paranoianovel Chapter 264 Pulse-Picking Needle
Chapter 264 Pulse-Picking Needle
Chapter 264 Pulse-Picking Needle
"Remember people?" Song Qinghe was taken aback.
Lu Yuan nodded seriously and said, "Some people are locked down there and can't get out, so they use their fingernails to mark the walls."
"Some people don't remember themselves, but rather when something else comes."
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped in front of a carving.
That engraving was deeper than the others, and there was a small dot next to it, like an eye or a nail head.
Lu Yuan stared at the dot, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"This wasn't carved by a human."
"This is a mark that came from inside the jar."
Lin Zhaoxuan also saw it, and his expression immediately became even more serious: "This means there really is a second altar below."
Lu Yuan nodded: "And it's not far ahead."
As soon as he finished speaking, a very faint sound of water came from ahead.
Tick.
Another sound.
Tick.
It's like something is slowly dripping water in the dark.
But amidst the sound of the water, there was also a faint sound of a wooden fish.
thump.
thump.
It was closer and clearer than the one on the ground.
Lu Yuan's eyes darkened, and he raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.
"arrive."
He said in a low voice.
At the end of the cellar passage, a faint yellow light flickered slowly in the darkness.
It looks like a lamp.
It also resembles an eye.
The faint yellow light flickered in the darkness, and everyone in the cellar breathed a fraction lighter.
Lu Yuan didn't step forward immediately. He simply raised his hand to hold the remaining fragment of Wenjiao Fragrance firmly in place and glanced at his feet first.
The ground was old rammed earth, neither loose nor hard when stepped on, and slightly damp.
The fingernail marks on the walls on both sides stopped here, as if the person who made the marks dared not go any further.
"Don't rush."
Lu Yuan said in a low voice, "There are either lamps or fire offerings ahead."
Lin Zhaoxuan nodded, his hand already on his waist.
Zhou Heng and Song Qinghe also tensed up, not daring to make a sound.
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao were even more obedient, shrinking to the back of the line, even suppressing their coughs.
Lu Yuan moved forward step by step. The closer he got to the yellow light, the stronger the smell of incense ash became, mixed with a trace of indescribable sweet and fishy odor.
It smells like old offerings rotting at the bottom of a jar, or like blood that hasn't dried up but is covered up by incense.
After walking another ten steps or so, the cellar passage suddenly opened up.
Ahead was a semi-circular underground stone chamber.
The stone chamber was not large, with a low arched ceiling, but the four walls were all built with neat blue bricks, and the gaps between the bricks were filled with white lime.
In the very center was a low altar, on which was lit an oil lamp the size of a soybean.
The wick was extremely thin, yet the flame never went out; the yellow light came from there.
But what truly sends chills down your spine is not the light.
It's the thing behind the offering table.
That's not a statue of a deity, nor does it resemble a memorial tablet.
It looks more like a wooden stake that has been forcibly erected, with strips of blackened cloth wrapped around it and seven short nails nailed in the middle of the cloth.
The nail heads are slightly turned outwards, like seven eyes.
On top of the wooden stake was a flattened wooden head, with no facial features painted on it, only a thin crack in the center of its forehead.
A tuft of grayish-white fur was stuffed into the crevice.
The moment that thing stood there, the atmosphere of the entire stone chamber changed.
Lu Yuan stared at it for a long time before finally speaking!
"Evil position".
Zhou Heng asked in a low voice, "What position?"
Lu Yuandao said, "There are things that dare not sit openly in the main altar, so they use a substitute to stand here, to receive incense and offerings in their place."
"The wooden stake is the body, the slit is the eye, and the hair on the forehead is the path to guide the spirit."
Lin Zhaoxuan squinted at the wooden stake and said slowly, "This is not an ordinary ritual; it seems to be the method used by some guides in the old days."
Lu Yuan nodded: "It's like squeezing the breath of a living person into the wood."
"If this thing stands here for a long time, it will recognize the mountain path below as its own vein."
As he said this, Zi Guang suddenly fell under the confession table.
There was a half-open wooden box under the offering table.
The wooden box was shiny black, as if it had been stained by incense smoke for many years, and there were several circles of old red thread wrapped around the edges.
The red thread had turned black, but it hadn't broken. Instead, it was cutting into the wood grain, like tendons growing out of the wood.
Lu Yuan squatted down and gently tapped the edge of the wooden box with his finger.
"Click."
The box lid opened by itself by half an inch.
A blast of cold air immediately rushed out, causing the oil lamp flame to tilt violently and almost go out.
Lin Zhaoxuan immediately stepped forward and whispered, "Be careful, there's something ominous in your heart."
Lu Yuan didn't say anything, but reached into the box and took out something.
It was a small piece of bone, like a finger bone or an animal bone, its surface yellowed from smoke, and covered with densely packed small characters.
The characters are neither regular script nor runes; they look more like an oath carved out bit by bit with a fine knife.
Lu Yuan glanced at it, and his eyes darkened.
"Life-Borrowing Contract"
The moment those three words were uttered, the stone chamber seemed to suddenly grow colder.
Song Qinghe's face turned pale: "Borrow a life?"
Lu Yuan turned the bone over: "Use people's life force to feed the system. Once the system is established, use it to nurture something even bigger."
"This kind of thing doesn't dry out on its own."
"There needs to be someone to lead, someone to offer incense, and someone to keep the people below in check."
Zhou Heng couldn't help but curse, "These bastards, they really dare to do this."
Lu Yuan didn't reply, but simply stood up and glanced around the stone chamber.
Besides the white mortar between the bricks, there was also a very faint layer of black powder on the wall, as if it had sunk from the smoke.
In the corner of the stone chamber were three small earthenware basins, each containing a little black ash, with round marks left by incense sticks on the ash.
"Three bowls of incense ash."
Lin Zhaoxuan glanced at it and said, "This is arranged according to the Three Offerings system."
Lu Yuan shook his head: "It's three routes."
"The road to heaven, the road to earth, and the road to humanity."
"Those who make offerings want to block all three routes, calling them the outer mountain path, the cellar path, and the path to the underworld, all of which ultimately lead to one place."
As he spoke, he pointed to the wooden stake behind the altar: "That's not the main altar, but it's very close to it."
"This substitute is to set the stage for the main altar."
"As long as it's there, the air underneath won't dissipate."
Lin Zhaoxuan asked, "Where is the main altar?"
Lu Yuan did not answer immediately, but looked down at the oil lamp on the offering table.
The wick was extremely thin, and the flame flickered, making the words on the table appear faintly.
The characters, originally covered by grease, slowly began to reveal half of their outline when illuminated by the light.
It is the character "北" (běi).
"North."
Lu Yuan slowly said, "The main altar is deeper in the north, or rather, it is located further north."
"This stone chamber is just a turning point."
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao stood behind, completely confused, but they knew they couldn't interrupt, so they just watched obediently.
Wang Chengan was still carrying a bag in his hand, while Xu Erxiao hunched his shoulders and remained motionless, like two wooden stakes without mouths.
Lu Yuan put away the bone fragment and then took out a handful of black soil from the bottom of the box.
The black soil felt slightly damp and warm to the touch, as if it had just been dug out of a living person's chest.
He took a sniff, his expression growing even colder: "It's not mountain soil."
"It's grave soil."
Zhou Heng frowned: "How did the grave soil end up here?"
Lu Yuandao: "Because people were buried here before."
"And it wasn't just one or two that were buried."
"This stone chamber was dug out later on the grave."
"The grave is buried, but the soul remains; the situation is more stable."
Lin Zhaoxuan's eyes sharpened: "So there might be more than one cellar and one altar below, and there might also be an old burial mound."
Lu Yuan nodded: "And the burial vein hasn't been severed."
"Someone used it to connect with an evil altar, which is why this kind of thing was cultivated."
As he spoke, he suddenly looked up and gazed at the base of the right wall of the stone chamber.
A thin layer of black liquid is slowly seeping from the cracks in the bricks over there.
The black liquid, sparse and resembling both ink and blood, silently seeped outwards along the base of the wall. Lu Yuan's eyes sharpened, and he immediately shouted, "Retreat!"
Everyone instinctively took a half step back.
Lu Yuan had already taken out a talisman to suppress evil and slammed it against the wall.
As soon as the talisman was applied, the black liquid suddenly contracted, as if it had been scalded.
Immediately afterwards, a very low creaking sound came from behind the wall, as if something was slowly turning over behind the bricks.
Lin Zhaoxuan said, "There's another opening inside."
Lu Yuan stared at the wall: "It's the Corpse Gate."
Zhou Heng's voice changed: "The Corpse Gate?"
Lu Yuan nodded and said, "The door was sealed with dead people's bones and grave soil."
"A living person walks by without making a sound, but a dead person walks by and responds."
Lu Yuan paused, his gaze turning extremely serious: "Once this door opens, there's either a burial pit or the main road behind it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the oil lamp in the stone chamber suddenly flickered.
The flame was suppressed by something unseen, and instantly dipped by half an inch.
Immediately, the seven short nails on the wooden stake behind the offering table made a very faint sound at the same time.
Ding.
Like seven eyes, all opened at once.
Lu Yuan's expression changed, and he raised his hand to push everyone back: "Don't look at its eyes!"
But it was already too late.
From the narrow crevice in the center of the wooden stake, a grayish-white substance slowly seeped out, resembling hair or the whites of an eye.
Immediately afterwards, the entire substitute statue emitted an extremely soft and faint sigh, as if someone was breathing slowly inside the wood.
Zhou Heng's back stiffened instantly.
Song Qinghe gritted her teeth, her face pale, but she stubbornly remained silent.
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao stood at the very back, their faces green, pressed tightly against the wall, their palms sweaty.
Lu Yuan, however, calmed down at this moment.
He took a small piece of red thread from his bag, tied it to a copper coin, and then spun the coin around his finger halfway, whispering, "Substitute for the position, but not for the true god."
"A body made of wood, a life made of wood, does not consume living souls."
"If you lend me money now, I'll cut off your contact first."
"I'll borrow your incense now, but I'll leave first."
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Break the law!"
As soon as the word "replace" was uttered, the copper coin flew straight out and struck the narrow crack in the center of the wooden stake with a snap.
The wooden stake suddenly shook.
The seven short nails emitted a piercing buzzing sound in unison, and the oil lamp on the offering table also jumped, its flame almost going out.
But in that tremor, a thin crack was actually shaken open in the wall behind the wooden stake.
There was no water or soil in the crack.
The first thing that came out was a musty, bitter smell of incense.
Lu Yuan's gaze darkened: "The back door."
Lin Zhaoxuan immediately stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "I'll drive."
Lu Yuandao said, "Don't force it."
"There's an airlock behind this door; if you push too hard, it will snap back."
"We must first cut off its food supply."
As he spoke, he pulled out the remaining half of the incense stick from his sleeve, held it over the oil lamp, and the tip of the incense immediately lit up with a thin red glow.
Lu Yuan flicked his wrist, slowly guiding the wisp of smoke along the seam.
As soon as the smoke approached the crack, a low, muffled thud came from behind the door, as if something underneath was unwilling to smell the fumes and was shrinking back.
Taking advantage of the situation, Lu Yuan hammered the mud nails into the four corners of the offering table one by one, then pressed the last short talisman under the wooden stake, and muttered, "Stop the offering."
"The fragrance fades."
"Break off the air supply."
With each pause, the force pushing back from inside the wall weakened a little.
After the third sound, there was finally no more movement behind the door.
Lu Yuan then reached out, pressed down on the narrow slit, and slowly pulled it outwards.
"Click."
He forcefully pulled open a stone door that was hidden very deep inside.
Behind the door was not a long corridor, but a narrow path sloping northward.
Wooden wedges were densely nailed to both sides of the narrow path, with faded red ropes hanging from them, and each rope end tied with a piece of scrap paper.
The drawing on the paper wasn't a talisman, but a person's name.
At a glance, there were at least a dozen.
Lu Yuan glanced at it once, and his expression immediately darkened.
"They are all offerings for fame."
He said in a low voice, "This wasn't something that could be accomplished in just one or two years."
"There are always people continuing the work."
Lin Zhaoxuan looked at the row of names, his expression turning icy cold: "It seems we've found the real thread."
Lu Yuan didn't answer, but picked up the lantern and stepped into the narrow north-facing path first.
He knew that the stone chamber was only the second door.
What lies behind the door is the true source of life that sustains the mountain path.
And the end of that line is most likely no longer in the mountains.
No matter where the end is, we have to keep going tonight.
Lu Yuan carried the oil lamp he had taken from the offering table. The lamp was not very bright, but it cast a yellowish shadow on the narrow path to the north.
The narrow passage was even more gloomy than the previous section of the cellar road.
The wooden wedges on both sides were nailed tightly together, and the red ropes were tied one after another. The strips of paper tied to the ends of the ropes trembled slightly in the lamplight, but refused to fall.
The names on the paper looked as if they had been written with light ink. After many years, the handwriting had long since turned gray and black, but you could still make out the general outline.
As Lu Yuan walked, he whispered, "Don't touch the rope."
"And don't even bother reading the name aloud."
Zhou Heng quickly looked away, his throat bobbing, but he didn't dare ask any more questions.
Lin Zhaoxuan followed beside Lu Yuan, glanced at the note on the wall by the lamplight, and said in a low voice, "These names include both old and new ones."
Lu Yuan said, "Yes."
"The old are below, the new are above."
"This means that the line has never been broken and has been continued recently."
Song Qinghe's expression was not good, and she said softly, "Who would hang a living person's name here?"
Lu Yuan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he raised his hand and gently touched a wooden wedge. What came off his fingertip wasn't ash, but a very faint oily feeling.
"It's not about hanging up names."
"It's raised by its name."
"Once the person offering their name enters this position, even if the person outside doesn't die, their life force will be slowly weakened."
"Once the flame under the name truly goes out, people are more likely to get into trouble."
These words, though spoken softly, were colder than the mountain wind.
After walking about twenty steps along the narrow path, it suddenly widened a bit ahead.
Lu Yuan stopped and raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.
Instead of a brick wall, there was a semi-circular earthen archway ahead.
Under the earthen arch, there were three black pottery basins, each filled with a shallow layer of water.
The water was scarce, yet it was so black it shone brightly, as if it had swallowed the shadow of the oil lamp.
Next to the basin in the very center, there is a small wooden sign about a foot tall.
The wooden sign had no words on it, only a copper needle stuck upside down.
Lu Yuan stared at the copper needle for a while, then slowly said, "This is a pulse-picking needle."