Volume 8: A Trip to the Sick Village Chapter 355: Newly Arrived
"What are he, they... doing?!" Layton, who was standing in the distance, looked at the scene in shock and subconsciously took two steps back.
"Those they killed were all critically ill patients who didn't have much time left. Perhaps, it was to help them end their pain?" Ivan said in a deep voice.
After a while, the number of corpses on the ground increased from three to eight. Ke Lan noticed that after killing the seriously ill patients, the locals would pull out a few teeth of the dead and put them in their pockets. As a result, the faces of several corpses were smashed into a bloody mess, and some corpses even had their entire jaws pried off by steel pipes. Those people used concrete blocks to knock the teeth off the gums one by one, and then put them in their pockets as if they were treasures.
"Why do we collect the teeth of the dead? Is this some kind of custom in the 'sick village'?" Ke Lan was very puzzled. These dead people were all severe patients of radiation sickness. Their bodies were a high-intensity source of radiation pollution, and the bones and teeth on the bodies had radiation intensity that was no less than those dangerous high-purity radioactive ores.
In the old era, man-made radiation contamination accidents often occurred: due to negligence at work, some highly radioactive metal waste or raw ore was sent to the garbage disposal plant as ordinary garbage, and was picked up by scavengers and taken home as "treasures". As a result, within a few days, the scavenger and his family began to experience symptoms of dizziness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, followed by anemia and skin ulcers ... By the time they realized something was wrong and rushed to the hospital, the medical technology of that era was already too late to save them.
The actions of these sick village residents were almost the same as the "suicidal behavior" of the scavengers in the old era. Ke Lan really couldn't understand their purpose.
But on second thought, since these people can live in the "sick village" for a long time, their body structure must have undergone indescribable mutations. Maybe they are not afraid of this little radiation like myself?
Or maybe, not only does radiation not cause any harm to them, but it can also be the source of their power?
Although the second guess is exaggerated, it is not without reason. The essence of radiation is a kind of energy, but the human physiological structure cannot absorb this form of energy for our own use...but this is only for humans.
For example, there are many indigenous creatures on Alpha that prefer to stay in areas with strong radiation. For them, radiation is not a threat, but an extremely valuable "nutrient". The more radiation they absorb, the stronger they become.
If the human body mutated into this appearance, then the strange behavior of these people would not be difficult to explain.
But if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem right. If the purpose was to obtain radioactive materials, why not leave the complete skeleton and collect a few teeth instead of focusing on the main thing?
Is this really just a custom with no practical significance?
At this time, those people had lined up the corpses in a row, and the guy with a huge tumor on his back, who used his hands and feet, slowly crawled to the front of the row of corpses, stretched out his withered palms, and gently stroked the top of each corpse.
"This man seems to be the leader of this group of guys?" Ke Lan stood behind the other miners, observing everything silently.
"My fellow countrymen, your miserable life ends here. You will no longer suffer, nor will you feel hungry. This is the end, but also the beginning..."
Ke Lan was slightly startled. What was going on? Reading a eulogy?
His voice was as hoarse as a bellows with a hole in it, and as harsh as two pieces of rusty iron rubbing against each other, but no matter how unpleasant the sound was, Ke Lan could feel the piety in it... This kind of emotion is difficult to fake. A charlatan and a fanatical and devout believer, even if they recite the same prayer, the listeners will have completely different feelings.
"Your flesh and blood will return to the body of the great god and become a part of His body. This is a great honor..."
Hearing the words "Great God" coming out of that guy's mouth, Ke Lan's eyelids jumped involuntarily, and he immediately focused his attention on the two "missionaries" with tattoos on their bodies, but he found that these two people were also staring at the guy who was muttering to himself with a strange look on their faces.
"Great God" is the unique name used by the followers of the heretical sect to refer to the "God" they believe in. It is obvious that this guy with a tumor on his back should also be a member of the heretical sect.
Moreover, it seems that he should at least be a "priest" type of character.
Was the "Sick Village" completely under the control of a heretical sect? If so, why didn't the two "missionaries" who sneaked into the miners reveal their identities to them?
Moreover, judging from the facial expressions of these two people, it seems that they don't quite understand the local people's actions.
Could it be that the heretical sects were also splitting up? Just like the Christianity of the old era, although both believed in God, there were great differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. Not only were the hierarchy and titles of the clergy completely different, but even the doctrines, concepts, and some religious rituals were very different.
In the early years of Protestantism, not only did the two sides not recognize each other, but there were also frequent bloody conflicts between believers, quarrels, fights and even murders, and many religious wars broke out between countries with different beliefs. It was not until the 20th century that the conflicts between them gradually eased.
Could it be that the "heresy sect" in this sick village and the "heresy sect" on Alpha also have such a relationship?
They all believed in that "great god", but did not regard each other as "their own". It was for this reason that the two "missionaries" chose to do the same as Ke Lan and his friends and hide themselves among the miners?
Ke Lan felt that she was very close to the correct answer. Even if she didn't get it all right, at least she had guessed most of it.
The entire "memorial ceremony" lasted about ten minutes. After the last sentence of the eulogy was finished, the "priest" with the huge tumor on his back raised his head with some difficulty and looked at Ke Lan and the other newcomers.
His face was very old, with almost no fat and muscle under the skin of his cheeks. At first glance, he looked like a skinny skeleton. On his bald head grew scabies that were enough to drive a trypophobic patient crazy. His two cloudy gray-yellow eyeballs were embedded in deep sunken eye sockets, and the edges of the eye sockets were covered with cracked lines like dried bark.
He didn't look like a human at all, but more like a ghost - this was Ke Lan's first impression of this "priest".
