Chapter 124: Four Xiuxiu of Nine Mountains
Chen Songling was sunk into the huge leather sofa in the living room. He had just snagged a minor role in a famous director's movie. He had just finished filming last night and had a nice meal with his friends. After returning home, he was so tired that he fell asleep with the TV on. When he woke up, the cold light of the screen was still flickering on his face.
He stretched himself and felt as though he had just been pulled out of the water, his head heavy and his feet dull. The smell of alcohol was still on his hair, and he fanned it with his hand in disgust.
On TV, the news anchor's voice was calm, almost rigid. "...Latest news from our station. Recently, archaeological teams have unearthed unidentified remains in remote areas across the country. They are all composed of stacked human skulls, with bizarre shapes. Experts have initially determined that these discoveries may be related to some unrecorded ancient sacrificial tradition. Currently, the relevant area has been cordoned off, and further investigation is ongoing..."
Chen Songling glanced at the blurry mosaic picture in the lower right corner of the TV, and vaguely saw the stitches on the corner of the mouth on the pile of rotten and dry heads.
In an instant, a strange image that he had seen in the Princess's Tomb flashed through his mind.
Those "puppets" with their mouths sewn shut with red thread...
Chen Songling's forehead was covered in sweat. He had just turned over to turn up the volume of the TV when the cell phone on the glass coffee table suddenly vibrated and buzzed.
He casually answered the call, and his friend's voice, with its usual cheerfulness, practically overflowed the receiver: "Old Chen, come out and play. I'll be waiting for you at the usual place!"
Chen Songling refused without hesitation: "No."
A friend wondered, "Don't you have any announcements this month? Your agent might be giving you more work? A guest spot? Or a drama promotion or variety show?"
"No, I have something going on at home," Chen Songling said vaguely, "Maybe next time."
My friend was trying to get to the bottom of things: "Hey, when did you become so homesick? Are you hatching eggs at home or cultivating immortality?"
"Go to hell," Chen Songling muttered, scratching his messy hair. "My dad asked me to go back to the old house to worship our ancestors. He said it's been a while."
"Okay, you wealthy nobles have big rules, that's it," my friend teased, "Then remember to tell me when you come back, I got some good stuff, you haven't seen it yet."
Chen Songling nodded perfunctorily: "Okay, okay, that's it, I'm hanging up."
He had no interest at all, thinking that those idle prodigals could not get anything interesting. They either just bought a new car, found a new beautiful girl, or had another stupid idea of starting a business. They were so vulgar.
He had no idea that he was also a general in the army of mediocrity.
After mentioning going home, he became a little more energetic, went into the bathroom to clean up, and went out an hour later, just in time for the family driver to pick him up.
This house was bought near the city center, which is convenient for going to the company or attending business. Since I started working, I rarely go back home. Firstly, I am afraid of paparazzi following me, secondly, I am afraid that my mother will always nag me about my poor life, and thirdly, I have to listen to my father's speech before dinner. In short, it is more comfortable to live alone.
The Chen family's villa is located on the hillside in a wealthy area near Hecheng. That area is a gathering place for many celebrities and wealthy people, and the security for entry and exit is very strict.
I drove the car all the way to my garage. As soon as I entered the entrance, I was caught off guard by the sound of an argument coming from the inner room.
Chen Songling deliberately knocked on the door again: "I'm back."
He didn't care much about it. After all, when he was at home, his parents often quarreled, but it was usually nothing serious. Unlike his friends' families, they were always involved in family lawsuits and romantic disputes. In comparison, they were a harmonious family.
After a while, Shen Fang came down from upstairs in a hurry in slippers. Chen Songling was about to say hello when he suddenly felt something was wrong. His mother's eyes were red.
His mind buzzed, his expression became serious, and he walked over with anger towards his father: "What's wrong, Mom? What did Dad do?"
He originally thought that the bloody dramas that happened in his friend's family would happen to his own family.
Shen Fang shook her head and pushed him away: "Nothing, son, aren't you joining the group this month?"
"I've already finished filming. Didn't you say we'd go back to the old house to worship our ancestors?" Chen Songling widened his eyes, wondering when did his mother start to forget things?
Shen Fang immediately thought of something and angrily shouted at Chen Deyin, who was one step behind him and coming down from the upstairs, "What are you planning now?"
Chen Deyin looked helpless: "Okay, what do you know? I have already arranged everything for my son, don't worry about it."
"You old bastard, if you want to die, go by yourself, don't drag my son with you!" Shen Fang gritted her teeth, her eyes reddened as she spoke, and she sobbed twice while covering her face: "You silent old bastard, you always think you don't have enough money to spend, and you actually do those bullshit things behind my back..."
The more she spoke, the more vulgar her words became, but she still didn't feel relieved, so she dragged out and cursed all the ancestors of the Chen family.
Chen Songling was dumbfounded, wondering what kind of stimulation his mother had encountered. Although his parents had frictions in normal times, his mother always gave face to his father in front of outsiders or in front of him. In the eyes of the media, she was a traditional and gentle lady. This was the first time she had been so rebellious as to curse her husband's ancestors.
"Mom, calm down..." Chen Songling persuaded with gritted teeth. He turned to look at Chen Deyin, feeling furious, but he didn't dare to act rashly. He could only raise his voice like a spoiled child: "Dad, what's going on?"
Chen Deyin pinched his brows and said, "Don't worry about her. I'll ask Lao Zhang to drive us to the old house this afternoon. Time is very tight, so if you have things to pack, hurry up and pack them."
"Don't even think about it!" Shen Fang screamed and grabbed Chen Songling's arm. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither is my son!"
She turned around and said to Chen Songling in a serious tone, "Son, listen to me and don't go anywhere. This old man has gone crazy. I don't know what charlatan he believed in. He wants to sacrifice you and become an immortal himself! Let's call Taoist Wang right away and have him exorcise the evil spirits from your father. Come..."
"Enough!" Chen Deyin snatched Shen Fang's phone, sighed, and changed his tone to a negotiating tone: "Fang, you misunderstood me! Why do you think I want to harm my son? He is my only son, why would I harm him?"
Shen Fang's mood also calmed down a little. She looked at her husband half-believingly and half-doubtingly, her eyes still full of scrutiny: "I heard everything you said on the phone that day. Didn't you secretly keep some charlatan behind my back?"
Chen Songling was shocked: "Raise? Male or female."
"Nonsense," Chen Deyin said sullenly, looking around as if he was worried about offending someone. "Since you've heard it, I won't hide it from you. Yes, I've worked for a master over the years, but she's not a charlatan, nor is she out to harm us. She's a true master."
He frowned, gritted his teeth, stared at the two people in front of him, and lowered his voice: "How do you think our Chen family has come this far? Is it luck? Isn't it because of the masters who have been secretly supporting my father and my grandfather's generation?"
Shen Fang looked at him infatuatedly, as if she had never really known the man beside her.
Chen Deyin sank into the sofa, his hands folded, and sighed, "You are my family, I shouldn't hide it. Xiaojun has grown up, so it's good for him to listen."
"Our Chen family made our fortune in the 1920s. You haven't heard how we made our money, have you?"
Chen Songling said coyly: "Grandpa is running a business..."
Chen Deyin laughed: "Bullshit!"
Chen Songling was shocked.
"They rely on their evil hearts and make money from human lives."
Shen Fang suddenly fell onto the sofa: "That year, a small newspaper said that the Chen family got their start by being a human trafficker..."
Chen Deyin nodded, his expression calm: "It's true."
Chen Songling's face turned pale, his throat was dry, and he didn't know what to say.
"But that was just a beginning, not the real reason for the Chen family's rise."
Chen Deyin was silent for a moment, and finally told the story that had been lingering in his heart, as if relieved of a heavy burden.
"Back then, there was a drought in the north, and families along the way were selling their children. Your great-grandfather, Chen Rongqing, followed the refugees south, doing some 'business' along the way. It was there that he met a girl..."
In 1922, there was a severe famine in the north, with barren wilderness stretching for thousands of miles and refugees pouring in.
Chen Rongqing and his wife Zhang Yanfang were also among the "refugees". They were dressed simply and carried a heavy box with them.
Although the banknotes of major banks are light, they may not be able to be used in these places. They have to be silver dollars and silver dimes, or at least copper coins.
These days, a piece of light paper can hardly give people a sense of security.
Chen Rongqing planned to wait until he found some good goods on this trip, take them to Hecheng in the south to make some money, and then retire and settle down there.
"Hey, look over there!" Zhang Yanfang pulled his sleeve and pointed to the side.
The place they passed by was a deserted village that had been ravaged by drought for a long time. The village was quiet, the beams of the houses were rotten and weak, and there was not even a big yellow dog to be seen. Perhaps there were few living people left.
But under the half earthen wall, there were actually three or five people gathered around a broken pot, with numb expressions and dull eyes, constantly adding firewood to boil water. A girl was tied to the tree stump. Her face was pale and she looked confused. She seemed unaware of her current situation and even looked around. Her eyes happened to meet Chen Rongqing and the others.
Chen Rongqing turned his head and looked at the appearance of the three or five people. He shuddered in his heart. He felt that in troubled times, people and ghosts could not be distinguished. A mountain flood or a severe drought could make people neither human nor ghosts.
Looking back, I find it ridiculous and funny that I have been doing unethical business for seven or eight years, yet I still pretend to have compassion.
For some unknown reason, Chen Rongqing and his wife exchanged the girl for the few dry food they had with them.
After that, the girl followed Chen Rongqing and his wife and joined the team heading south.
Throughout the journey, Chen Rongqing looked back repeatedly, seeing the girl neither crying nor laughing, neither complaining nor tired. Her steps seemed light, yet she never fell behind, as if possessing boundless strength. Her gaze always passed over the fleeing crowds, gazing into the distant horizon, or gazing at the blades of grass and trees by the roadside. Her gaze held a sense of transcendental detachment, as if the struggles of life and death and the widespread suffering around her were but a silent pantomime.
Chen Rongqing was secretly shocked. He had an idea that was like a fairy tale: this girl didn't look like a child.
Not even like a living person.
Zhang Yanfang occasionally asked the girl's name. The girl could speak, but she was very frugal with words and her accent was a bit strange, with a bit of difficult and obscure ancient charm. It took the couple a lot of effort to figure out that she said that no one called her name after she woke up, so she didn't know.
Although Chen Rongqing was confused, he still "kindly" gave the girl a name, "Xiu Xiu".
Zhang Yanfang felt surprised and bitter. Perhaps it was retribution for their wicked deeds. Their little daughter, born the year before last and named "Yuxiu," had died the previous year. It was because of this that they were considering retiring and settling in Hecheng.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yanfang showed even more care and compassion towards "Xiu Xiu", as if she treated this girl as their lost daughter.
Xiuxiu appears quiet and well-behaved most of the time, and doesn't stand out in the crowd, but only Chen Rongqing and his wife know that she is not an ordinary child.
Her learning ability is astonishingly fast.
On the day she was picked up, she could not speak very well. But by the evening, she had learned to speak fluently from listening to other people's words. By the next day, even her accent was almost the same.
The longer they get along, the stronger Xiuxiu's "inhumanity" becomes, so strong that it makes people inexplicably awed.
In particular, when they once again passed through a drought-stricken village, the leading group suddenly burst into screams, and someone began to cry out: "Dead people! So many dead people!"
People were so panicked that they dared not move forward. When Chen Rongqing squeezed over to take a look, he found that the ground at the entrance of the village was littered with corpses.
Unlike the corpses of those who had starved to death before, these people had hideous faces, and their bodies were not the skin and bones of those who had experienced a long period of famine. Instead, they showed a strange sense of fullness. This strange sense of disharmony in the corpses made everyone feel uncomfortable and even more terrified.
"Let's hurry through the village! These people might have been attacked by bandits..."
The crowd was in a panic, and just as Chen Rongqing was about to pull his wife back, he saw Xiuxiu suddenly go against the flow of people, slowly walk forward, and squat down beside a corpse.
Chen Rongqing was suddenly stunned, and his eyes were filled with even more intense fear.
Xiuxiu grabbed both sides of the corpse's belly with both hands, and with a "swish", she tore it open.
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