Shirley Yang and I watched the ritual scenes recorded around us at the side of the "humanoid execution pit", and the more we looked, the more shocking we became, those ancient carved patterns, although the composition is simple, but the psychological impact brought to people is no less than seeing with our own eyes, there are living people in front of them, and every stroke in the mural seems to be dripping with blood.

But what is more cruel and ruthless than the murder ritual mural is the reality that we must face, the iron rules have no room for change, if you want to hold a ghost cave ceremony, you need at least one person as a victim, and without the soul of the victim, it is like there is no air, and the candle cannot be burned.

The simple and simple human form in the mural can clearly distinguish between the "sacrifice" and the "priest", and the whole process of sacrificing the "snake bone" is completed by two priests, who are dressed in different clothes and wear masks, first fix a slave on the wall, peel off the slave's skin from the top of the head with a sharp weapon, and then place him in the stone trough of the execution on the ground to kill him while the slave is not completely dead, and then a "priest" holds the dead sacrifice and enters the altar where there are two pools. This is the main place where snake bones are sacrificed, and regardless of the type of ritual to be performed, the deceased and the "phoenix gall" are sunk into two corresponding pools at the same time, as if to maintain some kind of balance of power.

The scene of the killing ceremony was so cruel that I watched it twice, and I felt unwell all over, as if I smelled a strong stench of blood in my nose, and felt disgusting and terrifying in my heart. If it is said that in order to survive, cannibalism between accomplices, whether from a moral point of view or from a conscience consideration, it is unacceptable in any case, and accomplices and accomplices, to put it bluntly, are brothers and partners who eat together. They all eat in one pot, who can do it to whom? If you aim your guns at your comrades, even if you are lucky enough to survive, you will definitely fall into a situation from which you will never recover, and you can get rid of the curse of the ghost cave, but you will never be able to get rid of the curse of your conscience.

Shirley Yang obviously also had a heavy psychological burden, and I comforted her and said, "It's not a dead end yet, let's think of other ways, there will definitely be a way." "Although I say this, I actually have no bottom in my heart. It's just that I don't want to face this cruel problem for the time being, and it's good to delay for a moment.

The stone troughs and walls where the skinning and killing rituals are held are unbearable. We returned to the hall with two pools, and saw Ah Xiang sitting next to Uncle Ming and sobbing softly with his severed hand, Uncle Ming's eyes were blank, and he was sitting with his head hanging down against the wall, while the fat man was squatting on the ground, watching a strange crystal bowl. When he saw me and Shirley Young coming back, he beckoned us to come and see together.

I had seen this transparent crystal bowl when I came in, but it didn't attract my attention, and it seemed strange at the moment, and when I came to see it, I wondered: "This is a bit like a timekeeper or something." ”

The body of the crystal bowl is like a small water tank, which is connected to the mountain of Yushan, but it is completely integrated, and it is impossible to see where the interface is. I don't know when, a thin wisp of dark cyan crystal sand leaked from above, the bottom of the bowl has accumulated a full layer, I looked up along the place where the "crystal sand" flowed, and at the interface with the mountain, there was a black ghost mural, the face was blurry and unrecognizable, but I felt very much like the "Great Black Sky Thunder Mountain" in the tunnel. Is this crystal bowl that is constantly pouring quicksand into an ancient timepiece? What is the purpose of it being placed here inexplicably? I had a bad thought in my heart, but it was as vague as that dark shadow, and although my mind was very messy, I still felt that this thing that counted time was not a good thing.

The fat man said to us: "As soon as I came in, I found that this thing began to flow into the crystal sand, judging from my appreciation of antiquities and aesthetic taste, this thing is a bit strange and ingenious, and it can ask for a good price in Panjiayuan, so it is better for us to ...... Move it back and keep it as a souvenir. ”

I was deeply puzzled, so I shook my head at the fat man, nodded again, and said noncommittally, Shirley Yang suddenly said: "Maybe after we entered the altar, we accidentally touched some mechanism, and this crystal bowl began to count down, if we haven't finished the ritual before the quicksand is filled, then ......" said and looked at the mural of the dark ghost.

I suddenly woke up, yes, this underground altar is the core of the sacred area of the evil Luohai people, and it can't be entered and exited casually, if the ceremony is not held at a certain time, then the "Great Black Sky Thunder Mountain" in the tunnel will be put into the altar from the white tunnel, we don't know yet, what is that black shadow-like thing, it seems to be some kind of evil substance that exists in the crystal stone, it is the "watcher" of the altar, so how much time do we have left?

Judging by the speed at which the quicksand was poured in, and the size of the crystal bowl, we had no more than two and a half to three hours left, and we had to complete the brutal skinning "killing ritual" within that time.

In the face of this ever-passing countdown to death, our heartbeats began to speed up, it seems that what flows out is not "crystal sand", but the soul is constantly pouring out of the body, Shirley Yang said that time is still rich, but staying in the altar in the jade mountain to stare at this quicksand, can only suddenly increase the pressure in the heart, let's retreat to the stone stem beam outside first, and discuss how to deal with this matter.

The fat man and I also had this intention, so we took Ah Xiang and Uncle Ming, and everyone temporarily left the evil altar cave, and sat under the stone statue near the Tianliang, each thinking about his own thoughts, and fell into a long silence.

In the end, I spoke first, and along the way, I was constantly exposed to various religious legends about "ghost caves", "snake bones", "imaginary space" and other religious legends that I had never heard of, so that I gradually had a rough concept of "bottomless ghost cave", and I told Shirley Yang about my concept.

The exquisite ghost cave clan, the bottomless pit buried with snake bones is called "ghost cave", and there is no such name in the "evil Luohai people", they directly call it "snake bones", which are some corpses from the imaginary space, which should never exist in our present world, the abyss-like cave is the memory of the corpse's brain, and the "evil Luohai people" believe that the world is a cycle of life and death. After the destruction of this world, another world will be born, and the cycle will continue, all the worlds will be one, and the "snake bones" will also be resurrected in that world, and they will continue to sacrifice their lives to worship it, hoping that the people of the evil Luohai will also survive in the other world.

If you understand the legends of the ghost cave from another angle, you will find that these legends have a striking resemblance to the ancient Chinese secret art of feng shui. What is the "unity of man and nature"? "Heaven" means heaven, earth, and the world, and "man" means human beings, including all kinds of living beings and life. In the concept of "the unity of heaven and man", they do not exist independently, but are one, a whole, according to Shirley Young's words, just like the "cosmic holographic theory" of later generations.

In the theory of "the unity of heaven and man", it is proposed that the two qi of yin and yang, although it is divided into two poles, but since it is one, there is also a point of fusion, this area is the "dragon pill" of the ancestral dragon leyline, the "dragon pill" buried deep in the underground of Kunlun Mountain, it is the place where the vitality gathers, you can see the crystal veins above the head when you look up, some of them are all black, and some are shining brightly, the life of a dragon vein has arrived, and another new dragon vein has begun to appear, which is the so-called life and death stripping. In the world, I am afraid that only Karamir has this rare geological phenomenon under the dragon top, which is a place where "yin" and "yang" blend and mix, so the evil Luohai people will build the altar in the critical position where the arc crosses. Although the ancients were primitive and ignorant, perhaps their understanding of all things in nature was far more profound than that of modern people.

The curse of the ghost cave, whether it is a virus infected through the eyes, or a grudge from the evil god, the most direct and effective way to eliminate it is to put a cursed sacrificial corpse, and the "phoenix gall" in the opposite position, into the two pools in the dragon pill, cut off the connection, there is a record in the mural in the altar, this passage has been closed more than once, closed the passage, the ghost cave and the shadow evil Luo Haicheng, including the marks on our bodies, although they will not disappear, but they have become things in reality, There will be no harm until a new sacrificial ceremony is held, but this altar cannot be destroyed, otherwise it will have a great impact on the pattern of mountains and rivers, and it is difficult to estimate what the result will be.

I looked at the time, and before I knew it, I had been discussing with Shirley Young for an hour, and I thought of a lot of possibilities, but the final result was still the same as the previous conclusion, there was no one who was sacrificed, and all the people had to die on the altar.

The fat man listened for a long time, and he couldn't interject, although he didn't completely understand what was going on, but at least he understood a rough idea, and said: "Isn't it simple to be a victim?" Isn't this ready-made, the amount is small and not a gentleman, and it is not poisonous and not a husband......" said and looked at Uncle Ming, the meaning is already obvious, and I can understand the potential lines needless to say: If you want to die, no one is more suitable than the old gang farmer, anyway, he asked for it, and he said eight hundred and sixty times not to let him follow us, he wants to follow, and now his head is also stupid, plus he is much older than us, and the curse of the ghost cave is who is older and who dies first, so he is not much different from the dead now, We don't need to carry forward the spirit of revolutionary humanitarianism, according to Lao Hu's words, that is called sacrificing oneself to hell for the salvation of the world, and it has achieved a positive result, which is gratifying.

When Ah Xiang heard this, her face turned white with fright, and she couldn't even cry, so she hugged Shirley Yang tightly and begged: "Sister Yang, please don't kill my godfather, only my godfather cares about me in this world, and I have no other relatives." ”

Shirley Yang advised her not to worry, and then said to me: "This thing can't be done, you know that I am religious, I would rather die myself than do something against humanity, although Uncle Ming is likely to not live until this time tomorrow, but if we kill him, how can we face our own conscience, the Lord taught us to ......"

I said to Shirley Young: "Your lord said some nonsense that doesn't hurt, I don't want to listen to him, but you are right, we are forced to live, we have done something morally unjustifiable, not to mention anything else, just touch the rules of Captain Jin, you count, we have committed all those who can be committed, it can be said that the window paper of morality has already been pierced, but there is still a difference between poking a finger into it and the whole person getting into the window, I still can't do this kind of cruel thing, I can't do it." ”

Shirley Yang was relieved when he saw me say this, and said, "If I have to die alone, I ......."

I know that Shirley Young has always felt that the incident of going to the Desert Ghost Cave has affected many people, and she feels guilty in her heart, she is a very willful person, and I am afraid that at this time she intends to die on the altar so that we can live. So I didn't wait for her to finish, I quickly interrupted her, and everyone looked at me, thinking that I had come up with some idea. My heart was in turmoil, looking at Uncle Ming's godless expression, I couldn't help but have a trace of murderous intent in my heart, but the rational side was forcibly restraining myself from this thought. All kinds of contradictory thoughts, intricately entangled, all the pots are boiled in my head, I feel like my head is about to crack, and then I look at my watch, and the timeline of death, which is urging death, is constantly shortening. Seeing that the fat man was throwing the "phoenix gall" in his hand to play, he snatched it over: "Be careful to fall under the beam, the water is deep below, if this bead is gone, we really can't live, is this a toy?" ”

The fat man said dissatisfiedly, "Why did you suddenly become soft-hearted today?" In fact, I see that Uncle Ming is alive and suffering now, and he is stupid and wilted, and I can't bear it when I look at it. Let's take this opportunity today, and quickly send him to the early result, Ah Xiang sister, don't be reluctant to let your godfather, you don't let him die is dragging your godfather's hind legs and delaying him, there is no such shop in this village, if you die tomorrow, it will not be considered to be a death to save the world, then it will not be a positive result, and maybe you will have a life in the next life. And...... And there is one of the most important reasons, don't forget, Uncle Ming has been concussed, stupid, he just doesn't know anything, and he ...... it."

Ah Xiang was speechless by the fat man's theory, and was about to continue crying, but suddenly heard Uncle Ming, who had been sitting there silently and unresponsive, moaning softly: "Alas...... It hurts, am I still alive? ”

Ah Xiang saw that Uncle Ming's consciousness had recovered, and he was pleasantly surprised, Uncle Ming looked very weak, his eyes were scattered, and he said that he had just fallen off the crystal stone at the bottom of the clouds, hung up his mountaineering helmet, and hit his head on something hard, so he didn't know anything, and asked what kind of place was this?

Ah Xiang told him about the situation just now, Uncle Ming stroked the top of Ah Xiang's head, and sighed: "Alas, what about this hard-working child, Brother Hu?" I...... I have something to say to him. ”

Uncle Ming begged Shirley Yang and the fat man to avoid it first, they knew that Uncle Ming probably wanted to talk about Ah Xiang's marriage, so the two had to take a few steps back, and Uncle Ming said to me with tears in his eyes: "Actually, since I heard the name of this thunder mountain, I have already been mentally prepared, this time it seems that I have injured my internal organs, this is the will of God, everything is the will of God, since no one dies, no one can leave alive...... Then I will accept my fate, ......, but Ah Xiang, this child, I can't rest assured, you must promise me to take care of her in the future. As he spoke, he grabbed Ah Xiang's hand with difficulty, trying to let me hold her hand.

I saw that Uncle Ming was a man who was about to die, his words were also good, the bird was dying, and his song was also mourning, and I suddenly felt a sour feeling in my heart, so I held Ah Xiang's hand and promised in my mouth: "Although you can rest assured about these things, although I may not marry her, I will always take care of her like my own sister, and I will never give her a thin drink if I eat dry." ”

Uncle Ming's eyes showed a look of relief, I wanted to hold my other hand, when I was parting with life and death, I was also quite moved in my heart, I just wanted to stretch out my other hand to hold it with him, and in a trance, I saw a trace of imperceptible weird light in Uncle Ming's eyes, I suddenly thought that my other hand was holding a "phoenix gall", and my brain was like a flash of lightning: "you girl, this play is real enough, but I want to Meng Hu Ye is almost hot!" ”

But after all, I still reacted a little slower by half a beat, just in less than a second, Uncle Ming snatched the "phoenix gall", rolled off the ground with his body, I still have a hand and Ah Xiang held together, I quickly shook off her hand, wanted to pounce on Uncle Ming's legs and dragged him, but this is not far from the edge of the beam, below is a mirror maze of crystal stones, and there is water in some places, the "phoenix gall" that is related to the life and death of all people is likely to fall in the struggle, I cast a mouse bogey, and did not dare to exert force, but did not pounce on him.

Uncle Ming is like an old monkey, bounced up from the ground, stepped on the stone in front of the stone statue, rubbed twice and climbed on top of the stone man's head, raised the "phoenix gall" and said: "Whoever dares to move me, I will throw the beads down, the big deal will be the same end, Hu Zai Fat Boy, you two decrepit boys, you two decrepit boys, you are smart and want me Lei Xianming to die for you, it's just a dream, I haven't seen any scenes, and I don't live to the end every time, no one *** wants to kill me." ”