Into the cellar again

ract sculptures like mud loaches."“The idea was rejected, and after that the project encountered difficulties. That Hong Kong family had a death at home, he was superstitious and resolutely refused to...This night, my older brother would rather sleep on the floor in my room than go back to his own place alone.

He rarely felt this terrified. He was used to seeing ghosts, but seeing heads flying around was still too much stimulation.

I was so nervous that I couldn't sleep well. The next day, when I got out of bed, I stepped on my brother's stomach with one foot. He let out a yell and complained that I wasn't light on my feet.

"Be content!!" I rubbed my eyes irritably.

"Xiao Qiao, you've been really irritable these two days. If it were before, I'd think you just had your period. But what's going on now Are you mad at your ghost husband for leaving you behind and running off to Huangdao Village" My brother was very sharp in finding the cause.

"...Brother, what exactly is Huang Dao Cun" It seemed that Jiang Qiyun was particularly anxious about this place.

I jokingly mentioned helping maintain the formation in Huangdao Village, and his face immediately turned frosty. The atmosphere instantly became icy cold.

My brother shook his head. "You can't imagine what hell is like until you see it with your own eyes... I've only been there once, the time Dad got hurt. I don't really know all the details..."

He told me that Huangdao Village has been removed from maps, the official government has erased this deserted village.

It is said that during the great famine of the last century, something happened in this poor and remote village. At that time, the country was impoverished and had to tighten its belt to develop strategic deterrent weapons. When a famine struck, the government tried every means possible, but it was impossible to reach every corner.

The villagers of Huang Dao Cun had eaten everything edible, even the mice were gone. They were so desperate they were about to eat dirt. Just as it happened, a Taoist priest with two apprentices passed by. Because it was raining and dark, walking the mountain path was too dangerous, so they wanted to stay in the village for one night.

The village head accepted them, but afterward the Daoist and his two disciples disappeared. As for the villagers who were about to starve to death, they were given some watery broth with bits of meat in it...

Hearing this, I couldn't help but get goosebumps. The Taoist priest and his two disciples were treated as rations.

My brother continued, "After that, almost everyone who passed through the village disappeared. But back then, information was scarce. What happened in this remote mountain village was unknown to the outside world."

The villagers, if they died from illness, starvation, or old age, would basically become food. To survive, everyone here tacitly accepted that the meat in their bowls was "wild boar meat."

During the three years of the Great Famine, more than half the people in the village survived. But after the famine passed and production gradually returned to normal, the villagers began to feel something was wrong.

At first, I felt my body becoming stiff and my movements uncontrollable. Later, my teeth gradually turned black, and I developed a strong craving for meat.

Back then, there was so much food scarcity that villagers who were famished started biting themselves. Some even bit off their own fingers. Even babies born after the famine had black teeth when they grew in.

The village head was scared and hurriedly reported to his superiors, but he concealed the truth, only saying that the villagers had contracted a strange disease that was contagious.

This statement caught the attention of superiors, who sent a medical team to investigate. They couldn't find a cause, and later, a female doctor from the medical team went missing. When they found her, the flesh on her stomach was gone. This incident couldn't be covered up, and rumors grew increasingly bizarre.

But back then, it was taboo to speak of ghosts and spirits. The authorities absolutely wouldn't allow such a conclusion to be made public. Higher-ups secretly invited some monks and Taoists to investigate, including people from the Shen family.

At that time, a highly respected eminent monk climbed to a high place and said in one sentence: "The Asura field" is uninhabitable, everyone should move out. If you stay any longer, something big will happen.

Back then, household registration was strict and divided by land. It was impossible to relocate the entire area. In the end, the authorities labeled this place as a leper village, discouraging anyone from getting close. The villagers were also confined here, strictly prohibited from leaving. The government provided them with special food rations of rice and noodles.

Even so, the people here couldn't resist the urge to eat special meat. First, they ate dead people. When someone died, after the funeral, instead of being buried, their corpse was met with rows of gaping mouths filled with black teeth, waiting to have a sip of broth or chew on some flesh...

Afterward, the population here dwindled. Inbreeding and strange diseases ran rampant... Finally, only a small number of people remained, born after the great famine. Because they had never eaten human flesh out of fear, the state transferred them and built new villages for them.

After several years, wealthy individuals started appearing. Some people wanted to return to their old villages and collect antiques to sell, but no one who went back ever came out again.

When the news reached the Shen family, they rushed back to find a chaotic and sinister array. Dark mist filled the village, like a gateway to hell, with evil spirits emerging to possess people, causing bloodshed.

Then the Shen family contacted the great monks of that year and joined forces to set up a seal-evil formation. However, over the years, Buddhism had declined, and after the great master passed away, there was no one to succeed him. The Shen family could only find people in the circle to continue maintaining it.

The Underworld also discovered this situation, but they were inherently shadowy and could only rely on the power of influential families within their ranks to complete the sealing magic formation.

"Jiang Qiyun is just the embodiment of the Emperor, he needs to have a connection with the Yang world in order to come and go freely, after all, yin and yang are different realms, so that's why he needs a marriage with the underworld," my brother speculated.

I don't think it's that simple. A lot of people died in my family before I was born, probably as revenge from the Ghost King. My great-grandfather always thought it was necessary to sacrifice someone to the Ghost King, so he put me in the Ghost King's tomb.

It wasn't the Ghost King who appeared later, but Jiang Qiyun. He had left a ring behind long ago, hinting that I was chosen and bound to him through a blood oath.

I have a vague feeling that Jiang Qiyun is "racing" to finish some things.

The Ghost King also said that what he couldn't get, Jiang Qiyun shouldn't be able to get either. It seems like they were actually vying for... this spirit fetus

I can't figure out the complex connections here, overthinking it makes my temples throb. It feels like everything started in that cellar back home.

My brother also thought of this, now we're braver, not those naive little kids anymore. So he whispered, "Why don't we go check the cellar now"

I can summon minor ghosts, Jiang Qiyun even taught me how to invite the Black and White Impermanence. Even if I encounter a fierce ghost, I have some resistance. So I nodded.

It was just dawn when we snuck into the backyard.

Now, looking at this small hillside called "the backyard," there's nothing covering it, not even a single tree. It's been cleared. There's a wooden gate with a small stone tablet on top of it.

My brother moved the stone tablet aside and pulled open the wooden door. A stagnant air wafted out from the pitch-black passageway...lar full of dowry under the attic floor, waiting to be opened when his daughter gets married.My senior sisters are back too, Elder Sister Du Ruo and Second Sister Liu Ming. Just hearing their names te...