I swept my flashlight around, and discovered there was a light not far away.
Directly in front of us stood a gloomy and eerie altar.
Blackened candles hung above the altar, their black wax oozing as they burned.
Before the altar stood a strangely shaped stone statue. Its face was ferocious, and it had several hands, each gripping something. Its eyes seemed alive, deep and uncanny, as if staring at us.
A strange smell permeated the air, foul and fishy.
The entire stone chamber exuded a sinister and eerie aura, unsettling our minds.
We approached the altar and found some rotten flesh placed around it. Upon closer inspection, we realized they were hearts!
The hearts were so rotten they were unrecognizable, their surfaces covered in a thick layer of white mold, emitting a nauseating stench.
Dense maggots wriggled on them, sending shivers down our spines!
Before I could look further, my stomach churned.
Jiang Yue, unable to bear it, doubled over and vomited. Fatty cursed, "Damn! This is too much..."
He didn't finish his sentence, instead letting out a "Gack!"
We quickly retreated, not daring to look at the things on the altar again.
"We should leave this place quickly..." Jiang Yue said, looking unwell.
I glanced at Fatty. He still seemed unwilling to give up, and said, "You two wait here, I'm going to check behind that altar."
"What's there to see?" I asked.
Fatty replied, "Maybe the treasures are hidden behind the altar..."
Before I could say anything else, Fatty went behind the altar with his flashlight. A minute or two later, I heard him shout, "Xiang Ye!"
"What is it?" I called back.
"There's something back here!"
I looked at Jiang Yue standing beside me and asked if she wanted to come see. She seemed eager but hesitated, "I'll wait for you here."
I nodded and went behind the altar. I found Fatty staring at something on the wall, studying it.
As I walked closer, I could clearly see a piece of jade embedded in the wall.
It was a circular jade stone, perfectly set into the stone wall, as if it were part of it.
The jade was a deep emerald green, pure and bright throughout, emitting a mysterious aura.
On its surface, delicate textures and lines interwoven, forming various patterns and totems.
Fatty tried to pry it with his fingers but couldn't dislodge it. He asked me, "This jade stone must be very valuable, right?"
"This looks like a mechanism."
Saying that, I placed my hand on the jade stone and turned it gently. I heard two "click" sounds, and then nothing happened.
"It really is a mechanism. Could there be a hidden door here?" Fatty asked.
I stared at the patterns on the jade stone for a moment, completely clueless. I knew nothing about mechanisms.
If Yang Hanxue were here, he might be able to figure it out.
After thinking, I said, "Let's get out of here first."
"No!" Fatty said, "Let me take a look."
He then started randomly turning the jade stone, but after turning it for a long time, there was no change.
Finally, Fatty gritted his teeth and pulled out a crowbar. "Since we can't open it, I, Fatty, will take this jade stone away!"
I quickly stopped him, "You damn fatty, can you stop messing around? With one pry of that crowbar, this jade stone might shatter."
"But we can't have come here for nothing."
"Let's get out first, and we'll figure out a way to come back later," I said.
Fatty hesitated, then shrugged helplessly, "Alright."
I took the camera from Jiang Yue, aimed it at the jade stone, and took a few pictures. Then, we returned the way we came.
This place was too strange; being inside made me feel uncomfortable all over.
After coming out, we tied the chain to the door and returned to the bamboo hut.
The next day, we woke up around noon and found that the A Mu siblings were already gone.
Fatty was still fast asleep. I sat up in bed and saw Jiang Yue at the table, organizing her notebook.
"You're awake?"
She looked at me, "I've collected enough content these past few days. Can we leave now?"
I thought about it. "Let's wait for A Mu to come back and ask about the situation."
Actually, I wasn't in a hurry to leave yet, but given the current situation, I really needed to go out for a trip.
I needed to call Yang Hanxue for help. The mechanism behind that altar must have hidden something, otherwise, it wouldn't have been made so concealed.
My idea was, after going out, I'd have Jiang Yue immediately contact the police. Once the police came to investigate the village, I would then find a local archaeological institution and ask them to accompany me to investigate the altar.
This way, there would be no risk, and we could openly search for the clues hidden there.
Although the idea sounded simple, it would require many steps to implement.
After carefully thinking through the next plan in my mind, I stood up and was about to go out to check when I heard a commotion.
The sound came from the bamboo forest, and there were several voices speaking.
I was slightly startled, and soon saw more than a dozen people walking out of the bamboo forest, each carrying farming tools.
A Mu was at the very front, and he was still injured.
I knew something was wrong and quickly went to wake Fatty.
Fatty, groggily sitting up, had the door suddenly pushed open, and several people rushed towards us.
The other party was numerous and powerful, and we had no time to resist before being subdued.
I looked at A Mu, wanting to ask him what was going on, but saw that he had a distressed look on his face, seeming very guilty, and he didn't dare to look at me.
Seeing his expression, I had a general understanding.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Fatty yelled while struggling.
These people didn't say a word, and they escorted us away from the hut.
About fifteen minutes later, we were taken to a cowshed in the village and locked up.
"What do we do now?" Jiang Yue asked me anxiously.
We were all tied up with ropes as thick as thumbs, and it was practically impossible to break free.
The main reason was that the other party had come too suddenly, leaving us no time to prepare.
"We're done for," Fatty sighed. "Xiang Ye, do you think they'll drain our blood and take our hearts..."
Before he could finish, Jiang Yue let out a "Woo" and vomited.
I glared at Fatty. "Can you stop making things worse?"
"I'm telling the truth. We all saw it last night, that鬼 place..."
"Gack..." Jiang Yue was vomiting uncontrollably, and even my stomach felt uneasy. Seeing this, Fatty finally shut his mouth.