Chapter 42: Forcible Entry into the Village (Part 2)

With my tears streaming down my face, the sacrificial people passed in front of us with torches in their hands.

In the mist of tears, I could see clearly that the one being sacrificed was an old woman. Perhaps it was not appropriate to call her an old woman. I had a memory of her because I had talked to her in the past few days. She told me that she was 49 years old and was mentally prepared to die at any time. She just hoped that her husband and two children were safe outside the town. She said that she would do anything for them.

“At first, the man and I discussed who would stay behind. I said I would stay, and he said he would stay. Later, I told him that he was a man, and it would be easier for him to survive outside the town. Even if he had to work hard, he could make a better living. It was for the children, so he went out and I stayed behind.” When she said this, she looked at me with a peaceful expression. I could even see a hint of happiness in her expression.

I remember the first day, we grabbed back a lot of food. She held the bowl in both hands, smiled and whispered, “I can eat a lot for lunch today. I’m so happy.”

This is just a woman I have interacted with for a few days, and even a woman who doesn’t talk much and is a bit quiet. Now she is split open and packaged in a tray, and my tears can’t stop. The more I think back on the few scenes of our interaction, the more choked I get.

I wasn’t the only one crying. We in the industry all know about the existence of these poor people. Now they have made a false “surrender,” sacrificing themselves just to give us a chance, believing that we can bring them light.

I bit my hand, it was really hard to bear, but I had to cherish their intentions, I had to endure it.

The wind blew from the shore of the Yellow River. The cloaked people had already passed in front of our eyes. I wiped away my tears and stood up. I blended into their ranks with a gentle and swift movement. My partners did the same. After all, under the cover of night and cloaks, these people would not turn back. It was easier to blend in than we thought.

When we reached the bank of the Yellow River, the procession stopped. The trays were placed on the bank, and the people who had been carrying them began to chant strange sacrificial prayers, then bit by bit, they threw away everything that belonged to the poor woman. The water of the Yellow River echoed with a few low, silent sounds. Ru Yue, who had been standing next to me, suddenly became unsteady. I heard her whisper, “How sad it must be for her husband and son to know.”

At that moment, I had no tears to shed, only my clenched fists and hard fingernails that stabbed my palms in pain, as if this heavy heartache could ease some of the pain.

As the sacrifice was thrown, the faint sound of joy began to grow louder, and the crowd began to boil. Perhaps because the sacrifice this time was a few “old-timers,” these people were especially excited, and the cheers were even louder than the last large sacrifice I had encountered. As for what had just been thrown, they probably didn’t care at all.

The sound of joy was approaching, and the sound of the boat breaking the water could finally be faintly heard. At this point, the people who were extremely excited began to kneel one by one. All of us in the group subconsciously looked at me.

I looked at the moonless night. Sometimes, compared to the weight of life, some things may be as light as a feather… I silently knelt down. As long as I could enter that holy village and destroy the source, I would repay this group of poor people. What’s wrong with kneeling down? In my heart, I was only kneeling down because they had not given up their bottom line as human beings.

As I knelt down, our group of people knelt down one after another, and the group of degenerates lay down in a dark mass.

The master of the sacrifice was still Wei Donglai. As the boat approached, his excited and flattering voice rang out again. I wasn’t interested in what he was saying, only that he was praising a “great victory,” indicating how different the sacrifice was this time.

As Wei Donglai finished his long-winded speech, the boat had already docked.

Sure enough, the mysterious big boat did not appear. Instead, there were only two small boats that originally carried people, still decorated with the same festive red flowers, and they appeared here.

There was a helmsman on each boat, and they were no different from the ones that appeared last time. They were both dressed in typical Northwest China clothing from years ago, wearing conical hats, and waiting quietly.

The wind was stronger at this time, and the elderly people who had been tied up and were about to be sent to the holy village began to be pushed forward by some people, constantly approaching the holy boat. I silently counted 123 in my heart, and then suddenly burst out, shouting, “Now!”

The riverbank was not flat and smooth, and there were some small stones that were a bit uncomfortable on my feet. The wind blew across my face and the black cloak I was wearing was also lifted high, but none of this could slow me down. Now all I could see was the so-called boat of the guide, which was full of mystery.

Because we were moving so fast, the people who were kneeling down didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t until we had run out of the village for more than ten meters that some people looked up.

The extremely fast speed allowed us to leap over the elderly people who were being pushed forward. Although there were two boats, according to the plan, we could not be separated. It was better to stay together to go to that mysterious and unknown place, so Hui Gen and Tao Bai, who were running at the front, jumped onto the first boat.

The reason for this is that we have no idea what the so-called messenger is, but as long as it has a physical form, it is always correct to let the person with the greatest power go, so as to ensure that the messenger is instantly subdued and taken to the holy village.

“Ah!” Tao Bai and Hui Gen’er roared and rushed towards the messenger. The messenger, who had been somewhat numb in the face of all the changes, also let out a roar that was not human, but more like Wei Donglai’s, and rushed towards Hui Gen’er and Tao Bai.

Strangely, the so-called messenger on the other boat did not react at all, and was still waiting for people to send the old men to his boat.

I no longer had time to wonder why the messenger on the other boat had reacted in such a way. At that moment, the people had completely woken up to what had happened. They were furious at our disrespectful behavior towards the messenger, as if we had desecrated their ancestors.

In order to avoid being caught up in the madness and anger of the crowd, we all jumped onto the small boat, which was swaying due to the struggle between the three of us, almost without thinking.

The deck was not very large, and there was a danger of it overturning with so many of us standing on it, so we all rushed into the cabin. I did not go in because I had to keep an eye on the messenger, but I was not idle either. I simply picked up the pole and lightly touched the shore, and then the boat, which had been swaying, suddenly drifted away from the shore.

Wei Donglai on the shore was shouting in anger. I didn’t care what he was shouting about, but I was busy getting the boat off the shore and I was very interested in hearing that Xiao Chengqian, who had rushed into the cabin first, and Hui Gen, who was fighting with the so-called messenger, had both swore at the same time.

Xiao Chengqian lifted the door curtain of the cabin. His eyes were a bit dazed at the moment. He said to me with great effort, “Chengyi, don’t come in. There is something in here that makes people delirious. Brother Chengxin has also been affected.” Then Xiao Chengqian fell backwards with a “plop” sound, and the door curtain closed the cabin again.

Before I could worry about Xiao Chengqian, I saw that the messenger’s cloak had been lifted, finally revealing the so-called “true face.” The first time I saw it, I couldn’t help but curse in my heart, “Fuck!”

This is the most unhuman person I have ever seen. I never imagined that under the large robe and hat, there was such a face hidden. If I had to describe it, one word would be very appropriate, like someone who has reached the late stages of anorexia.

He was not even human, his dry skin tightly clinging to his bones, looking like a skeleton wrapped in human skin! But when I saw him fighting with Huigen Tao Bai, he was surprisingly strong. How could such a body have such vitality?

It can only be said that this group of “vampires”!

While I was in a daze, the boat had drifted further and further away. The messenger, who had been silent during the fight, suddenly spoke, using a dry, hoarse voice with a friction sound, and said to us, “If you want to go, then go. There is no point in fighting. Don’t get in my way.”

Hui Gen and Tao Bai looked at him in disbelief, then at me.

I said, “Then let him go.” This was just something I did on instinct. I felt that what he said was true.

Hui Gen and Tao Bai hesitantly let go of the so-called messenger. He picked up his straw hat and put it back on without a change in expression, then picked up the oar and said, “You all get in, otherwise there’s no way I can take you. This is against the rules.”

“No, I must stay at the bow.” I insisted.

“Then do as you wish.” The messenger was as cold as if he had no human feelings.

And so we began drifting on a boat into the so-called Holy Village.