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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
“Huang San'er?” I murmured to myself.
I hadn’t recognized the chubby bully who led the harassment of Zhou Manman on the bus as my former tormentor, Huang San'er.
I always thought that as people grew up, they would mature, and after spending time in society, their hearts would yearn for tranquility. Back then, Huang San'er was the leader at Futu Ridge, quite charismatic and skilled in fighting. I assumed he might have become some kind of Big Shot, but I never expected him to have turned into a worthless scoundrel, growing more pathetic by the day.
“Wasting your time with this bunch of good-for-nothings, stealing and scheming. You haven’t learned a thing from me, and your father’s business has only landed you in trouble. Now look at you, causing a mess that might cost you your life before you realize the danger,” Huang the Lame scolded Huang San'er, disappointment etched on his face.
“Old Huang, aren’t we three brothers lucky? No one can take his life,” a young man trailing behind Huang San'er said.
“No one can take his life?” Huang the Lame scoffed at the young man’s words. “There’s always a hierarchy. It’s one thing to bully ordinary folks like Chang Lao, but if you provoke someone truly formidable, you’ll be finished. And this time, it might not even be a human who wants his life!”
The young man replied, “But we saw it last night in Bright Moon Village. That female driver didn’t die; it couldn’t have been Ghost Killing. Someone must be pulling strings behind the scenes.”
“Whether someone is pulling strings is not for you to conclude, you ignorant fool,” Huang the Lame retorted angrily.
“You!” The young man was furious at being insulted by Huang the Lame, but before he could respond, Huang San'er punched him in the chest and warned him with a glare, “You dare talk back to my grandfather? Get lost.”
The young man looked defiant but didn’t dare argue further. Ignoring him, Huang the Lame scanned the area and then pulled out a square object from behind him. The surface of this object was covered in rust, but under the moonlight, one could faintly see what appeared to be a piece of warm jade hidden inside.
From his hiding spot in the bushes, Guo the Blind gasped when he saw what Huang the Lame was holding and muttered to himself, “That compass is actually in his hands. No wonder he managed to escape disaster back then with just a broken leg and even rescued the county leaders from forbidden grounds.”
From Guo the Blind’s words, it was clear that what Huang the Lame held was indeed a treasure.
A compass isn’t particularly rare; even roadside fortune-tellers wouldn’t dare claim to be traveling without one. Even those famous for selling dog skin plaster back in Putian would carry a compass to show off. However, I had never seen a compass like the one in Huang the Lame’s hands.
I watched as Huang the Lame cradled the compass and gently adjusted its needle to a specific mark before walking around the damaged bus.
“Grandpa, what’s going on? Is there something strange about this place?” Huang San'er asked softly.
Huang the Lame frowned. "There's nothing supernatural about this place. It used to be an old Ancestral Grave in the mountains. It's not a Feng Shui Treasure Land, but it's definitely not a place for raising ghosts. A few decades ago, when the county was building roads, there was some trouble with evil spirits, but it wasn't because the Ancestral Grave was disturbed."
"Damn it! If it's not because of ghosts, then it must be man-made. If I find out who did this, I'll kill their whole family!" Huang San'er said fiercely.
Huang the Lame scoffed at Huang San'er’s words. "When are you going to grow up a bit and learn to use your brain? If you did, you wouldn't be in a position where your life is in someone else's hands!"
Huang San'er looked defeated and didn’t dare to retort. He seemed quite afraid of Huang the Lame. The young man who had come with him said, "Old Huang, San'er is your own grandson. We grew up together. Right now, we can't figure out what's going on, but can you tell us who wants to kill us? We're just fooling around; we haven't done anything like murder or arson. Why is the other side so ruthless?"
Huang the Lame replied, "With your pathetic state, even if you haven't killed anyone or set anything on fire, you know you've done plenty of bad things besides good ones. When you've done enough bad deeds, you naturally face retribution. Having ghosts around might actually make things easier; what I'm really worried about is someone pretending to be a ghost. You need to understand that no matter how powerful a person is, they can't guard against the schemes of those with ulterior motives. Back in the day, Li Fugui's father was quite a formidable figure; ten strong men couldn't even get close to him. The heads of all the gangs in the county had to call him Li Wuye when they saw him. But what happened later? He was shot in the head by someone, and Li Fugui spent years trying to find out who killed his father but never figured it out."
When Huang San'er heard Huang the Lame mention Li Fugui, he hesitated and asked, "Grandpa, you've always said that in Futu Ridge we shouldn't provoke Li Fugui. Could it be that he's trying to harm us?"
Huang the Lame shook his head. "It wouldn't be Li Fugui. Although he's ruthless and has blood on his hands from his youth, he wouldn't resort to these kinds of tricks. You have no enmity with him. However, I do remember one person."
"Who?"
"Guo the Blind," Huang the Lame said.
"The Feng Shui Master from Bright Moon Village?" Huang San'er asked. "We have no grudge against him!"
Huang the Lame replied, "You may not have a grudge against Guo the Blind, but what you've done has displeased him. Back when you were breaking the Four Olds, his woman was publicly stripped and paraded through the streets; not long after that, she went mad. Guo the Blind was locked up in a cow shed and couldn't get out while his woman ran around naked. With so many people in the village, how could something not happen?"
As Huang the Lame spoke these words, I noticed that Guo the Blind beside me was clearly agitated; his fingers were clenched tightly and trembling with rage.
At that moment, as I looked at Guo the Blind, I suddenly noticed something astonishing.
Futu Ridge is surrounded by mountains and lush with vegetation, which means there are swarms of mosquitoes in summer. If someone were to walk into an open area at night, they would likely be bitten all over by mosquitoes. At this moment, there were mosquitoes everywhere on the mountains, yet not a single one could be seen near Guo the Blind.
I observed as a mosquito flew toward Guo the Blind's face and suddenly fell silently to the ground as if struck down by an invisible electric net; however, when I reached out to touch it, I felt nothing at all.
Guo the Blind seemed to sense my movements; he turned back and gestured for me to be quiet and crouch down. Huang the Lame had stopped his previous conversation at some point and was now looking in our direction.
"Grandpa, what's wrong?" came Huang San'er's voice.
"Nothing, just go back. Since there are no ghostly burial grounds here, you all can sleep at my place tonight and nothing will happen," Huang the Lame replied.
After Huang the Lame took Huang San'er and the others away, Guo the Blind and I emerged from behind the wormwood bushes. I knew a bit about what had happened to him and his wife in the past, but I hadn't expected it to be related to Huang the Lame. This explained why he had saved Zhou Manman last night; he couldn't bear to see a woman who had already suffered so much die unjustly.
Seeing that Guo the Blind was in a bad mood, I didn't ask further and said to him, "Shall we head back too?"
"No," Guo the Blind suddenly looked up towards the cliff above. "Just because it's safe here doesn't mean that Winding Mountain Road is safe."
With that, Guo the Blind walked towards the wasteland, and I had no choice but to follow him. However, as soon as we stepped out of the wasteland, we saw Huang the Lame and his group standing at the road's entrance, calmly watching us.
"Brother Guo has such refined taste; out in the middle of the night with a man at the Ancestral Grave for a stroll. Who would have thought Brother Guo enjoyed this kind of thing? It wouldn't look good if it got out," Huang the Lame said with a sly smile.
Guo the Blind looked at Huang the Lame and replied, "It's not Brother Huang's heavy taste; I brought four people this time, not even sparing your own grandson."
Huang the Lame's face turned sour from Guo the Blind's retort. Just as he was about to respond, Huang San'er behind him shouted, "You damn one-eyed dragon, dare to insult my grandpa! Do you want a beating?"
Guo the Blind chuckled softly, "Go ahead and try to hit me, but only if your grandpa doesn't stop you."
"Alright, brothers, let's beat this old man up! Let's see who can save him in the middle of the night!" Huang San'er rolled up his sleeves and approached.
I cleared my throat and said, "Youngsters ganging up on an old man? You must really be cowards."
"Who the hell are you?" Huang San'er’s expression turned terrified. "How are you still alive?!"
"Thanks to you, I got off early," I replied.
"Grandpa, this is the person from the bus. At that time, we dragged the female driver into the woods, and he confronted us. It's very likely he's behind this!" Huang San'er said.
Huang the Lame looked at me in surprise and said, "No wonder he's wearing a black veil. I've seen that kid Yang Kuan who died; I thought you were just a friend of San'er and had run into trouble. I didn't expect there to be this backstory."
I replied, "I've heard of Old Huang's great name, Yang Hao. Not only do you understand feng shui, but you're also a skilled practitioner. My mother told me to show you great respect when we met, but I didn't expect that after just getting to know you, your words would be so harsh. The descendants you've raised are nothing but scoundrels."
"You've got some nerve to criticize me," Huang the Lame stared at me.
"I wouldn't dare to criticize, but I do have the courage to speak the truth," I said.
"So you're Yang Hao? You still hold a grudge from when I bullied you back in school? Do you think you're impressive just because you got into college?" Huang San'er remarked.
"So you're the one who only knows how to study," another young man insulted.
I chuckled lightly, "Only people like you would think that college students are just someone else's bragging rights. Once you step out of this mountain, everyone knows that today's college students are the cheapest labor force, not even worth as much as a migrant worker. When insulting others, there's no need for you to expose your own shortcomings."
Huang San'er was infuriated by my words and turned to Huang the Lame beside him, saying, "Grandpa, let's just kill these two. After all, if two people die in Futu Ridge, the police won't investigate."
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