Eerie guillotine
The further they went into the town, the wider the road became. After walking for about 800 meters, they arrived at a very large crossroads. There was a plaza about 100 square meters with people setting up shelves in it.
"At the beginning of the 74th, the local residents would gather here to offer sacrifices to their ancestors." The tour guide explained, "Usually, this venue is used for performing, but during those two days, the locals have to use it for themselves."
"Are they putting on airs to sacrifice their dead?" one of the tourists asked.
"Yes, and no." The tour guide smiled mysteriously. "I heard that there was a contact point for the Eighth Route Army here. In order to force the people to reveal the location of the Eighth Route Army, little Japan, in order to make sure that the people knew where they were hiding, came here — —" The tour guide gestured to the square with his mouth, "They built a guillotine and killed one person every three days."
"And then?" "Did the locals say that in the end?"
"Don't worry." The guide continued, "It was said that the son of the patriarch, in order to cover the withdrawal of the real Eighth Route Army, ran to the Japanese and claimed to be Eighth Route — and was beheaded by Little Japan!"
"But, what does this have to do with the 74th offering?" Someone asked in confusion.
"Heh heh." The tour guide smiled weirdly, "That chief's son died on the seventh day, and his number seven is at the fourteenth day."
"Oh, so that's why I'm paying my respects to him."
"Yes, and no." The guide answered again, "On the night of the head of the family, at 12 o'clock, the Japanese executioner died for no apparent reason. I heard that he died as if he had been beheaded."
"Really?" When everyone heard the tour guide's words, they all sucked in a breath of cold air. "And then?"
"From then on, as long as it was 12 o'clock at night and it was 2 o'clock in the morning, people would always hear the screams of Little Japan. Everyone said that the son of the clan leader came out with a spirit of grievance that had been hacked to death by Little Japan!"
"Yes, yes." Everyone listened with relish, nodding their heads, "But what does this have to do with the current sacrifice?"
"You don't know about that!" A small old man who was listening to the tour guide interjected, "At first, little Japan thought it was the Eighth Route Army playing tricks, but as more and more people died, they left."
"Isn't that good?"
"What's good?" The old man continued, "It is said that when Little Japan dug up the chief's son's grave, they left it somewhere. From then on, the chief's son's ghost became a homeless ghost!"
"Hai, this little Japan is too hateful!"
"Exactly!" Everyone cursed at the same time, "Not only are we killing the living, we won't let the ghosts live peacefully even in death!"
The tour guide cleared his throat at the side, and then the old man said, "When this person dies, he forgets his roots. The guide cleared his throat at the side, and then the old man said," When he died, he forgets his roots.
"So today, are we going to give the Patriarch's son a substitute?" Yi Lu asked. It turned out that Yi Lu had noticed that the local people had put a fake fake person under the shelf.
Everyone turned their heads to look, only to realize that the shelf was actually a guillotine.
"Yes." The little old man looked at Yi Lu with a grin. "Little girl, don't come out at night and watch the show. Be careful not to attract the attention of Boss Ghost and stay here."
"What did you say?" Lu Xiang, who had been silent on the side, became anxious when he heard this.
"Aiya, I was just joking. Don't be so stingy!" Yi Lu saw that Lu Xiang was angry and pulled his hand with a smile.
"What bad luck!" Lu Xiang whispered, "Let's go take a look over there."
Originally, Lu Xiang wasn't such a petty person. However, for some reason, from the moment he saw the guillotine, his temples had been throbbing and his heart was faintly uneasy.
"Let's go, let's go take a look at that guillotine. It looks very lifelike …" Yi Lu pulled Lu Xiang's hand and walked towards the square.
At this moment, everyone walked to the guillotine.
The scaffold was about two or three meters high and five square meters in area. In the center of the platform was a wooden stake, and beside the stake was a dummy on his knees. The dummy wore a long silk jacket of the finest quality, and a few words were written on it in traditional Chinese characters.
"8th of January." "It's my birthday! Lu Xiang, look — what's wrong with you, Lu Xiang!? "
Yi Lu was originally about to speak to Lu Xiang, but when she turned around, she found that Lu Xiang's face was pale as he stared at the guillotine. There was unspeakable fear in his eyes, as if he had just seen something terrifying.
"Lu Xiang, don't scare me!" Yi Lu panicked. He used all his strength to shake Lu Xiang and loudly shouted: "Lu Xiang!"
At this time, Lu Xiang suddenly seemed to wake up from his stupor. He turned his head around and stared at Yi Lu, before forcefully hugging her tightly.
"Lu Xiang, what happened to you?" Although it was a little painful to be hugged, Yi Lu still let Lu Xiang hug her quietly, "Can you not scare me?"
"Nothing." Lu Xiang buried his head in Yi Lu's hair, his voice trembling, "As long as you're okay!"
"Me? "How could something have happened to me …"
Lu Xiang raised his head and forced out a smile. He stretched his hand and ruffled Yi Lu's hair, "I was playing with you!"
"Good, you dare to lie to me?" Yi Lu heaved a sigh of relief and stretched out her hand to hit Lu Xiang, "You lied to me!"
How could he dare to tell Yi Lu that he had just seen her being dragged to the guillotine by a group of people and beheaded!
The group of tourists left the square, talking and laughing, towards the ancestral hall. Just as they left, a shadow appeared at the place where Lu Xiang and Yi Lu were standing. A gust of wind suddenly rose up from the guillotine. The wind was fierce and it came and went as quickly as it had arrived. After the wind blew, there were a few pale pink halos on and around the stake. They were like roses that had withered before it was too late, sighing in silence.
Under the tour guide, the group walked around several scenic spots in the ancient city. Everyone was very interested in the place of worship in the ancestral hall, because according to the guardian, the chief's son's place was not among it.
"Why not?" Everyone thought for a long time, but still couldn't come up with an answer.
"Only the clan leader knew the specific reason." The old man who looked after the ancestral hall said, "But it was said that they did not set the tablet because they were afraid that the Japanese would implicate their people. After that, the Japanese left, but there were also many deaths in the town. It was said that the chief's son had come to find a substitute to take his life. "
"Therefore, the clan leader was afraid that if his son's memorial tablet was set up behind the ancestral hall and brought evil reports to his descendants, his son's name would be removed from the family tree. Naturally, there would be no memorial tablets for him in the ancestral hall." It was unknown when the little old man who was interrupted by the scaffold in the plaza walked into the ancestral hall and became involved with the group. At this time, he interrupted again.
"Oh, I see." Everyone came to a realization, but they could not help but sigh. The son of the clan leader had voluntarily sacrificed himself to protect the Eighth Route Army, but he himself had been despised by his own father. Not only had his corpse been dug out by Japanese devils after his death, he did not even have a memorial tablet that he should have enjoyed. This way, he would not only be unable to enjoy the worship of his descendants after his death, but would also be forced to become a ghost due to his nameless nature.
"What a pity." Yi Lu wiped her eyes, tears glimmering in her eyes, "If ghosts really do exist in this world, then the son of the family head should be a hero, but he was treated unfairly."
"Hehe, little miss is right." The old man laughed, "It's precisely because of this that Ghost Boss is still unwilling to leave!"
"Then how will Boss Ghost rest in peace?" Yi Lu asked urgently.
"Heh heh." The old man laughed again, his laughter sounded very strange, "Ghost boss wants to find a real substitute and take his life, only then will he be willing to leave! "Little girl, you look really pretty. The ghost likes people like you the most, so don't come out tonight!"
"Haha …" When everyone heard this, they all burst out laughing. Only Lu Xiang's face turned pale and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"What's the matter with you?" Yi Lu turned around with a smile and noticed Lu Xiang's abnormality. She asked in concern, "Is there any discomfort?"
"Nope." Lu Xiang shook his head. He looked at the real, living Yi Lu in front of him and rubbed the space between his brows. He felt as if he was about to collapse from the illusion and worry, "I just wandered around for a long time, I'm a little hungry."
"Alright, alright." Yi Lu said, "Then I'll go ask the tour guide when he is free. Let's go eat something. I just passed the square and saw a 24-hour supermarket nearby. Let's go buy some food. "