Archaeological Notes

Chapter 8
"It's meaningless to go to the ancient tombs, let's go back to the village!" Scar said, and rushed into the wind and snow, we quickly followed, almost running back to the village in a hurry.

The ancestral hall is quite old, almost all wooden structure, carved beams and painted buildings, and in addition to the dry climate in winter, it is even more likely to catch fire.The fire was so raging that the cheeks were burned so badly that they were more than ten feet away.The village was almost in chaos. People scooped water from the well with washbasins to put out the fire, but they couldn't help but couldn't stop the fire from engulfing the ancestral hall. Fortunately, there were no houses near the ancestral hall, so the fire could not spread.The fire was crackling, and the beams and columns kept falling down. People could only watch helplessly as it was destroyed. The fire burned for more than an hour, and the former austere ancestral hall was finally reduced to a pile of ruins.

Trembling with his crutches, Master Shuanzi rushed into the pile of ruined walls regardless of everyone's obstruction, crying loudly, "It's over, it's over!"

I looked a little bit unbearable, and wanted to step forward to comfort me, but Dao Scar patted me on the shoulder, gave me a sign, and motioned me not to go looking for trouble.The monk leaned into my ear and said softly: "If you don't pretend to be a good person, you will get urethritis? Let's wait and see what happens. This ancestral hall symbolizes authority. The old man can't set up a private court after he is sad. He will be blind from crying." You don't care about your business, you don't take care of your business."

When I looked at them, they were all indifferent, knowing that there might be some self-evident meaning in it, so I changed my mind and asked: "Then how did this fire start?"

Even Grandma Xie's big black cat came to join in the fun, squatting in front of us, with two orange pupils staring straight at the ancestral hall, probably coming here early to keep warm.The monk yawned, looking a little sleepy, squatting on the ground and raised the big black cat's front paws and kept teasing it, "It's the twelfth lunar month, and there is a custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors here, maybe it's fried offerings in the ancestral hall." Left unattended, the oil pan overflowed and it caught fire."

Scar shook his head, staring at the ruins, with a heavy tone: "This matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface, let's go back to the hotel first, and talk as we walk."

Along the way, several people listened to Dao Scar's opinion. He believed that someone must be behind the accident, and the ancestral hall would not catch fire for no reason, and it happened at this juncture. "A big fire burned beyond recognition and turned into a pile of charcoal, especially because there was a missing coffin in the shrine, so that it could be perfectly covered up. Squinting eyes returned without success, and they were too lazy to carry the coffin back to the village. Do it without anyone noticing.”

"Then according to this, the fire is squinting?" I asked after thinking about it.

"Not necessarily!" Scar immediately vetoed, "There is another person who has the same motive."

"Who?"

Scar slowly exhaled, paused, and then said: "The one who stole the corpse before Slant Eyes Three."

It is true that although Slanting Eyes Three has enough intentions, the time between them is too short, and the possibility of impromptu intentions is unlikely.It's midnight now, but I don't feel sleepy at all. I suddenly realized that Scar once said how deep the water in this village is. Everyone seems to be wearing a mask so that you can't see his true self clearly. face.In our line of work, there is a very high possibility of a situation where there will be muddy mud, because every development of the situation is beyond our expectations.

Thoughts were running wild, guessing wildly, and before I knew it, the hotel was already in sight as soon as I looked up.What's weird is that the door is closed, I remember it was half-hidden when we left, and besides, there was such a commotion in the village, I don't believe Yixiang didn't get up to check.

It was freezing outside, and the monk had been complaining non-stop for a long time, thinking about his big head sleep, so he kicked it away.After entering, I saw a wooden stick behind the door, which was obviously bolted by someone from behind.I didn't care at the moment, and went upstairs to go back to my room to sleep.

But when I passed by Yixiang's room, I heard a strange sound coming from inside. Out of curiosity, I opened the door and took a look, which made me dumbfounded and I couldn't believe my eyes.

Standing in the room was a burly man with squinting eyes. He took off his shirt and threw it on the ground. He was naked from the waist up, with an unbelievable expression.Yixiang was disheveled and looked panic-stricken. When she saw me push the door in, she immediately asked me for help: "Brother Xuan, help me!"

You must know that although I, Cao Xuan, do not like heroes who save the beauty, I can't stand by and watch such a juicy girl being ruined.Immediately, an unknown fire erupted, and he picked up a stool from behind the door, rushed to the back of Slanting Eyes San, and slammed it violently.

Unexpectedly, Slanting Eyes San actually reacted at this time, turned around and blocked it with his arm, and the bench was heavily exerted on his forearm.I was overjoyed, I thought you'd be waiting for a plaster cast this time.But what's fatal is that he never wanted to be hit by me, he was as strong as a bull, and he was unscathed, there was nothing wrong with him, but the stool fell apart.

The blow failed to knock him down, and I immediately panicked, cursing inwardly which crappy carpenter made such a weak stool.When he was teased by me, he dared to spoil his good deeds. He raised his eyebrows and said, "I didn't invite you to provoke you. I'm going to have fun with you, but you're meddling? Are you forcing me to do something? You motherfucker Tired of working?"

He has never encountered this kind of scene before, and there is no lesson learned from the past. His burly body is really not easy to bully, and he is full of bumps.Just confronting him like this, out of the corner of my eye, Yixiang walked around behind me quietly, gave me a meaningful look, and then left the room as if fleeing.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but before I recovered, I felt a tightness in my neck, and the squinting eyes strangled my neck like lightning.A strong force made me stagger, and my body retreated involuntarily, and I was pressed against the wall by him.Slanting Eyes San was very strong, like a pair of iron tongs. I grabbed his arm and couldn't hold him back. My face turned red and I almost couldn't breathe.His eyes burst into flames, as if he wanted to eat someone: "If you dare to snatch a girl from me, I will kill you!"

I wanted to yell for Scar and the others to come and help, but my throat was silent, and my head became confused due to the lack of oxygen. Fortunately, I felt my neck loosen, and saw a bald head flashing behind Squint Three. I knew there was help.Slant Eyes San almost flew out with his whole body, the monk put his arms around his waist, and fell headfirst, making Squint Eyes San dizzy from the fall.

Then I saw the anxious face of the monk: "Are you okay?"

I looked at the monk, and felt a kindness that I had never felt before. He used to be a monk in the temple, and he was tall and thick, so it was easy to deal with a squint.After coughing for a while, he straightened up and found that Dao Scar and Tian Rui had also entered. The three of them looked at Slanting Eyes Three, and the atmosphere froze instantly.

"Bullying me because of the number of people?" The squinting three was thrown badly enough, and it was interesting to struggle to get up. He is not a reckless man, and he will not be our opponent if he recognizes the situation and continues in the afternoon.Knowing that he was wrong, he left the room cursing.Seeing that the matter was settled, Dao Scar didn't say anything, called the monk and went back to his room.

Yixiang, on the other hand, was full of guilt and kept thanking me. Seeing that she was fine, I relaxed a little, comforted him a few words, and went back to sleep.

Needless to say, I was exhausted from running around for several days. According to the current situation, it is reasonable to say that I should fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow, but the strange thing is that I have no sleep at all tonight, and I can't sleep at night after tossing and turning.In addition, the single bed in the hotel did not have a mattress, but some straw was placed under the mattress. I don’t know if it was my illusion, but I could even smell the smell of rat droppings vaguely.The fire was burning in the brazier in the room, and I wrapped the quilt tightly, but I still felt chilly. It seems that the winter in Xing'an Mountains is really not covered.

Although his eyes are closed, he can't keep his eyes open in a daze, and his mind is full of irrelevant things.Recalling what happened in the past few days, it seems that since we entered this ghoul village, it has never stopped, and all kinds of unimaginable events have followed one after another.The ancient tombs on Guiyan Ridge, the headless bloody corpse in the grandfather's grave of Shuanzi, the coffin with a large head in the ancestral hall, and the fire incident all reflect something unspeakable.There is also Scar, this person gives me a very different feeling, although it is clear that we are a group of people, but behind the scenes they don't feel so caring.Coming to Daxing'an Mountains, the motive may not be so pure, just like the people in the village wearing masks are also unpredictable. I think maybe it is not time to tear our faces, otherwise the situation will be very unfavorable to us.

Once this person has troubles, his mind can't stop. I looked at my watch, it was already one o'clock in the morning, and I tried my best to get rid of distracting thoughts and go to sleep.Just when I was about to fall asleep, a slight sound made my heart tremble, and my consciousness gradually regained consciousness, but my eyes did not open.

That was the door to my room, and because the latch was broken, I just pretended to close it.It just felt as if someone pushed it lightly, and there was a "creak". After a few seconds, the door rang again, as if it was taken back by someone.I became sober in an instant. I thought that someone was plotting against me, but I suddenly understood, and suddenly became puzzled. It's so late, who is going to make sure I'm asleep?

As a result, I couldn't sleep even more. I sat up and looked at the door, and there was a finger-wide gap, obviously someone had moved it.After this incident, I suddenly panicked. I always felt that there was an eye staring at me from behind. Could it be because I disturbed his good business with a grudge, and sneaked into my room at night to want my life?
I immediately shivered, and felt that I had to urinate in a hurry, so I planned to relieve my hand. If there was something wrong, Scar's room was right next to me, and I could wake him up immediately, and I would definitely take care of it.Putting on some clothes, he left the room wearing a pair of fur slippers.

There was a corridor outside the room, it was dark, and a gust of cold wind poured in from the front hall, blowing my heart so hard that I almost couldn't breathe properly.Inadvertently, a black shadow suddenly floated past from the end of the corridor, and I was covered in white sweat in shock.

The man walked very lightly, and his figure looked very familiar to me. Since his feet were touching the ground, he was definitely not a "ghost", and there was nothing scary to think about.I suddenly felt that the man looked a bit like a scar, where did he go after such a big night?After a little hesitation, he tiptoedly followed until he left the hotel.

There were snowflakes outside again. Although they were not very big, they also deposited a thin layer on the ground.A man with a round waist and thick shoulders walked into the snow, walking with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Just as I guessed, it was absolutely right, it was the scar of the knife.I estimated that the place he was going to was in the direction of the ancestral hall, but it had already been burned beyond recognition by that unknown fire, so what was he going to do?
Because I wanted to know the answer, my strong curiosity forced me to follow Scar. I knew he might find me, so I could only follow from a distance, trying not to let him out of my sight.After bypassing a few adobe houses and passing through a threshing field, the ruined ancestral hall was already in sight. I was wearing a white down jacket, so I was afraid of making any noise along the way. Fortunately, Scar was not vigilant either. until I follow him.

The former ancestral hall no longer exists, only a pile of broken bricks and rotten tiles and scorched wood. I don’t know if there is a problem with the angle I am standing at. I found that the foundation of the ancestral hall site seems to have sunk deeply.I even wondered if I was wrong, because the ancestral hall was still standing during the day, and it was reduced to ruins in an instant, which may be caused by visual deviation.

I hid beside a haystack, so I knelt down to see what was going on.At this moment, I suddenly found that, at some point, there was a strange person squatting beside the haystack, but I didn't notice it at all!

(End of this chapter)