This ancestral hall was built in an antique style, but it has obviously fallen into disrepair.
Most of the wooden structure beside the door has been eaten away by termites, and there are still some crystal ant eggs scattered on the ground.
A dusty plaque hangs on the door, with layers of gray-white spider webs covering it. It's unclear what's written on it, but its shaky appearance makes people doubt whether it will fall down.
The ground was covered with weeds and it looked like no one had been here for a long time.
The interior of the ancestral hall is extremely quiet, and it seems that any slightest movement will be magnified infinitely.
Tan Yushi looked around cautiously.
When I walked into the ancestral hall where the memorial tablets are enshrined, a thick layer of dust had accumulated on the incense table in front of me, and the futons placed on the ground for people to kneel down when worshiping were all rotten.
Behind the incense table is a wooden structure similar to a window.
There are six doors in total, arranged symmetrically in pairs, and they are all open at this moment.
Behind the open window, there are rows of long tables used to place memorial tablets, arranged in a ladder shape and neatly arranged.
Presumably this kind of window is used to block dust. It will only be opened when it is necessary to worship ancestors during festivals and festivals, revealing the tablets placed at the back for people to worship.
Just as the middle-aged man said when he came in before, all the rankings have been moved.
At this moment, there was nothing behind the six windows.
Wang Qing walked around boredly and didn't see anything special.
So I simply moved to the side room next to the ancestral hall.
There was only a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by walls. Spider webs hung on the walls, which had not been swept away for a long time.
Wang Qing suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some black writing written on one of the walls.
The ink marks were densely packed, but they were covered under the gray spider web.
She was a little curious, so she stepped forward and looked through the spider web to see what was written on the back.
"Song Panjun, wife, Xu Fangqing, daughter, Song Yueya..."
Wang Qing narrowed his eyes and struggled to identify each word.
These words were all written in traditional Chinese, which made her even more confused.
Suddenly, a girl's calm voice came from behind Wang Qing.
"That should be a family tree."
Wang Qing turned around and saw a skinny little girl, wearing a very rustic high school uniform, with thick bangs covering her eyes.
It was Xie Xiaoyu who had been following Tan Yushi.
"Do you understand this?" Wang Qing was a little surprised.
Xie Xiaoyu nodded slightly, looking at Wang Qing with a pair of eyes under her bangs. There was an indifference on her pale and thin face that was completely inconsistent with her age.
Xie Xiaoyu said: "In the past, in some older villages, the names of the villagers would be written on the walls of the ancestral hall. This is the family tree of the village."
Wang Qing remembered that he had seen this kind of thing in TV dramas, and he understood.
Or else, the smartest time in life was during the senior year of high school?
After she finished college, she didn't have much brain left, and she was not as flexible as a senior in high school.
Xie Xiaoyu continued: "Usually in places like this, there will be village records recording major events in the village."
With that said, Xie Xiaoyu walked to the only table in the room.
Sure enough, there was a volume of village history on the table.
Xie Xiaoyu pursed his lips, seemed to have made some determination, and reached out to open the village journal.
Xie Xiaoyu started reading from the first volume of the village chronicle.
She read the book very quickly, scanning over ten lines at a time, and understood the general content in her heart.
What surprised Xie Xiaoyu was that although the village was talking about gods' days and ceremonies, there was no record of them in the village diary.
Could it be that the so-called God Sacrifice Day has not existed since the village was founded?
Xie Xiaoyu kept flipping back until he reached the last few pictures.
【■■ Year, insect plague.
Insects arrive suddenly. The grains are eaten up.
In the mountains and fields, there is no grass in the soil and no seedlings in the ground.
Looking for its traces, it lays eggs on the leaves, and then they are burned by fire.
All the insects are gone. 】
Xie Xiaoyu turned to the next page, which recorded the second year after the insect disaster.
【■■ year, severe drought. 】
In spring, 31 dan are sown; in autumn, 5 dan are harvested.
In the countryside, hungry people howl, winter snow seals the mountains, and food is exhausted.
The village chief Zhao Qian took the dog out and returned with food, and the villagers were alive.
Dog injuries. 】
The next one records what happened in the third year.
【■■ year, severe drought and insect infestation. 】
The insect plague has returned with a vengeance, and there is no harvest.
Insects feed on the bark of plants and trees.
If the dog dies, no one can leave the village.
When life comes from heaven, dog corpses will not rot and mushrooms will grow, which can be eaten by humans. 】
Seeing that last sentence, Xie Xiaoyu felt a wave of nausea in his chest.
What does it mean?
Could it be that in years of famine, the villagers survived by eating mushrooms that grew from dog corpses?
Turning to the next page, it records the passing of the famine years.
The people in the village were grateful for the dog's loyalty and dedicated themselves to it. Even after they died, they still remembered the people in the village and fed the entire village with the mushrooms that grew from their own bodies.
Therefore, dogs are regarded as dog gods in the village, and festivals are held for the dog gods every once in a while.
Xie Xiaoyu closed the village journal.
I can't help but recall whether mushrooms appeared on the dinner table yesterday.
Fortunately, she didn't eat anything yesterday.
"What did you see?"
Wang Qing stood next to Xie Xiaoyu. When Xie Xiaoyu was just reading the village chronicle, Wang Qing also glanced down.
Wang Qing noticed that the village chronicle was written in traditional Chinese, and he couldn't stand it, so he decided to wait until Xie Xiaoyu finished reading it and tell it to him.
Xie Xiaoyu raised his head and looked at Wang Qing.
She knew that Wang Qing survived two strange sieges last night, and she heard them all.
Wang Qing's strength is not something she can fight against.
Xie Xiaoyu did not hide what he saw from the village records and told Wang Qing everything.
"Alas……"
I heard Xie Xiaoyu talk about it, and it was recorded in the village chronicle that people in the village survived the famine years by eating mushrooms that grew from dog corpses.
Wang Qing couldn't help but feel a little nauseous.
But then I thought about it, it's a year of famine, it would be better if I didn't eat people, but eating some mushrooms growing on corpses is a last resort.
Wang Qing still convinced himself to accept it.
However, Wang Qing still felt that this story was unreasonable.
I couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "How big can a dog be? Can it grow enough mushrooms to feed the whole village?"
There is probably some element of mythology in it. Maybe some mushrooms grew in the land where the dog was buried.
It was later adapted like this.
Wang Qing didn't take what he said to heart, turned around and walked out of the room.
Xie Xiaoyu stood there, his face suddenly showing some thoughtfulness.
