Chapter 62.2
Everyone was surprised, what was this plot development?
Yu Fuling frowned and moved her fingers. The next second, a silver flash flicked out from her fingertips and rose into the sky.
Xiao Tangqiu was shocked. At this moment, everyone, including him, looked at Yu Fuling. She turned her hand and took out another silver trinket.
Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look and realized that it was a small silver bug that looked a bit like a seven-star ladybug, but the idea was quickly overturned.
This silver bug was obviously not a bug because the next second, a faint sound came out from the âmouthâ of the bug.
ââ¦mother! Sorry! I canât do it! I still canât do it!â
Xiao Tangqiu reacted instantly, this was a gadget similar to a monitoring device!
Everyone elseâs expressions were calm and seemed used to this. He silently looked at Tang Mianmian and Shen Yuan. Except for the blank expression on Shen Yuanâs face, Tang Mianmian was also stunned. He felt relieved.
It wasnât just him that had never seen the world!
No wonder Yu Fuling always seemed to know the area, she had such an artifact! â¦Was this a special prop?
Xiao Tangqiu thought for a while, then quickly perked his ears and looked forward.
Although the audio and video were a bit out of sync, the information was still clear!
âMother, Iâm sorry! Iâm sorry!â The man wept and kept apologizing as if doing something extremely unfilial.
The old woman was facing Xiao Tangqiu and the others so they could see the indignant expression on her face, ââ¦Taro! How can you be so weak!â
âSorry! I canât do it! I canât do it!â The man wept loudly and hugged the grandmaâs thigh.
âTaro! Donât be cowardly! You canât be cowardly!â The old lady was very agitated and her wrinkles seemed to be rippling with agitation. âThis had been the tradition of our Hundred Ghost Town for hundreds of years. It canât be given up! Hurry! Get me back to the Holy Mountain! Just like you did that day! â
âMother! I canât do it!â
The old lady scolded, âWhat did I teach you when you were a kid? Did you forget what I said? Are you no longer listening to me!â
âBut mother⦠I canât do it!â
âI told you from young that when I got old, you must carry me to the Holy Mountain. For hundreds of years, everyone in Hundred Ghost Town has done thisk2026; Your father, your grandpa, everyone! Thatâs the way it is!â The old lady was frantic. âWill you let other people in the village make fun of us and say that we donât follow tradition? Say that the mother didnât teach the child anything? â
The man cried bitterly, âBut I canâtâ¦â
âHave you forgotten how your father carried your grandma to the Holy Mountain?â The old lady glanced down at the son hugging her thigh, and her tone suddenly calmed, filled with kindness and love, âThis has been our Hundred Ghosts Townâs tradition for hundreds of years. I have told you since you were a kid to eat well and become strong so that when you grew up, you would have the strength to carry me to the mountain⦠This day is finally here. Taro, look at yourself. Itâs fine even if you are so thin, but how can you be so weak?â
The man shook his head frantically, âBut⦠butâ¦â
âDidnât you do it that day? Today you just need to act like that dayâ¦â The old lady gently comforted her son, âI will stay on the Holy Mountain forever and bless you with the mountain G.o.d â¦â
The man struggled for a while and suddenly cried, âThere are no mountain G.o.ds on the mountain, only wolves!â
The old ladyâs expression suddenly changed and she slapped her son. âShut up! How can you offend the mountain G.o.d?â
The man covered his face and cried, âMother! Letâs leave here! Letâs leave Hundred Ghosts Town! I heard that there is no such tradition outsideâ¦â
âShut up!â The old woman glowered, âYou canât leave Hundred Ghosts Town! No one can leave Hundred Ghosts Town! As long as you enter Hundred Ghosts Town, you can never leave!â
The man shook.
The old ladyâs tone gradually calmed down again, âI met your aunt Junko that day and she wore her favorite kimono⦠Ichiro was braver than you even as children. When can you be brave like Ichiro? â
The conversation between the two came to an abrupt halt. After a while, the man slowly picked up the humpbacked old lady and climbed up the mountain with difficulty.
The setting sun, originally hanging on the mountainside, gradually descended.
The scorching sun stained this hill called Holy Mountain red.
Xiao Tangqiu looked at the mother and son in front of them silently, his heart like a stormy sea.
Although he already had a vague idea, after knowing the truth, he was quite shocked⦠It turned out that this Hundred Ghosts Town had such a strange and terrible tradition!
âf.u.c.k! So much information!â
Tang Mianmian was also stunned.
âTheyâre going up the hill, hurry and follow.â
Xue Junliâs expression was heavy.
With that order, the group immediately followed.
This time they didnât need to worry about losing them. Hiking was already a strenuous task, not to mention that the man was carrying an old lady on his back, he was faltering and had difficulty moving forward.
The crowd followed not too far or close. The people ahead climbed too slowly and they had to slow down the pace of following. They even chatted because they were too bored.
Tang Mianmian turned his head and asked Xiao Tangqiu, âQiuqiu, what do you think of this?â
Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a moment and replied, âActually, I have heard of similar customs and traditions beforeâ¦â
Tang Mianmian was immediately curious, âOh? What about?â
Xiao Tangqiu said, âI heard that there used to be a poor, small mountain village. The whole village was very poor so they would carry the elderly who could no longer work up the mountain and let them survive on their own to save on food and let the young people liveâ¦â
Tang Mianmian was stunned, âf.u.c.k! Isnât that abandoning the old? They can just watch their parents die?â
Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, âFor them, this should have become a tradition? They have abandoned their parents, but they know that they will also be abandoned by their children in the future. Their parents were sacrificed and at the same time they will be sacrificed for their children in the future.â
Tang Mianmianâs mouth twitched, âWhat kind of f.u.c.ked up feudal and barbaric tradition is this? Even the poorest shouldnât do this! Whatâs the difference between this and personally killing their parents?â
Xiao Tangqiu nodded, âThis custom was too strange so I remembered it after one look. Compared with the
era of trading children for food
âs simple and crude cruelty in the
1980s and 1990s
, this peaceful cruelty⦠seems crueler.â
Duan Hongzhen came over and interjected, âWhatâs going on with that mountain G.o.d? Is there really a mountain G.o.d in this d.a.m.ned place?â
Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, âI donât know. Maybe itâs a local legend. Perhaps the ancestors of Hundred Ghosts Town made up the story that there is a Holy Mountain near the village in order to disguise and beautify their actions of abandoning their elderly. Since there is a mountain G.o.d on the Holy Mountain, they werenât abandoning the old, they were sending the old to accompany the mountain G.o.d. The old people sent to the âHoly Mountainâ will protect their children and grandchildren with the mountain G.o.d and bless this Hundred Ghosts Townâ¦â
Tang Mianmian snorted immediately, âIf I were an elderly sent to this deserted area, I would never bless my rubbish offspring and that s.h.i.+tty Hundred Ghosts Town! You killed me and even want my blessing?
Peh
! You wis.h.!.+ I will curse you to die an ugly death! â
Xue Junli sneered, âAre the old people sent to the mountains really innocent? Havenât they abandoned their parents before?â
Tang Mianmian was struck dumb, Xue Junliâs words really made sense⦠Those old people who were abandoned on the âHoly Mountainâ, each of them once carried the old people from their home to the âHoly Mountainâ and abandoned them.
Were those old people innocent? No, as long as they were villagers in Hundred Ghosts Town, no one was innocent. They used to be young and once were the young people who carried their elderly to the hills. And now, the young people who carried them to the mountains would also grow old sooner or later and become the next old person to be carried uphill.
Although they had not stained their hands with blood, they had still fallen into the quagmire of sin, and each of them was a part of that cycle of sin.
No one was innocent.
Even that grandma was not innocent. She had witnessed the death of her grandmother and mother and thus benefited. She survived eating the food saved by her elderâs âself-sacrificeâ, and now it was her turn. She became this âself-sacrificingâ person.
Did she really want to die?
It probably was not the case. Everyone was afraid of death, but she knew that if she didnât do this, the food at home may not be enough and her son may starve. The worst was to become ânon-traditionalâ and being punished for challenging the authority of tradition.
Everyone was silent. Xiao Tangqiu was lost in thought. The man was still climbing up the mountain with his mother on his back not far away. He was exhausted and still didnât stop. He didnât seem to dare to stop. Maybe he was afraid that once he stopped, he would never have the courage to carry his mother on the top.
The old lady was so relieved that she sometimes wiped the sweat on her sonâs face with a sleeve.
The sky was getting dark and the two of them were getting closer to the peak of the hill.
The manâs steps were getting heavier and slower and the old lady suddenly spoke again, âWeâre about to reach the top of the hill, Taro is indeed my good sonâ¦â
The man gritted his teeth and said nothing.
âIn the future, once mom is gone, Taro needs to take good care of himself, eat on time, and wear more clothesâ¦â The old lady was like an ordinary mother about to go on a long journey, telling her son to wear more clothes to eat more.
Xiao Tangqiu was also feeling down. He couldnât help but think of his mother and Meng Xingheâs mother⦠Thinking of this, he couldnât help but look at Shen Yuan and saw that Shen Yuanâs gaze was heavy and thoughtful.
His heart suddenly jumped, âShen ⦠Shen Yuan, did you think of something?â
T/N: To clarify, the idiom and the reference to the 80s, 90s are two separate situations. The idiom just means âlife situation being so devastating that people will even go to the extent of selling and eating their children just to surviveâ. The 80s, 90s thing refers to a series of investigations and reveals that happened in the 80s and 90s regarding the Cultural Revolution in China where itâs discovered that there was an area where people were encouraged and threatened into cannibalizing others in order to show loyalty to the revolutionary cause. Itâs suspected that thousands of people partic.i.p.ated in this in the Guangxi Province in southern China in the late 1960âs.
You can read it in more detail here.
WARNINGS FOR DETAILS OF RITUAL CANNIBALISM AND GENERAL INHUMANE ACTIONS!!
Donât read the article if you might be sensitive to the topic!!!