Chapter 47: Flesh-Eating |
Qi Si moved behind the wooden racks that held the memorial tablets. There was no altar there, only a massive yellow talisman pasted to the wall, a single character written on it in bold red ink: "Suppress."
Both the village history and the stories Su Po had told claimed the ancestral hall was built to worship the god who provided the meat. Now, it seemed that was far from the truth.
[The ancestral hall, both new and old, filled with a dense forest of memorial tablets. Who is suppressing their souls?]
The text on the system interface was stark and unsettling.
Qi Si glanced at the cold sunlight outside the door. Seeing that no one was watching him, he snatched one of the memorial tablets and walked out of the ancestral hall without a backward glance.
Zhao Feng had no idea what was happening, but he followed silently.
Killing Yang Yundong had been an impulsive act of malice. Now that he had calmed down and thought through the convoluted implications, a chilling fear crept over him.
Anyone with eyes could see he had done it. With just a little maneuvering from someone with an agenda, he would become the next public enemy.
He was injured and his combat strength was diminished, making him vulnerable to a fatal backstab at any moment.
Qi Si read Zhao Feng's thoughts as clearly as if they were written in flame. He gave a command. "Zhao Feng, pick up the wooden bucket. We're going back to Su Po's house."
As if granted a pardon, Zhao Feng scrambled to pick up the wooden bucket Su Po had left in the center of the hall and hurried after Qi Si.
He understood. Qi Si was publicly cementing their partnership. His greatest fear—being used and then cast aside—wasn't going to happen.
Qi Si saw the lingering fear in Zhao Feng's eyes but had no intention of saying anything more.
Humans are far more inclined to trust the logic they piece together themselves than the words of others, even if their conclusions are miles from the truth.
By the time they returned to Su Po's home, it was high noon. The sun hung directly overhead, bathing every corner in bright light.
Su Po and A'Xi were sitting in the courtyard, basking in the sun and making idle conversation.
A faint smile on his lips, Qi Si walked over and tossed the memorial tablet onto the ground. Just as he'd expected, he watched Su Po's expression flash from confusion to terror in a single second.
He dragged a chair over and sat down, his voice perfectly composed. "I've been wondering," he began, "why the ancestral hall enshrines those tablets instead of a god. Now, I think I'm beginning to understand. The villagers who mutated, the ones whose bodies were sold as divine meat to travelers—they were also full of resentment. They needed to be placed in the hall to be suppressed."
"The disaster that befell Su Clan Village was of its own making," he continued. "The greedy villagers got what they deserved. They deserved to be cursed by an evil god and mutate into grotesque monsters."
Here, Qi Si's smile faded slightly, and he adopted the posture of a humble student seeking knowledge. "But there's one thing I don't understand. Su Po, you died before the god ever descended. You have no part in these sins. So why do you so stubbornly remain in this cannibalistic village?"
Su Po had already regained her composure. She stared into Qi Si's eyes, her voice cold. "Someone must watch over this village. If I were to leave my post at the ancestral hall, *they* would all escape. They wouldn't just kill you—they would bring ruin to the entire county!"
Though completely bewildered by Qi Si's analysis, Zhao Feng remained standing guard at his side.
Sensing the hostility in Su Po's tone, he grabbed A'Xi by the collar. "Watch your attitude, old hag! Or I'll toss your grandson into that ancestral hall and see if the ghosts fancy a snack!"
Qi Si shot him a cool glance before dismissing him completely and turning back to Su Po. "Tell me the whole truth, and perhaps I can find a way to solve your village's problem. Of course, whether you believe me is entirely up to you."
He paused, a surprisingly gentle smile gracing his lips. "It's just... when I can't figure out the truth, I get so frustrated I feel like dragging everyone down with me. I'm guessing that talisman on the wall in there is pretty important. What do you suppose would happen... if I were to rip it down?"
He said it with such sincerity that it didn't sound like an empty threat at all.
Neither the living nor the dead who heard him doubted for a second that Qi Si would do exactly as he promised.
Zhao Feng, still holding A'Xi by the scruff of his neck like a piece of scenery, was struck with a sense of awe. *So this is what someone from the Sila Guild is like,* he thought. *The rumors were true... a total psycho.* Su Po didn't dare bet on Qi Si's sanity, but she was equally unwilling to part with her secrets so easily.
As she hesitated, the young man before her played his final card. "Perhaps I can be more direct," he said. "What did *He* promise you?"
It was a deliberately vague question, a rhetorical trick designed to guide the listener's thoughts and make them assume the questioner already knew a great deal. The implication was that revealing a little more would do no harm.
Anyone familiar with psychology would know how to counter such a tactic, but unfortunately for her, Su Po had clearly never heard of the subject.
Upon hearing Qi Si's words, the ancient woman let out a long sigh. She slumped back in her chair like a deflated balloon and finally began to speak.
...
After their deaths, the ghosts of Su Po and A'Xi had drifted aimlessly through the village.
They witnessed the Su Clan Village survive the famine, grow rich from the divine meat, and then, as if cursed, mutate in droves.
Countless sins played out before their eyes. Waves of anger, sorrow, and resentment washed over them, only to eventually fade away with the passing of years.
Until one day, a Daoist priest dressed in black robes arrived in Su Clan Village.
He wore anachronistic robes and had long hair. His features and manner of speaking were otherworldly, but it was his pair of striking golden eyes that truly set him apart.
He performed a few seemingly miraculous feats for the public, easily winning the villagers' trust.
Under the priest's guidance, the villagers renovated the ancestral hall, transforming its function from worship to suppression. They placed the memorial tablets of all who had died from the mutations inside, and for the first time in ages, they finally enjoyed a peaceful night's rest.
But when it came to dealing with the god's corpse, the priest found himself in a difficult position.
He told the villagers, "You have provoked the most cruel and terrifying evil god in existence. It harbors the same malice toward all living creatures. Its greatest pleasure is to tempt humans into sin, then watch as they struggle under the weight of their transgressions."
"Things having come to this, your only recourse is to atone for your sins and beg for Its forgiveness."
The villagers hastily asked how they could atone.
The priest replied, "Find a quiet place to lay Its corpse to rest, then gather enough human flesh and blood to restore Its body."
A villager asked, "But we've become these... things, neither human nor ghost. No travelers have come to our village for a long time. Where are we supposed to find human flesh?"
The priest gazed toward the village entrance and spoke in a tone of finality. "In three days, eleven travelers will arrive."
The villagers rubbed their hands in glee, but the priest laid down several strict rules to restrain them, including the harsh stipulation that they could not "personally kill anyone to take their flesh."
But no one dared to object. After years of torment from the mutations and the ever-present fear of the curse, they would seize any glimmer of hope with desperate reverence.
Without another word, the priest dismissed the villagers. He then went alone to Su Po's old home and stopped beside the well.
With a flick of his sleeve, he drew out the souls of Su Po and A'Xi. Two faint, crooked shadows, like strokes of watered-down ink, slowly solidified and began to circle him.
The strange visitor watched the two ghosts, one large and one small, and a smile finally graced his lips.
He said, "You need only do as I instruct. When it is finished, I will grant you new life."
(End of this chapter)
Comments 2