Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
When I woke up, I was lying in bed, drenched in sweat. I had overexerted the power of the Zhou Compass to look into the past, which caused me to faint at some point, leaving my body aching all over.
I propped myself up and tried to get out of bed, but my legs felt weak, and I fell to the floor.
My mother heard the commotion and rushed in from outside, helping me up from the ground. Her face was filled with concern. "Why are you being so reckless?"
I asked, "Mom, where's my compass?"
She replied, "I put it away for you and stored it in the wardrobe. You came back this morning looking pale as a ghost. You didn’t say a word when I asked you anything. You stayed up late last night and insisted on waiting until dawn to return."
"Mom, please don’t tell anyone about the compass, especially not Guo the Blind," I said.
As she promised to keep it a secret and went to prepare lunch, I stood in the yard, feeling the sunlight warm my body. It felt like I had experienced a century, witnessing countless lives and the changes of time.
It was the era and human nature that forged the painful experiences of Guo Family Father and Son. I saw the indelible hatred that emerged in Guo the Blind's eyes after years of enduring hardship. This hatred had reached an irreversible point; no one could bring him back.
Meanwhile, Guo Huaiyi’s confidence and arrogance before his execution only highlighted his determination for revenge. I finally understood that the Guo Huaiyi before me was indeed Guo the Blind's true son.
The paper that Guo Huaiyi slipped to Guo the Blind before his death must have contained instructions on how to use Yin Marriage to perform the Yin-Yang Rebirth Technique. The deaths in the Bus Incident were merely the first step of Human Sacrifice; Zhou Manman was key to his resurrection.
The father and son had set a trap together, spinning everyone around for over thirty years.
The elders of Bright Moon Village feared this moment above all else—Guo Huaiyi had ultimately returned.
He seemed to present himself with an entirely new persona before everyone. No matter what experiences his soul had gone through during those thirty years, he was no longer someone an ordinary person like me could confront. Suddenly, I wanted to withdraw from this conspiracy war.
I had a faint feeling that disaster was approaching Bright Moon Village, and that the calamity at Futu Ridge was also imminent.
I finally understood the reason for Old Man's death; he was forced to his end by Guo Huaiyi. Li Fugui, who was standing on the roof at the time, must have known that it was Guo Huaiyi's doing. The reason he didn't intervene—was it because he knew he wasn't a match for Guo Huaiyi, or was there another reason?
After finishing my meal, I walked to the village entrance and saw Guo the Blind approaching me from a distance. His expression was grim; he must have discovered that his home had been robbed last night.
Zhou Compass was a Daoist Sacred Artifact that Guo the Blind valued greatly. With it suddenly stolen, he would certainly suspect me, as I had disappeared for a while during Old Man's funeral.
When Guo the Blind reached me, he grabbed my wrist firmly, placing his index and middle fingers on my pulse. I knew he wanted to check if my vital energy was unstable or if I had any injuries. The person who stole Zhou Compass had been injured by a trap he set up, and without asking any questions, he came to examine me for signs of harm. It was clear that he had lost patience with pretense; perhaps he was planning to take action soon.
Seeing that I remained silent while he took my pulse, Guo the Blind looked at me with an unfriendly gaze. He then snorted heavily and turned away.
I gazed at the Wind Stabilizer that had stood tall for a hundred years and at the filthy Pond beside it, feeling a wave of sorrow wash over me.
Even now, Guo Huaiyi's words before his death echoed in my mind: "All of you must remember my face, remember my voice, and remember my name. My name is Guo Huaiyi."
The memory lingered vividly, stirring deep emotions within me.
How terrified must he have been in that moment? Who has the confidence to believe they can return after death?
I watched the villagers bustling about; they had finally emerged from their suffering. They yearned for better days and harbored the kindness expected of normal people. If Guo Huaiyi were still the same man who would resort to dark arts to kill at a whim, they would still make the same choices.
People are always afraid of the unknown, even more so than they fear death itself.
Who is truly right? Was Guo Huaiyi wrong?
I arrived at Huzi's doorstep and hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding not to knock on the door. I couldn't bring harm to Huzi; even his grandfather Li Fugui dared not intervene in such matters. If I dragged Huzi into this, it would only lead to our demise.
I walked to the old Ancestral Grave in Bright Moon Village and stood for a long time in front of the newly erected grave of the Old Man. The wind blew gently, and the surroundings were eerily silent.
I knew that tonight the Big Black Cat would surely come looking for me. It had appeared before me three consecutive midnights, likely due to the matter concerning Zhou Manman.
As night fell, I waited until the light in my mother's room went out before lying down on my bed. I held the Zhou Compass close and drifted into a peaceful sleep.
In a daze, I opened my eyes to find the Big Black Cat outside the door once again. Clutching the Zhou Compass, I stepped outside. The Big Black Cat took a surprised step back but, seeing that I made no aggressive moves, turned and ran away.
I followed the Big Black Cat all the way to Guo the Blind's house. The cat jumped onto the wall, signaling for me to follow. I hesitated, worried about being discovered by Guo the Blind and Guo Huaiyi. Guo the Blind's Zhou Compass had been stolen, and he was undoubtedly furious; if I were caught, I would surely meet a grim fate.
The Big Black Cat meowed at me in annoyance. After a moment of hesitation, I reached out to steady myself against the wall as I prepared to climb up when something strange happened—I found myself passing directly through the wall.
I was astonished to see myself walk from outside to inside the wall. The Zhou Compass in my hand emitted a brilliant blue light under the moonlight, enveloping me completely.
It was then that I noticed a layer of indistinct energy covering my skin, a gas that shimmered faintly with white light.
"Out-of-Body Experience?" I thought in disbelief.
The Big Black Cat glanced back at me before walking down the hallway of Guo the Blind's house, its eyes fixed on the Side Room.
I approached cautiously and signaled for the Big Black Cat to remain quiet. I quietly entered the main room of Guo the Blind's house. At that moment, Guo the Blind was asleep on his bed, alone.
Guo Huaiyi was nowhere to be seen.
I silently exited the main room and entered the Side Room. Inside, there were no beds—just an old writing desk pushed aside, some clay pots that had been swept aside, and a pile of clutter; nothing else remained.
I looked at the Big Black Cat squatting at the doorway with an intense gaze. It meowed softly, indicating for me to stay right there.
"Manman?" I called out, but there was no response from within the room. Frowning, I looked at the Big Black Cat, which steadfastly squatted at the door, refusing to leave.
I glanced at the Zhou Compass in my hand, observing the needle within the Copper Inlaid Jade. Gently, I nudged it close to its original position. Time shifted, and I saw Guo the Blind carrying an ancient-looking Big Red Coffin back from outside under the Starlight. This Big Red Coffin resembled the one that had been burned in the back mountain, covered in yellow mud.
Guo the Blind gazed at the Big Red Coffin with a peculiar glint in his eyes. He wiped off the yellow mud from the coffin, revealing a surface etched with dense inscriptions that emitted a faint black glow under the moonlight—these were Yinwen, symbols for communicating between realms.
He opened the coffin, revealing a Dried Corpse inside, which had lost much of its moisture. A bizarre black Talisman was affixed to the Dried Corpse, and its skin was wrinkled and scarred as if it had been brutally mutilated in life. There was also a small hole at the top of its head.
With excitement, Guo the Blind touched the Dried Corpse's face and said, "Yier, we have finally reached the moment. The woman worthy of you has appeared. She was born in a yin year, yin month, and yin hour. Not only is she strikingly beautiful, but she also has a chance to obtain Pure Yang Energy from Yang Sanqian's son of the Daoist Sect. Tonight, regardless of whether she succeeds or fails, I will confine her within the Huangmu Ghost Coffin. At that time, your Yang Spirit will enter the coffin through the Ghost Talisman and be buried with her. Before long, you will no longer fear the harm caused by Yang Qi in this world; you can take any flesh you desire!"
Guo the Blind began to peel away fragments resembling terracotta figures from the Dried Corpse. The black Talisman suddenly ignited, and then the Dried Corpse inside the coffin stirred slightly before settling down again.
The hem of Guo the Blind's clothing fluttered as if something had brushed against him. He looked ahead as if speaking to thin air: "I will go prepare the Huang Wood Coffin!"
He dragged the Big Red Coffin into the Side Room. Meanwhile, a vibrant Herb Flower by the flowerbed swayed and then rapidly withered at a visible speed, turning into a charred black stick in an instant.
Thank you for your support; I sincerely appreciate it.
Comment 0 Comment Count