Truth is everywhere within range

The mountains are covered with snow, and there is a vast expanse between heaven and earth.

Occasionally, one or two birds fly across the sky, swaying unsteadily in the wind and snow.

Qiao Qiao, who was holding a trekking pole, exhaled a white breath.

"Cold?"

He turned back and looked at Ariko.

"not cold."

Ariko shook her head. The red and white coat seemed to be protected by the shrine and could maintain the temperature to a certain extent.

There is nothing special about Qiao Qiao. The vampires themselves are much more tolerant of the environment than humans.

He even carried a backpack full of ammunition and wilderness survival tools, and he didn't feel heavy at all.

The two of them walked up the mountain road, preparing to go to the village where disappearances had occurred.

If the seal of the old gods is loosened, then the power of the old gods will gradually penetrate into the nearby animals and plants along with the soil, moisture, and air, and finally affect humans.

Under this influence, the human spirit will become abnormal, become crazy, have hallucinations, and finally even derive some special rituals or customs.

Even without humans, animals will mutate to varying degrees if they are affected for a long time, and even accelerate the process of accumulating spiritual power and becoming monsters.

The monsters formed in this way are far more violent than ordinary monsters, and even their physical form will change.

In this case, Qiao Qiao’s suggestion is to let the villagers move as soon as possible.

It was afternoon, the morning snow had stopped, and the sun shone on the snow, giving off an intoxicating light.

The road was unswept, so Qiao Qiao relied on the vampire's ability to identify smells to find the right direction.

"Hmm, weird."

Despite this, Qiao Qiao also felt that this mountain forest was too weird.

No other movement could be heard, and there was only the sound of two people's footsteps in the completely silent forest.

The sun was setting in the west very quickly, and the country itself was at a high latitude. Before five o'clock, it was completely dark.

Qiao Qiao and Ya Lizi were still walking on the mountain.

"Teacher, are we lost?"

Ariko couldn't help but ask.

She has been practicing seriously, is in good physical condition, and does not carry heavy objects. However, walking in the snow for an afternoon will still have some impact on her spirit.

The body is not tired, but the mind is tired.

"really."

Qiao Qiao nodded.

"?"

Ariko was stunned, stopped, and hurriedly followed.

"The road was completely gone from about an hour ago."

Qiao Qiao glanced behind him and explained, while extending his hand to Ariko.

Holding Qiao Qiao's hand, Ariko felt a warmth and came to Qiao Qiao's side.

"I speculate that the old gods have affected the environment here, similar to memetic changes. Coupled with the influence of the snow, it is easy for people to get lost."

Qiao Qiao looked into the silent mountain forest and said.

"But it doesn't matter. Getting lost, vehicle breakdowns, and all kinds of problems caused outsiders to stay here. It's probably the influence of the old gods. Next, if I were the old gods, I would probably have to send some family members to induce them. We are in His territory. Well, here we are.”

Qiao Qiao raised his hiking pole and pointed not far away.

A ray of light lit up in the forest.

It was a woman holding a flashlight.

She was wearing a simple kimono, with a retro look, and a bit of charm between her eyebrows.

"Excuse me, are you the spiritual master?"

There was a man behind the woman, wearing a kimono and holding a shotgun.

"We are from Pingye Village. We were contacted by the police before, saying that two spiritual masters came to the village, but they were not found. The village chief sent two of us to look for them. Unexpectedly, we were here. I met you."

The woman explained.

"Are you so up to date with the times now?"

Ariko muttered softly.

From the perspective of spiritual vision, this woman and that man are ordinary people, not weird.

However, being bewitched by the old gods cannot be seen with spiritual vision, so Ariko still remains vigilant.

"That's great, we just can't find the road."

Qiao Qiao showed a kind smile and spread his hands.

"You two, please come with us."

The two led the way, with Qiao Qiao and Ariko following behind.

The woods seemed to be back to life again, and the calls of unknown birds could be heard, and some sparse sounds sounded from all directions.

It's as if the original world just turned on the mute button.

It took less than twenty minutes to walk.

Qiao Qiao saw the lights ahead.

The forest came to an end, and suddenly the vision opened up.

Under the night sky, between the undulating white mountains, there is a small village with smoke curling from the cooking pots.

There are less than thirty houses at a rough count, and there is only one road leading to the outside of the mountain, just like a secret realm.

Walking into the village along the road, Qiao Qiao could see that most of the buildings here were wooden structures, with a certain flavor of the Showa era. Although the lights were on in the houses and there were people swaying, no one looked at Qiao Qiao. Curious about Ariko's arrival, she opened the window and took a peek.

The entire village has a sense of conservatism and isolation that a village of this style should have. From this look, the two people leading the way in front of Qiao Qiao are already very generous.

Qiao Qiao's spiritual vision scanned the village and found nothing special. It looked like a very ordinary village, a little old at best.

"The village chief asked me to take you two to her house."

The woman said something and came to the largest house with a yard in the village.

It says "Kamijo", which should be the village chief's last name.

Pushing open the door to the yard, the woman led the two people into the house, while the man with the shotgun stood outside and took a look before leaving.

The room was brightly lit and very warm.

An old woman with gray hair sat at the table and seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

She was not as skinny as Ariko imagined. Instead, she exuded a sense of vitality and had a very kind smile.

"grandmother."

The woman greeted her and it turned out that she was the granddaughter of the village chief.

"I am the mayor of this village, Tomoko Kamijou, and this is my granddaughter Shiori."

The village chief said, pointing to the table again. .

"I heard that the two of them were coming, so we specially prepared food to entertain the two spiritual masters."

"There is no need for food. We are used to eating it ourselves."

Ariko refused directly.

She didn't want to eat something from unknown sources.

"Okay, it's already very late today. I'll ask Shi to prepare your room later. Just have a good rest today."

The village chief did not persist, but saluted the two of them.

Qiao Qiao didn't say much, and just followed the woman named Kamijou Shiori to the guest room.

This is a classic Japanese-style room, empty, with a courtyard outside the balcony and a view of the snowy mountains.

Qiao Qiao and Ariko checked the situation of the house for a while, and then walked around the village under the leadership of Kamijou Shiori, but found nothing unusual.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Qiao Qiao and Arizi checked the network status of their mobile phones and then lay down.

The two slept next to each other in the same room, with their coats and coats hanging on one side.

I don't know why, although it is a wooden house, it is very warm inside and does not make people feel cold.

Ariko seemed to be affected by the fatigue during the day, and soon felt sleepy. When she was about to close her eyes and fall asleep, she found that the door was gently pushed open.

A woman wearing a kimono walked into the room with light steps and knelt down in front of Qiao Qiao's blanket.

Gently untying her belt, the woman got into Qiao Qiao's bed.

"?"

Ariko suddenly woke up.

I was planning to add an update tomorrow, but Taoist friends in Shanghai suddenly started to go through tribulations. For the sake of computer security, I decided to fish first and wait until Tuesday to check it out.