"Go to hell!"

The entire village square was ablaze. Wang Wenfei and Merita pinned "Wang Laosan" and "Cuihua," who were plotting against them, to the ground. They lit the dry firewood on the altar that was supposed to burn them to death and threw the two women into the flames.

Screams and curses erupted in quick succession. Wang Wenfei's face paled for a moment as she watched the two people transform into enlarged versions of weasels with furry faces.

Even Merita recognized one of the faces as the monster that had frightened them on the balcony that night.

"This...this is a weasel?" Merita asked uncertainly.

"It seems...so." Wang Wenfei nodded slowly. She had been staring at the grotesque form that the other person had conjured after being burned alive for quite some time before she could confirm it.

The surrounding villagers stood frozen in place after Merita and her group made their move, like puppets or clay sculptures, lifeless and seemingly paralyzed with fear. (M.cascoo.net)

Finally, when that piercing scream from within the flames shattered the sky once more, everyone seemed to be resurrected once more, and they swiftly left the plaza.

"Wait a minute...you guys..."

Noticing the reactions of the surrounding villagers, Merita instinctively thought a fight was about to break out, but to her surprise, the villagers retreated and headed home, showing no intention of confronting them.

"Oh dear, what are you all doing..."

Merita reached out to stop the departing villagers, but no one paid them any attention. The warm and friendly demeanor they displayed during the day had completely vanished.

"You may leave."

The second child's parents reappeared in front of them, holding the baby. Wang Wenfei was so frightened that she pulled Merita back a few steps.

She had seen the most realistic scene through the torch in her hand.

Two corpses, their skins removed, stood before them, each cradling a bloodied child whose head was missing half.

Moreover, the reason why Merita didn't speak or make a move when she stopped people was because she saw that everyone present was just some skinless creatures swaying around.

"You don't belong here."

Erbao's mother seemed not to notice Wang Wenfei's expression, pointed to the mountains outside the village, and said, "Once you get up the mountain, you can leave from the same place you came in."

"Where... exactly is this place?"

Wang Wenfei remembered that she and Merita were ambushed in front of the mural. At the time, they were marveling at how lifelike the mural depicted the village below the mountain. Could it be that they had fallen into the painting?

"This is a paradise set up for us by the Mountain God."

Erbao's mother smiled at Wang Wenfei and the others, at least towards the couple.

"If the mountain goddess is truly kind-hearted, why would the temple keeper beside her be a weasel?"

The more Merita thought about how she had been ambushed by those two weasels, the more she felt that the mountain god was no good.

"The mountain god is ultimately just a mountain god. It's already the best he can do to ensure that our generations enjoy good weather and abundant harvests, but human nature is never satisfied..."

Erbao's father gave a bitter laugh: "There are always people who are greedy and ask for too much, so much that even the mountain god cannot grant their requests. As a result, they are tempted by evil gods."

At this point, Erbao's father sighed: "Many villagers here once made vows to evil gods and lost their lives. It was the mountain god who took them in."

"Is that so?"

...

"Wow, I'm so happy, I'm even moved by what I'm hearing."

Mingmei listened to Erbao's family's description, sighed with emotion, and looked up at the golden statue, which was cracked inch by inch, revealing a face that was neither human nor beast. She said with disgust, "Ugh, Huang Er is dead, but he still keeps this thing to annoy me."

...

Wang Wenfei and the others had almost finished, but Lu Xiaoyao and the others were still making slow progress. Mingmei saw through Lu Xiaoyao's live stream that the three of them were still at the house where the funeral was being held.

"Huh? You mean there's something unclean in the village?"

While Mingmei was distracted and checking on Wang Wenfei and the others' progress, Lu Xiaoyao found herself talking to an older woman she thought she was meeting for the first time, who had just lost her son, about something unclean in the village.

Even Mingmei thought this move was bizarre.

She looked at Mu Chen, who had been silent the whole time, watching Lu Xiaoyao and Julian do their thing. She noticed that the corner of his mouth twitched when he heard this, and then Mu Chen pursed his lips slightly, as if he was speechless.

But he didn't stop them from performing; it was as if he could cover for them.

"Yes, we ran into your child yesterday when we were buying groceries in the village. He didn't seem afraid of people like you described. Instead, he told us a lot of things. He also said that many people are missing from the village."

Even though Lu Xiaoyao didn't see that person yesterday, her expressive face and varied tone made her speak as if she had personally experienced it, saying, "Auntie, haven't you ever thought that your child is actually fine? The problem is with someone else."

"Is it someone else?"

The couple were taken aback by the look in Lu Xiaoyao's eyes.

“Yes.” Lu Xiaoyao nodded repeatedly. “Just like you said, Auntie, if everyone went to the Mountain God for every little thing, how could the Mountain God possibly keep up? And can many people’s wishes even be called wishes? With desires growing stronger every day, would the Mountain God grant such wishes?”

When Lu Xiaoyao asked this, the couple opposite her subconsciously shook their heads. Then Lu Xiaoyao continued, "That's right. So, those people still claim that their wishes have come true. What is it that grants their wishes?"

The words Lu Xiaoyao asked in a gloomy tone, accompanied by the cool night breeze, really gave off a chilling feeling.

"You say the mountain god protects you without asking for anything in return, so surely other things that help them fulfill their wishes wouldn't do so without expecting anything in return either?"

Lu Xiaoyao recalled a scene from her battle with those skinless corpses; she seemed to have heard a few words occasionally uttered by those corpses—

"go home."

"I was wrong."

Just as Mu Chen and Julian speculated, perhaps many people in this village are just evil spirits disguised as humans.

Mu Chen had said something to them when he was going down the mountain:

Do you still remember the couplets outside the mountain god temple?

"The complete couplet should read 'Appearing and disappearing like a ghost to ward off disaster, summoning wind and rain to ensure a bountiful harvest,' with the horizontal inscription 'Benefiting future generations.' However, what we see is missing a few key words."

There is no 'god,' no guarantee of a bountiful harvest, and certainly no promise of 'lasting prosperity.'

"In other words, there are no gods to avert disasters, and evil spirits and demons can summon wind and rain but have no blessings to bestow."

"Tell me, is it true or false that the villagers say their wishes have come true? If it's true, who granted their wishes? If it's false, why are they spreading the word that the mountain god grants all wishes?"

Lu Xiaoyao's mind was filled with Mu Chen's earlier words, and when she asked the aunt, she couldn't help but say, "Isn't it all about the person?"