Chapter 41

Thank you, Daytime Momo, Hongchen Heng, Huamian Zhang, Ai Guo Tian Shi 1, Qianmian JOKER, and Yi Wu Qingjue for your generous donations and encouragement to Xiaolong!

A hand was quietly placed on Zhao Zhu's shoulder at this moment. The hand was very light, almost imperceptible, and very cold, bringing a chill that penetrated to the heart;

Then, a face slowly approached Zhao Zhu's, their skin brushing against each other. The face was very smooth, but it didn't bring any joy;

Zhao Zhu only felt a breeze blowing over him, but he instinctively sensed that someone was right next to him. At this moment, a strong desire to turn back and look arose in Zhao Zhu's heart. This desire was like a fire ignited in his heart, like a spark that set the entire prairie ablaze, almost overriding his instincts. However, Zhao Zhu gritted his teeth, his eyes showing a determined look, and he heavily breathed, suppressing the urge to look back.

All of this stemmed from a story told by Old Man Han when Zhao Zhu was treating him. The story was told to Old Man Han by his mother and saved his life when he was tomb raiding.

That year, Old Man Han's mother was only seventeen, not yet married, and usually worked on the farm and took care of her younger brothers, who were Old Man Han's uncles. One day, in their village, a person was planting vegetables in the field. When everyone finished work, the person was found missing, and no one could find him.

Some people said he might have been bewitched, but no one really believed it. After all, it was the early days of the People's Republic of China, and people living under the red flag had an instinctive resistance to ghosts and spirits. At that time, the place where the Guanyin Bodhisattva was usually placed in homes was replaced by Chairman Mao.

But the strange thing was that the villagers searched the entire night and still couldn't find him. Finally, with the urging of the older generation, they went to an old woman on a nearby desolate mountain.

The old woman initially ignored them, but after they bought some wine and food and flattered her for a long time, she finally started to speak.

She said it was the spirits of children, wandering in the mountains, calling people's names. If the person responded or turned back, they would be bewitched and hard to find. The villagers, anxious, asked her what to do, and she said they should have some people beat gongs and drums, calling his name to summon him back.

The villagers were half-believing, half-doubting, but they had no other ideas, so they followed her advice. They all brought gongs and drums and went up the mountain, calling his name. As they walked, suddenly one person stopped and said, "Look, there he is, on that tree."

But no one else could see him! (It turned out that people with low luck were more likely to see ghosts or dirty things, as they often encountered misfortune.)

However, the villagers still went to the tree and kept beating the gongs and drums, calling his name. Suddenly, they saw him fall from the tree, and everyone was amazed, finding it very strange.

Guess what happened to that person?

His mouth was full of mud, his ears were filled with insects, and his nose had earthworms. The villagers asked him where he had been, and he said someone had invited him to a "pork feast" (a pork feast refers to a meal where someone in the countryside slaughters a pig and invites everyone to eat meat, which was a rare treat in those days).

When Old Man Han was tomb raiding in Shaanxi again, he encountered a similar situation. The tomb owner had buried two children with him.

Using child sacrifices, this practice didn't disappear until the founding of the People's Republic of China. Even during the Republic of China era, it was not uncommon.

Some landlords, fearing they would have no one to serve them after death, found it insufficient to burn paper figures and money. They simply took two children with them, so before they died, they would buy a boy and a girl.

At that time, the regulation of human trafficking was not strict, and the social atmosphere was "if the people don't report, the officials don't investigate." Even if the whole village knew about such live sacrifices, no one would report it.

After the person died, the two children would be placed in the coffin, but the coffin had separate compartments. The body and the children were in different layers, and some food would be left for the children. After the coffin was buried, the children would either starve to death or suffocate.

However, this method of death had the highest chance of producing vengeful spirits.

Old Man Han once encountered such a vengeful spirit. The spirit quietly attached itself to his body, and he felt someone breathing on his neck. Without thinking, he turned his head and saw a child's face. Then, he felt dizzy and extremely hungry, as if his stomach was touching his back. Suddenly, a large piece of toast appeared in front of him. Without hesitation, he bit into the toast and chewed and swallowed it. Fortunately, at that moment, he remembered the story his mother had told him. It was like being doused with a bucket of cold water, and he immediately came to his senses. The hunger in his stomach disappeared, and when he looked at his hand, he realized he was holding a piece of broken pottery, not toast. His teeth had broken from chewing it, and his mouth was a mess of blood and flesh. If he had taken a few more bites, he would have killed himself, with the pottery shards cutting his esophagus, intestines, and stomach!

Zhao Zhu's mind was constantly recalling Old Man Han's story, and his body was drenched in cold sweat. He was almost certain that he was encountering something similar to what Old Man Han had faced. However, Old Man Han was in the tomb of an ancient minor noble in Shaanxi, while Zhao Zhu was in a tomb built on the Qing Dynasty's dragon vein. The two tombs were of different levels, and the entities they produced would be vastly different. Zhao Zhu was not confident that he could regain his senses if he really turned his head, and he might end up eating something disgusting and dying.

However, the itching on his back and the feeling of cat claws in his heart grew stronger, so strong that Zhao Zhu could hardly control himself. He wanted to turn his head and look, even if just for a moment. This voice kept echoing in Zhao Zhu's heart. He gritted his teeth, but his teeth were already trembling. Indeed, his body had frozen in just a short time, and it seemed that, except for his head, the rest of his body was unable to move.

Zhao Zhu's head began to turn uncontrollably. He knew that if he really turned his head, everything would be over. At this moment, Zhao Zhu's gaze fell on the eunuch sculpture at the edge of the steps. At this moment, Zhao Zhu felt that the smile on the eunuch's lips was particularly eerie, and a flash of lightning crossed his mind!

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