"I guess that mountain ghost just lost his child." Han Chang thought, looking for a possible motive for this thing that is difficult for ordinary people to understand, "This is not unusual. Pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, and even jackals Tigers and leopards almost always have this period of time when they become mothers. Some cats with cubs even feed mice."
"I know this. Not only have I heard of it, but I have also seen it. My old cat that picks up mice is like this..."
Ye Linghuan understood this explanation and felt it made sense. Feng just listened without any reaction. It seemed that Xie Zhe didn't say anything wrong. So, he continued talking based on the fragments he saw.
Ghosts are not ghosts, but a type of monster. Compared with those animals that are used as food, ghosts are also very smart. In addition to having one or two more horns on their foreheads than people, their heads are also very clever in using them. She knew very well that this child was not her real child, but a container used to store her maternal love that had nowhere to put it. At first, she probably thought that after this period of time, she would regard the child as food and eat it in one bite. But she obviously underestimated her feelings for the child. It sounds ridiculous, but even cats and dogs will develop a loving heart after being around for a long time.
He is so small, even if he is not eaten, throwing him into the wild mountains will just become the prey of other things.
The mountain ghost raised the boy as his own. Teach him to speak and even write. She didn't know some of the characters, so she tried her best to learn them secretly. Most of the children's food and clothing expenses are actually stolen - Shangui's own clothes are also taken without telling them. They don't know how to weave and make clothes themselves, and they are too lazy to do so. Some people's loose clothes or sheets that were hung out to dry were missing, and people said they were stolen by mountain ghosts. But generally speaking, unless it is a remote mountain village, mountain ghosts do not like to visit human territory. To them, humans, especially children, have an indescribable stench.
This mother... is probably used to it.
For this child, she frequently traveled between various human villages and cities, occasionally pretending to be one of them. Under the protection of the mountain ghost, this child could have grown up healthily. At least no matter whether they are the same kind or humans, they will not be easily provoked. And human greed is more greedy than human beings think. Otherwise, the accident will not happen.
Everyone in this village knows that there are mountain ghosts wandering in this generation of hills. As time passed, this female mountain ghost was remembered by everyone. Although it is very hidden, occasionally hunters and woodcutter bring news that there seems to be a child beside the mountain ghost - a human child. So the restless villagers speculated about the child's origin. A child who can live next to monsters must have a great background. Maybe he was a son of destiny who was specially entrusted to be raised by such a ghost. Don’t many famous celebrities have some weird experiences in their rumors?
Yes, that child must be the so-called son of God or the son of ghost.
There was a middle-aged couple in the village who had no children, and they gossiped a lot among the neighbors. Listening to the continuous whispers, I actually had evil thoughts in my heart. Regardless of whether he is a son of God or a devil, as long as he is a son, even if he is not of biological blood, he will be his own baby with his own name. If you ask for one from somewhere else, the gossip will continue, and even get worse and the gossip will be told to the children. The old couple knows how annoying the people in the village are. This child of unknown origin is different... If things really work out, driving away the monsters near the village will be a great achievement. This is not called kidnapping, it is "saving people from danger."
Ghosts... ghosts eat people. Even if you have never eaten people from this village, you must have eaten people from other places.
It's crazy. If ordinary people heard this, they would definitely think so. But the more closed and narrow the place is, the more it can drive ordinary people into lunatics. Not only did they think so, they also did it. Even the whole village showed unprecedented unity on this matter. They relied on the unique cunning of human beings to set traps to lure the mountain ghost into capture and control her. But no matter how much coercion and inducement they tried, she just said nothing. If she were to be reasoned with, Xiaozhi could not move her in the slightest with her emotions; if she was tortured, even the most imaginative lynching could not force her out of even a single word. They really don't regard monsters as human beings - maybe this is a bit strange. It should be said that killing those who are not our own race seems to be an instinct engraved in the bones of most living creatures, especially humans. Because of such absurd remarks as "the ghosts must be very tough, and the physique of monsters cannot be compared to that of mortals", people treated her even harder, as if they wanted to test the limit of their endurance. It's like a pack of hyenas that smell blood. Once there is a wound, they will pull out your intestines and stomach, tear your skin and flesh to pieces, and chew your bones into ashes.
In this scene, it would be convincing to say that the crazy people were bewitched by evil things and were performing some kind of unknown primitive sacrifice. After suffering humiliating torture, even the strongest ghost will die. Ultimately, there was no news at all about the child. They gave up, hung up the body of the mountain ghost as some kind of symbol of victory, and then went home.
Unexpectedly, three days later, the hungry child appeared in people's sight.
He was probably so hungry that he didn't care about anything. The family happily took the child back, as if they had lost their memory and did not mention a word about the mountain ghost. Although he was served delicious food, he did not move for a long time, sitting blankly in front of the meat and dishes, feeling lost. The old couple thought he didn't know how to use chopsticks, so they taught him step by step. After a while, he probably recovered and slowly ate something, but his expression looked like he was eating chewed wax.
There was no sadness or joy on his face.
Living apart from the group for a long time has made this child a little... abnormal in many places. But his listening, speaking, reading and writing actually didn't fall behind, he just couldn't show it. After returning to the same kind of group, this so-called goodwill of the same kind made him feel at a loss and in a daze, but strong adaptability is a good quality. But can he understand the meaning of that "flag"? No one knew, but it was hoped, even believed, that he did not understand.
He was young, he was just a child, he had never been in contact with his own kind.
The middle-aged couple treated him well, and other people in the village were also particularly tolerant in this matter. It seems that for those who are complicit in a certain crime, an unprecedented unity seems to be natural. The relics that were used as evidence of the crime were gone with the wind in a very short period of time. The ghost tribe is like this. Legend has it that their flesh and blood is the skin of a jackal, stuffed with heavy, cold, sharp-edged stones, and then boiled in boiling water mixed with rouge and gouache to remove the fur. Of course, different regions and different ghosts have different explanations, but after all, they are symbols of some evil and vicious beasts. But their bodies were stolen and pieced together. As soon as they lost their vitality, they would quickly rot into a handful of debris. Not long after the child arrived, the "flag" disappeared.
One year, two years, three years passed.
One year...
In a certain year, the child who turned from a small child to an older child understood something. That's not right, he already understood that he just...did something.
Where did he get that knife? This is probably impossible to say, but it is no longer important. Judging from the results alone, it seems to be both a satisfying ending and a typical example of heartlessness. It can be called retribution, or it can be called farce. Everything happened so suddenly that people almost forgot how the original story happened.
Perhaps no one will remember how this story ended.
Until they show up.
"Am I right?" Xie Zhe said quietly.
There were no crazy roars, no irrational screams, and no self-deprecating laughter. Feng was calmer than him. It was better to say that he never seemed to get out of control. He didn't nod or shake his head; he didn't speak or leave. He just sat quietly.
Ye Lingquan felt unspeakable pain, with a mountain-like stone pressing on his chest.
"...Where is the knife?" Han Chang was silent for a long time, and then just asked, "The murderer that night was just your projection. Although the knife was in his hand, we didn't seem to see anything in his body. The murder weapon. Indeed, I did not smell the scent of the murder weapon from any corner of the village. Even if a long time passed, I would have been able to detect clues."
Of course Feng wouldn't say anything. He did not agree with Xie Zhe's statement just now, nor did he object to it. Xie Zhe only told Han Zhang that it might have been lost a long time ago, or it might have been picked up by other passing monsters - this was both possible. He just suddenly chose a specific day to commit the crime, and the reason for this is still unclear. Come to think of it, Feng won't tell them either.
"Are you going to kill me too?" Feng suddenly said, "In the past, there were onmyojis who were too shallow to leave. They wanted to kill me to unlock the illusion."
"But this spell was not cast by you. Even if I kill you, it will be useless." Xie Zhe said.
"Sure enough." Han Chang sneered, "I guess you are not easy to deal with. After all, you are... a child who grew up around ghosts."
Ye Lingyu couldn't say anything. She only felt that although what they had experienced so far was terrible enough, the child Feng... was also pitiful enough. Sympathy is naturally easy for her to develop, but she believes that this time's grief is extremely valuable. Xie Zhe sighed softly, his expression unreadable. Han Chang couldn't guess what Mr. Xie was going to do now that he knew the truth.
"Perhaps I can help you with something." Xie Zhe said this. "This illusion is very rigorous. I'm afraid it was the work of an Onmyoji who is far more powerful than me. He probably wants to get rid of you - you are very dangerous. But because He had no choice, or even just sympathy, so he did not kill you, but chose this method. I can probably understand why Mutsuki-kun just passed by without making any comments. But he and I are different after all. This matter …I can’t pretend I didn’t see it.”
Ye Linghua smiled tiredly. These words greatly changed her view of Xie Zhe's usual dull and boring attitude. But subconsciously she knew that Mr. Xie must be a kind-hearted person.
Zhong Lihan raised his eyebrows slightly: "Well, how can you help? You also said that this spell..."
“A building that has been in disrepair always has the weakest wall.”
