Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter Thirty-Six: Curikaka
After this incident, Kunta's attitude towards me changed drastically! First, he allowed the bodyguards I brought to stay with me... originally, my bodyguards weren't allowed to leave the house. Then, he actually ordered that each of the ten bodyguards I brought should have a woman sent to their room... Luckily, I stopped him in time, otherwise, my African business investment delegation... would have turned into an African prostitution delegation.
Afterwards, he even invited me into his office to discuss the business again, and then he proactively proposed two points... The extra extortion he made of me last night is cancelled! The price is still set at the original 20 million per year.
After that, regarding the matter of me paying to hire his soldiers, this warlord simply waved his hand and said it was free!
He even offered to send me some of his best guards, free of charge... like giving me slaves! But after thinking about it, I refused.
I understand Kunta's mindset. I just saved his life, and given his status, he almost instinctively wants to repay this huge favor immediately. Perhaps all powerful figures have this mentality. It's very uncomfortable to owe someone a large favor.
In his haste, he suddenly remembered that I was "imperfect in that area" and insisted on sending me a box of those herbs.
I was both amused and exasperated, but seeing his enthusiastic manner, I steeled myself and blurted out, "If you're going to send something, send a whole truckload! One box won't be enough!"
"Okay!" Kunta agreed without even thinking.
"..." I stared speechlessly at the warlord, thinking to myself: Fine! If I have to go back, I'll just take it and sell it as Viagra to make money!
To be honest, it's no wonder this warlord from Kunta was able to run rampant in East Africa for a time and seize power in G country; his army was indeed quite capable. Less than two hours later, someone reported back.
The killer has been caught!
With a sudden thud, Kunta stood up from his chair. His face was gloomy, and his eyes held a hint of menace. He glanced at me and said, "My friend, shall we go take a look together?"
I wanted to refuse; I didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing. But looking at the gloomy expression on Kunta's face, I instinctively didn't refuse.
Suddenly a thought struck me... Could this guy be starting to suspect me too? It's quite possible!
Under the protection of the guards, I followed Kunta outside. Surprisingly, they didn't set up any torture chamber. Instead, Kunta led me silently northward down the hillside behind the building. We walked for about twenty minutes, even crossing a small river, before arriving at a sandy area.
The terrain here is extremely strange, seemingly a concave area no more than a hundred meters in diameter, like a small ring mountain. Surrounded by strange rock formations, Kunta pulled me directly to a high, bare rock and we climbed up to look down below.
The sand here is a bit strange; it's red. I wonder if it contains some minerals.
Soon, a man covered in blood was brought over. This assassin didn't seem very tall, and appeared to be of mixed race. His skin was brown, and with the blood staining it, only seven or eight parts of his face were discernible. He was quite a handsome man, though his eyelids were drooping limply. I could tell that both of his legs were broken, apparently from being shot.
He was wearing a military camouflage uniform, covered in dust and bits of grass. When the soldiers threw him on the spot, he seemed to have lost all ability to resist, like a lump of mud.
I saw the captain of the guards under General Kunta walk over and stand next to Kunta, saying a few words to him. They were speaking in a local language that I couldn't understand. However, after listening, Kunta narrowed his eyes, chuckled coldly, and glanced at me: "My friend, this is the guy who almost killed me, and you saved my life."
He then muttered, "What a ruthless fellow. He actually killed three of my guards in the jungle."
Seeing me looking at the people below with a strange gaze, he suddenly chuckled coldly: "What's wrong? Do you find it strange? He can't move now. My captain of the guards severed his tendons with a knife." Sure enough, I saw the captain of the guards' machete, stained with bright red blood.
"Begin!" Kunta waved his hand, and soon two soldiers jumped onto the sand below and started digging a hole. They quickly dug a hole, which I estimated was just big enough to bury one person alive.
"Executed so quickly? No need for interrogation?" I asked slowly. Since I knew that the person who brought me to the tower probably still suspected me, I might as well act more confidently. Being timid and hesitant would only arouse suspicion.
“No need to ask,” Kunta said calmly. “This guy is obviously a mercenary. Many people want me dead, but they are all my enemies. It’s too much trouble to question them one by one. Just kill him! However, he killed three of my bodyguards, so I won’t let him die easily.” A ruthless glint flashed in Kunta’s eyes. He waved his hand, and immediately someone carried the assassin on the ground and threw him into the pit. Then they fixed his position, keeping his head up, and began to fill the pit with soil with shovels.
After watching for a while, I suddenly realized that they were not planning to bury the killer alive, because the killer's upper body was still outside, and the sand only filled up to his chest.
"What are you doing?" A thought suddenly struck me, and I remembered a form of torture I knew: "Do you want to skin him alive?"
“Peeling off…why do you say that?” Kunta glanced at me.
Without thinking much, I blurted out, "It's like skinning someone... You bury them in the ground, leaving only their head sticking out, then you make a cut on the top of their head and pour mercury into the wound. The mercury flows through the gaps between the skin and muscles, and the skin peels off. The person feels pain and itchiness and instinctively tries to burrow upwards..."
I described something, and looking into the eyes of the person trapped in the tower, I suddenly realized! Why did I tell him this?! Clearly, judging from his gaze, he didn't know what kind of torture I was talking about! If I told him about this, what if he learns to do it in the future? Wouldn't that be the sin I committed?
Thinking of this, I shut my mouth and kept quiet, but in my heart I wanted to slap myself.
Fortunately, Kunta first showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, followed by some disdain.
“Oh, my friend… I thought you were a civilized person, but it seems you’re also well-versed in these things… Haha, very good.” He chuckled, then changed his tone: “But you are, after all, an Easterner… I’ve heard that you Easterners have all sorts of bizarre ways of torturing people. What’s the point of having so many tricks, making it all so complicated! If I’m going to skin someone, I’ll just use a knife! Like butchering a wild animal… You mentioned using mercury, humph… That would mean having to carry mercury around all the time, completely unnecessary!”
I felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief, but worried that he would ask about the skinning, so I quickly said, "Yes, General..."
“Call me Trapped Tower!” He glanced at me. “Now you’re my good friend.”
“Alright… General Kunta.” I stubbornly added his rank, and this time he didn’t say anything. I then continued, “Then why did you bury him here?”
“This is one of the cruelest punishments we can receive! In our Tutu language, it’s called ‘Kurikaka’!”
I noticed by chance that when General Kunta uttered the word "Kurikaka," the fierce guards around him trembled slightly, and some even showed an unnatural expression on their faces.
Hmm... it seems that this Curry Kaka is someone they're all wary of.
The two soldiers below quickly brought over a pile of strange things. I saw that it was a pile of strange dried plants. The two soldiers carefully distributed the pile around the red sand and then took out a fire and set it on fire.
Immediately, the burning hay emitted a pungent, strange smell, neither pleasant nor foul, but rather peculiar.
Inside the circle of fire, the two soldiers exchanged a glance, then swiftly drew their daggers and made several cuts on the exposed skin of the assassin buried in the sand. Watching the blood flow rapidly, they fled as if escaping, leaping out of the circle of fire. They found a nearby rock and hurriedly climbed up. Once on the rock, the two soldiers still seemed to be in a state of lingering fear.
I was wondering what was going on... when the situation changed!
Right there on this sandy ground, crimson blood flowed. The assassin buried inside seemed to have no strength left to move, and as the blood gradually seeped into the sand…
Suddenly, right in my line of sight, on the previously relatively flat sand, the sand began to churn and surge, and then a sandbag on the ground rapidly rose higher and higher! The shifting sands made it seem as if something was burrowing up from the sand beneath the sandbag!
Among the Black people beside Kunta, their faces all carried a hint of fear. Even on Kunta's bloated face, I saw the muscles around his eyes twitch slightly...
Finally, the sandbag rose higher and higher, appearing to be about half a meter above the ground, when finally, with a rustling sound, the sandbag collapsed! What was inside crawled out…
There was a collective gasp around me, and some of the Black people couldn't help but let out a low gasp in their native tongue.
Although I don't understand the local language, I could still make out the syllables of their pronunciation...
"Kurukaka!!"
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Terrifying Death Sentence
After the red sand at the top of the sand dune collapsed, a dense, dark mass appeared to gush out like a spring! At the same time, it emitted a chilling, rushing sound…
The black people around me seemed to have their legs go weak and their faces were pale. When I looked closely, I realized that the black, surging-like things coming out of the ground were actually a huge swarm of ants!
These ants are much bigger than the little guys I usually see! Standing on the rock and looking down, I made a quick visual estimate, and the largest of these ants is about the size of a human thumb, while even the smallest is about the size of a fingernail!
Swarms of ants crawled out of the ground, immediately forming a tidal wave on the red sand. Then they began to scatter in all directions, some rushing towards the surrounding rings of fire...
At this moment, the Black people around me all looked tense. Fortunately, the ants were startled by the surrounding flames, and the strange smell of burning dry grass seemed to have put them at a disadvantage. They quickly retreated. The ants in the field darted around in several directions, but none of them managed to break through the circle of fire…
At that moment, the assassin buried in the sand suddenly let out an extremely shrill howl!
Finally, some of the ants rushed up to him, almost without any resistance. These ants quickly crawled onto his exposed chest, neck, and head...
Suddenly, I heard a strange sound, like a child grinding their teeth. When I looked again, the poor assassin's head was covered in a layer of ants! His body, which had been like a rotten rag doll, began to struggle violently, his screams growing louder and louder...
"Could these be the man-eating ants of Africa?" I took a deep breath, and my face paled.
"These are indeed man-eating ants... but a special kind." Kunta's face was cold, a cruel glint in his eyes. "In our Tutu tribe, we call them Kurikaka... they are the most terrifying creatures. In Africa, no creature dares to mess with man-eating ants. Our warriors can kill wild beasts, but no one can withstand swarms of these man-eating ants! Hmph, these things eat everything, look..."
Kunta casually picked up a small, dry branch from beside the rock and threw it down...
The dry twig quickly fell into the ant colony and was devoured completely in almost no time! Not even a crumb was left!
The killer in the middle of the sand was no longer able to scream. But what surprised me was that the ants didn't immediately devour him; instead, they seemed to layer upon layer cover his body…
From a distance, his body appeared to be covered in a layer of dark, gooey substance, slowly wriggling... wriggling...
"Strange, isn't it?" Kunta seemed to swallow hard as well, and forced a smile: "These 'Kurikaka' are different from other kinds of man-eating ants... thankfully they are different! These things only like to live under this kind of red sandy soil, otherwise, if they would migrate everywhere, how could my army dare to stay here to mine? And even so, do you see that ditch over there? With that ditch, my soldiers will feel at ease."
"But... what are they doing now?" I looked at the person who seemed to still be wriggling.
“You…look closely.” Kunta’s facial muscles twitched, and he forced a smile.
I looked up and finally saw what was happening below. When I saw it all, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine and up to the top of my head!
The killer hadn't moved at all! The "wriggling" I saw was just ants crawling all over his body!
It was horrifying to watch. What was strange about these ants was that they weren't in a hurry to devour the person. Instead, they swarmed and crawled into the killer's body, one after another, through his mouth, nose, ears, and even eyes!
My face paled slightly, but Kunta continued to chuckle coldly, whispering, "Kurikaka likes damp places. When these ants catch their prey, they usually don't swallow it immediately. Instead, they burrow into the animal's body and start eating from... its internal organs! Hehe... And while they're eating, if the person isn't dead, they can even feel their internal organs being gnawed away by the ants bit by bit..."
I couldn't help but shiver!
Start by eating the offal...
The assassin was probably dead by now; his eye sockets had been eaten away by ants, his eyeballs had long since been devoured, and his two dark eye sockets were filled with ants desperately crawling inside...
I think I'll never forget this scene for the rest of my life! A perfectly healthy person, standing in front of such a swarm of ants...
A full minute later, I saw something even more terrifying!
The killer's corpse... his exposed skin suddenly twitched, and then... presumably because the inside of the body had been eaten by ants, countless ants suddenly crawled out from under his skin and burst out of his body!
Then the ants began to gnaw on his body.
The rustling sound... This kind of sound that would give you nightmares lasted for a full minute!
Several times I almost bent over to vomit, but I managed to hold it in. I looked at the black people next to me, and they all seemed to have weak legs.
These ferocious creatures might even dare to hunt wild animals alone... but everyone is terrified of these terrifying man-eating ants.
Soon, only a stark white skeleton remained in the sand! The ants had gnawed it cleanly, leaving not a single crumb; a nearly complete skeleton stood upright in the sand…
I swallowed hard and glanced at Kunta. Kunta licked his lips and finally waved: "Let's go!"
When we returned to camp, Kunta told me that being eaten by Kurikaka was considered the most terrible punishment by the Tutu people! Many of them would rather be eaten by lions than die in the mouths of these ants.
I understand... If you get eaten by a lion, so be it. If it bites you to death, that's fine too.
But to die at the hands of these ants... imagine, these ants don't eat their prey first... they eat the internal organs first...
In other words, when the assassin was initially being eaten away by ants, he wasn't actually completely dead yet... What a cruel feeling that must be!
Seeing that I looked a little pale, but seemed quite satisfied, he talked to me for a while longer. Finally, we signed a document I had brought, which was a document about the transfer of shares in the diamond mine.
Kunta signed the document without a second thought... which is quite normal, really. He's the local tyrant of this country; what does a document mean to him?
What about the constraints of the law? To a warlord who controls power, the law is utter nonsense! He makes all the laws!
Looking at this document/contract, I felt an urge to laugh for the first time.
Having witnessed the "Kurikaka" incident firsthand, Kunta was quite satisfied with my performance. I could sense that he no longer doubted me. However, in the end, he made a suggestion: as his "good friend," and one with whom he had sworn a blood oath, we should swear an oath according to the customs of their Tutu tribe.
I could sense that Kunta held absolutely no regard for written legal contracts. Instead, he placed much more importance on oaths and vows made in accordance with traditional customs.
I don't want to describe the oath-taking process in detail, but what made my heart pound at the end was... in the final vows, we said...
"Anyone who disobeys will be devoured to death by 'Kurikaka'!"