Chapter 1832: Chapter 1677: Escape Game 29
Lin Yu began, "Today, Zhao Chu and I questioned many people and discovered that the women in this village indeed have a very vague memory of their past.
Some have fuzzy memories of when they were over twenty, and others before they were eighteen. They only remember that they belong to Lao Mountain Village and naturally choose to marry someone from the same village when they grow up.
When asked about childhood memories, their responses are all the same: catching fish in the river, picking wild fruits on the mountain, playing crazily with friends, helping adults with chores—nothing seems amiss at first glance.
But when asked for more detailed memories, they cannot respond, as if all their memories cannot be recalled in detail.
Despite our thorough questioning and the evident memory fuzziness, none of them suspects any issue with their memories."
Miao Shuangshuang nodded and said, "It must be the mind in this aspect that has been blocked. It’s already certain that the women in this village were tricked from outside and retained here after being fed Holy Water.
Today, I reviewed the experiences before death of about half of the Ghost Grooms, and it was the same perception as yesterday; there was nothing special in the death process. I still need to continue checking the remaining Ghost Grooms this afternoon."
Chen Fei had the biggest haul today. He took out a wooden tablet from his jacket and placed it before everyone, saying, "This is what I acquired today from the small shrine at the village chief’s house.
There is a large row of tablets worshipped in that small shrine, and these tablets’ number just coincides with the number of Ghost Grooms mentioned by Miao Shuangshuang earlier.
I suspect these are all tablets of those Ghost Grooms, and this particular tablet is strange, so I discreetly took one out."
Miao Shuangshuang picked up the tablet, with a simple name written on it. The wooden surface was black and in the sunlight exhibited a strange, purplish-red tint.
She brought it close to her nose to sniff, catching a strong scent of blood. When touched, the wood felt soft, unlike wood at all.
Seeing Miao Shuangshuang examining the tablet thoroughly, Lin Yu turned to Chen Fei and said, "You just stole this thing, what if the village chief finds out?"
Chen Fei, unconcerned, said, "Don’t worry about it. I’ve already replaced this tablet with a prop; the village chief won’t notice."
While they were talking, Miao Shuangshuang took out a short knife from her weapon space and began gently scraping off something from the back of the tablet.
Everyone watched wide-eyed as Miao Shuangshuang scraped off a layer of black, unknown substance from the back of the tablet.
After scraping away this layer, some hidden golden markings gradually surfaced on the back of the tablet.
Lin Yu leaned over to examine the golden markings with an astonished expression, saying, "Why is there a layer smeared on this tablet? And what are these markings at the back?"
Miao Shuangshuang continued to focus on scraping the black substance, too occupied to answer. Chen Fei picked up a piece of the scraped substance, kneaded it between his fingers, then sniffed it.
"Is this blood?"
"Blood?" Lin Yu echoed, looking at Chen Fei in confusion.
Chen Fei handed the substance to Lin Yu, "This is blood that has been repeatedly applied to the tablet, layered and solidified into blood scabs. Check it out."
Lin Yu took it from Chen Fei, rubbed it between his fingertips, sniffed, and frowned, "It sure is blood. But judging from the color, it must be aged blood from many years ago.
By now, it should have dried into scabs. How is it still sticky and mushy, like a layer of clay, quite disgusting?"
"This is due to the Array at the back of the tablet." Miao Shuangshuang, having finally scraped the blood completely off the back of the tablet, responded.
Everyone’s gaze immediately fell on the back of the tablet Miao Shuangshuang held, revealing a very clear golden Array.
"What kind of Array is this? Why is it engraved on the back of the tablet?" Zhao Chu asked, looking at the Array with curiosity.
Miao Shuangshuang exhaled and said, "This Array is one that incites the resentful energy of the tablet’s owner. If blood is used to clean the tablet regularly, the resentful energy it generates will be even stronger."
Everyone exchanged glances. Lin Yu, somewhat astonished, said, "The people in this village must be courting trouble!
If those tablets are for the Ghost Grooms, they already resent their wrongful deaths greatly. Further inciting their resentful energy, aren’t they afraid of one day raising a group of fierce ghosts that will devour them?"
"That can’t be right. If it’s truly inciting their resentful energy, over so many years, with so many Ghost Grooms being incited continuously, how can this village remain so peaceful?" Chen Fei stated.
Miao Shuangshuang contemplated the Array at the back of the tablet, saying, "It’s indeed unreasonable. Those Ghost Grooms, endlessly incited by resentful energy, shouldn’t stay dormant inside their bodies for long.
Over such a long time of resentment buildup, the first incited Ghost Groom must have already become a fierce ghost. A fierce ghost’s obsession is revenge; it wouldn’t leave the village’s enemies unpunished, right?
Unless these raised fierce ghosts serve another purpose, perhaps to fight fire with fire, or to counter something, or possibly..."
Miao Shuangshuang’s gaze turned distant, the bits of information she gathered in these days converged, leaving behind thoughts of the Array on the tablet and the temple arrangements.
She previously wondered why those Ghost Grooms were placed separately in the back chambers. If they were offerings to the God, shouldn’t they be placed beside the statue?
Also, given the villagers’ reverence for the God, the space the statue occupies in the temple seems too small.
The entire temple was constructed so vast, with three-quarters allocated to the back chambers and only a small front section for the statue.
A flash of insight struck Miao Shuangshuang’s mind, and she abruptly stood up, addressing the four around her, "Quick, let’s head to the temple.
I finally understand why those incited Ghost Grooms haven’t come back for revenge, and why the villagers provoke the resentful energy of these Ghost Grooms."
They followed Miao Shuangshuang, swiftly heading towards the temple. As soon as Miao Shuangshuang entered the temple, she climbed onto the platform where the statue was enshrined.
She looked down at the few people puzzledly watching her from below and said, "That Array not only provokes resentful energy, it’s also a Double Array. Double Arrays are interconnected Array techniques.
The Array provoking resentful energy links to another suppressing Array, fighting fire with fire, using fierce ghosts to suppress fierce ghosts, a method Evil Taoists excel at."
Miao Shuangshuang turned to glance at the clay statue beside her, her expression certain, "The villagers aren’t worshiping him, they are suppressing him, and those Ghost Grooms, catalyzed into fierce ghosts, are crucial for using resentful energy to suppress him."
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