Chapter 21.1 The Banquet of Death
Due to a sudden accident, the entire funeral became a mess. People quickly accepted this cruel fact and quickly carried away the person who was crushed to death. The mournful music sounded again, and the people in white seemed to have turned into vague ghosts in the rain curtain, slowly walking towards the invisible burial grounds ahead.
Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo didn’t dare to say anything. It wasn’t until the crowd left completely that Lin Banxia whispered: “Why did he die suddenly?”
Song Qingluo frowned.
“Is there really a curse?” Lin Banxia hesitated, “Otherwise, this would be… such a coincidence.”
Song Qingluo said: “Ignore them, go to the cemetery first.”
The two were afraid of running into the funeral procession and did not dare to take the main road. Instead, they walked through the dense weeds nearby. After walking for about ten minutes, they finally saw the cemetery they were looking for.
When Lin Banxia saw the panoramic view of the cemetery, he couldn’t help but sigh a little. The place in front of him was more like a mass grave than a cemetery.
Perhaps it was because too many people had died and there was no time to bury them all, so most of the coffins were hastily placed on the roadside. The funeral procession seemed to have walked away from the main road in the distance. They placed the new coffins on their shoulders in the corner of the cemetery. The sound of mourning gradually faded away, but the grating sound of the suona still seemed to surround their ears.
Seeing that everyone was gone, Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo walked into the cemetery.
They were surrounded by densely packed coffins, with extinguished incense candles and dirty paper money stuck on the ground. In such an environment, ordinary people would have panicked. Fortunately, Lin Banxia didn’t feel nervous, so it didn’t matter. His eyes scanned the surroundings, and he soon noticed something strange, and whispered: “Song Qingluo, what is that?”
Song Qingluo also noticed what Lin Banxia was talking about. They were several humanoid objects rolled up with grass, and they were thrown on the roadside in such a perfunctory manner. Although he was far away, he still smelled an unbearable smell. The smell of decomposition.
Song Qingluo walked over, and Lin Banxia followed behind. He saw Song Qingluo squatting down and lifting a corner of the straw mat with his hands, revealing a pale face that had been soaked and swollen by the rain.
When Song Qingluo saw this face, his brows furrowed even more tightly. He forcefully remved the entire straw mat, completely exposing the contents wrapped in the straw mat to view.
It was a corpse that was cut in two. The clothes he wore showed that he was not from this village. He had obviously been dead for several days. After being soaked by the rain, he looked extremely terrifying…but even after he died, his eyes were wide open, showing deep despair and unwillingness.
Lin Banxia thought of something and said, “Qing Luo, is this person… the companion of the people we saw at the entrance of the village? The one the village chief said was crushed to death by the tree?”
Song Qingluo said: “That’s him.” He stood up and looked at the straw mats next to him, “I know him.”
Lin Banxia was stunned, but he didn’t expect that he was an acquaintance of Song Qingluo.
Lin Banxia was still thinking when Song Qingluo made another move. He walked to the side and opened several straw mats one by one. Sure enough, several corpses appeared in front of them. These corpses were in various forms of death and were not even changed into regular clothes. They were obviously handled hastily.
Song Qingluo bent down and started to search for something on the corpse. Lin Banxia asked: “What are you looking for? Do you need help?”
Song Qingluo said: “See if there is a black notebook in their clothes.”
Lin Banxia said “oh” and helped Song Qingluo search. Fortunately, his job content was special enough and he could remain calm even when faced with these unrecognizable corpses. Lin Banxia searched through the clothes on the corpse and really felt something hard. He took it out and took a look, and said in surprise: “Qing Luo, is this it?”
Song Qingluo looked at Lin Banxia and saw a black notebook in his hand.
“Yes, that’s it.” Song Qingluo hummed.
Lin Banxia said: “Are you going to check it here? Or should you go back and look at it then?”
Song Qingluo said: “Let’s look at it when we go back.”
After Song Qingluo’s explanation, Lin Banxia learned that the two people who came with Song Qingluo were the recorders. Their duty was to record everything they encountered, including the Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo’s investigation process. In order to avoid unexpected situations. The material of this notebook was special, and the pen used was also a special pen. You had to use a special method to read the words recorded on it. Song Qingluo searched around the house before, just to find this thing, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find it, so he speculated whether it might still be on the dead monitor.
After finding what they were looking for, the two began to walk back.
The way back went smoothly, but when he returned to the village chief’s house, Lin Banxia saw two more coffins in the village chief’s yard. He was shocked. His first reaction was that Mou Xinsi and He Huaian had died. Fortunately, he walked into the house and saw the two of them sitting beside the brazier to keep warm.
“You’re back?” He Huaian’s hair was wet, and he greeted Lin Banxia with a reluctant smile.
“Yes, we’re back.” Lin Banxia.
“Has the map been made?” Song Qingluo did not comfort them and went straight to the topic.
“It’s madonede.” He Huaian took out a piece of paper from his arms, handed it to Song Qingluo, and said, “The structure of the village is very simple. There is a stream in the west, which is the water source of the village. The ancestral hall is at the end of the village. This village is not large in size. It is similar to the statistics in the data. The permanent population should only be about five hundred people.” He sneezed, rubbed his nose, and said, “Nothing unusual has been found so far.”
Song Qingluo pondered: “Are there any strange legends in the village?”
“Some,” Mou Xinsi answered, “When we came back, we met an aunt on the road, so we asked her about it. She said that this village offended the mountain god and was cursed. ”
Song Qingluo: “Starting from the beginning of spring?”
Mou Xin thought: “Yes, there was too much rain this year and the streams swelled. After that, people began to die in the village. The reasons for the deatha were all strange. Later, the elders in the village calculated and said that they did not organize the sacrifice last autumn. The mountain god is angry…enough people must die to appease the mountain god’s anger.”
This story was very similar to what the village chief told them. Song Qingluo was thinking about something while taking off his rain gear.
Lin Banxia sat down next to He Huaian and started a fire. He said, “What’s going on with the coffins in the yard?”
“It was brought in by a few people just now.” He Huaian said, “I don’t know who died again.”
Lin Banxia said: “Where is the village chief? Is he okay?”
“He’s okay.” Mou Xinsi said, “He seems to be in the kitchen. You guys sit down first, and I’ll go over and take a look.”
She said this then got up and went to the kitchen.
The kitchen door was open, and a rich aroma was exuding from inside. Mou Xinsi pushed the door open but did not see the village chief. She raised her head and took a look and found a pot of steaming chicken soup on the stove. There are also delicious mushrooms floating in it.
Since arriving here yesterday, she had not had a good hot meal. She had made do with dry food. Just by smelling the chicken soup, she knew it must be very delicious. She gulped her saliva down and held back her inner desire.
Just when Mou Xinsi told herself in her heart that she couldn’t touch other people’s things, the village chief, who had gone somewhere, appeared outside. Seeing her actions, he said unhappily: “What are you doing here? Are you stealing from me? Did you drink any of the soup?”
“No, no, I just thought it smells good and I haven’t touched it.” Mou Xinsi said embarrassedly.
The village chief glared: “This chicken soup is not for you!”
Mou Xinsi showed an embarrassed expression. She felt that the village chief was too fierce. She just smelled it. Why did he have such an attitude?
Probably because Mou Xinsi’s expression was too obvious, the village chief suddenly stopped blaming her, glanced at Mou Xinsi, walked to the side, picked up a bowl, scooped out a bowl of soup for her, and said, “There are rules in the village. Who knows why? When someone dies, everyone has to bring a pot of chicken soup to their family. There are not many chickens in the village…just this one was left.”
Mou Xinsi said in surprise: “Is this…is this okay?”
The village chief nodded: “I’ll just let you drink some, but don’t go out and talk about it.”
“Thank you, thank you.” Mou Xinsi thanked him happily and drank a bowl of chicken soup. Although her body was still a little cold, the taste of the chicken soup put her in a good mood. The chicken and mountain mushrooms were a perfect pair. Simmering them in a casserole for several hours would make them taste fresh on people’s tongues.
Back in the main room, Mou Xinsi was recalling the feeling and didn’t even pay attention to what Song Qingluo and the others were saying. It wasn’t until He Huaian called her name several times that she suddenly came back to her senses and said, “Ah? What’s the matter?”
“What are you thinking about?” He Huaian looked at Mou Xinsi’s distracted look, feeling a little helpless. “We were asking you, have you found the village chief? Is he okay?”
“Oh, oh!!!” Mou Xin thought, “He’s fine. He’s fine. He’s cooking in the kitchen, but his attitude is not very good… He also told us to leave early and stop wasting time here.”
“He didn’t say anything else?” Song Qingluo asked.
“Nothing else.” Mou Xinsi said, “But I don’t think he is necessarily telling the truth. It’s definitely not normal for so many people to die. I think it’s possible that someone is causing trouble.”
Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo didn’t say anything. If they hadn’t seen with their own eyes that the young man carrying the coffin was smashed to death, they might have had the same idea as Mou Xinsi, but the fact was right in front of them, and it seemed that they were still there. Among them, there was a force that was taking the lives of the villagers. Was it true that this village was cursed by some force, as the village said?
It rained for the entire day before finally stopping in the evening.
Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo had a simple lunch and sat in the courtyard. It had just rained, so the air in the courtyard was very fresh, but the coffins placed next to them were really an eyesore. Fortunately, Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo didn’t care about this, so they sat on the small stools and discussed their visit to the cemetery in the morning without changing their expressions. He Huaian and Mou Xinsi were also standing nearby. He Huaian was fine, but Mou Xinsi looked a little uncomfortable and glanced towards the coffins from time to time.
Song Qingluo calmly told them what happened in the morning, and also mentioned that he found the notebook.
“Mr. Song, did you find the notebook?” He Huaian said in surprise.
“Well.” Song Qingluo said, “Let’s take a look first.”
This notebook was a very important item for them. Due to the requirements of the work regulations, they had to record every detail they observed in the notebook. Although the people who came to investigate before had communicated with the outside world, they would inevitably make omissions. With this, it would be much easier to handle.
Song Qingluo opened the first page of the notebook. It was empty without any writing. Song Qingluo took out his usual pair of black gloves from his pocket, gently put them on, then closed the notebook, and when he opened it again, dense text appeared on the blank page.
He Huaian and Mou Xinsi were not surprised, but Lin Banxia looked surprised.
At the top of the notebook, detailed dates were recorded. Lin Banxia glanced at it roughly and felt that it was more like a diary than a record. Almost all the people and things the person came into contact with every day were recorded in detail.
It started in early April, when they arrived in this strange mountain village.
There was nothing special about the diaries of the first few days. They mainly recorded in detail their contact with the village chief and the villagers, and their investigations around the village. They were somewhat similar to Lin Banxia’s current situation, except that they were not dead at the time. There are so many people, but the cemetery in the east was still empty.
Things changed on the fifth day after they arrived in the village.
That day, it rained heavily.
“At 7:30, the weather today was not very good, so we decided to stay nearby. Zeng Xu seemed to be feeling a little uncomfortable. His temperature kept rising, and a rash appeared on his body. Judging from the symptoms, it seemed that he was having an allergic reaction to something.”
“At 9:00, Zeng Xu’s symptoms began to become serious, and breathing became difficult. We determined that he was allergic to something, but we have not found the source of the allergy so far. I checked the breakfast he had this morning, and they were all the most ordinary food, nothing he could be allergic to.”
“We want to send Zeng Xu out at 9:30, but he may not be able to survive on such a long mountain road.”
“Zeng Xu died at 10:18. The cause of death was throat swelling caused by allergies. His whole body turned pink and was covered with horrible rashes, as if he had some strange infectious disease.”
“At 11:00 when we were examining his body, we found strange bugs on his calves. I had never seen such a bug before. It seemed to be the thing that caused Zeng Xu’s allergic symptoms. I asked my superiors for instructions. The mission must continue.”
“An inspiration test was conducted at 12:00. Hao Yongnian was 64, Zhuo Honglang was 35, and Ai Chi was 87. The values were all on the high side, close to dangerous values. The situation is not optimistic.”
“13:00 Group exploration this afternoon. I have to go to the stream. I don’t like it there. I feel uncomfortable every time I get close to there.”
“At 17:54, the recorder was changed to Zhuo Honglang. The original recorder, Hao Yongnian, died. The cause of death was drowning. No external injuries were found on his body. There were signs of slipping and struggling around the body. No other information was available.”
The cold words didn’t carry many strong emotions, but they made people feel indescribably uncomfortable. The four of them seemed to have fallen into a terrible trap, and they died quietly due to various accidents without even a chance to struggle.
Allergy, drowning, being struck by lightning, these seemingly ordinary ways to die were no longer accidental when they are brought together in a short period of time.
Next, there were a lot less records in the notebook, and it seemed that the remaining people were planning to leave. However, even though they had already gotten in the car which was parked at the entrance of the village, they still could not leave here.
Of course, in addition to their encounters, the notebook also recorded in detail what happened to the villagers in the village. At that time, the villagers probably did not have such a strong resistance to outsiders, so they recorded in detail the strange and bizarre causes of death of the villagers.
It was no longer common to die from snake venom. Lin Banxia saw the most outrageous way to die. The person was just sleeping at home. While he was asleep, the bed collapsed. Under normal circumstances, it would be fine if the bed collapsed. However, when the wooden bed board collapsed, the broken wood formed a sharp angle, which penetrated directly through the man’s chest. When others found out, the man was already dead.
“To die like this… too outrageous.” Lin Banxia said hesitantly, “If someone is responsible, it is unlikely that so many people could die suddenly in one village.”
Song Qingluo suddenly asked: “Is Hao Yongnian a monitor or a recorder?”
“He was the monitor.” He Huaian replied.
“Then why is he taking notes?” Song Qingluo asked.
“This group is quite special. Hao Yongnian switched from a recorder to a monitor, so when he goes on a mission, he is used to recording.” He Huaian explained.
Song Qingluo pursed his lips and said nothing.
Lin Banxia said: “What’s wrong? Is there anything abnormal?”
Song Qingluo said: “Maybe we should go to the stream to have a look.”
Lin Banxia said: “Is it the place where they get water?”
“Yes.” Song Qingluo said, “Hao Yongnian died there. There may be some clues there.”
“Do you want to go now?” Lin Banxia glanced at the sky.
“Tomorrow.” Song Qingluo said, “I’ll sort out my thoughts first.”
Translator’s comments:
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