The coffin was closed tightly, almost airtight. The people carrying the coffin walked quickly, and Tang Ning was shaken in the coffin until he vomited. However, his mouth was blocked, and he cried in pain. After a while, the people carrying the coffin stopped, and the coffin lid was suddenly pushed open. Tang Ning opened his eyes in shock, and saw a dead face!
That was Ji Ke’s face after he was hanged.
The tongue drooped down, and the only remaining eye was covered with bloodshot and turbid color. The eyes that were still open in death met Tang Ning's gaze!
No! Don't come over here!
Tang Ning shook his head desperately, but the villagers of Jijia Village put Ji Ke's body into the coffin without hesitation.
Tang Ning was going crazy.
Ji Ke's body was pressed against him, the hanged head buried in the side of his neck, and the stiff body pressed him so hard that he could hardly breathe.
Goose bumps covered the body that had been touched. Just as Tang Ning bent his knees to move Ji Ke's body to the side, the corpse's hand seemed to move and touched the side of Tang Ning's leg.
It's not a touch, it's more like a "feel".
Tang Ning felt a chill down his spine at this moment. He looked at the stiff body in horror. Ji Ke's face was blue, his eyes were cloudy, and there were fresh corpse spots on his face. He looked completely dead.
As Tang Ning was still looking closely, the heavy coffin lid was pushed back up. Tang Ning could no longer care about anything else and kicked hard at the inner wall of the coffin.
“Bang, bang, bang.”
Lin Yun, who was kneeling in the mourning hall, looked back. He seemed to hear a strange noise coming from the coffin. Before he could listen carefully, the black coffin was completely closed.
Several villagers from Jijia Village carried the coffin away without any delay.
Lin Yun frowned. He called his cell phone and the latest message in the group chat was still "Did you get enough rest? Tangning."
The dilapidated four-wheeled vehicle left Tangjia Village.
The mountain road in the village was bumpy, and the coffin on the car was shaking like it was in the sea, with constant banging sounds. Tang Ning was lying in the coffin and kept shaking. He didn't know if it was his illusion or the car was shaking so badly, but he always felt that Ji Ke, who was pressing on him, seemed to get up.
No, it wasn't his illusion.
Ji Ke's teeth, which had already gone cold, knocked against his shoulders and neck again and again as the car was bumped against him. It seemed as if some liquid had fallen on his body. Tang Ning didn't want to say anything more, nor did he have the ability to say anything more.
How could this happen... Help...
Tang Ning's chest was becoming heavier and heavier. Ji Ke's cold body was pressing on him so hard that he couldn't breathe. Tang Ning's eyes were seeing stars, real stars. The upper half of his vision was pitch black, with little stars twinkling. He couldn't see anything clearly. A cold breath enveloped him. Just when Tang Ning was about to faint, someone pushed the coffin lid.
Fresh air poured in. Tang Ning's mouth was stuffed with sackcloth, and his entire mouth felt sore and swollen. He could only breathe hard through his nostrils. His face was covered in snow, and his wet eyelashes hung on his fragile lower eyelids, like a butterfly in a rainstorm. Tang Ning didn't have the energy to see what was happening outside. He was on the verge of fainting.
"What happened? Is someone dead?" someone asked.
The person who was carrying the coffin had originally planned to leave some space to prevent the person in the coffin from suffocating to death. However, when he was pushing the coffin lid and looked inside, he couldn't move it at all, as if he was stunned.
"Ji Qian?"
"Oh—" the voice suddenly responded as if it had realized something, "I'll adjust Ji Ke's position. He seems to be having trouble breathing."
"Don't bother with that. It'll be soon anyway."
""
Tang Ning breathed the outside air weakly. He vaguely felt someone holding him up. It seemed that Ji Ke's body was placed under him as a human cushion. It was impossible for him to lie comfortably. When he heard about Ji Ke's death, Tang Ning's scalp went numb. He half-closed his eyes weakly. Every time the coffin was shaken, a tear rolled down his cheeks.
After a while, a pair of hands lifted him up. Tang Ning no longer had the strength to struggle, so he let the man hold him up. He heard the man holding him, Ji Jiacun, say, "It's not easy for two people to lie in the coffin. I'll just hold him and sit here."
"He won't survive anyway, so there's no need to go through all that trouble."
"No trouble."
""
Can't survive? What does that mean
Tang Ning had no idea what these people were going to do. He opened his eyes with extreme anxiety and looked at the person holding him. Tang Ning saw some traces of shoe prints on that person's face.
It was the person he just kicked.
The man stared at Tang Ning intently, as if he was afraid that he would run away. Tang Ning felt that there was no need for the man to stare at him so closely. Even if the ropes were untied now, he would not have the strength to escape.
He looked through a dozen coffins with great effort. Ji Ke in the coffin had his eyes wide open, his tongue stuck out, and his death was filled with resentment.
The people from Jijia Village tried to close Ji Ke's eyes and mouth, but after trying several times and failing, the man closed the coffin while cursing.
At the moment the coffin was closed, Tang Ning saw that Ji Ke's only remaining eye seemed to twitch, and the dilated black pupil turned towards Tang Ning!
Tang Ning was sweating all over. He took a long time to recover because he was suffering from severe motion sickness and stomach pain from hunger. He was so uncomfortable that he could only lie on the bed, with Ji Lianyun feeding him porridge mouthful by mouthful. But now he was lying in the arms of a muscular man, not feeling comfortable at all.
It seemed like this person was holding a grudge after being kicked by Tang Ning, and now he found an opportunity to retaliate against him. He pinched his fingertips so hard that it seemed like he was giving him a finger massage. He then pinched Tang Ning's face and finally touched Tang Ning's eyelashes. The car was so bumpy that Tang Ning almost thought that person's finger was going to poke into his eye.
He saw the man smell his fingertips and then hugged him.
This time the man didn't do anything to keep him awake. Tang Ning closed his eyes and was in a painful state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness.
Not long after, the car finally entered Jijia Village.
Tang Ning was about to pass out. When he was carried down from the car, he could only hear the person still holding him and walking, and someone was saying things like "auspicious time" and "hurry up".
Tang Ning was put on the bed. He saw the man pick up the red wedding dress, the one he had worn before, embroidered with golden feathers.
What is this for
Let him get married again? Or sacrifice him as a tribute to the man in the tomb? !
Tangning was almost going crazy. He kept sobbing. The only person in the room was the man who wanted to change his wedding clothes. He was silent for a moment and said, "I'll take this off for you. Don't make a sound."
Tang Ning nodded desperately, and the man pulled the linen cloth out of his mouth. Tang Ning's mouth was too delicate, and this hurt his throat so much that it tightened. When the wet cloth was finally out, the crystal saliva also hung in the air like a silk thread.
Tang Ning lay on the bed, coughing uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face. He looked very miserable. Ji Qian looked at Tang Ning and as if by some mysterious force, he picked up the sackcloth soaked with saliva and held it to his nose to smell it.
As he was smelling, the person lying on the bed finally raised himself up with great difficulty. There was mist in his head. If his hands and feet were not still bound by hemp ropes, Ji Qian really thought that this person would turn into a monster in the mountains and disappear.
Those beautiful eyes blinked and fell on the piece of linen in his hand. The man looked at Ji Qianyi again with fear and disgust.
Ji Qian stepped forward to help the man untie the ropes. The other person instinctively tilted his neck back in resistance. As soon as he was freed, he tried desperately to hide backwards. His hands and feet had been tied for too long, and it seemed that all his limbs were paralyzed. He couldn't even move backwards and fell limply on the bed.
Ji Qian went up to take off the man's clothes, but Tang Ning pushed him away in panic. Her slender ankles were covered with red marks, as if they were wrapped with red silk, which looked so beautiful that people wanted to touch them.
"Don't," he heard the man's voice, soft and gentle, with a little trembling, "I, I will change it myself."
My eyes are about to cry.
So fragile that it would break at the slightest touch.
"Please," Tang Ning cried. He had known that he would be controlled by this man, and he would not have kicked him at that time. No, he should not have left the door.
Under Tang Ning's terrified gaze, the villager handed him the wedding dress.
Tangning pleaded in a low voice, "Please turn around, please turn around, please?"
The other person looked at him for a long time and then turned away.
Tang Ning trembled as he took out his phone. After finding that there was no signal, he picked up a candlestick that he had set his eyes on before on the shabby bed. The shabby bed was piled with various wedding items that looked quite old, and this iron candlestick was the sturdiest.
Tang Ning tried hard to hold the candlestick, but his hands had no strength at all. Tang Ning took deep breaths to adjust himself. He stood up carefully, holding the iron candlestick tightly with trembling hands. The villager still had his back to him.
Tang Ning was really scared. She was afraid that the back of the other person's head would suddenly turn into a human face with facial features, and that the person's head would suddenly appear in her hands.
He was so scared that he was crying madly, while he raised the candlestick high and smashed it on the back of the bad guy's head with all his strength!
"Bang!"
The man knelt on the ground, covering the back of his head with his hands. Blood flowed from between his fingers. He staggered a few times but did not fall down. Instead, he slowly turned his head and looked at Tang Ning who was shaking while holding the candlestick.
Finished.
Tang Ning felt a chill in his heart.
"You're too weak."
The blood keeps flowing.
"And I've been stronger than others since I was a child."
Tang Ning's tears also continued to flow.
As their eyes met, Ji Qian was strangely not angry at all, even though it was this person who had hit him with something. He felt a little dizzy. Ji Qian put his bloody hand in front of him and looked at Tang Ning who was curled up in the corner, "Change your clothes by yourself. I'm afraid I'll hurt you."
Tang Ning collapsed and sobbed softly. He was the one who hit Ji Qian with the candlestick just now, and he still had the weapon in his hand. But his current appearance made Ji Qian want to hand over the knife and tell this man where to stab him.
Maybe this person is too weak, and he needs to hold the other person's hand and help him push it in -
It was as if he was some kind of monster that could deceive people's hearts, and people would be willing to die at his hands.
"Will you please let me go?" Tang Ning asked with red eyes.
Ji Qian shook his head.
If this matter only concerned his life and death, he would be willing to let this person go, but now it is the life and death of the entire village.
Tangning covered his face and muttered, "What on earth are you doing?"
Ji Qian didn't answer. He wiped the blood off his hands onto his body and handed the wedding dress back to Tang Ning. "Don't disobey me, or I'll help you change."
Tang Ning nodded fearfully. While still holding the candlestick with one hand, he carefully reached out with the other hand and grabbed the blood-red wedding dress.
Wedding dresses are supposed to make people feel happy, but Tang Ning felt that the dress in her hand was too red.
"I'm afraid you'll make trouble again." Ji Qian said, "I want to watch you change now."
There was a wedding quilt on the bed. Tang Ning lifted the quilt and crawled in, hiding under the quilt to change into his wedding dress. He changed very slowly, partly because he was deliberately stalling for time, and partly because he really had no strength left.
Ji Qian did not rush Tang Ning.
However, outside, there were urging voices from other villages: "Hey! Are you done?!"
Tang Ning hid in the quilt, with only half of his face exposed. He looked out the window in panic and saw two people holding a man on each side. The man in the middle was wearing a groom's uniform, his face was green, and his tongue was sticking out.
This is Ji Ke’s body!!!
Tangning's breath was choking, and he wanted to crawl into bed. He was going crazy. What on earth were the people in Jijia Village going to do?! Were they going to marry him with his corpse?! If they were going to use him as a sacrifice, shouldn't they have let him marry the person in the tomb?!
"It will be there soon!" Ji Qian replied loudly. Then he leaned down and grabbed Tang Ning from under the quilt.
Tang Ning tried to hide, and the blanket covering her body was suddenly pulled down, revealing her body wrapped in a red wedding dress. Ji Qian picked her up regardless of her struggles. Tang Ning's hands were waving wildly, and her beautiful palm slapped Ji Qian's face hard.
Ji Qian was not angry at all. He even said softly, "You are really pretty. If that hadn't happened, I would marry you."
What is that? What wife?! What a mess! ! !
Tangning was extremely scared. As he watched Ji Qian carrying him away from the room, he quickly asked, "Why do you want me, Ji Ke, to get married?"
"Because the rooster is gone." Ji Qian said calmly.
Rooster
Tang Ning was stunned for a moment, looking at Ji Ke's corpse in wedding clothes. Suddenly, scenes from movies and TV dramas about ghost marriages emerged in his mind. There would always be a rooster with a red wreath tied around its body to marry on behalf of the living and the dead.
Before he got up, the offerings that the people of Jijia Village held during their condolences would suddenly turn into human heads under his skin.
It turned out that this was not his hallucination! Jijia Village really had a method to turn the dead into livestock!
Tang Ning was stunned when Ji Qian carried him outside the house. People from Jijia Village were standing outside. At first glance, they were all dressed like farmers, wearing coarse linen clothes. The shovels in their hands were Luoyang shovels used for tomb robbers, and their baskets were filled with glittering gold and silver treasures.
Standing in the front of these people was Uncle Ji, who had led Tang Ning into the village.
Tangning remembered that Uncle Ji seemed to have some relationship with Ji Lianyun, so he hurriedly said, "Uncle Ji! I'm already married to Ji Lianyun! What are you doing?!"
Uncle Ji looked at Tangning solemnly, "You don't need the Tao."
After saying that, without caring about Tang Ning's reaction, Uncle Ji waved his hand, and immediately several people snatched Tang Ning from Ji Qian's arms. They held Tang Ning's arms on the left and right, just like they held Ji Ke's body. A bright red veil was draped over Tang Ning's head, and the joyful suona sounded, covering up Tang Ning's crying cries.
"Let me go! Help!!!"
Tang Ning struggled desperately, but the huge difference in power made his resistance like an ant trying to shake a tree. His kicking feet dragged across the ground, leaving two sliding marks.
He couldn't see anything and had no idea where these people were dragging him.
There was a sound of digging in the earth, as if something was thrown to the ground. There was a pleasant sound like the collision of gold and jade. It should have been an extremely pleasant sound, but at this moment Tang Ning felt it was weird and indescribable.
They were whispering in very low voices. Tang Ning wanted to hear clearly what they were saying and what they were going to do, but the harder he tried, the less he could hear.
"How... could this happen?"
"Just get him... over with... Uncle... I really regret it..."
"Morning... Hurry up!"
What on earth are they going to do?!
Tang Ning was overwhelmed by panic. All he could see was the scarlet veil. He tiptoed desperately, but his toes slipped over the high threshold and stepped on the red blanket.
The whole place was filled with festive red. Under the swaying red veil, Tang Ning saw a red figure being dragged over. Its blue hands covered with corpse spots were hanging from the red sleeves.
Although she didn't see the other person's face, Tangning was wondering who it was!
—This is Ji Ke’s body!
Tangning's heartbeat accelerated at this moment, almost jumping out of his throat. He seemed to hear the sound of blood flowing backwards in his body. A feeling of panic and despair swept over him. "Let me go! Let me go - help!"
The force pressing down on his head became heavier: "Behave yourself, no!"
Someone shouted, "Shut up!"
The hall suddenly became quiet, as if when that sentence was spoken, everyone was like a chicken with its neck strangled, so quiet that it was eerie.
The big red wedding candle suddenly made a slight popping sound, and everyone in the wedding hall seemed to have received the message. Someone shouted, "The auspicious time has arrived—play music!"
"Bow to Heaven and Earth!"
A hand reached out from behind and held Tang Ning down, as if grabbing Tang Ning's heart as well. Adrenaline was secreted in large quantities, and Tang Ning struggled desperately. The desire to protect himself was so murderous that he wished everyone would die together.
"Second bow, parents!"
His body was manipulated like a puppet, changing direction. His thin back was hit by a huge force and Tang Ning bent over in pain.
"Husband and wife ~ bow to each other!"
No! Don't!
Tang Ning wailed in pain, the fragmented sound could not even form a complete sentence. His struggling waist was forcibly pressed down. Tang Ning saw the toes wearing wedding shoes, and the toes were facing him.
A cold wind blew up from below, lifting the red veil. The blinding red stretched out in front of her like blood splattered everywhere. Tang Ning saw Ji Ke's body being forced down to worship in the hall.
The next moment, the head that had been drooping suddenly raised up, and the only remaining blue eye met Tang Ning's horrified gaze, and the mouth that could not close gently blew a cold wind.
"The ceremony is over! Send her to the bridal chamber!"
Tang Ning looked up and saw a red lacquered coffin in the room. Ji Ke's body was dragged into the coffin. Two other people walked towards Tang Ning. One of them was Ji Qian, who was holding a wine glass. He walked up to Tang Ning and pinched his jaw to force him to open his mouth.
The wine in the glass was as red as blood.
Tang Ning clenched his teeth so tightly that they seemed to be broken.
Someone sang: "Marriage is a peaceful one, and we are a perfect match made in heaven. Please invite me on the auspicious wedding day, so that we can drink a hundred bottles of fine wine together! Drink!"
Ji Qian was silent for a moment. He whispered in Tangning's ear, "There's anesthetic in this wine. You'll feel better after drinking it."
"Hurry up! Ji Qian!!!" Uncle Ji shouted from the side. As Uncle Ji urged, another person standing next to Tang Ning also came closer. He was holding a plate with five peach wood nails on it!
This nail
Tangning's eyes widened as an unbelievable thought popped into her mind -
Are you going to drive a nail into his body? !
The wine glass was pressed against Tang Ning's lips. Ji Qian's hand suddenly increased its strength. Tang Ning's teeth seemed to be broken, and her red lips were cut in despair!
The wine glass was pressed against the soft lips, and tears splashed into the shaking wine glass, causing ripples.
"stop!!!"
It’s Ji Lianyun’s voice!
The hand that was pinching Tang Ning's cheek suddenly loosened. Everyone turned around and saw Ji Lianyun leading the players into the house.
Ji Lianyun looked at Tang Ning anxiously. When he saw that Tang Ning was fine, his chest heaved violently and he seemed to calm down.
"Let him go, or you will regret it." Ji Lianyun said coldly.
The hands that were restraining Tangning's limbs did not loosen. Tangning heard someone say, "You are not the real him. Don't think we really don't dare to you."
Ji Lianyun coughed miserably upon hearing this, "You guys are really..."
"He was blinded by greed before, but now he is just being clever." He raised his head and looked at each village one by one. "Since you all guessed that he liked Tang Ning, why didn't he take Tang Ning's life himself, but had to use my body?"
"If Tangning really ends up killing him, do you think this village can really survive?"
"But if you can't find the tribute now, the whole village will be buried with him!"
"Him?" Ji Lianyun, who usually had a melancholy brow, suddenly smiled coldly, "You have never figured out from the beginning to the end whether it was him or them."
"That being doesn't care what you do. The deaths in the village may have something to do with him. After that, Erya who jumped into the well and Xiulian who hanged herself on the tree... were the people in the villages you used as sacrifices. They came back to find you!"