Uncanny Valley - Chapter 27
"Look, I found another one. This should be a human thigh bone, right?" Yue Dongbei said loudly, holding up a long bone. "There are many bones scattered on the ground. It seems that Li Dingguo did not bury his fallen subordinates properly."
"Here, let me see." Luo Fei took the leg bone from Yue Dongbei, scratched it with his fingernail, and then nodded in satisfaction. "It's still very soft."
"Now we can be pretty sure that this is a highly acidic land?" Yue Dongbei still had some unanswered questions. "Why is this the only piece of land like this in this vast forest?"
Luo Fei smiled and said, "The answer lies in the folk song that High Priest Sotulan just sang."
While Luo Fei and the others were discussing bone calcium and soil, Sotulan hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise. Now, hearing Luo Fei suddenly mention him again, he gaped in surprise and asked, "You mean, the war of the demons?"
Luo Fei shook his head: "It has nothing to do with demons. Your ancestors simply witnessed a small geothermal eruption and then added their own imagination to turn it into a folk song."
Sotulan didn't quite understand what Luo Fei was saying, but Zhou Liwei and Yue Dongbei immediately grasped it.
“Yes! Yes! Thick smoke is billowing from the cracks in the ground, and scorching demon blood is flowing on the earth... This is indeed a sign of geothermal activity.” Zhou Liwei said repeatedly, “Absolutely right, this conjecture is very reasonable.”
"The so-called 'fiery demon blood' should refer to hot springs," Luo Fei further explained. "Some hot springs are highly acidic, which is why this soil is acidified."
"I see," Yue Dongbei said sincerely. "To find such an important clue from folk songs and legends, you have the qualities of an outstanding historian. It's a pity you're just a police officer..."
Luo Fei ignored the other man's remark, as he was intently staring at the leg bone in his hand, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, he looked up and said, "Mr. Yue, what you said before now seems to have some issues."
"Before? What did you say?" Yue Dongbei scratched his head blankly, clearly finding it difficult to keep up with Luo Fei's agile and leaping thoughts.
"These bones were scattered on the ground not because Li Dingguo failed to properly bury his dead subordinates, but because someone later dug them up."
Bai Jian'e had been silent for a long time, but upon hearing this, he seemed unable to suppress his curiosity any longer and interjected, "How did you know that?"
Luo Fei held up the leg bone and showed it to everyone: "Look, there are impact marks on the bone, right here. This should have been left by a digging tool like a shovel. Of course, it's common for soldiers to have bone injuries during war. However, if someone is hit by a sharp weapon before death, the bone would definitely break due to its hardness at that time. This bone only has a deep mark, and it's bent and deformed at the mark, which is only possible if calcium is lost and the bone softens. Also, can't you smell the strong putrid odor from the bone? This means that these bones haven't been exposed to the air for very long."
"Indeed, I smelled it just now, but I didn't think much of it." Yue Dongbei shook his head. "So, the bones were only recently unearthed?"
Luo Fei pondered for a moment: "It won't be very close, at least before the beginning of spring this year. Because this batch of 'blood flower' clusters is intact and shows no signs of being excavated or damaged."
"Who dug that up? And why did they dig up these bones?" Yue Dongbei stared intently at Luo Fei, hoping he could unravel all the mysteries.
However, Luo Fei was just a mortal. After thinking for a long time, he finally shook his head and said, "I can't answer these questions right now."
“Whoever did it, it is a grave disrespect and desecration to the deceased,” Sotulan said solemnly. “Lo, if the person we are chasing isn’t here, then…”
The high priest stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. He looked up, his face filled with astonishment. Not only him, but Luo Fei and the others also changed their expressions drastically, turning their gazes to the distant hillside.
A mournful howl came from that direction!
The mournful howl, filled with despair, hatred, and pain, echoed through the valley amidst the continuous cold rain, only gradually subsiding after a long while. Hearing this howl, everyone felt as if their hearts had been scratched by sharp claws, a piercing and extremely uncomfortable pain.
Just as panic was setting in, Dilga suddenly raised his hand, babbling incoherently. Immediately afterward, the muscles on Bai Jian'e's face twitched, and he said in a trembling voice, "It's him, he's over there!"
Following the direction Dilga pointed, everyone saw a man dressed in black standing in the wind and rain about four or five hundred meters away, near the top of the hillside. The howl from earlier must have come from him.
Luo Fei felt a chill run down his spine as a vague fragment of his memory was awakened. Although the person was far away and the rain was heavy, making it difficult to discern their features, he still strongly felt that this was the mysterious black figure that had appeared in his terrifying illusion!
Yue Dongbei clearly shared the same feeling. He stood there, stunned, muttering to himself, "It's him. He's watching us. What does he want?"
After a moment of silence, Bai Jian'e suddenly let out a desperate laugh, then said in a sinister and helpless tone, "He's admiring his prey. We're all his prey! Just like the current situation, everything is under his control."
The shadowy figure stood atop a raised earthen ledge, giving him a commanding view of the entire valley and an imposing presence. Everyone in the graveyard felt a strange pressure as a result.
Luo Fei was the first to regain his senses. He pointed to the earthen steps and said to Sotulan, "High Priest, please take us to that place quickly!"
Sotulan shared the same thought, and said something to Dilga. Dilga gritted his teeth, brandished his scimitar, and charged forward first.
The group followed closely and soon left the graveyard, entering the jungle once more. Now, due to the obstruction of the trees, the view above the hillside was no longer visible. Led by Dilga, who was familiar with the terrain, they hurried towards the earthen steps.
Although the journey wasn't very long or the terrain wasn't steep, traversing the dense forest still required some effort. About ten minutes later, the group finally arrived at their destination: a protruding earthen step.
But now, the place was empty, and the dark figure from before had vanished without a trace.
Seeing this, Dilga didn't linger. He turned and walked in the opposite direction from the raised earthen steps. Sotulan followed him, saying to Luo Fei and the others, "There's a cave over there. Let's go take a look."
Sure enough, after walking more than ten steps, a cave about three meters wide appeared in front of them. The entrance was mostly hidden by dense branches and bushes, and it was really hard to find unless you got close.
"This cave was dug by Li Dingguo back then. It served as his command post during the battles against the Qing army," Sotulan explained briefly about the cave's origins.
Luo Fei, however, was more concerned with other matters. He stopped Dirga, who was about to rush into the cave, and pointed to some vines near the cave entrance. The vines were tangled and showed signs of being trampled, indicating that someone had just entered and exited the cave.
Dilga became more vigilant and slowed his pace. Luo Fei followed closely behind him, forming a protective stance. Just as the last two Hamo warriors were about to follow the others into the cave, Sotulan instructed them, "You stay outside and wait; don't come in."
The two responded, each holding a knife, and stood on either side of the cave entrance.
Since this wasn't a naturally formed rock cave, the floor inside was still soil, feeling soft and damp underfoot. After only a few steps, the already faint forest light completely disappeared, leaving the cave pitch black. Fortunately, Luo Fei and the others had portable flashlights with them, which came in handy at this moment.
As the flashlight beams illuminated the cave, the group was finally able to glimpse its interior. The cave wasn't large, only about five or six meters deep, and it was completely clear at a glance: there was no one else there.
Luo Fei suddenly thought of something and called out, "Everyone, don't move." Then he shone his hand on the ground in front of him, revealing some footprints.
Although the footprints were messy, it was clear that they were left by one person. Luo Fei squatted down, roughly measured the size of the footprints with his hands, and said, "This is a strong man. He should be over 1.8 meters tall."
The cave was empty, with nothing much to see. Zhou Liwei and Yue Dongbei then shone their flashlights on the ground, and soon, some unusual things appeared in the beams.
Two or three meters away from the group, a large pit appeared in the ground. The soil around the pit was loose and messy, obviously it had just been dug out.
Dirga cried out in surprise, seemingly quite startled. Luo Fei alertly raised his head, his gaze barely leaving the footprints before spotting a pit not far ahead.
"What's going on?" Luo Fei asked in surprise, turning around to look at Sotulan behind him.
Sotulan's face was ashen, his expression extremely grave. Luo Fei had never seen him behave like this before, which meant that the appearance of this pit must mean that something very unusual had happened.
"What's wrong?" Luo Fei asked again, emphasizing his words.
After a long pause, Sotulan finally spoke slowly: "This place was originally supposed to be a tomb."
Upon hearing this, Luo Fei and the others felt a chill run down their spines when they looked at the pit again. The shape of the pit vaguely resembled the form of a human figure. What could this mean?
"A grave? Whose grave is this?" Luo Fei's mind raced, and he immediately grasped the crux of the problem.
Sotulan gave a wry smile: "The Hamo people all know that this cave is where the 'devil' Li Dingguo is buried."
"Li Dingguo?" Luo Fei and the others exclaimed in surprise at the same time.
Sotulan nodded: "After the high priest sealed Li Dingguo's blood, he specially buried his body in this cave alone and also placed a corresponding curse."
"There's never been any record in any historical materials about where Li Dingguo was finally buried. I never expected to make such a significant discovery today!" Yue Dongbei excitedly rubbed his hands together, but then a regretful expression appeared on his face. "How come Li Dingguo's remains are missing?"
Indeed, the grave has now been dug up, leaving only an empty pit.
"He took the dead people from the cave? What is he trying to do?" Luo Fei frowned, as if talking to himself.
Sotulan sighed deeply and walked out of the cave, with Dirga following closely behind. A short while later, Zhou Liwei and Yue Dongbei also grew tired of the dark and gloomy environment inside the cave and left one after the other. Only Luo Fei remained in the cave, meticulously searching bit by bit, hoping to find some valuable clues.
He even turned over the newly piled soil next to the pit with his bare hands. But apart from footprints, he found nothing else in the cave.
When Luo Fei emerged from the cave covered in mud, Sotulan was sitting cross-legged under a large tree, his eyes fixed on the distance ahead, as if he were in deep meditation.
Luo Fei stepped forward and followed the other's gaze. He saw a withered, dead tree trunk lying among the bushes, which was the very tree that had attracted the attention of the Hamo tribe's high priest.
"High Priest, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Sotulan's solemn expression, Luo Fei asked very carefully in a low voice.
Sotulan's eyes flickered slightly, as if he had broken out of his reverie. Then he leaned over, picked a mushroom from the dense growth of fungi on the dead tree, and handed it to Luo Fei.
"Luo, death does not mean the end. On the contrary, it is the beginning of another cycle." After a long while, he met Luo Fei's surprised gaze and said quietly.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Siege
"Perhaps the grave wasn't dug up by someone!" Yue Dongbei was a man who couldn't keep his thoughts to himself; once he had an idea, he immediately blurted it out. The group returned to the Hamo people's village in the afternoon. After eating a little something, Luo Fei and his companions parted ways with Sotulan and the others, then went to their temporary lodgings to rest.
However, the experience in the Valley of Fear that morning left everyone on edge, each lost in thought, until Yue Dongbei broke the silence. Luo Fei and the others immediately focused their attention on him, their expressions puzzled, not quite understanding what he was trying to say.
"You probably all think that the dark figure dug up the grave and took Li Dingguo's remains. But I have a bold idea, though, hehe, you'll definitely find it hard to accept."
Zhou Liwei glanced at him: "Alright, stop being so mysterious. Haven't you had enough of your unacceptable ideas already? One more won't make a difference. Just say it."
Yue Dongbei lowered his voice and said in a deliberately mysterious tone, "The appearance of this mysterious black shadow and the disappearance of Li Dingguo's remains are actually the same thing?"
Although Yue Dongbei took a roundabout approach, Luo Fei, quick-witted as ever, immediately grasped the subtext in his words. He grinned and said, "This... is too absurd, more absurd than all your previous strange academic works."
“But I have my reasons.” Yue Dongbei, unwilling to see his conjecture easily dismissed, explained impatiently, “Look, this shadowy figure appeared only a few days ago, and Li Dingguo’s remains also only recently disappeared. The timing of the two matches up. More importantly, besides Li Dingguo himself, I really can’t think of anyone else who could know so many hidden secrets. The blood trap in the Rain God Temple, the strangely appearing handwritten notes, the skinning and stuffing of herbs, the throat-slitting torture, the warning formed by centipedes on the stone wall, including leading us to the cemetery this morning and then reappearing outside the cave—didn’t you feel it? He’s almost walking towards us step by step, following the footsteps of history. And all of this happened after the curse of the blood vial was broken. As a metaphysician, I can’t help but make the following connection: This shadowy figure is none other than Li Dingguo, the 'demon' who has been reborn in blood, burning with the flames of revenge!”
Perhaps because Yue Dongbei's final conclusion was so bizarre, Zhou Liwei not only did not refute him this time, but instead smiled and said, "So you mean that Li Dingguo crawled out of his grave?"
Yue Dongbei responded to Zhou Liwei's teasing with a serious expression: "This is not a joke. There are many legends about resurrection in both Chinese and Western history and culture. Do you think these legends are all unfounded? At least in this field, I have done much more research than you have."
"Alright." Luo Fei waved his hand, easing the tense atmosphere between the two, then looked at Yue Dongbei, "Didn't you see those footprints?"
"Footprints?" Yue Dongbei blinked. "...You mean the ones in the cave?"
“Those are size 42 hiking boots. The tread pattern on the sole is smooth and clear. In some places where the soil is soft, even the logo in the center of the sole is still there—Nike. And it’s 90% genuine. Do you think these are the shoes Li Dingguo would wear?” After saying this, Luo Fei smiled slightly. “Sometimes, careful observation is much more important than rich imagination.”
"Nike?...Is that really true?" Yue Dongbei awkwardly touched his nose, defeated. "Then who is this person? He couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, could he? And why would he take Li Dingguo's remains?"
Luo Fei remained silent; these were precisely the questions he had been pondering but had yet to find answers to.
A moment later, Zhou Liwei said, "Although this person is mysterious, he has finally revealed himself to everyone and left some traces. It's a pity that we were so close today, but we still couldn't catch him. I wonder where he's hiding now?"
Bai Jian'e sighed leisurely: "Don't worry about that. Even if we can't find him, he will find us again."
A strange chill spread through the small house with these words. Luo Fei got up and walked to the window, gazing into the distance. In the cool breeze and cold rain, the mountains stretched endlessly, lush and verdant, teeming with life in their tranquility. Yet, in his current state of mind, this beautiful, ink-painting-like scenery brought a feeling of suffocation and oppression.
Looking at the mountain peaks, Luo Fei recalled the scene in the cemetery where the dark figure stared at everyone. "He" looked down at everyone from his high position. Although they were so far apart, a terrible resentment and hatred still pressed down on them with his gaze. Under that gaze, everyone in the cemetery had nowhere to hide. They were like naked children, completely defenseless and powerless to resist.
The atmosphere seemed calm throughout the day, but Luo Fei had a strong premonition: a terrible crisis was brewing. How should he deal with it?
The crucial point is that he still doesn't know who that mysterious opponent is or what "he" wants to do.
"The truly dangerous knife is one whose blade you can't see." Luo Fei recalled what he had said to An Mi last night, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
As evening approached, the rain gradually subsided. Luo Fei wanted to take a stroll through the village, but considering the language barrier, he asked Bai Jian'e to accompany him so that they could have a translator.
The two left the house and strolled freely through the village. At this time, many villagers also came out to do their own thing. They all seemed to know Bai Jian'e well, and often took the initiative to greet him and bow, speaking to him with great respect.
"Chief Bai, it seems you enjoy high prestige in the Hamo tribe's villages," Luo Fei said with a smile.
Bai Jian'e chuckled and said, "Our two villages have been on good terms for generations, and the Hamo people all know that our Bai family are descendants of Bai Wenxuan."
“That’s right. The Hamo tribe should always have a grateful heart towards the Bai family.” Luo Fei nodded with emotion. Speaking of this topic, he suddenly remembered something and said, “Chief Bai, since you are a descendant of Bai Wenxuan, there is a question that you should know the answer to.”
"What?" Bai Jian'e stopped and looked at Luo Fei tentatively.
Luo Fei cut to the chase and asked, "Why didn't Li Dingguo kill Bai Wenxuan back then?"
Bai Jian'e turned his head and looked at the majestic mountains in the distance. After a long silence, he said with great emotion, "In the eyes of the Hamo people, Li Dingguo is undoubtedly a demon. But in Mi Hong Village, Li Dingguo is still revered as a hero, even a god, for generations. Alas, in a person's life, right and wrong, merit and demerit, are often intertwined and difficult to distinguish..."
As Bai Jian'e's thoughts return, let's also take a look at what exactly happened between Li Dingguo and his trusted general Bai Wenxuan, who betrayed him, before Li Dingguo's death.
...
The Hamo assassination attempt had succeeded, and the area around Terror Valley was filled with the sounds of battle. The combined forces of Qing soldiers, Burmese, and Hamo attacked from three directions.
Outside the central command tent, located in the heart of the military camp, the area was deserted, with only Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan facing off.