There's something wrong with this version of the technique!

Chapter 185, The Truth of the Matter
When Lu Yue hurried to the outskirts of Mr. Chen's residence, the ground in front of him was already wet, and rows of clear bone toe prints were clearly visible.

Obviously these are traces of piecing together a skeleton ghost.

At this time, Lu Yue let out a light exclamation.

One detail caught his attention.

On this slippery ground, a unique pair of shoe footprints came into view, forming a sharp contrast with the barefoot footprints of the skeleton ghost.

He suddenly recalled that there were villagers coming in this direction before.

Who is that villager?

What was his purpose in coming to see Mr. Chen in the middle of the night?
These thoughts flashed through Lu Yue's mind. Now was not the time to think about these problems. The most urgent thing was to enter the house as soon as possible to check the situation.

However, as soon as he pushed open the door, a torrent of river water suddenly gushed out from inside the door, accompanied by a pungent fishy smell that made people cover their noses and frown.

Trying to suppress his nausea, Lu Yue glanced around and indeed found signs of destruction. All the cloth strips with Buddhist Sanskrit written on them were torn to pieces and the Buddha statues were smashed to pieces.

Even the hand-cranked phonograph from decades ago no longer played the familiar "Great Compassion Mantra", but instead made intermittent noises.

This phonograph seems a little odd.

Lu Yue felt an extremely weak yin energy from it.

So he cheered up and walked forward carefully to check it carefully.

When I touched the skin with my fingers, it was ice cold and had a tingling sensation as if there was an electric shock.

The next second, it was as if a veil was lifted in front of Lu Yue's eyes. As his sight moved, the previous fishy smell quickly dissipated like morning mist, and was replaced by a fresh scent from the countryside.

The surrounding scene changed quietly with an indescribable smoothness and silkiness. The Buddha statues and Sanskrit cloth strips that were originally densely distributed in the house and closely related to Buddhism disappeared without a trace.

This is still the home of teacher Mr. Chen.

But at this time, the facilities in the house became extremely new, there were some books placed on the bookshelves, and the whole house exuded a strong scent of books.

Especially the hand-cranked phonograph, which was playing a light tune at the moment.

Lu Yue's eyes fell on a calendar.

He was surprised to find that this was the village from more than 50 years ago.

At this moment, figures flashed outside. A group of people seemed to be peeking curiously, but they accidentally fell down and pushed the door open due to the crowd.

These are a group of children in the village, some big and some small, more boys than girls.

"I heard from the villagers that a teacher from the city has come to our place. He will stay here and teach the villagers to read and write. We can also go to school."

"Really? That's great!"

Glancing around at these children, who seemed unable to see him, Lu Yue realized that this time he was entering into some kind of memory scene, just like the vegetable seller before.

Is this time period the origin of everything?

After understanding everything, Lu Yue became very interested in the story that happened fifty years ago.

From the conversation of this group of people, Lu Yue learned that a teacher from the city came to the village a few days ago and was going to teach the villagers to read and write. There was no age limit, and anyone who was willing to come would be taught.

Because almost everyone in this village is illiterate.

The arrival of this teacher brought good news to the village.

"This thing is so magical, it can actually make sounds!"

"Is there anyone inside?"

"Nonsense, how could there be someone inside? I think it's a god."

"Hey, why is there no sound? Is it broken? Will you ask us to pay for it?"

"Xiao Hong, let's run!"

Lu Yue raised his eyebrows. He noticed the name "Xiao Hong". He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a little girl in the crowd who was dressed relatively neatly and had innocent eyes. She looked to be about eighteen years old.

"This thing is not broken. It's called a phonograph. You just need to turn the spring a few times and you can continue to listen to music." A gentle voice came, and a handsome young man appeared at the door.

This young man was none other than Mr. Chen who did not use crutches fifty years ago.

When the young teacher looked at the group of children, all of them lowered their heads shyly, with their index fingers interlocked. Only the girl named Xiaohong stared at the phonograph intently, her eyes full of desire for the unknown world.

"If you like, you can come to my place to listen to music when you have time."

"Really? Thank you, sir!" A group of children quickly bowed to express their gratitude.

Lu Yue's attention was always on Xiaohong. He saw Xiaohong leave the house, carry a basket on her back, go to the fields to work and cut grass for pigs... until she finally disappeared from his sight with a basket full of grass on her back.

Lu Yue wanted to go over and take a look, but his vision changed again.

It is still the same house that Mr. Chen lived in fifty years ago.

But the calendar showed that a whole month had passed since then.

There were more than a dozen children of different ages in the room, who were diligently following the teacher to study and learn to read. Among them, Xiaohong was the most hardworking and diligent. She was not only beautiful but could also write dozens of words.

The other children applauded Xiaohong one after another. Even the young Mr. Chen praised Xiaohong for her potential in study and said that she would definitely leave the village and go to the big city to see the wider world in the future.

Xiaohong was full of curiosity and yearning for the outside world, but when she heard the word "out", the light in her eyes gradually dimmed. Her friends nearby revealed a secret to the young man Chen. It turned out that Xiaohong's biological parents sold her to a wealthy family as a child bride because they couldn't survive.

She couldn't leave the village and was getting married soon.

My future husband is still a fool.

This time, Lu Yue saw deep regret in the eyes of the young man Chen.

Lu Yue, who was standing aside, had a thoughtful look in his eyes. From these memory scenes, it can be seen that Mr. Chen did not lie at that time, and Xiaohong's fate was indeed miserable.

So later, after coming into contact with the outside world and gaining some knowledge, was it because her heart longing for freedom began to awaken, and she was willing to challenge the ignorant rules of the time in order to escape from the place that bound her?

Lu Yue found that the calendar in the room was turning more and more frequently.

Time seemed to speed up.

One day... one week... one month... two months...

The village was hit by a locust plague. There was no harvest this year. All the villagers looked worried.
Everyone is trying to survive this winter, so there are fewer and fewer people in the teacher's school. But Xiaohong is the only one who comes to study on time after finishing her chores, rain or shine.

The teacher's contact with Xiaohong became more and more frequent.

Sometimes Xiaohong would bring some rural specialties, and the two of them would listen to music from the outside world on the phonograph.

Lu Yue frowned secretly.

He had already noticed the subtle feelings between the young man Chen Lao and Xiao Hong.

It was no longer as simple as a teacher and student. For Xiaohong, who was almost isolated from the world, the mystery and breadth of the young Mr. Chen were undoubtedly like a magnet, which attracted her deeply. However, no one revealed this relationship.

Things have come to this point. If the young Chen Lao had fallen in love with Xiao Hong and could really take her away from this isolated village, it would have been a perfect ending.

But in fact, the outcome of this matter was already determined.

Moreover, this day came earlier than expected.

On this day, the young man Chen Lao decided to take Xiaohong away after a solemn declaration of love. He vowed to give Xiaohong a better life and show her the outside world, and then he took Xiaohong and prepared to sneak away.

As a result, quite a few people had gathered outside the village entrance. It turned out that some villagers had discovered the "affair" between the two and informed the wealthy family, hoping to pray for some food for the winter in this way.

After hearing the news, the wealthy family brought people to block the entrance of the village. Xiaohong was nominally a daughter-in-law, but the teacher was so shameless as to do such a thing.

This behavior was very serious decades ago, let alone in a small village like this.

According to ancient teachings, the two will face severe punishment of being thrown into a pig cage.

This scene was exactly as Mr. Chen had said at that time.

So... because of the resentment caused by being put into a pig cage by the villagers, he chose to curse the village?

Lu Yue stood there thinking for a moment, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

If it were just like this, the vengeful ghost would at most take revenge on everyone in the village, and most likely it would directly kill everyone in the village after becoming a ghost.

What was the reason why Xiaohong didn't do this?
Just leave this curse?

And what is the meaning of those one hundred and seventy-seven people?
Height? Weight? Date?

Lu Yue frowned, unable to understand.

So he looked at the young man Chen again. At this moment, he was sweating profusely and looked flustered. From his eyes, Lu Yue saw the fear of death.

At the critical moment, some villagers came forward to plead for mercy because the teacher taught their children to read, but the rich man was unmoved and instead threatened with food, saying that today's harvest was poor and every household would be hungry this winter. He had connections and could get food, and whoever pleaded would have no food. This made the villagers afraid to speak.

The two were put into a pig cage, and Xiaohong and the young man Chen Lao were doomed to die.

It was at this time that the young man, Mr. Chen, spoke.

"It was Xiaohong, it was her, this bitch seduced me!"

"She seduced me and asked me to take her away from the village."

"I didn't agree, but she kept seducing me..."

"This is none of my business. I know the mayor of the city and I have connections to get food for you. You can't arrest me and put me in a pig cage..." Faced with life and death, the young man Chen Lao finally showed his cowardice and roared hysterically, pushing all the blame onto Xiaohong.

When Lu Yue heard this, his body tensed up and his breathing stagnated.

Turning to look at Xiaohong, Xiaohong was laughing at this moment, as if she was crazy. Her eyes no longer revealed the fear of death, but disappointment, extreme disappointment.

Finally, the young man Chen Lao was released, and Xiao Hong was pushed into the river. Before she died, Xiao Hong tightly grasped the pig cage woven with bamboo strips, her hands covered in blood, until she sank to the bottom of the river, her eyes always fixed on the young man Chen Lao.

The blood attracted fish and the surface of the river quickly turned red.

This is the truth!!!
All of this was caused by that old man Chen.

Lu Yue stared gloomily at the young man Chen Lao who had survived the disaster, and continued to tell him how Xiao Hong seduced him.

At this point there was still one thing he didn't understand.

Xiaohong should have turned completely black shortly after her death.

Then why did it keep this man alive for fifty years?

(End of this chapter)