The blinding golden light made Su Deng close her eyes. When she opened them, she saw a golden phantom in the air.

Dressed in white with long hair, she was gentle and serene, easily blocking out the thunder and lightning.

The Taoist priest's expression changed drastically. "You actually came out!"

Su Deng's eyes narrowed slightly, "Mountain God?"

The illusory figure turned its head slightly, its face somewhat blurry, and its voice was as gentle as a spring breeze, "Thank you for your hard work."

So, when she came out, the mountain god was on her?

Su Deng frowned slightly, "You..."

“What imprisons me is not only the mountain spirit, but also the souls of the departed villagers. I use my last strength to escape through your body and end this tragedy.” The mountain god lowered his head and looked at the Taoist priest, his ethereal voice filled with power, “Mountain spirit, it’s time for everything to end.”

"Even if you can get out, do you think you can beat me?" The Taoist's robes billowed and something emerged from his flesh, and in no time his face became almost identical to the ghost face on the mountain. Black mist swirled around him, and his murderous aura soared to the sky. He roared ferociously, "If I can imprison you once, I can imprison you countless times!"

The mountain god exuded boundless peace and compassion. Golden and black energy clashed and reflected in the raging fire burning in the ancestral hall, forming a storm between heaven and earth.

Su Deng stood behind the mountain god and watched this scene. She understood that this was originally a battle between the mountain spirit and the mountain god.

She slowly backed away, glancing at the distance out of the corner of her eye.

Liu Sangua, Qin Xian, and Zhuo Feng were all standing there watching this side.

A child was with Liu Sangua.

Su Muye!

Seeing that he was alright, Su Deng was completely relieved and went around to find him from behind.

The great battle between the mountain god and the mountain spirit was about to break out; all they could see was a white figure and a black figure clashing in a golden-black light.

"There has never been a way to achieve immortality in this world. You have only created a hellish place, leaving this place filled with wronged souls!" The mountain god's voice came from the void. "Mountain spirit, let it end!"

"Impossible! No!"

The mountain spirit's shrill cry was piercing: "I always win! No!"

Su Deng frowned slightly, "Every time..."

“I’ve been to this instance before,” Liu Sangua said, arms crossed, his expression hidden behind his veil, his tone meaningful. “The ending I played that time was that the Mountain God lost.”

Zhuo Feng frowned. "Does this game have two endings?"

Liu Sangua replied, "I don't know."

"Let's end this!"

"No!"

With a deep shout from the mountain god in the sky, accompanied by screams, the battle ended.

A holy golden light shone down from the sky, and the mountain spirit was killed by the mountain god at dawn.

The villagers awoke one by one, while the ancestral hall was still engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins.

"Is it over?" After a long silence, Qin Xian asked softly, "Can we leave now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, fog rolled in, enveloping everyone and making it impossible to see each other.

Su Muye held onto Su Deng tightly.

When the fog lifted, what appeared before us was not a spiritual realm, but a modern-day Yao Village.

Su Deng woke up in Xiu Xiu's bed. Xiu Xiu was knocking on the door. "Are you awake? Breakfast is ready."

Su Deng got up and opened the door. Looking at Xiu Xiu with her delicate features outside the door and the modern rural building in front of her, she felt a little dazed.

Was everything last night just a dream?

Seeing her lost in thought, Xiuxiu asked with some concern, "What's wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?"

Su Deng's gaze fell on her face, "Xiuxiu, last night..."

"You collapsed at the door in the middle of the night last night. The village doctor said you might have been frightened, and you'd be fine once you woke up." Xiuxiu put down the food and said half-jokingly, "What were you doing going out in the middle of the night last night? Were you afraid we'd eat you and you were going to run away?"

Xiuxiu clearly let her go last night.

Something's not right.

Su Deng paused, then asked, "Is Wang Lin ready?"

"Sister Wang Lin?" Xiuxiu asked curiously. "She's a nice person. How do you know her?"

Su Deng was silent for a moment, then asked, "What's the date today?"

“It’s the sixteenth of the first lunar month,” Xiuxiu said. “We’re having a temple fair here recently, and today is the traditional sacrificial ceremony performance of pole twisting. You’re probably not from out of town and have never seen it before, so you can take a look. It’s a lot of fun.”

Su Deng looked up. "Child sacrifice?"

"Huh?" Xiuxiu was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Where did you hear that from? We're just a traditional performance custom. At most, we might sacrifice a pig, duck, chicken, or sheep, and have the children step on a stake to express good luck."

It's as if nothing ever happened in Yaocun yesterday.

Su Deng paused for a moment, then asked Xiu Xiu, "Is there any explanation for the origin of the Yao Village festival?"

“I think there is one,” Xiuxiu thought for a moment. “It is said that in the past, the people in our village were cursed and could not live past the age of twenty-five. A Taoist priest broke the curse and held a temple fair to worship them. Later, the curse was really broken and the custom was passed down, which led to the annual temple fair.”

The same applies to this.

Su Deng frowned slightly. "Does your village have a mountain god temple?"

Xiuxiu shook her head. "No, there isn't even a mountain around our village, so where would any mountain god come from? You're a reporter, how can you be more superstitious than us?"

If it weren't for the scar on her neck from Zhuo Feng's sword last night, which was still there, Su Deng would have thought she was dreaming last night, based on Xiu Xiu's memory.

It must have been the mountain god who killed the mountain spirit, thus changing the history of Yao Village.

Su Deng didn't ask any more questions. She sat down with a sigh of relief, picked up the steamed bun that Xiuxiu had placed on the table, took a bite, and her thoughts swirled as she lowered her eyes.

Health points are still 100.

The game didn't end after leaving Guyao Village.

In other words, the task is not yet complete.

The main quest of this game is to investigate the truth behind the ancient village festival. Is there anything else that's unclear?

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