[Folk Horror] Ten Days of Mourning

With your back to the door of the Temple of the Earth, you shield your friends from yourself.

"You... thought of... what...?" Her teeth were trembling, and she squeezed out a slight question.

If you are wrong, you will die.

If you die, will your parents, and her... be able to survive?

"Trust me," you say finally, "I won't let you die."

That's right, rightly or wrongly, you're not going to let her die.

The rustling and crawling sound suddenly stopped.

The smoke rising from the incense burner suddenly reversed direction!There is no wind, but it is no longer still, like a trembling flag in a strong wind, twisting wildly.In an instant, the flashlight was dimmed to the point where you could barely see your fingers, as if someone used it as a candle and lightly blew it out.

you feel...

Something is clinging to your back.

You didn't look back, you didn't hear a sound, you didn't see anything, but you knew He was right behind you.You can feel the cold touch on your back and smell the strong smell of blood. He is not only behind you, but also sliding gently. His head should be hanging next to your face, because you feel the cold breath , maybe as long as you turn your head slightly, you can see...

Also, if you have nothing behind you, why should your friends look at you like that?

Her face turned pale all of a sudden, her lips trembled, and she stared straight at you... no, she stared in the direction of your neck.

But she said, "I believe in you."

That thing is just sticking to you, without any other actions - because the sacrificial knife in your hand has already scratched the words on the tablet.

The blade pierced into the wood, and it didn't feel hard, it felt like it had pierced flesh, and then I tried my best to slash... Blood overflowed from under the knife.

You never knew that such a simple movement could be so difficult.But when you row down, proceed according to your ideas regardless, gradually your brain becomes blank, worry about failure, worry about death, these things have disappeared in your mind, and all your mind is only in your hands On the knife, engraved, scratched, kept going, continued, blood, and continued.

Could it be that there is nothing behind it?Suddenly thought so, because it was too quiet, but no, impossible, because you did hear it... At the last moment before the cold touch on your back disappeared, you heard it, like a cold and slippery snake letter burrowing into the Like the ear, right next to your ear, there is a "hissing" sound full of resentment and unwillingness.

The sound of a snake spitting a letter.

...and then, it was all over.

The air seemed to be clear again in an instant, the green smoke from the incense burner was still rising straight up, and the light from the flashlight was clear.And the friend lowered his voice, as if he was afraid that something hadn't gone far: "He... is gone..."

You can no longer feel the touch on your back, and you can no longer smell the blood.

When you turn your head, there is nothing behind you, only the night outside the gate of the Earth Temple.

The tablet in your hand is now engraved: the great ancestor of tallow, Kao Tiangong, tabooed the throne of Xilian, the king of Yuqu's mansion.

This is what you finally came up with.

From the first time you and your friends found the Yinshen Tablet, you noticed that the strangest part of the engraved words on it is the phrase “Successful Life”, which means invite ancestors to return to the world, which is completely different from the tablets enshrined in normal homes , the original tablet should be engraved with the Xilian tablet, which means wishing the ancestors to go to the pure world of the West as soon as possible.

As a filial daughter, one should invite the departed ancestors to reach bliss early and enjoy peace and peace. How can the deceased be asked to stay in the world forever and continue to work hard?

Only you, your grandfather, your great-grandfather, these "descendants of the Yin God" can change this tablet, but ordinary lettering should not change anything, because this dark spiritual tablet is in the ceremony of inviting the Yin God , engraved under the witness of the Yin God, has a certain mystical power effect.You don't know what the lifting ceremony is, but you have thought of it. By killing the evil snake, according to Qian Lao's notes, you have obtained a short-term ritual status equal to the Yin God, that is to say, the changes to the spirit position at this time, It will have the same level of power, right?

Is it really over...?

Has the Yin God been driven to another world?

You are still in a trance, unbelievable, the memory of the past period of time kept spinning in your mind, until a tingling pain on your finger brought your will back, you shouted, and noticed the weird hollow wound on the pad of your finger, Finally started bleeding like normal.

The feeling of exhaustion surged up in an instant, like a tide flooding your body, and you collapsed on the ground, only to realize that your hands were sweaty, and you could hardly hold a knife, and there was a dense layer of white sweat on your back, but more What is reassuring, even grateful.

You smiled weakly at your friend: "He's gone... What time is it now? Are you okay? What's wrong with your body?"

"It's just a little pain in the chest, are you alright?" Your friend and you helped each other stand up, and packed up the things on the ground, "It's past twelve o'clock—the seventh day is over."

"Well, it's all... over," you say.

You supported each other and slowly walked out of the Earth Temple.The night is quiet, the stars are blinking in the sky, and the cicadas and frogs in early summer are shouting together, you can no longer feel a trace of misery, only feel that there is fresh and wild fun everywhere.You see the roofs of farmhouses dotted in the distant place, and the moon sinks sharply and curvedly in the sky, casting light like water all over the ground.You just realize that the night is not so dead, not so dark, you turn your head and see your friend's sweaty face, a few strands of her hair sticking to her cheek, her hand holding your arm, you can almost feel it The beating of her pulse, every breath seems to capture her warm body temperature - alive, this is the proof of being alive.

She is still alive.

You are also alive.

You finally have some sense that it's all over.You couldn't help but let out a long sigh and let all the fear out of your body. Now you are relaxed and relieved, there is nothing to be afraid of, and even the tangle in your brain is slowly sorted out.You can't help laughing.Your friend looks at you with some doubts: "What are you laughing at..."

Even so, she was also smiling, which made her look embarrassed, but also beautiful.

You think, how did you struggle with it for so long?

She said, she will accompany you to the end; she said, with you, death does not matter; she said, I am so happy; she said, I will not hurt her; she said, I believe you——

You think: How can you feel that she doesn't like you?

So you open your mouth and let the moon and the stars bear witness for you, and you say, "I've loved you for a long time."