What's wrong with being a salted fish?

Don't walk on mountain roads in the middle of the night. If you hear human voices, don’t look back.

The scholar was walking on a path in the mountains carrying a bamboo basket and a lantern. He had just returned from another province and wanted to cross the mountain to return to his hometown.

The scholar is one of the few scholars in the village. He teaches the children in the village how to read and write in the school. This is his source of income.

And he has been delayed a lot these days while going out, so he has to go back quickly.

In order to save time, and since there was no one to stay on the road, the scholar thought of crossing the mountain road in the dark so that he could go home as soon as possible.

Listening to the rustling sounds in the woods, the scholar tightened his hands and reassured himself that the sound was the wind.

I have walked this road many times and nothing happened, so don’t scare yourself.

The scholar boldly walked forward in a hurry. If he were not afraid of falling, he would have closed his eyes.

"..."

Suddenly, he was startled and stood there.

Someone seems to be calling me?

The scholar looked around for a few times, but there was no one in front of him or behind him.

strange?

He was very confused. He really heard someone calling him just now.

But standing alone on the mountain road with a lantern frightened him even more, so he could only continue walking forward in a hurry.

Unconsciously, the bright moon came over his head, and the moonlight spilled into the forest, illuminating his path and making the shadow behind him look slightly weird.

"..."

!!!

The scholar stopped and looked back again.

He really heard someone calling his name clearly.

"Is there... anyone?"

The scholar held the lantern tightly with both hands and his voice trembled. He comforted himself that he might be a neighbor in the countryside. Maybe he was also on his way back?

But his voice seemed to travel far away, and there was no response.

The scholar had goosebumps all over his body. For some reason, he suddenly remembered the rumors in the countryside.

"There are tigers in the mountains that can eat people!"

"Don't talk nonsense, the tiger is the incarnation of the mountain god!"

"Really, the guy next door... was eaten. It is said that he heard someone calling his name, and then he was swallowed by the tiger!"

"Is there any evidence?"

"Be eaten, be eaten!"

"Been eaten by a tiger, eaten by a tiger!"

The children surrounding them sang strange tunes.

strangeness? Who are they talking about being eaten?

The scholar ran forward non-stop with doubts and fear. He didn't dare to walk now, and he couldn't wait to leave the mountain in the next second.

The moon was still above his head, quietly lighting his way forward.

After an unknown amount of time, the scholar stopped panting and wiped the sweat from his head.

What's going on? Why haven't I gone out after walking for so long? It shouldn’t be! After walking for so long, I should be able to see the end of the road!

Just when he was confused, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey! Long time no see! Why are you here?"

The scholar was so frightened that he trembled all over, but the voice of the visitor was very familiar. He slowly turned around and saw a familiar face, from the countryside.

"Why are you here?" The scholar asked him, why is this person here in the middle of the night.

The man scratched his head: "I came to set a trap to catch rabbits, and I happened to see you. I was very surprised. I haven't seen you for a long time."

"Oh, I went out before." The scholar replied.

"Then you must have gone somewhere far away, right? I haven't seen you for three months, and the people in the village said you can't come back. How strange!"

The man felt very strange. The scholar was not doing well. Why did everyone say he would never come back?

The scholar looked suspicious: What is he talking about? Why can't I come back? And haven’t I only been out for seven days?

The scholar suddenly felt that something was wrong. His mind was empty and he began to think about it: No, when did I go out?

"The one from the house next door was eaten..."

Why did I think of this again?

"The scholar next door was eaten..."

......

"Akiro~Akiro~"

When the scholar was on his way in the middle of the night, he heard someone calling his name. When he looked back, he only saw a big mouth opening toward him.

It turns out that I was the one eaten by the tiger.

"By the way, what is that on your back? Why is it so..." big?

Before the man finished speaking, he saw the scholar in front of him turning stiffly. The moonlight shone on him, and his face was pale and his eyes were dull.

There was a clicking sound all over his body, and then a huge figure emerged from his back and opened its bloody mouth at him.

"Ahhh!--"

It startled the birds in the forest.

After a moment.

"Huh huh huh~" The scholar wiped the blood from his mouth, hummed a strange ditty and walked forward, leaving residue on the ground.

"I was eaten by a tiger~ You were eaten by a tiger~ Who is next~"

......

"Ahhhhhh!" 0617's mechanical scream broke Lin Zhuo's thoughts.

The two of them had just been listening attentively to the AI ​​voice telling folk rumors. After listening for a while, this story was the only one that fit Li Hongrui the best.

Because the pattern Lin Zhuo saw on his face was the character "王".

Folktales about tigers are relatively rare, and they finally found a story about a tiger eating a man.

"Su, host, why do you think the tiger eats people?" 0617's tone was still trembling, and he was obviously very frightened.

"For the sake of cultivation, you also said that the spiritual energy is declining. Doesn't he just want to eat people to get the essence from people to practice. However, cannibalism is an evil way and will be punished by God. He will not live long." Lin Zhuo closed his mouth. His eyes, his head lying on his paws, and his tail shaking.

At this time, three days had passed since Li Hongrui escaped.

Zhao Jingming has been busy these days. He has to deal with the problem of refugees and the subsequent effects of the disaster.

Zhao Jingming sent his men to take control of Yuezhou. Based on the list submitted by his subordinates, he began to raid the homes of unscrupulous grain dealers in various places. Not only did they find tens of thousands of grains, they also found grains in the granaries that Bi Xun had secretly sold. Now it is a certain fact that Bi Xun opened the granary privately.

Through the torture of grain merchants and Xiao Qin's on-the-spot investigation, Bi Xunsui sold more than half of the grain in the two granaries in Yuezhou. He not only sold it to local grain merchants, but also commissioned a caravan to sell it to the south. This time it was an added crime.

At the same time, thanks to Zhao Jingming's family raids, the people finally got to eat the distributed food and no longer had to go hungry.

With the help of the state, this disaster will soon pass, and in the spring, people can receive seeds and start farming again.

Bi Xun and his accomplices will soon be beheaded at the market in Liucheng, and Zhao Jingming will personally execute them.

Lin Zhuo opened his eyes and looked at the bare branches outside and sighed: I wonder if they can return to Beijing before the New Year.

Lin Zhuo expressed that he wanted to go back and celebrate the New Year with his family.

"Come on, come on, I'll definitely be able to go back soon." 0617 heard Lin Zhuo's thoughts and comforted him.

"Li Hongrui still hasn't solved it. This guy is very brave and dares to take the initiative to provoke. In the past few days, he has picked on Zhao Jingming's secret guards."

Zhao Jingming had lost two of his secret guards in the past few days, and Lin Zhuo guessed that he was eaten by the guy on Li Hongrui.

Lin Zhuo transformed into a human form, sat at the table and poured himself a pot of tea.

Zhao Jingming put some snacks for him before going out today. He thought they were a bit too sweet, so he just drank them with tea.

"I don't know when he will be punished by God. It's best to strike him to death with lightning!" 0617 said angrily. It would be scared out of its soul by Li Hongrui in this world. It is just a pitiful system. Why should it be treated like this!

"It's a bit difficult." Lin Zhuo shook his head, "Do you know there are other legends about tigers eating people?"

"I don't know." 0617 turned around. It usually didn't look at this.

"A person who is eaten by a tiger will become a puppet raised by the tiger, and will lure others to be eaten by the tiger in exchange for his own liberation."

"Hey! You are working for the tiger, right?"

Lin Zhuo nodded: "But look at the rumor we just heard. It seems that the tiger used the scholar's body to eat the villagers. Is it possible that this tiger demon and the scholar have merged into one?"

"Don't scare me! I'm very timid!"

0617 After listening to this, I can’t imagine what Li Hongrui is now. Is he a scholar, a tiger demon, or both?

"He should have used the scholar's soul to hide his aura in order to avoid divine punishment. But there is still a question, where did Li Hongrui provoke the tiger demon, and where did his half-measured skills come from?"

Lin Zhuo supported his head with one hand and twisted the snacks into his mouth with the other.

"Host, in the original plot, after Li Hongrui harmed your family, he went to the old Taoist to learn other techniques. Is it possible that..."

"You mean he first went to the old Taoist and learned the evil ways and then came here?"

0617 nodded crazily in his mind.

"In such a short time? Does he have such a high talent?"

But Lin Zhuo thought about it and realized that what 0617 said didn't make sense. After all, they couldn't tell the direction of the world now, so it would be safer to ask around.

"Xiao Qi, unfold the map and mark the location of that old Taoist temple so I can take a look."

After hearing what Lin Zhuo said, 0617 unfolded the nearby map in front of Lin Zhuo, marking the location of the Taoist temple and Lin Zhuo with red dots and blue dots.

Lin Zhuo measured the distance between them with his hands and found that the Taoist temple was actually not very far from here, so he considered whether to take a look.

But what should Zhao Jingming do?

Perhaps influenced by Li Hongrui's words before leaving, Zhao Jingming stared at him even more closely in the past few days. Even if he was not there, his secret guards were all around, as if he was afraid that Lin Zhuo would run away.

Lin Zhuo was not sure what Zhao Jingming was thinking for a while. The guy in Li Hongrui kept calling him little fox, little fox, but he barely said he was a fox demon. He didn't know if Zhao Jingming had doubts about his identity.

It’s hard not to be suspicious! But why didn't he express anything?

Thinking of this, Lin Zhuo felt a little depressed: He should give me a reaction at least, don't let me guess.

"Host, how about using a bionic doll?" 0617 suggested to Lin Zhuo. "Produced by the Administration, it can observe things on behalf of the host, giving you the most intuitive experience without leaving home."

0617's tone was impassioned and impassioned, but he just didn't say buy, buy, buy.

That's not bad!

Lin Zhuo just waved his hand and bought it in full.

What appeared in his palm was a bird with green feathers. It jumped twice in Lin Zhuo's palm and then spread its wings and flew out of the window.

"Leave now? I haven't said anything yet?"

This little guy just flew away without even a single instruction manual?

"We are very smart! It knows what the host is thinking and has already flown to its destination!" 0617 jumped angrily. Can you give them a little more trust?

"In other words, if I silently say that I want to watch Zhao Jingming take a bath, will it also observe Zhao Jingming taking a bath?"

"..."

Hearing Lin Zhuo's bold statement, 0617 got stuck for a moment, and then shouted angrily: "Host, don't think about doing weird things with it!"

0617 was speaking in his mind, but Lin Zhuo still subconsciously covered his ears.

As you can imagine, the result was of no use, and it even made Lin Zhuo's head hurt.

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm just talking!"

Lin Zhuo covered his temples, sincerely hoping that the administration could come up with a function to manually shut up the system.

"Besides, I think it's illegal for my man to take a shower?"

Lin Zhuo said that he was so bold, let's see what happens!

0617 is at a loss for words: You can obviously take a bath with him directly, but you insist on peeping. Am I also part of your game?

"Kidding."

Lin Zhuo was afraid that if he said a few more words, 0617 would make him cry, so he quickly waved his hand to show that he was really joking, then got up and lay down on the bed.

"Oh, it's quite boring not being able to go out. Let's take a nap, I happen to be sleepy."

"..."

0617 was speechless again: I see you are obviously enjoying it!

Lin Zhuo wrapped himself in quilt, closed his eyes, and prepared to fall asleep.

"Host, are you going to sleep like this?" 0617 looked at Lin Zhuo in his human form and was about to fall asleep, so he asked him aloud.

"Is there something wrong?" Lin Zhuo stretched out his hand to look, but didn't find anything strange.

"Aren't you afraid that Zhao Jingming will come back suddenly?" If you don't look like a fox, you will be found to be a goblin, right?

"I haven't used my human form for a long time. I'll just take a nap. It won't be a problem. Just wake me up when he comes back soon."

Lin Zhuo turned over, said there would be no problem, and began to fall asleep.

He really felt like he was going into hibernation now, feeling sleepy to death every day.

He had already said so. What could 0617 do? He had to help him keep an eye on Zhao Jingming while he found something to read to pass the time.

Of course, it turned on the Do Not Disturb host function, which would not affect Lin Zhuo's sleep, otherwise it would have to stay at the management office later.

As a result, 0617 was too fascinated by watching a TV series about the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. When it came to its senses, Zhao Jingming had already returned to the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

Long live! ! !

The host would definitely kill it if he knew it! !

0617 silently hid himself deep inside, just pretend it never came.

......

Lin Zhuo always felt that his face was itchy, so he reached out and touched it, trying to relieve the itching.

"Aren't you awake yet? If you sleep again, I will touch you."

Hearing the sound, Lin Zhuo's scalp exploded, he opened his eyes suddenly and sat up: Who is tired of living?

Just when he wanted to see who this bold person was, what caught his eye was the gentle Zhao Jingming who was staring at him and smiling.

Lin Zhuo watched Zhao Jingming blinking, then lowered his head to look at his current body, slowly lay back, closed his eyes, and pretended as if nothing had ever happened.

In fact, his mind was frantically flashing: Kill me! Right now! 0617! I'm not done with you!