Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
I turned to look at Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng who were following me. They seemed to feel something was off as well. Li Zhisheng then asked, "Miss, could you tell us what that bloodstain at your entrance is about? I noticed many houses have it."
The Red-Clad Woman was momentarily taken aback. "Uh... that's just chicken blood; it's a local custom. If you're interested, come inside and I'll explain it to you..." She invited the three of us into the house.
The room was small. Upon entering, I saw four wooden pillars standing around the hall, with doors on either side leading to the back rooms. I glanced around; although the tables and chairs were spotless, there was no sign of anyone having lived there.
In the living room, the Red-Clad Woman brought over a few stools and gestured for us to sit at a nearby table. "Please sit for a moment; I'll get you some tea." With that, she turned and went into the back room.
As the three of us sat around the chairs, I noticed my companions looking around with curiosity. I waved my hand in front of them. "Hey, stop staring. I know this place feels strange; you don't need to act like that."
Li Zhisheng waved his hand dismissively. "No, don't you think something is missing from this room?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
"The lights. I looked closely just now; there are no power poles or cables around here at all. That means there's no electricity here, let alone any lights." Hu Fang quickly chimed in, "Exactly! It feels off—how can a village not far from the city have no electricity?"
I took off my backpack and leaned it against the stool. "Yeah, it really shouldn't be without power. Plus, I sensed that this place is completely..."
"Tea's here! Sorry to keep you waiting!" I saw Red-Clad Woman coming out of the back room with tea and quickly closed my mouth, smiling as I accepted the teacup from her hands. "It's fine, it's fine. By the way, miss, can I ask you something?"
Hearing my question, she pulled up a chair and sat down. "Sure, what is it?"
"We're from out of town and passed through this village wanting to explore. But upon entering, we found it completely deserted. Plus, with that bloodstain you mentioned being a local custom, what's really going on in this village? I'm just curious; if I'm asking something inappropriate, please don't take offense."
After listening to me, she lightly waved her sleeve. "There's nothing inappropriate about your questions; didn't I promise to tell you earlier?" Then she began to recount the story of this village...
It turned out that this village was called Gui Tian Village. It used to be a peaceful place, and since it was relatively close to the city, many young villagers would go work in town and return home for dinner at night. The older folks would farm, living quite comfortably.
Until one day when two young men in the village fought over a beautiful girl. One of them was stronger and injured the other while threatening him that if he dared approach her again, he would kill him.
The injured young man returned home that night feeling increasingly furious and decided to take revenge by setting fire to the wheat field of his assailant's family in the dead of night to vent his frustrations.
It was the season of Autumn Harvest, and everyone had piled their harvested Straw by the edge of the fields. Little did he know that a gust of wind would cause the fire to blaze even more fiercely, igniting the stack of Straw as well.
The flames grew larger, spreading from the wheat fields to the home of the person who had struck him. Realizing that things had spiraled out of control and fearing discovery, he fled the village alone under the cover of night.
The fire raged throughout the night, and by morning, when people discovered it, several connected households had been consumed by the inferno. The entire village was engulfed in flames.
Eyewitnesses reported that it seemed as if everything had caught fire, and in the glow of the flames, they could see the faces of villagers who had perished in the blaze.
The surviving villagers called for fire trucks, and several vehicles worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames. However, by that time, what had once been a village of hundreds had dwindled to just over fifty people.
Yet those who remained did not leave. They tore down the burned houses and began to cultivate the land again. They thought they could live peacefully from then on. Little did they know that strange occurrences would begin a year later...
On the anniversary of the fire, while everyone in the village went up to the Mountain to pay respects to those who had died in the blaze, one person stayed behind due to a sprained ankle he had sustained while gathering firewood.
Noticing that his family hadn’t returned for dinner and feeling unbearably hungry since he couldn’t get out of bed, he decided to endure the pain and prepare something to eat himself.
At that time, there was no gas or electricity—only old-fashioned stoves for cooking.
Just as he managed to light a fire, his shadow was cast on the wall by its flickering light. The silhouette swayed back and forth with the flames. Eager to cook faster, he leaned closer to the fire and blew into it.
He held his breath and exerted all his strength into blowing at the flames, but instead of retreating, they surged forward towards him...
When night fell and everyone returned home, his family discovered that he had been burned to a crisp, his body still frozen in the position of blowing into the stove. Behind him on the wall stood a Black Shadow, seemingly formed by smoke. Strangely enough, this shadow had empty eyes and mouth but wore an eerie smile.
No matter how hard that family tried to scrape away or paint over that shadow, it would reappear whenever there was light—even after they repainted it completely.
From that point on, news spread throughout the village about families encountering the same dark shadow. In every household where a shadow appeared, a charred corpse would inevitably be found the next day.
There were even instances where someone would wake up next to their spouse, only to open their eyes and see a blackened body before them, while the blankets and clothes remained untouched.
At that time, a few educated youths speculated that this was a case of Spontaneous Human Combustion, and they came up with various absurd ideas. Unable to find a reasonable explanation and fearing for their lives, everyone began to follow these suggestions.
But it was clear that such actions would have little effect... The shadows continued to appear, each time looking more ferocious than before, and the number of dead increased from one to two.
Eventually, someone suggested moving away; if this continued, everyone would end up dead... At that moment, a self-proclaimed Taoist arrived in the village, claiming he had a way to save them all.
Upon hearing there was hope, no one cared whether he was genuine or not; they hurriedly begged the Taoist for advice. He explained that the area itself was cursed by bad feng shui, compounded by the many deaths. The Yin Qi had gathered and could not disperse, so he advised them to tear down their houses and rebuild.
He insisted that the new houses be constructed according to his specifications, which resulted in their current strange appearance. Once the renovations were complete, he came at night to perform rituals, instructing everyone to stay indoors.
When the villagers finally ventured out the next day, they found many houses surrounded by bloodstains—chicken blood he had sprinkled to ward off evil spirits. He continued to perform rituals every few days; although they left everyone with headaches afterward, thankfully no more deaths occurred. Moreover, the Taoist was kind-hearted and never accepted any payment for his help...
As I listened to her story, I thought to myself, "No wonder these houses are arranged so oddly and lack any lighting; it turns out this is why..." Just then, I picked up my teacup to drink. However, as soon as my fingers touched the warm cup's surface, a thought struck me: "If there’s no electricity or fire in your homes, how do you make this tea?"
She replied, "We also asked the Taoist about cooking and boiling water without electricity or fire. He told us to build a fire outside but warned us not to cast any shadows inside... We’ve been doing this for quite some time now."
I nodded thoughtfully and glanced outside at the dimming light. "Aren't there still some people left in the village? Why is it just you here?"
"Today is the tenth anniversary," she said. Looking outside again as it grew darker, she added, "It's getting late; I need to hurry and cook. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if I'm late. You all sit for a moment; I'll go prepare something. What would you like to eat?"
Hu Fang quickly chimed in, "Bring us something unique from your village!" The Red-Clad Woman smiled slightly at this request and agreed before turning back into the house.
Li Zhisheng peeked into the direction she had gone, and after confirming she had left, he lowered his voice and said to me, "Wasn't that old man we met before saying the village was destroyed? How come there's a new method now..."
"There are indeed many doubts right now. I find this woman a bit strange; she clearly intended to go up the mountain to pay her respects, yet I saw she was perfectly fine. Why did everyone in the village go except for her? And that old man, what lies is he trying to tell us? It seems he really doesn't want us to come..." I lit a cigarette, taking a drag as I fell into deep thought.
Li Zhisheng continued his analysis, "If there really is something wrong with this village, then the old man might have been trying to stop us for our own good. But if there's nothing wrong, why wouldn't he want us here? Is this village unwelcoming to outsiders? And this woman, from her appearance, figure, and manner of speaking, doesn't seem like a typical village girl; she even has a hint of an ancient aura about her..."
Hearing this, it felt like I had suddenly grasped a clue. I threw my cigarette out the door and pressed him, "Wait a minute! What did you just say?! Repeat that!"
Li Zhisheng was startled by my reaction, thinking I was scolding him. He stammered, "I... I was saying if this village has problems..." I waved my hand to cut him off, "No, the last part!"
He thought for a moment and said, "Uh... even has a hint of an ancient aura..."
At that moment, I began to understand. I reached for Jiang Ling in my backpack, gripping the hilt of my sword and thinking, "It looks like we're in for a tough battle today..." A fierce glint gradually appeared in my eyes.
Comment 0 Comment Count