novelhk Chapter 54 Kneeling to God
Chapter 54 Kneeling to God
The sunlight was bright, almost blinding.
Lu Dan followed behind the village chief, his gaze inevitably falling on the back of the old man's head, where a black spot resembling old tree bark trembled with each step.
"Grandpa Village Chief, what happened to the back of your head? Also, we need to make some preparations before we go to worship the gods, right? We shouldn't turn around and offend the taboo." Lu Dan took two quick steps, his tone carrying just the right amount of fear.
The village chief walked with his hands behind his back, seemingly effortless, showing no signs of anything amiss.
"You'll know when you get there. Just let things take their course; the gods will eventually be satisfied." The old man didn't turn his head, his voice muffled in his chest, sounding very heavy. "Especially you, Adan, you have great fortune on your side."
"Great fortune?" Lu Dan sneered inwardly. In horror movies, this phrase usually translates to "big trouble" or "he himself is a sacrifice."
The old man was as stubborn as a dead duck. No matter how Lu Dan tried to probe him, he wouldn't utter a single word and just kept his head down, continuing on his way.
After navigating several winding dirt roads, the view opened up.
Located in the very center of the village, this place is a grain drying ground, now filled with a sense of solemnity.
The entire village of several hundred people knelt down in a dense mass, regardless of age or gender, all prostrating themselves on the ground, without even a sound of breathing.
At the end of the threshing ground stood a simple yet towering altar, upon which were placed two clay statues, each about two meters tall, crudely crafted and exuding an eerie aura.
The figure on the left is draped in a pale white theatrical robe, with wide sleeves and no clothing above the neck.
The one on the right is draped in a scarlet, blood-red robe, with two heads perched on its neck, their faces contorted in a ferocious manner, and clay fangs hanging from the corners of their mouths.
A double-headed red robe, white against red, headless against double heads—it's incredibly eerie.
Beside the statue stood two small figures.
It was those two children, now stripped naked, standing upright on a high stool, their heads bowed, facing the idol. All ten of their fingers had been slashed open with a sharp blade, and blood dripped from their fingertips.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock."
Blood droplets fell into the stone trough at the base of the statue.
The village chief led Lu Dan through the kneeling crowd to the very front.
There are two empty prayer cushions here, closest to the statue, clearly VIP spots.
"Kneel down."
The village chief stopped and stared at the statue with a fanatical gaze.
Lu Dan glanced at the two positions but didn't move.
What if you choose the wrong option in a situation where you have to choose between two choices? Is it better to prioritize the left over the right, or vice versa?
He deliberately lagged behind by half a step and reached out to help the village chief.
"You are the elder, please go first. There's no reason for a junior to rush ahead."
The village chief seemed pleased with Lu Dan's understanding nature and, without thinking much of it, walked straight to the prayer mat on the left and knelt down with a thud.
Lu Dan breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down on the prayer mat on the right.
The moment his knees touched the ground, something unexpected happened.
Hundreds of villagers behind him seemed to have had a switch flipped at the same time, bursting into deafening cries.
The cries were heart-wrenching; some beat their chests and stamped their feet, while others banged their heads on the ground as if their parents had died.
Lu Dan's eardrums ached from the sudden sound.
Although he didn't know why he was crying, following the crowd was always the right thing to do. He lowered his head, covered his face with his hands, his shoulders trembled, and he forced out a few dry howls. He desperately recalled sad things in his mind and managed to force out two tears.
Through his fingers, he secretly observed the two children on the stage. As the villagers' cries grew louder, the two children, whose faces were as pale as paper, began to tremble violently. Their pale skin, caused by excessive blood loss, began to flush with an eerie red at a visible speed.
Then they looked up.
"Hehehe—"
A sharp, sinister laugh escaped, piercing through the wailing that filled the hall.
Of the hundreds of people present, the adults were crying, and the two children were laughing. The more heartbroken the crying, the more joyful the laughter.
The two sounds clashed and distorted in the air, driving people mad.
Lu Dan felt as if his eardrums were about to explode.
The village chief beside him raised his hands and roared:
"The auspicious time has arrived, kowtow!"
"Thump thump thump thump!" Hundreds of heads slammed to the ground behind him, and the earth seemed to tremble.
Lu Dan dared not be negligent, leaning forward and banging his forehead against the ground.
The moment I touched the cold soil, a strong wave of dizziness hit the back of my head, and my vision went black instantly.
In the darkness, an image exploded in my mind.
The swaying shadows of the trees, the pale moonlight.
Lu Dan felt himself bound hand and foot, kneeling on the ground, with a chill running down his neck.
Nearby, Ye Jianguo, Da Lu, Zhang Min, and Chen Hua were covered in blood, with eerie, fanatical smiles on their faces, and holding various knives in their hands.
Ye Jianguo held a machete high in his hand.
"God has returned to his rightful place!"
He roared and brought the knife down.
Lu Dan felt a chill on his neck, his vision blurred, and he finally rolled to the ground.
He saw his own body—a headless body kneeling on the ground.
Immediately afterwards, the four men rushed forward and respectfully picked up a large white theatrical robe, draping it over the headless body.
They knelt and prostrated themselves, kowtowing frantically and shouting, "God!"
The headless body began to move on its own. It slowly stood up, its wide sleeves hanging down, concealing the blood on its hands.
At this moment, Lu Dan's consciousness seemed to overlap with that headless body.
......
"god--!"
The unified, enthusiastic shouts pulled Lu Dan back to reality.
He was panting heavily, cold sweat streaming down his forehead and into his eyes. When he looked up, he saw that the ceremony was over and the two children were slumped on the altar, their fate unknown.
The villagers behind him stood up one by one, their faces glowing, their eyes no longer showing any greed or hunger, but filled with a morbid satisfaction.
The village chief also stood up, patted the dirt off his knees, turned to look at Lu Dan, and smiled even more broadly.
"Adan, that was a good kowtow; the gods have sensed your sincerity."
Before Lu Dan could recover from the terrifying hallucinations, a sudden roar of an engine shattered the lingering atmosphere of the threshing ground.
"boom!"
All eyes turned toward the village entrance, where a brand-new, gleaming black Santana sedan slowly drove into view along the dirt road.
The car came to a stop, and the door opened.
First came a burly man in a leather jacket, then a slightly overweight man wearing glasses, and finally two young women.
Two men and two women, a standard four-person setup.
After getting out of the car, the man in the leather jacket first glanced warily at the villagers who had finished kneeling and praying, then fixed his gaze on Lu Dan, strode over, a smile on his face, and extended his hand.
"Hello, fellow villager. We're a working group from the city, here to conduct a population census. Is the village head here?"
The opening remarks were exactly the same, the positions were exactly the same, and even the way the fat man wiped his sweat was exactly the same.
Lu Dan felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. Except for the person who came down, everything else was exactly the same.
He slowly reached out and grasped the leather-jacketed man's large hand, a stiff smile playing on his lips: "Welcome, a warm welcome. Just call me Adan. I'm in charge of everything in the village."