"Huh, don't worry about other things for now. Find a place to rest for a while." Guan Heng touched the shriveled money bag he got from the old man and muttered: "There are only twenty or thirty copper coins, not too many. .”
Walking into the unknown village, Guan Heng randomly found a friendly-looking farmer and asked to borrow a place to rest and buy some food. The hospitable farmer readily agreed and accepted it as a token. A few copper coins.
While eating the bread and broth brought by the farmer's wife, Guan Heng chatted with them.
"Brother farmer, how are the people in your area living?"
"Well, actually it's pretty much the same. In the peaceful years, we could barely dig food in the fields and make ends meet, but now that the dragon tribe from the north has invaded, our crops have also encountered natural disasters, either drought or floods, and the harvests have been bad in the past few years. "
Having said this, the farmer shook his head helplessly: "Now I heard that the Dragon Clan is coming here soon. Our village is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Someda. The royal family has issued a compulsory military recruitment order. All All young and middle-aged people, without exception, must join the army to resist the invasion of the Dragon Clan."
"Oh, I guess I will be taken away by the army in a few days." The farmer sighed: "Seeing that this family is going to starve."
"It's so pitiful. It's a pity that I can't help them." Hearing this, Guan Heng also sighed secretly, but at this moment, the sound of drums suddenly came from outside the farmer's house, and the drums became louder and louder. The more dense.
"What's going on?" Guan Heng couldn't help but wonder when he heard the drums, but the farmer shouted at this time: "Oh no, I was just chatting with you, the guest, and I forgot about the sacrifice and celebration today."
Having said this, the farmer hurried into the inner room. When he came out again, he was already wearing a strange black linen cloth with a huge skull embroidered with white thread.
Seeing the farmer's appearance, Guan Heng was really shocked. He asked in a voice: "Brother farmer, what are you doing?"
"Guest, I'm in a hurry to attend the celebration. If you want to know what's going on, just ask my wife." The farmer dropped these words in a hurry. He turned around and ran out the door, seemingly not daring to waste a second.
Guan Heng looked at the back of him running out, just shaking his head and wondering. At this time, the farmer's wife brought a glass of water and handed it to Guan Heng. She explained: "Guest, you don't know something. This is a custom in our village since ancient times. Once the crops are harvested, When harvests fail in consecutive years or serious disasters occur, a ritual called the 'Corpse Carrying Ceremony' is held to resolve natural disasters**."
"Corpse Carrying Ceremony?!" Guan Heng asked inexplicably, "What does that mean?"
"The back of our village was an ancient battlefield of a kingdom thousands of years ago. Tens of thousands of soldiers once died here, and over time it became a cemetery." The farmer's wife explained: "And the earliest residents of this village He is the keeper of the cemetery."
"I don't know since when, the caretakers collected seven ancient mummies. They and their descendants and relatives carry seven coffins around the nearby mountains, forests and rivers every year. Then they walk to the original site of the ancient battlefield."
The peasant woman continued: "Then the coffin is placed in the seven corners, seven bonfires are lit there, and requiem is sung day and night. People in the village believe that in this way, they can be blessed by the soul of the ancient corpse. This sacrificial ceremony is It has become a custom that remains unchanged for thousands of years.”
"Oh, so that's it." Guan Heng nodded slightly. He didn't pay much attention to this strange custom, but when he heard the peasant woman say that there was an ancient battlefield behind the village, Guan Heng thought of it. There may be ghosts in the cemetery that you can use.
Rolling his eyes, Guan Heng asked casually: "Excuse me, madam, can outsiders observe the corpse-carrying ceremony in your village? Can I go and see it?"
"This... Sir, I advise you to give up this idea." After hearing this, the peasant woman's face changed slightly, and she quickly said: "People in the village are a little wary of outsiders, especially the corpse-carrying ceremony. I don’t want others to visit, this festival is very scary, so you’d better not go there.”
"Okay. I was just talking casually. I didn't really want to go see it." Guan Heng quickly said a few perfunctory words. After a while, he found an excuse and stood up to leave.
Looking at the skinny horse he was leading, Guan Heng suddenly muttered: "That corpse-carrying ceremony, hehe, I'm afraid there's something weird about it."
"Hululu..." Shouma snorted at this moment, and he didn't know if he was agreeing with Guan Heng's statement. Guan Heng shook his head: "No matter what, let's go to the ancient battlefield with the people holding the celebration first. It’s serious business to look for ghosts that are suitable for you.”
At this moment, several people suddenly walked up from a distance and were discussing something loudly. Guan Heng had a thought in his mind, and then he took the thin horse and hid in the corner, observing in secret.
Those few people were wearing the same black linen clothes as the farmer, with white skulls embroidered on them. They were obviously residents of the village. At this time, I heard one of the burly men say: "Last night there was a sacrifice that wanted to escape." , I beat him to death in a fit of impatience, and now one of the seven sacrifices is missing, what should I do? If the village chief finds out, I will definitely be scolded."
Another tall and thin man said: "It doesn't matter. Yesterday, a homeless man stayed at my house for the night. I already knocked him out and tied him up, just to prevent any sacrifices from escaping. Let's go to my house quickly and clean up the kid." Clean it and bring it to the altar.”
"Is this appropriate?" The other two villagers said hesitantly, "That would cost another life."
"Stop hesitating." The tall and thin man growled: "This has been the custom of our village since ancient times. If we don't offer these seven sacrifices, the people in the village will be unlucky. Come with me quickly."
The other three villagers trembled in fright when they heard this. They seemed to have remembered something extremely terrifying. They immediately shut their mouths and followed the lanky man home obediently.
Guan Heng, who was hiding in the corner, was puzzled by what he heard. He thought to himself: "These villagers seem to be talking about the corpse-carrying ceremony, but why did they mention a 'sacrifice' and ask for it?" Go tie some tramp to the altar, what’s going on?”
"Dong dong dong - Gu Long - dong dong dong -" At this moment, deafening drums sounded on the streets of the village. Guan Heng watched a group of villagers wearing black linen clothes striding from a distance. Come, there are fourteen of them, carrying the dark metal coffin in pairs, and marching straight to the outside of the village.
——[First update of 2016.4.17, good morning everyone, Lao Sha continues to ask for subscriptions and monthly votes~\(≧▽≦)/~]——(To be continued.)
