After the villagers left, Zhong Muyu gently knocked on the door: "Can the people inside hear me?"

A few seconds later, a faint, hesitant voice came from inside: "Who, who are you?"

“I’m a temporary resident of this village. I heard that there’s a custom of worshipping the mountain god in this village, so I came here to see you.”

The girl's tone was calm and resigned: "There's nothing to see. If you want to see it, you can wait until the day of the sacrifice."

"But you'll die that day. Are you really willing to be sacrificed?"

“What can I do if I don’t want to? They say the mountain god chose me, and the mountain god’s will cannot be changed. I can’t live, and no one who is sacrificed can live.”

The girl's voice grew increasingly dejected; she seemed to have resigned herself to her fate.

Zhong Muyu asked, "So, do you want to live?"

"live?"

"Survive. How can anyone not be afraid of death? Who has ever actually seen a mountain god, that kind of fictitious thing?"

The girl's body trembled, and her will to survive, which had been extinguished, was rekindled.

"If I can really survive, of course I don't want to die!"

The girl walked to the door and grabbed the window frame.

However, separated by a thin layer of paper, they could only see each other's outlines.

"Can...can you save me?"

The girl asked cautiously, her tone filled with urgency.

Zhong Muyu said, "I will do my best to help you, but I can't guarantee that it will be successful."

"As long as there is hope, I don't want to give up."

"Okay, then don't worry, I'll go back and think of a solution."

Just then, the villager who had brought her in came over, and Zhong Muyu immediately walked over calmly.

The villagers asked, "How is she? Is she alright?"

"It's alright, but they are very devout. It seems that the sacrificial ceremony should proceed smoothly."

"Of course! There has never been a problem with the sacrificial rites in Qingshui Village!"

The villagers smiled and saw Zhong Muyu off from the mountain god temple. On her way down the mountain, she unexpectedly encountered Chi Xuanzhu.

Zhong Muyu immediately greeted him, "Mr. Chi? What are you doing here?"

"It's you. This direction... Did you go to the mountain god temple?"

Zhong Muyu nodded: "I already know about the mountain god sacrifice, so I'll go and see the girl who's going to be sacrificed."

Chi Xuanzhu said solemnly, "This is not something to be proud of. You'd better not go on the day of the sacrifice."

"No, I'm going. Mr. Chi, do you also approve of this kind of ritual?"

"Of course I don't agree."

After speaking, perhaps realizing that her voice was a bit loud, Chi Xuanzhu lowered her voice and said, "Let's talk at my house. There are too many people watching outside."

Zhong Muyu looked around and realized that this was indeed a topic that couldn't be discussed here, so he followed Chi Xuanzhu to his house.

Chi Xuanzhu's residence was simple and clean, with many beautiful calligraphy and paintings decorating the walls. Chi Xuanzhu brewed her a pot of tea before sitting down and slowly beginning to speak:

“I know you wouldn’t approve of this kind of thing, and you probably wouldn’t stand idly by, but there’s nothing you can do. Customs have been around for hundreds of years, and even if someone stops them, they will come back to life after many years.”

"We still need to find a way to stop it; we can't just sacrifice innocent people arbitrarily, can we?"

“I tried to persuade them, but it was no use.”

Zhong Muyu thought for a moment: "Persuasion is definitely useless. How about... we devise a plan to impersonate the mountain god and tell them to stop sacrificing women? What do you think of this method?"

In the eyes of devout believers, nothing is more convincing than divine intervention.

However, Chi Xuanzhu shook his head helplessly: "We've tried this method before. It's effective in the short term, but if there's a severe natural disaster or man-made calamity, the ritual will be restarted. Besides, believing in false miracles will only make them more convinced of the existence of the mountain god."

“What you said makes sense, but I must find a way to abolish this harmful ritual…”

Zhong Muyu gently tapped his head. To completely eradicate bad habits, we must liberate them from feudal superstition.

Seeing that she was racking her brains, Chi Xuanzhu said, "Zhong Muyu, I know you will think these are nonsense, but, excluding the matter of human sacrifice, the matter of the mountain god is indeed traceable."

"Are you kidding me? This is all feudal superstition!"

Zhong Muyu subconsciously retorted. Although her time travel was illogical and the magical space was mysterious, the technology that existed there couldn't be explained by theology, could it?

Chi Xuanzhu knew he couldn't persuade her, so he sighed and said, "Then let's not talk about that. The most important issue is still the human sacrifice, isn't it? There are still two days until the sacrifice. If you really want to change things, you'd better hurry up."

"Two days, two days, that's really tight... I've got it!"

Zhong Muyu suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Have you thought of a solution?"

"Hmm, that might work. I'll go back and think about it."

Seeing Zhong Muyu's energetic appearance, Chi Xuanzhu was curious about her method. However, he didn't have high hopes, as he had tried all sorts of methods before.

When Zhong Muyu returned home, if she wanted to use this method, she would definitely need to make a grand entrance.

It seems we'll have to close the restaurant for a few days.

Once the idea was in mind, Zhong Muyu didn't stop for a moment. He hitched a ride on a villager's donkey cart and went to Linghai Port.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, it was already dark. The aroma of food wafted from the street, and Zhong Muyu's stomach began to rumble.

She hadn't eaten much all day, and now that she'd come to her senses, she was really hungry.

Of all the restaurants on the street, Linggang Restaurant was the brightest, its golden splendor shining through the glass windows, attracting many people to stop and admire it.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!