Chapter 172 High Platform
"Thump—thump-thump, thump!"
The distant sound of drums, seemingly from nowhere, awakened the loquat from the darkness.
He opened his eyes without warning and was immediately stung by the dazzling sunlight that flashed into them.
Instinctively, I reached out to shield my eyes, my small hand with fingers together, clearly the size of a child's...
--child?
Pipa paused slightly, then turned to look around.
It was a dilapidated fenced courtyard with a small well and a few low mud houses. The walls were cracked and covered with jagged, centipede-like fissures.
Looking up along the crack, Pipa saw that the thatched mat that was originally used as the eaves had many holes and had not been repaired in time.
As a result, the sky above leaked in directly through those holes of various sizes.
The blazing sun beat down like fire, and the scorching heat was stifling everywhere.
There wasn't a breath of wind; the air seemed to have solidified, trapping all the sweat inside the body.
When heat cannot be released through sweat, people feel even more suffocated and uncomfortable.
Pipa took a few slow breaths, but still felt a tightness in her chest, though her drowsy mind cleared up a bit.
Pipa remembered that this was his own home, his own courtyard, the place where he was born and grew up.
However, he seemed to have no memory of such a sweltering heat.
So, is this... a dream... or something else?
Pipa was puzzled. He slowly stood up, holding onto the steps, and limped around the house, the yard, and the surrounding area, but didn't see a single person.
I ended up getting really hot myself.
My mouth and throat were also extremely dry.
Pipa licked her lips, but before the saliva could moisten them, a sticky, rusty taste wafted from between her chapped lips, spreading a faint salty flavor on her tongue.
It's blood.
Pipa paused for a moment, then limped over to the place where she remembered her family storing water tanks.
I lifted the lid and peered down, but instead of smelling water, I smelled a dry, dusty odor.
It must have been a long time since water was stored in it.
Pipa then recalled the scene she had seen in the yard earlier.
The cracked earth in the courtyard, the broken rope by the well, and the withered loquat tree in the corner...
strangeness……
That's so strange...
—When exactly did this happen?
Just as Pipa was wondering what was going on, she suddenly heard a creaking sound coming from behind her.
Someone's at the door?!
Thinking of this, Pipa's heart skipped a beat, and then began to pound uncontrollably. She couldn't tell whether her heart was filled with more anticipation or fear.
He took a deep breath and suddenly turned around.
The open kitchen doorway was empty; there was no one in sight.
But he clearly heard the door creaking and rattling just now... Could it have been the wind?
Pipa made this guess, but didn't feel any movement of air at all.
There's no wind and no one around. Is this door possessed by a ghost?
Pipa was puzzled, and a strange thought flashed through her mind.
Even he himself found it absurd.
However, the next moment, he suddenly felt something touch his calf unexpectedly, something long and hairy... like a living thing!
Pipa was startled and lost her balance, landing hard next to the water vat. Fortunately, it was also on the muddy ground, so the fall didn't hurt too much.
But with that fall, the furry thing beside his legs suddenly jumped up and pounced on the loquat. This knocked the child, who was sitting on the ground, backward again, causing his head to hit the water vat.
"hiss--"
Pipa gasped in pain.
My head was spinning for a moment. My body was already weak, and the fall and bump made it hard to take the fall.
Just as Pipa was catching his breath while holding his head, he suddenly felt a strange sensation on his cheek. It was a little wet, a little cool, and had an indescribable grainy feel... It felt like a rough little tongue was licking his face.
Pipa stared wide-eyed and looked down cautiously at the thing stepping on her belly.
It was... a cat?
A white cat with green eyes.
Pipa paused for a moment, then blurted out, "Tang... Tangyuan..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the cat in front of her seemed to understand, blinked its eyes, and then rubbed its head against Pipa's chin.
The spot where the other person rubbed their head against wasn't as hot as I'd imagined; instead, it left a slightly cool sensation similar to what I'd felt before.
In this sweltering, dehydrated heat, such a feeling is almost refreshing.
But Pipa immediately realized that the cat in front of her couldn't possibly be Tangyuan—after all, Tangyuan definitely hadn't been born when she was that age.
Moreover, upon closer inspection, one would notice that this cat is much smaller and thinner than Tangyuan. It looks gaunt and emaciated, as if it hasn't eaten enough, with prominent bones on its back, and even its lower abdomen is thin…
Pipa wanted to continue touching him, but the white cat, which had been obediently staying in place and letting her be petted, suddenly took a step back, and a strange look appeared in its blue eyes as it stared at the child.
He looked somewhat surprised and wary.
Seeing the loquat made him smile.
He seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he could see such human emotions through the eyes of a cat.
—Perhaps because what I've seen and heard since the beginning has become commonplace.
Or perhaps it's because this is the first living thing the loquat has seen here besides itself, so it can't help but feel a sense of familiarity.
Thinking of the comfortingly cool touch of the white cat, Pipa's heart stirred, and she raised her hand to beckon to it.
"come over."
The cat didn't move, remaining standing in place and quietly observing the area.
The cat was so thin, with a small head and face, that its jade-green cat eyes stood out even more.
Pipa didn't know what the other was looking at, but seeing that the white cat refused to come over, she thought for a moment and then tentatively called out to Tangyuan.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the tips of the white cat's two ears suddenly twitched.
"sweet dumpling……"
Pipa called softly again, lowering her body as she walked toward the cat, which noticeably increased the pressure on her ankles.
The familiar pain struck, almost making him lose his balance.
Fortunately, this time, the white cat did not retreat, but even took two steps forward towards the loquat.
Only when she got close did Pipa reach out and gently stroke the cat's head twice, and this time the cat didn't flinch.
"So, your name really is Tangyuan (glutinous rice ball)," Pipa exclaimed in surprise.
Whether the white cat understood or not, Pipa felt that there seemed to be a hint of disdain in its eyes.
That look always made him feel like he was being looked down upon by a cat...
"You know what? I actually have a cat that looks a lot like you, white fur and green eyes, also named Tangyuan. When I saw you just now, I immediately thought of it. I thought you were—"
Before she could finish speaking, Pipa's outstretched hand, which was being used to stroke the cat's head, was immediately bitten.
Pipa's heart skipped a beat, but she found that the tooth was only lightly pinching the edge of her finger and had not pierced into her flesh, so she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Then look at those bright, jade-green eyes that are staring at you.
He couldn't help but be secretly surprised, wondering to himself if this cat really had become a spirit.
"Are you... angry because of what I just said?" Pipa asked tentatively.
The white cat blinked, and although it didn't seem to be giving in, the pressure on its knuckles seemed to lessen.
Pipa then pressed on, asking, "You don't like having the same name as other kittens?"
Upon hearing this, the white cat flicked its tail slightly, seemingly waiting for the other party to continue.
"Then I'll give you a new name?"
Pipa suggested, and seeing that the other party didn't react excessively, she continued, "Yuanxiao, how about I call you Yuanxiao?"
A cat naturally can't say whether it's good or bad.
However, judging from the other party's action of loosening their teeth, they were still quite satisfied.
By this point, Pipa was completely certain that the cat in front of her could understand human speech.
He glanced at his fingers and saw that apart from two small teeth marks, nothing was left, not even a scratch on the skin.
"Did you see where the others went?" Pipa squatted down and asked Yuanxiao.
If it were any other time, he would probably be seen as a crazy freak.
But there's no one here now.
Fearing that Yuanxiao wouldn't understand, Pipa pointed to herself.
Upon seeing this, Yuanxiao seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around abruptly, darted to the doorway in a few steps, and lightly leaped over the threshold.
The loquat thought the Lantern Festival was going to run away.
But Yuanxiao landed steadily outside the door. Instead of leaving immediately, she turned her little head and looked at the loquat inside the house again and again.
Pipa suddenly realized that the other person was waiting for her.
So he immediately took a step and followed.
Following Yuanxiao, Pipa walked out of the courtyard and along the deserted muddy path. The village scene gradually unfolded before her eyes, looking both familiar and strange.
The village in front of me seemed even more desolate and dilapidated than I remembered.
Moreover, we didn't encounter a single person along the way.
It was as if everyone in the village had vanished overnight.
—Did you agree to move out together?
Pipa made wild guesses in her mind, but she didn't have any clue at all.
Because in his memory... in his memory...
The loquat suddenly stopped.
Because he found that he couldn't seem to remember.
Or rather, the memory of this period is ambiguous.
Images of conflict flashed before my eyes—
One moment she is a woman hurrying along at the ferry crossing, holding unripe, green fruit in her hands, her travel-worn face filled with reluctance to leave.
Then came the woman lying face up in the pit, motionless. She looked dead. In her loosely clenched hand were a few copper coins she had received from selling herself. As the dust settled, the face of the deceased was buried under the yellow earth...
If that were all there was to it, loquats would be easy to distinguish; the former would be nothing more than wishful thinking, while the latter would be the harsh reality.
But that's not the case, because he clearly also saw—
Under the scorching sun, a woman with her limbs bound by ropes is suspended on a high platform, looking tired and numb.
The platform looked like it was made of bamboo, covered with red and green colored paper, and covered with messy characters that Pipa couldn't understand.
Below the platform, a dense crowd of people thronged, their voices clamoring, like a bustling marketplace.
Pipa immediately recognized that the woman on the platform, bound hand and foot and unable to move, was her mother, and the chattering crowd was made up of other villagers.
Uncle Yang and his little girl at the village entrance, Uncle Li and Aunt Li next door and their son, the village chief, the village's sutra-chanting teacher...
Many people, some you can name and some you can't, are all from this village.
They crowded below the platform, all equally emaciated and equally beaming with joy. Their deep-set eyes shone with excitement and anticipation, as if some great joyous occasion was about to befall this land.
Completely ignoring the fact that just a few steps away, a living person was being hung up, subjected to the torture of being exposed to the scorching sun, their face ashen, lips pale, clearly on the verge of death, and could die at any moment...
The next scene shows the men of the village walking one by one to the edge of the platform, taking turns picking up stones, clods of mud, and other things from the ground, and throwing them haphazardly onto the platform.
As if they were engaged in a sacred competition, those people swung their arms wide, throwing whatever they were holding at the defenseless woman without reservation.
Each time it was thrown, a shout, loud or soft, would erupt from the crowd.
The higher and more accurate the throw, the louder the cheers; conversely, the lower the throw, the quieter the cheers. If the throw is off-target and misses, it may earn boos from the crowd.
Each person who received cheers returned to their family like a victorious hero, their faces beaming with undisguised pride and joy.
Those who were booed were extremely indignant—since everyone only had one chance, they had no choice but to slink away, and before leaving, they would spit on the stage to vent their dissatisfaction.
The grand throwing ceremony continued in great enthusiasm.
The women and children who couldn't participate in the event also laughed, joked, clapped their hands, and cheered.
While they happily surrounded the men of their families as if they were heroes, they glanced coldly at the woman on the platform, their expressions full of disdain and perhaps even a hint of schadenfreude.
Finally, like serpents, orange flames climbed upwards along the confetti and runes, while the woman's anguished sobs were gradually drowned out by the villagers' boisterous cheers and the crackling of the burning bamboo platform...
The extreme sense of separation made Pipa feel dizzy and lightheaded. When she came to her senses, she was already bent over and dry heaving.
But his stomach was already empty, and because of thirst, he couldn't even vomit a drop of bitter water. The feeling of wanting to vomit but being unable to was even more unbearable than vomiting itself.
It took the loquat a while to finally stop the abdominal cramps.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuanxiao, who had been walking ahead, had turned back at some point and was now looking at him with concern.
It was as if the eyes were asking, "Can you hold on?"
Of course, it's also possible that the loquat interpretation is overblown.
Regardless, Pipa shook her head and said to the little guy in a comforting tone, "It's okay."
—It's alright. Compared to what I just saw, what am I?
The problem is, why did those things suddenly appear in his mind...?
Something that never happened?
—Or perhaps, that is the truth that has been buried.
A voice suddenly popped into my extremely confused mind: "Now that we're already here, why not go up the mountain and take a look?"
Pipa looked around and realized that she had been taken to the hillside where she had buried her mother years ago.
If I hadn't suddenly stopped because of a momentary lapse in judgment, I might already be halfway up the mountain by now.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Yuanxiao, who had led him here.
As I met those emerald cat eyes, the voice in my head rang out again.
Go see for yourself; you'll find the truth you've always sought, if you can make up your mind.
As for what decision they made, the other party did not specify.
But Pipa had already realized that there was probably only one way to find out the truth buried in the grave: to dig it up.
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