Chapter 173: The Altar

“Maybe the paint faded after a long time?” Guo Xiaohong did not seem to know much about that question, but it was not the first time a student had asked it, so she answered very quickly.

“That cannot be. The paint used for this mural was definitely the same material. How could only the paint for the eyes, nose, and mouth fade away? I suspect it was never painted on in the first place…” One student offered a different opinion. After all, they were all art and design students and had some knowledge about this.

“Hmm, that makes sense.” The tour guide Guo Xiaohong had a careless expression, allowing the students to guess and say whatever they wanted. She was just there to complete her guide task and earn her pay, and had no interest in thinking about these boring matters.

“Sister Xiaohong, why are so many Faceless Persons painted on the mural?” Another student asked Guo Xiaohong. The students were always very curious and talked all at once.

“Well… in an Ancestral Hall, it should be for honoring the deceased, right?” Guo Xiaohong did not seem very sure and casually brushed off the student.

“That cannot be. These are not dead people. The people in the painting are all young.” A student immediately pointed it out.

“They have no faces. How do you know they are young?” One student argued with the previous student.

“Look at their clothes, hair, and height.”

“Hmm… that makes sense… I didn’t notice at first, but now that I look, they really are all young people. There are no old people or children.”

“They are about the same age as us…”

“Why are so many young people painted in the Ancestral Hall mural? And why no faces?” The students had more and more questions.

“Although the Ancestral Hall is a place for clan members to worship ancestors and sages, it also has other uses. When family members usually handle weddings, funerals, birthdays, or happy events, they can also use the Ancestral Hall. Clan relatives discuss important matters within the clan and also use the Ancestral Hall as a gathering place. So these young people in the painting were probably painted during coming-of-age ceremonies, weddings, or funerals.” Seeing the tour guide remain silent, one student who seemed very knowledgeable tried to help everyone speculate.

“Then why are there no faces?”

“Maybe the painter was not good at drawing faces…”

“That explanation is too far-fetched… Look at the brushstrokes of this mural. It is definitely not the work of a beginner…”

“…”

While the students were discussing the mural, Lü Yang had been very carefully studying it. Based on his prior knowledge and his own speculation, he thought… the reason the mural had no faces was probably not due to faded paint, nor was it because the painter was not good at drawing faces, but rather… these people simply had no faces, just like Han Cheng and Zhou Ling!

At one moment, Lü Yang felt dizzy for a while, as if the people in the mural were struggling to break free from the wall, trying to come out.

Lü Yang shivered all over and then became clear-headed again. He gasped for breath a few times, leaned against the wall to steady himself.

The people in the mural showed no abnormality; they were just painted on the wall…

…

“This is the place where the Mountain Peak Village people held sacrifices. This stone platform is called the Human-shaped Altar…” Guo Xiaohong led the students out of the Ancestral Hall to the small square outside. Guo Xiaohong pointed to the stone platform in the center and continued her tour guide explanation.

The edges of the Altar clearly had some small designs, but they were all damaged. In the middle was a stone platform, carved with words and patterns that no one recognized. In the center of the stone platform was a human-shaped depression, just the right size for a person to lie in.

Although it was a depression, there were drainage holes underneath, so the Torrential Rain did not allow water to accumulate in the human-shaped depression. Plus, the sun had been blazing all morning, so the traces of rain in the human-shaped depression had long dried up.

“Why was the Altar built like this?”

“To sacrifice a living person?”

“Look at this pattern. It should be about placing a stripped person on this Altar for sacrifice…”

“Can this picture prove that a stripped person was thrown on top?”

“Look! This little figure has a stick below the belly, and this little figure has a circle drawn below the belly… They must have been stripped naked…”

“Haha, you are too perverted!”

“You are the perverted one! I am serious! Be serious…”

“I am very serious… haha… you strip and lie on it…”

“…”

The very ancient-looking Altar, mysterious text patterns, and mysterious human-shaped depression were enough to attract the students’ attention. So this Altar depression was the place where students from previous inspection trips took the most photos for keepsakes. The students in the team were no exception; they took turns lying in the human-shaped depression, posing in various positions while other students helped take photos. Even Yi Ya and Hu Yulan were no exception.

“Yinyin, you lie down too and let me take a picture of you.” Yi Ya held a camera and nudged the dazed ‘Lin Yin’ beside her.

Lü Yang stood by the Altar stone platform, glanced at the human-shaped depression, and suddenly felt like he could not breathe.

“Yinyin?” Yi Ya urged ‘Lin Yin’. Everyone else had finished taking photos, and they were waiting for ‘Lin Yin’ to take hers before the team would leave the Ancestral Hall and head to the next inspection point.

“I am not taking one.” Lü Yang shook his head, his face looking very pale.

“Take one… such a rare opportunity…” Hu Yulan walked over and pushed ‘Lin Yin’.

Lü Yang was just about to say something more when the next moment, he found himself suddenly lying in the Altar’s human-shaped depression. He was greatly startled and immediately tried to sit up, but his body felt extremely heavy. No matter how he struggled, he could not move.

The laughter and noise of the students around him were still there, but they became very muffled and distant. Lü Yang opened his mouth and shouted for help, but he could not make a sound. His whole body felt extremely tired, and he did not even have the strength to open his mouth.

Time seemed to fast-forward. The sunlight dimmed in an instant and eventually disappeared. Day quickly turned into night. Everything around became extremely quiet. The students’ noisy voices had also vanished, leaving only Lü Yang alone, still lying in the Altar’s human-shaped depression, struggling hard but unable to free himself from the shallow depression.

Some chaotic footsteps sounded, and they made beast-like panting sounds, seemingly quickly approaching the Altar. Their target was undoubtedly Lü Yang in the human-shaped depression on the Altar stone platform!

But Lü Yang was still trapped in the human-shaped depression, unable to move. The panic in his heart had reached its peak…

The footsteps and panting sounds had already reached the edge of the Altar. Lü Yang, not yet adjusted to the darkness, only saw dark shadows swaying before his eyes. Then something sickle-shaped approached his face. Just at that moment, a ‘crack’ sound—a flash of lightning split the sky, instantly illuminating everything around Lü Yang extremely brightly…

Suddenly, the students’ laughter and noise all returned. Yi Ya was holding a camera aimed at ‘Lin Yin’ lying in the human-shaped depression, clearly helping ‘her’ take a photo for keepsake.

“Done, let’s see how it turned out?” Yi Ya walked over and pointed the camera’s display screen toward Lü Yang in the human-shaped depression.

Lü Yang quickly sat up, looking around in extreme fear…

It was still daytime. The sun hung high in the sky. Apart from Yi Ya, ‘Lin Yin’, and Hu Yulan, who were still by the Altar, the rest of the ten-person team had already followed tour guide Guo Xiaohong to the next inspection point.

“Hey! You three, hurry up!” A student shouted toward them.

Lü Yang felt a bit dazed. How did he end up lying in the depression just now? Did he lose short-term memory?

Closing his eyes, the Eerie Computer’s screen appeared very clearly before him. All the Eerie Cards were still in a usable state…

“Yinyin? Yinyin? What is wrong with you?” Yi Ya’s voice.

“I am fine. Let’s go.” Lü Yang supported himself and slid off the Altar stone platform, waving his hand at Yi Ya.

…

“Assemble! Everyone assemble! Group leaders, check your group members! Lin Yin, you verify whether everyone from each group is here!” The male Counselor Chen Jinhu shouted through a megaphone into the area.

It was almost five o’clock. The sky suddenly turned cloudy. The sun disappeared, and some mountain winds picked up. The sky darkened accordingly. Worried that complete darkness might bring rainy weather, making the mountain path hard to walk, today’s inspection ended early. All students gathered and lined up to return to the Mountain Peak Hotel. They would come back tomorrow for free sketching.

Before leaving the School and on the way here, the two Counselors had repeatedly emphasized inspection discipline. So when the students heard the male Counselor’s megaphone call, they all gathered at the village entrance. But after the two Counselors and group leaders checked and rechecked, two male and two female students were missing. No matter how loudly Counselor Chen shouted through the megaphone, they did not show up at the village entrance. Time quickly reached 5:15. Looking at the increasingly gloomy sky, the two Counselors became anxious.

“These students are so unruly? On a thunderstorm night, you absolutely cannot stay in Mountain Peak Village!” The older male tour guide, Gu Zheng, who was over fifty, murmured to himself, but no one paid attention to his muttering.

“Lin Yin, you and Gong Jian take a few students and go search on that hillside over there. See if those four ran up there.” Gong Xue called ‘Lin Yin’ over and pointed to the hill behind Mountain Peak Village, giving ‘her’ instructions.

“Do not go up there. That place is the Cemetery.” The older tour guide Gu Zheng, hearing Gong Xue’s words, quickly came over to stop her.

“What is there to fear about a Cemetery? What era is this, still superstitious?” The one holding the megaphone, Chen Jinhu, waved impatiently at tour guide Gu Zheng. As someone from a big city, he really looked down on these ignorant mountain villagers. He knew that although these three were tour guides, they were actually local farmers.