The owner of the antique shop told Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang how he got the ring.

The incident happened less than half a year ago. The shopkeeper and a few friends were playing money in a gambling house. Among them was a fur merchant known as "Boss Qian". After losing a few games, he owed the gambling house ten taels of silver.

Boss Qian took the ring to pay off his debt, but the gambling house said it only accepted cash, so he turned around and asked the gamblers at the same table, who was willing to pay ten taels of silver for this ring?

The owner of the antique shop is an expert, and he said that this ring is not made of thunderstone, but of rainstone. It is not worth ten taels of silver. If you take it back and put it in the shop, no one will buy it even if you put it in the shop for a tael of silver.

But Boss Qian shook his head and said that the owner of the antique shop didn't know what he was selling. "Although this rugged stone is worthless, this ring is neither an antique nor an ornament, but a dark artifact."

"Underworld artifact?" Bai Yutang was a little puzzled, "Could it be a funerary object?"

The shopkeeper waved his hand - it's not that simple.

"Have you ever heard of the term 'Ye Ming Village'?" the shopkeeper asked.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, obviously neither of them had heard of it. Lu Tianhan also touched his chin, and Yao Changtian asked, "You mean Yeming Village?"

The little fourth son was sitting on Yao Changtian's lap peeling peanuts to eat. When he heard the old man talking, he raised his face and looked - "Yeming Village" or "Yeming Village"? Does Yaoyao have an accent?

Yao Changtian lowered his head and looked at the round face. He felt a little strange.

"Hoo ho." The shopkeeper was surprised when he heard this, and asked Yao Changtian with a smile, "Is it possible that some of your ancestors served as soldiers in the Southwest?"

Yao Changtian raised an eyebrow slightly and was too lazy to speak. The others nodded for him - no need for ancestors, this is the Southwestern Soldier King.

The fourth child stretched out his short hand and shook it. Yao Changtian saw Tuanzi holding a peanut and poking it on his chin. He sighed that Tuanzi's hands were really short, and lowered his head to eat the peanut.

"What kind of village is it? Where is it?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously.

The shopkeeper said, "Yeming Village is a taboo term for Yeming Village! It was back when the White Ghost King led his troops in the Northern Expedition. The entire desert was in ruins!"

Everyone silently glanced at Yao Changtian again, and saw that the White Ghost King was eating the peanuts that the fourth son brought to his mouth.

"At that time in the Western Region, there were swords and wars everywhere, and too many people died in the war. Moreover, in addition to regular soldiers and horses, there were also many bandits and bandits, causing trouble for one side." The shopkeeper told everyone in detail like a storyteller, "

Rogue bandits in groups of dozens of people were the biggest threat. They basically relied on robbing supplies, and their targets were villages. At that time, most villages in the northwest had their own defenses, and at night, every household did not light up lights.

Afraid of being discovered!"

Everyone nodded - that's it...

"Is Yeming Village a village that lights up lights at night?" Zhan Zhao analyzed it literally, "The purpose is to lure those soldiers and horses to rob?"

The shopkeeper smiled and showed off his cleverness, "Isn't it! There was a legend about Yeming Village in the Western Regions back then. In the desolate desert, there would be a village about the size of a white house. Every night it was brightly lit.

There will even be sounds of singing and dancing. Once bandits are attracted and attack a village like this, they will never return without exception."

"So is it a trick where the big fish eats the small fish?" Bai Yutang asked, "A larger-scale trap set up by bandits?"

Everyone nodded—it’s good to be black and eat black!

But the shopkeeper smiled and waved his hand, "Oh, this young master thinks too simply! Those bandits who are poor themselves are going to rob the villagers of rice, flour and food. The big bandits leave the merchants alone and lure these poor people to go with them.

Why are you going there? Why don’t you kill them and eat them?”

Bai Yutang felt a little disgusted after hearing this.

Everyone else also looked at Yao Changtian - was what the shopkeeper said reliable? What kind of village was that?

Yao Changtian stretched out his hand to cover the ears of the fourth child and said casually, "To put it simply, Yeming Village is a ghost village. There are different opinions. Anyway, it is not a place where people in the upper world live. It belongs to the underworld."

Everyone looked at the White Ghost King in surprise. It was not that the "ghost village" was scary, but that Yao Changtian actually covered the ears of the fourth son!

"Even if you cheat people to eat, you still have to leave bones and clothes, right?" The shopkeeper continued, "In this kind of village, no matter how many people enter, they disappear overnight. When you look at it the next day, it's just a village.

It’s just a deserted village. This kind of village is Yeming Village, or to be nicer, it’s called Yeming Village. A village occupied by lonely souls and evil spirits, luring those who committed the crime of killing to go there, accept the punishment of the evil ghosts, and enter the underworld and purgatory together..."

Everyone went to see Yao Changtian again.

The White Ghost King yawned and nodded - almost.

"Then this ring is called a ghost weapon by Boss Qian. Does it have something to do with Yeming Village?" Zhao Zhen listened with interest. Sure enough, he had to leave the palace to see the world!

The shopkeeper talked a lot, and finally told the origin of the ring, "Things like Yeming Village have not appeared since the end of the war, but the boss Qian said that he had seen Yeming Village in the peaceful era.

, and even went in there!”

Everyone's interest was aroused and they urged the shopkeeper to continue.

"Boss Qian said that he was a dart boy when he was a child. Once, his dart team of more than 40 people escorted a batch of goods from Tubo back to the Central Plains. At night, they set up a tent in the wilderness near Baiya Mountain to rest. Suddenly, they heard a distant sound.

As they were singing, they all stood up and watched, and saw a brightly lit village appearing in the dark wilderness. It was already dark when they pitched their tents, and they didn't notice the village at first, until the lights suddenly turned on in the middle of the night.

No matter how you look at it, it's suspicious, right? But the people in their escort team are obsessed with it, and they must take everyone to the village to seek accommodation." The shopkeeper said, pointing to his ear, "Boss Qian said that

There may be something wrong with his singing voice. At that time, he happened to be suffering from an ear disease and had tinnitus. Whatever he listened to was accompanied by a sound like the chirping of cicadas, so he was the only one in the entire escort team who remained awake."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned - listening to this description, could it be that someone in the so-called Yeming Village used music to lure and control passing caravans?

"What happened next?" Zhao Zhen asked the shopkeeper, "Did Boss Qian go to that village with the escort team?"

The shopkeeper nodded, "He said he went with the team. When he arrived at the village, he found that it was a deserted village. There was only an oil lamp placed on the window sill of each broken house, and there was a man wearing a one-eyed mask.

The white-haired man was holding an oil pot in his hand and was filling the oil lamp with oil as he walked."

Everyone was attracted by the idea of ​​a "one-eyed mask" - what a coincidence? It has one eye and white hair, and is still near Baiya Mountain. It sounds like it has something to do with the mountain demon!

"Boss Qian said that the members of his escort team walked into the village as if they were possessed by evil spirits. They lined up and walked up to the masked man. He secretly hid behind a low wall and watched the masked man.

The number of people was counted one by one. After counting, everyone was asked to get the oil lamps. The people in the escort office obeyed his instructions and went to get the oil lamps one after another and held them in their hands. The masked man blew out the remaining oil lamps and put them away.

into a wooden barrel, and then he held a torch and led the way... The group of people followed him out of the village and walked into the distance. Boss Qian said that when he saw the people walking away, he wanted to follow them. As soon as he ran to the entrance of the village, he stepped on

He came across something, picked it up and saw that it was this ring. He said that when he saw the masked man refilling the lamp oil, he noticed that the man was wearing such a ring on his finger. But when he picked up the ring, he saw it again.

Look... there is no one in the distance anymore. Those people were holding oil lamps, and the masked man was still holding a torch. Even if he walked far away, he should still be able to see the light. But just for a moment, he lowered his head to pick up the ring and then raised his head.

, the surroundings were already dark... After that, Boss Qian returned to the camp and waited all night. None of the people from the escort agency came back. He was the only one in the entire escort team who came back alive. Boss Qian also asked around after that.

Regarding Yeming Village, some old people said that Yeming Village may be the place of Hades, and the person holding the torch is the messenger of the underworld, who is here to collect people... This ring is an accessory worn by the messenger of the underworld.

This underworld artifact is not an object from this world at all!"

After hearing this story, everyone didn't know what to say for a while. The first thing they had to doubt was the authenticity of this story.

"If it is really a thing from the underworld as he said, wouldn't it be a unique treasure? Just use it to pay off the debt? And it's only worth ten taels of silver?" Bai Yutang felt that the replacement ring was not worth it.

The shopkeeper was amused and said with a smile, "He told this story to a group of us at the gambling table. We all thought he had made it up to deceive people, and no one was willing to spend ten taels of silver to buy it. I guess I can't

I liked this very much, so I bought him a story for ten taels, so I bought the ring."

"Then he didn't say anything else when he sold you the ring?" Zhan Zhao also felt that it was a pity that the ring had such a magical origin and was sold like this.

"Oh...he said that this ring may be worthless to those who don't need it, but to those who need it, it is a treasure worth a thousand dollars."

Everyone thinks this is nonsense, and it applies to everything... What is useful is a treasure, what is useless is a straw.

The shopkeeper said that was all there was to know about the origin of the ring.

Zhan Zhao takes a look at Bai Yutang - what do you think of Yutang?

The Fifth Master is also thinking about this matter - although the legend sounds a bit bizarre, it is not impossible! For example, using music to control pedestrians to achieve the purpose of kidnapping, disguised as some underworld village...

Zhan Zhao also nodded - and among them there was a person wearing a one-eyed mask, which made people very concerned.

The two of them thought at the same time that Li Rong and Yelu Qi had mentioned before that the soldiers and horses sent by the Liao Kingdom disappeared in Baiya Mountain. Everyone who entered Baiya Mountain never returned. Could they be like those who disappeared in Yeming Village?

, is it a principle?

Zhan Zhao asked the shopkeeper where he could find Boss Qian. He was a little curious about what their escort team was escorting and the details of the legend.

The shopkeeper shook his head, "Well, who knows? He said he was in the fur business and happened to be passing by. I haven't seen him since then."

Zhan Zhao sighed - the clues he finally had were gone again.

Bai Yutang asked the shopkeeper to describe the appearance of Boss Qian.

The shopkeeper recalled it for a while, Master Wu drew a rough portrait, and everyone left the antique market and returned to the commander's mansion.

Along the way, everyone was chatting about the affairs of Yeming Village, and were preparing to go back and let Dong Qianyi investigate this boss Qian.

…

As soon as everyone returned to the handsome manor, they heard the chaos inside.

"What's going on?" Zhan Zhao heard bang bang bang bang in the Demon King's yard, as if someone was smashing things. Just as he was about to walk in, he saw a white shadow rushing out.

Yao Changtian and Lu Tianhan reached out and grabbed two pieces of white clothes, and Bai Ying was pulled to a stop - it was the White Dragon King.

The White Dragon King grabbed the hem of his own clothes, jumped back and pointed at the courtyard door, "Fat Jiang Xiaoyou is the most annoying!"

The little fourth son raised his face and looked at the aggrieved White Dragon King - such a weak master.

Lu Tianhan and Yao Changtian both crossed their arms and looked at him - there's no point in killing you!

The White Dragon King went to complain to his apprentice with a flat mouth.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang shook their heads and walked into the courtyard. As soon as they entered the door, they heard a "whoop". They subconsciously turned their heads to avoid it, and out of the corner of their eyes, they caught a glimpse of a washbasin flying between them.

Then there was an "Oops" sound coming from behind.

Both of them turned around and saw that Nangong had been hit hard by a washbasin on his forehead. He covered his head in pain and squatted down.

Yao Changtian and Lu Tianhan both saw it clearly. Originally, Nangong could definitely avoid it, but Zhao Zhen was right behind him. Hearing the noise inside just now, Nangong instinctively protected the emperor behind him, but he didn't expect a washbasin.
To be continued...