There was still a light on inside. Curious, he went closer to take a look. A few iron hooks hung from a beam, and a freshly skinned dog dangled from one of them. The sharp hook pierced its lower jaw. The flesh had been cut away from its back and both hind legs, and blood dripped steadily onto the ground.
In that brief moment, a scene that made my whole body go numb flashed through my mind: I opened the door, and the room was packed with bugs. They crowded together across the walls and floor, leaving nowhere to step. In the middle of the room, a huge bug as thick as a roof beam was clinging to the ceiling, constantly multiplying.
At the old Taoist priest's command, several men tied the woman to a pillar that had been set up on the platform. The priest pulled a talisman from his robes, held up his sword, and muttered a few words. Then he stuck the talisman to the woman's forehead. A flash of swordlight followed, and blood sprayed from her chest as a gash opened.
I was about to rush down and pull him away when white waves suddenly rippled across the water. Bubbles began to rise in the middle, as if the water were boiling. With a splash, a black monster burst out of the water, nearly three meters tall.
A foul smell began to come from the vegetable cellar. When someone asked me what was going on, I said it was just rotting leaves and managed to fool them. I bought some lime to sprinkle inside, but then I noticed something like a spiderweb growing on the cellar floor.
I sprinkled in the lime, and the stench disappeared.
A man stood in the middle of the living room, covered in blood and holding a cleaver. On the floor in front of him lay a woman, also covered in blood.
