Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
With the end of the Ten-Year Catastrophe, Bright Moon Village gradually stabilized after the upheaval of revolution. Li Fugui led the villagers in cultivating the land, and in the first year, they reaped a bountiful harvest. Every household was able to pay their grain taxes, and by the end of the year, there was surplus food.
Villages across Futu Ridge began to follow suit, inviting Li Fugui to guide them. The call for reform and opening up gave people hope for a better future, and every family started to see a glimmer of optimism in their lives.
However, no one noticed a father and son in the village. Guo the Blind, who had been beaten during the Ten-Year Catastrophe, was now frail and out of breath after just a few steps. He had spent nine years working as a cowherd during the tumultuous decade, suffering from various ailments that left him unable to work in the fields.
Guo the Blind's father had fled here during the famine of the 1940s, and now Guo the Blind had a son of his own. According to Futu Ridge's customs, if one could reproduce for three generations, they would be considered part of Futu Ridge and could be buried in the Ancestral Grave while also receiving a share of land.
Yet when it came time for land distribution, the village officials did not inform Guo the Blind about drawing lots. Without any allocated land, he had no means to feed himself or his son.
Guo the Blind did not confront anyone about this; instead, he began offering medical services to others for a small fee. He personally gathered herbs from the mountains behind his home, keeping costs low enough that he could barely make ends meet for himself and his son. However, he no longer dared to practice fortune-telling or geomancy.
During the Ten-Year Catastrophe, even Huang the Lame, who had once been prosperous, lost a leg. Strange occurrences were common in the mountains; adults were often frightened by bizarre happenings. Huang the Lame boldly resumed his old profession and quickly became successful again. Villagers sought out Guo the Blind for help several times, but he politely declined.
Later on, an unusual incident occurred in a family with the surname Shu. Their eight-year-old child suddenly began acting erratically, claiming to be Zuo Zongtang and demanding that the Shu family return his head. At night, the child exhibited immense strength and attempted to suck blood; fortunately, due to his frail health, he would tire out and fall asleep after each episode. The villagers went to Dagu Village to seek help from Huang the Lame. He diagnosed the child with zombie disease but found it difficult to treat; after half a month of attempts, he was unsuccessful.
The news spread quickly, prompting a group of medical experts from the county to examine the child thoroughly but ultimately failing to identify any cause or effective treatment before returning home disappointed.
As relations with Guo the Blind grew distant, Old Man Wang recalled Guo's earlier boast that he could cure zombie disease. People then remembered that Guo the Blind—once scorned as Futu Ridge's top charlatan—was actually a highly regarded disciple of an Old Scholar and practiced as a wandering healer specializing in difficult ailments.
Guo the Blind lived up to expectations by curing the child's zombie disease. The malevolent winds of the mountains often preyed on weak children like him; for Guo the Blind, it was an easy task.
Thus, Guo's reputation began to spread once more throughout Futu Ridge. However, good times did not last long; soon after, Guo's son Guo Huaiyi committed an act that terrified everyone.
At that time, no one remembered that Guo Huaiyi had been called "Dogzi" for over a decade; everyone simply referred to him as Dogzi.
For many years, he had a poor relationship with his peers in the Village and had no friends, making him quite unpopular. Living in the same village, where they often crossed paths, Guo Huaiyi's attitude had long drawn the ire of many troublemakers.
When a group of people surrounded Guo Dogzi, intending to confront him, the leader suddenly had a nosebleed and then began to vomit uncontrollably. Shortly after returning home, he fell seriously ill. The group of teenagers was terrified and began to embellish the story.
Strange rumors started to spread wildly in Futu Ridge, and Guo the Blind naturally heard the whispers. Fortunately, the person who was on the brink of death was saved by Guo the Blind; the child had been afflicted by an evil spirit, and gradually, some of the rumors began to subside.
In early 198, as the economy began to recover, a wave of new cultural elements flooded into cities and rural areas. The popularity of television inspired some teenagers to pursue freedom and advocate for a carefree lifestyle, leading to a surge of bars and nightclubs opening across various regions.
During that era, there were more bars and nightclubs in a county than there are internet cafes today. Young delinquents sported tattoos and carried knives at their waists as a mark of being part of the new generation.
Futu Ridge was no exception; delinquents from various Villages frequently engaged in fights, and the police struggled to maintain order.
The only exception was one young man—Guo Huaiyi. He never fought with anyone, never visited bars, and hardly anyone saw him leave his home.
However, someone did spot him bathing in the river.
In those summer days, the river water was crystal clear, free from pesticide and fertilizer pollution; it was clean enough to drink straight from hand. The children of Bright Moon Village were astonished when they saw Guo Dogzi daringly bathing alone in the middle of the river. They kicked his clothes, which he had left on the shore, into the water.
After retrieving his clothes and coming ashore, Guo Huaiyi's strange patterns shocked everyone. The scars crisscrossing his body looked painful just to behold.
Despite their numbers, no one showed fear. One delinquent stepped forward and kicked at Guo Huaiyi's groin, but he swiftly grabbed the boy by the neck and threw him into the water.
No one knew that this quiet and reclusive oddball possessed such strength. A few delinquents quickly drew their knives but soon lost consciousness. When they woke up again, they found themselves submerged in the river, nearly drowning from choking on water.
This scene was witnessed by a group of villagers passing by, including Old Man, who intervened to stop Guo Huaiyi.
Guo Huaiyi's gaze was terrifying, and the villagers could see the shocking scars on his body clearly. He looked coldly at the crowd before putting on his clothes and leaving the riverbank.
That night, several people who had jumped into the river began to run fevers, vomiting and experiencing diarrhea, just like the boy who had tried to attack Guo Huaiyi earlier.
This time, the villagers could no longer suppress their fear. They believed Guo Huaiyi practiced dark arts and urged the village chief, Li Fugui, to capture him and burn him alive.
Li Fugui did not lead a group to apprehend Guo Huaiyi; instead, he only spoke with Guo the Blind. No one knew what they discussed, but ultimately, Guo Huaiyi did not face the severe punishment the villagers had imagined.
People grew increasingly fearful of the taciturn Guo Huaiyi, avoiding him whenever he was near.
As the year drew to a close and a crackdown began, some villagers who had caught wind of the situation secretly plotted to frame Guo Huaiyi.
One day, while Guo Huaiyi was in town, he was suddenly surrounded by a group of thugs. Unlike usual, they were not armed with knives but merely encircled him.
Having faced two life-and-death crises due to his involvement with dark arts, Guo Huaiyi had already been warned by Guo the Blind not to use the Evil Techniques of the Ghost Gate again. With so many people around on the street, he felt uncertain about what to do.
Suddenly, one of the thugs lunged at him with a knife. Guo Huaiyi managed to wrestle it away from him just as several police officers approached. The thugs all saw Guo Huaiyi holding a knife and preparing to attack.
It was then that Guo Huaiyi realized he had fallen into a trap. He never imagined that merely holding a knife would lead to such a serious incident of public brawling.
The crackdown came unexpectedly after eight years; it began at the end of the year and concluded shortly after New Year's. Guo Huaiyi rarely interacted with others and was unaware that many people in the county had already been executed. In isolated Futu Ridge, news traveled slowly.
In the police station, Guo Huaiyi experienced what it meant to be subjected to a ruthless interrogation for the first time. He didn't even know how he confessed and ended up being charged with serious crimes that led to a death sentence.
To deter villagers from other areas, executions in Village were made public.
In backward Futu Ridge, executions took place only in front of each village's Wind Stabilizer. When Guo Huaiyi was tied to the Wind Stabilizer by police officers, Guo the Blind learned from Old Man Wang—who had rushed to inform him—that Guo Huaiyi was about to be executed.
Guo the Blind rushed to Old Man's house at the back of the village as soon as he heard that his son was to be executed by the police. He knew that the head of the Public Security Bureau was one of Old Man's students. Back then, Old Man did not think highly of Guo the Blind and had no intention of pleading for him; he also did not believe that a fight could lead to someone being shot.
However, when he arrived at the village entrance and saw Guo Huaiyi about to be executed, it was already too late to make a phone call for help.
Guo the Blind was ultimately not a deity, and Guo Huaiyi's knowledge of dark arts could not save him from his fate.
Everyone watched as Guo the Blind knelt before the entire village, banging his head against the ground until it bled, yet no one spoke up for mercy.
Suddenly, Guo the Blind realized that Guo Huaiyi was doomed.
I stood in front of Wind Stabilizer, watching Light Shadow. The indifference of the crowd as they witnessed their kind being killed stirred something within me, leaving me feeling utterly numb.
No one noticed when Guo Huaiyi quietly slipped a yellowed piece of paper into Guo the Blind's hands while he held him.
Guo Huaiyi said, "All of you must remember my face, my voice, and my name. I am Guo Huaiyi."
The third chapter is here. If anyone has any gold coins, please donate them to Human Sacrifice.
The "old thing" that Guo the Blind referred to was, of course, Old Scholar.
Old Scholar was a Daoist Grandmaster, revered by all. Guo the Blind must have learned some skills from him; however, before leaving, Old Scholar had foretold: "Your heart leans towards darkness; you may end up killing innocents in the future..."
Comment 0 Comment Count