Chapter 43: The Punishment of Lingchi

  Won't it be a vengeful spirit? I couldn't help but shiver with a chill, and when I looked closely, I found that the face of the person who came was extremely terrifying. Anyone who saw him for the first time would think he was an evil ghost from hell.

  It's actually Uncle Gaba with a tattooed face!

  Uncle Gaba didn't sleep all night, so why did he appear in the empty grassland at the village entrance when everyone had left?

  He came before I could think twice, a face uglier than ugly under the candlelight radiating an otherworldly glow. "What's wrong?"

  "Little brother, little brother has been taken to the stone house by the village chief!"

  Gaba Uncle is the only person in this village, apart from Little Brother, Eighth Grandfather and Sister, who has had dealings with me. Although he has a strange temper and I don't particularly like him, at this moment, seeing him suddenly gives me a feeling of seeing a close relative.

  Ga Ba's expression was not as cold as before, but instead he let out a deep sigh. "I know what happened tonight, some things are really beyond our control... It's already very late, you should follow me back to the Medicine Pavilion."

  "But? What about him?"

  "Isn't the execution by lingchi scheduled for tomorrow morning? There's still a whole night ahead, can't you let him eat and drink and get some rest?"

  What does he mean by this? Can one night's time change Xiao Ge's fate of being executed with zero knife cuts and minced meat?

  I followed Gaba uncle out of the empty lawn, leaving this place where news was changing rapidly, and my heart still had lingering fears.

  The quiet forest path, the cold moonlight filtering through the mottled leaves shone on me and Gaba uncle's body, stretching our two silhouettes very long, like two evil spirits lurking in the dark of night!

  I remembered that so many people had died in this strange village without any police intervention, and I couldn't help but ask, "Ga Ba uncle, there's something I don't understand?"

  "What's wrong?" Gaba Shu asked as he slowly turned his head around.

  "Let's put it this way, there have been several deaths in your village one after another. Tomorrow morning, the young man will be cut into pieces with a knife again. Why haven't you reported to the police? Is there no king's law in the village?" I was afraid of provoking the tattooed monster in front of me, so I tried to tone down my voice.

  Gaba uncle looked at me as if he didn't recognize me and replied, "How did you get this idea? In our village, the village chief and village rules are the law, one or two people die, as long as the village chief doesn't report it, everyone won't say anything, where do we need to report to the police?"

  His words left me speechless, if that's the case, then it's indeed not necessary to call the police. My god, the villagers in this village can't be described with just the words "ignorant" and "foolish"!

  Ge Ba and I returned to the medicine hut, roughly ate something, and let me sleep early. But how could I fall asleep? The desperate and helpless expression of Xiao Ge kept appearing in front of my eyes.

  Little brother, will he really die tomorrow? Won't there be any variables? He wants me to leave the village early tomorrow morning, how can I just leave like that? Even if he is really executed by lingchi tomorrow, I'll just take a look from afar and see him off, it's worth it for our brotherly bond.

  I made a decision, no matter what danger there is, I will absolutely not leave the village tomorrow morning.

  I tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep, staring blankly at the first rays of sunlight that shone into Old Man Gaba's pharmacy at dawn.

  I got up early, but found that Uncle Gaba got up even earlier. When he saw me walking out, he handed something to my hand and said in a low voice, "Take it with you, just in case!"

  I took it and found that it was a delicate and small dagger, much smaller than the machete I hid behind my back yesterday, convenient to carry and hide on my body.

  This tattooed freak actually cared about me and he also guessed that I would definitely not leave the village early in the morning to go to the gallows to send off my little brother.

  I put the dagger into my pocket and said, "Thanks, Uncle Gaba!"

  Gaba's uncle had no expression on his face and replied coldly, "Don't thank me, if you want to thank someone, thank the young man!"

  "Thank you, little brother?" Little brother is almost dead, how can I thank him.

  Gaba nodded, "Little brother's friend is also Gaba's friend. So I have a duty to protect your safety!"

  "Did you say that? You're Xiaoge's friend?" I was somewhat surprised. Because when Xiaoge sent me to the pharmacy for treatment twice, Gaoba Shu clearly had a very cold attitude towards Xiaoge.

  "Yes." Gabba uncle replied while packing things, "Some friends don't need to be close in words, but in heart. I and Xiao Ge are that kind of friends who know each other's hearts!"

  "Since you're as close as liver and gallbladder, can live or die together, why don't you think of a way to save Little Brother?" I grabbed Ga Ba's shoulder with one hand and exclaimed excitedly.

  Uncle Gaba gently pushed my hand away, saying indifferently, "Don't get excited, maybe things will turn around?" As he spoke, he stopped his movements and looked out towards the medicine hut.

  What is he looking at? Is he waiting for someone? I was stunned, and then I saw Gaba had already put on his usual medicine box and said to me, "Let's go, we have to hurry to the execution ground. According to village rules, 7 o'clock in the morning is the auspicious time for execution. If we're late, we might not see Xiao Ge!"

  He said this and made me anxious, I quickly replied, "Alright, let's hurry up and go!"

  Uncle Gaba is actually a friend who shares the same liver and gallbladder as Little Brother, this is something I didn't expect. Looking at him like this, maybe he's thinking of ways to save Little Brother too, my heart suddenly ignited with a glimmer of hope.

  When Old Man Gao led me to the execution ground where I was almost burned to death by a big fire, the platform was already surrounded by a sea of villagers.

  The villagers' eyes had a cruel excitement in them, which made me feel terrified.

  Uncle Gaba stopped me in the crowd and said in a low voice, "You stay here, don't move, I'll be right back!"

  I nodded in response and then saw Old Gaba disappear into the crowd with his medical box on his back.

  Where did he go? I didn't even have time to react, when a dull and drawn-out drumbeat suddenly came from the gallows, giving me quite a fright. I hastily looked up at the gallows.

  On the gallows, several old men wearing clothes I had never seen before held bone clubs and struck a few copper drums with force. The drum sound was different from others, emitting a unique resonance of metal, sometimes crisp and sometimes dull, as if it could penetrate people's hearts.

  Behind the copper drum stood dozens of monsters, each with an ugly face, as if their faces had been ruined by sulfuric acid, holding knives and swords in a menacing manner.

  This scene shocked me, isn't it just about cutting Xiao Ge into pieces with a knife, why make such a big fuss?

  A villager next to him suddenly said to another villager, "This punishment of lingchi was used by my grandfather's generation sixty years ago. I didn't expect it to be useful again after a cycle of sixty years."

  "Yes, I originally thought that the village would no longer use the punishment of zero knife fragments, nor would it use this heavenly net ritual to send prisoners on their way, but unexpectedly, all were used today."

  Two old men seemed to want to say something else, when suddenly someone in the crowd pointed towards the southeast direction of the gallows and shouted, "Look quickly, the prisoner is being brought over!"

  My heart skipped a beat, and I looked in the southeast direction to see that the young man was being escorted by several burly men, with Village Chief Dai Yongguo and Yang Zheng walking alongside.

  The young man's face was deathly pale, the long hair on his forehead hung limply beside his ear, and a faint trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. What had happened to him? Had he been subjected to cruel torture in the stone hut where he was being held overnight by the village chief? Hadn't the village chief instructed Yang in front of all the villagers to prepare a good meal to send him on his way?

  My heart feels like it's been stabbed with a sharp knife. It turns out that this village head, who is as sweet as honey on the surface but actually treacherous and deceitful, must have had a different plan in mind when he let my little brother suffer last night!

  The young man was quickly dragged onto the gallows and tied to the wooden stake that had once held me. His eyes were vacant, but he seemed to be searching for something in the crowd.

  I know he must be looking for me! Is he hoping I left the village early as he instructed, or is he hoping I'm among this crowd of onlookers to catch a last glimpse of him?

  I didn't know, but tears silently flowed down from my face.

  After a sudden burst of gongs and drums, the group of old men wearing strange costumes walked down from the gallows. Only Xiao Ge, the village chief, Yang Zheng, and the four bare-chested strongmen remained tied to the wooden stakes on the gallows.

  I was shocked to find that the Gabba uncle who had just said he would be back soon was now standing on the gallows, his ugly face showing no expression.

  The village chief turned his back to the crowd, took a sharp knife from a burly man's hand and said in a low voice to Xiao Ge, "Xiao Ge, I'll ask you one last time. Do you want to die quickly or follow the village rules?"

  The young man suddenly lifted his head, the good-looking long hair in front of his forehead was suddenly thrown to one side, revealing a handsome face. Then he smiled slightly at the crowd below, "A country has its laws, and a village has its rules. Today, I, the younger brother, have committed a grave sin, and voluntarily accept the punishment of Lingdao fragmentation that has been passed down for hundreds of years in our village. I only ask everyone to keep their promise and let my brother leave the village safely."

  After finishing speaking, the young man looked at the village chief and said, "Village chief, let's call it quits with our past grievances. I want to ask you one last thing, has my brother already left the village?"

  "The village chief replied, 'I don't know whether your brother has left the village or not. However, I swear as the village chief that if he is still in the village at this moment, I will not make things difficult for him.'"

  The young man smiled wryly, "Village head, with your words I can rest assured. Let's meet again in the next life!" After finishing speaking, he raised his head to gaze into the distance, and a very special glint flashed in his eyes.

  My heart skipped a beat, little brother, did he have any unfulfilled wishes before his death? Restless spirit taboo.

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