12dz Chapter 2071 Reunion with the Stone Statue
Chapter 2071 Reunion with the Stone Statue
Without hesitation or uttering a single word, Yin Ding turned and left decisively.
The candlelight flickered in the room as Liu Jiulang sat on a pearwood chair, his fingertips lightly tapping the armrest.
Zhou Lie stood below, back straight, without saying a word.
What do you think of him? Should he stay?
Zhou Lie respectfully replied, "You may stay."
Liu Jiulang glanced at him, a half-smile on his face: "You're quite decisive, but it's rare to see you plead for someone like this."
Zhou Lie's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't answer.
"Take the head off Scarface and clean it up, don't leave any trace." Liu Jiulang's voice was low, hard, and cold.
Zhou Lie nodded and replied, "Yes."
He turned to pick up the cloth bag containing the human head in the corner, but after taking only two steps, Liu Jiulang called him back.
"Wait a minute." Liu Jiulang frowned, as if he suddenly remembered something. "The manager of the shipping company came over today, but I was in a rush and didn't have time to see him. Go to the shipping company now and ask him what's going on."
"Understood." Zhou Lie stopped and replied again. This time, he didn't linger. He picked up his cloth bag and quietly left, closing the door behind him.
Liu Jiulang was the only one left in the room. He reached out and picked up the yellowed book of sacrificial procedures from the table, and began to look through it page by page.
The handwriting in the booklet was his own annotation, clearly marking where wine should be offered, where the sacrificial text should be read, and where Governor Ding's cooperation was needed.
His fingertip landed on the page about "welcoming the gods," and he thought to himself: I have to get up very early tomorrow. The sacrifice will start at 7:00 AM and last for three whole hours. I can't miss a single step.
He turned two more pages, and seeing that it was getting late, he closed the book, blew out the candle, and went to bed.
As he lay down, he was still thinking that the ship's manager had suddenly come over; perhaps something had gone wrong. He hoped that Zhou Lie could find out the truth.
As soon as the midnight gong sounded, Rongzhou City seemed to be muted, even the barking of dogs on the street fell silent.
In the woods outside the city, several groups of people were hidden, with Su Zhenhai standing at the front, dressed in dark-colored close-fitting clothes.
Su Zhenhai appeared calm on the surface, but he couldn't help feeling nervous inside.
This was his first time serving under the Prince of Zhennan, and the job was so important that the fate of the people of Rongzhou depended on this one battle.
Su Zhenhai took a deep breath, waved his hand, and led the group silently toward the designated ambush point.
At the same time, outside the back wall of the governor's mansion, two dark figures, as nimble as cats, quietly slipped in.
Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe were both dressed in black and wore masks, revealing only their eyes.
Governor Ding was in his study, unable to sleep at all.
There was a conflict on the street today, but he arrived the latest and was unable to help Liu Jiulang. Liu Jiulang was very dissatisfied and even called him into the mansion to reprimand him.
Fortunately, there will be a need for him in tomorrow's sacrificial ceremony, so he must seize the opportunity to perform well and make amends.
After thinking it over, he checked the time and quietly left the study alone, without taking anyone with him.
They walked slowly until they reached the entrance of an abandoned courtyard in the back of the residence, where they stopped for a while.
He looked around to make sure no one was watching, then took out a brass key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. The lock clicked, and he pushed open the gate and slipped inside.
The courtyard is said to be abandoned, but that's just a cover; there's more to it than meets the eye.
Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe immediately followed. Listening to the sounds inside, the courtyard was very quiet. It seemed that there had been no movement since Governor Ding went in.
Huo Changhe pointed to the windowsill, led Yan Ruyu to the windowsill, listened for a while without any sound, slowly got up, and looked inside through the window.
Governor Ding had his back to the window, doing nothing, and there was no lamp lit, only a sliver of moonlight.
Governor Ding was not short, and he completely blocked the view inside, so nothing could be seen clearly.
Yan Ruyu waited patiently.
About fifteen minutes later, footsteps were heard, and Governor Ding finally came out from inside, locked the door again, and left, just as he had come in.
Huo Changhe told Yan Ruyu to stay where she was, and he followed her out. After waiting for a while to make sure that Governor Ding had really left, he returned.
Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe went into the room and stood where Governor Ding had just stood.
There was a box on the ground, but it was unclear what it contained.
Huo Changhe used his sword to deflect it.
Yan Ruyu narrowed her eyes and saw that the contents were some paper talismans and a faint scent of incense.
Besides the paper talismans, there was also a bronze tripod.
This cauldron and paper talismans must be related to sacrificial rites. Liu Jiulang is doing all these tricks simply to make the people think that this matter is mysterious and therefore dare not resist.
Yan Ruyu ran her fingertips along the wood grain at the bottom of the box and found a narrow crevice—a hidden compartment.
She pressed down with her fingertips, and the wooden board sank slightly. Then, a dull rubbing sound came from the stone wall in front of her, like a rusty iron axle turning inside her bones.
The stone wall split in the middle, revealing a gap the width of a doorway, inside which was as black as if ink had been splashed.
Huo Changhe took out a small flashlight from his pocket, and the beam of light cast long shadows of the two of them against the stone wall where they had just separated.
Huo Changhe held the small flashlight forward, but the light didn't penetrate much into the dark room, only illuminating a thin layer of dust at the doorway.
Yan Ruyu took half a step inside first: "Let's go in and take a look."
Her shoes sank into the dust with barely a sound, which only made the stillness in the dark room seem even deeper.
Huo Changhe followed him in, the light from his small flashlight slowly sweeping across the surroundings.
The dark room was small, about the size of two woodsheds. The walls were bare, with no windows or cabinets. In the very center stood something taller than Huo Changhe.
The thing was covered with a red cloth that hung down to the ground. The firelight shone on the red cloth, and you could vaguely make out the outline inside—it was a human figure with soft, feminine shoulder and neck lines.
"What is this?" Yan Ruyu asked softly, her gaze fixed on the red cloth.
She had a vague premonition, but didn't want to admit it. She held her breath for a moment, and it seemed as if a chill was floating in the air.
Huo Changhe didn't speak, but took two steps forward and hooked a corner of the red cloth with his fingertips.
He moved slowly, the red cloth was pulled slightly taut, and slowly pulled down, the light of the tinderbox finally fell on the thing below - a stone statue.
The stone statue depicts a woman wearing a low-cut ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). The light pink stone is carved to make the fabric appear soft. A string of pearls hangs from the neckline, with each pearl having the same curve, and even the lines of the string are clearly carved.
The skirt is decorated with a lotus scroll pattern, with the tips of each petal pointing upwards, as if they are about to turn over from the stone surface.
The most terrifying thing is the face of the stone statue.
When the firelight shone on her, Yan Ruyu paused in her breathing and took a half step back.
Huo Changhe also stopped, his small flashlight swaying, the light fixed on the stone statue's face.
Yan Ruyu stared at the stone statue's brow bone, and the small mole under the left brow bone. Even the fine, almost invisible hairs on the mole were outlined by the stone statue with shallow carvings.
The stone statue has lowered eyebrows and downcast eyes, with long eyelashes and a slightly upturned corner.
They are all exactly like her.