On the way out of the village chief's house, Tang Yao saw no one following her and looked at Ling Yun out of habit.

However, after noticing that Erika was following the other party, she opened her mouth, but ultimately did not say anything. After confirming that no one was following her, Lin Yuanqi broke the silence and spoke: "Have you ever felt that Village Chief Li There is a big problem with you."

"No, according to what he means, the ancestral hall is an important place in Guxun Village. Even the villagers can't get close to it easily. Now he lets us go there by ourselves, but doesn't send anyone to follow. Isn't it contradictory?"

Zhao Sicheng sneered and said: "I think there must be a ghost in this!"

Shen Tinglan looked at the ground around him, thoughtfully. Since it was the flood season, it was rainy in the mountainous areas, and the ground was muddy and wet: "This is the only road leading to the ancestral hall in the village. These footprints on the ground are still very fresh now. They should be the first ones just now." Left by people from District 5. But besides that, there are many shallow and messy footprints around. These should be left by the villagers when they walked through here a few days ago."

"After our journey along the way, and yesterday's search, we can confirm that there are no weddings, funerals, birthdays or other ceremonies to be held in this village in the near future. But if nothing happens, the villagers will not come here at ordinary times. Combined with what Ling Yun just asked the village chief about sacrificial matters, The other party’s ambiguous attitude…”

Su Li said firmly: "Not long ago, they held a ceremony to worship the river god. Then, the coffin of the girl who died in vain was parked in the ancestral hall to be worshiped."

"I just noticed that when the village chief mentioned the ancestral hall, the expressions of the villagers were very unnatural." Shen Tinglan said: "That was not anger caused by outsiders offending the ancestral hall. In my opinion, it was more like A fear."

"That's right." Ling Yun, who had been silent just now, finally spoke.

Recalling the village chief's secretive attitude when discussing with the villagers when his group first entered the yard, he already had an idea in his mind.

If outsiders break into an important place like the ancestral hall, the first reaction of the village chief and villagers will be to expel them. Probably because there is still information to be asked for later, District 5 has not shown its true strength. He simply threatened the village chief.

In this case, why didn't the village chief and others resist? When Zhao Sicheng violated the village's taboo, those people had the courage to fight against him, but why did they all shrink back when it came to matters related to the ancestral hall?

Judging from the above signs, something strange must have happened in the ancestral hall before the players arrived in the village.

It is precisely because of this that everyone, including the village chief, keeps this secret. Even if outsiders break in, even if it offends their ancestors, they do not dare to approach the ancestral hall.

Although everyone knows that going to the ancestral hall may mean encountering new risks, and the fifth area is also there; but the clues in their hands are too fragmented and difficult to connect together, and they cannot crack the truth without going to the ancestral hall for verification.

Ten minutes ago.

"Captain, there is no suspicious atmosphere inside. You should be able to go in." Park Minjun looked at the ancient Chinese-style building in front of him and raised his hand to take back the shadow owl hovering in mid-air.

This is the ancestral hall mentioned by the village chief. It is located in an open flat land, surrounded by bamboo forests, making it extremely quiet.

Zhao Zhengxun nodded, and then, a man and a woman beside him walked quickly to the door of the ancestral hall. One of the muscular men grasped the iron lock on the door bolt, and exerted force on his arm. There was a "click" sound, and the iron The lock broke with a snap and fell to the ground in two halves.

The thick and simple elm door was pushed open in response. There was also an inner door inside, one large and one small. The small door barely reached Zhao Zhengxun's waist. If it hadn't been opened from the ground, at first glance, it would have seemed...

Just a window.

Han Xianzhen pushed open the small door and asked curiously: "Strange, why are there two doors here?" She didn't want to bend down and get in, so she quickly closed it and followed Zhao Zhengxun into the ancestral hall through the door.

Being Koreans, they naturally don't know. In the old days, the concept of hierarchy was very strong. Only men could go through the main door, while women and children could only go through the side door.

Looking around, a simple plaque caught Zhao Zhengxun's eyes. There were four words on the plaque: Li's Ancestral Hall. The writing was vigorous and powerful, like flowing clouds and flowing water, and it looked particularly solemn against the green walls and black tiles.

There are six stone pillars lined up on both sides of the courtyard. Strange patterns are engraved on the pillars. Due to the age, the specific details can no longer be seen clearly, but the outlines can be vaguely recognized.

In the courtyard are four corners of the sky surrounded by tiles, and plaques are hung above the dormitory. The dormitory is the most solemn place in the ancestral hall, displaying the Li family's ancestral tablets, and is also the place where the clan members kneel and worship.

The area of ​​Li's ancestral hall is not large. It is a two-entry ancestral hall, mainly composed of the ancestral gate and the dormitory. The two sides are connected by corridors, and the middle is the foyer.

The sight of Zhao Zhengxun and his party was attracted by a dark coffin parked in the foyer from the moment they entered the ancestral hall.

In the dim dormitory, candles burned quietly. Funeral cloths were hung on the surrounding stone pillars, and black and white mourning scarves and soul-calling flags fluttered strangely with the cool breeze. The weak candlelight swayed, making the center of the hall even more apparent.

The coffin was strange and permeable.

There were two paper figures standing on each side of the coffin. The pale faces of the paper figures were smeared with bright red rouge. It was clearly daytime, but after entering the ancestral hall, everyone felt an indescribable sense of tranquility in their hearts.

weird.

In the procession, a middle-aged man wearing silver-rimmed glasses walked around the coffin, walked to the stone pillar, and looked at it carefully. The man looked gentle and had the air of a scholar.

He stretched out his hand to rub the stone pillar and murmured: "This seems to be a kind of snake totem. In Chinese mythology, the creation gods Fuxi and Nuwa also have human heads and snake bodies, and snakes are also regarded by them as the incarnation of dragons.

"The snake had a very high status in ancient China, and the ancients would regard it as a symbol of the gods."

"Captain, I remember that there seems to be similar graphics on the stone pillars in the temple on the mountain." A female player named Jin Suyan in the team spoke.

"Snakes are obviously the incarnation of the devil. How can any nation worship these things as gods? It's really stupid and ridiculous." The previous muscular man was named Jiang Taiyu, and he was a fighting maniac who believed in force. He sneered,

"I'm very surprised why they parked the coffin here. There should be a corpse in it, right?" Liu Xiuna said.

"Maybe it's some strange custom in this village." Jiang Taiyu said in a rough voice.

Zhao Zhengxun simply walked around the dormitory. He stretched out his hand and rubbed the stone pillars one after another. After finding nothing, he slowly walked to the coffin.

"Captain, do you want to open it?" Liu Chengyou, the middle-aged man who had previously analyzed the stone pillar totem, spoke cautiously.

Among everyone, he is the one who knows the most about Chinese culture. Before entering space, he was a professor of modern history in the history department of a university in South Korea.

"In China, there is a saying that the dead are the most important and should be buried in peace. Opening the coffin means disrespect to the deceased and will disturb their rest and soul."

Liu Chengyou said cautiously: "This place seems a little strange. I think it is necessary to go back to the village chief's house and ask him clearly. Then I will bring him here and force other villagers to open the coffin. This should be safer."

"Brother Chengyou, you have too many worries. Are you questioning my ability?" At this time, Park Minjun on the side showed a dissatisfied expression, pointed at the coffin and said: "I just asked Ying Xiao to detect it.

Yes, this ancestral hall is normal and there is no breath of cursed spirits."

"Open the coffin." Zhao Zhengxun made the decision simply and neatly.

The deceased has been buried, and seven nails have been driven into the coffin. It is difficult to open it without tools.

Jiang Taiyu squeezed his joints until they crackled, walked to the coffin, and held the coffin lid with both hands. He let out a low voice, and steaming white gas came out from all over his body. Not only that, a layer of skin grew on his skin.

Black stubby mane.

Along with this change, Jiang Taiyu's already strong figure swelled twice, with veins crisscrossing like tree roots floating on the surface of his arms.

"Click——"

Along with the sound of wood breaking, gaps began to appear under the coffin lid.
Chapter completed!