The Official Slave's Last Words
"Call--
Zhou Yang walked into an empty alley and rubbed his face vigorously.
Under A Fu's watchful eye, he maintained his "fierce but cowardly" persona in Guan Village for an entire afternoon, and his face had become somewhat stiff.
He stepped out of the alley and found himself facing a main road.
To the left of this main road lies Zhou Yang's house.
Walk to the right until you reach the end, and you'll find the village entrance.
The stone fire tower was faintly visible at the end of the road.
The closer you get to the fire tower, the fewer houses there are on both sides of the road.
Behind the fire tower, there was another rammed earth wall about half a person's height.
These sections of walls connect to the houses on the edge of the village, enclosing the entire Guan Village.
Zhou Yang hesitated.
Hesitating, I wondered if I should go check out the fire tower at the village entrance first.
The fire tower was located near the village entrance, and Zhou Yang had always only glanced at it from afar, never daring to approach it.
To avoid being mistaken for a fugitive and killed by the Guan Village.
Huang Shaozi had ordered him to guard the fire tower in three days, so it was only natural for him to go there in advance to scout things out and take a look.
With this legitimate reason, the Guan Village will not kill him.
But it was getting dark.
Zhou Yang didn't head towards the village entrance; instead, he went straight home.
In Guan Village, the sky can turn dark very quickly.
Just a moment ago, the sun was hanging low in the western sky, but the next moment it was swallowed up in one gulp. The entire sky was suddenly covered by a black curtain, and the night was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
The moment Zhou Yang stepped through the door, the darkness rushed over like a wolf chasing after him!
As he stood in the corridor and turned to close the two doors, he saw a thick, pale green fog suddenly rise outside!
In the thick fog, ropes hung down from the sky, suspending people with rouge-painted cheeks, sticking out their tongues and giggling at Zhou Yang!
Zhou Yang gripped the door frame with both hands, but he couldn't close the two doors no matter what he did. It was as if there were invisible hands outside the doors, holding them open and preventing him from closing them!
His scalp tingled!
Desperate to use "Supernatural Ripple," I just happened to hear Huang Shaozi call out from afar, "The Yang'er are back?"
At that call, the force holding the two doors open suddenly dissipated.
Zhou Yang pushed with his palm, and the two doors closed naturally.
He turned to look at Huang Shaozi, who was peeking in his direction, his face showing genuine fear. "It suddenly got dark!"
"Mom, I saw a ghost!"
"Where are the ghosts?" Huang Shaozi looked a little nervous upon hearing this. "Don't talk nonsense and attract ghosts."
"Hurry home before dark."
"That A Fu said he had a lot of work to do today, and he insisted on keeping me until almost dark before letting me go home."
"He knows it's dangerous at night, yet he still does it on purpose," Zhou Yang complained as he walked towards the Huang Shaozi.
Huang Shaozi said with a smile, "Talk to him properly next time."
"They certainly wouldn't have kept you up this late on purpose."
Zhou Yang knew that the Zhou Family ghost's closeness to him was only superficial.
When it comes to matters of real importance, these so-called family members are completely unreliable.
He followed behind Huang Shaozi, shook his head, and said nothing more.
Huang Shaozi said, "You came back late today. Your father, Baigou, Heigou have already eaten dinner."
I've saved some food for you; you can eat it in the woodshed.
Zhou Yang followed Huang Shaozi into the woodshed.
Under the watchful eye of Huang Shaozi, he finished the meal of the dead on the small table.
This time, no matter how he tried to persuade his mother to share some of the food with the other party, she refused to accept it.
After finishing his meal, Zhou Yang went back to his room, put away the paper money, flipped through the "Knife Credit Ledger" for a while, and then went to bed early.
The following morning.
He got up very early, ate a few mouthfuls of food meant for the dead, and hurriedly went out, heading straight for the fire tower at the village entrance.
The sky was a dark blue.
A village was shrouded in mist.
On top of the stone-built fire tower, firewood was piled high, and the stones were covered with charcoal ash.
Looking out from here towards the outside of the village, all one could see was an increasingly dark sky and an increasingly thick fog.
Zhou Yang withdrew his gaze from the outside of the village, and the pairs of eyes that had been staring at him in the surrounding mist also turned their gaze away.
He circled the fire tower.
On the seemingly ordinary dirt road, patches of shadow gradually appeared, here and there.
Zhou Yang approached a patch of shadow, and saw that the water-like shadow gradually shrank into a human shape, speaking in a low voice, "Don't follow other people!"
They ate me!
The humanoid shadow on the ground struggled violently, then turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared under Zhou Yang's feet.
That shadow was clearly the deceased's silhouette!
Zhou Yang remained calm.
There are many places in Guan Village that he has never set foot in.
For example, the fire tower and its surroundings, the farmland on the edge of the village, the ancestral hall where the Revelation Ceremony was held, and "Guo Family Alley" next to the back pit, which Zhou's father strictly forbade to approach.
He used to only walk on a few permitted roads, yet he was able to collect seven or eight images of the dead, enough to complete the story of "Performing for Ghosts and Gods".
And what about these areas that were previously off-limits?
In these places, there will only be more images of the dead remaining.
Zhou Yang only glanced around, and within the area he could see, there were four or five remaining figures.
He paced around the fire tower, pausing from time to time.
He seemed to be contemplating where he should be positioned two nights from now to best add firewood to the fire tower.
The water-stained shadows gradually shrank into human shapes and crawled to Zhou Yang's feet.
Sun Wu, we are all human beings!
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"
"The first day wasn't daytime--"
"When the Patrol Team changed shifts at midnight, the first team to return from outside devoured me."
Hide! Hide!
There's nowhere to hide here!
a■8..0
When I get home at night, my mother wants to eat me alive.
"If I don't guard the fire tower, my father will eat me!"
"Even if I guard the fire tower, outsiders will still eat me."
"There's no way out, no chance of survival--"
One after another, shadowy figures wriggled at Zhou Yang's feet, leaving behind their dying words.
The hidden message in his last words served as a guiding light for Zhou Yang.
He raised his eyes and looked at the fire tower not far away, which had not been lit during the day.
The fire tower is like a candle holder.
The top of the lampstand and its surroundings were piled high with firewood.
At night, this fire tower is relied upon to provide a landmark for the Patrol Team that patrol around the village to prevent "ghosts" from invading.
However, a photograph of the deceased that Zhou Yang collected claimed that the patrol team returning from their midnight shift ate it.
The fire towers were burning to provide a beacon for the Patrol Team.
This makes it easy for them to find this place of light in the darkness.
As a result, the living people in this sunlit area became the first targets for the Patrol Team to devour?
The darkness of Guan Village is terrifying for the living.
According to the last words of the deceased collected by Zhou Yang, the Patrol Team and outsiders were unstable factors when guarding the fire tower at night.
They may shed their human disguise at any time, reverting to their true ghostly forms, and feed on humans!
A few living people are in a group of evil spirits that could "awaken" at any moment; it's like playing with fire.
Zhou Yang noticed that none of the deceased mentioned their "family members" in their last words, nor did they mention any harm done to them.
Could it be that at this moment, one's own ghost is actually the more "friendly" one?
As he pondered this, Zhou Yang's gaze fell upon the last remaining figure at his feet.
This figure, with disheveled hair, appeared quite calm compared to the other trembling, terrified figures. It murmured, "For the first hour, everyone was safe and sound."
"In the second hour, a black wind blew the fire in the tower back on, and sparks fell on the skin of the tower guards."
"Their greasy hides were instantly scorched, and the demons inside wanted to come out and make their moves."
My second brother shielded me behind him, and I imitated its Ghost Rhyme, radiating ripples.
"The ghost guarding the tower just circled around me and didn't do anything."
"The third hour has passed, and midnight has arrived."
The first Patrol Team is back.
As everyone ate together, the few living people hidden inside the ghosts were placed on the altar.
"This hour is really tough to get through."
"I used the Cui Family's method to summon my second brother's spirit."
"I carried my second brother on my back. The ghosts didn't recognize me, so they invited me to eat with them. I ate—"
"In the fourth hour, it suddenly got light, and they all hid away."
I also need to find a place to hide.
I've hidden myself.
They found me.
"My souls hid away, and they found my body—"
"The soul has hidden itself, but the body has been found?" Zhou Yang pondered this question repeatedly.
In the fourth hour, the sky suddenly brightened.
Could the soul of a living person be in a state of disorientation, subconsciously seeking a place to hide?
Then the ghost found his body?
Are there any warning signs in this situation, and how can it be prevented?
The figure was still muttering, its shoulders beginning to tremble, its emotions growing increasingly intense. "I'm not reconciled! I'm not reconciled!"
"It took six generations of my family to save up enough money to help me find out the details of this Guan Village, the Fanhe Burial Ground. I practiced for five months in advance, imitating the demeanor of the Third Cui."
"After entering Guan Village, he immediately became the Third Cui."
"The Cui Family's Possession Method, the Zhou Family's chain, the Ren Family's dog, the Liu Family's seedlings, the Qin family's painting--"
"Learn one skill, and you'll have a foothold. With the little bit of knowledge my hometown has prepared for me, I'm sure I'll be able to Revelation Ceremony!"
"Once you pass, you'll have Official Body!"
Even a low-ranking Official Body is better than being Guan Nu!
"My family has been Guan Nu for six generations. Every generation has suffered from blood loss in middle age and turned into mummies!"
"Once I become an official, my whole family is waiting for me to become an official." I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead--
The ever-speaking figure grew larger and larger, gradually overshadowing the other figures.
Compared to it, the other figures were as thin and weak as bamboo poles.
It kept waving its arms and struggling desperately, like a drowning person trying to grab the last straw.
But as it says...
It is dead.
He died, leaving only a shadow.
No matter how much it struggles, it is all in vain.
Zhou Yang watched it grow larger and larger, then gradually shrink back down, before turning and walking towards A Fu's house.
Throughout the journey, he pondered the last words left by that final shadow.
His last words contained a wealth of useful information, which he was about to uncover.
For example, the deceased was a Guan Nu in the "Great Zhao Dynasty". Zhou Yang did not know what kind of class Guan Nu were, and he knew too little about the Great Zhao Dynasty.
Nowadays, we only know that there are three classes: officials, Guan Nu, and commoners who are not under the rule of the imperial court.
This Guan Nu, relying on the money accumulated by six generations, obtained the details of the Guan Village located in "Fanhe Burial Ground".
This was the first time Zhou Yang had ever heard the name "Fanhe Burial Ground".
The name seems to suggest that the location of Guan Village was once the burial place of a being called "Fanhe".
Is there some connection between Fanhe and the Human-Skin Guan Village?
Before entering the Human-Skin Guan Village, the Guan Nu had already mastered the "ripple effect."
He also mastered the Ripple technique through the "Breathing of the Ghost Method"?
Chang Dafeng, who was outside, once said that this breathing method was extremely dangerous, and that he had some understanding of it and could recognize the "Breathing of the Ghost Method" at a glance by the characteristics of the "Ghost Mouth".
Chang Dafeng is a seasoned veteran who recognizes the Breathing of the Ghost Method, but that doesn't necessarily mean the technique is widespread or rare among the living.
Zhou Yang further speculated that there might be other different breathing techniques, which, when practiced to perfection, would still generate Supernatural Ripple.
The Guan Nu controls the ripples already has a much higher starting point than Zhou Yang.
In particular, he had some information about Guan Village, and even before entering the village, he had already begun to imitate the demeanor and personality of "Third Cui".
Upon entering Guan Village, he truly became the Third Cui.
I learned the Cui Family's "Possession Method".
Only now does Zhou Yang realize that the Zhou Family has this "Old Chain" that can be used to tether the "Dog King Family's " puppies.
The Dog King Family " must be the same " Ren Family's dogs" that the Guan Nu mentioned.
Thanks to his Possession Method and accumulated knowledge, Guan Nu managed to survive the third hour of the night he was guarding the fire tower without any major incident.
Yet, even in the final hour, death was inevitable.
"What exactly caused dawn to break in the fourth hour?"
Why do the body and soul of a living person suddenly separate after dawn?