My Healing Games

Chapter 982 Memorial
The village of cemeteries is noisy at night, but the area near the village chief's house is eerily quiet.

"The ghosts in the grave must not know the truth. You must strike when I am about to weaken and inflict a fatal wound on me through a sneak attack. Only in this way can you gain the trust of the ghosts in the grave and survive to prepare for the arrival of the next era."

As the old village chief spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the carpenter. He hoped that the person who killed him was his second son: "The eldest son is loyal and righteous, and has close ties with the living people on the surface. He is also the strongest among the three brothers, so it would be difficult for him to be accepted by the ghosts in the grave. The third son is young and impetuous, and his lively personality makes it easy for him to make a mistake. Therefore, the best candidate is you."

After a long silence, the carpenter nodded slightly: "I will fulfill your request."

"Second brother?! Do you know what you're saying?" The middle-aged man raised his hand, wanting to slap his younger brother, but he held back. "There must be other ways. We can think of something else!"

“I know you may not be able to accept this, but this is the only way to save ordinary people, weaken the Great Grave, and allow you three children to survive.” The old village chief handed the three children a black package hidden under the bed: “When the grave is opened at midnight for the memorial service, you will come down with me. Third brother, you will be at the very back. After I am killed by second brother, you will take my will and run away. Remember, you must get the will I gave you out of the grave village!”

The young man in the suit trembled slightly: "I don't want to run away. Let me go with you."

“You must leave, otherwise our sacrifices will have been in vain.” The old village chief patted the young man on the shoulder: “After you climb out of the pit, open the will I left you.”

“Dad, have you thought this through? What will happen to the villagers of the cemetery if we leave? Some of them are already severely deformed; even if they leave the deep pit, they won’t be able to live as human beings.” The middle-aged man did not support the old village chief’s plan.

“I’ve discussed it with the people at the Crisis Joint Response Center. They will take all the villagers away and take good care of them before they destroy the cemetery village. This is one of the conditions of my deal with them.” The old village chief looked at the packages in the hands of the three children: “Don’t forget, my brother is still at the Crisis Management Center. It’s a place where the elites of all the cities gather. They will definitely keep the promise they made to me.”

“Even if they don’t comply, you should still continue with your own plans.” There was some disappointment in the middle-aged man’s eyes. He didn’t think his father had done anything wrong, but he felt very uncomfortable.

"Go back to your rooms, everyone. We'll go to the grave to pay our respects at eleven o'clock." The old village chief did not deny it. He sat down weakly in a chair after the three children had left.

As night deepened, music filled the village of graves, signaling the start of the memorial ceremony.

White lanterns hung above the doorways, and every household set up an offering table outside their door, displaying various sacrificial offerings, including rice, soup, vegetables, and wine. Candles and incense burned on the table, and paper money was placed under the table.

The wandering spirits that pass by, having eaten and drunk their fill, will not linger, and the villagers hope that they can continue their journey in peace.

"It's time."

The door to the old village chief's house was pushed open, and the white-haired village chief and his three children pushed a cart full of paper goods out of the house. When the villagers who were passing by saw the four of them together, they all lowered their heads and avoided them.

The four of them arrived at the village ancestral hall, where the oldest villagers burned incense and prayed. After the prayers were recited, the grave-opening and memorial ceremony officially began.

The old village chief and his three children took off their own clothes and put on the sacrificial robes from the village ancestral hall, their faces smeared with incantations. After dressing, they lay flat on the makeshift "waterbed" made of benches and wooden planks, and from that moment on, they could not get off the ground.

All the mirrors inside the house were covered, and all the items placed around were in odd numbers, signifying that he was traveling alone and would not take anyone else from the village with him.

After the old village chief and his three children closed their eyes, the deformed villagers hurriedly ran into the house. They removed the ancestral shrine where the ancestral tablets were enshrined and the shrine with the statues inside, cleaned up any traces of the living, and lit white wax and incense.

Finally, the villagers draped white sheets sewn with red silk over the four people, replaced the pillows under their heads with stones, lit an oil lamp at their left feet to light their way to the underworld, and offered a bowl of white rice with chopsticks stuck in it at their right feet. This was called "foot-end rice".

At midnight, when the appointed time arrived, four sedan chairs stopped outside the ancestral hall.

The green base and red roof looked somewhat eerie. All the sedan chair carriers had severely distorted bodies, strong yet deformed, half human and half beast.

Covered by a white cloth, the sedan chair bearers carried the four people onto the sedan chair, followed by various white goods and tributes.

Everything was settled. The courtyard gate was opened, and three short male villagers ran ahead, spreading the news of the death throughout the cemetery village.

After the person who reported the death left, crying began. Five female villagers, their faces covered, sobbed sadly as they walked away.

Behind the weeping passersby were the sedan chair bearers, and the four sedan chairs slowly moved from the ancestral hall in the cemetery towards the outside of the village.

Paper money fluttered along the way, and the offering tables at the door of every household swayed slightly, with the candlelight flickering erratically, as if a hundred ghosts were walking at night.

After crossing the "Forget-River" that surrounds the village and climbing over the "Shadow Mountain" made up of countless piles of garbage, the sedan chair carriers carried the sedan chair to the deepest part of the pit.

A wave of yin energy swept through the area. Between the cemetery and the deep pit, there was an unnamed shrine. The sedan chair carriers bowed three times before passing by the shrine.

The woman who cried on the road stayed here to place offerings, while the sedan chair bearers with severely deformed bodies carried the sedan chairs over the mountain into the pit.

The surroundings gradually quieted down, and the opening of the grave for the memorial service was the final step.

They were lowered 100 meters into the pit, where the temperature plummeted, making it seem as if they had left this world.

When they saw the second unnamed shrine, the sedan chair bearers put down the sedan chair, respectfully kowtowed to the old village chief and the others, and then hurriedly left.

The old village chief and his three children were sent to the large grave as if they were dead. Only the dead are allowed to enter the grave for the opening ceremony and the final step is to see the true face of the ghost, so the living must stay away.

Once the sound of the sedan bearers' footsteps faded away, the guide lamp inside the sedan chair suddenly flickered a few times.

The sedan curtain was lifted, and the white-haired old village chief was the first to get out of the sedan.

"let's start."

The village chief's three children carried the guiding lanterns out of the sedan chair and came to the carts of offerings and white goods, which were the offerings prepared by the cemetery village for the great ghost in the grave.

However, unlike previous years, some other things were mixed in with the offerings.

After dismantling the paper house, the old village chief took out four black packages: "Only by destroying the exit of the large tomb can the villagers' illness be cured."

The youngest of the three brothers still couldn't fully agree with his father's actions. He reluctantly opened the package in front of him, where a baby of about six months old was lying on top of a bunch of detonators.

"My God! What's this little guy doing here?" The third brother's hand trembled in fright, and he unconsciously raised his voice.

The old village chief, the middle-aged man, and the carpenter also gathered around, all looking at the baby inside the black bundle.

Who hid this package?

Did he climb in by himself?

"I just fed him some goat milk and then put him to sleep. I don't know anything else."

The baby looked innocently at the four adults, seemingly curious about everything in the world. In a place shrouded in death, distortion, and despair, the baby brought a glimmer of hope.

"It's too late to get him out now." The old village chief's wrinkles deepened, and the timing of the grave-opening ceremony was crucial. "Third brother, carry the child on your back. No matter what the outcome, you must escape!"

“Okay…” The youngest of the three, afraid of scaring the child to tears, tried his best to control his emotions and gently placed the baby into another bundle, carrying it on his back: “I will take you away, don’t cry, don’t make a fuss.”

A six-month-old baby certainly doesn't understand anything; the child just seemed very happy, and there was no fear or apprehension on his face.

"It's so nice to be a kid." The third brother secretly glanced at his father and two older brothers, recalling fond memories of the past.

With a soft sigh, the third brother patted himself on the shoulder, then composed himself and made a face at the baby.

"Prepare to open the grave."

The old village chief had a solemn expression. He and his child carried black bundles and placed all the remaining offerings near the nameless shrine.

The tightly closed divine gate slowly opened, and along with it, the passage in the deep pit also opened.

Too much negative emotion had accumulated here. The moment the passage opened, an aura that made even the soul tremble swept over everyone.

The normal procedure for commemorating the deceased involves opening the grave, reciting prayers, placing offerings inside, and finally communicating with the spirits to receive their blessings.

But this time, after the old village chief and others appeared in the passage, he reached directly into the nameless shrine, took the nameless statue inside, and put his own statue, which he had prepared in advance, into the shrine.

After the statue was replaced, black and red blood spots appeared on the old village chief's arm. He was originally the most normal person in the village, with no physical abnormalities.

Pushing a cart full of offerings, the old village chief and his three children entered the passage.

The pit was bottomless, giving people a terrifying feeling from every angle.

A chilling aura blew, and something swayed in the darkness. Chewing sounds grew louder as they approached, and soon the group saw a monster with a severely deformed body.

That monster must have once been a human. Its face still bears some resemblance to a human, but its body no longer shows any trace of human characteristics.

Bloodstains congealed on his skin, black hair kept oozing from his festering wounds, and he was shrouded in an unyielding hatred. He was still wearing half of a villager's coat.

After scattering a handful of paper money, the old village chief placed a sacrificial offering on the ground. Although the ghost was ugly and terrifying, it did not chase after him after seeing the offering, and its hatred gradually subsided.

"Do you want to take action?"

"No need. Regret, resentment, and hatred are not our targets."

The old village chief and his three children walked forward with their heads down, seeing all sorts of ghosts and monsters along the way. Regret was just a moving shadow that not only did not harm people, but also helped them; Regret could not be solidified into a body and liked to merge with the passage; Resentment would attack on its own initiative, but it was no match for the village chief; Only when faced with Hatred would the village chief offer a sacrifice.

The boundless darkness seemed endless. When about half of the offerings on the cart had been delivered, the old village chief saw a woman.

The woman used memories as clothing; her body was separated from her head. She had the same blood as the old village chief, and her life seemed to be frozen in her childhood forever.

"Sister..." The old village chief was about to say something to the woman, but she turned and left.

The old village chief wanted to persuade the woman to stay, but he couldn't bring himself to call out her name. It was because her name sounded the same as his biological father's, only the characters were different.

"I'm sorry, I failed to protect you and even took advantage of you."

The apology was never heard, and the old village chief did not linger, continuing his journey into the deeper darkness.

Gradually, the number of ghosts and monsters around them decreased, and the atmosphere of death and malice became stronger. The old village chief saw several abandoned shrines.

The old village chief slowly raised his bowed head and looked at the shrine. Blood seeped from the top of the shrine, and pieces of flesh pieced together to form a constantly mutating and changing mass of flesh.

As the dream dust settled, a pair of dazzling butterfly wings landed on another shrine.

The ground began to tremble, and a hand formed from despair emerged from beneath the tombstone. Arms surged forth, eventually transforming into a black statue with a thousand arms.

A beastly roar resounded, and brutality, greed, lust, and all negative emotions transformed into an ugly wild beast.

"One, three, seven, nine..."

A terrifying aura was spreading, and strange things were happening around each shrine. These ghosts that possessed the shrines were far more powerful than mere hatred.

The youngest son, the third son, trembled slightly. He was so frightened by the ghost in front of him that he couldn't straighten up. This year's grave opening and memorial service was completely different from previous years. It was as if the big ghost in the grave had made an appointment and appeared at the same time!
(End of this chapter)