"Just. Uncle Yanagi, I'm very strange, if I hadn't found it by accident, I really didn't know that we still have an altar on Irabu Island, and the color of this altar is actually blood!" Sakurako said.

Yanagi Saburo sighed and said abruptly: "There should be fewer people who know this altar now, and it belongs to the secret of this island." I also stumbled upon it at the time. Later, I heard from your father that only a few old people knew about this altar on the entire island. At that time, those old people were already in their old age, and after so many years, I'm afraid even fewer people know about it."

"Can you tell me who knows about this altar?" Sakurako asked urgently.

Yagyu Saburo thought for a while and said, "At that time, your father told me that there was Itoga of the Ito family, Inoue Muraki of the Inoue family, and your master, the divine doctor Yamamura Inoue. At that time, apart from me and your father, there must have been only three people. ”

Sakurako pondered, "Grandpa Inoue Muraki passed away four years ago, and my master and his old man have been living in seclusion in the Orchid Valley seven years ago. And my father, who also knew about the altar a few days ago, I'm afraid that the only ones are Uncle Yanagi and Itoga-sama. ”

Itoga is the chief executive of Irabu Island, which was also elected by the people of the island after the departure of the original Yamen. Therefore, people on the island usually call him Itoga-sama when they see him.

At this time, I don't know when Matsumoto Lang appeared at the door, his face was gloomy, and he said fiercely: "Itoga, he is not dead yet"

The reason why Matsumoto hates Itoga so much is because Matsumoto's fiancée, Miko Ito, is Itoga's daughter. If it hadn't been for Itoga's blocking and beating of the mandarin ducks, Ito Miko would not have died suddenly. Regarding Ito Miko's death, Matsumoto Lang has always been haunted, and he never believed Itoga's statement that Ito Miko died of a sudden serious illness. He has even more reason to believe that Miko Ito was killed by Itoga.

"Second uncle, you" Sakurako had never seen Matsumotoro's performance, and she was stunned.

Matsumoto Lang came over and comforted Sakurako: "Second uncle is fine, you can eat first." I can't eat, I go out for a walk. ”

Itoga and Ito Miko have always been Matsumoto's sad things, and when these things are brought up again, sadness is always inevitable. Matsumoto wanted to go out for a break and calm down.

"Jiro" Yagyu Saburo wanted to keep Matsumotoro, but Matsumoto had already stepped out of the room and walked outside.

Sakurako picked up the chopsticks and said, "Let's eat first." In the past few days, the second uncle has always been mysterious, and I can't get used to it. ”

Saburo Yanagi frowned and sighed wistfully.

Xiong Yu picked up a steamed bun beside him and said while eating: "Let's talk about the altar next, I'm more curious, what this altar is for." ”

"Blood Sacrifice!" Saburo Yanagi said two words coldly.

"What is a blood sacrifice?" asked Kuma, Sakurako beside him was already pale, and his whole body was trembling.

Sakurako said hesitantly, "I'm afraid I know what a blood sacrifice is." ”

Kumayu and Yagyu Saburo's eyes looked at Sakurako at the same time.

Sakurako said: "I read in the book before that blood sacrifice is a custom passed down from your China. Sakurako said this, swallowing a few mouthfuls of saliva and suppressing the shock.

"Blood sacrifice is a feudal custom in some remote villages of the Tang Dynasty in China, it is said that every year every village has to offer a woman, release all the blood of this woman, and you can't kill it at once, but first make some wounds on her body, let the blood flow out slowly, until the blood runs out, use the blood of this woman to sacrifice to the ancestors, so that the ancestors can bless the village with good weather and abundant grains. ”

After Sakurako finished talking about the blood sacrifice, the person was no longer good, so she hurriedly poured it full of sake and drank several sips in a row, but she still hadn't calmed down.

"So cruel," Saburo Yagyu scolded viciously.

Sakurako took a breath of cold air and stared blankly at the food on the table.

Xiong said worriedly: "Since blood sacrifice is a custom of some Chinese, the only explanation for why it appeared on Irabe Island is that the original inhabitants of the island were not Dongying people in the beginning."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Sakurako said, "The genealogy of our Matsumoto family clearly states that my ancestor, Mr. Matsumoto Koji, moved from Toei soil! The Inoue family is from the Inoue family, and so is my teacher, the Inoue family from Yamamura! The inhabitants of Irabu Island are all authentic Toei people. ”

"But how can the Dongying people understand the backward and cruel customs of our Tang Dynasty in China?" Xiong asked.

"I don't know, I don't know" Sakurako shook her head without stopping.

Xiong Yu still wanted to ask, but Yagyu Saburo reprimanded: "Enough, don't ask Sakurako anymore, everything she knows has already been said." ”

Xiong Yu didn't ask.

Yanagi Saburo said: "Back then, I broke into the altar by mistake, but fortunately it was a man, and I was not arrested by them for blood sacrifice. But they didn't want me to survive, so they took me to the sea and wanted me to feed the sharks. If Taro hadn't come to the rescue in time, I'm afraid I would have died. ”

Saburo Yanagi sighed as if everything had happened yesterday.

Xiong Yu asked, "Has anyone ever been sacrificed with blood over the years?"

"Yes, of course. Yagyu Saburo took a breath of cold air and drank two sips of sake before he said, "I heard Taro tell me back then that his wife, Sakurako's mother, was captured and sacrificed for blood. ”

Sakurako was shocked and asked, "Is it true that my mother was really captured and sacrificed for blood, Uncle Yanagi, why haven't I heard about it all this time?" When I asked my father before, he kept hiding it, saying that my mother died early and died of illness. She was indeed dead, but how could it be a blood sacrifice?"

Yanagi Saburo sighed heavily and said, "I heard your father tell me back then that your mother is not the original inhabitant of Irabu Island, she is a woman from outside, and she is not from Dongying, she is Chinese. ”

"Chinese" Sakurako said confusedly.

"Yes, your mother is Chinese. Yanagi Saburo said, "And she is also the daughter of the official eunuch family." Your mother has just come to Irabu Island, and the island is clean, and the original inhabitants are very good to your mother. On the island, a dozen or so old women from the village often come to your grandmother's house to see the new daughter-in-law. Your mother is a natural painter and has painted a lot of paintings, and every painting is beautiful. ”

Yagyu Saburo said, pointed to a Chinese landscape painting painted on the wall in front of him with his right hand, and said, "Each painting is just like that painting, it's all beautiful." Your father also showed me your mother's painting back then, and it was very beautiful. Dongying has almost no one who can compare to her. ”

"If that's the case, why did they force my mother to go to the blood sacrifice later?" Sakurako asked.

Speaking of this, Yagyu Saburo seemed unwilling to continue, and sighed endlessly, before continuing: "It would be nice if things went on like this. Among the more than a dozen old women, a slightly younger woman said she wanted to see your mother's drawing. Your mother showed them the drawing, but kept a copy. Because this painting is a painting with a curse!"

"At first, people didn't know it. Later, for some reason, this painting with a curse was spread. These old women come to your house again to pester your mother, and they insist on seeing this cursed painting, otherwise they won't go home. Your mother still insists on not showing them this painting. But, while your mother is not looking, they secretly look at this painting, alas!"

"This is a very ordinary landscape ink painting, with an ancient village and a girl standing outside the ancient village. I've only heard what your father said about it, and I haven't seen it before. After seeing this painting, these old women all died of illness within a few days of returning home, and Yamamura Inoue, who was the miracle doctor on the island, personally checked them and could not find out the cause of death. ”

Xiong was shocked and asked, "Is there such a thing?"

"Yes, of course. Yagyu Saburo replied firmly.

"What happened later," Sakurako asked, more concerned about what happened next.

"Later, the men of those dead old women went to your mother's theory, your mother and your father felt very aggrieved, but after all, they couldn't stop the anger of the public, and those men agreed that your mother was a demon girl from outside, with an evil spirit, which led to the death of their women. It is said that the woman of Itoka is one of them. Under the leadership of Itoga, they tied up your mother's five flowers, saying that they were going to send them to the altar of the ancestors to make blood sacrifices to suppress evil spirits. ”

Itoga again!

Xiong Yu seemed to notice this, gritted his teeth and said, "Who the hell is this Itoga, why is he everywhere?"

Sakurako shed tears and cried, "Did Itoga really trap my mother to the altar for a blood sacrifice?"

"Yes, of course. Only before that, your father had asked your master, Mr. Inoue Yamamura, to come out and administer justice. Your master did come out to administer justice, but he did not calm the anger of the people and did not stop them. At that time, it is said that in the end, they took your mother into the mountain and went to the altar on Irabu Island. ”

"Is the altar the altar of the blood sacrifice that Sakurako just mentioned?" asked Kuma.

"Which one else is there?" Yagyu Saburo asked rhetorically, "I heard your father say that the ancestors set the rules, and women are not allowed to enter the altar." ”

"Then why do you need a woman to go to the blood sacrifice," Sakurako asked.

"It is true that a woman is not allowed to enter the altar unless she is no longer a woman. ”

"How is it possible that a woman is no longer a woman!

"Of course not!" Saburo Yagyu rejects Sakurako's words, "When the women become sacrifices, they can enter the altar." ”

"The sacrifice is also the blood sacrifice, you mean that they really tied my mother to the altar for the blood sacrifice."

Sakurako broke down and cried out loud.

[，！]