Not long after going down east, he heard his curses in the passage, and he was frightened by the sound.
The atmosphere in the utility room became tense.
"To the east?" Chen Yang shouted loudly towards the entrance.
No response.
Chen Yang was about to go down, but Chao Jian pushed him aside with his crutch: "Does your back hurt?"
"I'll be careful..." Chen Yang was interrupted by Chao Jian before he could finish his words, "The passage is very narrow, you can't climb up, just stay still."
"Could it be that all the people who died in these days are in the passage?" Qian Han, who was sitting on the ground, looked into the void, his eye sockets sunken and his face ashen, without any trace of youthfulness.
Zhuzhu's face was shrouded by the shadow of the sun protection jacket and hat: "Don't say anything..."
Qian Han didn't even look at Zhu Zhu. He continued, "With so many people, if the corpses were piled up, they would be as high as a wall. In the mission world, human life is worthless."
"Why are you saying this? Is it meaningful?" Zhuzhu's short blue hair had lost its luster and looked like dry grass. She raised her pale face from under her hat and said, "We are not police officers, not messengers of justice, and certainly not saviors. We were forced to bind our ID numbers and come in to do the mission."
"We are just a group of people who want to go home!" Zhuzhu covered her face with her hands, breaking down for no reason, "I want to go home... I want to go home, I want to go home..."
Qian Han closed his mouth and tilted his head towards the door of the utility room.
"Why has going home become such a heavy and difficult thing?" Ge Fei mocked and stopped talking.
Chen Yang's thoughts were involuntarily stuck on Zhu Zhu's words "We are just a group of people who want to go home". He remembered something. Back then in the small attic, Chao Jian said that his sister in the illusion hoped that he could go back. He didn't understand at the time and asked where to go back to. Chao Jian said, home.
Go home, Chen Yang's tongue moved and he silently read out those two words.
"Plop" Chen Yang's heart beat rapidly. At that moment, something made a small hole. Before he could catch it and see it clearly, the small hole closed.
"Our Dong Ge isn't even afraid of ghosts, what in the passage could scare him like that?" Miss Qiao's hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly, "His own corpse?"
These terrifying words instantly froze the air around them.
Miss Qiao had no idea that she had scared the children. She walked out of the utility room, leaned against an old tree, and slowly puffed out smoke.
Xiang Zimu also went out. She stood quietly in the yard with her back to the door of the utility room.
Chen Yang withdrew his attention from Xiang Zimu. He held up his cell phone and shone the flashlight into the passage. He didn't see anything in his field of vision. He hoped that the reason Xiangdong was frightened and swearing was because he stepped on a green earthworm.
However, what Chen Yang and his companions could not imagine was that there were no corpses or green earthworms in the passage, only cat excrement, and a lot of it.
Xiangdong was really scared when he cursed, because damn, he fell face first into a pool of cat urine.
A scene that goes down in history.
Xiangdong held Chen Yang's cell phone to his lips, freed his hands to take off his shirt and wipe his face, then he tore the shirt in half to wrap his hands, and continued crawling while cursing. He had long arms and legs and a strong physique, and the narrow passage caused his arms and legs to be rubbed from time to time. When he came out, his body was burning with pain in many places.
"Damn it!" Xiangdong pulled off the dirty cloth on his hand and looked around the basement with heavy breathing.
It is a few square meters in size, not messy but with traces of people passing by.
Xiangdong discovered something. He strode to a place with his cell phone in hand, glared at him condescendingly, as if he were an enemy, with anger surging in his eyes.
There were three cats, lying flat on the ground, motionless.
Like a human.
"Triplets, huh?" Xiangdong sneered. He moved closer to the culprits who made him stink, and the three cats suddenly opened their eyes at the same time.
Don't jump away, and don't be afraid.
Xiangdong pinched the first cat's paw, lifted it up in the air, and looked into its gray eyes: "Where is Gao Degui?"
The cat closed its eyes.
Xiangdong: “… … …”
The cat was thrown to the ground by Xiangdong, and he did not react at all to the "torture" of the other two.
"It's like a spirit." Xiangdong scratched his elbow that was scraped in the passage, "Okay, I'm already in, I don't mind taking a while, I'll slowly fight you guys."
One person and three cats lying in a row.
An unknown amount of time had passed. When Xiangdong was dozing off, he vaguely heard scolding, crying, and cries for help, which were shrill and terrifying, and he suddenly woke up.
The only sound in the basement was his heavy breathing.
Xiangdong sat up with a strange look on his face. I came down to look for Gao Degui, how could I fall asleep? What happened to those messy noises just now? He suddenly stopped rubbing his sweaty face and looked to the side the next second.
The three cats are gone.
Looking eastward towards the entrance of the passage, if the cat climbed up, it would be caught by Chen Yang and the others. After a few seconds, his face became extremely sour.
When he thought about having to climb that passage again to go back, he wanted to kill himself.
Xiangdong turned the basement upside down like the Japanese invaders entering the village, but he didn't even see Gao Degui.
"What a waste of trip, damn it." Xiangdong was furious and walked towards the corridor with a look of despair. He pressed Chen Yang's cell phone, but it was out of battery. Damn it.
Xiangdong had no choice but to put Chen Yang's phone in his pocket and crawl into the passage based on his memory and feeling.
While vision is blocked, other senses are magnified many times. Looking east, I smell the cat's excrement and grope my way up, touching the cold and damp air.
After climbing for a while, Xiang suddenly stopped.
He wasn't the only one in the passage.
There were others crawling as well, and the sound of flesh rubbing against the inner walls of the passage rang in his ears.
A chill penetrated Xiangdong's cerebral cortex. He tensed all his muscles and shouted sharply, "Who? Gao Degui?"
What answered him was his own echo.
At this moment, intermittent gasps were heard from deep in the passage, mixed with panicked crawling sounds.
"I can't climb anymore..." a weak female voice sounded.
"You have to crawl even if you can't climb anymore!" said the older man.
"I... there seems to be someone behind me." A younger male voice.
"What nonsense are you talking about? There are only three of us, how can there be..." The older man's voice suddenly changed and he yelled, "Climb! Climb faster! Hurry up!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up—"
Xiangdong heard the voices and determined that they were two men and one woman. The passage was very narrow and they could not get out of the way. Just when he was about to wait for someone to crawl up to him before talking, he felt the sound of rapid breathing brushing against his ears.
Someone crawled past him.
The smell of cat excrement disappeared at some point, and a strong earthy smell filled the surroundings. Xiangdong's pupils constricted. This passage seemed to have been newly dug, and his naked upper body felt a little cold.
The voices were heard again from deep in the passage.
"I can't climb anymore..." a weak female voice sounded.
"You have to crawl even if you can't climb anymore!" said the older man.
"I... there seems to be someone behind me." A younger male voice.
"What nonsense are you talking about? There are only three of us, how can there be..." The older man's voice suddenly changed and he yelled, "Climb! Climb faster! Hurry up!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up—"
Just like before, someone passed by Xiangdong again. Xiangdong's forehead tensed. He was about to ignore those voices and crawl out in one go, but suddenly a face bumped into him.
"Fuck | your mother..." Xiangdong's cursing stopped abruptly. He touched the face and found it was a human head.
Xiangdong felt a chill and quickly crawled back to the basement, picked up the head in his hand and looked at it.
The skin had been boiled, so there was no blood. The face and head had been bitten by teeth, and the tooth marks were so deep in many places that the bones could be seen.
This is obviously chewed randomly, without any pattern, just like eating food.
Xiangdong stared at the bumpy eyes and brows of the man and felt that he looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere.
Where is it...
Suddenly there was a slight sound from behind. Before Xiangdong could react, he saw a figure rushing towards him, snatching the head from his hand, and burst into tears, looking extremely miserable.
Xiangdong glanced at the head and Gao Degui's face and got the answer.
There were a lot of broken stones in the passage, each of which had been boiled and gnawed and could not be put together.
Gao Degui collapsed on the ground, stunned.
Xiangdong raised his eyebrows as he looked at the three heads in Gao Degui's arms. The sounds he heard were the scenes before the death of these three people.
They were hiding from something and were anxiously trying to crawl through the passage into the basement.
Unfortunately, they were discovered.
Xiangdong kicked Gao Degui: "Are they all your family members?"
Gao Degui didn't speak or move, and only the sounds of his breathing proved that he was still alive.
Xiangdong snorted coldly. He stinked, but Gao Degui's clothes did not have that smell.
There are other exits from the basement.
"Stop pretending to be dead!" Xiangdong cursed.
Gao Degui didn't respond.
"Do you remember your instructions? You asked us to find the person who took the most lifespans." Xiangdong grabbed the middle-aged man on the ground and said, "You are the only one left in this town, Gao Degui. You are the one who ate the most name fish, right?"
Gao Degui finally responded, and his mouth moved slightly: "I don't eat fish, I hate fish..."
Just throw the person to the ground, as long as he can speak.
In the utility room, Chen Yang was always paying attention to the situation at the entrance of the passage. Unexpectedly, Xiangdong's voice came from outside the yard.
Xiangdong dragged the half-dead Gao Degui into the yard. His first words were, "There are two exits in the basement, and the other one leads to the river." He had run back from the river, sweating all over, with water dripping from his head.
Xiangdong briefly revealed what happened in the basement and the passage: "On the way back, I came up with a hypothesis. Three cats, three human heads, these two might be the same soul."
Chen Yang looked at Gao Degui who was sitting under the door and said, "Mayor, isn't it time for you to tell us what you have been hiding?"
Gao Degui's blue cloth jacket was covered in dust, and his goatee and sparse hair drooped, looking lifeless.
"I'm not hiding anything." His eyes were on the ground.
Chen Yang stopped Xiang Dong who was about to take action. He took out several pieces of rough paper that Chao Jian had stuffed into his backpack, smoothed them out one by one, and then looked up at Chao Jian.
“The Six-Syllable Mantra, Upasaka Sila Sūtra, Amitabha Sutra…” Chao Jian stretched out his walking stick, pressed it against the rough paper, and tapped from left to right.
They are all scriptures for the salvation of the dead.
Chao Jian's crutch touched the last piece of rough paper, on which were densely written words like "wrong" and "retribution".
Gao Degui lowered his head and did not respond at all.
"Who are you praying for? The people whose lives were taken away, or the ones who died after eating someone else's name fish, or," Chen Yang, "the ones who were cooked?"
Gao Degui's eyes suddenly widened.
Chen Yang took out the fortune-telling book, spread out the notes on it, and then looked for the red umbrella and the stone with the cat's paw print...
Every time he took out something, Gao Degui's face turned paler.
Gao Degui grabbed the stone and read the two sentences above word by word. He laughed out loud and tears streamed down his face.
An event from the past that was sealed by death and dust came to light again in Gao Degui's tears.
That happened when Grandpa Gao Degui was still alive.
Many years ago, there was a plague in the town, and his grandfather believed the evil words and held a large-scale sacrifice.
Fish, mice, cats, babies, girls, hundreds of creatures died in that sacrifice, and their bodies were put into the river.
After that, strange things started happening in the town. First it started to rain boiling water, and then named fish appeared.
No one knows what happened to the fish in the end.
Grandpa Gao Degui did not write about this in his notes; his life stopped while he was recording that incident.
Until three years ago, the crazy girl's father caught two fish.
Those two fish were exactly sixty years away from the fish that Grandpa Gao Degui came into contact with.
The crazy woman's husband was a timid man. He was afraid that his name "Yu" would bring him bad luck, so he secretly went to find Gao Degui.
At that time, Gao Degui meant to release the fish and let them go back to where they came from, and not to worry about them. His attitude was firm, almost like an order.
Because he sensed from the notes left by his grandfather that the fish was dangerous and should not be touched.
Gao Degui didn't expect that when he was talking to the crazy woman's husband, his brother was eavesdropping outside the door. He even stopped the crazy woman's husband when he was leaving and secretly negotiated a deal.
Even his parents got involved.
Of the two fish, one was sold to Zhu Yun's family, and the other was shared by his brother and parents. They were cautious and did not let him have a single bite.
By the time Gao Degui found out, it was too late.
The two merchants whose namesake fish were eaten died in the inn. Gao Degui's parents and brother realized that something was wrong and wanted to hide in the basement for a while. Unfortunately, they did not succeed and they all turned into cats.
That night, boiling water rained down at home, and Gao Degui's neck and shoulders were burned. He didn't even dare to unbutton his cloth jacket.
In order to protect themselves, the patriarchs of the Zhu and Yun families invited a master to make an umbrella using the skin and bones of their closest relatives, and a one-month-old baby was also needed.
The birth date and horoscope of the child sold to the Zhu family by the crazy woman's husband was just right.
The baby's eyes were gouged out alive and he was pressed on the second floor of the Qi Family Inn.
Chen Yang felt a chill in his heart when he heard this. Those two eyeballs were indeed used to suppress the resentment of living beings.
So once you cover your eyeballs, it will rain hot water.
When the crazy woman covered her eyes, she must have felt ironic that it was her child who was protecting this town.
"It's not even the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year, but the fish have appeared." Gao Degui clenched the stone, his shoulders shaking. "I have long said that they cannot be eaten, but no one listened to me. This is retribution. This is retribution. You are unfilial, unkind, and unrighteous. God will strike you with lightning."
At noon, the sun was shining brightly, but there was an invisible darkness in front of the door.
Chen Yang sorted out the clues related to the mission and asked Gao Degui: "Why did they think of eating the fish back then?"
Gao Degui said: "Just like this time, as soon as the fish appeared, the rumor that eating fish would shorten one's lifespan began to spread." He mocked, "That's just the devil's will."
Chen Yang nodded. He was indeed bewitched. The curse of the creatures was aimed at the desires of the townspeople. This was too easy, as longevity was at the center of desires.
"Did you know that Widow Zhou from Qijia Inn died a long time ago?" Chen Yang said to Gao Degui.
Gao Degui obviously shrunk his shoulders.
Not only Chen Yang, but others also noticed Gao Degui's reaction. No one pointed at him and yelled, "Then why did you let us live in?"
Everyone knows that this is a mission, Gao Degui is an NPC-like existence, and his position is that they are digging a hole.
Chen Yang said, "The year after the two merchants died, they came to town again. Year after year, they stayed at the inn. Did you take any measures?"
Gao Degui smiled bitterly: "They are the obsessions that remain in the human world. What can I do?"
"Besides, they are just like people. No, they are simpler than people. They only stay for a few days each time, never go downstairs, and never cause trouble." Gao Degui's haggard face was full of dejection. "Life is complicated. I failed to persuade a fellow villager, and it's all over."
Chen Yang's mouth was dry. He asked other teammates if they could say something, but they either had blank expressions, looked dull, or were immersed in their own thoughts. None of them intended to speak.
"You found the paper by the river, didn't you?" Chen Yang observed Gao Degui's expression, "Did you see the crazy woman?"
Gao Degui's eyes were all red: "She is a miserable person."
"Then tell me, why did she lie down in the river with the stone statue of the child?" Chen Yang stared at him.
Gao Degui shook his head: "I don't know..."
"There are too many dead souls in the river. It would be great if it could be filled up." He muttered to himself as he got up and staggered towards the house.
Chen Yang patted Chao Jian's arm as he was pinching her breasts: "The mission background is all complete, but the mission has not been completed yet, and I don't know where the target is."
The next moment he shouted at Gao Degui's back: "Master Zhu has eaten the name fish of ten young people, but he is not the one who has taken the most lifespans. Is there anyone in the town who has eaten more than him?"
Gao Degui did not answer, but he kept walking and soon entered the house and closed the door.
"The NPC is offline." Qian Han murmured.
Chen Yang's doubts were not resolved. He walked anxiously at the door and walked around Chao Jian unconsciously.
Several people present witnessed this scene, and their expressions were different.
Chen Yang was completely unaware. He walked around Chao Jian several times and only stopped when he made himself dizzy. He stared at Chao Jian in a daze.
Chao Jian didn't say a word from beginning to end, nor did he leave.
After a minute or two, Chen Yang grabbed Chao Jian and said, "I understand. Being young doesn't necessarily mean you live longer."
Chao Jian lowered his eyes to glance at the hand that was holding him, his throat rolled and he uttered a faint "hmm" syllable.
"That's right," Xiangdong said, "some young people die young."
"Especially our generation, which has the highest proportion of sudden deaths." Xiang Dong glanced at Chao Jian without even looking at him, and said pretentiously, "I'm not talking about you. You are not of the same generation as us. There is a generation gap between your brother and you."
Chen Yang: “…”
"No, don't listen to Xiangdong's nonsense." He whispered to Chao Jian.
Chao Jian: "I know."
Chen Yang was stunned for a moment and then returned to the main topic: "That is to say, we don't count the number of fish, but only the number of life spans taken away. When Master Zhu was alive, someone took away more life spans than him, so we didn't find the right target."
"But there is no one in this town now." Zhuzhu's eyes were dull.
Chen Yang fell silent. This was when he felt the mission had reached a dead end.
At this time, Ge Fei blurted out: "Before Gao Degui showed up, I thought he was the target."
Zhuzhu said, “Me too.”
"I'm ready to go home." She hugged her knees, wanting to cry.
However, the fact is that Gao Degui's eyes did not mutate and he did not eat fish.
Xiangdong was so angry that he kicked the tree: "This mission is so fucking weird."
The leaves fell down and landed on Chen Yang's head and shoulders. He didn't care. His mind was full of thoughts. Was the absence of task reminder also a kind of reminder
While Chen Yang was in a daze, Chao Jian casually brushed off the leaves on him and said, "Let's go back to the inn."
Chen Yang responded subconsciously.
The painter limped behind him. Xiangdong walked beside him and looked at his swollen ankle. "Even in this state, you are still so energetic. Even the last moments of your life cannot compare to yours."
"You don't understand." The painter moved away from Xiangdong. The other person's stench was so bad that he felt like vomiting.
Xiangdong said perfunctorily: "Why don't I understand? A dead tree will come back to life in spring."
The painter corrected rigorously: "It is rebirth."
"According to what you said, Chen Yang and Chao Jian are your parents?" Xiang Dong joked.
The painter said, “In a sense.”
Xiangdong squinted his eyes: "Then who is your father and who is your mother?"
Painter: “…” Is it necessary to continue discussing this issue
Some distance behind, Miss Qiao and Xiang Zimu stood side by side, two completely different women, almost the same height, one hot and the other cool.
"This task is very interesting." Miss Qiao spoke first, with a scent similar to cedar in her breath.
Xiang Zimu did not answer.
Miss Qiao touched up her fluffy wavy hair and said, "I like you very much."
Xiang Zimu remained indifferent.
"How hurtful." Miss Qiao put her slender arms around her and leaned forward with her scab-covered neck. "For the sake of our relationship as roommates, I advise you to do your mission well and move forward."
Xiang Zimu looked in one direction with his eyes lowered, and his light lips opened and closed: "I also advise you not to be too indulgent."
"It's addictive. It's a disease. It's troublesome for me to deal with it in the real world. It's always a Shura field." Miss Qiao was like walking on a catwalk, with a graceful and lazy figure. "The mission world is too suitable for me. Sometimes I think that if I really unbind my identity number one day, I will be reluctant to give it up."
Xiang Zimu no longer responded and his steps became faster, as if he was following something.
Behind, Qian Han left Zhu Zhu and Ge Fei behind and trotted towards the main group. His burned arm was supported by his other hand, and his lips turned blue from the pain.
Zhuzhu looked at the people around her: "Ge Fei, are you and Qian Han on bad terms?"
"Of course." Ge Fei shrugged. "I exposed his lies on the spot. How can we have a good relationship?"
Zhu Zhu said: "Did he really push Brother Wu out to protect himself?"
Ge Fei's face was wrapped in gauze, and his expression could not be seen. However, his tone was calm and he did not lose control: "Do you believe me, or him?"
Zhuzhu pursed her lips and said apologetically: "I wasn't there at the time."
"I understand." Ge Fei said, "In fact, when I think about it later, it is human nature for him to do so. When people are in danger, the desire to survive will overwhelm reason and emotion, and they will instinctively start self-defense."
Zhuzhu said: "So what? The damage was still done. No one will say that it was just your instinct and there is nothing you can do about it."
Ge Fei smiled.
At night, Chen Yang recorded all the information points in the room, trying to find out the overlooked parts.
The light from the white candle cast a circle of light and shadow on the table.
Chen Yang wrote and drew on the small notebook, then put the pen down with a "click". He turned his head and moved his gaze to his partner on the bed.
Chao Jian didn't look at him: "Any clues?"
"No." Chen Yang moved a chair and sat over, his knees against the edge of the bed. "There's a ball of wool in my head, and I can't shake it out."
"Originally I thought Gao Degui would show up when the fish tide comes tomorrow, but now it's earlier." Chen Yang sighed, "It feels like the end now."
"Let's see if any townspeople go to the river tomorrow." Chen Yang supported his legs with his elbows and rested his hands on his chin. "We have to prepare for the worst."
Chao Jian showed no expression.
Chen Yang shook his legs that were resting on the bed: "Brother, say something."
"I didn't say anything?" He took his legs away from Jian, his back slightly tense, "Don't touch me, it's annoying."
Chen Yang: “…”
"What did you say? You just asked me if there was any progress."
Chao Jian put his legs back to their original place: "Then didn't you say it?"
Chen Yang was speechless.
"Bring your little notebook to the bed, I want to see the information you wrote down." Chao Jian looked at Chen Yang, whose hair was covered with grass, frowning again and again, not knowing what he was struggling with. He suppressed his emotions and said, "Hurry up."
Chen Yang quickly grabbed the notebook and climbed onto the bed.
Chao Jian didn't reach out to take Chen Yang's notebook, but just lowered his head and moved closer, scanning the lines at a glance.
"Do you understand? Do you want me to explain it to you?" Chen Yang scratched his face.
"No need." Chao Jian said.
Chen Yang was a little surprised. He didn't know how it happened or when it started, but when he remembered something, it was always in a more abstract way. At first glance, it looked like scribbles. Sometimes he himself couldn't even understand what he had written, but Chao Jian could actually understand it.
"You're not saying this just to save face, are you?" Chen Yang didn't believe it. "If that's the case, there's no need to do that."
"Look." Chao Jian started from the first line and read out his message accurately.
Chen Yang thought in horror, genius.
"What are you thinking about? I'm not a genius." Chao Jian grabbed a few milk slices and threw them on the notebook.
"Okay, you are not, I am." Chen Yang coaxed him and said in his heart, you are not a genius, how can you understand my scribbles.
Chen Yang hadn't been chatting with Chao Jian for long before he was interrupted by the noise outside.
Zhuzhu rushed out of Miss Qiao and Xiang Zimu's room. She was crying and shouting nervously in the yard. She pulled out all five ear clips on her left ear and threw them away, leaving red marks around her earlobe.
When Chen Yang opened the door and went out, he found that no one came out of the other rooms. He stared at the shaking little girl and asked her what was wrong.
Zhuzhu seemed to be suddenly pressed down by something from behind. The weight was not light. Her back and waist bent sharply, her legs shook, and she was almost crushed to the ground.
Chen Yang's back felt numb.
Zhuzhu remained in the position where she was pinned down and unable to get up, screaming in fear: "Save me, Mr. Chen, save me... I'm being pinned down, save me..."
"There's nothing on your back." Chen Yang raised his cell phone and shone it towards Jian. He breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see any ghost.
Zhuzhu was stunned: "No, no?"
Chen Yang nodded.
Zhuzhu stood up under Chen Yang's gaze without any hindrance. She tried to move her stiff shoulders, but there was nothing unusual.
Chen Yang saw her suspicious and startled: "You have been scaring yourself these past two days."
Zhuzhu cried, "I'm scared."
Chen Yang looked back at his partner on the bed, and after making sure that he was paying attention to his movements, he approached Zhu Zhu holding up his phone and asked, "What are you afraid of?"
"I'm scared..." Zhuzhu covered her face and sobbed, "I..."
Zhuzhu's voice suddenly changed, and her words became difficult to pronounce, as if two hands were around her neck, with the force gradually increasing. She tried to pry the hands away from her neck, and her upper body bent down again, forming a 90-degree angle with her lower body.
It was like someone was grabbing her back and playing with her.
Zhuzhu's pupils trembled violently, fear was drowning her mind, she slowly turned her neck and looked back... She saw a person lying on her back.
The man raised his head.
It's her!
She lay on her own back!
Before Chen Yang could figure out what was going on, he saw Zhuzhu acting like crazy, screaming and grabbing his shoulders.
Her body seemed to be rotten, and that grab directly tore off a large piece of flesh.