I didn’t even have the chance to say a final goodbye to my parents.
As my parents desperately pushed me to the other side, I gradually lost consciousness from inhaling water. When I was on the verge of losing consciousness, I saw that my parents were nearly submerged in water, with only their hands remaining above the water.
However, the love of my parents was so great that even with only their hands above the water, they still managed to push me onto the shore. Almost at the same time, I lost consciousness, and my parents' remaining hands also disappeared into the water.
Then, the whole world seemed to become quiet.
The heavy rain continued to pour down. When I woke up, it was already getting dark, and I felt uncomfortable, possibly from drinking dirty water. I opened my eyes and looked around, feeling panicked.
Because there was no trace of my parents anywhere. At that moment, my heart was finally pierced with pain akin to being stabbed by needles. But before I could grieve, there was commotion in the small gully submerged by the flood.
At this moment, I was lying on the other side of the small gully, very close to the water, with my feet almost soaked.
And just then, a dead body was actually floating face-up on the water, drifting past my feet. When the body reached my feet, its head turned to me and suddenly grinned in a sinister way.
Before I could react, a hand, bloated and whitened by water, suddenly emerged from under the water and grabbed my ankle. I let out a loud scream, but it was already too late. After my foot was grabbed, a strong force immediately dragged me into the water.
Luckily, there was a small tree behind me. This small tree became my lifeline.
In a life-and-death situation, potential can be unleashed. In that instant, I grabbed onto the tree and desperately tried to free myself from the hand emerging from the water.
However, that hand was like steel, firmly gripping my ankle, and no matter how I struggled, it was futile. Moreover, the force was gradually increasing, pulling me further into the water.
Suddenly, the small tree that I had grabbed onto was uprooted. My last straw was broken. Then, in an instant, I was dragged into the water.
At that moment, there was only one thought left in my mind, I'm sorry to my parents, they risked their lives to let me live. But in the end, I still couldn't survive.
With this thought, my body was quickly engulfed by the floodwaters.
Suddenly, just as I was about to be pulled into the water, a strong and powerful hand reached down from the surface. Before I could even figure out what was happening, I was suddenly pulled out of the water.
Then I saw the owner of this large hand, a man in his thirties, quite ordinary, but his attire was not. He had a yellow cloth bag on his back and was wearing a yellow robe, the typical dress of a Taoist in the mountain village.
And this person had a special identity for me, he was my second uncle and also my father's younger brother.
Seeing my uncle at this moment, a wave of joy after surviving overflowed in my heart, and I couldn't help but throw myself into his arms. My uncle hugged me and patted my back, saying, "Xiao Mu, I'm sorry, I'm late. Where are your parents?"
Lying on my uncle's shoulder, I felt an unusual sense of security, but when he asked about my parents, I couldn't help but feel sad and my voice became sorrowful, "They are dead."
My uncle sighed heavily, "I received a letter from your grandfather, saying that evil spirits were causing chaos and Duanjia Village was in trouble. I never expected to be late. Xiao Mu, I'm here, you'll be safe now, I'll take you out."
With that, my uncle paid no more attention to the bodies in the small ravine, and instead carried me outside. I lay on my uncle's shoulder, tears silently flowing down my cheeks, "Uncle, what's going on, why did Duanjia Village encounter such a big flood?"
My uncle sighed heavily, "This disaster and chaos were all caused by your grandfather."
In fact, my uncle's real identity was a Taoist, and he used to be a well-known figure in Duanjia Village. However, he was driven out of the family by my grandfather when I was very young. As for the reason, I was unclear, but I vaguely heard my grandfather accusing my uncle of betraying the sect.
I asked my uncle, "What really happened?"
My uncle shook his head gently, "The Five Ghosts technique is ultimately evil, it may bring temporary benefits, but it brings disaster to others and oneself. Your grandfather spent his whole life practicing the Five Ghosts technique, and every ten years there will be a calamity. If he cannot overcome the calamity, not only will he lose his life, but he will also bring disaster to his relatives within a hundred miles."
The Five Ghosts technique, as soon as I heard these words, I became puzzled and suddenly remembered my grandfather's words: "Ten years of calamity, the Five Ghosts mourn, graves open everywhere, hearts are broken."
Could this phrase really mean that? I instantly understood. The reason why my grandfather's body had come back was because he had anticipated the calamity and had come back to warn us. When he kept gesturing to us, he was actually confessing, otherwise why would he shed bloody tears?
But I still had doubts about the Five Ghosts technique, "Uncle, what is the Five Ghosts technique?"
At this point, my uncle shook his head and refused to say more. He only patted my head and said, "Xiao Mu, I am sorry for the loss of your parents, I hope you do not have any shadow in your heart. We have to go, I will take you to a place without calamity."
Saying that, my uncle's pace quickened.
Although we had left the small ravine just now, the mountain path we were walking was still filled with gullies. And as my uncle and I kept walking forward, suddenly, the nearby gullies erupted again.
My uncle and I turned to look, and were instantly shocked. Because, the bodies from the previous ravine, for some unknown reason, were now appearing in the gully next to us, moving forward with us.
My uncle's face changed drastically, "These damn ghosts, they are so vicious, wanting to send people to their death."
As my uncle spoke, he put me down and said, "Xiao Mu, you stay here, these evil spirits seem to have no intention of letting you go, today I will fight them."
Saying that, my uncle quickly placed the yellow cloth bag on the ground and opened it. Inside, there were all sorts of strange and rare items.
Suddenly, my uncle took out a container filled with white powder, drank it with a loud shout, and poured the white powder into the gully.
In an instant, an amazing thing happened. Those bodies that had been following us suddenly seemed to be terrified and began desperately scattering in all directions. Finally, they all disappeared in the water surface at once.
However, just from this bottle of white powder, Uncle Er's face suddenly turned pale, without a trace of color. He stepped back, stood in front of me, but his eyes showed no signs of slackening.
"Hehehehe." Suddenly, from the ditch, five eerie laughs sounded simultaneously. I quickly turned to look and felt a shiver in my heart. To my surprise, five children emerged from the ditch, looking seven or eight years old, pale all over, with pitch-black eyes and black lips.
"Not one can be missing, not one." Suddenly, the five children simultaneously uttered these words, their voices sharp and terrifying. I swear, it was the most terrifying voice I had ever heard in my life.
I was startled and looked at Uncle Er, and at this moment, I saw that Uncle Er's complexion had become even more unpleasant, with a hint of despair. But he didn't hesitate, and pulled me behind him.
Later, Uncle Er shouted at the five children, "You evil spirits, causing havoc in the world, unrepentant in death, leading to the destruction of Duanjia Village and the suffering of the people. As a legitimate disciple of traditional Taoism, today I will act on behalf of the heavens and take in you five mischievous spirits to comfort the souls in heaven."
"A young Taoist with a lofty tone, let's see if you have the ability." Suddenly, the five children said the same thing in unison. Then, they lunged at us.
But at that moment, a stunning scene unfolded. Uncle Er pulled out a knife, cut his wrist, and blood flowed freely. His face turned pale, and he angrily said, "Blood sacrifice, let the spirits return, yin and yang unite, let the yin soldiers reappear. Obey!"
After Uncle Er finished this sentence, he quickly drew a complex pattern in the pool of blood with his bleeding hand.
As Uncle Er finished this sentence, the five children all showed expressions of fear at the same time, and once again, they spoke in unison to Uncle Er, "You are ruthless, daring to use the legendary blood curse to summon the yin soldiers?"
Uncle Er snorted and the pattern on the ground was just completed. He suddenly stood up and stared at the five children, shouting, "Let the yin soldiers reappear."
Suddenly, I felt a gust of wind, and then voices of people sounded from all directions. When I turned back, I saw people bustling from all sides, as if they had appeared out of nowhere.
Not only that, among these people, there were some who were pale as paper, dressed in military uniforms, holding knives, guns, and clubs, strange and peculiar, moving stiffly.
At the moment when these people appeared, the five children suddenly screamed and jumped into the water.
Five overlapping strange sounds came from the water: "These yin soldiers can hold us back for a while, but they can't stop us forever. If they let us escape the siege of the yin soldiers, we will make the blood splatter on the spot, eradicate your offspring, and even capture your souls to torture you to death."