Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Curse

The tune was sometimes sad, sometimes melodious, and suddenly accelerated the rhythm. Xie Wangan felt that something was chasing him. He couldn't see the shape of that thing clearly, but he felt the cold sweat dripping from his back and the sinister wind of death approaching behind him.He ran all the way towards the entrance of the village, fell down and stood up again, he wanted to find a place to hide, but there was no way to avoid it, just like avoiding a curse. Twenty years ago—— At night in the valley of Helan Mountain, the thunder sounded like the roar of wild animals, and the lightning flashed. The dark clouds were torn to pieces by lightning again and again.At the moment when the lightning was flashing, countless mountains surrounded the valley stood upright, like wild beasts attacking people, and the momentum was extremely terrifying.

A middle-aged man stumbled out from the entrance of the stockade in the mountain col. The rainwater had already soaked his clothes, and the enlightened rainwater flowed down his body. He didn't wear a bamboo hat or an umbrella.The lightning flashed before his eyes again, and the thunder rumbled over. The lightning made the man's face pale and his body rigid, like a corpse that had just crawled out of a grave.He ran like crazy, suddenly, his feet slipped, and he rolled into the gutter. The ditch is one of the relatively large drainage facilities in the village, and a person falling into it can drown the whole person.The man moved mechanically and jumped out of the ditch twice. Regardless of the severe pain in his body, he struggled to climb up and continued to run forward.It looked like something was chasing him, and if he ran slower, he would lose his life.However, behind him, there was nothing, the lightning flashed, and the face in the rain was extremely pale, and there was a black air on the face, it didn't look like a living person at all.

The man didn't take a few steps, and he fell down like a half log.Immediately afterwards, a mournful cry sounded from the valley.The voice spread in the interval of thunder, the shadows of the surrounding mountains loomed, and the thunder and lightning flickered, making the shrill cry even more eerie. "Dead—dead—all dead—" Lightning pierced the night sky again, and there was a thunderclap, and the century-old tree at the entrance of the village suddenly split in two, and half of the rotten trunk lay in front of the man, completely blocking the exit of the village. This hundred-year-old tree is the legendary ghost phoenix tree. It is said that the tree is yin in nature and often parasitizes some unclean things.Some Miao villages that advocate Gu art will plant this kind of ghost phoenix tree at the entrance of the village. Most of the corpses and Gu insects will be kept in the ghost phoenix tree, and these dirty things will not be allowed to enter the village to harm people.

There is a saying in the stockade where Gu is raised, that the ghost phoenix tree is a place for gathering yin, and it is difficult to form it in a hundred years.Either die early, or it is a treasure land for raising corpses that condenses the yin energy of the world. If the ghost phoenix tree dies halfway, it is a bad omen, and nine out of ten it will lead to disasters that will destroy the village.The man's face turned blue. He obviously remembered the old saying in the village. He was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder were torn apart, and his spirit collapsed. He no longer had the strength to run, and he collapsed limply in the rain and mud.

More than 20 years later, Xie Wangan still remembers the scene that happened that night vividly. He said that in his whole life, he dreamed of that night every night, and he had this dream for more than 20 years. Impossible to forget. The next day, when the heavy rain gradually subsided, he was sent to the township health center by Orion in the neighboring village for treatment. It is said that when he was sent to the hospital, he had injuries all over his body, but none of the injuries were man-made, and all of them were caused by him running. bruises and scrapes left in the process.His right leg was broken when he fell into the ditch, and he didn't realize it until he fell into a coma.

Three days later, he woke up in the hospital with a high fever, and the police from the police station came to talk to him.Only then did he know that all the single men between the ages of 30 and 40 in Miao Village were either dead or blind that night, and he was the most normal middle-aged single man in the whole village. The police at the police station searched for him four or five times one after another. He was the only witness of the disaster. The police hoped to find clues from him.But Xie Wangan, who woke up in the hospital, was already out of his mind. No matter what the police asked him, he was silent. When the police talked about his thoughts and policies, he was indifferent. He seemed to be dead.

In fact, the moment he woke up from the hospital, Xie Wangan began to recall what happened that night, but it turned out that he only remembered what happened after he ran out of the village.As for why he ran and what was chasing him, he didn't remember at all. He only knew what was following him, but he didn't know what it was. His memory is very strange, he has no memory of everything that happened in the village.But he remembered the memories before returning from Helan Mountain very clearly, and he also remembered the memories after leaving the village.Except for what happened in the village, he has no memory at all, as if that memory was forcibly snuffed out.

Helan Mountain is close to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. On the night of the disaster, a rare thunderstorm struck Helan Mountain, and everyone in the village went to bed early.More than 20 years ago, most of the Miao villages living in seclusion at the foot of Helan Mountain had poor medical conditions. Most of the people in the village lived with insect corpses and were good at raising Gu, which hurt their bodies. die.Therefore, those who are thirty-five years old in the village, if they are not married, their parents are basically dead.That night, almost all the middle-aged men in the village died in their own homes, and a few of them survived, but their eyes were inexplicably blind. When the police came for the autopsy, they found that the incidents took place while the deceased was asleep.The doors and windows of these people were all locked tightly, and there was no sign of tampering. All autopsy reports show that the whole thing can rule out human factors.However, fifteen bachelors died in Miao Village that night, three people were blinded, and only one Xie Wang'an was left, who went to the township health center insanely.

During that time, almost the whole of Fengdeng was discussing the tragedy of the Miao Village at the foot of Helan Mountain. The rumors in the village were fantastic.Everyone is talking about the discoloration of the Miao village, and the whole village has become gloomy, with many people leaving and few people entering, and within half a month, more than half of the people in the village have moved out. At that time, it was the period of the Cultural Revolution, and the anti-feudal and anti-superstition campaign was fierce. The police at the police station searched and checked, but they couldn't find out why.Helan Mountain is the place where the ancient Xixia Dynasty was entrenched. There are many ancient ethnic tribes here, and each tribe has its own beliefs, advocating ghosts and gods, and quite mysterious witchcraft.The Miao village at the foot of Helan Mountain is good at using secret techniques, and the ability to play Gu has been passed down in the clan for thousands of years, and it is a magical skill.The local policemen all have certain work experience, and it is very difficult to carry out work around Helan Mountain, where some things that modern science cannot explain often happen.Moreover, the government's ethnic policies are very strict. Once an in-depth investigation is carried out, the beliefs of ethnic minorities are bound to be touched, which is prone to trouble.Moreover, the forensic doctor shook his head after examining the corpse, and reported to the leader that the case could not be investigated, and the corpse was too strange.It's so strange to die like this without any injuries or pathological problems.The local government also felt that there was no way to report this matter to their superiors, so they suppressed it.

Half a month later, Xie Wangan returned to the village from the township health center. He was in a daze, seeing no one, so he hummed "Muzhai—Muzhai—" after walking two steps On the night Xie Wangan was discharged from the hospital, he set fire to his adobe brick house, and everything in the house was reduced to ashes.He himself was displaced because of this, and he often walked around the village, and sometimes he accidentally walked into the mountainous area through the mountain pass, and it took ten days and a half months to come out.He is crazy and has no source of income, but every time he enters the mountain pass, he can return to the village with all four limbs in good health.The people in the village saw that Xie Wangan was full of evil, he seemed to be looking for something, but he couldn't find it, he didn't hunt for a living, but he never knew hunger, he was always wandering around the edge of Helan Mountain Pass, very Strange.

On the night when Xie Wangan set fire to his own house, several houses in the village that were adjacent to Xie’s house caught fire, and the fire spread and burned a large area of ​​houses in Miao Village.Amidst the fire and smoke, a strong earthquake occurred in the Helan mountain area, and some of the mountain structures were deformed. There used to be a big mountain opposite Zhaizikou. During the earthquake, the towering mountain peak slid 500 meters to destroy it. The momentum rushed to the entrance of the stockade.The people in the village almost went crazy with fright. They only heard the surrounding mountains rumbling, and they didn't know what had collapsed. Huge black shadows gathered in the grove in the center of the village. Cover it.The mountain that was far away from Zhaizikou suddenly collapsed, which was quite scary. After the earthquake, most of the remaining people in the village moved out.After that incident, those Miao villagers who moved out often closed their doors to sleep before dark, and there was no one in the village.Only Xie Wang'an was still wandering in the stockade in the middle of the night, walking past the windows of each house, singing songs that no one could understand, his voice was desolate and hopeless, which made people feel hairy. After a few months like this, the people in the village couldn't stand Xie Wangan, so they drove him out.Xie Wang'an built an adobe house near the mountain in Zhaikou, and lived there for twenty years. He seldom interacted with the people in the village. It was called a taboo in the village, and no one wanted to repeat it twenty years ago. tragedy.Fear is like a shadow engraved in the soul, getting bigger and bigger.In the past twenty years, most of the dozens of villagers who survived went crazy, and some died of inexplicable diseases, but Xie Wangan unexpectedly recovered his mind. Yuan Sen frowned and said, "The tragedy twenty years ago is related to Muzhai?" Xie Wangan sighed, and said slowly: "Twenty years ago, I was the plague in the eyes of the villagers of Muzhai. They didn't know Muzhai, but when they heard about Muzhai, they thought of me and the person who died tragically that night. They knew I provoked the Qingyang King, and I brought disaster." "King Qingyang?" Yuan Sen's heart skipped a beat. The muscles on Xie Wang'an's face twitched, and he recalled painfully: "King Qingyang, it is the god of Helan Mountain. I deserve to die, because I was greedy for money for a while, so I planted the root of disaster, and ruined so many lives for nothing." When Yuan Sen heard about King Qingyang, he immediately thought of the one-eyed Qingyang who connected the whole mysterious matter. Is there any connection between the two before?Wherever the green goat appears, it will bring catastrophic bad luck. According to the old man Cezi, the one-eyed goat is a sacrificial beast of the one-eyed beast clan.If it is just the power of belief, it is difficult to explain all this.What exactly is the one-eyed green sheep, the old man who tested the characters did not explain clearly, and Yuan Sen also felt that there must be secrets behind it, waiting to be discovered. Yuan Sen asked cautiously: "Old man, does the Qingyang King you mentioned only have one eye?" Xie Wangan was very surprised by Yuan Sen's question. After finally calming down, his emotions began to agitate again. He grabbed Yuan Sen's hand, fixed his eyes on Yuan Sen's face, and said one sentence after another: "How do you know it?" Only one eye? How do you know? Helan kites and unicorns are all untouchable things. When I was ten years old, my grandpa told me that I must never touch them. I didn’t listen to my grandpa’s words. I was punished .” Xie Wangan is a famous hunter in Fengdeng area. He often goes into the mountains to hunt wild animals like roe deer and wild wolves. His footprints are everywhere in the west of Helan Mountain.It was winter, and the temperature in the mountains dropped to more than ten degrees below zero. Xie Wangan entered the primitive ecological area of ​​Helan Mountain alone. It had been several days in a row, and he only killed a few thin deer.The mountain was blocked by heavy snow, the way back was blocked by heavy snow, and the marks made when entering the mountain were also covered.Xie Wangan scolded God in his heart for bad luck, in the end of winter in previous years, there would never be such a heavy snowfall, standing on the mountain peak and looking down, the sky was lit up with silvery snow all the way to the horizon, it was very annoying. Suddenly, Xie Wangan's eyes widened. According to the experience of an old hunter, he raised his gun, stretched the muzzle forward a little, and aimed at the bushes.The bushes swayed gently, snow whizzed down, and a brown ear poked out.The sky and the earth are all white, and the whole world is so pure that it will melt away. If you don't observe carefully, it is difficult to see this brown line.Xie Wangan stroked the hound's neck to calm it down, readjusted the angle, the brown line gradually elongated, and the thing suddenly broke through the snow covered bushes, half of its head was exposed. Xie Wangan was so excited that his heart almost jumped out. He had never seen this guy before, but he often heard legends about it, and he almost knew its appearance and characteristics by heart. Hunters who have been walking in the mountains all year round have generally heard the legend of the Qingyang King. Its body is nearly twice the size of ordinary Qingyang, but its horns are much smaller.Goat horns are used as medicine, which is a very precious traditional Chinese medicinal material. Ordinary Qingyang can be seen everywhere in Helan Mountain, but King Qingyang is extremely rare.Xie Wang'an also learned about it from his grandfather. His grandfather was fortunate enough to meet the Qingyang King once when he traveled across Helan's remote mountains.But King Qingyang ran extremely fast, his grandfather only had time to look at him, and King Qingyang disappeared after shaking in the forest for a few times. Xie Wang'an recalled the story of King Qingyang told by his grandfather, and his hand holding the gun couldn't help shaking a little. He didn't expect that this terrible weather would bring him such good luck.There was a sudden violent movement in the bushes, Qingyang King poked his neck out, and stared straight into Xie Wangan's eyes. Xie Wangan went hunting with his grandfather when he was twelve years old. He has seen countless wild animals big and small in Helan Mountain for more than 20 years, but when King Qingyang stared at him, his heart shuddered for no reason.Those eyes were cunning and sinister, being stared at by it, Xie Wang'an only felt that there was a ghostly look in his eyes, even his bones felt cold, it was extremely terrifying. As soon as Xie Wangan gritted his teeth, his murderous intentions suddenly rose, and he fired a shot with a "boom".King Qingyang jumped up, Xie Wang'an felt a blur in front of his eyes, the brown shadow had already ran several feet away, the gun hit the tree, and a large amount of snow was stirred up.Xie Wangan yelled and waved at the hunting dog. Xie Wangan's hunting dog was purebred from Tibet and extremely cruel.The dog jumped up, jumped out, and landed in front of King Qingyang.King Qingyang turned his head and glared at the hound. The hound's ferocious posture suddenly weakened, and it retreated step by step.Suddenly, the hound screamed, turned and ran towards the jungle.Xie Wang'an was shocked, his heart was very nervous, and he desperately whistled for the hound to come back.The hound seemed to have gone crazy and slammed into the woods desperately, Xie Wangan's heart trembled, and he yelled: "Dog, come back!" The mountains echoed, Xie Wang'an's mournful and indignant cry shook the snow, and it fell down with a splash.The hound let out a mournful cry, and fell into the cliff with a "bang", leaving no bones left. Xie Wangan's anger shot straight to his forehead, he raised his gun and was about to pull the trigger.King Qingyang kicked his hind legs contemptuously, and rushed into the woods like lightning. How could Xie Wang'an let it escape so easily, he didn't hesitate, he put a shotgun on his back and followed Qingyang King to chase after him.King Qingyang was running like lightning, and in less than a minute, he ran to the corner of sight.Xie Wangan was shocked and quickened his pace, but Qingyang King stopped suddenly, turned his head and smiled strangely at Xie Wangan.That smile was indescribably ugly, a bit like a savage man smearing red and white to imitate a woman, it was indescribably weird and disgusting.Looking at that face, Xie Wang'an couldn't help feeling sick in his throat, his blood pressure rushed up, his running body suddenly fell to the ground like a disintegrated puppet, rolled several times, and collapsed in the snowdrift. Xie Wangan was sweating all over his body, and his heart was trembling, it was so weird, he was so weak all over for no reason, and he really felt someone pushing him behind him.But in this thousand-mile jungle, apart from the vast snowfield, where else is there? Xie Wang'an took a lot of effort to get up from the ground, Qingyang King had run away without a trace, snowflakes were rustling on the ground.Xie Wang'an endured the fear in his heart, and followed the footprints left by King Qingyang on the ground, walking forward step by step.The footprints of King Qingyang spread in the dense spruce forest, and snowflakes covered them with a thin layer.Xie Wangan accelerated his feet, he was afraid that if the snow was heavier, he would lose the trace of King Qingyang. The spruces in Helan Mountain are all over the ground, and at a glance, it is endless, covered in silver.The mountain peaks are layer upon layer, like the waves of the silver sea.Xie Wangan climbed two mountain peaks, his whole body was sore and limp from exhaustion.Walking into a valley, on both sides of the valley are mountain walls that are more than ten thousand ren high, and the mountain walls are covered with rock faults left by mountain movements. The snow fell more and more, and the footprints of the Qingyang King disappeared completely at the entrance of the valley. The valley mouth was several feet wide, with jagged rocks on both sides, and the abstract rocks abstracted into the eyes of beasts, which was hideous and terrifying.The valley was endless at a glance, and Xie Wangan became more and more amazed as he walked in. Although snowflakes were flying outside, the snow on the ground in the valley was extremely thin. Turning a corner, there was no trace of snow on the ground at all.The temperature in the valley is very warm, the roads in the valley are spacious, and the roadsides are full of greenery, covered with shrubs and grasses, and a few small animals run across the grass from time to time. Xie Wangan has been hunting in the primeval forest of Helan Mountain for more than 20 years, and his sense of danger has already penetrated into his subconscious mind. Although the scenery outside is quiet and beautiful, the further he goes in, the more his heart hangs tight.The surroundings were eerily quiet. The road and the trees on the mountain wall swayed gently in the wind. After walking for more than a mile, the mountain wall suddenly tightened, the road became narrow, and the plants on the roadside gradually became scarce. There were naked brown spots everywhere. rock. Suddenly, Xie Wangan's eyes lit up. A few dozen feet away, under a few semi-bald pine trees, the fleeing Qingyang King was squatting with his forelimbs, rubbing his buttocks against the trunk freely and enjoying himself, completely unaware of Xie Wangan's appearance.The color of the Qingyang King's fur is brownish reddish, similar to the trunk of a Chinese pine tree. If Xie Wangan's eyes were not sharp, it would be impossible to be spotted.Xie Wang'an cursed inwardly, you bastard makes it easy for me to find you.He took a few steps back, and jumped under a shrub opposite him. The leaves of that tree were thick and thick, which could cover Xie Wangan's whole body.However, King Qingyang focused on scratching the bark pine tree trunk, and didn't notice the danger approaching at all. He lowered his head, raised his buttocks, and rubbed back and forth, with a look of extreme enjoyment.Xie Wang'an loaded the shotgun with lead bullets, raised the barrel, and aimed at King Qingyang's head.Xie Wangan took a deep breath, and slowly suppressed his excitement. If he missed again this time, he might never have the chance to hunt the Qingyang King again in this life. Although Xie Wangan has never missed a shot at such a distance in his hunting career of more than 20 years, his hand holding the gun still shakes a little. "No——" Xie Wangan's mind suddenly trembled. He found that the buttocks of Qingyang King slowly moved around the trunk of the Chinese pine tree. Its buttocks were always in contact with the trunk at the same position, and there was a layer of fat sticking to that place. "It's not tickling, it's pine pollen from pitch pine." "So, the Qingyang King is injured? He is applying pine pollen to the wound to stop the bleeding? But when he was running just now, he didn't find any injuries on his body." "Could it be injured while running away? Or did it meet another group of hunters?" Xie Wang'an thought quickly, his eyes looked around vigilantly, and his heart gradually became restless.Qingyang King is the legendary sheep king. Any hunter in Helan Mountain knows that if he can kill a sheep king in his life, he has picked up a priceless treasure. A sheep horn can feed several generations.Xie Wang'an secretly said: Since there is another group of people hunting down the Qingyang King, it will be more difficult to successfully hunt the Qingyang King this time. In case of stalemate, it is normal to kill and silence the king in this mountain. Xie Wang'an originally teamed up with several other hunters in the village to enter the mountain. At the entrance to the mountain, they found that the weather was not right, and the others asked to return and wait for the spring to enter the mountain.Xie Wang'an refused, his family has long been unable to open the pot, and he still hopes that this time he can take care of the big guys and go back for a good year.Disagreeing with everyone, Xie Wang'an went up the mountain alone in the end. He didn't hit anything big along the way, so he walked all the way deep into the mountain. Xie Wang'an carefully inspected the surrounding environment, convinced that there were no other people in this area, and finally made up his mind to act first, kill Qingyang King and hide.Go down the mountain first, and then find the strong men in the village to carry the Qingyang King back when the spring begins. The barrel was aimed, pressed down, and the line of sight was accurately aimed at Qingyang King's head, the trigger was pulled, and the lead bullets shot out with sporadic flames.King Qingyang fell down in response, his body lay on the ground and shook a few times, but he didn't move anymore.Xie Wangan stared at its head, half of Qingyang King's face turned sideways, and there was a strange expression on that face, just like a village woman crying at a funeral, it was so ugly and ugly that it couldn't be described, it made people feel depressed and uncomfortable . Xie Wang'an didn't care about these things, he could only feel ecstasy in his heart, the legendary Qingyang King died in his hands.Putting down the smoking shotgun, Xie Wangan got out from under the leaves, and suddenly three sharp spears protruded from both sides and rested on his neck. On the left and right sides, there are more than a dozen indigenous people dressed in primitive clothes, with wild cocktail feathers on their heads, blood-like juices on their faces, tattoos on their upper bodies in honor of the gods, and animal skin skirts on their waists. Xie Wangan called it unlucky, he has been hunting in Helan Mountain for more than 20 years without incident, but he still met them in the end.This group of aborigines lived in the deep mountains all year round. No one knew their exact location, and no one had even seen their real faces, because everyone who had seen them died. The aborigines of Helan Mountain live in the deep mountains all the year round, and only hunters who go deep into the hinterland of Helan Mountain can encounter them.They come and go like ghosts and have many mysterious witchcrafts. Ordinary people never get out of them when they see them. Hunters call them mountain ghosts.In a village near the Miao village, an old hunter hid in the gaps in the trees and looked at them a few decades ago. The old hunter waited for them to leave for a long time before running out of Helan Mountain by night.When I got home, my leg was broken, and I died within a few days.The old hunter was a good friend of his grandfather. He grew up herding cattle and fighting together when he was a child. When the old hunter was seriously ill, Xie Wangan's grandfather even brought little Xie Wangan to visit. The old hunter's description of the earth ghost at that time left a deep impression on Xie Wangan. The night they visited the old hunter, the old hunter died.It is said that when he died, his body was festered. A few days after he was buried, a neighbor villager passed by the cemetery in the middle of the night. There was a rotten smell on him, exactly like the old hunter's. That incident was widely circulated. People in the Fengdeng area said that at night, everyone closed their doors and did not turn on the lights. No one dared to go hunting in the mountains for half a year. Later, it was said that the son and daughter-in-law of the old hunter died. There are many reasons for the death. At that time, it was rumored that the old hunter must have been cursed by the earth ghost.Curse him to have a bad death, and the whole family will have no peace after death. There was a cold wind blowing from behind Xie Wangan, and the local ghosts remained silent, staring at him coldly. Three spears were coldly placed on Xie Wangan's neck, and Xie Wangan raised his hands tremblingly. It turned out that it was not a hunter who robbed him of the Qingyang King, but a terrifying earth ghost, and it is useless to regret it now.Last time the old hunter died so badly just by looking at them.This time, Xie Wangan was definitely doomed. Fortunately, he had no other relatives in his family, so the tragedy of extermination was avoided. Several earth ghosts ran over to see Qingyang King, whose head was blasted by lead bullets, and he lost all breath.A soil ghost bared his teeth and said a few words to the leader of the soil ghost, his face was full of sadness and anger, the leader stared at Xie Wang'an, his eyes flashed red, and murderous intent suddenly appeared. Seeing the Qingyang King's earth ghost yelling a few more words, the leader followed, hugging the sheep's head, kissing and stroking, with tears in his eyes, just like a dead son and wife.The leader put down the sheep's head, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed several times to the Qingyang King's corpse, and the other earth ghosts followed the leader's kowtow.They all looked devout, solemn and solemn. Xie Wangan's heart raised his mind, and he suddenly understood, is the Qingyang King the holy beast of the earth ghost tribe?There are many ethnic groups around Helan Mountain, and some ethnic groups still maintain the civilization and customs of ancient tribes, and they often have the habit of offering certain animals as sacred objects.But they usually kill the animals as offerings, or take the whole corpses of the animals to sacrifice to the gods. I have never heard of any tribe that worships living animals as gods. After the leader of the earth ghosts kowtowed, some earth ghosts wrapped the Qingyang King with tiger skins, and the other earth ghosts carried the tiger skins and walked forward slowly. Make various poses and sing sad and strange songs. A group of earth ghosts carried them to the valley of Qingyang Dynasty, their shadows gradually shrunk until they disappeared, and the remaining earth ghosts holding Xie Wangan woke up. The leader of the earth ghost grinned his teeth, with a ferocious face, full of grief and indignation, he took out a white bone dagger, and pressed it against Xie Wangan's chest.Xie Wang'an's hands and feet were numb, knowing that his life had come to an end and there was no hope of escape, but his heart grew more terrified. The leader of the earth ghost stared at Xie Wangan's painful and distorted face and sneered and sneered, while laughing, he sang the ancient ballads sung by the black-faced earth ghost. The bone dagger plunged into Xie Wangan's heart, the blood stained the animal skin coat red, Xie Wangan was pinched by three soil ghosts all over his body, and the soil ghosts were extremely powerful, Xie Wangan couldn't struggle, his chest hurt so badly that he almost fainted die past. At this time, a soil ghost suddenly whispered something nervously in the leader's ear, the leader snorted heavily, and pulled out the bone dagger. Xie Wang'an's chest hurt like it was about to burst, and he passed out immediately. It's like being in the dark night, where you can't see your fingers, the tiny light is getting brighter and brighter, the night is cut in two, after a struggle, the heavy consciousness is gradually separated. Xie Wangan opened his eyes, his whole body seemed to be on fire, the flames burned across the skin in lines, one by one, the pain was so painful that Xie Wangan almost passed out again. It was a small prison cell, with a birch gate in front of it, and a yellow wall in front of the gate, on which the light of the torches shone brightly and dimly.In the corner on the right side of the wall is a door opening about one meter wide and two meters high, and a fence gate is tied to the door opening. Xie Wangan looked around, there was no one else in the cell, and he was tied to the thick wooden fence, with his feet hanging half a meter above the ground.In front of him were two large iron basins, in which charcoal and dead wood were burning, and two torches were tied to the gate in front of him.There were several whips on the ground, with bright red blood stains faintly visible on them, and blue iron objects beside the whips. Xie Wangan's mouth was dry, his whole body ached, he opened his mouth to scream, but he couldn't.I don't know how long after that, Xie Wang'an was tied up until his whole body trembled, his hands and feet had insufficient blood supply, and he lost consciousness all over his body, and even his consciousness gradually became blurred. At this time, the door creaked and was pushed open. Xie Wangan raised her head slowly, seeing the person who came with a graceful figure, she gently closed the door, then walked straight towards the wooden fence where Xie Wangan was tied, and looked at the bound person one meter away. Xie Wang'an braced himself up, he saw who was coming.The woman looked to be only twenty years old, with a beautiful face, a petite animal skin slanted above her chest, and a short animal skin skirt underneath, her slender waist and thighs were exposed, and she was so delicate and charming against the firelight moving. "Sinner, where are you from?" the woman spoke, speaking Chinese. Xie Wangan was taken aback, and his numb consciousness became a little clearer. This group of weird earth ghosts actually have such a beautiful woman, and they can speak Chinese? The woman was expressionless, her face was pale and bloodless, and she coldly repeated what she had just said, "Sinner, where are you from?" Xie Wangan took a deep breath, this place is really weird, everyone and everything that happened here made it hard for him to accept, "Come down from the mountain—" Xie Wangan was suddenly very excited, he asked eagerly: "Please tell me, where is this? I want to know where I died?" The woman's expression remained calm, "This is Muzhai, you are very aware of your situation, none of the outsiders who entered Muzhai ever got out alive, no!" "And you are charged with killing the beast in Muzhai!" the woman added. "Then what will happen to me? I mean how will I die?" Xie Wangan stared at the woman's eyes. Her eyes were big and beautiful, but they seemed to suppress too many things and looked very melancholy. "First go down to Ten Thousand Worm Pit to wash away the sins you committed, then eviscerate your bones and be buried with King Qingyang, and be a servant of King Qingyang forever—" the woman said without changing her face, but Xie Wangan shivered.Knowing that it is death, such a way of death, the dead may also be activated. "Are you afraid?" The woman's eyes seemed to be able to penetrate Xie Wangan's body, she saw his heart beating at an incredible speed, and a sneer appeared on her face. "Afraid? Hmph, can you not die if you are afraid?" Xie Wangan lowered his head, not daring to look into the woman's eyes. For some reason, even though he was about to die, he could still feel a strong sense of humility in front of her.The aura emanating from her made him dare not look directly at her. "If you don't want to die, you have other options!" "What?" Xie Wangan stared at the woman in surprise, wondering if he was hallucinating. "Actually, I am a Han Chinese. Ten years ago, my father was also a hunter. He took me up the mountain, but he got poisoned by snakes on the mountain and died. I got lost in Helan Mountain and was brought back by the aborigines of Muzhai. I have lived here for ten years, but during these ten years, I have always wanted to leave..." When the woman talked about her past, her face was slightly moved. "You mean, run away with me?" Xie Wangan looked at the mysterious woman suspiciously. The terrifying legends like earth ghosts and devils weighed on his heart like a heavy burden, and Xie Wangan was a little helpless. "Yes, I am a woman. Even if I escape from Muzhai, I can't get out in this vast forest, so I need your help. As a reward, I will rescue you from Muzhai, and after going down the mountain, my Everything belongs to you." "Including the body!" The woman emphasized. At this moment, Xie Wang'an had no choice but to hold on to a glimmer of hope. When the old man said this, he leaned against the wall slowly, panting heavily, and fixed his eyes on the direction of Helan Mountain. There, something that changed his life happened, and he will never forget it in his life. "You escaped later, what about her?" Yuan Sen asked. The old man was silent for a long time, and said slowly: "Forget it, if I don't say it again, I'm afraid I'm going to take my sins into the coffin, I'll tell you everything!" The woman's name was Lin Wan. After she left that night, someone brought food to Xie Wang'an, including vegetables and meat. Xie Wang'an had a full meal, and his physical strength also recovered to a certain extent. His body was covered with scars from whipping, but no internal organs were injured.Xie Wang'an is physically strong, these injuries can't affect him, what worries him now is that Lin Wan didn't reveal anything about the specific process of their escape from Muzhai, she just told him to wait for her to make a plan, which made his heart hang. The most painful moment for a person is to condemn himself to death first, and then tell him that he can still live, but he doesn't know how to live.Xie Wangan has been thinking about this question, the blood in his whole body rushes straight to his brain, he doesn't know how long he thought about it, and then fell asleep again in a daze. Xie Wang'an was drowsy and dreamed all the time, in the dream, the fleeing Qingyang King appeared repeatedly. Xie Wang'an was holding a shotgun, shooting and refilling the lead bullets continuously.King Yang was forced to have nowhere to escape, he turned around suddenly, and knelt down facing Xie Wang'an, with tears streaming down his eyes. Unmoved, Xie Wangan held up the barrel of the gun, aimed, pressed his finger down, and pulled the trigger. His eyes followed the aiming direction, showing a stern gaze. Suddenly, Qingyang King's whole body lay down, but its head was raised, it was smiling, with a sneer all over its face, it looked weird and terrifying.Xie Wang'an saw it, it had only one eye, he had never noticed that this King Qingyang was actually one-eyed. Grandpa told him about the taboos of hunting back then. Walking in Helan Mountain, Helan kites and unicorns are not allowed to touch, and the so-called unicorn refers to King Qingyang who is blind in one eye.The double-eyed sheep king is a priceless treasure, and the one-eyed sheep king becomes the plague god. When you meet the one-eyed sheep king, you basically step into the coffin with one foot. Even if you die, the curse of the sheep king will also affect you. people. Xie Wangan yelled loudly, woke up from the dream, sweating profusely.The wind blows in through the ventilation holes of the prison, making the flames flicker like ghosts dancing at night. Xie Wang'an carefully recalled the process of hunting the Qingyang King. When he met the Sheep King, his mind was full of innumerable wealth. The Sheep King moved so fast that he didn't notice its eyes at all, and it was blind in one eye.Grandpa's warning sounded in his ears. When he said this, his voice was so serious that he almost trembled.His grandfather was a bandit in the mountains. Before liberation, he ran across the northwest of Helan and killed countless people, but the legend of King Dumu Qingyang frightened him to the bone. Xie Wangan panted heavily, he was going crazy, the ancient curse fell on him inconceivably.He killed the cursed God of Plague and ran into the mortal one-eyed Qingyang King, so now he follows Lin Wan and flees, does that mean the same dead end?或者会死得更惨？ “那后来怎样？你是怎么逃出来的？”袁森打断老人的回忆。 老人叹了口气，“后来，我在牢房里待了不知道多久，林婉突然带着一个人进来，那个人是在深山里迷路的外乡人。林婉私自将他抓进穆寨，用药物将他强行制哑。那个人体型跟我差不多，林婉就将我俩调换，深夜带着我逃出了牢房。” 三天后是穆寨的祭神大典，土鬼都在忙碌着为祭神大典做准备。那天，穆寨的祭司将会登坛作法，在所有土鬼面前对谢望安进行万虫噬赎罪，再剔肉洗骨，与青羊王合葬。牢房外面看守很紧，但是基本上不会有人进牢房去探视谢望安，林婉在穆寨似乎拥有很大的权力。她走过的地方，土鬼毕恭毕敬，所以做过一番改装的谢望安逃出牢房也没多大困难。 谢望安从牢房里出来，感觉就像重生一样，贺兰山的月光清澈，他在淡淡的月色下看到土鬼们用白桦木搭建的木屋、祭坛、栅栏等建筑。他还看到离穆寨中心不远处有一个湖泊，月光下的湖面光洁如镜、水波如锻，谢望安贪婪地呼吸着新鲜的空气，内心的压抑一扫而光。 林婉带着他绕过镜湖，从一道山洞里爬出山谷。据林婉说，这个洞穴是她无意中发现的，当时隐藏得很好。也就是看到这个洞穴，她立刻就萌生了逃跑的念头，因为如果从山谷正道离开，先不说如何逃出土鬼的盘查，一旦被发现，被土鬼追上的可能性简直是百分之百。贺兰山原始森林里，土鬼就是山中之王，他们甚至可以跟山中野兽进行沟通，探路找人易如反掌。 林婉心思缜密，她在出谷口准备好了干粮和水，然后沿西朝阿拉善高原走，穿过贺兰主峰敖包圪垯，再一直往西走，不知道走了多少个日夜，终于抵达内蒙边缘。这是一条土鬼怎么也不可能发现的路线，两人确定安全之后，就在内蒙休息了几天。这一路走来，两人相互扶持，也渐有好感。他们商量着怎么回贺兰丰登苗寨，林婉执意要跟着谢望安回苗寨，而谢望安则以土鬼肯定不会善罢甘休为由，让林婉先在外面躲避一段时间，再做商量。 两人意见发生分歧，吵了几次架，双方都没有妥协的意思。 出事的那天晚上，林婉将自己的身体送给了谢望安。她一个人在原始森林里生活了十多年，再进入现代社会，肯定十分艰难，她希望谢望安能帮她。 谢望安在她身上放肆地发泄兽欲，这些天的恐惧压抑让他濒临崩溃，他需要一个释放点。完事之后，林婉再次提到要跟他一起回苗寨，谢望安还是拒绝，而且这次争吵比以前更加激烈。 谢望安情绪激动，两人扭打起来，两人的性格都是极端倔强，谢望安卡着林婉的脖子，一直到把她掐断气，谢望安才反应过来，他杀人了。第一次杀人的谢望安坐在林婉的尸体旁边发呆，他看着刚才还在他身下呻吟的女人一下子变得浑身冰冷，他的情绪陷入崩溃状态。 然后，他在林婉的尸体旁边睡了一夜，那个晚上，他又在做梦。他梦到死去的青羊王，它看着他冷笑，笑得那么诡异邪恶。他又想起了爷爷当年的告诫，在贺兰山行走，贺兰鹞子独眼兽是碰不得的。他听见爷爷的声音鬼气森森，看见他整个人皮就是骨头。他还看到林婉在梦里一直追赶着他，她唱着引导青羊王尸体的黑脸土鬼唱过的歌谣，那歌声苍劲、凄厉，如同恶鬼夜哭，让人听了心里发毛。 谢望安半夜被惊醒，他的精神有些恍惚，突然他看到林婉竟然从他身边爬了起来。她爬下床，慢慢地朝门外走，就像失了魂一样。谢望安住的地方是当地猎户搭建的茅棚，里面放着一些干粮，一般开春的时候才会有人住，茅棚老旧，已经没有门了。林婉笔直地朝前走，亦步亦趋，慢慢走进雨中，这时谢望安又听到黑脸土鬼唱过的远古歌谣，凄厉的声音将静谧的雨声切割得支离破碎，歌声时男时女，时而遥远又时而近在眼前，诡异至极。 谢望安躺在床上，全身都在瑟瑟发抖，他想出去看看林婉走到哪里去了，可是此刻他全身乏力，动都动不了一下。 他的脑中只写了两个字，“诈尸”。他想到爷爷的挚友，老猎人死去的惨状，忍不住全身发麻，精神陷入空前的崩溃状态。 好不容易熬到天亮，他四处查看，方圆几公里范围内，没有找到林婉的尸体。他稍稍整理，不敢再沿贺兰山边界走，而是直接到了阿拉善盟，爬上运木材的火车抵达银川，在银川待了几天，这才回到苗寨。 那天半夜，谢望安抵达苗寨，那段记忆的细节，他早已想不起来，但是在意识深处，却不断回响着黑面山鬼唱的那首诡异的歌谣，苍劲、凄厉，如同远古的招魂曲。 那曲声时而悲切，又时而悠扬，突然又加快节奏，谢望安直感觉有什么东西在追赶他，他看不清那东西的样子，只是感觉到背上渗出的冷汗，还有身后死亡逼近的森然阴风。他一路朝村口奔跑，不断地摔倒，又站起来，他想找个地方躲藏，可是避无可避。 最后，他终于崩溃得疯了，那个曾经纵横贺兰山区有名的猎人，从贺兰山回来就疯了。而那一天苗寨死了很多单身汉，有几个变成了瞎子，瞎掉的人身上没有任何伤口，当时的医生也检查不出病因，后来没过几年，几个瞎子也先后死去。 谢望安一疯就是十年，许多年后才慢慢恢复正常，他常年生活在村庄边陲，与人无扰，人家也不理他。只是那么多年过去，当年的村民每次看到他，都心有余悸。 谢望安相信，他们当中谁都不知道惨案的真正原因，这个世界上除了那些土鬼，恐怕就是谢望安了，那是土鬼的报复。 可是他不明白，二十多年来，为何那群土鬼再也不来找他。 “年轻人，这就是我与穆寨有关的所有经历，我快要不久于人世了，所以我才会告诉你这些在我心里压抑了二十多年的秘密。一切你都知道了，你还想去找穆寨吗？”谢望安看袁森的目光带着些许嘲笑和自嘲。 袁森回应着谢望安的目光，他的目光时而混浊又时而深邃，让人捉摸不透。袁森在心里把测字老头儿的祖宗十八代都问候了一遍，如果不是那老家伙的一番狐鬼之言，他也不会来到这深山僻壤，然而对穆寨知道得越多，他的好奇心就越强烈，此时焉有不去之理？ 谢望安森然道：“那里是魔鬼的聚居地，你不要后悔，不是每个人都有我这样的运气！” 袁森的脸色很坚毅，道：“我要去，我的身世就藏在穆寨之中，我必须要找到穆寨原住民，弄清楚我跟他们之间的关系。” 谢望安摇着头道：“穆寨啊穆寨，你害了我老头儿一生，现在你又要害一个年轻人啊！” 谢望安小时候也读过几年私塾，解放后又去夜校学习过，也算半个知识分子，他从破烂的抽屉里拿出纸和笔，为袁森画出通往穆寨山谷的路。谢望安画得认真，几乎每个细节都标注得十分清楚，可见当年的穆寨之行在他记忆深处留下多深的烙印。 谢望安画了足有一个小时，不时地从床上站起来拄着拐杖来回走动，思索当年走过的路。他一边画一边嘱咐袁森，“二十多年了，我画的地图不一定准确，但是方向上肯定是不会有错。二十年沧桑巨变，贺兰一带地震又多，谁知道你到达穆寨的时候，会变成什么样子。” 谢望安画好地图，把那张泛黄的纸递给袁森，郑重地说道：“如果你真的活着回来了，请务必来找我。” 拍了拍他的手，谢望安不等袁森道谢，又把他往门外推去，“天已经亮了，你不适合待在这里，你先去县城准备好登山的工具，早些进山。现在靠近原始森林那边都封了山，防止盗猎，你别在山脚下就被拦住了。”