Chapter 62.2 (2/2)

Tang Mianmian was also stunned.

“They’re going up the hill, hurry and follow.”

Xue Junli’s expression was heavy.

With that order, the group immediately followed.

This time they didn’t need to worry about losing them. Hiking was already a strenuous task, not to mention that the man was carrying an old lady on his back, he was faltering and had difficulty moving forward.

The crowd followed not too far or close. The people ahead climbed too slowly and they had to slow down the pace of following. They even chatted because they were too bored.

Tang Mianmian turned his head and asked Xiao Tangqiu, “Qiuqiu, what do you think of this?”

Xiao Tangqiu pondered for a moment and replied, “Actually, I have heard of similar customs and traditions before…”

Tang Mianmian was immediately curious, “Oh? What about?”

Xiao Tangqiu said, “I heard that there used to be a poor, small mountain village. The whole village was very poor so they would carry the elderly who could no longer work up the mountain and let them survive on their own to save on food and let the young people live…”

Tang Mianmian was stunned, “Fuck! Isn’t that abandoning the old? They can just watch their parents die?”

Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips, “For them, this should have become a tradition? They have abandoned their parents, but they know that they will also be abandoned by their children in the future. Their parents were sacrificed and at the same time they will be sacrificed for their children in the future.”

Tang Mianmian’s mouth twitched, “What kind of fucked up feudal and barbaric tradition is this? Even the poorest shouldn’t do this! What’s the difference between this and personally killing their parents?”

Xiao Tangqiu nodded, “This custom was too strange so I remembered it after one look. Compared with the era of trading children for food’s simple and crude cruelty in the 1980s and 1990s, this peaceful cruelty… seems crueler.”

Duan Hongzhen came over and interjected, “What’s going on with that mountain god? Is there really a mountain god in this damned place?”

Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a local legend. Perhaps the ancestors of Hundred Ghosts Town made up the story that there is a Holy Mountain near the village in order to disguise and beautify their actions of abandoning their elderly. Since there is a mountain god on the Holy Mountain, they weren’t abandoning the old, they were sending the old to accompany the mountain god. The old people sent to the ‘Holy Mountain’ will protect their children and grandchildren with the mountain god and bless this Hundred Ghosts Town…”

Tang Mianmian snorted immediately, “If I were an elderly sent to this deserted area, I would never bless my rubbish offspring and that shitty Hundred Ghosts Town! You killed me and even want my blessing? Peh! You wish! I will curse you to die an ugly death! ”

Xue Junli sneered, “Are the old people sent to the mountains really innocent? Haven’t they abandoned their parents before?”

Tang Mianmian was struck dumb, Xue Junli’s words really made sense… Those old people who were abandoned on the “Holy Mountain”, each of them once carried the old people from their home to the “Holy Mountain” and abandoned them.

Were those old people innocent? No, as long as they were villagers in Hundred Ghosts Town, no one was innocent. They used to be young and once were the young people who carried their elderly to the hills. And now, the young people who carried them to the mountains would also grow old sooner or later and become the next old person to be carried uphill.

Although they had not stained their hands with blood, they had still fallen into the quagmire of sin, and each of them was a part of that cycle of sin.

No one was innocent.

Even that grandma was not innocent. She had witnessed the death of her grandmother and mother and thus benefited. She survived eating the food saved by her elder’s “self-sacrifice”, and now it was her turn. She became this “self-sacrificing” person.

Did she really want to die?

It probably was not the case. Everyone was afraid of death, but she knew that if she didn’t do this, the food at home may not be enough and her son may starve. The worst was to become “non-traditional” and being punished for challenging the authority of tradition.

Everyone was silent. Xiao Tangqiu was lost in thought. The man was still climbing up the mountain with his mother on his back not far away. He was exhausted and still didn’t stop. He didn’t seem to dare to stop. Maybe he was afraid that once he stopped, he would never have the courage to carry his mother on the top.

The old lady was so relieved that she sometimes wiped the sweat on her son’s face with a sleeve.

The sky was getting dark and the two of them were getting closer to the peak of the hill.

The man’s steps were getting heavier and slower and the old lady suddenly spoke again, “We’re about to reach the top of the hill, Taro is indeed my good son…”

The man gritted his teeth and said nothing.

“In the future, once mom is gone, Taro needs to take good care of himself, eat on time, and wear more clothes…” The old lady was like an ordinary mother about to go on a long journey, telling her son to wear more clothes to eat more.

Xiao Tangqiu was also feeling down. He couldn’t help but think of his mother and Meng Xinghe’s mother… Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but look at Shen Yuan and saw that Shen Yuan’s gaze was heavy and thoughtful.

His heart suddenly jumped, “Shen … Shen Yuan, did you think of something?”