Chapter 59
Chapter 59
After leaving the shed where the corpses were kept, a heavy snow suddenly began to fall outside.
The dark clouds in the sky swirled into a dense mass, yet there was a hollow opening right in the center.
The lingering glow of the setting sun bled through that hole, looking uncannily like a bloodshot eye.
As if triggered by some sort of stimulus, the hooting of the surrounding owls grew louder and more frantic.
From the deep mountains in the distance, bursts of beastly roars also echoed out.
Chen Daji looked up at the sky and let out a gasp of awe:
“Holy crap, look at that giant eyeball! That’s actually terrifying!”
“Big Brother, did you know? Every one of us actually has a third eye.”
Hua Jiunan and the other two couldn’t help but stop in their tracks, looking at Chen Daji, who was currently striking the pose of a profound master.
Professor Ma sighed with deep emotion:
“That is indeed true. I have seen this recorded in many ancient texts.”
“Between everyone’s eyebrows, there is an eye, though it is hidden within the body.”
“It requires a special method of cultivation to activate; Daoism calls it the ‘Heavenly Eye’.”
As it turned out, Professor Ma had vastly overestimated this fellow.
Chen Daji merely showed an embarrassed expression.
“Hehe, old Professor, the eye I’m talking about isn’t the same as yours.”
“I’m talking about the asshole…”
“If we add the Heavenly Eye you mentioned, then everyone actually has four eyes…”
Upon hearing this, the three of them stumbled, nearly falling over.
Hua Jiunan turned his head to ask Chief Zhou:
“Uncle Zhou, did you hand over that Nine Orifices Jade yet?”
Professor Ma spoke up to answer:
“Jiunan, are you talking about the Jade Plug? It’s with me.”
“If you have a use for it, I’ll go back to my room and get it for you right now.”
Hua Jiunan shot a mischievous look at Chen Daji:
“No rush. I’m going to use it to plug Daji’s mouth in a bit!”
Chen Daji gave a sheepish laugh and ducked behind Chief Zhou:
“Don’t mess around, Big Brother! That thing is way too filthy!”
Professor Ma was moved to laughter by the two of them:
“It’s good to be young. It seems I should spend more time around young people from now on!”
With this bit of banter, the originally tense atmosphere eased up significantly.
Chen Daji possessed a unique kind of personal charm:
No matter the time or place, his presence always brought a lot of joy.
Of course, this personality of his also had “side effects.”
And that was being very easy to beat up…
The staff members patrolling the entrance of the ancient tomb immediately cleared the way when they saw Professor Ma bringing people over.
They even handed them two flashlights.
The group followed the excavated tunnel and walked inside.
Although electric lights were hung at intervals along the tunnel, it remained quite dim.
Chen Daji looked around everywhere and remarked with awe:
“Old Professor, you guys are amazing. You dug such a huge hole in just three days!”
“If my family’s workers were this efficient, my dad would be making a lot more money every year!”
Professor Ma shook his head with a wry smile:
“This tunnel already existed; it was just buried. We didn’t dig it.”
“If you step closer, you can see the drawings carved into the stone walls on both sides.”
Hua Jiunan switched on his flashlight to look, and sure enough, he saw a long series of murals.
The content of the drawings was normal at the beginning:
A group of people hunting and going about their daily lives, followed by scenes of warfare.
Toward the end, the drawings became macabre and eerie:
Soldiers were shown slaughtering a large group of prisoners of war, then severing their heads and placing them into black jars.
Several figures dressed in bizarre, flamboyant clothing danced around the jars in a strange ritual.
Their postures were things that no normal human being could possibly achieve.
Professor Ma spoke up:
“I’ve consulted a lot of data. What’s recorded on these stone walls is likely an ancient form of ritual.”
Hua Jiunan nodded, as he had also read some records regarding this in books.
Human Sacrifice!
One of the ten most terrifying customs in the world!
Ancient people believed that everything in the universe was controlled by gods.
Therefore, people performed rituals to honor the gods and pray for blessings.
Whenever they sacrificed to the gods, people would offer valuable items as tributes. In some places, they even used human lives as offerings to show their devotion.
In China, the practice of human sacrifice was very prevalent during the Shang Dynasty. Human and animal victims were used to sacrifice to ancestral spirits; humans and dogs were used for foundation rituals, and so on.
The number of people used and the cruelty of the methods were beyond modern imagination.
Of course, this was not unique to China; it was prevalent in many parts of the world in ancient times.
For instance, the Maya Culture and Aztec Culture were notorious for their killing rituals.
Some people view these two civilizations as the origin of this horrific custom.
It was believed that the ritualized death of the victim was a method to please the gods and soothe spirits.
The victims were selected from a range of people, from prisoners to infants to pure young maidens.
They suffered tragic fates: being burned, beheaded, or buried alive.