The shaman did not allow them to stay in the shrine for long.

At this time, there was still some time before noon, and the villagers were busy with the ritual of inviting the gods.

When Xiao Cheng and Fang He went out, they saw the village chief assigning tasks to Xu Chu and the others.

"Go to each villager's yard and take half a piece of peach wood," the village chief said in a serious tone. "Every household must take one, but each household can only take half a piece."

"Let's join in and help. With just the three of them, I'm afraid it won't be enough time to get everything ready before we can invite the gods," Fang He suggested at the opportune moment.

The village chief looked at the two of them, a faint smile of satisfaction on his face: "It seems you have completed the purification. Very good."

"Thanks to the shrine maiden, it was a very novel experience," Xiao Cheng said.

The village chief nodded and continued, "Since you're joining us, why don't you go to the shaman's house and get a piece of locust wood? Remember to come back here before the rooster crows at noon."

When the two entered the ancestral hall, Xu Chu and the other two had already exchanged information briefly. It turned out that, apart from Xiao Cheng and Fang He, everyone else had heard the sound of the bell last night.

"The sound was very loud, to be honest, it didn't sound like an ordinary bell," Number 7 said. "If I had to describe it, it would be..."

"A soul-summoning bell," Number 4 chimed in, "or rather, the kind of bell used by corpse-drivers."

"Yes, yes, that's exactly it! I barely slept a wink last night!" Number 7 showed off his dark circles. "This damn dungeon is so exhausting!"

The topic of the summoning bell made Xu Chu a little uncomfortable. He turned to ask, "What did you find in the ancestral hall?"

"I've given up my old ways," Xiao Cheng sighed softly. "I even saw a pirated copy of Nezha."