adminThe eyes of the mummified corpse had completely shriveled, leaving only two hollow black sockets. Its mouth was incredulously wide open, revealing broken teeth. The entire face had deformed due to dehydration, presenting a rather grotesque expression that made it hard to look at directly. From its teeth, it was evident that this mummified body was not a monkey, but a genuine human!
Old Yang was momentarily taken aback and said, “What’s going on? Old Wu, didn’t you just say it was a monkey? This… this… is clearly a person!”
I stammered, “I… I don’t know either. Just now, when I broke that mask, I really did see a monkey, a big yellow-haired one. This… this… has really confused me.” As I spoke, I tried to lean closer to see if it was just a trick of the light that had misled me.
Suddenly, Master Liang waved his hand, signaling me not to touch the corpse. He carefully stood up straight and turned the mask he was holding over. I noticed that behind the mask, in the mouth area, there was a fist-sized spiral protrusion resembling a snail shell, with a small hole on top. Master Liang held the mask up to his face and said to us, “It seems this mask has to be worn with the mouth open.”
Old Yang asked in surprise, “With the mouth open? Wouldn’t that feel like having a respirator stuffed in your mouth? How uncomfortable!”
Seeing the mummified corpse with its mouth wide open, I said to Master Liang, “Could it be that there’s something peculiar inside this snail shell? Why don’t you break it open and take a look? These masks must have grown into the flesh of these monkeys, covering their mouths and eyes. They must have some other way to eat and see.”
Master Liang inserted his pen into the hole and pried it open with force. The “snail shell” shattered, revealing something inside that resembled a segment of a crab’s leg. Master Liang pulled it out and discovered it was a worm he had never seen before, now fossilized. If he applied even a little pressure, it would break into several pieces.
“It seems this mask wasn’t willingly worn,” Master Liang said with a frown. “However, this thing is indeed man-made. Look at the patterns inside the mask; they are quite similar to the double-bodied snake on the tree, which must be related to the person who cast this copper tree.”
Old Yang took the mask and examined it with great interest for a long time, saying, “This worm should be an ancient species from the Western Zhou period; it might even be extinct now, which is why we don’t recognize it. Hey, look, this worm seems to be only half of it.”
After saying this, he looked at us and asked, “Where did the other half go?”
This worm was curled up in the protruding cavity of the mask’s mouth. Based on this, there was only one place where the other half of the worm could be. I realized this and instinctively looked into the mouth of the mummified corpse. Sure enough, in the dark cavern of its mouth, I saw another half of the worm attached to the position of the tongue, with the dried worm body extending into the corpse’s throat, seemingly entering some organ. Because the shriveled muscles of the corpse resembled the fossilized worm body, one might mistakenly think that the worm was a dried tongue if not examined closely.
Seeing this scene, Liang Shiye’s expression changed, and he shouted, “Quick, throw it away! Oh my God, throw it away! That mask might be alive!” After saying this, he slapped his hand down, knocking the mask out of Lao Yang’s hand. The mask fell rapidly into the darkness, crashing against a branch with a loud “bang,” shattering into pieces.
Lao Yang was startled by him and nearly lost his balance and fell, hurriedly asking what was wrong with him and what he meant by the mask being alive.
Liang Shiye coughed, looking quite regretful, scratching his head and furrowing his brows as he said, “I truly feel ashamed; how could I be so foolish? I should have thought of this earlier. This… copper tree, this sacrificial method, is clearly not something of our Han people. Sigh, I really am an idiot, utterly foolish!”
“What the hell are you babbling about?” Lao Yang snapped, “What idiot? What does that have to do with the mask? Can you just say what you mean?”
Liang Shiye waved his hand and said, “No, please be patient and listen to me. I have to start from the beginning, but how should I put it? It needs to begin with what we just talked about regarding blood sacrifices…”
It turns out that the practice of blood sacrifice was primarily used in the sacrificial activities of ethnic minorities during the Western Zhou period. Of course, the minorities back then were completely different from those we have today; most of those ethnic groups have either disappeared or merged into the Han ethnicity. Large-scale blood sacrifices are not recorded in the official history of the Han, but some sporadic findings have been discovered in minority sites. Unfortunately, due to the loss of language and writing, there are no more detailed records.
The sacred sites of these ethnic minorities are very holy, not only guarded by people but also protected by priests who use some kind of supernatural technique to keep their gods undisturbed. In the legends of these minorities, the process of casting spells is very mysterious, and this kind of supernatural technique has evolved into what is now depicted in novels as all-powerful sorcery.
Liang Shiye continued, explaining that sorcery had split during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, and again during the Song Dynasty. The sorcery before the Qin Dynasty was incredibly powerful, almost akin to modern superpowers, but all sorcery originated from insects, and it was called “Mǐnchóng Shù” back then. Those monkeys wearing masks and the mummified corpses, with their mysterious and inexplicable nature, might be products of this ancient sorcery.
He had once heard of a type of sorcery called “Chí Gǔ,” which could make a person very aggressive. The kind of bug hidden in the hollow space behind the mask, deep in the throat, might be the ancient form of Chí Gǔ. This bug could potentially affect the nervous systems of animals or humans, attacking unfamiliar outsiders. Therefore, when I smashed their masks, that monkey reverted to its true nature and instinctively began to distance itself from us.
Chí Gǔ can reproduce within its host, and when the host dies, they attach themselves to a certain place, such as the hollow of this mask, waiting for the next host to come near, then parasitically transferring in some manner.
This mummified corpse might well be that of a hunter who was hunting here at the time, unfortunate enough to encounter a dormant Chí Gǔ, resulting in being harmed by this ancient dark magic.
Of course, there are no records of such things, and it’s hard to know if they are real. However, it is an undeniable fact that there are insects hidden within the masks, deeply lodged in the throat. This is definitely not a trivial matter, and one must be cautious and prepared.
Hearing what Master Liang said, I got goosebumps. In fact, before coming here, the old man had mentioned similar things in the materials he gave me, but I had only skimmed through them, thinking it was just like a plot from an American movie. I never expected it to be true. Who would have thought that American sci-fi films would borrow from the techniques of our ancestors? I really don’t know whether to feel proud or ashamed.
Turning my head, I saw the eerie dry corpse still hanging there motionless, its pale mask appearing to smile mockingly, as if waiting for us to approach.
Old Yang’s face looked a bit pale, and he hesitated, asking Master Liang, “What you said is too terrifying. If this Chigu is attached, can we just pull it off immediately? There shouldn’t be any hidden dangers, right?”
Master Liang replied, “I’ve never encountered it either, but Chigu is very difficult to resolve. If it gets attached, there’s no way to simply pull it off. In situations like this, we should prioritize prevention. Let’s try to avoid getting too close to these dry corpses. Uncle Tai also fell down from here; someone like him, an old hand in the game, probably wouldn’t just slip. We need to be careful.”
Old Yang frowned, wanting to say something but hesitating. I asked him how much longer we would have to climb like this. If the branches above were so dense, we would probably die of exhaustion before reaching the top. Old Yang told me that it would become sparser above. When he was climbing, he only had a small flashlight, so the lighting was poor, and he didn’t notice these dry corpses. No monkeys attacked him, so he didn’t know where he had climbed to. But anyway, since ancient times, Mount Huashan has been a single pillar; as long as you climb up, you won’t end up anywhere else.
Feeling that this place was not suitable for lingering, I suggested that we move past this section first. There was also a fat boss with Master Liang; he was likely above us. If he reached the top first, it would be troublesome. If he ambushed us, the three of us might die without knowing why.
Old Yang said, “That makes sense. Wait a moment, I’ll fire a flare to see if there are any ambushes above.” Saying this, he took out a signal gun and shot straight up.
The signal flare flew to the top but didn’t hit anything. I felt a jolt in my heart; this type of flare can reach at least over 200 meters high. Could it be that we still had over 200 meters to climb? If so, that would be deadly.
The signal flare ignited, and looking up, I saw that not far above, the branches became sparser again. I couldn’t understand why it was designed this way. From below, the 200-meter range was not impossible to see; I could still make out some things, though I couldn’t tell what they were.
As the flare fell back down, Old Yang watched it for a while and said, “It seems that the fat boss from Guangdong is not lying in ambush up there. Maybe it’s just Uncle Tai who made it in here alive. After all, that coffin formation outside is not that easy… Hey, what are those things?”
When the signal flare landed about sixty meters away from us, we saw that on that section of the bronze trunk, there were quite a few protruding objects. Upon closer inspection, I felt a chill run down my spine and cold sweat break out all over my body. On that entire stretch of nearly ten meters, the bronze trunk was covered with one face after another, no! It should be said that they were those eerie masks.
