Chapter 191 The Old Village Chief
"Someone from the Changde family?" Li Daoxuan closed his eyes and thought, wondering why someone from the Changde family came.

The last time he went to Grandpa Changde's house, the family didn't treat him very well. They were even a little cold and unwilling to talk to him. But now he came to the door on his own. Could there be something else going on?
Tapping the table with his fingers, Li Daoxuan decided to go to Changde's house later.

After having dinner at home, he put on a rain hat and walked out of the house.

Perhaps because of the continuous rainy days, the small street in front of the Li family’s house seemed a little dark.

Yesterday's thunderous rain filled the cracks in the stone streets with dirty water.

There was dirt and pig and cow feces left on the ground, and a foul smell lingered in the air.

There is no one to clean up on this rainy day, so we can only wait until the weather clears up.

After walking through the streets and alleys, you will be out of the Li family residence area. Going further ahead is muddy land. Although it is paved with gravel, it is still difficult to walk on.

Li Daoxuan looked at the road in front of him and made hand gestures with his fingers.

"Please help me, God of Land." After saying this, his feet stepped on the muddy ground as if it were flat ground. The dirty water spread around his feet and the rain did not soak his body.

This can also be considered as the effect of Li Daoxuan opening an altar to worship the local land god. With the luck of this land protecting him, he can avoid being contaminated by mud and rain.

However, although this kind of magic is mysterious, it also has a big problem. As long as you leave Lijia Village, you will no longer be protected by the local land.

Walking on the mud, Li Daoxuan came all the way to Changde's house.

Changde's home is located in the southern corner of the village. He has built a courtyard at home. Next to the courtyard are clay jars and several clay dolls of the same style that he had seen in the toilet.

Li Daoxuan stared at the clay doll for a moment, then walked to the door and knocked on it.

A woman's voice came from the courtyard. After he answered it, he heard a flurry of activity mixed with a voice of surprise: "It turns out to be Master Daoxuan. I'll open the door for you right away."

Footsteps approached and an old woman opened the door.

Li Daoxuan had seen this old lady before. She was the mother of Li Yue and Li Tian. But now she looked older. Her already white hair had become more gray. The wrinkles on her face were deeper, and there was more black between her eyelids.

She looked at Li Daoxuan, with a little more smile on her face than last time. She wiped her muddy hands on the hem of her clothes and said with a somewhat restrained expression: "Young Master, please come in and sit down."

"Auntie Zhang, sorry to bother you." Li Daoxuan smiled and walked into the courtyard.

Compared to the last time he came, Changde's house had changed a bit today. There were more clay dolls in the yard, with different expressions and postures. However, he still noticed some differences. The clothes worn by those clay dolls were obviously of Oriental style.

In this era of information prosperity, Li Daoxuan has seen a lot of Oriental-style clothing. Perhaps people of this era are not very clear about Oriental clothing, but he can still see a clue.

As I walked into the house, I heard the sound of a millstone.

There was an old man sitting at home, wearing clothes full of patches. When he saw Li Daoxuan coming in, the old man tapped his pipe, coughed a few times, and then stood up. There was no expression on his face.

"It turns out to be Daoxuan." Old Man Chang said in a hoarse voice.

"Grandpa Changde." Li Daoxuan bowed respectfully and then looked towards the house.

There are two spirit tablets in front of the hall, they are the spirit tablets of Li Yue and Li Tian.

The two had been dead for several days and the Changde family had already collected the bodies.

There was the sound of a stone mill next to the main room, and a faint female voice could be heard.

After Li Daoxuan and Old Man Changde exchanged greetings, he found a chair and sat down, looking at him: "Grandpa Changde, I heard that you wanted to see me, I wonder what it is for?"

The old man from Changde smoked opium and then exhaled a long puff of smoke.

His eyes wandered away, and then he said, "Well, this matter is also related to my two sons." "Please tell me in detail, Grandpa Changde." Li Daoxuan said with a smile.

"I have been having dreams these past few days, in which Yue'er and Tian'er called me. They said that they died unjustly and unwillingly, and wanted me to find someone to help them to be reborn. After much thought, I think you, Daoxuan, are the only one in the village who has this ability." Old man Changde said quietly.

Li Daoxuan nodded when he heard this, then looked at old man Changde and asked, "Grandpa Changde, what did the two brothers say in their dreams?"

"What did they say?" The old man Changde lowered his body, choked up and wiped away his tears with his hands, and continued, "They said, 'Dad, I'm cold.' They also said it was dark there and asked me to save them. My sons, Dad wants to save you too, but how can I do it?"

The old man from Changde's voice became lower and lower, his sadness evident in his words.

He took another puff of his opium and said no more.

Li Daoxuan felt a little upset when he heard these words. After all, Changde's family had lost two sons in a row. If the old man Changde had not been stronger, the family would have collapsed completely.

During this period, if a family had two sons, it was truly a symbol of the backbone of the family. It meant that the Changde family would have status in the village, that there was labor, and that the Changde family's conditions would improve. The whole village would pay more attention to families with more sons.

Men are the symbol of the backbone of a family and the foundation for a family to gain a firm foothold in society.

If anything serious happens in the family, the sons are the guarantee.

Now two of Changde's three sons have died, leaving only the eldest son to support the family independently. Changde is now old, and losing a son in old age is truly a pain in the world.

Thinking about what the old man Changde said, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but feel that there seemed to be some information hidden in it.

When people dream, it is either because of what they thought about during the day or because of some feeling they have.

It is impossible that the two brothers of the Chang De family would appear in their dreams to old man Chang for no reason and ask him to save them.

Thinking about it, Li Daoxuan asked the old man Changde: "Did the two brothers do anything before the accident?"

"That day, that day they were..." Old Man Chang recalled what happened that day and told it to Li Daoxuan.

That day, the two brothers of Changde family were working at home as usual. Later, Li Yue went out for a while, and when he came back, he looked a little unwell. The old man of Changde asked him about him with concern.

"Yue'er was soaked in rain that day and looked panic-stricken. He came back home and said some strange things, about water and ghosts. We thought Yue'er was frightened, so we let him rest. Who knew that those things would happen after that night." Old Man Chang became more and more sad as he spoke, his voice became weaker, and finally he said nothing again, just tapping on the big opium pot.

Hearing Li Yue's expression after he left, Li Daoxuan inexplicably thought of the monster in the grave forest, and an idea came to his mind. He didn't care about the old man Changde's mood at the moment, and continued to ask: "Where did Brother Yue say he went?"

"Where did he go? It seems he went to the east end of the village."

"Outside the east end?" Li Daoxuan opened his eyes wide, because outside the east end of the village was the cemetery where the monster was.

It seems that Li Yue may have seen that monster.

But the monster seemed extremely aggressive. If it weren't for his own skills, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to survive the attack of the monster.

Li Daoxuan pondered secretly, he had fought with this monster before, so he naturally knew how powerful it was.

However, if Li Yue did not die after seeing the monster, could there be some other reason?
"Daoxuan, is there anything wrong?" Old man Changde asked when he saw that Li Daoxuan was frowning after hearing his reply, as if he was thinking about something.

"No, I just thought of something." Li Daoxuan said, "Grandpa Changde, who made the clay figurine outside your yard?"

"Those are what the village chief is going to make."

"Old village chief?!" Li Daoxuan was stunned.

(End of this chapter)