First Chapter 39: Qiu Shu
Qin Yiheng has been smoking since he finished speaking, probably wanting me to digest it. We were both silent for a while. I analyzed it a little in my mind and barely understood what he meant. However, there were too many mysteries, and I still couldn't figure it out after going around in circles. Just sitting there made my head even more confused, so I stood up and strolled a few steps to change my mind. Suddenly I remembered that Qin Yiheng mentioned that there was something on the wall here, so I scanned it with a flashlight. Sure enough, someone really wrote a few lines of numbers on the wall with a marker. I have never had any talent for mathematics. After taking a closer look, I felt that these numbers did not have any special pattern, and they did not seem to be calculated. I was a little puzzled, and I lowered my head to think about it. I always felt that there was something wrong with these numbers.
I asked Qin Yiheng what he thought. When he heard my question, he stood up and came over to me, saying that he had just hurriedly written down these numbers and didn't have time to think about them carefully. It seemed that they were left by the person who came in before.
He had no idea, let alone me. I could only sit down and wait for the daybreak. I looked at the watch. It was already past 4 a.m., and it would be dawn soon. I was really tired after waiting until this time. I felt a little sleepy as soon as I sat down, but suddenly an idea flashed through my mind. I seemed to know what the numbers on the wall meant. Thinking of this, I suddenly became alert. The numbers on the wall were not calculation records at all, but time.
I stood up and looked at the numbers again. The more I looked at them, the more I felt that my guess was correct. Although I couldn't match all the numbers, some of them were definitely time. In our daily life, when we record time, we usually add a colon between the hours and minutes. These numbers are written very compactly, and there is no colon, so it is difficult to associate them with time at a glance.
I immediately told Qin Yiheng my inference, and he nodded quickly after listening.
Now, although the numbers on the wall have some clues, I compared them and found that only some of them can correspond to the time, and the other numbers are still elusive. In this situation, I didn't have the energy to think about it anymore, so I took out my mobile phone from my bag, intending to write down the numbers and wait for dawn. Just when I wrote down half of it, I heard Qin Yiheng say "Hey" behind me. I turned around and saw him shining a flashlight on the corner of the wall, as if he had found something. My mind was confused for a moment, and I remembered that there was someone outside the hole before. I was so busy thinking that I overlooked such an important thing. I quickly scanned the three holes with the flashlight. It was pitch black outside, and I didn't see any human figures. I looked carefully and found that Qin Yiheng had been shining a flashlight on an object in the corner.
This room is not big, but I still can't see it clearly at first glance. I didn't notice it when I came in just now, and I don't know when it was put here. But the last time I came to this room, I looked carefully and the room was definitely empty. Could it be that someone came after we left? Was it Yuan Zhen?
I asked Qin Yiheng a question, but he ignored me and walked towards the thing cautiously. I saw that he seemed quite nervous, so I followed him with a flashlight. After walking two or three steps, I found something like a round tripod in the corner. It was not very big and seemed to be similar to the one found on the roof of the village chief's house.
I asked Qin Yiheng, how did this thing get here? He looked back at me, shook his head, then walked to the object, took a look, and suddenly shouted, Damn, it's Qiu Shu!
I was startled by his shout. Although I am a typical layman when it comes to alchemy, I have fought with him for so long that I have learned a little bit from him. Qin Yiheng had even told me about this enemy before, so my scalp went numb when I heard him say that.
Qin Yiheng said that the so-called "enemies" are a general term for things that can "hinder people". This "hinder" is similar to "control", and we often confuse them in daily life, but strictly speaking, they are two different things. Simply put: "hinder" comes from the outside, such as a person's appearance. And "control" comes from the inside, mostly due to the eight characters of birth and the five elements of fate. There are many things that can "hinder people". The famous one is the saying that Lu Ma hinders the master in the Three Kingdoms period, and "hinder" is not limited to animals or even living things. Trees, objects and even certain actions of people or animals can actually be regarded as "hindering people". In many places, there is still a saying that children who cry often are hindering people. China is vast, and customs vary from place to place, so the understanding of "hindering people" is not unified. For example, in many places, it is believed that a dog with a uniform color and four white feet will "harm people". If a female dog gives birth to such a puppy, all four feet will be chopped off and buried in four corners of the house to ward off evil. A cat with a uniform color and a white tail tip will also "harm people". The method is the same as for dogs. The chopped-off dog feet and cat tails are called "Qiu Shu".
Qin Yiheng had told me about all kinds of Qiu Shu, but the scope was so wide that I only remembered a few of them. Now when I heard him talking about it, I hurried over to take a look. I was surprised to see that the cauldron was filled with something, quite full, but I couldn't tell what it was at first glance. I asked Qin Yiheng, is this Qiu Shu? Why does it look so strange?
Qin Yiheng said "hmm" and told me that it was full of human nails, all plucked from fingers . I immediately gasped. Although the tripod is not big, it is only about the size of a fingernail. The whole tripod is about to be filled. How many human nails are there in it? Where the hell did they collect them from?
Qin Yiheng said that these were the nails of the dead. If you know a crematorium employee or something, it is actually very easy to collect them. Now, the biggest question is, why is this tripod placed here? As he said this, he squatted down and turned around to check it out, then looked up and told me that this was the one we found on the roof of the village chief's house before, there was no escape.
After saying that, Qin Yiheng stood up and scanned the entire room with a flashlight, and continued: "This dead person's nail is a kind of enemy. Leaving it at home will bring bad luck. It's piled here like this. Nothing special has happened yet, but we still can't stay here for long. We have to leave early."
I was quite happy to hear him say that he was leaving the ancestral hall. It was really depressing to stay in here, and I just wanted to find a place to have a good sleep. So I ran to the corner to get my backpack, and just as I put it on, I heard the faint sound of the iron chain coming from outside again.
I immediately looked at Qin Yiheng, who had obviously heard it as well, frowning. I asked quietly, "I've heard this sound before. Could it be that someone else has climbed in through that iron gate?"
But he shook his head, and then his face suddenly changed. He shouted at me, "This is a fucking group of prisoners strung together by collarbones with iron chains. Put the bag under your feet quickly and don't let it touch the ground, otherwise we'll be dead!"
After saying that, before I could react, he spit blood all over my face. I was already in a panic, and he spit out blood, which made me even more confused. Looking at Qin Yiheng, I guess he was also very anxious and didn't have time to consider the strength. He bit the tip of his tongue too hard, and now blood is all over his chin! I knew that this matter was really troublesome, even he started to hurt himself! I quickly stepped onto the backpack.
Our backpacks are outdoor brand products, and the quality should be good, but my bag is not full. When I stand on it, it barely touches the ground, but in fact, the thinnest part is only two layers of cloth. Now I am even more nervous. I don't know if this counts as leaving the ground. I see Qin Yiheng is still rummaging around in the bag. The air is so oppressive that it makes people feel suffocated, because the sound of the iron chain is getting closer and closer to me!
I was afraid that Qin Yiheng didn't hear the sound of the chains approaching, so I didn't care about anything else and just shouted, "Qin Yiheng! What are you looking for?"
He didn't turn around, but just looked for things more quickly, throwing them all over the floor. Ten seconds later - these ten seconds seemed too long - he turned around, and I saw that he was holding a string of firecrackers in his hand, and shouted at me: "Lighter!"
I quickly searched my pockets, but I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. I searched for a long time but still couldn't find it. Qin Yiheng got anxious and his voice was almost a roar. Damn, why is your bag so deflated? Didn't I tell you to stand higher?
I said, there's nothing in this fucking house, where do you want me to stand?
While we were talking, I had already found the lighter and threw it to him. He took the lighter and immediately told me to lie on his back and remember to lift my feet. I had no choice but to jump behind him in two steps. He exerted force and carried me on his back.
Qin Yiheng's physique is not strong, and I am not a very thin person. He can stand up for a while, but it would be difficult to stand for a long time. I don't know how long it will take to deal with that Yin prisoner. Anyway, according to the current situation, it is estimated to be very difficult.
Qin Yiheng told me to close my eyes. If there are ghost messengers escorting ghost prisoners, anyone who sees them will die soon! Damn it, it was Qiu Shu who led them here. Someone wants to kill us!
After saying that, Qin Yiheng began to move towards the corner step by step. I couldn't see because I closed my eyes, but my sixth sense told me that something was about to enter the room! This feeling of oppression was too strong, stronger than any time I had ever experienced before, and it scared me so much that I wanted to pee my pants. However, I suddenly remembered that he asked me to lift my feet and close my eyes, so what would he do? Damn, is he going to die with the other party?
I quickly asked Qin Yiheng what to do next? He didn't answer. I clearly felt the whole room suddenly get colder. This coldness didn't seem to be brought by the skin, but a chill that came out of my heart without any warning. I wanted to say more, but my butt was pushed against the wall. It was quite painful, and I cried out "Ouch". Qin Yiheng suddenly told me to stretch my legs, I will push you out of the vent, and then I will reach out and you pull me out!
Straightening your legs is easier said than done. I used all my strength and used my waist strength to stretch my legs as far as possible, and tried to find the hole with my feet. When I did this, Qin Yiheng's body shook and he couldn't hold on. I panicked even more. The more panicked I was, the harder it was to find the hole. I hesitated for half a minute before I finally found the hole. I said something to Qin Yiheng , and he leaned back and pushed me into the hole.
Fortunately, the hole was not too small, so the process of getting out was relatively smooth. When I stepped onto the ground outside, I was almost soaked with sweat. I didn't know if it was because of the fear or the exhaustion from the effort. However, I didn't have time to rest. I quickly reached out to pull Qin Yiheng, but he didn't extend his hand as agreed.
I thought to myself: "Don't let anything happen to you. If you stay in there, I will probably feel guilty for the rest of my life." I quickly shouted inside, asking him to come out. He did respond, but still didn't move. I could only hear his messy footsteps, and I didn't know what he was busy with. I was really anxious, but I couldn't help. This feeling of helplessness was really uncomfortable. I wanted to squat down and take a look inside, but I was afraid that I would be tricked.
After waiting for a long time, I heard Qin Yiheng shout my name, and then his hand stretched out from inside, and then the sound of firecrackers in the house crackled. I quickly pulled him out. As soon as he stood still, he immediately turned around and spit out a mouthful of blood into the hole, without even taking a rest, and told me to follow him.
We ran all the way, I can't remember how far we ran, but fortunately there were no potholes along the way, so I didn't sprain my ankle. Finally, when it was dawn, he waved and said we could stop, and we collapsed on the ground gasping for breath. I asked Qin Yiheng what he had done in there just now, he almost made me die of anxiety.
He took a few deep breaths before saying that he wanted to come out immediately, but he had to bring out the notebook with the numbers on the wall in his bag. After that, he spat out a few mouthfuls of bloody saliva and told me that it was fortunate that it was almost dawn today, otherwise we would have been in great danger. After that, he stretched out his hand to show me, and I realized that one of his hands had been blown up horribly, probably because he had been holding the firecrackers.
