Chapter 2, The Death of Grandfather

Upon hearing this, my grandfather felt a sudden buzzing in his brain, and a layer of goosebumps erupted all over his body. He hurriedly turned to look at Wang Da's corpse, and the dark red color appeared even more chilling at that moment! My grandfather could hardly imagine the horror and cruelty of a person being skinned from neck to foot.

Grandfather knew there must be danger, yet disregarding everything, he hurried back without a care. Before long, Tan Yixian stumbled and fell to the ground. Grandfather quickly rushed over and supported Tan Yixian, asking, "What happened?"

Grandfather swallowed hard, as if to bolster his courage, and shouted, "Sister-in-law!" The other three immediately ran over.

Until this moment, of the original ten teachers, only four remain alive. Grandfather and a person named Wu Yue stayed in Ling County, while Yang Feng and another family called Hou Minyang have disappeared without a trace. However, later my father managed to find out that they seemed to have gone to Beijing for a book.

Just a little over ten meters in front of a few people, a figure was unexpectedly hanging in the not-so-tall ceremonial pavilion in Yanling! This person was entirely shrouded in a dark red hue, with only the face recognizable as Wang Da. Grandfather glanced at Tan Yixian, and the two of them, steeling their courage, slowly moved closer, until they were within three meters of Wang Da. Before Grandfather could discern what was happening, Tan Yixian let out a ghostly howl and scrambled back in a panic.

The sudden turn of events occurred on the night of the sixth day, yet no one knew what had happened. It was only upon waking the next morning that I realized I would never see my grandfather again. On that very day, my grandmother gave birth to my father. Not long after, under the leadership of my three uncles, the entire family moved to Shanghai. It was not until my grandmother had completed her confinement that the three uncles informed her of my grandfather's death. It turned out that my grandfather had long known that the family's fortunes would suffer due to the destruction of Yanling, and thus, he chose to atone for his sins that night, hastily leaving this world. It was not until my grandmother had completed her confinement that the three uncles informed her of my grandfather's death. It turned out that my grandfather had long known that the family's fortunes would suffer due to the destruction of Yanling, and thus, he chose to atone for his sins that night, hastily leaving this world

What Grandfather never expected was that when he returned with others, Tan Yixian and the others had all disappeared! Only Wang Da's wife remained squatting there, as if she had gone mad, staring intently at Wang Da's skinless corpse, her body swaying back and forth incessantly! After searching the entire Yanling and still failing to find any trace of the others, they had no choice but to take Wang Da's wife and Wang Da's corpse back to Ling County.

At this moment, only grandfather remains active, and that is because he has never truly seen things clearly from the beginning. However, to say that he could bring Wang Da down is impossible; it is likely that he would lose control of his bowels before even getting close. In desperation, grandfather had no choice but to go back and call for help

Among the five teachers who went together, the youngest, Yang Feng, was so frightened that his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground. In desperation, his grandfather had no choice but to let him stay behind. By the time the group of six arrived at Yanling, it was already close to evening. Due to three consecutive days of frightening thunderstorms, coupled with the eerie blood-red ground, the vast tomb area of the Chinese ancestor—Emperor Yan—was completely deserted

In an instant, this mausoleum area, resembling a desolate graveyard, was left with only my grandfather and another person, Tan Yixian, who was the boldest among them, still retaining some semblance of rationality. The two merely stood still, gazing ahead, their bodies trembling slightly.

"Skin! There is no skin left! Wang Da has been skinned!" Tan Yixian shouted with bloodshot eyes, his expression extremely agitated.

In the following three days, my grandfather, accompanied by comrades from the Lingxian County Public Security Bureau and some Red Guards who remained in Lingxian, searched for the whereabouts of the three individuals, but to no avail. Wang Da's wife also became mentally unstable due to excessive fright.

When the four men arrived, Wang Da's wife was kneeling on the ground with Tu Shu, staring blankly ahead, her face as pale as snow. When the grandfather and others called out a few times, seeing that Wang Da's wife did not respond, they instinctively looked forward. Upon this glance, the situation became dire; two of the four men immediately collapsed to the ground, trembling and curling up into a ball. It was evident that they had already lost consciousness.

Finally, the concerns of the family came to pass. In the deep of the night on the fifth day, Grandfather summoned the three uncles, who were still quite young at the time, to his room for a lengthy discussion. When they emerged from the room, there were traces of tears on their faces. However, when asked about the content of their conversation, all three shook their heads in unison and refused to speak.

In the following days, Grandfather, accompanied by Wu Yue, went to Yanling for three consecutive days, but each time he returned with a gloomy expression and remained silent. He kept flipping through the ancient artifacts brought back from Yanling. According to Third Uncle, among them was an object resembling tungsten iron, a shield the size of a small cutting board, which Grandfather seemed to examine the most. Along with books.

A sense of inexplicable panic had already risen in Grandfather's heart, as he faintly sensed that something had happened! On the very day the Public Security Bureau announced the disappearance of several individuals, four out of ten teachers, including Yang Feng, left Ling County with their families. However, the day after these four families departed, Grandfather received news that two of them encountered a mudslide on the road, and none of their family members survived. When they were rescued, their bodies were unrecognizable. Even more perplexing was that their bodies were filled with that blood-red soil!

Looking at the silent cemetery before them, the hearts of several individuals began to waver, but only Wang Da's wife continued to rush madly towards the main hall of Yanling. The other three, feeling helpless and fearing that Wang Da's wife might cause further trouble, steeled themselves and followed her. However, they had barely taken a few steps when a chilling scream of "Ah—" echoed from ahead. In the context of the moment, that sound sent shivers down the spines of the four, causing their minds to buzz and their bodies to break out in goosebumps.