"I furrowed my eyebrows, without uttering a word."
The man sighed deeply before saying, "Villagers cannot leave the village, spending their entire lives in a tiny place. It's quite good for the elderly, who have no worries about food and drink. However, the younger generation is not satisfied. They make money but always dream of living in the city. They believe that if it hadn't been for that geomancer who insisted on building a village shaped like a ox hoof, they would never have been trapped here."
"Even if they are poorer and harder, at least people are free. They can still find ways to make money. The world is vast and boundless; they can go anywhere."
"As they thought about it, their resentment grew stronger, and evil thoughts emerged from their minds. They even kidnapped the child of the geomancer and beat, insulted, and molested him every day. Even the woman who helped the child was raped by others."
"Can you explain what this is called, the so-called reason?"
"The villagers followed suit, slapping the child with their open palms whenever they saw him. Who dared to help him? They would be beaten up lightly, and in more serious cases, they burned down the person's entire home."
"The child couldn't endure this humiliation. He wanted to go to his father's grave to cry and appeal for help. However, people were stopped from passing by blocking the road."
"That was how the months passed. The child jumped into the river. His body didn't stop spinning on the surface of the water, even after death. He couldn't leave the village of Ox Hoof, and he would float on the water every day, watching the villagers... Out of anger, those villagers decided to burn his body into ashes."
"That night, the thunder was deafening! The rain poured down in torrents! The bonfire to burn the child's body was drenched and extinguished, leaving only the bloodied frame of the bull, which wandered around the village ceaselessly, butting anyone it encountered!"
"The rainstorm provoked a landslide, and all the villagers were killed in the flood."
"From then on, whenever people approached the village entrance, they could smell a fragrant aroma. During the famine in previous years, someone had gone into the village and emerged full and satisfied, saying there was meat soup in the temple."
"Some couldn't bear the hunger and thirst, and followed; others, who knew some hidden truths from that time, hesitated and wandered back and forth."
"After that, those who had eaten the meat soup disappeared. They had all returned to their own homes, but guards saw them leaving, dragging wet and slippery people in the direction of Ox Hoof Village."
"Over time, the entire village of Ox Hoof became a taboo, and gradually, people from nearby villages no longer visited it. Those who knew about the village of Ox Hoof became fewer and fewer."
"Today, even though there aren't many people who know about Ox Heart Village, my grandfather's grandfather was one of the watchmen back then. The family's ancestral edict is not to get too close to Ox Hoof Village."
The man sighed and chuckled bitterly, "If things were not so difficult, who would come back to pick mushrooms and herbs? I will have to stay away from Ox Hoof Village next time."
"Little brother, follow me and take the detour. I will see you off the mountain. If you are lucky and get out of the village once, there won't be a second time."
I took a moment to digest, before regaining my senses.
"Thank you, I understand the situation now. Please don't go near the village in the next few days, and if you return, warn the villagers not to approach Ox Hoof Village again." I reminded the old man once more.
I then turned around and started walking back.
The sensation of being watched lingered on me for a long time, until the dense forest blocked my view, slicing it into pieces, and the feeling of being watched disappeared.
I stood by the shore for a long time before heading straight towards the direction of Ox Hoof Village.
During the journey, I picked some wild fruits from the mountains and had a few packets of compression cookies in my backpack to satisfy my hunger.
Yes, Mao You San had warned me not to enter the waters within the range of Ox Hoof Village; I would be watched by the geomancer.
From the information I gathered from that villager, I discovered a problem.
The geomancer seems to not actively harm people.
He uses the soup made from white beef as a medium, and those who have eaten or drunk it are dragged into the river bottom by the villagers.
Exactly, if he had actively harmed people, I wouldn't have been able to leave the village that night.
In reality, only the people from Gujian and Tian Shou Daochang died in the village.
Shortly after, I arrived at the edge of a house near the village.
The early morning sun was slightly warm, and my clothes slowly became dry.
I went straight into the village path and began to search and wander around.
The village was not large, and I quickly found the ancestral hall, which stood on a slightly flat terrain, a large house built of rock rising from the ground.
Inside the house, there were numerous ancestral tablets, which had long been neglected and became dirty, covered in withered leaves and thick dust.
Outside the large house, there was a very small shed, about two meters high and two meters wide.
Inside the shed, there was a statue of a clay bull painted white, which seemed to be full of vitality.
Especially the bull horns, which were authentic and extremely sharp.
A inexplicable sense of complexity welled up in my heart.
I have a clue about who to look for in the water.
The target of the child is actually quite small and easy to find.
However, considering the geomancer's pitiful life for a lifetime, can I suppress him?
Perhaps, it's not necessary to suppress him; maybe I just need to relocate him, so that he can rest in peace in a new place.
My thoughts led me here, and I deeply bowed to the clay bull statue in the pavilion.
I bowed out of respect for the innocent mountain spirit that was wrongly killed and to pay homage to the geomancer who sacrificed himself for the villagers, becoming a living stake.
The aroma at my nostrils was becoming more and more alluring at all times!
I can't wait any longer, if I don't go inside the temple to eat and drink, I really will have to...
I turned back along the original path and returned to the spot where I had previously entered the water.
I washed my face with cold water, and then I felt better...
Although the situation was somewhat complicated, it overall went smoothly.
I have also found the location of the living stake.
By nightfall, once the child's body is retrieved, with the help of Old Gong, we will be able to dig up the remains of the geomancer!
Give them a proper burial and solve the problem of the Ox Hoof Village, and let them rest in peace!
I sat cross-legged by the riverbank, took a deep breath, and concentrated my thoughts to recover my strength for a while. Then I found a shaded spot and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, the setting sun was hanging in the sky, casting the river water a deep red.
After eating some wild fruits and compressed cookies from the mountains, I filled my stomach and waited for night to fall.
Finally, the dusk swallowed the last glimmer of daylight, and night fell.
I placed my belongings in a more concealed spot, set Old Gong's bag by the river, and then dove into the water with a splash.
There were no accidents or obstructions during my journey, and I arrived at the water area with a large number of corpses.
I plunged back into the water and began searching among the clusters of villagers for the child's body.
I went in and out of the water about seven or eight times, plus the time from last night, and I had seen all the bodies at the bottom of the water. I hadn't found a suitable child's body...
Just as I thought that something might have changed, suddenly, I felt a gaze from one side.
I shivered and turned to look in the direction of the gaze.
Below the water, there was a huge rock, and next to it, a body stood quietly, completely isolated from any other villager's body... An icy, sorrowful feeling surged from the body, piercing straight to the bottom of my heart!
