Chapter 43: The Captive Village

Wang Ergou complained in the group chat: "I think this game is very evil. He can't even handle this, how come there is still a way to become an evil god? And tribute? Kill me to cheer everyone up?"

"Dog bro, have some sympathy, I think this NPC is about to break!"

"He's broken! I'm broken too! And he's broken too!"

Before Wang Ergou could mumble anything else, there was a crisp ding-dong sound, the task system flashed, and the task details changed again.

[New sect station]: [After investigation, everyone found that this strange village seemed to have been deceived by some evil heresy and kept in captivity for hundreds of years. Fortunately, the arrival of Taiyin sect disciples exposed the lie. Everyone decided to protect this village and build it into the first town under the name of Taiyin sect, and also as the sect station of Taiyin sect here. (Can be shared, upper limit of the number of people who can share: unlimited) (Reward: 2000Exp, 100 points of sect contribution)]

"Good fellow, this mission is waiting here?"

Although Wang Ergou never stopped talking, he was always talking in the microphone, so in the eyes of the old man, the man in front of him who claimed to be a disciple of the Taiyin School under the name of Guangcheng Sect remained silent and had a very strange expression when asked what tribute he needed.

The old man was filled with great panic and anxiety. He secretly swallowed his saliva and could not help but kneel down again, begging: "Immortal, there are not many people in the village now. If you need it, we can take care of the spiritual fields and the medicinal fields. If you need blood food, we can also prepare the three large and small animals. But the population of the village is really small. Can you, can you not spare the human sacrifice? Even... even if it's only for a few years..."

“No, no, wait a moment.” Wang Ergou was so frightened by these words that he almost jumped up. He first helped the old man up, and then comforted him: “Don’t worry, I have to discuss this with my group... uh, my fellow disciples! But our Taiyin Sect is a serious sect of cultivating immortals, how could we possibly want human sacrifices! Well, you can first publicize it to everyone, that is, from now on, your village will be protected by our Taiyin Sect, and no human sacrifices are needed! What the hell is the use of human sacrifices! It doesn’t sound credible!”

As he spoke, Wang Ergou took out his disciple token and added, "Look, there's the Guangcheng Sect's mark on our disciple token!"

The old man's hands, supported by Wang Ergou, were shaking. He first held the jade token in front of his eyes and stared at it intently, then he moved it away, squinting his eyes to carefully identify the pattern at the bottom of the jade token, then he rubbed his fingers on the pattern, and a faint spiritual energy wrapped around it. Then, the pattern representing Guangcheng Sect emitted a faint light - although that light was fleeting.

The old man murmured, "It is indeed the Guangcheng Sect... It is indeed the Guangcheng Sect!"

Then, he almost cried with joy, tightly grasped Wang Ergou's hand, stared into his eyes, and asked, "You really don't want human sacrifice?"

Wang Ergou looked at the old man, feeling inexplicably bitter. He subconsciously blinked twice, then suddenly raised his voice: "What kind of human sacrifice is needed! What kind of evil heretic wants human sacrifice! Don't worry! We, the Taiyin Sect, are here to save... cough, save everyone! No human sacrifice is needed!"

…

As far as she can remember, An Yaer has been called An Yaer, she doesn't have a real name.

She is the eleventh great-granddaughter of the village chief. Her mother wanted to give her a name, but the village chief said that she might end up serving the Goddess of Water, so there was no need to give her a big name.

Do we not need to give a name when serving the Goddess of Water?

An Yaer's little head was full of curiosity and confusion.

However, her mother secretly gave her a name, An Ning.

The village was peaceful most of the time. In An Ning's memory, her mother would get up at dawn every day to prepare breakfast for the family. After instructing her sister to take care of herself, she would go to take care of the medicinal fields with her father and brother and would not come back until the evening.

During the day, my sister would take me to feed the chickens and retting hemp. She didn't like retting hemp because it smelled really bad.

But there are also times when the atmosphere is not good - every New Year is the strangest time in the village. All the uncles, grandfathers, mother and sister, all have sad faces, and no one knows why.

But she liked the New Year very much, because she could eat the rare oil residue at the dinner table. Later, her brother would secretly hide the meat he was given and share it with herself and her sister.

The meat was boiled in clear water and smeared with toilet salt. It tasted bitter and astringent, but full of the aroma of oil, so fragrant that it could make you swallow your tongue.

One year after the Chinese New Year, Ping Yaer, who often played with her, hung up white cloth at home. Ping Yaer said that her father had won the lottery, but the family could not do without strong laborers to serve the medicinal fields, so Ping Yaer's grandfather asked to serve the Goddess of Water. Ping Yaer's grandfather and grandmother both served the Goddess of Water, which made An Ning feel very strange. Why did the Goddess of Water need two old people who could not even walk fast to serve her? Until one day, An Ning finally understood that serving the Goddess of Water meant that she would never come back, which was "death." Like her sister at the beginning, she was small, curled up in bed, and became cold.

Later, Ping Yaer also disappeared. It was said that she was taken away by the gods to enjoy a good life, where she could eat meat every day... But why was there so much sympathy in everyone's eyes?

If you are taken away by the gods, does that mean you are "dead"? An Ning asked his great grandfather who knew everything. His great grandfather said that the village was blessed by the gods. No one could enter without the gods' permission, so we had to respect the gods.

An Ning asked curiously: "What is a 'goddess'?"

"The power of the gods is boundless. They can transform into various forms, like an old man, a woman..."

An Ning asked again: "What is the name of the immortal?"

"How can you let a little girl like you know the names of gods?"

Great grandfather's expression became very scary: "If you meet someone whose appearance you have never seen before, you must run away quickly. That person might be a god. If you offend a god, you will pay with your life or even die!"

An Ning shuddered and didn't dare to ask more questions. She didn't want to die.

An Ning didn't quite remember the weather that day, she only vaguely remembered that it was a very sunny day. She heard someone shouting "The gods are coming", and then many people hid in the house. Ping Yaer's father wanted to pick her up and hide, but An Ning felt that she had to tell her great-grandfather.

The gods will take people away, and the people they take away will "die", and she doesn't want anyone to "die".

Later...

What happened next? An Ning couldn’t quite remember… Oh, right! It seemed like my great grandfather shouted something! What did he shout?

"No human sacrifice! Did everyone hear that? No human sacrifice! No human sacrifice!"

The old man was so excited that he cried and laughed, leaving Wang Ergou completely at a loss.

The doors and windows of the village were opened one after another. In an instant, the world seemed to come alive. People came out of their hiding houses and courtyards, and there was a lot of noise. The whole village seemed to be dyed with new colors.

Wang Ergou saw an old man running barefoot and stumbling in the fields, and shouted in a hoarse and dry voice: "The immortal from Guangcheng Sect has come! The immortal from Guangcheng Sect has come to save us!"

But more people sat on the ground and cried loudly.

"I feel a little uncomfortable,"

In the team channel, I don’t know when, everyone stopped talking nonsense.

In the chat box that had been silent for a long time, a player's words suddenly scrolled out: "The mission said it would take hundreds of years, so let's count it as a hundred years. If one person dies every year, that means at least a hundred people."

"It looks like this village has less than a hundred houses in total, right?"