The matter returned to a few days prior. Ye Tiancheng and his companions, following the direction indicated by the Nuwa Stone, arrived at a village. As night had fallen, they were forced to stop and rest for the night, to recuperate.
They had originally planned to depart the very next day. Who knew that on the second day, a torrential rain would begin. This village was remote, situated at the foot of a mountain.
Rainy weather was already unsuitable for travel, let alone in such a place. Traveling in a downpour would be even more dangerous.
There was a risk of landslides, or similar hazards. They couldn't leave, but staying didn't seem much safer either.
However, there was no other option. Ye Tiancheng and his group could only choose to remain in the village.
If it were just this, it would have been fine. As long as no serious natural disasters like landslides or mudslides occurred, being forced to stay in the village for a few days wouldn't have been a major issue. After all, it was the heavens that were uncooperative, not their lack of effort. It was simply unavoidable.
But it so happened that during the few days Ye Tiancheng and his group were staying in the village, the atmosphere within the village felt peculiar.
At first, Ye Tiancheng thought he might be overly sensitive. It was due to his past experiences; he couldn't help but have a slight psychological shadow from places like remote villages, and he wished he could leave quickly. Now, for everyone's safety, he had been suppressing his unease.
In the past, when the little fox hadn't yet transformed into its youthful form and was still a child, it hadn't lost its memory. Although some memories were erased, it still remembered some things.
So, at that time, there was still a little fox that could share this psychological burden with Ye Tiancheng.
But unfortunately, now that the little fox had changed its physical form, it had completely forgotten its past. Ye Tiancheng had to bear the shadow cast by those past memories all by himself.
Ye Tiancheng had initially thought that if they could just endure one night, especially since they were exhausted from traveling and it was getting dark, and considering the condition of the female companions like Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng who were traveling with them, Ye Tiancheng had no choice but to stop and rest for one night.
At that time, Ye Tiancheng felt that as long as they got through the night and rested well, they could leave quickly the next day. He felt he could endure it.
How could he have imagined then that when he woke up the next morning, he would find it was pouring rain, and this rain had been falling for days without stopping?
But they had no choice but to temporarily stay in this village. Ye Tiancheng and his group were helpless.
The villagers were not particularly enthusiastic, but they did not refuse Ye Tiancheng and his group's request to stay. They even provided them with thoughtful hospitality.
However, Ye Tiancheng had said he would leave as soon as possible, but then an accident occurred, preventing their departure, forcing them to stay for a few more days. The villagers seemed to have some complaints, but in the end, they chose to be understanding, as it was truly impossible to leave in such weather.
During the days Ye Tiancheng and his group were trapped in the village, they later learned that the village was simultaneously holding funeral rites and wedding ceremonies, which proceeded regardless of the torrential rain.
At first, they were quite "impressed." After all, it was rare to see such events proceed even in the rain. For the funeral rites, it was understandable, perhaps the deceased could not be kept any longer and had to be handled as soon as possible. But what about the wedding ceremony?
Under normal circumstances, if people encountered such a situation and the chosen date was inconvenient, they would simply postpone it and choose another date.
In short, it was unlikely they would choose to proceed in a downpour.
It was only when the little fox reminded them that Ye Tiancheng and his group realized something was amiss.
The little fox spoke to Ye Tiancheng about this matter, finding it very strange.
The little fox observed the village's ceremonies from afar, watching for a while, resting its chin on its hand in thought. Then it suddenly spoke, "Strange, this is truly too strange."
At that moment, Ye Tiancheng was beside the little fox. Hearing the little fox mumbling to itself, he walked over and patted its shoulder.
"What are you thinking about? Talking to yourself here?"
The little fox was startled by Ye Tiancheng's sudden pat on its shoulder. It turned around, saw it was Ye Tiancheng, and finally relaxed. "Big Brother? Really, you scared me."
Ye Tiancheng said, "What are you thinking about? So focused... I've been standing right beside you, didn't you even know?"
"I knew, but knowing and being startled are two different things," the little fox muttered softly.
Then, the little fox resumed its normal voice and answered Ye Tiancheng's previous question, "I was just thinking, the people in this village are very strange."
Ye Tiancheng's spirits immediately lifted. He had encountered too many unusual things, making him highly sensitive, sometimes overly so. But when others around him also felt something was off, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but take the premonition seriously.
"Strange? What do you find strange about them?"
The little fox said to Ye Tiancheng, "Big Brother, think about it. This should be common knowledge in folk customs, especially in small places like this, they should be even more particular."
"So, why are they holding funeral rites and wedding ceremonies at the same time?"
The little fox's face was filled with genuine confusion. "People most fear that funeral rites and wedding ceremonies will clash. They would definitely avoid it intentionally. If they accidentally encountered it, they would find a way to separate them."
"But Brother Ye, look, they are not avoiding it at all."
Ye Tiancheng suddenly realized. He hadn't thought that far ahead before, but with the little fox's reminder, Ye Tiancheng immediately understood that something was wrong.
That's right, especially for people in the same village. Funeral rites and wedding ceremonies wouldn't be suddenly decided upon and then accidentally clash.
Whether it's funeral rites or wedding ceremonies, holding a banquet requires preparation for a period of time in advance, followed by inviting guests.
Since they were in the same village, they would definitely inform each other. Under these circumstances, why wouldn't they avoid each other?
If the funeral rites weren't avoided, it could be understandable, as perhaps the deceased's body couldn't be kept longer and couldn't be postponed. If it had to be done earlier, it might be too rushed. But why wasn't the wedding ceremony postponed?
And since the wedding ceremony wasn't rescheduled, why were the funeral rites also unaffected? They were even being held simultaneously. Ye Tiancheng and his group could hear the commotion; there was no avoidance whatsoever, with both families holding ceremonies and banquets.
Ye Tiancheng suddenly understood, "It is indeed strange. Why aren't they avoiding each other? Aren't they afraid of a clash?"
The little fox frowned and thought for a moment, feeling perhaps he hadn't thought things through clearly, or maybe there was something he hadn't noticed. So, he didn't rush to a conclusion.
"Perhaps there are other reasons that we haven't figured out yet. We need to see the specifics before we can draw a conclusion."
After a long silence, Ye Tiancheng shook his head and said to the little fox, "It's none of our business. Let's not get involved in this excitement."
"We have the whole family with us now. If anything unexpected happens, we won't be able to take care of it. It's better to be cautious."
The little fox thought about it and agreed. It was indeed better not to actively get involved in the excitement. So, he also said, "That makes sense. Let's not worry about it too much."
Unfortunately, despite their intention to avoid it, Ye Tiancheng seemed to possess some strange magnetic field. Even if they intended to avoid trouble, trouble would find them.
It wasn't anything particularly special. It was just that the family Ye Tiancheng and his group were staying with needed to attend both the funeral and wedding banquets that day, so they wouldn't have time to prepare meals for Ye Tiancheng and his group.
The host family was quite kind. They cared about their guests and tried to be as courteous as possible. Therefore, they proactively asked Ye Tiancheng and his group if they wanted to attend the banquet together.
Ye Tiancheng and his group initially felt that they weren't very familiar with the villagers, and attending a village banquet would be awkward, as they didn't have a suitable role to participate.
However, the host family honestly told Ye Tiancheng and his group that according to village rules, when the village was holding funeral rites or wedding ceremonies, other households were not allowed to cook. Normally, this rule wouldn't be an issue, but now that Ye Tiancheng and his group had moved in, the situation became different.
The two families holding ceremonies outside would certainly take several days. Originally, the villagers in this village, being small and remote, knew each other very well. Whether they cooked or not didn't matter, as they would inevitably all be invited. Not cooking wouldn't mean they wouldn't have food to eat. But for outsiders, it was different.
Upon hearing this custom, Ye Tiancheng and his group had to consider each other and could only choose to accept the invitation from their host family to attend the banquet.
Because if they didn't go, they wouldn't have food to eat. Especially for a child like Ye Qingcheng, she couldn't go hungry. Children were still growing and needed food the most. Moreover, Ye Tiancheng didn't want to let his daughter suffer.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng and his entourage, following their host family, grandly proceeded towards one of the households in the village.
Ye Tiancheng and his group followed the male host. Because there were two households holding banquets in the village, and the female host of the family Ye Tiancheng and his group were staying with was going to attend the funeral rites, while the male host was going to attend the wedding ceremony.
Ye Tiancheng and his group felt it would be too awkward to freeload at the funeral banquet, so they ended up following the male host.
Upon arriving at the wedding ceremony, Ye Tiancheng and his group found the atmosphere a bit strange. The banquet was not lively, no one was discussing the bride and groom, nor were they enthusiastic about it.
Mr. Ye found it somewhat peculiar. At a wedding banquet, it shouldn't be like this. Even if it was a marriage of convenience, it shouldn't be so cold and desolate.
However, he couldn't figure out what the problem was. Ye Tiancheng and his group could only crudely assume that perhaps the groom was dissatisfied with the bride, but he couldn't refuse to marry her and had to hold the wedding, yet his expression still showed his displeasure.
And those who came to attend the banquet might all know that the groom was in a bad mood and unwilling to accept this marriage, hence they dared not make a scene, as they had to consider his feelings.
The family holding the wedding ceremony did not unwelcome Ye Tiancheng and his group. Ye Tiancheng and his group were guests of the village, so they didn't need to offer monetary gifts. Ye Tiancheng and his group each offered a blessing and were handed handfuls of wedding candies.
By noon, Ye Tiancheng and his group were already seated at the dining table and eating. However, the groom had only just begun his journey, preparing to go and pick up his bride to complete the wedding ceremony.
The groom's expression when he left made Ye Tiancheng and his group feel a bit disheartened again.
Because the groom clearly didn't look displeased. His expression seemed to show some anticipation for picking up the bride.
However, Ye Tiancheng and his group's doubts were soon resolved, as the groom quickly returned with the bride, as they were not far away.