Chapter 99 Centipede Larvae
The center of the altar was extremely spacious, the air was moist, and there was a strange fragrance and the smell of rotting dead leaves in the air.
The tall wooden platform built with locust wood was surrounded by clusters of purple herbs, just like the ones Xiaoxi had given to Xie Liang before.
"Wait a moment, I'll get you a flashlight." Xie Liang said as he pressed the button on the top of the storage ring and waited for another spare shoulder bag to pop out.
A minute later, Xie Liang took out two flashlights from the spare bag, and then put the spare bag back with the storage ring.
Several people held flashlights and climbed along the high wooden platform all the way to the bottom of the altar.
Some of the locust wood used to build the wooden platform has rotted, while some look newly replaced.
There was a wisp of white mist at the bottom of the pit, and a stale smell of decay filled the air, faintly mixed with the smell of stale blood.
As soon as Lu Bubu reached the bottom of the altar, he sneezed uncontrollably: "Damn! What's that smell? It's so stinky."
"Be careful." Xie Liang said.
The entire space in the center of the altar is circular, with a hard cement floor at the bottom. The circular ground is surrounded by a half-person-high stone platform made of cement.
And the cement platform was filled with empty, grim skeletons dressed in tattered clothes!
"Damn! What the hell is this!" Lu Bubu said in surprise.
Xie Liang walked closer to one of the crimson skeletons and observed it carefully.
"They are all fake!" Xie Liang said in surprise.
"What?" asked Niu Dadan, who was standing next to him.
It turns out that so-called feudal superstitions are false. The idea that men are yang and women are yin is false, and the practice of making a living stake is even more false. That person deliberately attributed all this to offering sacrifices to the river god, but in fact he was secretly using these outsiders to feed the insects!
"Look at his clothes. He's one of the Adventers who was soaked in the water today." Xie Liang shone the flashlight on the crimson skeleton, which bore many tiny bite marks. "These are signs of insect bites."
"But why are they doing this?" Niu Dadan was puzzled.
"I don't know, but there must be a secret that cannot be told." Xie Liang said as he used a flashlight to observe along the circular cement platform.
The stone platform was filled with old skeletons of varying ages. Some were dressed in ragged clothes, carrying different shoulder bags or backpacks behind or in front of them, while some were completely bare, with nothing on their bodies.
Xie Liang walked along the cement platform, looking at these different skeletons.
When Xie Liang's eyes fell on a skeleton wearing a mottled and ragged white shirt, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he hurried forward to take a closer look.
Then, he stood there in a daze as if he had been struck by lightning!
Seeing his stunned look, Niu Dadan asked in confusion, "What's wrong with this skeleton?"
Xie Liang looked at Niu Dadan in astonishment and was speechless for a long time.
Lü Bubu noticed something was wrong with the two men and walked towards them: "What's wrong?"
Xie Liang's face turned pale. After realizing what was happening, he pointed at the skeleton wearing a white shirt covered in wormholes and said in a heavy tone, "This... this is me..."
Lu Bubu looked confused: "Brother, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Niu Dadan's face turned ugly when he heard this, and he quickly reached out and took the skeleton out from among the many skeletons.
He placed the skeleton on the concrete floor, picked up the bag on the skeleton, and compared it with the bag on Xie Liang's body using a flashlight.
"Brother, we have the same items!" Lu Bubu said, "It's not a big deal, you two. It's not a big deal. You scared me so much."
Niu Dadan: "Could it be a coincidence?"
Xie Liang's face turned pale as he shook his head. "There's no such coincidence. The clothes and the bag are exactly the same. The most important thing is the steel nail in the humerus. There's no mistake. I had it inserted when I was eight years old, and it's still in my body!"
No matter how dumb Lu Bubu was, he could tell something was wrong. He immediately picked up the skeleton on the ground and began to examine it.
After a while, he carefully placed the skeleton back on the ground and said in a dumbfounded voice, "Brother... if this is you, then... who are you?"
Then, Xie Liang found skeletons that resembled Lu Bubu and Niu Dadan in that circle of skeletons.
"What's going on? Did we die here a long time ago?" Niu Dadan asked in surprise.
Lu Bubu held the skeleton that looked like his own and looked left and right: "It really looks like mine. The height and clothes are exactly the same as mine!"
Xie Liang looked at him like a fool and sighed: "Go up first."
As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound was heard.
Niu Dadan asked cautiously, "What is that?"
Lu Bubu quickly dropped the skeleton in his hand and went to look for the source of the sound with Xie Liang and Niu Dadan.
The three of them stood together, holding flashlights, and walked towards the direction where the sound came from.
There was a secret passage half a person's height at the bottom of the altar, and dense centipedes were pouring out from there!
After finding skeletons similar to theirs, Xie Liang had not noticed this secret passage because it was blocked by many old skeletons and thatch piled there.
The centipedes crawled out and quickly formed a circle around them. They seemed to be hesitant and only crawled around the cement platform, not rushing towards them.
"Why don't they come over?" Lu Bu asked.
"There are medicinal herbs scattered on the ground, and many are hanging on the shelves of the wooden platform. They are afraid of this kind of grass." Xie Liang said.
Niu Dadan pulled Xie Liang back towards the wooden frame: "Get out first."
The three of them quickly crawled towards the wooden frame. Seeing that they were about to leave, the group of centipedes surged and crawled towards them desperately.
These thumb-thick centipedes were more than ten centimeters long. After crawling near the herbs scattered on the ground, they struggled for a few times and then stopped moving, as if they had been pricked.
But behind them, a steady stream of centipedes swarmed towards them.
They climbed up the wooden rack as if they were risking their lives, but fell down because of the herbs hanging on the rack.
Xie Liang and the others had already climbed onto the wooden platform, but because it was some distance from the cave entrance, Lu Bubu tried several times but failed to jump up.
"Bubu," Xie Liang said, "Let me do it."
"My legs are still a little numb," Lu Bubu said as he squatted down, "Brother, try stepping on me."
At this time, several centipedes jumped up, and Niu Dadan hurriedly took out his long sickle and knocked them down.
Xie Liang stepped onto Lu Bubu's shoulders, kicked his long legs, and jumped upwards, his hands just brushing the edge of the altar.
"Come again!" Lu Bu said.
Xie Liang stepped on Lu Bubu's shoulders again. As he exerted force to leap upward, Lu Bubu pushed his shoulders upward, and Xie Liang firmly grasped the edge of the altar with both hands!
Xie Liang seized the opportunity and climbed up with all his strength.
After climbing onto the altar, he took out the rope from his bag and threw it down without even taking a breath.
After pulling Lu Bubu and Niu Dadan up one after another, Xie Liang half leaned on the oval boulder and gasped.
"Damn! I was so scared! When did they come?" Lu Bubu said in surprise as he looked at the crowd of people under the altar.
Upon hearing this, Xie Liang quickly stood up and looked in the direction he was looking.
The altar was filled with villagers holding torches. Village chief Bai walked in front and led the villagers towards them.
Village Chief Bai walked up to the three of them, his face filled with an unfathomable sorrow. "Why do you insist on digging into this?"
"I just want to know why you made up such a lie?" Xie Liang said.
Village Chief Bai stood with his hands behind his back, turned his back to Xie Liang and the other two, and said, "It's okay to tell you, those are the larvae of the centipede monster. Once they grow up, they will naturally go into the mountains."
"Why use your own kind to nourish such evil things?" Niu Dadan asked, staring at his back.
A villager beside Village Chief Bai said angrily, "Do you think we want to do this? If we don't do this, the whole village will suffer a devastating disaster!"
"So you made up a river god?" Xie Liang said.
"It's not a fabrication," Village Chief Bai said, turning around. "Our village has worshipped the river god for generations. One year, a severe flood struck the village, and centipedes wreaked havoc. Many people were gnawed to the point of being reduced to mere bones. Fortunately, an accomplished Taoist priest passed by and helped us resolve the disaster."
"Then what?" Niu Dadan asked.
"Alas..." Village Chief Bai sighed. "Our village and several surrounding villages have relied on the Dragon River for generations. Farmland irrigation and daily life are inseparable from this great river. The triennial River God Festival is very cost-effective..."
"Old man, I don't understand at all. Who of you organized this river god sacrifice?" Lu Bu said.
"Then I'll let you die knowing full well!" said Village Chief Bai. "The River God Festival is an agreement reached between the Heavenly Master and the centipede demon in the mountains. The centipede demon comes to the village to lay eggs every three years. We just need to help her raise her young, and the Heavenly Master will find a way to take them away from the village."
Niu Dadan: "Didn't they say that the River God Festival is a rotation among several villages? How come…"
Village Chief Bai didn't say anything else, and his wrinkled face looked a little gloomy.
"Because they lied, the people in other villages had no idea that the River God's sacrifice was to a centipede demon," Xie Liang said. "That's why we were completely clueless. If I'm not mistaken, every River God's sacrifice is held at this altar, which is why there are so many skeletons at the bottom of the altar, gnawed clean by young centipedes."
"Old man, this is just an insect plague. Why are you taking it so far?" Lu Bu said.
"This is the agreement that the Heavenly Master helped us reach. He will return tomorrow with the people he selected from several villages downstream. Unfortunately, you won't live to see that day."
Village Chief Bai waved his hand and several villagers immediately surrounded Xie Liang and the other two.
"Why can't we live to that day?" Xie Liang asked, "The sacrifice hasn't started yet, has it?"
"That's true, but the larvae have hatched early, so you have to go on your journey earlier." Village Chief Bai said resentfully.
"Don't you want to kill that centipede monster?" Xie Liang said.
"If you can kill him, you should have done it long ago. Why do you need to say anything?" A villager holding a torch said coldly.
"I have another question," Xie Liang asked, "How do the river god statues in the temple choose their people? Why are the statues' eyes wide open during the day, but droopy at night?"
"I had Lao Hei hide a poisonous insect inside the statue ahead of time. After being bitten, they naturally fall into a deep sleep. As for the statue opening its eyes, it's because sunlight can activate the mechanism inside." Village Chief Bai said, turning and walking towards the altar stairs. "Alright, throw them down to feed the insects."
A large group of strong villagers suddenly crowded onto the altar and surrounded Xie Liang and the other two tightly, making it impossible for anyone to get in.
Immediately afterwards, they rushed towards Xie Liang and the other two.
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