Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner

Chapter 40

After hanging up the phone, Qin Ge remembered to ask He Lan why she had come. When he called last night, He Lan was still at home in another city. He Lan casually said that she had taken a taxi back overnight. Qin Ge knew that she was preoccupied with the case and couldn't stay at home. She wanted to say something to her, but for a moment she didn't know what to say. In the end, she could only say lightly, "So you weren't idle last night either."

"Ma Nan has just disappeared like this. Isn't he in a very dangerous situation now?" He Lan was still thinking about Ma Nan's disappearance.

Qin Ge was also heavy-hearted. The Ba people had actually kidnapped Ma Nan right under his nose. But one thing he was certain of now was that the Ba people weren't in a hurry to kill him: "If the Ba people wanted him dead, they wouldn't have made things so complicated. First, they set up a secret room in Xu Wen's house, then they left behind that Ba totem pattern representing Fuxi, and finally, they even planned to separate Ma Nan and me on the Star Platform. Ma Nan and I analyzed it before we went to the Star Platform. Perhaps Ba Rong left some clues about the treasure, and the Ba people did this just to get Ma Nan to help them find it. Now that I think about it, something seems off. If that totem pattern was a clue to the treasure, then it pointed to the Star Platform, and the Ba people had already set up a trap there, clearly having deciphered the meaning of the pattern."

Qin Ge shook his head, his face full of doubt: "Could it be that my analysis with Ma Nan was wrong?"

“Maybe there’s no treasure at all,” Helan said. “The Ba people did this simply to avenge their dead kin. You know, some criminals make sure to torment their victims before killing them. Especially serial killers, their psychology is mostly different from that of normal people.”

“The Ba people have come all the way from their homeland to us. If they want revenge, they only need to go find Ma Nan and Chu Yan. Why do they have to kill so many unrelated people?” Qin Ge shook his head. “Although some of the Ba people have lived outside for many years, I really can’t connect people from an ancient tribe with those perverted killers.”

"So what should we do now?" Helan asked.

Qin Ge hesitated for a moment. The priority now was to find the Ba people and rescue Ma Nan as quickly as possible. But there seemed to be no clues at all, except for the woman on the small boat.

"Chu Yan!" Qin Ge said heavily, "Now, we can only hope that Chu Yan will wake up soon. Perhaps she can provide us with some clues about the Ba people."

"What do the Ba people look like, and how are they different from us Han people?" Helan asked again.

“I heard Ma Nan say that apart from their two blue pupils, they are no different from us.” Qin Ge sighed. “Moreover, their deceased leader Batu led a group of his people to the outside world more than 20 years ago. After all these years, we probably wouldn’t recognize them even if they were standing right in front of us.”

Helan remained silent for a long time, thinking about the stories of the Ba people that Qin Ge had once told her. Although those stories were so close, they still felt as distant as those fantastical myths and legends.

When she wanted to ask Qin Ge something else, she saw that Qin Ge had already closed his eyes and was snoring softly.

That afternoon, the woman who had been taken to the First People's Hospital of the city for treatment finally woke up. The police officers waiting outside immediately notified He Lan in their team. He Lan pushed open the door to Qin Ge's office and saw him still in the same position, lying on his back on the sofa, fast asleep.

Helan hesitated for a moment, but still went forward and woke him up.

Qin Ge, his eyes half-closed, heard that Chu Yan had woken up and immediately sat up. In an instant, the world spun around him, and he groaned softly, clutching his head before collapsing back onto the sofa.

He Lan shouted repeatedly, and people rushed in, quickly carrying Qin Ge downstairs, into a car, and heading to the hospital.

In the car, Helan touched Qin Ge's forehead and felt it was very hot.

Act 4 Murder Game

Chapter 25

Many years ago, a woman became pregnant but fell seriously ill and died before giving birth. In his grief, her husband resolutely ordered her abdomen to be cut open and the child removed. The child shocked everyone present; its entire body was wrapped in a dry, thin membrane, and apart from two nostrils, its facial features were completely obscured; even its fingers and toes were fused together. Some people advised the husband to abandon the child. The man locked himself and the child in the room all night. The child cried incessantly, and the father remained lost in thought. When the father emerged with the child at dawn the next day, most of the membrane had been torn away, revealing the child's facial features, separated fingers and toes, and even its cries were much louder.

The child survived, but was born exceptionally ugly. He had no hair, and his skin was so white it was almost translucent, revealing the veins beneath. When the child turned one year old, his father named him "Qi".

He is Baqi.

In ancient mythology, Qi was the son of Yu, the hero who tamed the floods. Legend has it that Yu's father, Gun, stole "Xirang" (a type of soil) from the heavens to control the floods on earth. Xirang was a kind of soil that grew indefinitely; it appeared as a single piece, but if a small amount was thrown out, it would multiply and eventually form dikes. However, just as Gun was about to succeed in controlling the floods, the Heavenly Emperor learned of his theft of Xirang. Enraged, the Heavenly Emperor sent a celestial being to kill Gun at a place called Yushan. Although Gun died, his spirit did not dissipate, and his body did not decay for three years. Upon learning of this, the Heavenly Emperor sent another celestial being to cut open Gun's body with a "Wu knife." From his belly emerged a dragon, which flew into the sky, landed, and transformed into human form—Yu.

Yu inherited his father Gun's will to control the floods and save the people. At the age of 30, he married a woman named Nüjiao. Yu was busy with flood control and had little time with his wife, so Nüjiao asked him to take her with him. Yu agreed. Later, when they reached Yuanshan, Yu transformed into a black bear to carve a cave in the mountain to divert the floodwaters. Just then, Nüjiao brought him food. Seeing the bear, she turned and ran away in fright. Yu heard his wife's voice and chased after her, probably trying to explain something, but forgot to transform back into human form. The couple, one after the other, somehow ended up at Songgao Mountain, which is now known as Songshan. Seeing that she couldn't escape, Nüjiao transformed into a stone, remaining silent no matter how Yu called to her. Yu was both angry and anxious, and finally shouted at the stone, "Return my son!" And so, "the stone broke open in the north, and life began."

This is why Batu named his son Qi. But Batu forgot that the legendary Qi later obtained the heavenly music "Nine Arguments" and "Nine Songs," and from then on became addicted to sensual pleasures, becoming licentious and unrestrained. He eventually angered the Heavenly Emperor, and not long after his death, his five sons started fighting amongst themselves, which led to the world being taken over by Hou Yi, the king of Youqiong, and the Xia dynasty being interrupted for hundreds of years.

Ba Qi often felt powerless, fearing that he would follow in Xia Qi's footsteps and fail his father's expectations.

Besides his striking appearance, Baqi displayed exceptional intelligence from a young age. After Barong betrayed the tribe and stole its treasure, Batu soon followed, leading a large group of his people to the outside world. Baqi was still young at the time, so Barong arranged for him to attend a school outside the tribe. Baqi was a loner, rarely interacting with his classmates, spending his days solely on reading and writing, and later finding genuine enjoyment in books. However, at the age of 17, he tragically suffered an accident that left him disabled in both legs. At the time, Batu was still searching for Barong, so he sent someone to bring Baqi back to the Ba tribe's territory.

After Ba Rong's death, the decline of the Ba tribe was inevitable, and Ba Qi, who had previously been engrossed in books, had to step forward. But now, Ba Qi had some doubts about whether he could fulfill his father's last wish, retrieve the sacred artifact, and bring prosperity back to the Ba tribe.

He sat in his wheelchair, unable to recall how many days he had been inside this secret chamber. He had experienced countless bouts of chest tightness, shortness of breath, and even dizziness. He didn't know how long this condition would last, whether Han Shan could truly find the sacred object, and what to do if he couldn't.

"Could the sacred object really be that important to the Ba tribe?" he wondered.

This thought terrified him; he knew he was going against the wishes of his ancestors. But once the idea took hold, it wouldn't leave him. He now only hoped it would all end quickly. Regardless of whether he could retrieve the sacred artifact, he wanted to return to his clan's land and start a new life with the remaining members of his people.

Of course, he also needed to bring back the souls of his deceased clansmen. Only when their souls returned to their homeland could they reunite with their ancestors and together protect the clansmen and bring them peace and good fortune.

Now, as Baqi looked at the monitor in front of him, his thoughts had already drifted across mountains and rivers back to his clan's territory.

On the monitor, Yang Zheng slowly walked out of the room.

Yang Zheng felt like he had slept for a long time, dreaming of many things, but when he woke up, all he remembered was that warm seawater, both dark and bright. This time, he was the only one in the sea, so he slept soundly.

When he woke up, he knew why even his dreams were so quiet.

Because he had killed two people in one night. Now, he didn't even know whether it was himself or another self lurking within him that was killing, but one thing he was certain of was that after the killings, he slept soundly and woke up feeling refreshed and relaxed. This frightened him, making him afraid that he might become addicted to this feeling.

The door was open, so naturally, he walked out.

As soon as he stepped into the circular corridor, he sensed something was amiss. Walking forward, he noticed another door nearby was also open. He hesitated, for just moments before, he had entered that open door and, inside, had ended a man's life with a hammer and chisel.

He was somewhat flustered—the last vestige of fear of killing also gave him a strange sense of joy—he didn't want to see another person tied to a chair in the room.

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly thought, could it be Yang Mei in the room? He had already killed that person as the executioner had ordered, and perhaps the executioner would let Yang Mei return to his side.

When Yang Zheng reached the door, he immediately realized he had guessed wrong. There was no bayberry in the room, nor was anyone tied to a chair.

There was a bed in the room, and a man was lying on the bed, motionless, as if he were still asleep.

As Yang Zheng slowly walked over, he saw the man's face. He was certain he had never seen this man before, but for some reason, he had a strange feeling that there should be some kind of relationship between him and this man.

Why is this man here? Was he also abducted by the executioner?

Yang Zheng became wary, because he realized that among the killers, there must be others willing to be the executioner's accomplices, and perhaps this man was one of them. Furthermore, what had happened to him might happen to someone else. Could this man, like him, have once worn the executioner's mask and killed people?

Just as Yang Zheng was lost in thought, the man on the bed suddenly opened his eyes. Both of them were startled; Yang Zheng took a step back, while the man sat up.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Seeing the man's blank expression, Yang Zheng concluded that he, like himself, had no idea what had happened. Relieved, he said calmly, "Just like you, I don't know where I am either."