In the late autumn morning, the mist is thick, and the gentle breeze blows the cheeks of passers-by with a hint of coolness.
The high-pitched rooster's crow pierced the foggy sky, waking up the village to the quiet morning, and the smoke from the cooking pots curled up and disappeared into the mist.
In every household, women were busy cooking rice and porridge to prepare breakfast for the family. Children hurriedly stuffed a few mouthfuls of food and trotted towards the private school with their school books in hand.
A familiar figure appeared in his eyes. He was wearing a gray and blue kudzu robe, with a jade face and snow-skinned skin. His eyebrows were like a mountain lying in the distance, and his eyes were like water waves. He was tall and slender, with a delicate female appearance, but his demeanor was as handsome as a man's.
.
Huo Miaomiao's eyes lit up, she waved her arms high and shouted: "Sister Zhang Zheng, hurry up! You are going to be late too!"
The childish voice called Zhang Zheng out of her daze. She turned her head to look at Huo Miaomiao, who kept waving at her, raised the corners of her lips, and replied: "I won't be going to school today."
She glanced sideways at the children who had already run away, "If you don't catch up faster, you will really get scolded by your husband."
"ah?"
Huo Miaomiao exclaimed with envy and confusion. Then she saw her friend who had left her behind and ran away on her own. Her heart beat faster. She didn't even bother to say goodbye to Zhang Zheng and hurriedly chased after her.
The figures of the children slowly moved away, the curve of Zhang Zheng's mouth gradually became gentle, and his gentle and watery eyes were gradually covered by the cold morning.
In the morning, as her husband packed up the books and ink for school, he suddenly stopped her and told her that he wanted to give her a day off.
Zhang Zheng thought about what Mr. Ji said at that time, which was inexplicable and unpredictable.
"I dreamed of a white bird last night. The white bird cried to me. It said that it had become a caged bird in the prince's palace. It was not what it wanted. It would rather die in flight with no resting place."
"What the white bird longs for is freedom on the mountains and the sea. The prince who gave it a golden cage is too conceited."
Zhang Zheng was holding a bowl of porridge, gulping down the warm porridge in several gulps. Hearing this, he nodded in agreement without knowing why.
The husband smiled brightly and said, "Okay, don't worry. I will give you a day off today to pray for blessings at the ancestral land. You can go and see it with the village chief."
"Ah?" Zhang Zheng's hand that was about to pick up the scroll paused in the air and suddenly looked at her husband, "Should I go to the ancestral land to pray for blessings?"
"What are you thinking about?" The husband laughed and teased her softly, "Of course it is the village chief who prays for blessings. Didn't you regret that you couldn't see the underground river two days ago? Just go with the village chief to see it today."
Zhang Zheng was stunned for a moment and did not answer. She thought that the ancestral land was a very important forbidden area in the village. Why did her husband agree to let her in so easily?
The husband didn't pay attention to her strange behavior. He walked to the door and turned around to urge: "Village Chief Chen Shi has just left. If you want to see with your own eyes the miraculous craftsmanship that created the underground river, go quickly and don't delay."
No matter what her husband's intentions were, it was not a bad thing for her. She couldn't feel comfortable going forward openly and openly if she forced herself into it.
Zhang Zheng smiled and said: "Okay, thank you sir, I'll go right away."
It was a quarter of an hour before Chen time. Zhang Zheng came back from his memories and hurried to the village chief's residence.
"Hey, isn't this a strange village girl? Where are you going in a hurry?"
Zhang Zheng stopped and looked directly at the pair of triangular eyes of the male cultivator in front of him. The ordinary face had compact features and too much white space. The pair of triangular eyes were small and sinister.
Appearance comes from the heart, which is exactly what is used to describe him. He is narrow-minded and self-righteous, and his facial features are also narrow.
How dare an ordinary village girl look directly at him like that!
Hu Ke glared fiercely and cursed: "What are you looking at? Who do you think you are! Am I something you can look at? You are a despicable slut."
Being scolded like this, Zhang Zheng couldn't get angry at all. After staying in this peaceful and peaceful village for a long time and getting along with Mr. Wen Liang every day, his temper gradually became gentler.
Zhang Zheng didn't argue and looked away from him.
Hu Ke only thought that she was afraid, so he looked quite arrogant and ordered arrogantly: "Take me to the ancestral hall in your village."
"You can't go to the ancestral hall."
"What did you say? I can't go anywhere! Your village chief said that he would fulfill his duty as a landlord, but what's the matter, you can't even go to a broken ancestral hall?"
Seeing the messy and stubborn look on his face, Zhang Zheng already guessed that Yi Lanshan must have revealed the affairs of the ancestral hall to them, but they must also be suspicious, so they sent someone to deliberately test him.
Zhang Zheng patiently refused, but her gentle eyes were filled with coldness, "Sorry, the ancestral hall is really inconvenient for outsiders to enter and exit."
After saying that, Zhang Zheng didn't bother to pay attention to him anymore and left the place quickly, leaving only Hu Ke behind him cursing.
"Who cares about ruining the ancestral hall and begs me to go but is not willing to go?"
Zhang Zheng didn't hear what was said next. She hurried to the village chief's residence and happened to see him coming out of the house.
The village chief greeted cheerfully: "Hey, Zhang Yatou is here! Let's go, sir, I told you, I will take you to the ancestral land today to see the underground river."
Zhang Zheng followed the village chief, and as he turned half a circle around his residence, he came across a low black brick house with white cloth hung on both sides of the door, hanging in the air.
The ancestral hall was built diagonally behind the village chief's residence. Zhang Zheng rarely saw people passing by here. At first, he thought it was the village chief's low house where he piled debris. Later, he found out that it was the village ancestral hall.
As the wooden door was pushed open, the first daylight entered the dark and lightless ancestral hall, giving a clear view of the interior.
There is a large mahogany table placed at the innermost side. There is only one tablet for the god on it. The red silk cloth covers the front of the god. There is only the main niche and no shadow of the supporting niche.
In addition to the main niche, a normal ancestral hall should also have side niches on the left and right sides to worship ancestors other than the first ancestor.
How could a village that valued etiquette ignore such important common sense of etiquette? Zhang Zheng's doubts deepened.
But this was not the time to explore these things. Zhang Zheng turned his attention to the village chief and carefully engraved all his actions in his mind.
In the meantime, the village chief clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, bowed three times to the tablet of the god, and fumbled around the main niche for a few times respectfully.
"rumble……"
Under the large mahogany table, there was a secret passage that could accommodate two adult men passing through at the same time.
The stone staircase leads all the way down, with a steep slope, extending to the dark and dim underground. It makes people feel panicked just looking at it, as if one step is missing and they will fall into an abyss with no bottom.
The village chief turned around and waved to her: "Girl Zhang, come quickly and worship the Lord."
Zhang Zheng withdrew her eyes from looking at the secret passage, took two steps forward respectfully, imitated the village chief's movements, clasped her hands together, and bowed three times, but she was extremely focused on paying attention to the village chief's movements.
Until she opened her eyes, the village chief did not make any move. He only nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Let's go. With the blessing of the Lord God, we can reach our ancestral land safely."
After saying that, the village chief squatted down and ducked under the table, then stepped onto the spiraling stone steps in the secret passage.
"Zhang Yatou, be careful, Haosheng will follow me."
The village chief's head had disappeared into the dark passage. Zhang Zheng also squatted down, tentatively and carefully stretched out one foot, and stepped firmly on the ground. Zhang Zheng then stepped on the other foot.
The figure of the village chief was just two or three steps below her, smiling and talking to Zhang Zheng as he walked down.
"What's the matter, is Zhang Yatou afraid? When I followed the previous village chief to pray for blessings, the first time I stepped on this ladder, my feet became weak and I almost rolled down with the village chief."
Chapter completed!