The appearance of Flying Wing Green Bat is not much different from a real bat. Outsiders will definitely not notice a bat parked on the eaves.
Taking advantage of the characteristics of "Green Bat Thought Technique" that can converge and radiate vibrations, even from a considerable distance, He Ping can hear all the movements inside and outside the main hall.
"Uncle Hou, it's too dirty here."
The front door of the Great Hero Hall opened with a creak, and a crisp and delicate female voice was heard.
"Miss, just make do with it. There are no people around here seven or eight miles away. It would be nice if we could find a place to stay in the barren mountains. We are already late and can't get back to Wubao... and the snow is getting heavier and heavier. If the carriage is halfway through and is blocked by the snow, something will happen!"
"Okay, okay!"
The female voice sounded a bit like an old man's, so she quickly asked the old man named "Uncle Hou" to stop. The old man had no choice but to smile bitterly and give instructions to the others.
"Everyone, please do a brief patrol, be careful not to go too far, and bring some firewood with you when you come back."
He gave a few instructions, and not long afterward, He Ping noticed a few armed guards walking out from the main entrance of the hall, wearing fur felts on their heads, with a handful of red tassels scattered on their heads, wearing high-strength arrow jackets, and carrying waist knives.
"There are a lot of people, and they also brought longbows and quivers, so they are quite well prepared."
He Ping judged from the bottom of his heart, thinking that even if this group of people were not Jianghu people, they were still very powerful and wealthy families in the local area.
"They also mentioned the 'Wubao' just now. There are many foreign ethnic groups in Western Wasteland Province, and various ethnic groups live together in large and small groups, including the three branches of Xiqiang and some minority people. They often conflict with Great You people.
For this reason, many local people are accustomed to building forts according to dangers, gathering people to build docks, and forming strongholds and armed forces in order to protect themselves."
He had heard that most of the large Wubao were the sphere of influence of local powerful people, with more than a few thousand people. They cultivated during the farming season and conducted drills during the farm breaks. The Wubao was self-sufficient inside and could defend itself when encountering bandits or foreign invaders. It was extremely strong;
There are more than a hundred people in the small Wubao, most of whom are centered on the clan and township parties. Their strength is much inferior, but it is not something that a small group of bandits can capture. It is also a characteristic of Western Wasteland Province.
"Hey, look here?!"
Inside the Great Hero Hall, someone seemed to have discovered something and let out an exclamation.
"Cage? Why is there an iron cage in here?"
"What did you say?"
"What cage..."
His words also attracted the attention of others, who gathered around and discovered a large iron cage covered with black cloth in the corner of the main hall. After opening it, they found several sleeping children lying inside.
"Wait, could this be..."
"What could it be?"
"That's right, Miss, there is a saying in our hometown that some villages encounter powerful monsters and ghosts. In order to prevent the ghosts and monsters from worshiping them, they will take the initiative to offer boys and girls as sacrifices."
"This is true!"
The woman seemed unbelievable.
"Since the founding of this dynasty, human sacrifice or burial has been strictly prohibited. How is it possible that after so many years, people are still doing it?"
"Miss."
The slightly old voice naturally came from the old man who looked like a butler.
"You can't expect the foolish men and women in the countryside to know the laws of the imperial court. Most of them can't even read a few big characters."
"I understand, Uncle Hou."
The lady sighed.
"Then what should we do with these children? Should we let them out, or should we just leave them here?"
"Miss, we are here on business. We don't know the situation of the locals. We are just passing through, so there is no need to get involved."
Uncle Hou shook his head.
"That's right. If we can't handle our own affairs, how can we have time to care about other people's affairs."
The eldest lady nodded.
"But, miss."
The leader of the guard asked in a hoarse voice, "If there are really any monsters here that are causing trouble, wouldn't it be bad for us to stay here... We people still have skills in our hands, and we have nothing to fear against the strong beams of the calamity. However, if it is monsters and the like, it is not something we can deal with with our small hands."
"Dongyu Province hasn't heard of a monster infestation in more than 40 years. Although there are many mountains around here, we haven't heard of Demon Beast taking over. Whether this statement is true or not is a question."
Uncle Hou frowned.
"It's snowing so fast that even if we drive together at night, we won't be able to get back. If we break down on the way, there will be no village in front and no ground behind. The wind is strong and the snow is strong. Even if the people can hold it, the animals pulling the cart can't... The only solution now is to find out the situation first. There are several children in the iron cage. Wake them up, ask about the situation, and then make a plan."
All the children in the iron cage fell into a deep sleep. After the old man's words, several guards also tried to wake up the children in the cage.
"No need to try, they have all been drugged and they can't wake up now."
In the iron cage, a child got up. It turned out that the boy had been pretending to sleep the whole time. At this time, he opened his eyes and his voice was cold and crisp.
"I can answer whatever you want to ask... but you must let me out."
"You little brat!"
The leader of the guard was a little angry and was about to get angry when he was stopped by the old man on the side.
"That's fine, but I can only let you alone."
Uncle Hou waved his hand, and a guard came over and cut off the chain with a knife. When the chain was broken, the child also pushed the door open and walked out.
"Now, can you say it?"
The child nodded slowly and explained the cause and effect.
"These people and I all live in Chen Family Village, seven or eight miles away from here. About six months ago, people in the village always had the same dream. In that dream, there was a Bull-Headed Wisdom King that was glowing with golden light. He asked us to make offerings, saying he wanted five boys and three virgins, and ordered the villagers to send people to this vacant Golden Bull Head Temple."
"Bull-Headed Wisdom King?"
The eldest lady was very unfamiliar with this name, but Uncle Hou was very familiar with it and said, "It is a Buddhist deity in the past, also known as the 'Great Mighty King of Deming'. He has red hair, an ox face, two horns, and a skull on his head. He is the protector of Buddhism. He is good at subduing foreign enemies and protecting devout believers.
Although this Bull-headed King looks weird, he has great supernatural powers and a compassionate heart. Both the people of Youguo and the local aliens in the Western Wilderness Road believe in this deity. After the destruction of Buddhism in the Western Wasteland, there are still many Buddhists who worship privately. This Golden Bull-head Temple is said to be the place where King Bull-headed shows his sanctity, so it is also named the temple 'Golden Bull Head'."
"It doesn't sound like this Bull-Headed Wisdom King is an evil god?"
After listening, the eldest lady nodded.
"I don't know if it's evil or not, but half a year ago, after the villagers had a dream, they didn't take it seriously. As a result, within a few days, the hunters who went into the mountains to hunt were eaten by something. Later, a lot of livestock in the village also died. There was also a big buffalo that was half eaten. Someone threw it from the air and smashed a house. The whole family was killed."
The boy sneered.
"After that, the villagers had no choice but to send boys and girls over, and the matter stopped for a while. Who knows, recently, Bull-Headed Wisdom King asked in a dream to send another batch of boys and girls. If this thing cannot be done, then the whole village Chen Family Village will die!"
After hearing this, everyone looked at each other and felt a little cold in their hearts. Uncle Hou coughed quickly and said, "By the way, if this kind of thing really happened, why don't you report it to the official."
"The county seat is more than twenty miles away from our village. It is quite troublesome to go there. Besides, the county government is not accessible to poor people. In the past few years, Qiangrong people caused a lot of trouble, and the county government did not take care of it."
The boy shook his head.
"Chen Family Village is a small place after all. Who cares about us? The village chief and the others secretly found a few witches from neighboring villages, but they were of no use."
Uncle Hou couldn't help but sigh after hearing this. He was about to continue saying something, but he found a slight vibration in the hall, and dust fell from the top of the beam.
He looked around and found that everyone around him was also a little surprised. Suddenly, a guard at the scene said, "Everyone, did you hear the noise outside?"
"Voice?"
Only then did everyone listen carefully, only to hear the sound of heavy bass sound one after another outside the windy and snowy hall. It was the sound of heavy footsteps... "Bang", "Bang", "Bang", step after step, from far to near, reaching their ears.