Chapter 97 Centipede
The morning sun is warm, shining on the fields, full of vitality.
The whole shed had completely lost the eerie atmosphere of last night, and standing outside the shed one could smell the scent of incense ash.
Xie Liang walked into the shed, and Lu Bubu and Niu Dadan followed him in.
The red lanterns hanging in the shed were still lit, and through the red curtains, there was a stone statue of the river god enshrined inside.
This stone statue looks the same as the river god statue in the temple, but it is much smaller and more crude.
There were some fresh fruits and vegetables on the table of the stone statue, and three sticks of incense were inserted in the incense burner.
Someone must have come early in the morning to worship the river god statue in the shed.
Lu Bubu casually picked up a cucumber, wiped it on the hem of his clothes, and began to chew it: "This is outrageous! What kind of river god is this? It's just a snake!"
"In ancient times, snakes were believed to be gods that could control water and the rulers of rivers. It's not too outrageous." Xie Liang said.
"Do you smell anything?" Niu Dadan sniffed the ground with his nose raised.
"The smell of incense ash." Xie Liang said.
"That's not it."
After Lu Bubu finished eating the cucumber, he rubbed his hands on his clothes and asked, "What is that?"
Niu Dadan's face was solemn: "The smell of a dead person."
Xie Liang and Lu Bubu looked at him blankly and shook their heads when they heard this.
"There's no mistake. My nose is naturally able to smell scents that others can't." Niu Dadan said as he began to rummage through the straw stalks on the ground.
Soon, he had piled up all the straw on the ground near the statue, revealing the wet mud.
There were actually large bloodstains of varying depths on the muddy ground! Most of the bloodstains had turned brown and seeped into the yellow soil, forming patches of bloodstains.
Xie Liang squatted down upon seeing this, reached out and picked up a handful of dirt and smelled it: "It looks like human blood."
"More than one person, at least three or more people." Niu Dadan said.
There were also some bone fragments mixed in the soil, small and sharp, and Xie Liang also found a few human teeth among them.
"What's going on?" Lu Bubu asked.
"The people in the shed last night..." Niu Dadan said.
Xie Liang frowned: "What we saw last night was most likely not a human."
"What kind of person is this? How dare you kill someone in front of the statue?"
Lu Bubu snorted coldly when he heard this: "Why should I be afraid? God is just a legend. Who has ever seen him?"
As soon as Lu Bubu finished speaking, there was a rustling sound coming from the stone statue.
The stone statue actually began to tremble slightly! The three of them walked over in surprise and suspicion.
When they approached, the statue stopped moving again. The three of them walked around the statue and observed it, but they couldn't find out what was going on.
With a "click", the mirror in the statue's hand suddenly fell to the ground.
Xie Liang bent down and picked it up. This mirror was just an ordinary bronze mirror, nothing special.
Just as Xie Liang was about to put the mirror back into the hands of the stone statue, he suddenly saw in the reflection in the mirror - his lips moved twice!
Xie Liang was stunned, and the mirror in his hand fell to the ground with a "bang".
The man in the mirror looked sad and deathly, his lips clearly saying "accept his fate." It was so strange. Who was that person in the mirror?
Seeing that he looked dazed, Lu Bubu walked towards him, bent down and picked up the bronze mirror.
"Hey bro, what are you doing? Are you stunned by how handsome you are?" Lu Bubu looked in the mirror and touched his buzz cut.
Xie Liang was startled and suspicious. He snatched the mirror away and looked at it again. When he moved, the mirror image also moved; when he was still, the mirror image also was still. Could it be that he was just dazzled?
"Still taking pictures? You look so handsome." Lu Bubu muttered as he took the bronze mirror again and made faces at it.
"Bubu, do you feel that there is something wrong with this mirror?" Xie Liang said.
"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just a little old."
Niu Dadan walked towards Xie Liang after hearing this: "What's wrong?"
Xie Liang shook his head and said, "Nothing, maybe I'm dazzled."
At this moment, the stone statue began to shake again, and the shaking became more and more intense. With a "pop", the head of the stone statue rolled down.
Countless black centipedes as big as fingers crawled out from the broken neck of the stone statue!
More and more centipedes swarmed out, forming a massive mass. They quickly followed the smell and crawled towards Xie Liang and the others.
"Let's go out first!" Niu Dadan said as he retreated.
"Damn! Where did so many of these come from?" Lu Bu pulled Xie Liang up and ran out of the shed.
The centipedes slowly flowed to the threshold of the shed like black water.
Seeing that the centipedes did not chase them, they stopped not far outside the shed.
"What's going on with so many centipedes?" Niu Dadan asked.
"I don't know, but they eat people." Xie Liang said, "I want to go back and take a look."
Xie Liang walked back to the shed. He wanted to see what was going on with those centipedes.
When he reached the threshold of the shed, Xie Liang discovered that these centipedes were afraid of the sun. They hid in places in the shed where the sun couldn't reach them, and stretched their bodies as if they were sensing something.
Some centipedes have slowly crawled back into the statue, while some are still crawling around unwillingly in the shade of the shed.
"What are you doing here!?"
A stern voice was heard, and Xie Liang quickly turned his head to look.
It turned out to be Village Chief Bai. He didn't look as friendly as last night at all, and looked like he was suppressing his anger.
"We've fallen behind." Xie Liang said without changing his expression.
Village Chief Bai glared at Xie Liang and the others and walked into the shed.
Just as he passed Xie Liang, Xie Liang smelled a strange fragrance.
Niu Dadan also smelled the scent, and he and Xie Liang looked at each other.
"Hey guys, what are you guys standing there staring at?" Lu Bubu said as he walked towards the shed.
Before Xie Liang could grab him, he had already walked into the shed.
The centipedes that were crawling around before all crawled back towards the stone statue after Village Chief Bai approached. Village Chief Bai bent down and picked up the stone statue's head that had fallen to the ground, apparently wanting to put it back.
"Ahhh! Holy shit!" Lu Bubu suddenly yelled.
"What's wrong!" Xie Liang hurriedly stepped over the threshold and ran into the shed.
"I don't know, my legs suddenly can't move!" Lu Bubu stretched out his hand and kept hitting the thigh that stood straight but couldn't move.
Xie Liang supported Lu Bubu and helped him to the grass outside the shed.
"Take off your pants." Xie Liang said.
Lu Bubu was shocked and embarrassed: "Brother...brother you...you..."
Xie Liang looked bewildered: "What about me?"
Lu Bubu looked determined: "Since it's what my brother likes, I won't struggle..."
Xie Liang understood and kicked him: "Do you still want your legs?"
"Yes, yes, yes, quickly show us what's going on." Lu Bubu said hurriedly.
Just as Lu Bubu was lying on the grass and twisting and turning to take off his pants, Village Chief Bai walked towards him with his hands behind his back.
He walked straight to Lu Bubu and squatted down, reaching one hand into the trouser leg of Lu Bubu's immobile thigh and groping around. After a while, his hand curled up as if holding something, and he stood up and walked towards the shed again.
"What is this old man doing? Why is he talking nonsense?" Lu Bu asked.
Xie Liang followed Village Chief Bai towards the shed.
Village Chief Bai was holding a centipede in his hand. He placed the centipede on the nostrils of the stone statue with its head already installed. The black centipede immediately crawled into the nostrils of the stone statue.
Xie Liang stood outside the shed, staring at Village Chief Bai's back and asked, "Is this what you are offering?"
Village Chief Bai walked out of the shed upon hearing this. As he passed by Xie Liang, he said in a warning tone, "Don't go in if you don't want to die. If you have time, go to the altar and help."
After saying that, he ignored Xie Liang and the others and walked straight towards the river bank.
Lu Bubu had taken off his pants, and there was a small clamp mark on his calf.
"Was it a centipede bite?" Niu Dadan asked.
"Damn it, how come that old man is okay?"
Xie Liang walked towards Lu Bubu: "He has a smell, so insects won't bite him."
"What's that smell? The smell of old people?" Lu Bubu said as he put his pants back on.
"It's the smell of herbs. I smelled it as soon as he came close to me." Niu Dadan said.
"What the hell is this damn village chief doing?" Lu Bubu stood up cursing and jumped to Xie Liang's side.
"He just warned us not to go into the shed if we don't want to die." Xie Liang said.
"Who? That old man?" Lu Bu said.
"Well, those centipedes can make people lose their ability to move when they bite them." Xie Liang said.
"Damn it! I was just wondering why my leg suddenly stopped moving when it was fine."
Niu Dadan sighed and said, "A lot of people must have died in that shed. This kind of death without leaving any trace is too cruel."
"Someone deliberately covered the blood-stained ground with straw, hoping we wouldn't find them," Xie Liang said. "They were raising these centipedes."
Xie Liang thought about it, found two bamboo poles, and together with Niu Dadan, lifted the straw on the ground in the shed.
After doing all this, Xie Liang also wrote on the mud in front of the door: "There are insects, danger, do not enter!"
Xie Liang threw away the bamboo pole, turned to Lu Bu and the others and said, "Let's go."
Lu Bubu scratched his head: "Where to?"
Xie Liang looked at the vast river in the distance and said softly, "Riverside, altar."
The three of them walked along the river bank towards the outskirts of the village. This big river looked like a village protection river, winding around the outskirts of the village, vast and boundless.
After walking for about an hour, a tall altar appeared on the distant river bank.
The altar is located on the outskirts of the central area of the village. Most of it is made of stacked stones, with a small roof on top and wooden railings around it.
At this time, the altar was crowded with young strong men who were busy with renovations. There were also many men, women, old and young gathered under the altar, busy tying red silk on the railings of the altar.
A gust of wind blew, and the red silk tied on the railings fluttered in the river breeze, and an atmosphere of feudal superstition spread.
"Is there really a river god?" Niu Dadan asked.
"What river god? It's just a superstitious activity at most." Lu Bu preached.
Niu Dadan stared at the people on the altar, frowned, and said, "Using living people as stakes just out of superstition?"
The three of them quickened their pace and walked towards the altar.
The busy villagers didn't notice Xie Liang and the others at all, and they all lowered their heads to focus on the work at hand.
Some of them were busy tying red silk, some were busy covering the corroded and worn stones on the altar, and some were busy cleaning the pebbles and shells they had picked up and piling them under the altar.
Xie Liang and his companions hid behind a big tree higher up on the river bank and watched the villagers busying around.
Half an hour later, several villagers passed by them carrying some stones and long pillars.
The men inserted the thick wooden pillars into the large round hole in the center of the altar and threw stones down. The entire inside of the altar seemed empty as they poured down a lot of stones.
Lu Bubu scratched his head and asked, "What are they doing?"
"Hit a living stake?" Niu Dadan asked uncertainly.
"As far as I know, driving living piles means throwing living people into the piers when building them, and pouring them into the piers together. This altar..." Xie Liang shook his head, "I don't understand it either."
"Could it be that there's nothing under the altar, so they call this piling?" Niu Dadan asked.
Xie Liang looked at the villagers mixing lime mortar not far away and said, "If it's true, they should throw those chosen descenders in when they have almost filled the stone."
"Could it have been filled in?" Niu Dadan asked.
"I don't know, but I'll find out if I ask someone." Xie Liang said, "You wait here for me."
On the river bank far away from the crowd, there was a little boy about eight years old playing by himself. Xie Liang walked towards him while no one was paying attention.
After approaching the little boy, Xie Liang squatted down beside him: "Little boy, what are you playing?"
The little boy glanced at Xie Liang, then lowered his head to play with the pebbles in his hand: "Who are you?"
"I'm here to help." Xie Liang took out a pocket watch from his bag and handed it to the little boy, "This is for you."
The little boy's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he stared at the exquisite pocket watch in Xie Liang's hand. After hesitating for a few seconds, he quickly reached out and took it.
"Are those people busy driving piles?" Xie Liang asked, pointing at the villagers who were busy pouring stones into the center of the altar.
Hearing this, the little boy turned his eyes away from his pocket watch and looked at what Xie Liang was pointing at: "Yeah."
"Is the fight over after the rocks are thrown?"
The little boy glanced at Xie Liang, then lowered his head to play with the pocket watch Xie Liang gave him: "Not yet, there are still four people who haven't been thrown down."
This means that four have already been thrown down. Xie Liang asked softly, "Where are the remaining four?"
"Mom is right. You guys are just like fools." Without even looking up, the little boy pointed to the puddle of water piled with stones under the altar. "It's soaking right there."
Xie Liang felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly strode towards that place.
After approaching the puddle, Xie Liang saw that the four men soaking in it had sunk to the bottom and there was no sign of life.
At this time, several villagers walked towards the puddle, and Xie Liang hurriedly walked towards the big tree on the higher river bank where he was before.
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