Mysterious Country 1: Mist-Shrouded Champa, Volume 3: Chapter 2: The Cambodian Man-Eating Leech

Mysterious Country 1: Mist-Shrouded Champa, Volume 3: Chapter 2: The Cambodian Man-Eating Leech

The detonated flamethrower fuel tank immediately engulfed several nearby Burmese armed men in flames. Along with Hai Dongqing and Master Jiang, they were all burned into balls of fire. This type of military fuel had extremely strong combustion properties. Once it caught fire, nothing could extinguish it. And the people wrapped in flames could not die immediately. Amidst screams and wails of agony, they desperately rolled and struggled on the ground.

Yu Feiyan was also frozen in place by this sudden catastrophe. She knew the power of flamethrowers. Even if she rescued one or two survivors with “ninety-nine percent of their body surface burned,” in this primeval jungle far from any hospital, it would only mean prolonged suffering. The only thing that could be done now was to shoot immediately, to end their torment of being burned alive sooner. Yu Feiyan had always been decisive, but to act against friends who had followed her for many years, she ultimately could not bear it. She had no choice but to gesture to the Russian, White Bear.

“White Bear,” originally named Chiglov, had once been tortured. Most of his tongue had been cut off, leaving him unable to defend himself with words, so he was always silent. But his experience with explosives was exceptionally rich. He only needed to roughly estimate the amount of explosives and the direction of the blast, and the reality would be nearly identical. He was the demolition expert Yu Feiyan had hired. Moreover, this Russian had typical Transcaucasian bloodlines. Standing about 1.9 meters tall, he was built broad and thick, with a ruthless and vicious nature. Formerly a military advisor who had deserted to Vietnam and fled abroad, his family had all been arrested and executed by the “KGB” after his escape. So he harbored a deep hatred for the Soviet Russian iron curtain. Perhaps it was his life of running for his life that had formed his butcher-like, bloodthirsty cruelty. He raised his gun and shot each of the fire-covered people one by one, every bullet passing through their skulls. Throughout the entire process of killing several people, there was not the slightest hesitation. His actions were fierce and accurate, his face completely expressionless, just like heavy machinery made in the Soviet Union: “precise” and “cold.” Sima Hui and Luo Dahai and the others watched all of this with full view, and all felt chills in their hearts. But putting themselves in her shoes, Yu Feiyan was also acting out of necessity. Only if it were themselves, they did not know if they could be ruthless enough to let this Russian act.

After a burst of gunfire, the depths of the jungle returned to its original tranquility. But Yu Feiyan still could not stop her anxiety. Looking at the seven or eight charred corpses burned beyond recognition, she never imagined that in such a short time, she had successively lost Master Jiang, Mountain Borer, and Hai Dongqing. These people were all the four beams and eight pillars of the Mountain Forest Team, Old and Young Group, no different from her left arm and right hand. Since she had entered this profession, she had never encountered such a massive setback. For a moment, she felt completely at a loss.

At this moment, the remaining dozen or so Burmese armed men, along with Sima Hui’s group of four, all stepped forward to bury the charred remains of their companions. Someone saw a corpse lying in a low water puddle, probably having rolled into the water during the chaos just now. They wanted to drag it back for burial.

Unexpectedly, when they got close, they discovered that the corpse vaguely had a human shape but had not been burned by fire. Its features were unrecognizable, its body covered in water weeds, with some places exposing white bones. It was probably a corpse that had been immersed in stagnant water for many years, extremely similar to the dried corpse previously discovered by the water’s edge. In the low-lying areas of the jungle valley, there were many places where water accumulated into marshes. And in the Wild Man Mountain, the number of people who had gone missing was countless. Finding a few corpses in the water was not unusual.

But when everyone looked carefully, they could not help but cry out in alarm again. That “floating corpse’s” body was covered in dense suckers. And what was exposed from the water weeds was not white bone at all, but countless wriggling leeches. In reality, it was a “Cambodian Man-Eating Leech” completely wrapped in green algae. Sima Hui had been in Myanmar for many years and recognized this as a “Cambodian Man-Eating Leech.” They were also called “Queen Leech” or “Leech Mother.” They could only survive in the dark rivers of low tropical rainforests, with the greatest numbers found within Cambodia’s borders. They were accustomed to parasitizing inside rotting corpses and dead fish. The leech mother, when it first attached to a living creature, could grow to the same size as that creature. Its offspring were mostly ordinary leeches. And the leech mother itself did not eat people. But its entire body was covered in blood-sucking flesh discs, different from normal species, capable of draining the blood of an entire water buffalo or wild elephant in an instant. In the remote southwestern wilderness, there were many who used this creature to perform evil sorcery to harm people. Thus, the common people called it the “Man-Eating Leech.” The other Burmese people also knew its power. Although no one dared to touch the “Cambodian Man-Eating Leech” with their hands, in their terror, without waiting for their leader to speak, they had already raised their submachine guns and pulled the triggers. Under a burst of gunfire, that extremely rare giant leech was immediately shot into a sieve.

Unexpectedly, inside the leech mother’s body were all thick leeches five or six centimeters long. From the wounds torn open by the bullets, they wriggled out into the water. Upon encountering living human flesh, they mindlessly drilled inside. Everyone hurriedly dodged. Sima Hui’s eyes were quick and his hands were fast. Grabbing the remaining flamethrower from the shore, he aimed at the man-eating leech and with a “whoosh” sent out a jet of flame. The raging fire serpent swept forward, immediately burning countless leeches and that leech mother to death in the water.

Sima Hui then raised the searchlight and examined the various water marshes nearby under its beam. He saw that the water was filled with rising and falling Cambodian man-eating leeches. The mother bodies were extraordinarily large, with yellow spotted backs resembling human eyes, abdomens the color of withered leaves, covered in countless suckers. Everyone saw this clearly and could not help but feel their courage shaken, their scalps tightening, their hearts all filled with horror. The number of leeches in the jungle was extremely great, and their vitality was extraordinarily tenacious. Except for using flamethrowers, ordinary knives and guns could hardly kill them. But as long as one did not approach the water surface, it would be relatively much safer.

At this point, the remaining dozen or so Burmese armed men would no longer obey Yu Feiyan’s commands. This group of people were originally a motley crew, all here to sell their lives for money. Although they claimed to want money rather than life, what use was money if they lost their lives? They had not yet approached the giant rift valley where the “Mosquito Special Transport Plane” had gone missing, and had already lost many brothers. Looking at Master Jiang’s appearance just now, he had either been struck by evil sorcery or possessed by evil ghosts from the deep mountain forests. If they went deeper, perhaps none of them would return.

Moreover, the leader of the expedition team did not treat them as human beings at all. Losing one of them was no different from losing a stinking bug. If they stayed, sooner or later they would all become cannon fodder. So under the lead of one head man, they seized some equipment and supplies, threw up their hands and quit, fleeing back along the original route.

Those Burmese people were all fully armed. If truly pushed to desperation and they turned against the expedition team, the few remaining people could not control the situation at all. At best it would be mutual destruction. Yu Feiyan was helpless, watching them go into the distance, hating with heart-wrenching pain. She then looked back at Sima Hui and the others, asking hatefully: “Why didn’t you flee?”

Sima Hui looked at the remaining people. Only himself, Luo Dahai, A Cui, and Karaweik remained, plus Yu Feiyan, Cao Shangfei, and the Russian Chiglov. Altogether there were still seven. His mind turned, feeling that the causes and consequences were all extraordinary. And the tropical storm would arrive at Wild Man Mountain at any time. Once the rainstorms and floods came, the low-lying areas would all be submerged. That group of fleeing Burmese armed men had probably gone to seek their own deaths. So he did not respond to Yu Feiyan’s words, but instead asked: “What exactly happened to Master Jiang?”

Yu Feiyan still had lingering fears about what happened to Master Jiang before he was burned by flames. She was an extremely intelligent person who could understand with just a nod. Hearing Sima Hui’s words, she already vaguely felt something was wrong. She thought: “Could it really be that we encountered something evil…”

Before she could answer, Sima Hui continued: “I think Master Jiang may have been struck by the gu sorcery in Wild Man Mountain.”

It was said that ancient people had laid many sinister curses and trap mechanisms to protect the secrets of “Wild Man Mountain.” According to currently available intelligence, the US Army’s Sixth Independent Combat Engineering Regiment and countless explorers who had previously penetrated this mountain had all discovered many ancient ruins and cultural relics. But due to severe damage, it was difficult to determine which dynasty they had been left behind from.

Based on this speculation, those confusing and complicated rumors were very likely true. To search for the “Mosquito Special Transport Plane” missing for many years in the deep mountains, besides facing complex and severe weather conditions and natural environments, one also had to deal with the evil sorcery and traps left by ancient people. As for what secrets were buried in “Wild Man Mountain,” and who had laid the gu sorcery that took people’s lives, based on the limited information currently known, there was still no way to grasp even half a clue.

Over these years, Sima Hui, Luo Dahai, A Cui, and the others had been following the Burmese Communist People’s Army in combat through the deep mountain jungles. They had many times witnessed people being struck by head-lowering sorcery and gu witchcraft. And Karaweik, being a native of the place, knew even more clearly about this. If someone showed Master Jiang’s condition, there was no other reason. They must have been struck by “gu.” If struck by this evil sorcery, except for eating the flesh of the sorcerer and horse hooves before the onset, there was absolutely no other method of salvation. Only depending on each person’s constitution, about one in several hundred people might survive by chance.

It was said that in China there was a prescription that could use horse hooves to restrain gu sorcery. This folk method originated in Yunnan. It was said that in ancient times, Yunnan customs worshipped ghosts. If someone fell ill, they would not call a doctor but instead invite gods to descend and exorcise evil. If they encountered something strange, they would use “horse hooves.” What were horse hooves? Not horseshoes for nailed shoes, not horse hooves either. In the south they were commonly called “horse hooves,” while in the north they were called “chicken feet.” That is, chicken claws chopped from a live, vigorous rooster. It was said that this object could ward off evil and block misfortune, and was called one of the three spirits along with “black donkey hooves” and “dog-beating cakes.” Although “horse hooves” were not commonly seen in the north, they spread to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and other places. In ancient times, sorcerers had used them to deal with head-lowering sorcery and gu poison. But the secrets within had already been lost for hundreds of years.

Now even if they could determine that the “gu” in Wild Man Mountain had been laid by ancient people a thousand or a hundred years ago, the original sorcerers by now had probably turned to dust, their bones scattered to ash. Where would they go to get ancient people’s flesh to eat? So whoever was struck by gu was simply out of luck. There was definitely no salvation. And dying this way, in the end one could not even become a ghost.

The gu sorcery in the deep mountains of northern Myanmar was quite special. In the eyes of those struck by gu, beneath the pupils, a distinct black line would appear in the eyeballs, shaped like silkworm excrement. If this was truly present, then they had definitely been struck by evil sorcery. There would be absolutely no mistake. Sima Hui and the others had personally witnessed Burmese head-lowering and gu sorcery. They knew that all people struck by gu indeed had this characteristic at the bottom of their eyes. But they had no understanding whatsoever of its principles.

They had only heard people say that in places like Yunnan and Guizhou, there were barbarians skilled at raising gu. Southern Thailand produced many head-lowering sorcerers. Myanmar happened to be located between these two major regions. So “gu” and “head-lowering” evil sorcery merged into one. Its unfathomable aspects were even more difficult for ordinary people to fathom. If you were in Myanmar and saw a household where there was no dust or cobwebs in the room, you could conclude that it was a house with gu. As for the types of gu raised, there were too many to count: fish and shrimp gu, cowhide gu, corpse gu, insect gu, snake gu, dog bone gu, cloth gu, toad gu, and so on.

Yu Feiyan still somewhat did not believe it. So she said to Sima Hui: “Now Master Jiang’s corpse has already been cremated by the flamethrower. You are only guessing. How can you determine it was gu?”

While the two were quietly discussing, Cao Shangfei beside them suddenly had a violent fit of coughing, spitting out several large mouthfuls of black water. When he raised his head, his eyes were already tinged with jaundice and bloodshot, completely identical to Master Jiang’s previous appearance. This Cao Shangfei was a scrawny, rat-faced little man. He was meticulous and intelligent by nature, perhaps knowing some dodging and leaping lightness skills, which had earned him this nickname. But although he was a tomb-robbing earth thief, he was born with insufficient courage. Just now, seeing several old companions meet such ends, he was already terrified beyond color, his mind and spirit completely in chaos.

When Sima Hui saw his appearance, he immediately felt a chill penetrate straight to his chest. He hurriedly stepped forward to support Cao Shangfei, lifted his lower eyelid to look, and saw at the bottom of both eyes, a black line running straight through the pupil. Then he successively examined the eyes of the remaining people.

When everyone saw Sima Hui’s actions, they all had a premonition that a great catastrophe was about to descend. Only Luo Big Tongue was heartless and mindless. He completely did not understand what was happening, and even asked Sima Hui: “Look at my Luo Dahai’s eyes. Are they too amorous from eighty-some years without rain?”

But Sima Hui paid no attention to Luo Big Tongue’s words. Because he had discovered that all the people, including that group of Burmese armed men who had previously escaped, every single one of them, at the bottom of their eyes there was an extremely distinct black line. The time remaining in everyone’s life might now only be measurable in minutes.