Chapter 35 Returning Home (Part 2)
Lu Yang was leaning on the window looking at the scenery outside, his mouth shaped like an "o". Perhaps because he had hardly ever left Wushan, everything he saw was new to him.
The green train was not moving very fast, and Lu Ren and the others had to sit on the train for five hours. Since they had nothing to do, he chatted with Zong Nian.
Lu Ren had some understanding of Zong Nian's situation. They had had a brief conversation that night on Xuan Mountain. Although Lu Ren was trapped in the Rakshasa Ghost Market and failed to meet Zong Nian to take notes, he still asked Tu Shan Qi Luo about the follow-up situation afterwards.
It is said that because Yangguan has been the head god of the Zong family for many years, he does not have an ID card after the founding of the People's Republic of China and is considered an illegal household. And Zongnian is underage, and it is said that this kind of arranged marriage is simply a feudal custom, so it was ruled invalid. Yangguan was put on a demon-locking chain because he hurt people. It is said that it can lock most of Yangguan's demon power. Once he has the idea of hurting people, the demon-locking chain will directly electrocute him. Due to the rapid development of science in the past two years, the demon-locking chain even has a GPS positioning system.
In short, Yangguan can no longer cause any trouble.
On the train, Zong Nian chatted with Lu Ren with a smile. Zong Nian was not a very outgoing person, but in his heart, Lu Ren was his savior, so he was willing to tell Lu Ren everything.
Zong Nian told Lu Ren, “We went this time because there is a younger generation in the Qi family who is a good friend of my cousin. He recently sent a message to my cousin saying that he needs help.”
The cousin was referring to Zong Chen. Lu Ren subconsciously looked towards Zong Chen. Zong Chen had been a little worried since he met Lu Ren. His polite but defensive look was in stark contrast to the warm Zong Nian.
After all, he is just a child and is not very good at hiding his thoughts.
Unlike Zong Nian who knows nothing, Zong Chen has complicated feelings towards Lu Ren. On the one hand, Lu Ren did save them out of kindness; on the other hand, when he appeared last time, he brought the most evil creature Hanba with him, and it is not clear whether he is an enemy or a friend. It cannot be ruled out that Lu Ren saved them just on a whim while he was causing trouble for the world.
The evaluation given by the Zong family was: It is not advisable to make contact rashly. But Zong Chen had no idea that his luck was so bad recently that he could meet Lu Ren just by taking a train.
After hearing what Zong Nian said, Lu Ren couldn't help but be curious. He looked at Zong Chen and asked, "What can I help you with?"
Zong Chen was honest about this insignificant question. He shook his head and said, "I don't know." He then added, "But he said that he encountered some minor problems while investigating local customs and hoped that I could help. It's not a big deal."
Zong Nian naturally took over the conversation: "And then, to celebrate my survival, I had just finished my summer homework and wanted to go out and relax, so I pestered my cousin to take me along."
Lu Ren looked at Guan Eryue, who was sitting silently by the window, with doubt: "What about your classmates?"
He looked at Guan Eryue and smiled. "He is weak and always encounters dirty things . It just so happens that our family has been exorcists for generations. After he knew about it, he insisted on worshipping me as his master and learning some useful moves to protect himself. It just so happens that my cousin got this job and this opportunity, and the risk factor is not high, so I let him come to observe and learn."
Zong Nian smiled happily and seemed particularly satisfied with his new apprentice.
Lu Ren saw that Guan Eryue seemed to be looking at the car window, but in fact he was constantly looking at this side out of the corner of his eye. Although it was not obvious on his face, his red earlobes seemed to have completely betrayed him inadvertently.
Zong Nian changed the subject and began to care about Lu Ren again: "Brother Lu, where are you going?"
Lu Ren had nothing to hide: "My uncle is critically ill, I'm going to see him."
Zong Nian didn't expect that his unintentional question would actually touch upon someone's sorrow, so he quickly added, "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
Lu Ren's expression was very calm: "It doesn't matter. We haven't seen each other for more than ten years. We are not that close."
Zong Nian didn't want to stay on this topic for long, so he changed the subject and asked, "Which station are you going to?"
Lu Ren reported the name of a station, and Zong Nian said in surprise: "What a coincidence, our destination is the same place!"
Lu Ren was about to say what a coincidence, but he saw Zong Chen sit up straight after hearing what Zong Nian said. He asked Lu Ren anxiously: "Is your destination Fengxu Village?"
Seeing the uneasiness in Zong Chen's eyes, Lu Ren nodded obediently.
Zong Chen didn't say anything. He spent the rest of the time sitting in his seat thinking: The place where Qi Yu encountered trouble and the place where Lu Ren was going were the same place. Was it really just a coincidence?
Perhaps he noticed the sudden worry between Zong Chen's brows, Zong Nian, who had suddenly become active because of seeing an acquaintance, quickly became quiet.
Only then did he slowly realize that his cousin was not right today. Zong Chen was not a person who frowned easily in the past, but since he saw Lu Ren, Zong Chen's eyebrows seemed to have never been untied. Thinking of this, Zong Nian secretly glanced at Lu Ren. At this time, Lu Yang, who was tired of looking at the scenery, was pulling the corner of Lu Ren's clothes and said, "Ah Ren, I'm hungry." Lu Ren lowered his head and took out the sandwich he made last night from his backpack. He lowered his head and gently coaxed Lu Yang to eat.
The sun had already come out, and the sunlight was scattered on Lu Ren's face. There were some fine hairs on his face, and under the shining of the morning sun, it seemed as if his whole face was coated with a layer of gold. Such a person really made Zong Nian feel no hostility.
Zong Nian thought so and stared at Lu Ren for a long time unconsciously. He did not realize that when he was looking at Lu Ren, Guan Eryue, who was looking at the scenery, also looked in this direction unconsciously. Guan Eryue looked expressionless, but his tightly pursed lips seemed to reveal some unknown information.
Of course, Lu Ren didn't know what the three people around him were thinking. While feeding Lu Yang, he sighed in his heart, "I accidentally gave Qilin a name. I won't be held responsible for this in the future. And they are actually on the same side as me. Will there be any strange things happening in the village?"
However, Lu Ren had already booked a return ticket for the second day of the holiday and decided to stay for only two nights. Thinking of this, he comforted himself: "It's only two nights, it shouldn't be a big deal."
The train was due to arrive in half an hour, and since the final destination was the same, Zong Nian suggested that they go to Fengxu Village together. Lu Ren had no objection, and the strange thing was that even Zong Chen, who was somewhat resistant to Lu Ren's appearance, actually agreed to this proposal.
Lu Ren had no objection, so he sent a message to his cousin who said she would pick him up: [No need to pick me up, I just happened to meet three friends who were going to the village, I'll go with them.]
My cousin replied quickly: "It's okay. I'm taking care of my dad and can't leave. My friends will come to pick you up. Their car is big and you can all sit in it."
Lu Ren was puzzled for a moment: "Friends? But my cousin didn't grow up in the village, so how could she have friends in the village?" This confusion only flashed through Lu Ren's mind. After all, he hadn't seen her for many years. Maybe my cousin had become a social expert.
Lu Ren told the other three that his cousin's friend could take them back to the village. Zong Chen said that Qi Yu had also said that the road to Fengxu Village was not easy to walk, and it would be great to have someone to lead the way.
Seeing that no one had any objections, Lu Ren replied to his cousin: [OK.]
The train slowly pulled into the station. Lu Ren looked up and found that it was a cloudy day in the city. The bright sunlight he saw in the morning had been covered by thick clouds, and the gray sky made people feel a little depressed.
And when Lu Ren saw his cousin's so-called friends, the depression reached its peak.
Four or five people in black lined up at the exit, their faces pale and expressionless. They held a piece of white cardboard with Lu Ren's name written on it in red paint. Perhaps because the sign was erected before the paint dried, the red paint accumulated at the end of the strokes was dripping down, and from a distance it looked like a bloodstain.
These people include both men and women, young and old, with a fairly wide age range. Are they my cousin’s... friends?
Zong Chen and Zong Nian also saw the group of people in black clothes and frowned slightly.
Lu Ren felt that something was not right, but his uncle's family was still in the village, so he couldn't just walk away. So he quietly asked Lu Yang, who was holding his hand, "Are those people human?"
Lu Yang looked in the direction he pointed, looked at the group of people for a while, nodded and said, "It's humans."
After receiving Lu Yang's certification, Lu Ren finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although they looked a little abnormal, they were still human beings after all. So Lu Ren walked up to them bravely and greeted them: "Hello, I am Lu Lan's cousin Lu Ren. Did my cousin ask you to help pick me up? Thank you for your hard work."
After hearing Lu Ren's words, the expressions of these lifeless people suddenly changed. They turned from half-buried old men into enthusiastic receptionists in a bath center.
A woman in her 50s in the crowd grabbed Lu Ren's hand and said excitedly, "It's Ren, right? I held you in my arms when you were a child. Is this your child?"
Another child in the welcoming team, who was about eight years old and slightly taller than Lu Yang, also smiled and said to Lu Yang: "We can be good friends, the kind that will be together forever."
The luggage of Zong Chen, Zong Nian and Guan Eryue were also enthusiastically snatched away by the rest of the people, and the three of them were surrounded and walked towards the parking lot.
It was clearly their first meeting, but these people spoke to them very closely, and their smiles were very exaggerated, which made people feel uncomfortable. But other than that, the content of the conversation was very normal. After learning that Lu Ren didn't have a partner and Lu Yang was just a friend's child, the aunt even urged Lu Ren to get married.
Lu Ren convinced himself not to worry too much, after all, he would only stay for two nights.
As Lu Ren was talking, he found that several people were leading him to a minibus in the parking lot. The aunt pointed to a middle-aged man in his thirties in the welcoming team and said, "Hu Zi usually drives a minibus to do some business. Today he happened to be taking a break. When he heard your sister say you were here, he brought everyone to see you and buy some things in the city."
She casually threw the sign with Lu Ren's name on it into the trash can and said, "When I came here, no one knew you. I just happened to see a store over there being renovated, so I did this for fun. It doesn't look very good, so please don't mind."
Everything seemed to make sense. Lu Ren no longer had any doubts and got on a minibus to Fengxu Village with Zong Chen and others.
