Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner - Chapter 63
It seems that Han Shan took the police into consideration when planning all of this. Therefore, he must have been certain that the police wouldn't discover his whereabouts.
Ma Nan's thoughts returned to the most fundamental question: Han Shan went to great lengths to find Ba Qi in the Ba tribe's territory, meticulously orchestrating all these events, ultimately leading to Ba Qi's tragic death. What was Han Shan's most direct purpose in doing this? And what necessary connection exists between this and the Ba tribe's sacred object?
Ma Nan's gaze swept across the altar, quickly settling on Ba Qi's corpse. Ba Qi's body was the most gruesome, torn in two by Yang Zheng. Ba Qi's face was now even more hideous; no wonder he wore a bronze mask. The bronze mask stood not far from the corpse, seemingly silently watching its owner.
Ma Nan's eyes darted around again, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.
He discovered that something was missing from the altar: the most sacred ritual artifact of the Ba tribe mentioned in Ba Rong's will. Just moments ago, it was still turning in Ba Qi's hands, but now it was no longer on the altar.
—The Fuxi Ram Horn Pillar!
There is only one possibility for its disappearance: the last remaining Ba people took it before they slipped away.
Ma Nan was suddenly startled. He seemed to have guessed Han Shan's purpose in planning these events, which was perhaps for Ba Qi's Fuxi Ram Horn Pillar.
Just then, Helan's voice rang out from above; she had finally arrived with the police.
His name was Wu Zhen, and it was he who, without warning, killed two of his own clansmen.
Not long after the incident, he began to regret it. Even now, as he hides in a small, secret room, he can't believe he actually did it—killed his brother, who was like a brother to him.
He now understood why Barong had gone so far as to kill the guardian deity of the sacred object, risking enmity with the entire tribe, to steal it. Before today, when he thought of Barong, he felt the same burning hatred for him as the other tribesmen. Now, he had become just like Barong, killing his own people for the same reason—the tribe's sacred object.
For the Ba people, sacred objects are only taken out during festivals, or when offering sacrifices to heaven, gods, or ancestors. Otherwise, they seem to have no connection to their daily lives.
Wu Zhen thought that, in fact, the Ba people's lives would not change at all even without the sacred object.
But if you bring it to the outside world, it can fulfill almost every dream a person wouldn't even dare to dream of. Wuzhen's biggest dream was to marry a beautiful girl from his tribe, but in reality, that girl already had someone she loved and completely ignored his feelings for her. He originally thought he would never be able to realize this dream in his life, until he came to the outside world with Baqi and moved into this building.
That night, he suddenly woke up and found a woman sleeping next to him.
He saw that the woman was more beautiful than any woman he had ever dreamed of.
Later, the woman told him how prosperous the outside world was and how people lived there. Actually, even without her saying so, he had already been influenced by what he saw and heard during his time away from his tribe and was filled with longing for the outside world.
Finally, the woman said that their tribe's sacred object could allow him to live as happily as a god in the outside world.
What is the life of God like? He began to indulge in his fantasies—to do whatever he wanted and get whatever he desired, which was the answer he came to by exhausting his imagination.
Of course, there were also women. The women of the outside world were many times more beautiful than the girls in his tribe. They had soft skin, fair cheeks, and alluring figures. They could also dress themselves up beautifully, and the fragrance they exuded when they stood next to you would make your soul swoon.
He suddenly realized that the tribal land where he had lived his whole life was so unbearable to him.
He longed to live in the outside world.
At this time, Han Shan found him, and without much hesitation, he betrayed his tribal chief, and of course, himself.
Now, he had finally accomplished what Han Shan had entrusted to him: killing his own companion and taking advantage of the chaos to retrieve the Fuxi Ram Horn Pillar that Ba Qi had dropped. Now, hiding in the dark room, he felt no joy at his success; on the contrary, the fear in his heart was even deeper than before the murder.
He suddenly had a bad feeling, that he would never get what he wanted.
He began to miss the girl from his tribe again. Although her skin wasn't as fair and delicate, and she didn't have that pleasant fragrance, every time he looked at her from afar, a feeling of happiness would well up in his heart.
He knew he would never have that opportunity again.
Suddenly, he caught a faint scent, which reminded him of the woman who had appeared in his bed in the middle of the night. But this was a dark room, and he had already closed the door; how could the woman's fragrance have gotten in?
He quickly realized he was wrong; the fragrance had nothing to do with women.
That's the aroma that comes from the dried grass of the Ba ethnic group, which is burned after being dried.
Fear washed over him, and he knew what the scent of Xuncao meant to him at that moment. Xuncao was originally only found among the Ba people, but it was he who had recently handed it to Han Shan.
He will never have the chance to experience that fear again.
His body slowly fell down, and he slowly closed his eyes. The image of the girl from the tribe also slowly disappeared before his eyes.
Chapter 38
Qin Ge offered to have someone drive Ma Nan back, but Ma Nan refused. The police remained in the Duguang Building; they had much to do. Besides investigating the crime scene, they needed to conduct a thorough search of the building for the escaped Ba ethnic minority man. Furthermore, the investigation into Han Shan was immediately launched, searching for any clues about him, which was crucial to completely solving the case.
When Ma Nan walked out of the building, he greeted the police officers guarding outside and then stood by the roadside to hail a taxi.
He felt exhausted and all he wanted to do was go home and get a good night's sleep. In less than two days, he had already started to miss Hongmian and Xiaotong. Of course, besides the mother and daughter, there was another person he really wanted to see at home—Chu Yan.
The driver's phone rang, and he chatted and laughed with the person on the other end while driving. After a while, he put down the phone, turned to look at Ma Nan, and said with a hint of excitement that he was getting married soon, so he needed to work harder every day to lay a solid foundation for the future.
Ma Nan congratulated him, then hesitated for a moment before asking if he could borrow the driver's phone. The driver readily handed him the phone.
The call connected, and Hongmian's voice came from the other end. At that moment, Ma Nan suddenly felt that all his hard work had paid off, because after going through so much, he could still hear Hongmian's voice and return to her side.
“I’m on my way home, it will take about 20 minutes to get home,” Ma Nan said in a relaxed tone.
"Is everything over?" Hongmian's voice still held a hint of worry.
Ma Nan hesitated for a moment, but still said in a very firm tone, "Don't worry, it's all over."
"Xiaotong and Chuyan are both asleep. If they knew you were coming back tonight, they would definitely be waiting for you."
"It's alright, they'll see me when they wake up tomorrow anyway." Ma Nan smiled. "It's really something to be happy about that everyone is safe this time."
"All I hope for now is that we can continue to live peacefully like this," Hongmian said.
With every second the car traveled forward, the distance to home shortened by one point. Ma Nan suddenly felt that being on the way home was a truly wonderful thing, especially when your beloved family members were waiting for you at home.
Hongmian sat leaning against the headboard, her heart finally at ease. During the two days Ma Nan had been away, she had suppressed her worry and tried her best to appear calm in front of Xiaotong. Chu Yan's arrival yesterday had reassured her considerably; since the Ba people had spared Chu Yan, they certainly wouldn't harm Ma Nan either.
Now, Ma Nan is on his way home, and all his worries and fears have vanished in an instant.