infodatos Chapter 47 Difficult Journey
Chapter 47 Difficult Journey
Vijay could only nod blankly, unable to utter a single word.
Why has the burden on my shoulders inexplicably increased again?
And it looks like it's cash on delivery!
Is this how business can be done?
Everything happened too suddenly and too strangely.
Yan Muna seemed to sense his fatigue and confusion, so he didn't say anything more to disturb him and immediately arranged for his men to replenish the caravan's food and water.
Vijay could clearly see that Yan Muna did not look relaxed when she took out these ordinary supplies.
It was as if this clean water and food were more valuable than the strange ointment for the dead.
A dignified heir to the city lordship, the future ruler of the city, actually had to be so frugal in providing even basic food and water.
Just how decayed has this seemingly powerful city of Mohenjo-daro actually become?
After replenishing their supplies, Yan Muna personally escorted Vijay and his group to the outside of the fortress. He solemnly reminded them again, his tone serious and earnest: "From here, you only need to follow the main road. Do not venture into the valley behind, for that is the domain of the Lord of Death. Once you step into it, there will be no chance of survival."
"If you see anything strange on the way, or encounter any insurmountable danger, remember to open that ebony box, take out the ointment for the dead and apply it to your body. Yama will protect you and help you pass through this valley safely."
He pointed into the distance: "Keep walking until you reach the river at the end of the valley, and you will be able to rejoin the ancient path."
The young city lord did not intend to persuade the caravan to rest there. He simply stood at the exit of the stone fortress, solemnly nodded to Vijay and his party, indicating that they could continue along the path behind them.
Without lingering, Vijay waved to signal the group to assemble and set off. The group crossed a series of formidable defensive barriers and embarked on the winding path behind the stone fortress that led north and disappeared into the withered forest.
This road was completely different from the main roads they had traveled before. It had not been leveled or compacted, and the road surface was narrow and rugged. On both sides were dead and crooked trees with twisted and grotesque branches, like ghostly claws reaching out from the ground, which looked particularly oppressive under the gray sky.
Shortly after the group set off, as they reached an open area on the riverbank, the bizarre death sacrifice ritual on the opposite bank, a hundred meters or so wide to their left, seemed to have reached its climax.
The continuous chanting of Sanskrit emanated from the direction of the altar. It was not the solemn, peaceful, and calming scripture of orthodox Brahmanism, but a low, obscure incantation with a strong seductive and corrosive power.
The sound wasn't loud, but it could penetrate straight into a person's ears and deep into their mind, making them dizzy and uneasy, as if an invisible sharp knife was constantly churning inside their skull, causing confusion and mental disorientation.
The people in the caravan frantically stuffed cotton cloth into their ears, trying to block out the eerie chanting.
His eyes shone with a faint spiritual light, and he chanted orthodox Sanskrit to defend himself.
Even so, those evil spells remained insidious and impossible to completely block. Everyone felt a strange sense of unease and fear, as if the darkest emotions in their hearts were being slowly dredged up.
"We can't stay any longer! Speed up and get out of here!" Vijay made a decisive decision and shouted the order to the entire team.
The drivers cracked their whips and gently urged the camels, oxen, and horses onward, causing the wheels to roll at a noticeably faster speed.
Everyone had only one thought: to escape this riverbank shrouded in death and evil, and to escape the area of the chanting that disturbed their minds.
Just as the group was about to round a bend in the river and completely leave the sacrificial site out of sight, Vijay instinctively stopped and turned his head sharply to look towards the altar on the other side of the river.
That one glance was unforgettable for him.
Beneath the altar on the opposite bank of the river, tens of thousands of ordinary people knelt in dense rows, like withered seedlings growing in the ground.
Just as Vijay looked in that direction, it was as if an invisible gust of wind swept by, and swathes of people fell forward in unison, like wheat being cut down.
There was no struggle, no crying, not even any unnecessary movements; they died quietly and neatly.
Countless lives perished at the same time, but the flames on the altar seemed to be infused with new fuel, suddenly surging upwards.
Despite the clear blue sky during the day, the pillar of fire still shot skyward, its flames as red as blood, churning wildly in the air.
Pieces of burning embers drifted out from the flames, like burning souls, scattering and falling in the air, as if devouring the life force that had just vanished.
Between heaven and earth, it seemed that only the firelight of the altar and the corpses lying all over the ground remained, creating an extremely eerie and tragic scene.
Vijay froze, his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an icy hand, and his breath caught in his throat.
He quickly turned his head away, not daring to look any longer, and urged the people around him to quicken their pace and escape this hell on earth completely.
After traveling for another half an hour, the disturbing chanting gradually faded until it disappeared completely behind them. Only then did the caravan members relax a little, and the fear and panic on their faces subsided. They began to focus all their attention on the difficult road ahead.
But they soon discovered that the path behind the stone fortress was a hundred times more difficult to traverse than they had imagined.
Although the road surface was dry and cracked, there were potholes and gullies of varying depths everywhere. It was unclear what caused them to form, but in many places the ruts were so deep that they almost formed impassable ditches.
The wheels rolled over it, causing it to shake violently. The goods on the vehicle swayed constantly, and someone had to carefully support them from both sides to prevent them from falling off.
The caravan had barely made it forward when a fully loaded oxcart suddenly veered off course, its right wheel sinking deep into a ditch beside it. No matter how the driver tried to urge the animals on, the wheel just kept slipping and couldn't get out.
"Help! The cart is stuck!" the driver shouted.
The servants and guards around immediately ran over, and several of them grabbed the carriage shaft together and pulled it forward with all their might. Some people even put stones and dead wood under the wheels to increase friction.
After a long struggle, accompanied by shouts from the crowd, the oxcart was finally pulled out of the ditch. But this delay slowed the procession down considerably.
A whole day had passed, but they had only covered the distance that would normally take two or three hours on the main road.
As darkness fell and night approached, Vijay, Vilandra, and Mu discussed the matter and decided to find a relatively flat and open place to rest for the night before setting off again early the next morning.
Once the order was given, everyone immediately got to work; some cleared the ground, some gathered firewood, and some tended to the livestock.
But just then, another unusual situation arose.