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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
Huang San'er was furious to see Huang the Lame let him go down, but he dared not show it. He turned to the two young men standing beside him and said, "One of you go down."
"Brother San'er, I... I'm afraid of heights. I have acrophobia," one of the young men replied.
"Everyone's afraid of heights! If you don't go down, should I?" Huang San'er cursed.
The young man pointed at the other one, "Let Zhou Cheng go down. He used to climb the tallest trees without fear."
Zhou Cheng immediately flipped out and shouted, "Wang Hai, are you out of your mind?"
"What do you mean I'm out of my mind? You're the best climber here! I don't have much strength; I won't be able to help if I go down," Wang Hai retorted.
"You three should all go down. Four big men might not even be able to lift a coffin that's over three meters long, but with four of you pushing, it should work," Guo the Blind shouted from below.
The three men on the cliff turned pale at this remark. Huang the Lame glared at them, "Did you not hear that? Do I need to kick you down?"
Huang San'er was red-faced with anger. In a fit of rage, he put on his coarse cloth gloves and climbed down the rope. The other two young men had no choice but to follow cautiously behind him.
Once Huang San'er reached the trunk of the pine tree, he pulled out a knife from behind and shot a dark glance at me before cutting through the vines covering the cave entrance, allowing sunlight to pour in. When he saw the large coffin inside the cave, he gasped and quickly looked up at Huang the Lame, shouting, "Grandpa, it says Yinwen on the coffin!"
Huang the Lame's expression changed drastically upon hearing Huang San'er's words. He then asked, "Can you understand what it says?"
"How would I know?" Huang San'er snapped back, still upset about being ordered down by Huang the Lame. "You know Yinwen is a script used by ghosts; you can't even read a few characters yourself and you're asking me."
Having followed Huang the Lame for years, Huang San'er had picked up some superficial knowledge of feng shui. He had seen some characters when Huang the Lame studied Yinwen but didn't understand their meanings.
"Since there are Yinwen characters carved on the coffin, then whoever buried this person must be no ordinary figure—at least not inferior to me or your grandfather. The person inside that coffin is likely also significant. You must not open it; tie both ends of the coffin with hemp rope and push it down. Such coffins are definitely supported by blue bricks at the bottom; the rope will pass through from underneath," Guo the Blind's voice came from below.
I looked at the bottom of the Big Red Coffin and indeed saw that blue bricks were placed under each corner.
At that moment, the other two young men, Zhou Cheng and Wang Hai, arrived at our location. As Zhou Cheng got down, he stumbled and lunged toward me, his shoulder crashing hard against mine. With a provocative expression, he said, "Are you blind? Why did you bump into me?"
I held my shoulder in silence. Zhou Cheng was about to push me again when Huang San'er pulled him back. "Enough," Huang San'er said. "Let's just tie up the coffin and get it down first."
Zhou Cheng raised his middle finger at me and said with a cocky tone, "What are you still doing here? Get inside and help tie the coffin!"
With that, Zhou Cheng threw the rope he was holding onto the ground. I clenched my fists and glared at him. Zhou Cheng smirked and asked, "What's wrong? Are you still not convinced?"
I said nothing and picked up the rope, walking into the cave where I wrapped it around both ends of the Big Red Coffin several times to secure it.
At that time, I was just an ordinary person. Even in a one-on-one situation, I might not be a match for Zhou Cheng, let alone with his two buddies nearby. So I could only swallow my anger. If I fought back, I would only end up getting beaten; if things went wrong, I could easily be stabbed to death without any chance to fight back.
I had encountered many people like Zhou Cheng throughout my life and had faced quite a few of them. There were even worse individuals than him. Their aggressive demeanor and tendency to bully the weak had ruined many good people's last shred of goodwill toward society. Once those who were used to being bullied gained power, they would retaliate even more fiercely, creating a vicious cycle.
However, for someone who treated me this way, I would always remember the grudge. Even if time passed and we became friends or if they turned over a new leaf, I would never let it go.
People must pay for the mistakes they make.
The three of them watched as I finished tying up the coffin. I ignored Guo the Blind's shouts coming from below the cliff.
"How long does it take for four of you to tie up a coffin?" Huang the Lame shouted; from his voice, he had also reached the bottom of the cliff.
"It's ready; we're just about to push it!" Huang San'er replied from above.
"I'm going to smoke a cigarette to calm my nerves," Zhou Cheng said while lighting up and looking at me standing next to the coffin. "What are you standing there for? Push it down!"
"Do you think I can do it alone?" I replied.
"Idiot," Zhou Cheng cursed. "You're just a waste of space; you can't even handle a simple task."
The three exchanged glances and walked toward the back of the coffin. Zhou Cheng yelled, "What are you still doing standing there? Grab the rope in front and pull it out! You're supposed to be a college student; have you really gotten that stupid from studying? What an idiot!"
Zhou Cheng kicked me, and I suppressed my anger, gripping the rope tightly to drag the coffin. The Big Red Coffin emitted strange creaking sounds, and in the dim cave with its eerie atmosphere, Zhou Cheng seemed to feel uneasy and stopped cursing at me.
But I felt the air around us suddenly turn cold. With every pull of the coffin, the chill deepened, as if we had fallen into an ice pit.
Even more bizarrely, I had just heard a cat's meow.
"Why did I just hear a cat meow?" Wang Hai finally couldn't hold back any longer, voicing the fear that gripped everyone.
Huang San'er said, "If there is one, it's probably inside the coffin. The coffin is so thick and tied up; we just need to push it down for those two old men to deal with."
Huang San'er shouted for us to put our strength together. As the coffin passed over the footstones and reached the tree trunk, a heart-wrenching cat's wail echoed through the cave. At that moment, Zhou Cheng screamed and ran toward the cave entrance.
I looked toward where Zhou Cheng had been standing outside the cave and saw a scruffy-looking cat lying there.
The cat was enormous and emaciated, its feet surrounded by greasy dust and fallen fur. It looked as though it were standing in a swamp, struggling to rise while glaring at us with a fierce expression.
This cat appeared to have once been black, now mixed with white fur. Its whiskers and eyebrows were long, and its movements bore an uncanny resemblance to a human's, sending chills down our spines.
"How many years must this cat have lived to grow so big? Look at its eyes; they resemble those of a person!" Wang Hai's voice trembled.
"What nonsense! Have you ever seen a cat bigger than a dog?" Huang San'er retorted.
Cats and dogs are humanity's most loyal companions, typically living only about ten years. Cats generally have shorter lifespans; it's rare to hear of one living beyond ten years. Yet this cat must have lived for at least twenty years. Animals that spend long periods with humans often mimic their actions and expressions, and this cat truly terrified us all.
No one knew why there was an ancient cat hiding beneath a coffin deep in the mountains. Was it a wild cat living here or one kept by the owner of the coffin?
"It's just a beast; let's kill it!" Zhou Cheng shouted. Having recovered from his initial fright, he pulled out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket.
The Big Black Cat seemed to understand human speech, letting out a warning sound. One of its paws sank into a black viscous substance below it, which bore faint paw prints—evidence that Zhou Cheng had accidentally stepped in it moments before. As it emerged from the sticky substance, it shook its fur, its tail swaying like that of a rattlesnake.
Huang San'er and Wang Hai also gripped their knives tightly, fearing that the cat might suddenly pounce on them. I reached into my pocket for a long black nail; if the Black Cat attacked me, I would use this to fight back.
The eyes of the Black Cat scanned us before locking onto Zhou Cheng, who stood outside the cave entrance. Suddenly, it let out a shrill cry reminiscent of a child's wail and lunged at him.
The massive body of the Black Cat crashed into Zhou Cheng's face. In a panic, he stabbed wildly with his knife, plunging it into the Black Cat's abdomen. The creature let out a horrific scream before Zhou Cheng kicked it off the cliff.
Cats are known to land on their feet, but the Black Cat seemed too old to manage that. After hitting the ground with a thud, it let out another cry and quickly scrambled to its feet, limping away from Guo the Blind and Huang the Lame before disappearing into the thicket, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Meanwhile, Zhou Cheng had collapsed at the cave entrance, dropping his Swiss army knife. His collar was soaked in blood, and a deep gash from the Black Cat's claws marred his neck, blood gushing from it.
"Zhou Cheng, your face!" Wang Hai exclaimed, pointing at him.
I turned to Zhou Cheng; his face was extremely pale, but his eye sockets and lips were darkened—clearly signs of poisoning.
"The Black Cat must have been here for many years. The rapid onset of this condition indicates its claws are highly toxic. Perhaps Old Guo can help," I analyzed, immediately regretting my words.
"What do we do now?" Wang Hai asked.
"You two help him inside the cave to lie down while we push the coffin down," I instructed.
Wang Hai nodded and moved to support the weakened Zhou Cheng into the cave. Together, the three of us then pushed the Big Red Coffin off the cliff.
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