Ancient Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 60 Peach Branch Past Events

"Please have a seat, young friends."

Magistrate Xu pointed to the two seats opposite Han Cheng and said.

Those two seats were the very ones Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong had sat in the day before. Without any hesitation, the two went and sat down as instructed.

There was some tea and dried biscuits on the small table next to the chairs. Magistrate Xu said, "I invited you two young friends over so early, and I was afraid you hadn't eaten yet, so I prepared some simple things."

This tea was sourced from the county seat of Yanhe County. It has a unique flavor when brewed with dried tea cakes.

I've never eaten this before; I only tried it by chance after coming to Lijiaji. You two might want to give it a try.

Lin Xiu nodded and said, "Thank you, Magistrate Xu."

Tea-soaked rice, he knew about that. Those places in that remote overseas region, with limited resources, had come up with this kind of thing. He'd never been interested in it before, but now he might as well give it a try.

So I soaked the dried cake in tea and put it in my mouth. The cake became soft and melted in my mouth, and it also absorbed a little tea flavor. A strange fragrance then rushed to my taste buds.

That's kind of interesting.

"What Magistrate Xu said was indeed true; these dried biscuits are truly excellent!"

Lin Xiu said in admiration.

Yao Rongrong's eyes lit up, and the two of them ate the dry biscuits with tea and ate heartily.

Magistrate Xu stroked his beard silently, without saying a word.

Han Cheng, sitting opposite Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong, also received a cup of tea and a plate of dry biscuits. He seemed absent-minded, silently eating the biscuits with his tea while looking down.

When they were almost finished eating, Magistrate Xu finally sighed and said, "This morning Han Cheng came over and said you had met Tao Zhi. Young friend Lin, could you tell me the details?"

Lin Xiu dared not refuse. He put down his teacup and repeated what he had said to Han Cheng before, adding some details that were both true and false, making it difficult for people to tell the difference.

For example, the clothes and appearance of the little girl named Taozhi, and the book "The Tale of Grandma Feng".

Lin Xiu considered that since the people here knew the little girl, they might know what was hidden in the wooden box, or they might want to move the little girl's grave back. If they dug up the body, they would inevitably see the comic book.

Therefore, making up for it in advance can save you trouble later.

"The little girl was on her last breath, but she kept begging us to draw a book for her. We couldn't bear to listen to her, so we searched for a while and finally found a book called 'The Tale of Grandma Wind' near the two pools of blood."

We gave the little girl a copy of "The Tale of the Wind Goddess," and she hugged the book, calling out "Brother" over and over until she breathed her last.

After she passed away, we buried her there. We couldn't bear to leave such a small girl's body exposed in the wilderness, to be hunted by wolves and tigers.

Lin Xiu stopped speaking at this point.

Sitting opposite him, Han Cheng lowered his head slightly, his expression sorrowful, and his eyes were even red.

After listening, Magistrate Xu remained silent for a long time. Finally, he let out a long sigh, his beard twitching, and said, "Alas... what a tragedy!"

Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong remained silent, staring at Magistrate Xu as he continued speaking.

Magistrate Xu said, "My two young friends don't know, but that little girl's nickname is Taozhi. She doesn't have a formal name. Actually, she escaped from Yancheng County with us."

Her elder brother's surname was Song and his given name was Zaixu. He was not from Mengzhou County, but from a sect on the mountain. However, he did not say which sect or faction it belonged to, and we really did not know either.

When the disaster struck, he happened to be in Yancheng County and rescued me.

Later, when we arrived at Lijiaji, he and his sister also stayed here and helped us build Lijiaji.

The method for arranging the living dead was still just a figment of his imagination.

On our way here, we discovered a strange flower. The undead people near the flower were different from ordinary undead. They could spot us from afar and were much more agile, able to pounce on us in an instant.

After eliminating the living dead and rescuing us, he picked the strange flower to study. He squeezed the flower into juice, and after several experiments, he discovered that if he mixed some minced meat into the juice, it could lure the living dead to rise.

He used this to lure the living dead everywhere, setting them up outside farmland and at village entrances.

Lin Xiu was puzzled and frowned, asking, "So, Song Zaixu was quite interested in Lijiaji, then why did he leave?"

"well……"

Magistrate Xu sighed again and said, "This matter is also my fault; I didn't discover the problem sooner—"

After discovering the effects of the strange flower, Xu became increasingly obsessed with the study of the strange flower and the living dead. Gradually, he caused the people of Lijiaji Village to fear and reject him, and Taozhi was also isolated.

Feeling resentful, he secretly left the village one night, carrying peach branches with him.

The next day I discovered this and rushed out of the village to look for them. I sent people to search for them many times afterward, but we were ultimately unable to find the brother and sister...

Lin Xiu asked, "Magistrate Xu, didn't you search for that temple on the mountain?"

Magistrate Xu said, "Of course we searched for it. But there is a living dead on that mountain, which is extremely terrifying and far more than ordinary living dead. When we first went up the mountain, we were all killed by that living dead. So we thought, how could the Xu siblings dare to stay there if there is such a terrifying living dead?"

The living dead are not human after all; even if they can be lured by the juice of strange flowers, they are not something a human can control. Being near such a living dead is far too dangerous.

Sigh... I originally thought that a young girl like Taozhi wouldn't be in danger.

If I hadn't heard about Peach Blossom this morning, I wouldn't have thought that Xu's obsession with the strange flower might lead to deeper research. Could that extraordinary living dead be something Xu created using the strange flower?

And will he die because of this?

Lin Xiu remained silent for a moment.

Magistrate Xu was probably not lying, and this guess seems to be close to the truth, but there is one question that cannot be answered.

"Magistrate Xu, when we went up the mountain, there were two pools of blood beside Taozhi. We don't know whose they are?"

he asks.

Magistrate Xu sighed and said, "I also have doubts about this matter and can't figure it out. One possibility is that it's a ruse, while the other is either an enemy or a friend, which is also difficult to determine."

Lin Xiu pondered for a moment, but the hidden secrets within were still difficult to fully comprehend.

"Snapped!"

Han Cheng suddenly slammed his hand on the table, stood up angrily, and rebuked Magistrate Xu, "Magistrate Xu, please forgive my impudence. The people in this village are all incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. Now that Brother Song and Taozhi are dead, how can they escape responsibility?"

Leaving aside them, we ourselves are also to blame!

These villagers have probably completely forgotten about Brother Song and Taozhi by now, haven't they? Why should we bother with such a village that can't distinguish right from wrong? We should have abandoned them back then when they drove Brother Song and Taozhi away!

Magistrate Xu closed his eyes, shook his head, and said in a deep voice, "How can the goodness or evil of people's hearts be judged in such a general way? We scholars study the classics, pass the imperial examinations, and become officials in the court, all for the purpose of governing the world, helping the people, and educating people's hearts."

Isn't that why you tell stories to the villagers?

Han Cheng said, "What I did was just a trivial pursuit out of sheer boredom, what does it amount to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Magistrate Xu interrupted him: "Why say such things? Regardless of the main roads or minor paths, Lijiaji has finally become what it is today. How can you and I... bear to give it up?"