Chapter 457: Close Before Your Eyes

Among the crowd, Lu Shan sat in the soul sedan chair with the double-faced jade Buddha statue in his arms. The curtain of the sedan chair was lowered so that no one could see the scene inside.

The sound of the suona sounded again, and the music team walked at the front of the team. The soul sedan was lifted up. The half-red and half-white sedan was carried along the dirt road of the village by four male villagers.

The procession to welcome the gods started to move. Villagers wearing paper masks performed exaggerated dances and crowded behind the soul sedan. They were dressed in red and green, waving their sleeves and robes, and throwing their decorations at the old houses on both sides. .

We three outsiders were also in the team. The crowd was so crowded that we had no chance to escape. We mixed among them and headed towards the next destination.

"How many steps does their welcoming ceremony consist of? We have been struggling for most of the night." Feng Minglong complained softly.

"We can only wait now. Didn't the people in the village say that they will take us away after the ceremony to welcome the gods? Just wait with peace of mind." Having missed the best opportunity to escape and being at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, Master Wang has given up resistance. .

Among the three of them, I was the only one who said nothing. My eyes kept scanning among the villagers. I secretly wrote down the physical characteristics of each person. Although everyone wore paper masks and could not see their faces, the physical condition could also be seen in the villagers. Give me what I want to a certain extent.

I compared the memory of police officer Lao Wei in my mind. The policeman who was about to retire was thin and not tall. There were few that matched his appearance.

"Old Wei is missing. According to my speculation, he should have come to the world of yin and yang. He is most likely hanging out in the village." I thought silently and alone: ​​"Before the live broadcast started, his voice on the phone only told me to Go rescue him, it’s obvious that his situation is not optimistic, he should be imprisoned somewhere.”

If he is a villager, it does not meet his status as a rescuer. This is the most critical point.

"Old Wei has always emphasized that he is in the well. It seems that I need to go to the dry well outside the village to take a look." If Old Wei is really imprisoned somewhere in the village, then I can't do anything to save him even if I want to. In this damn place, the villagers had an absolute numerical advantage.

The procession to welcome the gods crossed the village and slowly moved forward along the north-south dirt road. As we walked, I suddenly shuddered and turned around to look. I didn’t know when there was an old man wearing a paper mask behind me.

"He was following me originally?"

I observe the surrounding environment very carefully. Being in a dangerous environment, I naturally will not take it lightly, so I always pay attention to everything.

"We three outsiders were squeezed into the back of the queue. This place was originally filled with women and children. How come there was an old man suddenly there? There didn't seem to be any old people in the team, right?"

I remember it very clearly, and I looked at the old man a few more times with doubts in my mind.

He also wore a paper mask, but the mask was worn and yellowed and had some wrinkles, making the baby face on it look particularly weird with a smile.

"I always feel like something is wrong." I secretly informed Master Wang and Feng Minglong, asking them to be careful, speed up their pace, and keep their distance from this old man who seemed to appear suddenly.

The ceremony to welcome the gods was still going on. The noisy music team and the four people carrying the soul sedan walked to the end of the village, and then walked around the village. Then something strange happened.

Originally, there were two rows of white wax dotted on both sides of the dirt road in the village, and the firelight flickered. Although it looked a bit scary, there was still some light at least.

As a result, now, after the welcoming procession passes by, the white wax on both sides automatically extinguishes, as if someone is controlling it.

"The candles went out and something seemed to come out of the house."

Master Wang said to me in a low voice. I shook my head and didn’t say much. Instead, Feng Minglong, who was walking at the back, had a trembling voice and quietly grabbed Master Wang’s and mine sleeves: “Have you ever felt that the procession to welcome the gods seems to have changed? A little longer? Are there so many people behind us?"

Being reminded by Feng Minglong, Master Wang and I both turned around and saw that our three outsiders, who were originally in the middle and rear of the team, had now become the front of the team.

"The speed of the Yingshen team has not changed, and the three of us have not accelerated. Shouldn't this happen?" Feng Minglong looked at the team behind him. No one knew what kind of face was hidden under the paper masks.

"The length of the team in front of us has not changed. It seems that many more people have joined in during the ceremony." Master Wang secretly turned his head to look at the swaying figure behind him. More and more people were following inexplicably.

The white wax behind them kept extinguishing, and the darkness affected their vision, so the two of them did not see the truth.

And with my critical eye, cold sweat had already wet my back. My eyes penetrated the darkness and I could clearly see that these extra people were coming out of the houses on both sides. At the threshold, he walked out of a dilapidated house with only a few pieces of furniture.

I had already seen many houses when I entered the village. The interior space was not large, and no trace of living people was found inside except coffins. But now "people" wearing paper masks walked out of the house one by one. Where were they hiding before? The answer is self-evident.

They are probably the dead Lu clan members lying in the coffin!

This question had a clear answer when the team passing by the stone building where Lu Shan lived for the second time. I particularly noticed that a stooped old lady walked out of the door shakily. She was short in stature and wearing a worn-out paper mask that seemed to have been pressed at the bottom of a box for several years.

Although I can't see this old lady's face, judging from her body shape, I'm 90% sure that she is the grandmother Lu Shan mentioned.

"The dead come back to life..." Although I had been mentally prepared for a long time, I still felt great fear at this moment. The queue to greet the gods had grown several times longer. The number of dead people in this village far exceeded the living people. .

"Just now in the Lushi Ancestral Hall, I clearly saw that the moment the white jade Buddha statue was pressed on the altar table, all the tablets trembled to varying degrees, allowing the deceased to move freely for a short period of time. Could this be the function of the good and evil relics?" I somewhat understand why the people of the Lu clan believe in the Double-faced Buddha. This method of reaching heaven is really surprising.

But then I thought about it, this is not the Yang Realm, but the weird Yin and Yang Realm. It belongs to the dark side of the Yang Realm. It is not surprising that there will be all kinds of supernatural phenomena that cannot be seen in the Yang Realm.

In front of the procession, gongs and drums were playing, songs and dances were heard, the soul sedan jolted and swayed, and the long white silk ribbon on top of the bright red sedan body floated in the air. The middle of the procession seemed much deserted, with only some village women and children occasionally swaying in time with the noise. Body. And further back, there was deathly silence, the white wax on the roadside had also been extinguished, and countless figures moved in the darkness.

It was too boring, too depressing, and the three of us outsiders dared not say a word. Things were developing in a direction that no one could predict, and the fate of the three of us was no longer under our control.

When the welcoming team appeared at the village entrance for the second time, there was no light in the dilapidated village.

And just when the welcoming team was about to leave the village, the sound of the suona suddenly stopped, and then the sound of gongs and drums gradually weakened. The noisy crowd seemed to be strangled by invisible hands, and the entire team became quiet. .

"Is the greeting to the gods about to end?" I was still some distance away from the head of the team and couldn't see anything through the crowd.

"I don't know. It must have been an accident."

Not long after, several screams and curses came from the front of the procession to welcome the gods. The sedan that had been raised high was lowered. The top of the sedan could not be seen, and only a fluttering white silk could be seen.

"What's going on?" I was worried that I couldn't find a way to escape. At this time, the team welcoming the gods was in turmoil. I was overjoyed. After determining the location of the wellhead, I quietly moved in the team.

"Mr. Lu, where are you going?"

"Shut up, don't talk." No villager noticed my unusual behavior. Seeing that I was getting closer and closer to the deep well, I couldn't hold back the joy in my heart and quickened my pace.

"Bang!"

Just when I was about to walk out of the procession to welcome the gods, a local man covered in blood took a few steps back and fell right in front of me.