Chapter 96 Cutting Trees
Village Chief Bai led Xie Liang and the other two along the bluestone road. The road became deeper and deeper, and there were fewer and fewer houses on both sides of the road.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, they finally stopped in front of a temple with a plaque that read "River God Temple."
The two gates in front of the temple were closed. Village Chief Bai raised his hand and knocked on the door, "Dong Dong..."
"Lao Hei, open the door, there are a few latecomers!" Village Chief Bai shouted.
After a while, the door creaked open from the inside.
A dark-skinned man who looked to be in his forties or fifties said respectfully, "Village Chief, do you have any instructions?"
Village Chief Bai sighed and said, "Let's take them inside. We'll follow the old rules and let them draw lots themselves tomorrow morning."
"Okay." The dark-skinned man turned sideways and motioned Xie Liang and the others to go in.
Xie Liang and the other two stepped over the threshold and walked in.
After seeing them go in, Village Chief Bai turned around and was about to leave.
Niu Dadan asked hurriedly, "Why are we drawing lots?"
Village Chief Bai turned back upon hearing this and asked in surprise, "You don't know?"
Niu Dadan looked hesitant and didn't say anything for a while.
Lu Bubu scratched his head and said, "I don't know. Tell us about it."
Village Chief Bai glanced at Lu Bubu and looked at the middle-aged man called Lao Hei: "Do those people inside know?"
Lao Hei looked puzzled: "Don't they know?"
Village Chief Bai seemed to understand something and said calmly, "No wonder so many people came this time. Take them over and talk to them."
Lao Hei nodded: "Yes, any other instructions?"
"Get the live pile out as soon as possible." Village Chief Bai said and left.
After Village Chief Bai left, Lao Hei re-bolted the two wooden doors.
"Come with me." He walked in front, leading Xie Liang and the others into the temple hall where yellow lanterns were lit.
The entrance to this river god temple is a small courtyard with several side rooms on each side. There are two towering locust trees in the courtyard and a long bluestone road.
They walked along the bluestone road, and soon they saw the River God Temple hidden in the shade of trees.
In the middle of the tall hall sits a finely carved stone statue about three meters high, painted in red and green. It is a statue of a compassionate woman with lowered eyebrows and eyes, showing pity for all living beings, and holding a large bronze mirror shining with golden light in her hand.
Although the stone statue is finely carved, many parts are bumpy, mottled and faded, and it looks like it has been there for many years.
There were about twenty or thirty people sitting on the cushions under the stone statue. When they saw Xie Liang and the others coming, several of them stood up.
Lao Hei led Xie Liang and the others up the stairs and walked to the spacious open space in the hall. He waved to everyone in the hall: "Come here, come here!"
Everyone was confused and stood up and walked over.
Everyone stood around Lao Hei and surrounded him.
Lao Hei cleared his throat, his expression somewhat sad. He pondered for a moment before speaking, "In three days, it will be the triennial River God Festival. This time, it's our village's turn to preside over it. You..."
Lao Hei paused, his expression stony. "You are here to help. It is your mission to successfully complete the River God Ceremony. Tonight, the deity will select eight of you to drive the pilings for the altar."
The crowd began to make an uproar and whisper to each other.
Lao Hei ignored the noise and shouted even louder, "Don't try to escape. God is watching you."
The woman whom Xie Liang had seen on the cliff edge before, the one Ah San called Xiaoxi, stepped forward and asked, "Old man, what is piling?"
Lao Hei glanced at her and said, "You will know tomorrow." Then he turned around and was about to leave.
A large man in a sweatshirt grabbed Lao Hei's arm, preventing him from leaving: "I want to know now. I can't wait until tomorrow."
Lao Hei smiled meaningfully and said, "There must be someone among you who knows. Just ask them." He shook off the big man's hand and turned to leave.
Several people walked out of the crowd and blocked Lao Hei's way.
Lao Hei looked at them gloomily, raised his head to glance at the river god statue, then turned his gaze back to them and continued to stare at them: "This is a very fair thing. Every village goes through this every three years. Don't feel dissatisfied."
Those people gradually dispersed under Lao Hei's gloomy gaze, and whispered:
"It's unclear what you said."
"Yeah, and there are so many people missing. Where did they go?"
"It's a shame. I still haven't seen my bonded partners."
Under everyone's gaze, Xie Liang walked up to Lao Hei and asked, "When will the rest of the people arrive?"
Lao Hei glanced at him and said calmly, "It will arrive in two or three days. Before that, we must hurry and renovate the altar."
"How many of them are there?"
"We don't know about that. The Heavenly Master says how many people are needed."
Xie Liang wanted to ask a few more questions, but Lao Hei had already pushed him away and walked out. Lao Hei pushed him with great force, and Xie Liang stumbled a few steps. Fortunately, Niu Dadan, who was standing beside him, helped him up and prevented him from falling.
Looking at Lao Hei's back as he left, Xie Liang felt a little depressed. Lao Hei had dark skin and a thin body, and it was hard to tell that he had so much strength.
Lu Bubu looked at the stunned Xie Liang and said, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Xie Liang came back to his senses: "No, let's find a futon to rest."
The three of them sat down in a secluded corner of the hall, with their backs to the stone statue.
"Brother, are my brother and sister with the other group?" Lu Bubu asked, holding up his face.
"It should be." Xie Liang said.
"How do you know there is another group of people?" Niu Dadan asked.
Xie Liang sat on the futon with his arms folded, looking drowsy. "Half the people are gone. It's only the first day. I don't think that many people will die."
"You are very smart." Niu Dadan said sincerely.
Xie Liang opened his eyes, looked at him, and said with certainty: "You guessed it too."
Niu Dadan smiled and said, "I just have a suspicion, but I'm not as sure as you are."
"Your companions are also here--" Before Xie Liang could finish his words, Niu Dadan interrupted him.
"I died in the first few copies." Niu Dadan said with a smile, looking a little lonely.
Lu Bubu patted Niu Dadan's shoulder and said, "What's the big deal? Come with us!"
"Thanks."
Lu Bubu patted Niu Dadan's shoulder and said, "You're welcome." Then he turned to look at Xie Liang and said, "Brother, the living stake that old man was talking about is not what we think of, right?"
"That's about right." Xie Liang said.
"Damn! It's bad luck to be chosen."
Niu Dadan: "That person said that the statue of the deity should be chosen. How do you choose the statue of the deity?"
Xie Liang shook his head: "Let's take a break."
As the night deepened, everything was silent, with only the rustling of lanterns in the wind as the only sound in the statue hall.
Gradually, everyone fell asleep sitting on the mats.
In the early morning, a shrill scream was heard.
Xie Liang quickly stood up from the mat and walked towards the direction of the sound.
Three people were lying on the open space in front of the statue, as if they had not yet woken up. Two women were sitting next to them, and the sound came from their mouths.
Almost everyone was woken up and stood up looking at each other with confusion on their faces.
Xie Liang walked towards them: "What's wrong?"
A woman in a blue floral chiffon shirt sat on the ground and trembled, "They..."
"What happened to them?" Lu Bubu, who followed, said as he squatted down towards one of the people lying on the ground.
He sniffed one of the men and asked, bewildered, "Still sleeping?" Then he shook the man's shoulders with both hands, "Hey! Wake up! You're still sleeping even though you've been mistaken for a corpse."
He shook the man for a long time, but the man still lay on the ground motionless.
"Damn! How could he sleep so soundly?" Lu Bubu said as he stood up and walked to Xie Liang and said, "It's okay, he's not dead."
Hearing the sound, almost everyone in the hall stood up and gathered around the people lying on the ground.
However, there were four women and one man who were exceptions. They were sitting cross-legged on the mats next to the three people who had fallen to the ground. They were so close that they seemed not to hear the noise.
All five of them had their eyes closed, their hands hanging naturally at their sides, and Xie Liang walked towards them.
"Wake up." Xie Liang said as he pushed one of the men's shoulders.
With a "click", the man fell limply to the ground!
Xie Liang hurriedly went over to check the man's breath, and he was still alive, but how could it be... He hurriedly shook the other four women, and without exception, they fell to the ground with their eyes closed.
There were four men and four women lying on the ground, exactly eight people. Could they be the ones chosen by the statue?
The crowd began to roar:
"What's going on?"
"Are they...are they dead?"
A few brave people squatted down and felt the breath of the fallen person, and then whispered to their companions.
Xie Liang was squatting on the ground and was about to stand up when he suddenly felt a chilling sensation as if someone was staring at him from behind.
He quickly stood up and turned to look behind him, but there was nothing. The people behind him were busy talking about the people lying on the ground, and no one was looking at him.
Moreover, he sensitively felt that the terrifying feeling did not come from a human.
Subconsciously, Xie Liang looked up at the tall stone statue—the statue's eyes were actually open!
That was absolutely right. Xie Liang remembered it very clearly. Last night, the female river god had her eyebrows lowered and looked compassionate. But now, her eyes were wide open, which stood out very much on the stone face, giving people a serious and solemn feeling.
At this moment, there was a sudden "creaking" sound from the other side of the gate, followed by many chaotic footsteps.
A group of people walked towards the River God Temple in a mighty procession, talking a lot as they passed through the shade of the old locust tree.
It was Village Chief Bai, who came over with a group of strong men from the village. The middle-aged man named Lao Hei was also standing on the side.
Village Chief Bai and Lao Hei walked up the stairs into the hall, while the rest of the people waited outside the hall.
Village Chief Bai walked up to the crowd and said, "Carry your companions and follow us up the riverbank."
The woman named Xiaoxi asked coldly, "On the riverbank? What for?"
"You guys want to go back quickly too, right? Don't delay." Village Chief Bai said.
"You use living people to drive piles?" Xie Liang stepped forward and asked.
He sneered when he heard this: "Those marked by the river god are no longer alive. We can still tell the difference between eight dead and an entire village dead."
"Don't waste time." Village Chief Bai said, turning around and saying to the group of people outside the hall, "Aman, take people and carry the person away."
A strong man named Aman came up with a group of people and stood in front of Xie Liang and others. Then he directed another group of people to carry the eight people out.
Village Chief Bai glanced at the statue and said to the crowd, "Go up the mountain with Lao Hei to cut down trees. Don't stay in the temple all the time."
Most of the adventers looked at each other, and no one spoke.
Village Chief Bai waved his hand to signal Aman who was standing nearby, and Aman asked the group of people surrounding Xie Liang and the others to disperse.
"Aman, take people with you." said Village Chief Bai.
"Brothers, let's go." Aman said as he led the remaining group of people out of the River Temple.
After those people left, Village Chief Bai said to Lao Hei, "I'll go back and prepare something. You take them with you." After that, he walked down the stairs to the outside of the hall.
"Yes, village chief." Lao Hei watched Village Chief Bai leave.
"Let's go, we are going to cut down cypress trees today." Lao Hei said to the many descenders who stayed behind.
Xiaoxi asked, "What is it used for?"
Lao Hei glanced at her and explained without much patience: "Of course it is used to worship the river god." Then he walked towards the palace.
Everyone was confused and had no choice but to follow.
Lao Hei took them to a side room in the temple, where eight axes were placed on a wooden table.
"Hurry up and take the hatchet and follow me!" said Lao Hei.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Adventers swarmed over the small table to grab the axes.
Xie Liang, Lu Bubu and Niu Dadan were pushed out of the door by the surging crowd.
Afterwards, Lao Hei led them out of the gate and walked towards the farmland outside the village.
The further they walked, the more familiar Xie Liang felt. The road under his feet was clearly the same road they took when they entered the village.
After walking for another ten minutes, Xie Liang saw from afar the shed where red lanterns were hung last night.
Xie Liang, who was walking at the back of the team, slowed down as he walked. Seeing this, Lu Bubu and Niu Dadan followed him and walked at the back of the team.
It seemed that no one noticed that they had fallen behind, and the distance between the three of them and the group was getting farther and farther.
"Brother Xie Liang, don't you want to go cut down trees?" Niu Dadan asked.
Lu Bubu suddenly realized and said, "No wonder the young man is walking slower and slower. I was wondering why."
Xie Liang pointed to a shed not far away and said, "Let's find a place to hide first. We'll go check that shed after they leave."
Afterwards, the three people who were seriously lagging behind hid in the grass when they passed a grassy slope while no one was paying attention.
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