As far as the eye can see, everything is desolate, the wind has turned over the page, and the sky is filled with dust.
The houses are not far apart from each other, are messy and dilapidated, and are overgrown with weeds.
Under the sun, these old-fashioned huts are covered with cobwebs, and some have collapsed, forming wreckage due to weathering.
Yu Xing stood blankly, a thought hovering in his mind: How could this happen...
He stepped on the ground outside the house, his heart beating rapidly, and he turned around and took a look.
The house belonging to the old Zhang family is no different from other huts. Although it has not collapsed, it is so old that it seems that no one has lived in it for a long time. The knots and nets used for hunting are hung on the outer walls. They have faded and decayed, and they seem to break if they are pulled.
"..." Yu Xing was a little scared and shrank.
It seems like he just slept a little longer. Why does he feel like everything is turned upside down when he wakes up?
Where is Lao Zhang? Where is the woman who gave him porridge? And where is Mai Mai?
Is it an illusion? But... how to explain the new bandages on his body and the obviously clean pants that are a bit old?
He walked cautiously for a while to make sure that there was no one in the small village. There were mountains and forests outside the village, and he didn't know where it led.
A feeling of loneliness arose spontaneously, Yu Xing blinked and returned to Lao Zhang's house.
This place is so strange, he thought.
He entered the kitchen and tried to find traces of the recent existence of Lao Zhang's family of three, but he was disappointed. There was no food in the kitchen. Instead, there was much more mold left in some grooves than in other places.
"What... happened here?" Yu Xing knelt down and observed carefully for a while, a guess came to his mind.
He rummaged through Lao Zhang's house and found a rusty kitchen knife among the spider webs and nameless insects everywhere, as well as some other small tools, wrapped in a tablecloth that had been eaten by insects.
Carry it with you.
"We have to find the reason..." Although he has lost his memory, cannot remember the past, and is full of doubts about the current strange events, it does not mean that he will sit still and wait for death.
He doesn't seem to be born with a shrinking personality, even if there may be unknown dangers around him.
Yu Xing decided to search all the huts that could be entered first. The focus was to find out the reason why the village was deserted. For example, the whole village had moved away, or some accident had occurred. If he could find some useful ones,
The supplies are even better.
He still doesn't know why he is here.
Lao Zhang's house was at the edge of the small village. Using this house as a base point, Yu Xing first walked around the village, memorizing the locations and collapse conditions of all the houses, and completed a simple map in his mind.
This place is really small. There are only twelve houses in total, that is, twelve households. They were numbered by Yu Xing to make it easier to record.
"..." He still didn't speak, and walked into House No. 2, listening to the sound of the wind blowing the weeds.
This is a well-preserved house, unlike the surrounding Nos. 3, 4, and 5, which collapsed into ruins and were completely blocked, making it impossible to get in.
Yu Xing reached out and pushed open the door, and the harsh scratching sound made him frown.
Under the sunlight, the dust became visible. Yu Xing choked on these particles and coughed violently, feeling that a wound somewhere on his chest was about to burst.
He wiped away the physiological tears he coughed up and looked into the room with squinted eyes.
The house is very messy.
All the small items fell to the ground, and the large items were staggered here and there.
The table was tilted to one side, with four wooden legs supporting it. The tabletop was against the wall, as if someone had thrown it.
Yu Xing sniffed and smelled a strong smell of mold, which was very pungent.
The floor was also dirty, but Yu Xing couldn't care so much now. He walked in and discovered something was wrong with the wall.
what are these?
Large black marks were splashed on the wall, but the wall was already black and yellow, so you couldn't see anything unless you looked carefully.
There are black marks here and there. The strange thing is that once they get within one meter of the ground, they disappear completely.
Yu Xing took a closer look with strong uneasiness. These black marks were too old and had long been integrated with other things and could not be separated.
"Is it blood?" The blood stains that had dried for too long turned from red to dark brown and finally black.
Intuition told him that his guess was correct, this place seemed to have hosted a death.
But why does the blood stain disappear when it reaches the bottom?
It must have been wiped off.
Yu Xing remembered this and did not waste time on other ordinary things. After observing the shape of the damaged things on the ground, he rummaged through the cabinets that could still be opened.
These furniture are all old-fashioned. Although Yu Xing couldn't remember where he had seen new-style furniture, the concept came to him naturally.
He opened each drawer, not sure what he was looking for, but he thought he would find some useful information.
No.
The drawers were either filled with rotten banknotes, unimportant remains of daily necessities, or were completely empty.
"Forget it..." Yu Xing murmured and walked out of the house. When he passed by the door, he saw a hoe lying on the ground.
He paused in his steps.
During the subsequent investigation, while looking for clues, he also paid attention to whether there were hoes in other houses. Sure enough, almost every house had them.
Moreover, the furnishings in every room are in a mess, with some more or less blood stains. It can be said that except for the furnishings of Lao Zhang's house, which are still intact, the other houses look like they have been robbed by robbers.
After exploring all six of the twelve houses, excluding Lao Zhang's house and the five houses that had collapsed, Yu Xing had to admit: "There are no clues."
As the sun rose above his head, he searched every house carefully, but still wasted a lot of time.
"Gululu..." The bandaged stomach began to cry out from hunger, but Yu Xing was helpless.
There is nothing edible here, and he doesn't know if there are any edible animals in the forest. Even if there are, he doesn't know how to hunt.
"Forget it, let's walk around and see if there are any other villages." He guessed that there was more than just this small twelve-household village in this area, because he saw hoes in the villagers' homes, but he didn't see any fields.
It means that there should be a separate field nearby.
The plots of land that can be used to develop fields are generally not too small, so it seems a bit of a loss to only give these twelve families farming.
After thinking for a while, Yu Xing decided to go the opposite way to Lao Zhang's house, because since he fainted at the door of Lao Zhang's house, it meant that he came from the direction of Lao Zhang's house.
There is something that could hurt him in this direction. If he encounters it again while walking, wouldn't he be trapped in a trap?
It's better to go in a direction that may be safer.
The trees in the mountain forest were sparse, and occasionally a few were uprooted and fell towards the village. The further Yu Xing walked, the more dead he felt around him. Even though the sun was shining on him, he still felt a lingering gloom.
Touching the rusty kitchen knife on his body, a layer of goose bumps appeared on Yu Xing's skin. He looked around unconsciously and muttered: "...It's so scary."
Fortunately, after walking for about ten minutes, Yu Xing saw a very hidden path that was covered by vegetation and had obviously been stepped on by others. He knew that he was on the right path.
There is indeed a field not far ahead, but it is not very obvious. It is just that this place is relatively flat, and there are faint traces of cultivation, but it is now deserted.
Yu Xing crossed the field and continued walking forward.
He also wanted to try to walk directly out of the forest and go to a place with human activities.
He has nothing to eat, nothing to drink, and is covered in injuries. He is not suitable for survival in the wild. What's more, he has no relevant knowledge at all and will probably die.
But when it comes to injuries, Yu Xing feels that he is getting better very quickly, and many wounds no longer hurt.
After walking for a while, he saw the outline of a large village in the distance.
However, at this time, the sun was hidden behind the clouds and slowly setting, and it was almost dark again.
The flow rate of this time was not normal, as if it had been clicked to fast forward four times. Yu Xing also realized that something was wrong and hesitated in place for a while.
"Isn't there twenty-four hours in a normal day?" He almost suspected that there was something wrong with his common sense. After all, there was nothing in his memory to support his thoughts.
"It's so weird. Everything has been weird since I woke up... Am I really not dreaming?" Seeing the sky darkening visibly, Yu Xing shook his head and quickened his pace towards the big village.
As he got closer, he could see the smoke coming from the cooking pots, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief - there were people in this village, and he wouldn't starve to death in the mountains and forests.
It's just that he looks too embarrassed, and the villagers may regard him as some weird uninvited guest.
He finally stepped into this village that looked very big at first sight, took a gentle breath, and knocked on the first door.
"Dong dong dong."
"Is anyone here?"
Yu Xing shouted nervously.
After more than ten seconds, the door was opened, and a thin middle-aged man poked his head out. He was obviously stunned when he saw Yu Xing.
Yu Xing hurriedly said: "Hello, I was passing by, can I..."
"Peng!" The man suddenly closed the door with a look of disgust.
Yu Xing: "..."
As for what?
He turned around and knocked at another door. This time it was a thin woman who opened the door.
At least the woman didn't close the door directly, but she stuck the door open and looked wary: "Who are you?"
"Hello, I was passing by and I wanted to..."
"Don't look for me." The woman interrupted Yu Xing's words, her face was numb and indifferent, and she pointed in one direction, "Go find the Goddess. We will only take you in if the Goddess allows you to stay."
Goddess?
Yu Xing followed her hand and found that there was only one house over there, and it was the largest house in the village at first glance.
He said to the woman sincerely: "Okay, thank you..."
"Peng!" The woman also closed the door.
"..."
Why are they so cruel to me?
Yu Xing felt a little aggrieved and felt that he was despised by the whole world.
There is nothing wrong with this. The Lao Zhang family and these two villagers he sees now are the entire world in his memory.
He even thought: Am I too ugly to scare them?
After much hesitation, he decided to go find the goddess.
Just be scared, he doesn't want to starve to death anyway.
The goddess's residence is larger than it appears from a distance, and is surrounded by a fence.
"Isn't it usually just pig pens and chicken pens that are fenced? When the house is fenced, is it to prevent anyone from escaping?" When pushing open the fence, a thought came to Yu Xing's mind.
He looked back and saw that it was the evening at the hotel and many families were cooking. Although no one came out, the smoke from the chimney brought bursts of food aroma, which made Yu Xing feel a little dazed.
So hungry... so hungry... so hungry, so hungry...
There was no smoke coming from the goddess's house, and it was deserted.
Yu Xing put his hand on the wooden door, and his heartbeat suddenly became very fast.
It seems like something bad is going to happen.
This was a strange premonition without any warning, and Yu Xing didn't know whether to believe him or not.
However, nothing good seems to have happened to him since he woke up. Even if nothing happens, it won't be worse than starving to death.
So he knocked on the door.
"Boom..."
As soon as my fingers touched the door, the door opened a crack by itself. It seemed that it had not been closed at all before.
Yu Xing did not go in directly. An indescribable feeling grabbed his legs, making him unable to move forward.
The cool breeze came from the crack in the door and blew over his exposed fair skin. By some strange coincidence, he quietly peeked in through the crack in the door.
There was no light inside, and a piece of clothing swayed past in the darkness.
Yu Xing was startled, took a step back, and then couldn't help but continue looking.
He read it right, it was really a piece of clothing... hung on the beam, swinging back and forth.
The weak legs hung down, stiff and straight, and the hanged man stared at him peeping through the crack in the door with his big eyes.
The corpse was soaked all over, and drops of water dripped from the toes of the corpse's shoes, gathering into a pool of shadow on the ground.
Yu Xing was only surprised for a moment, but when the light outside slightly illuminated the room, he could clearly see the face of the hanged man.
"Lao, Lao Zhang!" Yu Xing was so frightened that he covered his mouth to prevent himself from shouting.
how so?
How come Lao Zhang is here and hanged?
His pupils constricted, and a kind of grief and anger that did not belong to his subjective feelings surged into his heart. He thought he was just frightened, not to the point of being extremely sad about the death of Lao Zhang, who was close to him, but the feeling in his heart did not pass through him.
With his permission, it exploded wantonly.
It's like... he's experienced all this before.
Not just Lao Zhang.
The crack in the door was blown a little wider by the wind, and Yu Xing could see more.
Lao Zhang's wife who served him porridge, the shy but curious and flexible Mai Mai, and many people he didn't know, including men and women, old and young, were all hung up by hemp ropes.
There is a pool of water underneath each person, and it is growing continuously.
There are many people inside.
The corpses inside were swinging like pendulums.
Just like Toshio, the ghost child in The Grudge who plays with the hanging corpses, the scene in front of him seems like there are countless hands pushing the corpses.
Wait, what is a curse?
Yu Xing thought blankly.
But this was just a fleeting episode in his mind. For now, he was very scared.
Is this place full of corpses the goddess’s home?
He'd better starve to death! Once he goes back, he won't go in!
"What are you looking at?" Suddenly, a deep female voice sounded from behind Yu Xing, and Yu Xing felt a chill coming from the soles of his feet to his forehead, making him shudder.
He turned around stiffly, and at that moment he saw an ugly woman very close to him.
The woman has a good figure. She wears a Chinese-style black skirt that is incompatible with this village. Her hair is pulled into a beautiful and steady bun, and she is exquisite in everything.
It's a pity that this face was probably burnt. Most of the face is covered with scars and obvious scabs. One eye has no eyelids, and the eyeballs are just exposed to the air, as if they are glaring at others angrily all the time.
Just like now, she seemed to be glaring at Yu Xing and wanting to strangle him to death.
"Ah!" Yu Xing screamed in dismay, and stepped back with fear. His bare feet stepped on a sharp stone. He screamed in pain, lost control of his balance, and fell directly to the ground.
With his head buzzing, Yu Xing looked up with a grimace and was stunned again.
The person in front of him was clearly a beautiful woman with smooth and fair skin, and her facial features had found a delicate balance between softness and sharpness. The years had left shallow traces on the corners of her eyes, but she had given her a thick temperament as compensation.
Are there any burns or scars?
The woman seemed a little surprised and a little unhappy when she saw his big reaction, but she still asked: "Are you okay?"
Alarm bells blared in Yu Xing's head.
Regardless of which image of her is real, let’s just say, what does it mean for a unique woman to appear here?
It means that her status is different from that of the villagers.
She is the goddess!
A dangerous man with many corpses hanging in the room!
Yu Xing climbed up by himself. Fortunately, the soles of his feet were not scratched. He tried to maintain his composure: "It's okay, it's okay."
"Are you... afraid when you see me?" The woman's tone was as doubtful as cold, and she took a step closer to him.
At this moment, Yu Xing didn't know why, but he felt so happy: "I'm sorry! I, I have low self-esteem..."
"Oh?" The woman was indeed a little less cold and a little more surprised. She raised the corners of her mouth and asked with interest, "Why do you feel inferior?"
"I, I have scars all over my body, it's so ugly..." Yu Xing said, covering the bandages on his chest and abdomen with his hands. This was of course in vain, but it was just to make the woman notice his injuries.
He looked downcast and spoke urgently: "I don't know where I come from, who I am, why I have such a useless body, and why I have long hair... I'm sorry, I will scare you, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
"
The woman looked at him, then her eyes rested on his face, her face suddenly softened: "It sounds like you are a lost child."
She smiled and touched Yu Xing's head, glancing at his long hair that looked like that of ancient men: "Don't worry, you are not ugly at all. Your body is the most perfect I have ever seen, and your appearance is also
It makes people jealous. Believe me, as long as your wound heals, you will look very, very good..."
The moment her hand touched his head, Yu Xing felt as if there was a cold breath flowing through his limbs and torso, making him breathless and dizzy.
Chapter completed!