As they walked to the middle of the mountain, a sharp-eyed young villager found the cigarette butt here, with crumbs from rice cakes scattered all over the ground. Cha Wenbin sighed and said: "After all, it was because of this thing that the child saw it."

  Because the tobacco and pastries were all taken from the Wang family, they inevitably carried a hint of incense on them. Eating them in the wilderness would easily attract unclean things, which would think that these were tribute goods.

  Because this mountain has few people coming and going all year round, the road that Hu Changzi walked through a few days ago still had clear marks, plus Heizi kept rushing forward, the direction they were looking for was not too difficult.

  Looking at these big trees that had blocked out the sunlight, Cha Wenbin thought to himself that without a guide, it would be easy to get lost in this forest. Hei Zi was able to see things that ordinary people couldn't, and was still a good tracking dog, leading everyone through the forest, following the trail left behind by Hu Changzi a few days ago. None of these young people had been here before, and they all exclaimed in amazement at the huge trees that several people could not wrap their arms around, their excitement making them forget about the strange legends of this place.

  "Woof woof woof!" Heizi began barking frantically towards a nearby thicket. Cha Wenbin knew it had found something. With a wave of his hand, the seven or eight young men rushed in, and then someone shouted: "Bicycle!"

  Hu Changzi's brand new 28-style rickshaw was right in front of him, with a bundle of pastries tied to the handlebars with a cloth bag. Some bolder young men had already lifted the rickshaw up.

  He hadn't gone a few steps further when Blackie stopped and began to make low, mournful howls. This was its warning call, only used in times of danger. Zhang Wenbin made a stopping motion, signaling for Zhuo Xiong and Heng Roulian to go ahead and take a look first. As they pushed aside the tangled vines and tree trunks, they were met with a shocking sight: countless graves scattered across this small area, with coffin boards and urns strewn about on the ground. It was clear that these were used for storing ashes. It seemed they had stumbled upon a chaotic burial ground.

  Zhuo Xiong carefully retreated and told Cha Wenbin about the situation inside, then everyone else followed in. Seeing so many graves, Cha Wenbin furrowed his brow and said: "First, we need to find that child's grave."

  These graves had tombstones, but the inscriptions on them were worn away by time and weather, making them illegible. Some were just a bare mound of earth, while others were simply exposed coffins with only a small portion remaining due to decay. The young people who came to watch the commotion lost their initial excitement as they arrived at the burial ground, where the desolate atmosphere was overwhelming. It's like how we often discuss and joke about funeral homes without feeling anything, but once you're actually there and the door is closed behind you, I think no one would dare laugh again, because nothing in this world is more brutal than facing death head-on.

  Zhuo Xiong was indeed a scout, and he soon discovered the tombstone that Hu Changzi had bumped into, because the moss on it had been disturbed. Cha Wenbin didn't dare to confirm whether this was the grave of the doll, but after all, he had met the doll once, so he decided to divine and ask.

  Because of the urgency of the situation, Cha Wenbin used the simplest method: Liu Yao Hexagram.

  He took out a few copper coins, tossed them several times, and got an unusual divination result: five yin lines at the bottom and one yang line on top. Zhang Wenbin didn't expect to get a mediocre result, and his heart suddenly felt uncomfortable. He stared at the tombstone, unsure of what to do next.

  Zhuo Xiong saw this hexagram and then asked: "Is the omen bad?"

  "It's not very good." Zhang Wenbin said: "This hexagram is a diagram of yin flourishing and yang declining, I brought so many young people, but only occupied one part of yang, it can be imagined that this place is really not very good. This hexagram is also called 'Bao Hexagram', with yin flourishing and yang lonely, high mountains attached to the ground. The hexagram symbol says that the magpie encounters the sky late at night in the forest, unaware of the eagle inside the forest first. It seems that this is knowing we want to come and dig his grave, as long as we take action, it will probably cause trouble. However, this hexagram originally warned gentlemen to beware of petty people, but we are not petty people, so this kind of harming human life should not be a gentleman. So, I'll use this one part of yang to bet on his five parts of yin!"

  Zhuo Xiong, after listening, snatched an iron shovel from a young man beside him and jumped onto the grave mound, shouting: "Pull out this underground villain and take a look! Let him know that people in Wangzhuang are not so easy to bully!" After finishing speaking, he smashed the shovel heavily on the tombstone, and instantly the long strip of bluestone was broken into two pieces.

  It's just like going to the battlefield, as long as someone takes the lead and fires the first shot, the comrades behind will follow. At certain difficult times, the power of a role model is boundless.

  The young people suddenly gained spirit, and for a time the yellow earth flew about. The small mound was leveled in no time, and there was no need for someone like Hwang to lend a hand with his powerful build. Just then, someone shouted: "We've reached the coffin!"

  Zha Wenbin walked closer and saw that one corner of a black coffin had already appeared above the ground, but nothing else could be seen.

  "Keep digging, but don't damage it." After Zhu Wenbin's instructions, the young men started a new round of excavation. It wasn't until the entire coffin was exposed that people discovered its unique feature.

  In our daily life, the coffins we see are mostly long and narrow, with one end bigger than the other. Some are simply boxes made of wooden boards nailed together. But this coffin is human-shaped!

  Cha Wenbin took only one glance and knew he had found the right one, because this coffin was only about 1 meter long and about 40 cm wide, just enough for a child to be buried in. The coffin was shaped according to the human body, with only the head and torso, without limbs, and was painted black all over with lacquer.

  They brought out a straw rope to pass under the coffin, and then got a shoulder pole to carry on their shoulders. With four young men working together, they heaved with a "heave-ho" and lifted the human-shaped coffin out of the ground.

  All the corpses that were exhumed and exposed to the public are those who cannot be shown in the light, which is a great disrespect to the deceased. No matter how big a mistake he made before or after his death, he should not be treated like this. Therefore, the most severe punishment for a person is to be exhumed and flogged after death.

  Cha Wenbin spread a layer of straw mat on the coffin, then pulled out the nails on the coffin one by one, slowly pushing the lid open. Everyone gathered around in a circle, those who couldn't squeeze inside could only jump and shout outside. None of these young people had seen this before, but Cha Wenbin suddenly said: "After opening the coffin, everyone must hold their breath. Whoever can't hold it in should leave first to avoid getting possessed."

  For a moment, even the sound of breathing stopped. There was only the creaking sound of wood moving. First to emerge were a pair of red tiger-head shoes. The tiger head embroidery was extremely cute and the color was very bright. Next was a set of red children's funeral clothes. On those pale small hands were silver bangles. When Cha Wenbin gently placed the coffin lid aside, everyone was shocked, including Cha Wenbin himself!

  There was a young man with little courage who shouted "Oh no!" and dropped his hoe, running away. Zhang Wenbin loudly shouted: "Zhuo Xiong, stop him! This place is not allowed to move around casually!"

  Zhuo Xiong's quick hands grasped the young man's collar, while the other young men who wanted to run were firmly blocked by Heng Roulian and Tie Niu. If they showed a fierce expression, it wouldn't be much better than the main one in the coffin. With Hei Zi revealing his sharp teeth and low growl, everyone was forced to stay put.

  Zha Wenbin stood up and said, "This forest is very strange. If you insist on going, I won't stop you, but I can't guarantee that you won't get lost or have some other accident. Staying here, at least you are safe. Since I brought you up here, I will take you down."

  It can be said that Cha Wenbin has been doing this for so many years, but he has never seen such a thing. This is a corpse that he has never seen in his life. If he had another chance, he might not have opened the coffin completely, because it's a torment for both the dead and the living. The scene may affect these young people for their whole lives.

  Cha Wenbin knew that if he couldn't dispel this shadow today, the nightmare would haunt them for a lifetime. The doll's head was made of paper mache: on the pale white paper, a mouth was painted with bright red paint, exaggeratedly smiling. The simple lines that outlined the eyes, nose, and ears were eerie, only used in funeral rituals to make paper boys and girls, which looked gloomy and uncomfortable.

  That thing was also what Cha Wenbin disliked the most, the young boys and girls were sacrificed as companions for the burial of the former nobles, it was a behavior that disregarded human life. Nowadays, some places still continue this bad funeral habit. However, although the head of this young boy was made of paper, his pair of hands were real, and they were preserved quite well. Suddenly, he had an extremely bad premonition in his heart, slowly, he stretched his hand into the coffin...

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