"Everything has its own cause and effect cycle. We just need to act according to the opportunity. We should help if we can, and we should not force others to help if we cannot."
I understood what Xiang Fei meant: "Let's do our best. You leave here first, and we'll find out what's going on."
The female ghost bowed to us and then disappeared into the woods. Xiang Fei and I groped our way back.
Back in the room, I wanted to discuss it with Xiang Fei again, but he gestured for me to be quiet and then pointed to the door.
I listened intently and heard faint footsteps outside the door. I immediately realized that someone was outside.
So we quietly crouched down in the corner of the room, waiting to see what the person was up to.
The footsteps drew closer and finally stopped in front of our door. Xiang Fei and I were ready to pounce and pin the intruder to the ground if they had any ill intentions.
With a creak, the door was pushed open, and a dark figure darted in. After glancing around in the doorway, the figure rushed straight to our bed, holding a curved knife used for chopping firewood in the mountains.
The shadowy figure walked to the edge of our bed, raised its curved sword and slashed at us. After a few slashes and finding no one there, it quickly ran outside.
Seizing the opportunity, Xiang Fei and I each grabbed a stick and started beating him mercilessly.
After only a few blows, the person fell to the ground and started rolling around. We quickly pinned him down; Xiang Fei held down his feet, and I held down his hands.
After we subdued him, we shone our flashlights on him and found it was none other than Tackner, his eyes glaring fiercely at us.
We found a rope and tied Takna up. For safety, we also gagged him. Now it's clear that this remote Qiang village is actually a branch of a cult within the Qiang people. Uncle Bamu and the others must have been involved in this. Taking us there tomorrow is just a way to kill us.
But man proposes, God disposes, and they eventually revealed their weakness. Of course, we will not act rashly now. We are outnumbered and outmatched, so we can only wait and see, and look for the best opportunity to expose their conspiracy.
I was somewhat amazed. I never expected to encounter such a thing in this remote place. It seems that what Xiang Fei said is true: everything has a cause and effect!
We knew we wouldn't be able to sleep in the second half of the night, so we set up a simple Qimen Dunjia formation at the entrance. It shouldn't be a problem to trap a few people. Otherwise, if the other people in the village found out that Takna hadn't been heard from for so long, they would definitely become suspicious, and it would be troublesome if they attacked us all at once.
Finally, dawn broke, and Xiang Fei knocked Takna unconscious. Then we swaggered out.
There were only about ten people in the village. Apart from the elderly, women, and children, there were four able-bodied men. As soon as they came out, Uncle Bamu came over.
Did you sleep well last night?
"Yeah, it's alright," I nodded in reply.
"Has anything unusual happened?"
"Something special?" I pretended to be clueless and looked at Uncle Bamu with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, haha! It's nothing, I was just asking casually. You must be hungry. I've already made breakfast. After you eat, I'll take you to that place."
Xiang Fei and I pretended to eat breakfast as if nothing had happened, figuring they wouldn't reveal their true colors yet.
After a short while, Uncle Bamu led us to what he called the 'forbidden zone'.
After traversing several mountain roads and forests, the road ahead became increasingly steep and remote, and we began to be on guard, worried that a murder and robbery might occur.
“Look, that place is in the valley ahead. I’ll take you here,” Bamu said, pointing to a valley ahead.
I looked up and saw that the valley in front of me was indeed extremely secluded. It was hidden in the mountains and fields, surrounded by towering trees, making it look particularly eerie.
I glanced at Xiang Fei, we nodded to each other, and I smiled slightly. I said to Bamu, "Uncle Bamu, you should go back first. We'll be back soon, and we'll probably have lunch at your house then."
"Hehe, of course, I'll go back and slaughter a sheep right away, and we'll have mutton hotpot when you get back," Bamu replied with a smile. "But you must be careful, it's really scary inside."
Once Bamu left, we started making preparations, first surveying the terrain to avoid falling into a trap.
After observing from the outside for a while and finding nothing amiss, they assumed that the danger inside was enough to deal with us.
Once we were all ready, we swaggered in. As soon as we reached the entrance, we felt a gust of cold wind and the temperature around us dropped significantly.
The valley's terrain resembles the spout of a kettle, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, making it difficult for light to penetrate, and even during the day it appears dark inside.
We became more careful and slowed our pace as we entered.
A few caws rang out as crows flew down from above, perched on the rock, and stared at us. Their eyes were surprisingly red.
The valley was shrouded in mist, making it difficult to see clearly. Ahead, we came to a row of trees growing in the shadows. As we approached, we were astonished to find that corpses were hanging from them.
Some of the corpses were shriveled like mummies, while others had become skeletons. What was most chilling was that two of the corpses had clearly died recently and were hanging on trees, their bodies covered in blood, as if they had been skinned alive. Crows were circling above them.
"No wonder the crows that ate human flesh have red eyes," I muttered to myself.
Finally, a stone platform appeared ahead, similar to the one seen at the ancient sacrificial site, also covered in bloodstains and piled with human bones.
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