Chapter 81 Sacrifice
Yinzhai is a grave in the traditional sense. Although it is very different from Yangzhai, it must also pay attention to Feng Shui.
Gu Longming and Lin Qiushi spoke as they surveyed the courtyard. The courtyard was large, and besides their living quarters, there were also several other sights and buildings.
Between their residence and other dwellings lay a dense grove of locust trees. Although Lin Qiushi didn't understand feng shui, he knew that locust trees attracted ghosts.
Lin Qiushi noticed that the locust trees were tied with strings of bells strung together with red ropes. The wind blew and they tinkled. At first glance, they sounded pleasant, but at night, the sound would surely be somewhat eerie.
A little further beyond the locust tree, there is a small river running through the side of the yard. This river should be the water source for the town, but half of it is cut off by a brick wall and remains in the yard.
Seeing this scene, Gu Longming shook his head and sighed, saying, "A dragon trapped in shallow water, surrounded by walls on all sides, is dangerous water. This water is not staying right." He said, "I've walked around this room, and I think anyone who can live here without any harm is truly a formidable person."
Lin Qiushi reminded him, "We are the ones living in the yard now."
Gu Longming: "...then we are quite powerful."
As they were talking, they heard the sound of gongs and drums outside. They walked to the door and saw that a group of people on the street were carrying a live pig and heading towards the distance.
The group of people were all wearing red clothing, the kind used for rituals. The atmosphere seemed festive, but if you looked closely, you'd see a heavy expression on each of their faces, even a hint of fear in their eyes.
"Where are they going?" Gu Longming asked in a low voice.
Lin Qiushi shook his head: "I don't know. Should we go over and take a look?"
"Okay." Gu Longming rubbed his hands ready to go.
Other people in the team heard the sound together with them, but some were afraid and unwilling to leave the yard. However, there were also a few who, like Lin Qiushi and the others, chose to go and see where the group was going.
So six or seven people sneaked around and secretly followed the sacrificial team and headed towards a distance.
They crossed the street and walked through a small woods, and saw that the sacrificial procession finally stopped in front of a river beside a small town.
This river seemed to be the main trunk of the river that was led into the yard where they lived. The water was murky and turbulent, and the sound of the surging water could be heard even from a long distance away.
The people who were performing the sacrifice reached the water's edge and put down the live pig they were carrying. Lin Qiushi originally thought that they would throw the pig directly into the river, but he didn't expect that one of the people actually took out a rattle from his pocket and began to recite something over and over again. The group was far away, and their voices were mostly muffled by the fierce sound of the water. Most people could not hear what they were reciting, but Lin Qiushi could hear it very clearly. He heard that the group was reciting the sentence written in the clue: The sky is in panic, the earth is in panic, I have a crying son in my family, and the benefactor who passed by recites it three times and sleeps until dawn.
After reciting it several times, the group threw the live pig into the river.
The live pig struggled in the water for a few times and then quickly sank. When the people saw this, they breathed a sigh of relief, put away the rattles in their hands and prepared to turn around and leave.
However, just after they took a few steps forward, they heard the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. When they turned around, they found that the live pig was thrown back from the water by something.
Seeing this scene, Lin Qiushi was slightly shocked. He clearly saw that the pig's body was covered with dense blood-red teeth marks, as if it had been bitten by something. Yet, the mangled pig was still alive, howling miserably.
When the worshippers saw this scene, they were instantly in an uproar. Almost everyone had a panic expression on their face. They seemed afraid to stay by the river any longer and hurriedly ran towards the small town. It looked like there was a monster behind them that was about to chase them.
Gu Longming said: "There's something in the river..."
Lin Qiushi shook his head: "It's not a good thing anyway."
Gu Longming muttered, "What kind of nonsense is this River God Festival? I think it's the Water Ghost Festival."
Lin Qiushi's heart moved when he heard this.
While they were talking, they saw two of the people who had followed them stand up from the dark and walk towards the river. It seemed that they wanted to carefully examine the pig and the things in the river.
Gu Longming turned to look at Lin Qiushi, eager to make a move: "Shouldn't we go over and take a look? Maybe there are some crucial clues over there?"
"No." Lin Qiushi didn't want to risk his life. "Have you forgotten how fast those people who were performing the sacrifices ran?" It was as if there were evil spirits demanding their lives by the river. To go there in such a situation was either foolish or had some hidden weapon in hand.
When the two men arrived at the river, they first looked at the pigs.
The pig used for the sacrifice was still alive, howling in pain. Its blood flowed down the riverbank into the dim water. The two men found no clues on the pig, so they tilted their heads and looked into the river. One of them seemed to see something and cried out in surprise, "There's something! Don't go over there—"
But it was too late when he said this. As the other person's feet landed on the river bank, something seemed to grab his ankle and began to drag him into the river.
The thing in the river seemed to be extremely powerful, and it didn't even give the man a chance to react. The man let out a scream and fell into the river with a splash.
"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu——" The remaining person by the river called out his friend's name in a panic, "Xiaoyu——"
The dim river water began to churn, as if it was boiling, mixed with blood. Xiaoyu, who was pulled into the river, died silently.
Lin Qiushi heard the child's clear laughter. He looked at Gu Longming and saw that his face was pale.
"Did you hear it too?" Lin Qiushi asked him.
"What did you hear?" Gu Longming was confused.
Lin Qiuhui asked, "Are you scared?"
Gu Longming was silent for a moment before he whispered, "I saw what pulled him into the water." A hint of fear lingered in his eyes. "It was... a pair of children's hands."
A pair of pale, swollen, blistered hands belonging to a child.
"Let's go." Gu Longming didn't want to stay here anymore.
Seeing that there was no movement by the river, Lin Qiushi nodded and stood up.
The two returned to the city and found that the whole town was in a very strange atmosphere. People on the street were whispering, with either fear in their eyes or numb expressions.
Seeing these two outsiders, there was something else hidden within this fear and numbness. Although Lin Qiushi was reluctant to admit it, he recognized it as an expression of excitement.
"Fuck, why are they looking at me like that?" Gu Longming couldn't stand it any longer. "It's like a pervert seeing a girl. I've already taken off my skirt."
Lin Qiushi: "..." He didn't say anything, thinking that if you put on a skirt, you would probably be able to play a perverted role.
A strong wind blew by, and the red lanterns hanging on the streets were blown around, like balls of bright flames. Although it was a festival, there was no festive atmosphere here. Instead, everyone was afraid of the birthday of the river god in seven days.
Lin Qiushi randomly found a shop, bought some things, and then tactfully asked about the river god worship.
The boss was a middle-aged man in his fifties. He glanced at them and said reluctantly, "This is a special festival here. We pray for good weather and good harvests..."
Lin Qiushi said, "Is that all?"
"That's all." The boss muttered as he swept around with a feather duster in his hand. "What else can I do?"
Lin Qiushi asked, "What about the sacrificial ritual process?"
The boss's words were vague: "It means throwing livestock into the river to feed the river god..."
Gu Longming was always direct in his words: "Just animals? You're not going to throw people in there too, are you?"
The boss got angry when he heard this: "How is that possible! If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourself. What exactly was thrown? Can't you see it?"
Gu Longming asked: "Then why..."
He wanted to ask why a child's hand stretched out from the river, but Lin Qiushi gently patted him. So he changed the words on his lips and said, "Then why are those people so afraid of things in the river?"
"I already said it's the river god. If he's a god, he must have a temper." The boss was very impatient. "Okay, okay, I want to do business. You ask questions but don't buy anything——"
"Who said I won't buy it?" Gu Longming asked, "Can I pay with Alipay? If Alipay doesn't work, WeChat will work."
The boss said expressionlessly: "I only accept cash here."
Gu Longming heard this and said regretfully: "You guys can't do this. Sooner or later you will be eliminated by the times. I tell you..."
Before he could finish his words, he was pulled away by Lin Qiushi.
Lin Qiushi felt that if he didn't drag Gu Longming away, he would most likely immediately start extolling the virtues of cashless payments. Cashless payments were certainly useful, but at least a smartphone was required. And since they were still inside, how could they possibly buy some local specialties?
"Why are you arresting me?" Gu Longming rolled up his sleeves, obviously not having said enough, "I haven't finished what I'm saying yet..."
When he said this, he noticed Lin Qiushi's expression and chuckled dryly, "Just a joke, just a joke."
However, the others here seemed reluctant to talk about the River God sacrifice. They later asked a few passersby, but the clues they got were vague. They only knew that the River God's birthday was in seven days, and that the entire town would participate.
At noon, Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming returned to the yard to eat.
The lunch was quite sumptuous, and everyone ate at separate tables. Lin Qiushi had sharp ears and could hear most people's conversations.
"Is there really nothing wrong with the ancestral hall?" someone whispered.
"I think there is, but I haven't discovered it yet." Another person answered. This person seemed to be the man who proposed to divide the rooms yesterday. Lin Qiushi remembered that his name was Yan Shihe. He formed a team with another girl whose name was Xiao Qian.
"I don't want to go in there again." Xiao Qian said, "The atmosphere there is weird and scary."
Yan Shihe said, "You wait outside, I'll go in and take a look."
Lin Qiushi was listening attentively when he was suddenly slapped by Gu Longming. Startled, he looked at Gu Longming and asked, "What's wrong?"
"What are you listening to?" Gu Longming whispered, "Can you hear it from such a distance?"
Lin Qiushi said vaguely, "I could only hear a little bit."
Gu Longming said: "Not impressive at all."
Lin Qiushi: "Hmm..." he said, "There seems to be an ancestral hall in this small town. We should go take a look."
"Okay." Gu Longming said, "Let's finish our meal." He stood up and went to get another bowl. It must be said that Gu Longming had a really good appetite. He finished four large bowls of white rice by himself and almost all the dishes on the table.
Lin Qiushi suddenly felt that he and Cheng Qianli should have a lot in common.
After dinner, they found the servants in the yard and asked carefully about the location of the ancestral hall in the small town. They learned that the ancestral hall was just upstream of the river.
The ancestral hall, also known as the clan hall, is a product of the ancient family system. It is usually used to worship ancestors and occasionally as a place to handle important matters within the clan. For example, if someone does something that violates the clan rules, they will be punished by the clan leader in the ancestral hall.
Because of the important status of the ancestral hall, it is usually the iconic building of the entire family, and is built magnificently and beautifully.
The same is true of the ancestral hall in this small town.
The door of the ancestral hall was open, and there was a gatekeeper sitting at the door. When he saw them coming, he didn't greet them. He just raised his eyelids and looked at them for a few seconds, then closed them again without any interest.
"Why didn't he stop us?" Gu Longming felt something was amiss after successfully entering the ancestral hall. "Such an important place is just being allowed in without permission? Their ancestral tablets are enshrined inside. Aren't they afraid we'll destroy them?"
Lin Qiushi said, "That's not quite right." Usually, the world inside the gate also follows the rules of reality. For example, under normal circumstances, they should be stopped by the gatekeeper and have to use other methods to enter.
Gu Longming thought about it, but couldn't figure it out, so he had to give up.
Inside the ancestral hall, there were neatly arranged tablets, so numerous that Lin Qiushi couldn't even count them all. Incense and offerings were placed in front of the tablets, and it looked no different from any other ancestral hall.
But Lin Qiushi always felt that there was something wrong here, but he couldn't figure it out for a moment.
Gu Longming looked around, the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong: "...There's something wrong with this ancestral hall."
Lin Qiushi: "What's wrong?"
Gu Longming pointed to a tablet placed higher up and asked, "Do you see that tablet?"
Lin Qiushi asked, "What's wrong?" He looked in the direction Gu Longming pointed and saw a black tablet.
Gu Longming said, "The date is wrong."
Simply put, the middle of the tablet was the person's name and social relationship, the left was the date of birth, and the right was the time of death. Lin Qiushi looked at the time and showed surprise: "Only one year old?"
The person recorded on this tablet was actually a one-year-old child, a little boy who died young.
Gu Longming shook his head, his face full of disapproval: "Children who died in infancy cannot enter the ancestral hall."
Lin Qiushi also knew about this custom. It was a folk rule that children who died young could not be buried in the ancestral tomb, because it was said that such children were full of resentment when they died, and might even hate their parents and siblings.
As they were talking, the tablet in front of them fell from a height with a clang and broke into two pieces in front of them.
Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming fell silent at the same time.
"Haha, it's the wind." Gu Longming laughed dryly.
Lin Qiushi said nothing. His eyes swept across the tablets at the top of the ancestral hall and found that the tablets were all for children. The oldest was no more than three years old, and the youngest was only one year old... or perhaps they were dead before they were even one year old.
And it definitely wasn't the wind that smashed the tablet just now. There's no window facing here, and the door is half-closed, so how could there be wind...
Lin Qiushi glanced at the place where the memorial tablet was and said, "Let's go."
Gu Longming was overjoyed and quickly got up and ran away.
When they were leaving, Yan Shihe and his group just happened to come over, so the two sides greeted each other politely.
"What's the matter? Any new discoveries?" Yan Shihe asked them.
"Even if I have one, I can't tell you." Gu Longming was a very direct person. He said carelessly, "What should we do if you take the key and run away first?"
Yan Shihe laughed when he heard this, as if he found Gu Longming quite interesting.
Lin Qiushi was still thinking about the events in the ancestral hall when he felt Gu Longming suddenly lean in close to his ear and breathe. He shuddered at the breath and asked, "What are you doing?"
Gu Longming: "I just want to talk to you. Why, do you think they have other clues?"
Before Lin Qiushi could speak, he heard a crackling sound coming from the ancestral hall behind him. He was all too familiar with this sound; they had heard it just now. It was the sound of a tablet falling to the ground and shattering. Judging from the loudness, Lin Qiushi suspected that a large piece of the tablet had fallen.
Gu Longming also heard it and was a little confused: "What the hell did they do in there to piss off the whole family?"
Lin Qiushi: “I don’t know…”
The person guarding the ancestral hall also heard the sound, looked very angry, and stood up and went in.
A moment later, they heard a roar coming from inside, and then Yan Shihe and his friend Xiao Qian were driven out in disgrace.
Gu Longming put away the gloating expression on his face, pretended to be concerned, and said, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Yan Shihe said, "There was a small accident." He glanced at Xiaoyu.
Xiao Qian felt aggrieved and whispered, "Someone really pushed me, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen on that tablet..."
"Don't think too much." Gu Longming said, "What if the person who pushed you wasn't a human?"
Xiao Qian almost cried.
Lin Qiushi thought to himself, brother, you'd better stop talking.
It was getting late, so the four of them prepared to return to their yard.
The weather inside the gate was not very good. Even during the day the sky was gloomy. However, around six o'clock, the town returned to the silence of late night. Only the big red lanterns were hanging lonely on the streets, swaying in the wind.
When he returned to the courtyard, Lin Qiushi saw the hostess who had received them before.
She had changed her clothes and was sitting among the locust trees in the yard, holding what looked like something. At first, Lin Qiushi thought she was holding a child, but when he approached, he realized it wasn't a child, but a small, bright red blanket that looked like a child's swaddling clothes.
Lin Qiushi was reading, so Gu Longming came over and blew into Lin Qiushi's ear: "What are you looking at?"
Lin Qiushi felt itchy from the air he was blowing, and said helplessly, "Can you please stop blowing into my ears? It's itchy."
Gu Longming said, "When you blow air, the tips of your ears move. It's so cute."
Lin Qiushi angrily said, "Please be mindful of your status as a high school girl!"
Gu Longming: "..." He silently took out a carrot hairpin from his pocket and put it on his head.
Lin Qiushi: “…” He was convinced.
While they were talking, the hostess stood up and walked away slowly.
"Let's go and have dinner," said Lin Qiushi.
Gu Longming nodded happily.
Someone died inexplicably by the water during the day today, and there were eleven people left in the house at dinner time.
Gu Longming said that every time he ate, it was his happiest time in the sect, and he also asked Lin Qiushi when he was happiest.
Lin Qiushi said, "When I leave this door."
Gu Longming: "That's right..."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Is this really your fourth time here?" To be honest, he felt that Gu Longming's performance was too good, and he didn't look like a novice who was entering the door for the fourth time.
"Yeah." Gu Longming wiped his mouth, "But that's what I do outside the door."
Lin Qiushi was shocked: "What's the point of doing this? Catching ghosts?"
Gu Longming nodded.
Lin Qiushi was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "There are ghosts outside the door too?" How could he, a materialist, be so good?
"No." Gu Longming said calmly, "So in other words, I'm actually a scammer..."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Why do you say that so calmly?
Gu Longming sighed, "I thought my skills would never be put to good use, but I never expected something like this to happen. So, what about you? What are you doing outside the door?"
Lin Qiushi: "A vagrant." He used to have a job, but now he spends his days playing with cats and sleeping, a hopeless person without any dreams.
Just as Gu Longming showed sympathy, he heard Lin Qiushi add, "Take on some work occasionally to earn some extra cash."
Gu Longming: "...We have such a good relationship..."
Lin Qiushi: "No discount."
Gu Longming: "...Linlin, you are so ruthless! But I like you, I like the ruthless you!"
Lin Qiushi thought, if you really like it, I can raise the price for you even more ruthlessly.
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