"What container?"
"The current head of the Shen family, Shen Shi'an, was born in the last years of the Niexuan Kingdom's fall. He should be exactly 103 years old now. How could he be a child who hasn't even reached the age of a pigtail?"
Xiao Nanhui paused, instantly recalling what the old woman had said to her from the Chuihua Sect. Back then, she'd thought the straw dogs were just as primitive and barbaric as the human sacrifices practiced in some ancient villages of Bijiang. But now, she finally understood the true purpose of those children.
They are not even as good as sacrifices, but merely puppets on the road to immortality for the old and foolish people in power.
"We're just selecting vessels for the Gods, so why does it have to be children? Wouldn't it be faster and better to just select adults?"
"The Xishen believe that the human body contains the soul, just as various containers are filled with water. A body can only hold one soul; if something else attempts to intrude, conflict will arise due to incompatibility. The soul of a young man, in his twenties, is always much stronger and more steadfast than that of a child, less easily shaken and even harder to expel. Even if a spirit is successfully conveyed once or twice, it often doesn't last. Therefore, to obtain a long-lasting, flawless container, perhaps it's necessary to cultivate the child from a very young age, destroying his mind, weakening his self-awareness, and turning him into a complete puppet."
It was as if a thin thread passed through his mind, connecting all the previous fragments, and Xiao Nanhui almost blurted out.
"I know what's going on with Zou Sifang." Her voice was a little anxious, and her speed was much faster than usual. "I always thought that Puhu knew you would take out the three jade seals at the New Year's Eve Festival, so he rushed to Jiaosong County. But that night I encountered that strange palace servant in the palace, and Xu Rui was clearly going after me, or something else. If he hadn't sensed something and discovered that the secret seal on the Changmi Terrace was fake, he would never have risked sneaking into the palace again."
"If only one person among the Puhunas can sense the existence of the secret seal, then that person must be the 'Zou Sifang' who appeared in Jiaosong County. Or, in other words, the person inside Zou Sifang's body at that time. Furthermore, the palace maid I met in the palace that night is very likely the same person. All of this may seem absurd, but in fact there is a subtle connection. That is, Zou Sifang and the palace maid named Xu Rui were both killed before they appeared."
When a person's soul leaves the body, if the body is still alive, something else will take over.
But what exactly is that thing?
The figure in front of him paused, and Su Wei turned his head half-side to look at her, his expression a little gloomy in the night.
"You're right, but there's a missing connection. Zou Sifang was once critically ill from a strange poison, and Xu Rui was an inner palace attendant before his death. He also took sick leave a few days before the murder. It's very likely that both of them had come into contact with the secret seal before experiencing unusual symptoms."
Yes, she remembered. There had been a tiny, barely noticeable puncture mark on Xu Rui's body. She wondered if that mark was the mark left by contact with the secret seal...
"So, that's why you didn't bring that thing with you?"
Before Su Wei could answer, Ding Weixiang stopped him with a gesture.
Unknowingly, they had already approached the Grotto Forest. As a precaution, the three of them fell silent.
However, apart from the light of the fire, there was still no one to be seen in the caves. Those boys and girls, along with Chen Shi'an, seemed to have walked into the void and disappeared out of thin air.
Xiao Nanhui did not give up and carefully searched around the largest main cave, and finally found an inconspicuous cave entrance.
The stone platform surrounded by kerosene was actually empty underneath, with a dark cave entrance on the ground behind it. Some firelight could be seen faintly from the depths of the cave, revealing a narrow and steep stone staircase.
Ding Weixiang took a look and his expression became somewhat unpredictable.
"Master and Miss Xiao stay here. I'll go down and take a look."
Xiao Nan rolled his eyes and said lightly.
"Do you know the way?"
The feeling of being humiliated is so wonderful.
Ding Weixiang choked, and Xiao Nanhui wanted to put her hands on her hips and laugh out loud three times. But for the sake of the rest of their journey together, she held back.
"This passage seems so narrow. I'm afraid it won't be convenient for you. I'd better go down and explore."
Ding Weixiang obviously refused and was about to open his mouth to refute when the man next to him finally spoke.
"Why don't you two go down, I'll stay here and wait for you..."
"no!"
This time, Xiao Nanhui and Ding Weixiang finally united their forces.
Su Wei waved his hand and made a conclusion.
"Then let's go together as three people."
The stone steps leading underground were even steeper than the previous mountain road. Ding Weixiang took the lead, followed by Su Wei in the middle and Xiao Nan who returned to the hall. The three of them fell silent again and walked down in the dim light all around them.
After about a cup of tea, the surrounding space suddenly opened up, revealing an underground grotto. Spiral stone steps wound down around the grotto wall, like a hibernating giant python, its head leading directly to the legendary gate of hell.
There were many eternal lamps lit beside the stone steps, and the lights illuminated the ochre murals on the stone walls, which still had many runes and patterns mixed in.
Judging by the flaking and fading of the paint, these paintings are far less ancient than those in Seqiubiemeng Cave, but the technique and artistic conception are vastly inferior. While the depictions are detailed, the brushwork is extremely restrained, and the colors are monotonous, as if they were painted to fulfill a certain task.
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