Chapter 467 Sacrifice to the Gods
A Chong began to tell the legend of the "curse" in this village.
It turns out that there has always been a strange phenomenon in Biquan Village. Whenever outsiders pass through the village, they often fall ill shortly after leaving.
If outsiders stay overnight in the village, they may often encounter the same "encounter with ghosts" as Zhu Lan did. In the past, some people have even been scared crazy.
The man later became crazy and kept saying that there were ghosts in the village. The villagers didn't believe him, so he thought that the villagers were in league with those "ghosts". One night, when everyone was asleep, he took a torch and wanted to burn the whole village to ashes.
Fortunately, the village chief at that time discovered and stopped him in time, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
"When did this happen?" Zhu Lan asked.
"I heard it was more than a hundred years ago. Anyway, it was a long, long time ago." Ah Chong said, "Ever since I can remember, the village has never welcomed outsiders."
Zhu Lan recalled what he saw and heard when he was dizzy, and asked hesitantly:
"Those strange black shadows... Has no one in your village ever seen them?"
Ah Chong shook his head.
"Because we have never seen it, we think it is weird and people are always in a panic.
Later, County Magistrate Kang came and learned about the situation in our village. He said that it must be because Biquan Village worshipped the mountain god that it was not contaminated by those dirty things. After hearing this, everyone understood and felt much more relieved, so every household began to worship the mountain god.
Outsiders do not believe in the mountain god, so they naturally cannot receive protection. We do not entertain outsiders for their own good, so that they will not be contaminated by the evil spirits of the village."
Ah Chong said, tilting his head and asking Zhu Lan:
"Speaking of which, have you offended the county magistrate?
He clearly knows the situation in our village and would never place those exiled people here, so why did he let you come here..."
Zhu Lan did not answer this question, but asked him:
"I was out at night, how did you find me?"
A Chong said:
"It was very stormy at night, and grandma was worried that you might be scared, so she asked me to go check on you. I found that no one was at home, and I was afraid that you might get lost in the village, so I went out to look for you.
When we finally found you, you had fainted in the temple dedicated to the mountain god."
Mountain God...
The palm-sized clay sculpture of the mountain god was placed next to her. Zhu Lan stared at it and felt a little uncomfortable in her heart.
She spoke softly:
"There are no ghosts or gods in the world. There must be another reason behind the so-called 'curse' of your village."
When Ah Chong heard her say this, he was nervous for a moment, then lowered his voice and said:
“Actually—I don’t believe it either. I always feel like the county magistrate is fooling us.
The village now pays a "sacrifice tax" to the government every year when they worship the mountain god! "
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly covered his head and screamed "Ouch". When he turned around, Granny Sun appeared behind him with an angry look on her face.
"Who taught you these nonsense? Be careful not to anger the mountain god. Go kneel down in the temple!"
A Chong looked back at Zhu Lan hesitantly, and finally walked away with a look of grievance on his face.
"Grandma Sun, I want to go back to the ancestral hall and take a look." Zhu Lan suddenly said.
Granny Sun agreed readily, and even looked somewhat relieved. She brought Zhu Lan to the ancestral hall with the two red lanterns hanging on it again.
Grandma Sun lit a candle, and the ancestral hall suddenly became bright.
A clay sculpture as tall as a person was enshrined in the center of the ancestral hall. It had a hideous face, and it was exactly what Zhu Lan had seen before he fell into a coma.
There were fruits and fresh meat on the altar in front of the statue, which surprised Zhu Lan.
The Biquan Village is not wealthy, and the villagers can only eat meat during festivals. Despite such hardship, why do they spend such a huge price to worship an unknown wild god?
Grandma Sun knelt on the ground devoutly, kowtowed several times to the statue, and urged Zhu Lan to kneel down and kowtow quickly.
Zhu Lan smiled and said that he was a Buddhist and was afraid that Buddha would be angry if he worshipped other gods.
Grandma Sun stopped persuading her and took out the palm-sized mountain god statue. She softened her tone and said to Zhu Lan:
"Chong Ge'er is still young and has no hair on his face. Don't listen to his nonsense. This mountain god is very powerful.
When I was young, there was a scholar who also encountered a ghost in our village. Later, he stayed in the village for a while and worshipped the mountain god several times. He never encountered such a thing again.
Girl, take this little statue home and place it there to ward off evil spirits, and you'll be fine soon."
This time Zhu Lan did not refuse. She took the clay sculpture and asked casually:
"Grandma Sun, do the villagers usually get their drinking water from the ancient well at the entrance of the village?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
Zhu Lan said: "That well water... I had some stomachache after drinking it."
"We drink that water every day and there is nothing unusual about it."
Grandma Sun stuffed the clay sculpture into Zhu Lan's hands, and the one-eye came close to her, revealing a smile that made Zhu Lan feel a chill down her spine.
"Pray to the mountain god more often, and all the pain will go away..."
…
Zhu Lan returned to his home, and Grandma Sun's gravel-like voice seemed to still echo in his ears.
She lit a candle and looked closely at the statue of the mountain god. The ghostly face looked even more hideous under the flickering candlelight.
How can something that looks so evil deserve to be called "God"?
Zhu Lan sneered and casually put the clay sculpture into the cabinet.
She recalled everything that happened tonight and still felt that the well in the village was the most suspicious.
There was still half a bucket of well water left. Zhu Lan scooped up a bowl of water and put it to his nose to smell it, but there was nothing unusual.
She dipped her fingertip in it and tasted it, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Only this color... The ones used in the village are all brown, so it's really hard to see clearly.
Zhu Lan suddenly had an idea and something flashed through his mind.
Biquan Village.
Could this name really be related to the color of water?
The sound of roosters crowing was heard outside the window, the sky turned slightly white, and the rain that had been falling all night finally stopped.
Zhu Lan thought for a moment, stood up, pushed the door and walked out.
…
After hearing Zhu Lan's purpose, the village chief Lin Sanlang thought for a while and looked a little hesitant.
His family did have a pair of white porcelain bowls passed down from their ancestors, but white porcelain was so precious that his family members were reluctant to use them on a daily basis and treated them as treasures hidden in the bottom of the box.
But he knew that Zhu Lan came from the capital and had been a high-ranking official in the past, so he felt a sense of awe for no reason.
"Okay... just wait."
After Lin Sanlang entered the room for a while, he came out with two white porcelain bowls wrapped in layers of cloth.
"These two porcelain bowls are my wife's lifeblood. Please be careful and return them immediately after use."
Zhu Lan thanked Lin Sanlang and carefully carried the two porcelain bowls home.
She poured the well water into a bowl and looked it over under the sunlight.
After a moment, Zhu Lan frowned.
The clear water was served in a white porcelain bowl, which sometimes looked faintly green and sometimes completely transparent.
Zhu Lan couldn't be sure if it was just a psychological effect.
When the human eye recognizes colors, it is difficult to distinguish subtle differences between colors without a control group.
But how to find other water sources?
Zhu Lan had asked Ah Chong, and learned that the only source of water near the village was a lake across the canyon to the east, but this well was connected to that lake, and the water quality was the same.
Oh, it rained last night!
Zhu Lan's eyes lit up, but the rain had stopped by then and she hadn't used any container to collect the rain last night, so she couldn't wait until the next rain.
She decided to try her luck at Grandma Sun's house next door.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
