Ita Era

Chapter 17 Peach Blossom Village (Fifteen)

Ding Shi went up and chatted with the villagers, quickly blending in with them. The villagers were preparing sacrificial items, and Ding Shi noticed something he didn't quite understand. "You want to go back to the past, you use lanterns, I understand. You want to be modern, using light bulbs, I can understand that too. But you're using a lantern to wrap a light bulb, what does that mean? Are you trying to fool the ghosts?"
Regardless of the meaning, this was the first time Ding Shi had seen the statue of San Niang. It seemed to be a one-to-one replica, made of wood, though Ding Shi didn't know what kind of wood it was. The statue's features were somewhat blurry; she wore a red wedding dress, sat in a chair, placed her hands on her knees, and gazed straight ahead.

Ding Shi sneaked into the back room to scout the area, but didn't see the cave Zhao the Blind Man had described. The back room was just an ordinary one. Parts of the wooden walls were rotten from years of rain, and craftsmen and villagers were repairing them. The floor was dirt, and there were no visible mechanisms.

Is Blind Zhao playing a trick on me?

Ding decided to come and check it out that night, as there were several suspicious points. Suspicious point one: There might be a secret passage under the statue. Suspicious point two: There were two carpets laid in the back hall. Suspicious point three: The back hall is connected to the back mountain; perhaps removing a few pieces of the wooden wall would reveal a cave.

Having made up his mind, Ding Shi went back to the village chief's house for lunch and a nap. At 3 PM, the village chief woke him up and gave him three tasks. Task 1: Two families of villagers got into a conflict over watering the paddy fields. Task 2: A chicken stole some of Aunt Li's vegetables, and Aunt Li stomped the unfortunate chicken to death. Aunt Sun came to Aunt Li's door demanding an explanation. Task 3: Visit the night patrol team and inform them that they could work as usual tonight.

After successfully completing the first two tasks, Ding Shi visited the night patrol team and informed them that they could work as usual that night, but should not leave the village office.

The bug didn't work, and the system judged the task as failed. Fortunately, it only cost the village chief two points of satisfaction. Ding Shi still doesn't know what the village chief's satisfaction is for.

After dinner, at the village chief's request, Ding Shi went to visit Sun Qi, who had recovered. Still haunted by the ghostly grandmother, Sun Qi saw Ding Shi as if he were a family member, her eyes brimming with tears as she tried to hug him for comfort. Ding Shi, annoyed by her tears, deftly avoided her and instead asked Dr. Qian, "What medicine did you give her? Can you give me a dozen?"

Dr. Qian said that Sun Qi was just frightened and had no major physical problems. The biggest problem now is that Sun Qi doesn't want to leave Dr. Qian's house and follows him around like a leech. It seems she was really terrified last night.

The villagers weren't mistaken; they knew about the ghost milk incident, which is why they all locked their doors last night. While some might not believe it, in the rural areas at that time, people generally held the attitude that it was better to believe it than not.

Only after Ding Shi repeatedly assured her that the ghost milk had disappeared did Sun Qi's emotions stabilize slightly. She then made an unreasonable request, hoping that Ding Shi would stay with her that night.

Ding Shi definitely couldn't agree to that. Putting aside the question of whether he would suffer a loss—after all, suffering a loss is a blessing in disguise—the main reason was that he had important business to attend to tonight. How could he let a woman who wasn't particularly attractive delay his ability to draw his sword?
……

The fourth day, 11 p.m.

Ding Shi easily climbed over the low wall of the village chief's house. The moon was rather shy today, preferring to hide behind thin clouds, and the light was much dimmer than yesterday.

Dressed in black with a nail puller tucked into his back, Ding Shi dared not turn on his flashlight, relying on his memory to follow the path towards the Third Sister Temple. Night had fallen, and every household had already turned off their lights and gone to bed. Ding Shi had already befriended the two dogs during the day, and they didn't bark as he passed their owner's house.

The temple gates of San Niang Temple were closed, and the key was in Haitang's hands. Every day, she and Zhang San would go to open the gates and offer incense together. Ding Shi didn't intend to steal the key; instead, he went around to the back wall of San Niang Temple. He used a nail puller to remove a few nails, and then dismantled the wooden planks that had been patched up that day.

Looking at the dark entrance, Ding Shi hesitated seriously for two seconds, then thought of a wise saying: "Since I'm already here." Ding Shi gritted his teeth and crawled into the back hall of the Third Sister Temple.

Turning on his flashlight, Ding Shi first checked the two carpets on the floor in the back hall. They were fine, confirming the villagers' suspicions that they were carpets used by the chanting troupe during sacrificial rites. Crossing the threshold, Ding Shi reached the front hall. Instead of immediately touching the statues, he first thoroughly checked his surroundings. To avoid being discovered, he kept the flashlight beam as low as possible, essentially feeling his way through the front hall inch by inch.

There was nothing in the back hall, nothing in the front hall; all that remained was the altar and the statue on it.

The flashlight beam shone on San Niang's face, and Ding Shi was startled. Why were the contours of the statue's face so clear? There was no trace of carving at all; it looked just like a real person.

Ding Shi took out the bell card with his left hand, held the bell in his palm, and walked around from San Niang's left to her right, staring intently at San Niang's statue. Although he wasn't entirely sure, Ding Shi felt that San Niang's eyes had moved from left to right.

That's not scientific! Right, ghost milk isn't scientific either. No, that's not right either; Newton studied science to prove metaphysics. It's said that many great scientists embraced metaphysics in their later years.

Even though Ding Shi was as bold as an ox, he dared not approach at this moment, and could only continue to observe the statue of Third Sister. He even composed a poem: From afar it's a statue, up close it's a real person, the more you look, the more it resembles a human, it turns out…

Ding Shi circled around from right to left and finally confirmed one thing: San Niang's eyes reflected light. At this point, two possibilities emerged: first, metaphysics; second, a mechanism.

Should we go up and take a look?
Come here.

Ding Shi deftly flipped onto the table and slowly approached San Niang on the counter. The closer he got, the more uneasy he felt. When they were almost touching, Ding Shi reached out and touched the corner of San Niang's left eye with his left index finger, feeling liquid on his fingertip. Shining a flashlight on his hand, he rubbed his fingers together and deduced that the liquid was probably tears.

Ding Shi had only one thought at the time: the villagers had stuffed living people into the wooden carvings.

To prove whether it's tears, there's a very direct way: lick it and see if the liquid is salty or bland.

As Ding Shi hesitated about whether to sacrifice himself, he clearly saw two tears streaming down the cheeks of the wooden carving of Third Sister. Ding Shi wasn't afraid then, but rather angry: Did Peach Blossom Village really use living people as sacrifices?
Ding Shi touched San Niang's eyes. San Niang didn't blink, but tears streamed down her face. The sensation under his fingertips told Ding Shi that the eyes he was touching were definitely not real.

Ding Shi brought his eyes within 5 centimeters of San Niang's eyes, trying to find the water spray mechanism, but to no avail.

Ding Shi sat cross-legged in front of San Niang, pondering several questions.

First question: Why did Third Sister cry? One: Third Sister knew she was going to steal a valuable treasure, so she cried. Two: She was exposed to too much incense during the day, even Wood couldn't help but cry. Three: There's no third reason; I can't think of any other.

Even if Ding Shi entered the world of metaphysics and took the wooden carving as the true form of San Niang, he still couldn't understand why San Niang would shed tears. She was Xie San Niang, not Du Shiniang.

(End of this chapter)