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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
In the peaceful days that the villagers of Bright Moon Village had worked hard to achieve, they spent their time worrying about whether the prices of vegetables in the city would rise and concerning themselves with the trivialities of daily life—firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. They seemed to have forgotten that Guo Huaiyi had been in Bright Moon Village for two months without them even realizing it.
It wasn't until one day that Old Man Wang came rushing out from the direction of the back mountain, his face pale with fear, shouting, "This is bad! We're in big trouble! Leader Guo from the Provincial Cultural Troupe went to explore the back mountain right in front of me!"
"What? Leader Guo hasn't left yet?"
Only then did the villagers remember that Leader Guo had arrived in Bright Moon Village two months ago. Time had passed so quickly that no one had paid him any attention; they hadn’t seen him around and thought he must have returned to the Provincial Capital long ago.
"He’s been staying at Old Blind Man's house. I just bumped into him while I was out for a stroll. He asked me to take him to the back mountain, and who would have thought he’d wander into Pine Forest and not come back!" Old Man Wang exclaimed.
"Leader Guo isn’t a pig; how could he get stuck in there? Didn’t you follow him in to check?" a villager asked.
Old Man Wang became annoyed at this question. "Why would I go in? I called out to him a couple of times, but he didn’t respond. I figured he must be possessed or something. I’m not strong enough for him to just drag me along; how could I dare go in and pull him out?"
"And after that, you didn’t see Leader Guo come out?"
Old Man Wang replied, "I waited at the entrance for a while but didn’t see anyone come out. So I ran back here; you all figure out what to do!"
"What else can we do? We need to hurry and find him! If something happens and they blame us for losing a big leader, how can our village survive?" another villager said.
"But this Leader Guo is something else. He’s clearly from a big city but chose to stay at Guo the Blind's house instead of the leadership quarters of the Production Team. And he’s been there for two months! Guo the Blind doesn’t even wash himself properly; how could he not find it disgusting?"
"You're right; it has been quite a long stay. City folks are curious by nature; he probably heard too many tales about the forbidden area from Guo the Blind and wanted to investigate for himself."
"Investigate? Anyone who goes in there ends up dead! If he thinks he's some kind of celestial being just because he's from Wenquxing, he's mistaken if he thinks he can stroll around like that! He dares to trespass on the Snake Goddess's territory!"
While the villagers were discussing this heatedly, Liu Quaner, the captain of the production team, approached from a distance. Upon seeing Liu Quan, Old Man Wang hurriedly said, "Captain Liu! We’re in big trouble! Leader Guo has gone into the forbidden area of the back mountain!"
Liu Quaner replied, "I heard your shouting as soon as I stepped outside; there was no need for an announcement over the loudspeaker."
Old Man Wang didn’t understand that Liu Quaner was mocking him and scratched his back as he asked, "So what should we do? If we don’t find him soon, he might be dead in there."
"What else can we do?" Liu Quan said impatiently. "We need to head to the back mountain right now. The village chief isn’t here at the moment; I’ll take you all to check it out before it gets dark. If anything happens to a young leader from the province, we’ll be in serious trouble—city folks know how to play these games."
Thus, Liu Quan led a villager named Haohao as they set off toward the forbidden area of the back mountain.
Upon reaching the Pine Forest near the forbidden area, Old Man Wang pointed to a certain direction within the Pine Forest and said, "This is where he went in. I was just taking a leak at the time, and by the time I was halfway done, he had already rushed in."
Liu Quandao replied, "Let's go in and take a look. Although the scenery and climate of Futu Ridge are decent, this area is usually deserted, which can lead to miasma. Given Leader Guo's weak constitution, he probably inhaled some miasma and went in."
"Oh, so he was confused. I was wondering why I had warned him twice not to go in, yet he insisted on doing so. Now he's gotten himself into trouble," Old Man Wang shrugged.
"But Captain Liu, that's a forbidden area ahead. If we go in, will we be able to come back out?" a villager asked.
Liu Quandao responded, "The Pine Forest isn't a forbidden area. Twenty years ago, I chased a fugitive with Li the Village Head and took a look inside. You can go in for a quick glance and come right back out. If Leader Guo really crossed into the Pine Forest, then we should just head back. He can't be that important if he hasn't returned to the province after two months."
"Right, don't take it to heart; he brought this upon himself, not us," another villager added.
Liu Quan didn't say anything further and stepped into the Pine Forest. The others followed suit, some out of fear and others out of curiosity. According to ancient legends in Futu Ridge, this place was considered a taboo death zone where no one who entered could return unscathed.
The path through the Pine Forest leading to the forbidden area wasn't very deep but stretched horizontally for dozens of miles, wrapping around the mountains where the forbidden area lay. As everyone searched within the Pine Forest for half an hour, they covered their mouths and noses with their clothing to avoid inhaling any toxic miasma, not daring to wander too far from each other.
As the sun began to set behind the mountains, Liu Quandao said, "Folks, it's getting late. We've done our best by coming this far."
With that, the villagers began to head home. Old Man Wang felt guilty and worried that Guo the Blind would blame him. He secretly peeked into Guo the Blind's house, hoping that Guo Huaiyi would return on his own.
But Guo Huaiyi never came back.
Guo Huaiyi's disappearance finally quelled the curiosity of the children in Futu Ridge who had been eager to explore the forbidden area behind the mountain.
According to rumors outside, no one who entered the northern forbidden area of Futu Ridge ever came out alive.
The villagers were unaware of Guo Huaiyi's true identity; however, Huzi, Li Fugui, and I knew that he was someone who had died and come back to life, possessing dark arts that made it unlikely for him to perish so easily.
Although even Li Fugui dared not step into the forbidden area behind the mountain, if Guo Huaiyi had entered it, he must have had a way to survive; otherwise, what lay within that forbidden area would be too terrifying.
We always thought that Guo Huaiyi's identity was merely fabricated. Guo the Blind had helped many people with house inspections and feng shui assessments; it wasn't surprising if he knew one or two officials who could pull strings. The sudden appearance of Guo Huaiyi could easily be attributed to someone sent from above.
Strangely enough, just two days after Guo Huaiyi's disappearance, police from the county arrived.
Previously, due to Li Fugui's incident, Director Dong of the Public Security Bureau had ordered that all cases related to Bright Moon Village be ignored. However, this time a big shot from the province directly called him and sent him official documents along with several photos—Guo Huaiyi was his son. After sending those photos three nights ago, he had lost contact with him and demanded a thorough investigation.
When these police officers arrived at the production team’s site, they didn’t dare wander around aimlessly. They contacted Production Team leader Liu Quan and asked a few questions before learning that Guo Huaiyi had entered Futu Ridge's forbidden area.
In the surrounding counties of Futu Ridge, various strange incidents related to the forbidden area of Futu Ridge had spread like wildfire, and almost no one was unaware of them.
Since no one managed Futu Ridge, every year, daring adventurers ventured in to explore, resulting in countless deaths. The villagers avoided the back mountains and thus had never learned about these events.
The county police took statements and gathered some investigative data before returning to the station. Director Dong relayed what he had heard to the Provincial Leader, who seemed to be a superstitious person as well, not reprimanding Director Dong for promoting feudal beliefs.
The next morning, a group arrived from the province. They drove a large black vehicle and claimed to be an Investigation Team sent by the province specifically to look into the Forbidden Area of Futu Ridge. Guo Huaiyi was the only son of the Provincial Leader and needed to be found as soon as possible.
This Investigation Team consisted of thirteen members: one woman and twelve men. The leader was a young man named Chen Jixian, who appeared to be in his early thirties, sporting a neat beard that gave him a sharp and capable look.
Later, I learned that this Investigation Team was the most renowned scientific team in the province, composed of elites from various fields specializing in solving supernatural mysteries and difficult cases. Upon hearing Director Dong's report from the county police station, the Provincial Leader dispatched this Investigation Team to uncover what was truly happening in Futu Ridge's back mountain forbidden area.
The team was received by Liu Quan, the captain of the production brigade, but Liu Quan was somewhat displeased this time.
Futu Ridge was a remote and impoverished area where each village's production brigade was self-sufficient. Two months ago, Leader Guo had come; city folks could act all high and mighty while they filled their stomachs with just a few leaves of vegetables. But now, with thirteen people arriving, the Production Team's budget would surely run out within half a month.
Leader Guo had spent two months writing a report; who knew how long this Investigation Team would take for their examination?
While eating, Liu Quan secretly signaled me to step outside. Once we reached the broadcasting room, I looked at Liu Quan's long face and asked, "Captain Liu, what's going on?"
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