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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
Among the seven people who bullied Zhou Manman, Zhou Cheng was the fifth to die. Like most of the previous victims, he had strangled himself, and his death was particularly gruesome.
Zhou Cheng was no fool. The consecutive deaths of the seven had instilled a great sense of crisis in him. The afternoon before, when I didn’t give him the antidote for Guo the Blind, he was quickly sent to the town clinic for treatment.
The poison from Black Cat wouldn’t kill him, but Guo the Blind's attitude before leaving reminded him of the last victim, Zhang Kun. So upon returning to Dagu Village, Zhou Cheng had his family stay close by. He feared he might be the next to die that night; if he could survive until morning, he believed he would be safe.
To ensure nothing went wrong, Zhou Cheng even had his parents call over several relatives to take turns keeping watch over him.
However, when the midnight bell tolled, Zhou Cheng suddenly went mad and clutched his own neck. His eyes widened as he desperately tried to scream but couldn’t make a sound. By the time his family noticed, he was already on the brink of death. They rushed forward to pry his fingers apart, but Zhou Cheng’s strength was terrifying; even several adults together couldn’t loosen his grip. They could only watch helplessly as he strangled himself.
Zhou Cheng’s parents collapsed in shock on the ground, while the relatives fled in terror.
By dawn the next day, news of this incident spread throughout Futu Ridge. Everyone was convinced that the killer was an invisible ghost.
The talisman made of vermilion given to Zhou Cheng by Huang the Lame hadn’t protected him. The villagers gradually realized that this murderous ghost might be beyond Huang the Lame’s ability to deal with. Panic set in; every household rushed to town to buy firecrackers and hung willow branches and mugwort at their doors as protective charms.
After breakfast, I left my house and headed toward Guo the Blind’s home. I wanted to clarify what was happening; he surely knew something.
As I passed in front of my house, I happened to see Old Man from Dagu Village walking toward me, so I approached him to say hello.
Upon seeing me, Old Man’s expression turned serious. “Hao, come with me.”
I was puzzled about what Old Man wanted but followed him all the way to his house.
Previously, Old Man was the only centenarian in our village and remained vigorous unlike most elderly people who were frail and blind. For many years, whenever a child was born in the village, they would invite him to hold the baby for good luck and blessings for a healthy upbringing.
The Old Man originally had a son and a daughter. During the period when educated youth were sent to the countryside, he was sent to the Northeast, and later, he died under unknown circumstances.
He held the highest status in the Village, having taught school when he was younger, and he was very fond of the younger generation. As a result, he was highly respected in the Village; even Li Fugui had to speak politely to him when they met.
The Old Man enjoyed storytelling, and people from nearby Villages would occasionally invite him over for good food and drink to hear him tell tales from the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. I often had no playmates, so I liked to follow him around eagerly, listening to his stories. The Old Man didn’t scold me for tagging along; during meals, he would even take me with him.
When we arrived at the Old Man's house, he said, "It’s only been a few years since we last met, and you’ve grown so much—just like your father."
I hadn’t expected the Old Man to suddenly mention my father. However, I had no fondness for the man who had given me life but not raised me, so I pretended to be indifferent and asked, "Isn’t he dead?"
The Old Man sighed. "You blame him for abandoning you and your mother, don’t you?"
I replied, "It doesn’t matter; I’ve gotten through all these years."
The Old Man said, "I’ve watched you grow up. You’re stubborn and love to argue, but your father isn’t what you think. He was an extraordinary person who didn’t belong in the mountains. As for why he didn’t take you and your mother with him, there must have been reasons beyond his control. If it weren’t for him back then, the disaster in Futu Ridge would have happened twenty years ago. You’re a smart Ming Ren; you should see that the continuous deaths in Futu Ridge aren’t just due to Ghost Killing."
I was surprised that the Old Man shared my thoughts and asked, "What exactly is going on? What do you know?"
The Old Man shook his head. "I don’t know much; I’ve investigated a bit but found no clues. However, you shouldn’t have touched the coffin in the back mountain yesterday."
"You knew about that?" I asked in astonishment.
The Old Man replied, "The woman inside that coffin is unusual—she’s an Immortal who can’t be starved to death. Even her cat lives longer than most people."
"Among the villagers left by the Old Scholar back then, were you one of them?" I asked tentatively.
The Old Man nodded, not hiding anything. He said, "Back when New China was not yet established, I was the only one who knew about that incident."
"What kind of person was that woman?" I asked directly.
The Old Man replied, "She escaped from the Henan region back then."
"There are rumors that a great plague broke out in the mountains, killing many people. Is it related to this woman?" I inquired.
The Old Man shook his head. "Not at all. The cause of the plague in the mountains is known only to the Old Scholar; no one else knows. But it is certain that it is connected to the forbidden area north of Futu Ridge. For centuries, strange occurrences have happened there every few decades, and correspondingly, some extraordinary individuals have come to stop them. The Old Scholar was one such person, and your father was another. That woman who fled was connected to the Old Scholar; she was a woman of Nine Yin's Fate, capable of suppressing the evil forces of Futu Ridge and purifying the plague, which is why she was sealed in a coffin."
"What is Nine Yin's Fate?" I asked.
The Old Man replied, "I don't know either; I've only heard that from the Old Scholar. Perhaps it has something to do with why that woman is so hard to kill. The Old Scholar is an extraordinary figure from the Daoist Sect, while that woman was just an ordinary person with a special fate, so she naturally couldn't match him."
I sighed and said, "Isn't it too cruel to kill an innocent person to save a group?"
"It is indeed cruel, but it seems that the woman later reached some sort of agreement with the Old Scholar, promising not to break free from the coffin," the Old Man continued as I listened in a daze. "That woman fled during the famine in 194, escaping from Henan. Along the way, she got separated from her husband and son. Guo the Blind also hails from Henan."
"That woman is Guo the Blind's mother?" I was shocked by this revelation. When I first saw Guo the Blind's expression, I had sensed something was off; now I realized he must have guessed who that woman was. He didn't want her to suffer any longer, which is why he killed her!
The Old Man said, "That's mostly how it went. Back then in Futu Ridge, thousands were infected by the plague, most of whom were children with weak immune systems; Guo was one of them. If that woman hadn't agreed to lie in the coffin as per the Old Scholar's request, her son would have died. Although I'm not clear on all the details of their agreement, I can guess it's close enough. The Old Scholar never took disciples in Futu Ridge but chose Guo as his apprentice; everything becomes clear—Guo is that woman's son."
"Old Man, do you suspect that all these Ghost Killing incidents in Futu Ridge were orchestrated by Guo the Blind?" I asked.
The Old Man replied, "Yes."
I said, "It's impossible. I've been with Guo the Blind during this time; he doesn't seem like that kind of person. Besides, he saved Manman. When Li Fugui tried to burn Zhou Manman at the village entrance in front of the Wind Stabilizer, it was he who crushed the jade stone. Li Tong died; Manman is not the murderer. Furthermore, I could tell yesterday that Guo the Blind initially didn't know that the person in the coffin was his mother."
The Old Man's face showed a hint of sadness as he said, "Guo is someone I watched grow up. He is indeed a good person, but it's hard to be a good person. Back in the day, Li Fugui's father, Li Wuye, led people to his house to seize grain for tribute and publicly humiliated his father, causing him to lose face in the Village and ultimately die of depression. Later, the Old Scholar secretly took Guo as his disciple. A wealthy family in the county, grateful for the Old Scholar's help, married their daughter to Guo when they learned he had an apprentice. After they married, they lived happily and even had a son. However, not long after, the revolution broke out. The Old Scholar was too well-known in the county and became a target for those wanting to take down all the evil forces represented by the Serpent God. Naturally, Guo couldn't escape either. But since the Old Scholar had helped many influential people, some intervened on his behalf, allowing Guo to narrowly avoid disaster. Unfortunately, Guo's wife suffered greatly; she came from a wealthy family involved in the tobacco business and belonged to the capitalist class. Her parents were killed, and she was paraded naked through the streets, forced to confess to promiscuity. Guo's wife was fiery and couldn't endure such humiliation; she went mad and ran around naked. You can imagine what happened next—she ultimately committed suicide by jumping into a river."
"So, Old Guo has been enduring all this time just to take revenge? What about his son?" I asked.
The Old Man replied, "Guo's son survived due to his age during those years. He made it through 1976 when the Cultural Revolution ended unscathed. However, during the eight years of severe crackdowns, several targets were set for Futu Ridge by the county. Old Guo's background was always unfavorable and he wasn't favored by Li Fugui; he was seen as a remnant of old feudalism. As a result, his son was executed for fighting."
"Executed for fighting?" I was perplexed.
The Old Man sighed and said, "To be precise, it was because he got beaten rather than being a fighter himself. Society was chaotic at that time; law enforcement was hard to control. Thugs didn't even fear the police station. The higher-ups set strict targets that required someone to die; Guo's son became a scapegoat. Now that he has discovered that the woman nailed in The Woman in the Coffin is his biological mother, no one can endure such hatred."
"But..." I felt anxious and fearful inside and couldn't speak out loud. If what Old Man said is true, what has Old Guo been enduring for? Why has he taken such good care of me all this time?
The Old Man continued, "Widow Li's son Li Tong died in his own makeshift bathhouse with the door locked from inside. You might think only a ghost could do that, but I believe a person could too. Don't forget that Guo is a disciple of the Old Scholar; his methods were extraordinary back then. I once saw him crush a bandit's gun from a distance with my own eyes. Guo trained under him for several years; he's definitely not comparable to Huang the Lame."
The Old Man added, "Li Tong was already dead before they went to capture Zhou Manman."
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