Nuo

After getting into the ditch, it quickly became pitch black. There were many narrow places where it was impossible to even turn around. Dorje shrank and walked inside. After a while, he felt that the air circulation suddenly became much smoother. He stretched out his hand to touch Touching, there is no rock above the head. It seems that it has passed through the wall and reached the stone room next door.

He lowered his breathing and listened quietly to the movements around him. It seemed that some light was shining down from above. He heard some inexplicable sounds, which were very soft and could not be distinguished. But as they gradually faded away, he knew in his heart that it was that person.

He stood up, held on to the ditch with one hand and rolled up, when he saw a glimmer of light disappearing from the stone path on the left. He didn't have time to take stock of his surroundings, so he chased after him.

The stone path was very winding, and he did not dare to get too close. He just hung the glimmer of light from a distance. Since the surrounding area was not very wide, Dorje was not paying attention and his sword suddenly scraped against the rock wall, making a slight sound but incompatible with the surroundings. There was a discordant rubbing sound, and the light in front stopped instantly.

Dorje's heart trembled, and he instinctively wanted to walk back, but then he thought about it and stayed where he was, holding his hand tightly on the handle of the knife. He is not afraid of conflict. At such a close range, he is sure to stop the opponent in an instant. On the contrary, once he dodges, it would be a pity if the opponent escapes.

The other party seemed to be listening too. Dorje didn't dare to take a breath. He stared at the stone road in front of him. The stalemate lasted for about ten seconds. The light hesitated and started to go away. Dorje breathed a sigh of relief and followed him again. Go up.

Going all the way down, Dorje was surprised to find that there was a cave inside, and the stone path was winding. The people in front finally stopped in a stone room.

The man suddenly stopped holding the fire folder. After a while, a fire lit up in front of him. Dorje looked carefully and found that it was a brazier on a stone pier.

The pillar was a grinning beast-headed human statue, holding a brazier with both hands. The man walked to the other side and lit the same brazier. Dorje seemed to see something in the firelight. He rubbed his eyes. As his pupils adapted to the darkness, he He covered his mouth in surprise. In the smoke rising from the brazier, a tall stone statue stood not far from the brazier. The huge stone statue had a strange image. Dorje could not describe it in words. He stood stunned for a long time before finally speaking. Recognize that thing.

It was actually a three to four-foot-tall black jade snake statue with a thousand hands. Each of the snake's palms contained an eye. The stone statue with a human head and a snake body wore a crown of thorns on its head, with its breasts exposed. It was grand and mysterious. Time made Dorje forget about the person he was following. When he looked at the person again, the person just took off a mask from the stone platform between the two braziers.

The man held the mask in both hands and slowly put it on his face. At that moment, Dorje's whole body was cold and his hair stood on end. An unprecedented fear occupied his whole body, although it was only for a moment, and It was a profile view, but he really recognized the owner of that face, who was my father.

Dorje had guessed that the person could be anyone in the camp, but he never thought it would be my father.

He was so shocked that he even forgot to ask questions.

My father put on his mask. It was a brown mask, as if it was made of old tree bark. After putting it on, my father actually danced on the ground with his bare feet.

Only then did Dorje notice that there were several totem poles surrounding my father's place, and the stone platform he was sitting on looked like the altar that Zhao Sanshui had mentioned.

I was very surprised when I heard this. It was hard to imagine how my father could do such a bizarre and strange behavior. However, Dorje's expression didn't look like he was lying. Moreover, he had no need to deceive me at this time. In my heart He moved and asked him if he still remembered the pattern on the mask.

This mysterious dance with masks reminds me of an old saying passed down from ancient times, "If you take off the mask, you are a human being; if you put on the mask, you are a god."

That is Nuo dance, which is also called ghost dance by the old people. Nowadays, people still dance it in southern Fujian. The dialect is commonly known as "Nong Da Hao". It is a witchcraft behavior related to primitive hunting and totem worship. Different masks represent different gods. Communication of ghost will.

What's disappointing is that Dorje was completely in shock at the time and didn't even bother to look at the patterns on the mask, and even more terrifying things were yet to come.

Just when Dorje was debating whether to go out and have a frank meeting, there was suddenly an inappropriate sound of footsteps behind him. Dorje, who was already surrounded by grass and trees, turned around and was about to reach out for the knife, but saw a Cao family clerk with an expression on his face. Standing behind him in stunned silence, he was obviously shocked by the sight in front of him.

Dorje felt nervous at that time. He was still leaning toward my father having his own intentions, and he hesitated whether to capture the man in front of him first, lest he ruin my father's plan by speaking out. Unexpectedly, the Cao family guy pointed to the altar not far away with a surprised look on his face. Dorje turned around in confusion, only to see that my father had stopped his Nuo dance and was standing in the middle of the altar with a mask on. She stared straight at him.

For just a moment, Dorje felt like something flashed before his eyes, followed by an irresistible feeling of dizziness. His eyelids became heavier and heavier, and his feet felt so soft that he seemed unable to stand any longer. His eyes went dark and he fell forward. Go down.

"Stop it!" I felt a little unbelievable, and asked him with a frown: "Are you saying that you fainted when my father glanced at you?"

Dorje knocked on his cigarette pole. He didn't like others interrupting his speech, but I thought this was very strange and couldn't help but ask, "You just passed out?"

He frowned, seeming to be lost in memories, and then said after a while: "After so many years, I have never figured this out. I didn't feel any blow at that time. In my state at the time, I don't know. I'm afraid no one can knock me unconscious without anyone noticing."

I tried to ask him: "Then what do you guess it will be?"

He hesitated and said, "Have you heard of Zhu Youshu?"

I nodded. Hypnosis in ancient China has a history of thousands of years. It originated from a branch of witchcraft. At that time, this branch was called Zhu Youzhi. I can understand why he thought of this. A man wearing a mask in front of a mysterious statue A Nuo dancer can make you faint just by looking at you. This incredible ability is hard not to make people suspicious.

Although I knew about Zhu Youshu, I believed that it was just a rumor. The real Zhu Youshu might just be some kind of guidance technique with a calming effect. I asked him if it could be caused by some kind of drug. Unexpectedly, he shook his head resolutely and told me that he would definitely not. He was sure that there was no one else around at the time. I saw that he was so determined and had no good ideas for a while, so I let him continue.

It was already the second day when Dorje woke up. He sat up suddenly in his tent. Zhao Sanshui noticed that he looked very bad and asked him what was wrong. Did he have a nightmare? Dorje hesitated again and again. Knowing how to say it, Zhao Sanshui heard him hesitantly talk about last night, and curiously asked what happened last night. It looked like he slept well.

Dorje asked him how he came back, did he remember?

When Zhao Sanshui was asked, Monk Zhang Er was not so smart as to ask him if he had fallen asleep. Dorje hesitated for a moment and did not speak again.

Just when Dorje himself was wondering if it was a dream last night, an unexpected thing made his hair stand on end.

The Cao family guy I met last night is dead.

He was the night watchman last night and died near the camp. Dorje was shocked and subconsciously clenched his sword tightly to silence him. He immediately recognized the fact in his heart, but he didn't know why my father didn't kill him.

Standing behind the crowd, Dorje heard bursts of exclamations from inside. Finally, he learned that there was a deep palm print on the man's neck, but judging from the angle, it turned out that he had pinched it himself, and it was... It was not the cause of his death. The man was drowned. What was terrible was that there was no trace of water on his body.

Everyone was silent. Dorje stood outside, staring at my father. He wanted to find a clue from my father's face, but he was disappointed. My father frowned at that time, and seemed to be the first to Encountered this situation for the first time.

The team continued on the road, but the atmosphere was very dull along the way. Everyone spoke in a low voice consciously. Dorje heard someone privately saying that it was water ghosts who killed people. Otherwise, why would living people be drowned in places without water? Every time Dorje hears such words, he will silently look at my dad. Although my dad behaves the same as before, Dorje always feels that there is something strange in the way he looks at him and in his eyes. He is sure it is not due to his own psychology. , my father must have done all this.

Having said this, Dorje looked at me deeply and asked, "Do you still believe in your father?"

I was left speechless by his question. At this time, Dorje showed his true feelings. If this was all an act, then it would be unreasonable for him not to win the statuette.

I wanted to defend myself, but I had nothing to say. I knew even less about my father than Dorje. Judging from the clues we traced, he always walked in front of us and looked at his face. Dorje looked complicated. For the first time, I had doubts about my father whom I had never met.

I thought of my father's letter to my second grandfather. It mentioned that some Cao family members would have bad luck in their later years, such as his grandfather. Did my father also have that kind of change?

Why did he spare no effort and even risk his life to find out the truth?

What truth is more important than your own life?

I took a deep breath, suppressed my random thoughts, and let Dorje continue to talk. If the matter had ended here, perhaps Dorje would not have been so convinced that it was my father who caused the trouble, but until they discovered another place, Only then did he start to really fear having sex with my dad.

The Cao family and my father had two completely different purposes for digging out this relic buried deep in the Shennongjia Mountains. Dorje knew exactly what the Cao family wanted. As soon as they left the stone path and arrived at another hall Finally, the Cao family finally found what they had dreamed of, and that was also the beginning of all nightmares.