Chapter 61 Shanyin Village
◎Dead body not found◎
Without any warning, a person died.
No, it's not like there were no signs at all. Gu Nian glanced at the man with a smashed head beneath the bronze statue, then looked up at the skinny old man. He saw a gloomy expression on his face, his brows furrowed once again like the shape of the Chinese character "川," but he didn't look overly surprised.
Although the other villagers all had expressions of fear on their faces, they also revealed a sense of grief and fear that it would be their turn.
The villagers did not dare to approach and retreated outside the temple.
The psychics are not afraid of this, and some have already stepped forward to check on the condition of the deceased.
Gu Nian walked up to the skinny old man and asked, "Is the dead man called Tian Sheng?"
The skinny old man's brow twitched, and he frowned, "How did you know?" Then he quickly reacted and stared at Gu Nian deeply, "You have been following us since we got to the foot of the mountain?"
The other party's reaction meant that she guessed correctly.
Earlier, as they were going up the mountain, the sedan chair suddenly tilted. One of the bearers had spoken, but the thin old man had stopped him sternly. He had called out the bearer's name, which turned out to be Tian Sheng.
At least they had followed the others out of the fog. Gu Nian explained, "We wandered around for a long time and couldn't find the way out. Luckily, we met you and were able to get out." After a pause, he asked curiously, "Are there any other customs for weddings here? Can't talk during the ceremony? Or are there certain things you can't say, such as..."
Before Gu Nian could finish her words, the thin old man interrupted with a gloomy face, "Since you know you can't say anything careless, you should be careful about what you say. This is all I can tell you. I'm warning you one last time. If you don't want to die, don't follow us."
After saying that, he ignored Gu Nian and walked towards the villagers outside the hall.
Gu Nian stared at the other person's back as he left, thinking about something. Then he retracted his gaze and looked towards the mountain god statue in the main hall. Then he found that Lu Yan was looking up at the tall stone statue not far away, with his head slightly tilted back.
Gu Nian walked over and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
Lu Yan lowered his head upon hearing the sound, put his hand to his lips and coughed, then said softly, "I seemed to see this statue smiling just now, but maybe I was mistaken."
Gu Nian thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I saw it too."
The two looked at each other.
Gu Nian pulled something out of her backpack. It was the Polaroid camera Tang Yue had given her before she came. It had been several days since she last used it. She said, "Why don't we take a picture?"
Lu Yan thought for a moment and said, "Let's try." He was about to take the camera from Gu Nian's hand.
Gu Nian shook his head, glanced at the villagers outside, and said, "The police officer who delivered the message earlier said that people here believe that taking pictures can absorb a person's soul. It's better not to let them know about this. You are taller, block the way for me, and I will take the picture."
Finally, with Lu Yan's help, Gu Nian took a frontal photo of the mountain god statue.
In the photo, the mountain god statue is actually smiling.
Gu Nian frowned as he looked at the photo in his hand. Sure enough, there was something wrong. Tang Yue had said that this Polaroid camera could capture a person's truest appearance, so what was this mountain god statue so happy about?
Are you so happy that you're about to die?
After looking at it for a long time, Gu Nian found that the stone eyes in the photo seemed to be staring straight at her, as if they were looking at her through the photo. Just as she was about to look again, a bony hand appeared on the photo. Lu Yan said, "Something seems to be wrong with the villagers."
Gu Nian blinked, withdrew his gaze from the photo, glanced at Lu Yan, then put the photo into his backpack and said, "Then let's go over and take a look."
The two men arrived at the temple gate and found that there seemed to be a dispute among the villagers outside, with crying sounds interspersed in between, and the skinny old man was looking at everyone with an angry face.
Wei Chuan and several other psychics noticed the commotion outside and had been watching for a while. They took the initiative to explain what had just happened to the two men: "Just now, the old man wanted the people from his village to come and collect the body of the person who was hit to death, but no one dared to. Later, for some reason, many people wanted to leave, but the old man wouldn't let them, so an argument broke out."
Gu Nian looked outside and saw a skinny old man standing in front of everyone, saying something.
At this time, other psychics who were checking on the deceased also came over. One of them said, "The deceased was killed by being crushed. We have also examined the bronze statue and have not found anything unusual so far."
But the biggest abnormality is the absence of abnormalities.
The base of the bronze statue looks very stable. How could it fall over just because of a gust of wind? Looking at the frightened faces of these villagers, it is obvious that there is something they don't know.
Gu Nian said: "The key to the matter should be in this Shanyin Village."
The others nodded, having the same idea.
Although the old man said some weird things about not following them if they didn't want to die, all the clues now pointed to Shanyin Village, so they had to go there.
Now that everyone has the same idea, things will be easy to handle.
After the discussion, Gu Nian, who had communicated the most with the skinny old man and did not appear to be very aggressive, finally walked towards the villagers as a representative accompanied by two psychics.
Seeing them coming, the villagers immediately looked alert.
Gu Nian looked at the skinny old man and didn't directly say that he wanted to follow them. Instead, he said, "I guess if the body in the hall is not collected, or if you just leave like this, something bad will happen, right? Just like what happened just now."
Hearing this, the villagers were all shocked. They looked at the skinny old man and asked in horror, "Uncle Feng, is what she said true? Will we die?"
The villagers who were about to leave without caring about anything suddenly stopped.
The skinny old man, or Uncle Feng as the villagers called him, was silent for a long time. He didn't directly answer Gu Nian and the villagers' questions. Instead, he said, "Tian Sheng broke the rules and angered the mountain god. This time, the wedding won't take place." He glanced at everyone and said, "If you want to return to the village, everyone must burn incense to the mountain god. Only those who burn it can leave the mountain."
Do I have to burn incense before I can leave?
The villagers were terrified. But, but just now, Tian Sheng died while burning incense. What if they encountered the same thing while burning incense?
Although they knew how to leave, no one dared to move.
Gu Nian was concerned about another question. She asked, "What happens if the incense goes out?"
Uncle Feng raised his eyelids and said coldly, "The incense is extinguished, which means the mountain god does not accept your offerings and will not bless you. You can't leave the fog at the foot of the mountain."
Gu Nian nodded, "So that's how it is."
She laid out her conditions, "We can help you collect the body in the temple, but when you leave after burning incense, we'd like to go back to the village with you. You've just seen our IDs. We truly have no ill intentions; we're here to resolve a problem."
As soon as Gu Nian finished speaking, some villagers began to hesitate.
Although their village didn't like outsiders, that was before nothing had happened. Now, seeing someone die right before their eyes, it was clear that something was wrong. If someone could come and help, it would actually be a good thing. Besides, no one dared to collect the body in the temple.
Someone immediately said, "Uncle Feng, I think what they said makes sense. People have died in our village these past few days." The man paused and changed the subject, "Anyway, we don't dare to go and collect Tian Sheng's body. Otherwise, let them go. It's in the wilderness here, and they have nowhere to go even if they leave."
The villagers all started to persuade him.
Uncle Feng sighed heavily and said to Gu Nian, "I've already persuaded everyone I should have. This is your decision. If something goes wrong, don't blame me for not telling you in advance."
That's a promise.
Gu Nian smiled and said, "Of course, we will be responsible for ourselves."
Soon, several people with special abilities collected the corpse in the hall. According to Uncle Feng's wishes, if the person was alive, he had to be seen; if he was dead, his corpse had to be seen. Tian Sheng's corpse was to be brought back to the village so that his family could see it for the last time.
Gu Nian had no objection to this, and the psychic temporarily placed his body outside the hall.
Next, it’s time to burn incense.
Although it had been cleaned, there were still dark red bloodstains on the ground in front of the mountain god statue. None of the villagers dared to move, for fear that they would follow in Tian Sheng's footsteps.
The bronze statue had been moved far to the side. In front of the mountain god was an empty space with only a newly replaced cushion. Just as Gu Nian was about to approach, a psychic with a scar on his face stepped forward and said in a gruff voice, "Since no one else is coming, I'll be the first one."
Gu Nian remembered that this was a person with enhanced physical abilities. His abilities were somewhat similar to Qi Kai's. His nickname was "Scar". His abilities ranked high among the people who came in this time.
Scar took the incense and walked forward.
Tian Sheng had previously been instructed by Feng Bo when he was burning incense. Everyone had seen it, so there was no need for further instruction. Lighting the incense, inserting the incense, kneeling, all in one go.
Nothing happened until Scar retreated.
But that wasn't the end of it. Everyone looked at the incense burning in the incense burner. For some reason, the incense burned very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it burned out. It didn't go out.
This is good news for everyone present.
Perhaps out of caution, wanting to wait and see, the villagers remained silent. The next people to burn incense were all those with special abilities. After Lu Yan finished, only Gu Nian remained.
When he was about to go over, Lu Yan suddenly said, "Let me help you carry your bag."
Gu Nian paused and handed the backpack to Lu Yan.
As before, the incense burned out again. If what Feng Bo said was true, it meant that the mountain god had accepted Gu Nian and the others' offerings and granted them protection. They could safely leave the fog.
With the success of the psychics, the villagers finally put their minds at ease and, led by Uncle Feng, began to come forward one by one. In the end, everyone successfully burned the incense without any accidents.
A villager said impatiently: "Since the mountain god has agreed, let's go down the mountain quickly." He didn't want to stay in this place any longer.
Seeing Feng Bo nod, the man walked out impatiently, but just as he walked out of the hall, he screamed and rushed back into the hall. He pointed outside the hall with a look of horror and said, "Tian, Tian Sheng's body, his body, was, was," he said incoherently.
Unable to wait for an answer, Gu Nian hurried out of the hall and saw a bloody mess outside. Tian Sheng's body was gone, or rather, reduced to a pile of fleshy paste. Not only was there no blood or flesh, but even the bones were gone. It was pure fleshy paste, covering almost the entire courtyard.
Everyone who followed to the door saw this scene, and some of them immediately began to retch, but after realizing where they were, they tried their best to hold it back.
Feng Bo's distraught voice echoed in the silent hall:
"No body found after death, no body found after death."
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