"Abba!"
The new mayor froze on the spot and shouted in disbelief.
The other residents of Lei Town also warned the old mayor, saying that his body and bones were already in such a state that he simply could not bear the ceremony.
"Do as I say, this is an order." The old mayor knocked the ground hard with his cane.
Seeing what the old mayor said, everyone could only obey the order with tears in their eyes no matter how unwilling they were.
I cast curious eyes on the old mayor. At this moment, his face was covered with age spots and his temples were gray, but his eyes had an unprecedented determination. All this seemed to imply that deciphering the memorial would require a huge price...
At what cost?
After burning incense, the new mayor came with several townspeople. He was holding a dark brown cloak in his hand. One of the other two townspeople was holding a feather crown, and the other was holding a box of oil paints.
The old mayor quietly opened his arms and allowed everyone to change his clothes and paint his face with red, white and black paint.
I looked carefully and saw a strange bird with outstretched wings embroidered on the cloak.
The strange bird had a round face, sharp teeth, and a dead human skeleton at its feet, just like an arrogant general.
There are many blood-red lines on the sleeves, which gives it a particularly weird feeling.
Lao Jiang told me quietly: "That bird is called an owl, which is an owl. It was the spiritual medium god of witchcraft during the Shang Dynasty. They believed that the owl was the messenger of the night and could bring them the will of the ghost."
After the old mayor changed into his witch clothes, he raised his crutch high. In an instant, it seemed as if all the injuries in his body disappeared, and he walked with a smooth pace.
But the surrounding townspeople cried even louder.
The old mayor turned back and glanced at them deeply, and then he was determined to climb up the ladder and walk towards the outside world.
"Mayor!"
One after another, the townspeople knelt down. They were reluctant to leave the old mayor, but the old mayor just replied to them: "Don't be sad for me, I am just an old man with half a foot in the coffin. Before I leave, I can It’s my honor to do something good in Lei Zhen!”
He climbed up the steps step by step, taking each step calmly and leisurely.
Like a hero ready to die.
Lao Jiang, the new mayor, and I followed the old mayor silently. The rest of the residents of Lei Town could only burn incense and pray for the old mayor because they could not leave the underground.
After leaving the underground world, a trace of white smoke immediately appeared from the old mayor's neck, and a slight burning smell filled the air.
The new mayor's eyes turned red and he bit his lip with his teeth, but tears fell silently.
Every step the old mayor took was very difficult. Lao Jiang and I couldn't stand it any longer and wanted to help him, but the old mayor waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and go to the ancestral hall!"
He entered the ancestral hall in this way. The parts of his body that were not covered by black clothes were burned yellow, but he did not cry out in pain.
Although a lot of the outside of the ancestral hall was destroyed by fire, the buildings inside are still there.
Facing the densely packed ancestral tablets, the old mayor put on a mask with a green face and fangs, picked up something similar to a rattle, and began to dance strangely back and forth.
Lao Jiang explained in my ear: "The mask also has an owl painted on it."
"What about the rattle?" I asked.
"No! That's not a rattle." Lao Jiang replied: "That's called a siji. It's a small drum from the Shang Dynasty. The drum head is made of baby's skin, and the drum handle is also made of baby's calf bones. It's specially used for A tool to communicate with ghosts.”
Due to this spiritual medium ceremony, strangers are not allowed to enter casually, so the three of us can only stay outside the ancestral hall.
I saw the old mayor respectfully unfolding the human skin scroll, and every time he read out a condolence sentence on it, he would shake his sacrificial dart and do a strange dance.
The sound it made was normal at first, just like an ordinary rattle, but after a while, I felt something was wrong...
The sound began to get sharper and harsher, as if a group of ghosts had really been summoned and walked into the ancestral hall!
A strange scene seemed to appear in my mind. There were several men wearing animal skins. They were cooking a dead human skeleton in a big cauldron, and then they were singing ancient songs and dancing strangely around the cauldron. dance.
As the sacrifices progressed, cracks began to appear on the dead man's skeleton, and the words composed of those cracks were the death inscriptions.
I don’t know why I saw such a scene, I just know that the sound in my ears is getting louder and louder, as if there are countless little ghosts dancing with the old mayor, whispering while dancing.
In an instant, the sky outside the ancestral hall turned dark.
I couldn't see the ghosts, but I could clearly hear what they said.
"Boy, wake up." Lao Jiang's sudden voice pulled me back from the nightmare. When I woke up, I found that my forehead was covered with sweat.
"What's wrong with me?" I asked confused.
The new mayor explained from the side: "You have the blood of the Li family flowing in your body, and you are naturally sensitive to these things. It is inevitable that something will happen when you come into contact with them for the first time."
I briefly described the scene I just saw, but the new mayor was shocked: "What, you actually saw the scene of a sacrifice? How is this possible?"
I hummed, indicating that I also heard a lot of little ghosts whispering.
The new mayor looked at me so shocked that he could not close his open mouth, and finally said something strange: "Could it be, could it be that Xie Wen also chose you?"
"What chose me?" Lao Jiang and I looked at each other and looked at the new mayor.
The new mayor showed a particularly complicated expression and said: "It is very difficult to learn the death sentence, because only the chosen one can hear the ghosts and gods speak. Since my father is the last person who can die, he is afraid of old people. The things of my ancestors will be lost. They tried every possible means to teach me to learn them, but no matter how many times I performed the sacrificial rituals, I could not hear a word."
"I don't have that talent, so I had to give up in the end. Unexpectedly..."
"Jinglan, Jinglan! Now I finally understand why my father is willing to sacrifice himself to take a gamble on you. Maybe the curse that has haunted Lei Town for hundreds of years can really end in your hands!" Chang said excitedly.
I wanted to continue asking, but at this moment, a shrill scream suddenly came from the ancestral hall, and the old mayor suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood and sprayed it on the human skin roll, and he himself couldn't hold up and fell to the ground.
The sacrificial weapon in his hand also rolled aside.
The sacrificial ceremony was interrupted, and the new mayor rushed in in panic. Lao Jiang and I followed closely behind. However, when we helped the old mayor up, we found that his body was extremely hot.
The blood flowed into the old mayor's neck through the mask, and the old mayor said angrily: "Help, help me back underground."
The rest of us didn't dare to delay, and Lao Jiang was the first to pick up the old mayor on his back, perform a superior light skill, and jump down to the ground without touching the ground.
After I put the human skin scroll and the priest in my pocket, I quickly chased after them.
The old mayor who returned to the dark space finally felt better, but after taking off his mask, we discovered that his entire face was disfigured.
Other residents quickly brought cold water and ice cubes to cool down the old mayor, saying that he had worked hard and comforting him that he would be fine.
The new mayor supported the old mayor and drank several cups of medicinal soup. After more than half an hour, the old mayor managed to squeeze out a sentence and said: "I have deciphered half of those memorials. Wait until tomorrow... I can crack it all tomorrow."
"Ah Ming, help, help me back to the house."
Seeing that the old mayor had only one breath left, Lao Jiang and I couldn't bear to urge the old mayor to tell us the results of the crack. We just wanted to let him recover first.
Lao Jiang said to me: "Listening to Li Shigua's tone, you are also the one selected by the deceased. When you have the opportunity in the future, you can learn from the old mayor, so that I will have a living translator in the future."
I asked what are the benefits of ginger?
Lao Jiang rolled his eyes and said, "In this case, can't you just walk sideways in Qilin? Let Ximei and the others see who's apprentice is the most powerful."
I thought about it, but then I cursed: "Your apprentice is really worth it."
My mother-in-law hadn’t seen me for a long time, so she took me back to the house and said she wanted to make steamed preserved fish for me.
The buildings underground are basically the same as those above ground. They are all flat-roofed houses. I am lighting a fire next to them, while my mother-in-law is cooking.
She asked me what my relationship was with Lao Jiang?
I said Lao Jiang is my master.
Aniang said that I have been naughty since I was a child, and I should learn from my master in the future and never cause trouble.
I smiled and said, "Don't worry! Not only am I a college graduate, I am also working in a mysterious department. All I do is for the country and the nation."
I chatted with my mother-in-law for a long time about our daily routine, and I couldn’t bear to sleep even late at night, because I left this time and I really didn’t know when I could come back.
Unexpectedly, there was a knock on the door early the next morning.
There were still cries outside. When I came out, I realized that something had happened to the old mayor!
