Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Jiang He heard someone softly sobbing. When she turned around, she realized the one crying was the female ghost who had just washed her face, known as Song Xiangmei, as mentioned by the High Taoist. At that moment, Song Xiangmei had removed the white powder from her face, revealing her original complexion, which now bore a hint of color.
Song Xiangmei had finally regained some color. Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be around thirty years old. According to current beauty standards, Jiang He thought Song Xiangmei could be considered a beautiful woman.
With large eyes and long eyelashes, her face was striking.
One of Song Xiangmei's hands covered her mouth as she struggled to suppress any sound. Tears streamed down her face in quiet cascades.
It was Song Xiangmei who was crying after hearing the High Taoist's story.
Suddenly, Jiang He understood. She looked at Song Xiangmei and asked, "Were you one of those girls?"
Song Xiangmei could barely speak through her tears but nodded in response.
The High Taoist approached Song Xiangmei and gently embraced her. He then turned to Jiang He and said, "That story happened ten years ago. The girl's name was He Caiwei, and my surname is not Gao; I am He Caiqie. Ten years ago, two girls were abducted—one was my younger sister He Caiwei, and the other was my sister's close friend, Song Xiangmei."
"That's her," Jiang He said, glancing at Song Xiangmei.
He Caiqie patted Song Xiangmei's shoulder and continued to Jiang He, "Yes, that's right. It was supposed to be a wonderful summer vacation. But then my sister never returned home. Our families searched for a long time but found no trace of either girl."
"Eventually, both families reported it to the police, but there were no leads. The police interviewed several onlookers who had witnessed the incident; those crowds didn’t even realize it was a case of abduction in broad daylight. They even insulted my sister, calling her an unfilial granddaughter."
"In reality? After my grandfather learned about this, he became so enraged that he ended up hospitalized and passed away shortly after. My sister was the jewel of our family; my mother couldn't accept that my sister had been abducted and fell into madness. She has been in a psychiatric hospital ever since."
"My father and I never gave up searching for my sister. We scoured every corner nearby and traveled from village to village for years without finding any clues. We exhausted all our savings in just five short years—more places than I had visited in over twenty years combined."
Jiang He listened intently to He Caiqie's account as he continued, "Until five years ago when you arrived at Desolate Village and found Song Xiangmei?"
Upon hearing Jiang He's words, He Caiqie's eyes reddened as he fought back tears. "Yes, it was a very fortuitous opportunity. Five years ago, my father gave up searching for my sister. Our family's savings were depleted, and my mother needed care as well. You can imagine how helpless that felt—have you ever seen a grown man age like that in just five years? His back hunched over, hair turning gray; he looked like he had aged twenty years."
"I can never forgive those human traffickers, and I also cannot forgive those who buy wives from them." He Caiqie's eyes were filled with ferocity. "Over the past five years, I have traveled to many villages like Desolate Village. At first, we encountered numerous obstacles. You see, they would never allow an outsider to know that the brides in their village were bought."
"We didn't have a single clue," He Caiqie said with a bitter smile. "But later, I finally understood. Sometimes, dealing with ignorant people requires a bit of feudal superstition. If you speak scientifically, they will look at you as if you are a fool. But if you lower your intelligence to their level, everything becomes much easier."
Jiang He understood what He Caiqie meant. "I get it now. So you pretended to be a wandering Taoist priest. In each village, you used this guise to conceal your true identity while actually searching for your sister, right?"
"Exactly!" At this moment, He Caiqie slung his Cosmic Bag over his shoulder. He patted the bag, which was bulging with unknown contents.
He Caiqie helped Song Xiangmei sit on the bed and said, "By using this identity, I could quickly learn what had happened in the village and blend in with those ignorant villagers. I had never realized how foolish and despicable people could be. In every village I visited, I would use puppets to impersonate female ghosts and falsely claim that I was there to exorcise them. Not a single villager doubted me."
"Once I discovered that my sister wasn't in a village, I would leave and continue my search for the next one. It was five years ago when I arrived at Desolate Village; that's when everything began. This village was extremely resistant to outsiders' arrival, as if it harbored some significant secret. This was something I had never encountered in my five years of searching; it was the most mysterious mountain village I had come across."
"My five years of searching have made me very familiar with such villages. In isolated villages deep in the mountains where there are no other nearby villages, no woman would willingly marry into such a place. Even if there were women in the village, they would surely leave. The only way for the bachelors in the village to marry is by purchasing brides from traffickers. However, this village is incredibly insular; if I wanted to integrate with these villagers, I needed to stay here longer."
He Caiqie shook his head. "I have been here for four years now—longer than my time spent in all other villages combined. Sometimes, I even lose track of why I've stayed here for so long; perhaps it's because of that dream of mine."
"Somehow, I felt that staying here would lead me to some clues. Until a year ago, when I discovered Xiangmei. Over those four years, I occasionally helped villagers with their ailments; as a medical student, it was quite simple since most ailments can heal on their own. I used superstitious beliefs to tell them that it was the Daoist Arts manifesting, and they believed me wholeheartedly."
"During those four years, I explored the entire village. I saw deep pits filled with bones; I saw the mass grave in the cornfield. I learned everything about the surrounding area and uncovered most of the village's secrets. However, this village was poorer and more wicked than others; they kept their women locked away so tightly that I couldn't catch even a glimpse of them."
Jiang He glanced at Song Xiangmei, who was resting peacefully against He Caiqie's shoulder.
Jiang He asked, "So how did you meet her? Since they keep them locked up so securely, how did you manage to rescue her?"
He Caiqie shook his head. "To be precise, it wasn't me who rescued her; it was me who discovered her. It was half a year ago on a night when I was investigating the mass grave in the cornfield. I knew that villagers had formal cemeteries; they wouldn't bury their own people in a mass grave. Instead, they would push tourists into deep pits to be devoured by evil dogs; thus, the bodies buried there couldn't belong to tourists either. The question arose: whose bones were in that mass grave?"
"That night, it suddenly dawned on me: this mass grave was meant for burying dead women and baby girls born to those women. To the villagers, women were their most valuable possessions—like televisions—they certainly didn't want them broken."
"However, some women might have died during childbirth or committed suicide; their bodies were simply discarded here. And it was then that Song Xiangmei and He Caiwei managed to escape. But at that time, I had no idea; if given another chance when I heard that movement, I would definitely choose to rush over instead of hiding in the cornfield."
"As I was looking at the inscriptions on the tombstones, I suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the Cornfield. The noise was loud, as if some beast was about to burst out from the Cornfield. I didn't know what it was, so I hid in the other side of the Cornfield, hoping to see what was happening under the cover of night."
"Just as I had hidden myself, I heard footsteps coming from the Mass Grave, followed by the shouts and curses of the villagers. I vaguely understood what was happening; it seemed that two women had escaped while the guards were distracted, and the villagers were out to catch them."
Jiang He said, "Those two are He Caiwei and Song Xiangmei."
At that moment, He Caiqie was already in tears. He said, "That's right, it's my sister and Xiangmei. I was hiding in the Cornfield at that time; it was too dark, and since I was crouching down, I couldn't see what was happening outside at all. I didn't even know that it was my sister, whom I had been searching for nearly ten years. If I could do it again, I would definitely choose to rush out."
"The footsteps grew closer and closer. After thinking for a long time, I understood that these two girls must have been abducted as well. But if I went out, the villagers would surely not spare me either. After hesitating for a long time, I still didn't go out; I just hid in the Cornfield, a complete coward."
"Is Xinyue He Caiwei?" Jiang He felt everything was coming together. "So when the villagers called out for the woman’s name, you didn’t realize it was actually your sister!"
He Caiqie held back his sorrow and nodded. "That's right; Xinyue is the name those villagers gave my sister. They had no idea about Caiwei's story."
"What happened next?" Jiang He asked again.
"Well, let Xiangmei tell you," He Caiqie said, unable to continue.
Comment 0 Comment Count