a safe place.
"Pfft—"
Ying Zhuo held his forehead, laughing helplessly.
He hadn't even said anything yet.
"It's not as difficult as you say, our village is still well-fed and clothed, okay?"
"Just follow me with peace of mind, you definitely won't go hungry."
"Yes, Brother Ying Zhuo!"
"Okay, Brother Ying Zhuo, we'll listen to you!"
After all, they were just children. Hearing Ying Zhuo's words, they were immediately overjoyed.
They were so happy they almost jumped.
They nodded obediently, so well-behaved.
In a corner of the crowd, the mute child suddenly looked at Zhang Xiaobei.
Zhang Xiaobei glanced at his hand gestures and nodded imperceptibly.
Then, she moved to the front of the group of children, as if out of curiosity, and casually asked,
"Brother Ying Zhuo, what god does your village worship?"
As soon as she said this, the surroundings fell silent.
The children who were overjoyed suddenly realized this and looked at Ying Zhuo nervously.
What if they had just escaped a wolf's den only to fall into a bear's den?
Ying Zhuo naturally thought of what they were thinking.
He shook his head, his expression unchanged. "I know what you're worried about."
"Don't worry, our village doesn't worship any gods."
...
The village where Ying Zhuo lived was called Xiangtian Village.
It was a rare village that did not worship gods but still prospered.
When Zhang Xiaobei, the mute child, and a dozen other children arrived, they were warmly welcomed by the villagers under Ying Zhuo's introduction.
The village chief even arranged accommodation for them on the spot and solved their subsequent food problems.
The dozen children were flattered and almost lost their bearings when they slept that night.
They didn't know what day it was.
They ate dinner in a daze and fell asleep in a daze.
Some children couldn't sleep at night, touching the beds.
The other children dreamt sweetly.
After so long... they were finally treated like humans again.
Instead of sacrificial offerings.
The next day,
The children woke up and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling, the unfamiliar bed.
Only then did they realize that what happened yesterday was not a dream.
Zhang Xiaobei and the mute child, after inspecting the village, found a dilapidated house at the entrance of the village to live in.
Ying Zhuo invited them twice to live in the village, but the mute child refused both times.
Once the mute child made a decision, not even eight oxen could pull him back.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaobei said,
"Thank you, Brother Ying Zhuo. We'll stay here and observe for now. He's not very sociable."
She wasn't lying. In the fishing village, the mute child had always been unsociable.
"Alright, then come to me if you need anything," Ying Zhuo said helplessly.
"We will." Zhang Xiaobei replied with a smile.
"Thank you, Brother Ying Zhuo."
After Ying Zhuo walked away, Zhang Xiaobei looked at the mute child, who had already started tidying up the house.
She asked, "Don't you trust them yet?"
"I think this village is quite good. Everyone has enough to eat and wear, and they can even learn to read."
A village that didn't worship any gods and could still learn to read was simply too good.
The mute child nodded, it was indeed very good.
But his movements of tidying the house did not stop at all.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaobei shrugged.
Fine, you make the decision.
She rolled up her sleeves, tidied the house, and asked,
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I think this place is quite magical, and they can learn to read."
"Hey, do you think we'll have a chance to learn to read in the future? If we can read, we can go to other places to work."
She chattered on, and the mute child responded from time to time.
Just like in the past.
...
Jiang Lin understood from the perspective of God.
Xiangtian Village indeed did not worship gods, nor did it have any sacrificial activities.
They would bury the bones of the deceased in the soil.
After doing so, the harvest in the following year would be exceptionally good.
This was also the fundamental reason for Xiangtian Village's prosperity.
But in fact, this was all because there were black worms in the soil.
They would rush to eat the bones, and their excrement would fertilize the soil.
Jiang Lin was unsure what those black worms were,
But they indeed lived only in the soil and did not pose a threat to the residents' safety.
"The viewers will probably be interested in this kind of thing."
Jiang Lin muttered.
Although it was strange, those viewers were indeed interested in strange things.
Especially that kind of...
The more stimulating, the more they wanted to study it.
...
...
Life in Xiangtian Village was indeed good. The dozen new children quickly integrated into the life there.
In the blink of an eye, two years passed.
The children who were there back then had all grown up.
They had grown taller and stronger.
They were well-fed and well-clothed.
Some of the older children were already thinking about saving grain to get married and settling down here permanently.
However, good times don't last.
That winter, a person died in the village.
The peaceful and beautiful life was suddenly stirred.
"Mute child, mute child, something's wrong!"
Zhang Xiaobei hurried back to the house at the village entrance and saw the mute child in the yard.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and panted,
"Mute child, something's wrong, someone died in the village!"
The mute child put down the simple water kettle in his hand and turned back, looking at her with a hint of confusion.
Zhang Xiaobei entered the yard, looked around, and then lowered her voice and whispered,
"It's the mountain god! That person seems to have been killed by the mountain god."
The deceased was a young man from the village, in his twenties, named Dazhuang.
The villagers discovered him in the back mountain when they went to work in the morning.
At that time, he was lying on the ground, lifeless.
His flesh and blood were churning, as if he had been bitten by a fierce beast.
The villagers might not have noticed, but the dozen children who had returned recognized it at a glance—
The wounds on Dazhuang's body were exactly the same as the marks on the bandits.
"Mute child, do you think... the mountain god is chasing us?"
...