Sinisterium Pawnshop: Exclusive to Malevolent Objects

　　"Oh my god, a ghost...eh? No..."

　　Just as Hu Zi was about to be scared, he suddenly realized that something was off with the scene in front of him.

　　The old man was tied up tightly, his mouth stuffed with a rag, and he was making excited muffled sounds towards him and Lu Fei, with tears in his eyes.

　　It was clearly a person.

　　"What the hell is going on here?"

　　Hu Zi felt his brain completely shut down.

　　The old man in front of him was the same person who had sold the copper coins to him, Zhao Liggen. The villagers had held a funeral for the old man and built an empty grave, while the old man himself was tied up in the mausoleum.

　　"Let's ignore him for now. We'll take the soil from the grave first."

　　Although Lu Fei also had many questions, he suppressed his curiosity and took enough soil from the grave before approaching the old man.

　　"Mmm! Mmm!"

　　Old Zhao was extremely agitated, his thin body writhing constantly, and he made hoarse, muffled sounds towards the two of them, as if pleading for help.

　　"Brother Lu Fei, I have to find out if this old bastard did this on purpose to set me up!" Hu Zi said, gritting his teeth.

　　"Keep it down." Lu Fei glanced outside.

　　Hu Zi pulled out the cloth from Old Zhao's mouth and grabbed his neck, which was covered with black spots, and said fiercely, "You dare sell me a coin meant for the dead? Are you getting tired of living?"

　　Old Zhao coughed a few times, then pleaded in a hoarse voice, "I didn't know, I really didn't know. I just thought it was valuable and wanted to sell it for some money to escape."

　　"Escape, what do you mean? Aren't you from this village?"

　　"Please let me go! I will kowtow and beg for your forgiveness once I'm out. There's no time left! After midnight, the ancestor's memorial day will be here."

　　"Memorial day, what memorial day?"

　　Hu Zi didn't believe a word he said.

　　"Please! If the memorial day arrives, you will die too!" Old Zhao was so anxious that sweat poured down his face, and he didn't seem to be lying.

　　Lu Fei looked at the time and said calmly, "If you don't explain clearly, we won't release you. You're the one tied up, not us. We still have two hours, which is enough time for us to leave this mountain."

　　"This...This is our village's secret!"

　　Old Zhao was breathing heavily, as if he had undergone some intense mental struggle. Finally, with determination, he gritted his teeth and said, "Our village has a tradition...Every year on the ancestor's memorial day, we have to offer a person. Otherwise...everyone in the village will die."

　　"Nonsense! Isn't it your ancestor? Instead of protecting you, he wants you all to die?" Hu Zi said coldly.

　　Old Zhao hurriedly said, "I'm not making things up. It's because our ancestor...died with resentment! Before he died, he made a vow, cursing our descendants to suffer from strange illnesses."

　　Lu Fei said, "Explain more clearly."

　　He was also very curious about how the hungry ghost money came to be.

　　Old Zhao sighed heavily and spoke in a hoarse voice.

　　"The old folks in the village say that more than a hundred years ago, there was a famine in this area. Everything edible within dozens of miles was consumed, and many people were dying of hunger every day. Later, a master passed through our village and said that we had offended the mountain god, which brought this disaster upon us."

　　"As long as we offered one person to seek the mountain god's forgiveness, we could safely get through the famine."

　　"After the ancestors discussed, they chose a person, built a grave for him, and buried him…"

　　At this point, Old Man Zhao's voice trailed off, and he instinctively glanced at the ancient grave.

　　"Buried alive?" Lu Fei frowned.

　　Old Man Zhao didn't say anything, which was as good as an admission.

　　"No wonder there's so much resentment. Being buried alive by one's own fellow villagers and starving to death. Can you believe such an inhumane act happened?"

　　"It wasn't us, it was our ancestors from long ago." Old Man Zhao said with a bitter face, "They were the ones who did it, but it has dragged us, their descendants, into this mess. As soon as black spots start to appear on our bodies, we can't help but crave meat, but after eating, we vomit it all up, making it more miserable than death."

　　"Every year on the anniversary, we can't eat anything and go around biting people like madmen... anyway, people die every year. Later, they found out that if one person confessed and atoned for our ancestors on the anniversary, the others wouldn't fall ill."

　　After Old Man Zhao finished speaking, he noticed an eerie silence in the small building. He looked up and saw that the faces of the two people opposite him were extremely grim, and he trembled instantly.

　　He whispered, "This was decided by the village head, there's nothing I can do about it..."

　　Lu Fei felt a chill run down his spine.

　　There is an old saying: while humans fear ghosts, ghosts find human hearts far more poisonous.

　　But he never would have thought that the human heart could be so ignorant and cruel!

　　To save their own lives, they believed in the evil practice of sacrificing living beings.

　　Isn't their condition just a manifestation of hungry ghost qi? No wonder even the large feng shui tree died. I don't know whether to say they are pitiful or that they deserve it!

　　After a pause, he suppressed his emotions and asked, "What about the copper coin?"

　　"That master said that as long as we put the copper coin in the ancestor's mouth, it would suppress the resentment. But it turned out to be useless; everyone who was supposed to get sick, got sick, and everyone who was supposed to starve, starved. Unless, someone was sacrificed to atone for the sins."

　　"This year, it's my turn, and I don't want to die. I thought the copper coin was an antique, so I stole it to sell and run as far away as possible, but I was still caught."

　　Old Zhao pitifully pleaded, not caring how these two young people found him; he just wanted to cling to this lifeline with everything he had.

　　"I didn't know the copper coin would affect others! Just let me go, and I'll accept whatever punishment you give, whether it's beatings or scolding."

　　"Just keep pretending! This thing is what harmed your entire village. Do you dare to say you didn't know?" Lu Fei sneered, "You didn't think that by selling the copper coin and getting someone else to take the blame, you would be off the hook, did you?"

　　"No, I didn't think..." Old Zhao bowed his head, clearly feeling guilty.

　　"You old bastard! Are you even human? You did this on purpose to harm me..." Hu Zi's blood boiled, and he grabbed Old Man Zhao.

　　Just as he was about to punch him, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside.

　　"Oh no, they're here!"

　　Old Man Zhao's face turned pale.

　　"Let me go quickly. I know a secret path. I can take you down the mountain. Otherwise, they will capture you too, and the village's secret cannot be revealed to outsiders."

　　"Do you think I'm afraid of you old fossils?" Hu Zi refused to let go.

　　Lu Fei, however, spoke sternly, "Hu Zi, don't be rash! With so many starving ghosts, if they go mad, the two of us won't be able to handle them."

　　Although Hu Zi was seething with anger and would rather fight to the death than let this evil old man go, he didn't want to implicate Lu Fei, so he reluctantly threw Old Man Zhao away.

　　Lu Fei only untied the bindings on Old Man Zhao's legs, leaving his hands tied, just enough for him to walk.

　　The sound of a lock being opened came from outside, and several flashlight beams flickered, shining into the building.