Chapter 51: Eating Flesh (Part XXIII) - The Truth

Qisi raised three sticks of incense, bowed three times, and noticed that the black smoke lingering around his palms seemed to have faded slightly.

However, it lasted for only a fraction of a second before the diluted black smoke regained its thick intensity, just like dripping a single drop of clear water into an inkwell—entirely futile and in vain.

Qisi cast a sidelong glance at the chilling sunlight outside the door. Taking advantage of the fact that most people's attention was elsewhere, he casually snatched a memorial tablet and walked out of the ancestral hall without looking back.

Why is this person from Sheol so brazen about taking everything? Is he extraordinarily bold because of supreme skill, completely unafraid of mishaps?

Watching this unfold, Zhao Feng felt a surge of respect rise in his heart. Though he did not condone Qisi's actions, he still silently followed behind.

He had already calmed down from the excitement of killing Yang Yundong. Having figured out the intricate twists and turns of the situation, he was left with lingering fear.

He was also injured, and his combat capability had decreased, putting him in a situation similar to Yang Yundong's. If they encountered another fatal trial, Zhu Ling would likely instigate Zhou Yilin and Zhang Licai to sacrifice him.

He had to save himself, which meant binding himself to Qisi as quickly as possible so that the other players would hesitate to act rashly out of fear of repercussions.

Qisi gave Zhao Feng a mild smile and instructed, "Zhao Feng, carry the wooden bucket. Let's go back to Granny Su's place."

As if granted amnesty, Zhao Feng hurriedly picked up the wooden bucket that Granny Su had left in the very center of the ancestral hall and followed closely behind Qisi.

He knew that Qisi was affirming their cooperative relationship right in front of everyone, meaning his greatest fear—being discarded after being used—would not come to pass.

Seeing the grateful look in Zhao Feng's eyes, Qisi had no intention of saying anything more.

—Compared to other people's words, humans prefer to believe the logic they have deduced themselves, even if it is miles away from the truth.

There were only five players left. Following the death of the recognized leader, the team had completely disintegrated, and there was no longer any need to pursue the pretense of advancing and retreating together.

Qisi led Zhao Feng a short distance away. Seeing that there was no one around them, he calmly stated, "Zhao Feng, just a moment ago, I reached a cooperation with Zhou Yilin. She will kill Zhu Ling, and we need to control Zhang Licai.

"You killed Yang Yundong, and you did a very good job of that. Now I can tell you, the code of conduct for us in Sheol is never to leave a single witness alive..."

***

On the other side, as the temperature inside the ancestral hall dropped lower and lower, a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere permeated the air like strands of thread.

Zhou Yilin timely hugged Zhu Ling's arm and pleaded in a soft voice, "Sister Zhu, I'm so scared. Let's leave quickly. I don't think searching any further will turn up anything..."

As if remembering something, she looked at the skeleton and the broadsword on the ground: "Should we take Brother Yang with us?"

Zhu Ling twitched the corner of her eye and shook her head: "Forget it, let Brother Yang rest in peace. With his saber suppressing this place, those ghosts and monsters won't dare to do anything to his remains..."

She wasn't entirely convinced of her own subsequent words, and her voice trailed off weakly. However, thinking that she had not embezzled the deceased's belongings, she grew righteous once more.

Though she was inevitably dragged into this zero-sum game and had even schemed to bring about Yang Yundong's death, she considered herself far from a bad person, and her original intention was not to harm anyone... Once she returned to reality, she would remember to burn a few sticks of incense for Yang Yundong.

Zhou Yilin seemed completely oblivious to Zhu Ling's inner conflict, nodding repeatedly as if deeply convinced: "Yes, yes, Sister Zhu, let's hurry back!"

...With a girl this timid, she probably won't survive long in weird horror games.

Zhu Ling sighed inwardly, her desire to explore the ancestral hall inexplicably dissipating by a fraction.

She patted the shoulder of Zhang Licai, who was still slumped on the ground doubting his entire existence, uttered a brief "Let's go first," and then, arm in arm with Zhou Yilin, walked briskly out of the ancestral hall in the direction of Granny Su's house.

Left all alone, Zhang Licai sat blankly inside the ancestral hall. It took another full quarter of an hour before he snapped out of it like someone waking from a dream, looking around left and right.

Seeing no one in sight, he quickly picked up the broadsword that had fallen beside Yang Yundong's remains.

[Name: Rusted Broadsword]

[Type: Prop]

[Effect: Deter ghosts and monsters]

[Remarks: This is a blade that has taken many lives, yet its previous owner used it for protection, refusing to point its edge toward his own kind even at death's door. "And so he died." A certain Evil God felt a sense of pity for this, but felt no remorse whatsoever.]

Zhang Licai scanned the newly refreshed prompts at a glance and subconsciously rubbed his bald head: "Brother Yang, rest in peace. I will remember your sacrifice and help you carry your relics out of this instance."

Strapping the broadsword to his back, he stood up, stepped out of the ancestral hall, and walked back along the path he had come.

The pale, sickly sun hung far away on the distant western horizon, almost swallowed by the boundless white mist. Its bleeding edges looked as though they had been wiped over with a wet tissue, diluting, fading, and dispersing inch by inch.

The territory of the west village slowly unsealed as daylight sank. Billowing clouds surged forth like wild horses, weaving a thick fog across the road in the east village, while greyish-white dust and smoke rose steadily into the air.

It was already dusk by the time everyone returned to Granny Su's house. The dining table had been set up, laden with food and dishes that exuded a rich, savory aroma.

Granny Su and Axi sat by the dining table, playing the "Raising the Girl" game while waiting for the players to arrive.

A faint smile lingering on his lips, Qisi said to the others, "I intend to use the clues from the ancestral hall as leverage to demand some information from Granny Su. To avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion, let's all go over together."

Ensuring the information was open and transparent was false; making everyone share the risks equally was true. Yet none of the players raised any objections, consciously following behind Qisi.

Whatever needed to be understood had to be uncovered eventually, and it was all for the better if someone else was willing to take the lead. Eavesdropping on the conversation wouldn't be overly dangerous, after all.

Qisi walked up to Granny Su and tossed the memorial tablet from his arms onto the floor, watching with satisfaction as the expressions of the grandmother and grandson shifted from bewilderment to sheer terror within a single second.

He dragged a chair over, placed it directly in front of Granny Su, and sat down with poise. His voice was unhurried: "From my perspective, the disaster that befell the Su Village was entirely self-inflicted. The greedy villagers got what they deserved, and they fully deserved to be cursed by the gods and mutated into ugly monsters.

"What I fail to understand, however, is that you clearly died before the villagers cannibalized the god, having nothing to do with all those sins. Why stubbornly trap yourself in this man-eating village?

"As a victim yourself, why are you so utterly merciless, blindly submitting to this absurd set of rules?"

Granny Su said coldly, "Someone must hold down the fort in this village. If the ancestral hall is left unattended by me, all of them will break loose. Not only will they kill you all, but they will also bring disaster upon the entire county!"

Standing guard beside Qisi, Zhao Feng dutifully loomed like a pillar.

Noticing Granny Su's hostile tone, he grabbed Axi by the collar: "Old hag, fix your attitude, or else I'll throw your grandson straight into the ancestral hall and see if those ghosts chew him to pieces!"

Qisi cast a cold, indifferent glance at Zhao Feng before turning his gaze back to Granny Su: "I have never been a good person. Whether the people of this entire county live or die is none of my concern, nor do I believe I have any connection to you all.

"I am merely a curious passerby. If you can tell me the whole truth, I might be able to figure out a way to resolve your village's problems; at worst, I simply won't continue to wreak havoc in the ancestral hall and make things any worse."

He paused for a moment, revealing a smile that could almost be described as gentle: "However, if I am unable to learn the truth, I will feel so distressed that I'll want to drag everyone down to die with me. Unless you kill me, sooner or later I will tear that paper talisman in the ancestral hall to shreds."

These words were spoken with absolute sincerity, sounding nothing like an idle threat. Neither the humans nor the ghosts who heard them doubted for a second that Qisi would follow through on his words.

After all, in instances categorized as Rule-based Weirdness, ghosts and monsters were restricted by the rules and unable to kill freely, and the rules did not prohibit players from tearing up talismans...

Holding Axi's neck as a human background prop, Zhao Feng couldn't help clicking his tongue in awe: As expected of someone from Sheol? Truly carrying a touch of insanity on him just like the rumors say...

Granny Su did not dare to gamble on Qisi's worldview, yet she was equally unwilling to surrender the information so easily.

Just as she hesitated, she heard the young man before her add the final weight to his words: "Perhaps I can give you a clearer hint—what did He promise you?"

A question with vague pointing is, at its core, a psychological tactic of inducing the audience to make associations based on suggestions, making the other party assume the questioner already knows a great deal of information, rendering the disclosure of a little more harmless.

Anyone with an understanding of psychology naturally knew how to counter such induction, but unfortunately, Granny Su clearly had no idea what psychology was.

Upon hearing Qisi's words, the extremely aged woman let out a long sigh, collapsing against her chair like a deflated ball, and began to recount the story.

***

After their deaths, the ghosts of Granny Su and Axi had drifted endlessly through the village.

They witnessed the Su Village survive famine, grow wealthy through the meat of the god, and mutate en masse as if under a curse.

Stacked sins unfolded before their eyes; emotions of anger, grief, and resentment surfaced one after another, dissipating and churning over the long years.

Until one day, a Daoist priest dressed in black came to the Su Village.

He wore out-of-season robes, kept his hair long, and possessed an extraordinary demeanor and speech, with a pair of striking golden eyes that drew immediate attention.

He performed a few miraculous little spells in public, quickly winning the trust of the villagers.

Under the guidance of the Daoist priest, the villagers remodeled the ancestral hall, transforming its original function of worship into one of suppression, and placed the memorial tablets of the villagers who died from mutations inside it, finally securing a single night of peaceful sleep.

However, when it came to the disposal of the divine corpse, the Daoist priest ran into a dilemma.

He told the villagers, "What you have provoked is the most cruel and terrifying Evil God in heaven and earth. He holds the exact same malice toward all living creatures, and what He loves most is to induce humans to commit sins and watch them struggle bitterly because of their original sins.

"Things have come to this; all you can do is seek atonement and beg for His forgiveness."

The villagers eagerly asked how they were to seek atonement.

The Daoist priest replied, "Find a quiet place to house His corpse, then collect sufficient human flesh and blood, and complete His physical body through the ritual of wax sacrifice."

The villagers asked, "We have already become these half-human, half-ghost creatures, and it has been a very long time since any travelers came to our village. Where can we possibly find human flesh and blood?"

Gazing toward the entrance of the village, the Daoist priest declared in the tone of a pronouncement, "Three days from now, eleven travelers will arrive."

The villagers clenched their fists in anticipation, but the Daoist priest left behind several strict rules to restrain them, including harsh stipulations such as "no killing for flesh outside the rules" and "obtaining the travelers' consent or tacit permission to harvest flesh."

Yet no one dared to raise any objections. Having been tortured for years by the agony of mutation and the terror of the curse, they would desperately clutch at even the slimmest thread of survival.

Without wasting words, the Daoist priest dismissed the villagers and went alone to Granny Su's courtyard, pausing by the well.

With a wave of his sleeve, he fished out the souls of Granny Su and Axi. Two crooked shadows, as faint as watercolor ink, slowly solidified and began to circle around him.

The bizarrely-behaving outsider gazed down at the two ghosts—one large, one small—and a smile finally touched the corners of his lips.

He said, "You need only act according to my instructions. Once it is done, I will grant the two of you resurrection."