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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
Desolate Mountains and Ancient Ridges, Forbidden Ground of Futu.
One moment, the moonlight bathed the scene in tranquility; the next, it transformed into a bizarre and abrupt murder scene.
No one could have anticipated that the seemingly harmless boy before us would suddenly strike down Zhu Yaoguang.
The rusted dagger pierced Zhu Yaoguang's throat without warning, emerging from the back of his head, its tip stained crimson.
Zhu Yaoguang collapsed to the ground, his body instinctively convulsing a few times before he died on the spot.
Wang Cong, terrified, frantically fired at the boy. The bullets struck his face repeatedly, leaving it mangled, yet not a drop of blood flowed from the wounds.
The boy let out a beast-like growl. He suddenly dropped to the ground and lunged at Wang Cong on all fours. I kicked him in the head; my foot went numb as if I had struck steel.
The boy rolled on the ground after my kick, glaring at me like a ferocious dog while emitting intermittent growls.
I gripped the Spring Knife, glaring back at him, while Wang Cong was busy fumbling through his backpack for a magazine, having exhausted his ammunition.
"We need to stick together and get out of here quickly; something big is about to happen," I said nervously, having heard whispers all around us, like many people murmuring in secrecy.
Over six hundred years ago, at Futu Ridge, three thousand young boys were sacrificed here for a living ritual. Below us lay the Dragon Vein; this feng shui configuration could be considered a Spiritual Ground. If those Yang Sanqian Child Sacrifices had not entered the Underworld due to the Dragon Vein and their bodies remained uncorrupted for centuries, it would be disastrous.
The boy continued to roar as he blocked our path, cautiously inching closer. Wang Cong managed to reload his gun and pulled the trigger again, but the boy suddenly leaped up and grabbed onto the city wall, scaling it with astonishing speed as if walking on flat ground.
Wang Cong fired several shots but failed to hit him.
Though the moonlight was bright, our position in the valley limited visibility; soon enough, the boy vanished atop the wall overgrown with green vines.
We anxiously scanned our surroundings as we circled around Futu Stupa toward a cave on the opposite side. A scream pierced through the air behind us—Mr. Chang had been dragged to the ground by a shadow and was being pulled frantically into the darkness.
"Let him go!" Wang Cong shouted, pointing his gun at the shadow behind Mr. Chang. "Beast!"
A dagger suddenly flew from Chen Jixian's hand, and the shadow let out a scream as it ran toward the moonlit area. It was still that boy, but this time a dagger pierced through his heart.
We hurried to help Mr. Chang up; blood was streaming down his shoulders and neck. He looked terrified and urged us to leave quickly.
But just then, the boy lunged at us again. I reacted quickly, grabbing the boy mid-air and plunging my dagger into his neck, pinning him against the wall.
The boy struggled fiercely, clawing and biting, his face contorted in horror as he screamed.
I suddenly felt a heat in my abdomen and quickly took out the Zhou Compass. The jade base of the compass emitted a faint blue light, and the runes on it glowed even brighter.
A beam of moonlight fell on the Zhou Compass, and the jade base reflected a soft blue light onto the boy pinned to the wall. Instantly, the part illuminated by the light began to sizzle, releasing billowing white smoke.
I remembered how the villagers had tried to burn Zhou Manman by splashing her ghost with Black Dog Blood. If anything tainted by Evil Energy came into contact with Black Dog Blood, it would be purified. The Zhou Compass worked similarly; its faint blue light ignited white flames on the boy's body.
I adjusted the angle of the Zhou Compass to reflect more moonlight onto him. He let out a horrific scream, and in an instant, he turned to ash, a pile of shattered bones falling from the wall.
Though the boy was dead, before we could celebrate, we saw in the darkness a pale hand dragging the lifeless Zhu Yaoguang into the shadows.
The sounds of bones cracking and flesh tearing echoed as a noise like a pack of dogs fighting over food emerged from the darkness.
Then, grotesque and filthy corpses rushed out from the shadows, roaring as they came. Most were so decayed they were barely recognizable, their skeletal frames barely clothed in tattered rags.
We turned and ran toward the cave where we had entered, but at its entrance stood another corpse that roared loudly. A swarm of bats erupted from behind it, swooping down toward us.
"Damn it!" Wang Cong couldn't help but curse.
Chen Jixian pointed toward the half-hidden entrance of Futu Stupa in the center of the valley. "Follow me inside!"
We had no time to think; we dashed into Futu Stupa. As a relic of Buddhism known for its power to ward off evil and gather merit, we hoped it could protect us from the hordes of living corpses and bats outside. For now, our only option was to seek refuge within.
The door closed, plunging everything into darkness.
Wang Cong fumbled for his flashlight and shone it around the interior of the Futu Stupa. As the beam of light swept across the wall, a shadow flitted by, startling Wang Cong so much that he nearly dropped the flashlight. He directed the light toward the spot where he had seen the figure.
The person was none other than Jiang Cheng, the Gentleman from the Investigation Team, wearing black-rimmed glasses.
Wang Cong looked at Jiang Cheng's lifeless body slumped against the wall, eyes wide open. He slowly crouched down, covering his face as he began to cry, "Why did it come to this?"
Chen Jixian gazed at the emaciated Jiang Cheng and said, "His body hasn't started to smell yet. If we had come a little earlier, maybe he wouldn't have died."
I couldn't discern what Chen Jixian's words implied; it felt as if he were blaming us. Jiang Cheng's body showed no visible signs of injury, and his expression was peaceful—he must have starved to death. If we had discovered this place sooner, perhaps he would still be alive.
The space inside the Futu Stupa wasn't very large; it was about the size of an average gym. There was a staircase leading up to another level.
Chen Jixian approached Jiang Cheng and gently closed his unblinking eyelids.
Mr. Chang stepped forward and seemed to notice something. He pried open Jiang Cheng's hand, revealing a tuft of white fur inside.
"Why does he have this white fur in his hand?" Mr. Chang asked.
Chen Jixian and I exchanged puzzled glances. The white fur in Jiang Cheng's hand was identical to what we had found earlier in the Cliff Cave beneath Winding Mountain Road. That cave contained a bottomless pit, and both locations had the same white fur. Could it be that the pit at Winding Mountain Road led to some forbidden place?
Wang Cong wiped his tears and peered through the crack in the door toward the outside of the Futu Stupa. The corpses had retreated; they clearly dared not approach the stupa. This must have been why Jiang Cheng chose to hide inside, preferring death over stepping outside.
Wang Cong said, "Boss, those dead bodies outside are gone now. Shouldn't we take this chance to run? We're only fifty or sixty meters from the cave entrance; if we sprint into the cave, we could escape this hellish place in just a few minutes."
Chen Jixian replied, "Guo Huaiyi hasn't been found yet. I need to go check upstairs."
"Is finding a corpse really that important? Out of our thirteen brothers in the Investigation Team, it's just us two left now. There's also Zhu Yaoguang out there, who was eaten down to nothing but bones. We're exhausted; we can't even carry Jiang Cheng's body with us when we run. What good will it do you to find Guo Huaiyi's corpse?"
Chen Jixian narrowed his eyes at Wang Cong and said, "This is a mission assigned from above."
Wang Cong scoffed, a look of disdain on his face as he said, "I now doubt whether you are still our leader. If Wei were alive, do you know how disappointed she would be by your words?"
Chen Jixian ignored him and directly ascended the stairs toward the tower's peak.
I followed Chen Jixian up the stairs and turned back to Mr. Chang and Wang Cong, saying, "You two wait here. I'll go up with Captain Chen."
"Be careful!" Mr. Chang replied.
I nodded and looked at Wang Cong, who also nodded back. He handed me the gun in his hand, but I waved it off, saying, "You keep it to protect Mr. Chang."
The Futu Stupa stood about sixty to seventy meters tall, with each floor measuring two to three meters in height. The distance between each successive floor decreased slightly as one ascended. I hadn't paid attention to how many floors the Futu Stupa had when I was outside, but judging by its structure, it should be built according to a layout of twenty-eight floors.
Buddhism has twenty-eight layers, while Taoism has thirty-six. Although I didn't understand much, I had heard the Old Man mention it before.
But such a tall building—three monks would probably take a lifetime to complete it.
In ancient times, emperors and generals built the Great Wall, constructed palaces, erected pagodas, and excavated tombs, often employing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of migrant workers. When the projects were completed, they would frequently execute those who were central to the architectural design. The county records of Futu Ridge only noted that the Futu Stupa was built four hundred years ago; beyond that, there was no further information.
Could it be that all the villagers of Futu Ridge were exterminated back then?
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