Chapter 2: Disaster Strikes

  This Wang fool was picked up by our village branch secretary Liu Laocong when he was cutting firewood in the back mountain, and it wasn't until he grew up that he found out he was a fool. He's always been crazy and talked nonsense, and usually doesn't say anything good. If it were usual for Wang fool to say this, everyone would definitely not care, but now something has happened on the construction site, and everyone is holding back their anger. When Wang fool shouted like this, the foreman got anxious at once.

  "Get out of here, you stupid egg! Don't come out and make a racket!" The foreman kicked Wang Dumbhead and cursed: "Get lost, you idiot!"

  Wang Dashen dodged the kick with ease, then stood aside making faces and clapping his hands in laughter. But suddenly his expression changed, and he hastily ran towards the outer circle, shouting: "They're all dead! A vast expanse of blackness! Dead, dead, definitely dead!"

  Wang Dashizi fled the construction site in a flurry, accompanied by a string of dog barks, his mouth still letting out a mournful wail like a slaughtered pig, not to mention how embarrassed he was.

  Everyone was a bit panicked when Wang said that, and they all turned their heads to look around, but the construction site was brightly lit, and there was nothing.

  "Don't just stand there, hurry up and keep digging, there are still two people buried underneath!" The foreman was relatively calm, seeing that everyone was in a panic, he shouted loudly: "What does Wang know? This is an engineering accident! Which construction team doesn't have some accidents? Hurry up and rescue them, or else they'll all suffocate to death!"

  Everyone heard the words and got busy, I also followed to dig, but at this time, I saw my grandfather squatting aside, holding an old pipe, looking at Mantou Mountain with a gloomy face.

  There was a moment when I saw Grandpa glance at me unintentionally, with an expression of wanting to say something but hesitating.

  Although Grandpa can't recognize a single character, he has been influenced by his grandfather since childhood. I think he should also understand this aspect. Otherwise, Grandpa wouldn't have led the way to stop the construction team at that time.

  I went up to Grandpa's side and wanted to ask for his opinion, but at this time, I heard someone shouting: "Found it! Found it!"

  I had been worried about Dog Egg all along, and when this man shouted, I hastily threw down the iron shovel, pushed open the crowd and ran forward.

  It wasn't until I ran over and saw what was in front of me clearly that I froze up.

  What was dug up wasn't just a person, but also a corner of a coffin.

  This coffin is also unknown what year, although only exposed a corner, but the discerning eye can see that the material of this coffin is very good, no signs of rot, and when the light flashes, it still emits a strange red glow, the paint seems to be newly applied, and for a moment, I seem to have smelled that pungent smell of paint.

  "What are you all staring at? First save the person, don't care about this coffin!" The foreman shouted loudly. Everyone looked at each other, then they all fell silent and pulled out the corpse buried in the ground.

  What was dug up wasn't a dog egg, but a middle-aged man named Old Wang. His condition was similar to Little Liu's, with a dark complexion and having been suffocated to death long ago. However, when the lower half of his body was pulled out from the soil, the person who pulled him immediately let out a loud cry of "Oh my god!" and fell onto the ground on their butt. Then, with a trembling voice, they said: "What...what in the world is going on? What kind of thing did this?"

  Because of his panic, his voice was trembling severely, and the rest of the people were also shocked, even I felt a little scared.

  This person is even more miserable than Little Liu, not only are his legs gnawed to the bone, but his belly has also been dug open, with a handful of soil poured in, and his intestines are hanging out, emitting a foul odor that's very nauseating.

  "What's going on here?!"

  "When we first came to construct, the old people in the village all said that this Mantou Mountain cannot be excavated, saying that there are mountain gods living inside, it can't be, what kind of evil thing is living inside?"

  "You guys said, this meat, won't be something eaten by things in coffins, right?"

  Everyone started discussing in a flurry of voices, and when the man finished speaking, almost everyone subconsciously glanced at the coffin, then couldn't help but shudder and move away from it.

  "Shut up, you're talking nonsense! What era is this? You still believe in that?" The foreman kicked the man and then called out to everyone: "Continue digging, there's another person below, and also dig out this large coffin!" Although the foreman said so, I could clearly feel that he was also uneasy, constantly wiping away cold sweat.

  Although afraid, people cannot give up rescue efforts. Everyone picked up their shovels and continued digging with their heads down.

  The dog egg is still buried underneath, I know that even if we dig it out, it will definitely not survive. Thinking of this makes me feel a bit distressed, and the iron shovel in my hand swings more fiercely.

  But strangely, we dug until more than five o'clock in the morning, and the sky was already thoroughly bright. Even the coffin had been cleaned up, but Dog Egg's body couldn't be found no matter what.

  This is really strange, even if you suffocate inside, there should be a corpse, but now, not even the corpse can be seen?

  Everyone started discussing the matter in a lively and disorderly manner, with all sorts of theories being proposed. Some said that Dog Egg's corpse couldn't be found because we had offended the gods, and the corpse was destroyed by the gods. Others claimed that Dog Egg's corpse was stolen by mountain spirits or eaten by little ghosts. In short, their explanations were mysterious and far-fetched, with not a single one being plausible.

  I sat on the ground, ignoring the whispers of the crowd, and stared blankly at the blood-red coffin in a daze.

  How could Gou Dan's body be gone?

  This is impossible! As the saying goes, "the living should be seen by people, and the dead should be seen as a corpse." Now, not even a corpse can be found. What's going on here?!

  At this time, a commotion suddenly broke out in the crowd. I turned my head and saw Dog Egg's wife and mother rushing over with tears streaming down their faces. They plopped themselves down on the ground and began to wail loudly.

  The father of the dog egg died early, and there was only a blind old mother and daughter-in-law at home. The family was originally difficult, and now this pillar is missing, who can accept it?

  "My son, how dare you abandon your old mother and leave just like that? You've wronged your newlywed wife, Cuihua. How will she survive in the future?" Dog Egg's mother sat on the ground, crying and beating her fists against the earth. The scene was so moving that it brought tears to the eyes of all who witnessed it.

  Everyone was silent, except for Dog Egg's mother and Cui Hua's heart-wrenching cries, which echoed in the air above the construction site. Some people who were close to Xiao Liu and Old Wang from the engineering team also squatted on the ground, wiping away tears.

  I sat on the ground in a daze, staring blankly at that big coffin, my heart unable to accept it no matter what. My best brother, just like that, was gone.

  This large coffin was only a bit bigger, and there was nothing special about the rest of it. However, when the sun rose in the east and the sunlight fell on it, my eyes suddenly caught something out of the corner of my eye - the lid of the coffin seemed to be emitting a faint glow.

  Because of the taboo, there were almost no people who dared to stay near the coffin. Seeing this, I stood up and walked towards the coffin.

  As I walked closer, I saw that on the coffin lid was inlaid a copper mirror, and it was this that had emitted the flash of light.

  And below the copper mirror, seven stars were also carved, arranged in a neat row on the coffin lid in the shape of the Big Dipper.

  As soon as I saw the Big Dipper, my heart skipped a beat, and a fine, cold feeling rose from the soles of my feet, instantly spreading throughout my body.

  This is actually the Seven Star Town's bane.

  I saw the description of this coffin in Grandpa's yellow skin notebook, which said that Qī Xīng Zhèn is a special kind used to suppress evil spirits, and it's an especially powerful one.

  Could it be that what's buried in this coffin isn't a person, but rather some kind of strange thing?

  I stared with wide eyes, a look of shock on my face, cold sweat dripping down from my forehead.

  "Yifan, come home with me!" Grandfather's low voice suddenly came out, I took a deep breath, then pointed to the coffin and trembled, saying: "Grandfather, this is..."

  "Come home with me!" Grandfather suddenly stood up and said in a tone that brooked no argument. After finishing speaking, he put on his shirt and turned to leave.

  I took a deep breath and followed him, but as I left, I couldn't help turning my head back to look at the coffin.

  The crimson coffin, illuminated by the sunlight, emitted an eerie bloody glow. It was quietly placed there, without any signs of abnormality. But I knew that if Grandfather's notes were true, then our village would be in for a great disaster.