Chapter 25 Mountain God
Time returns to the main line.
Lin Muyu is connecting to the surveillance camera for investigation.
Relying on the candlelight, he first carefully observed the mountain god statue at the highest point, and did not find the strange aura that Qi Heng mentioned. It was just a normal traditional statue.
Moving your eyes downwards, you will see that the concrete floor is covered with carpets, which cover every place where you can step.
The four corners of the arranged cushions were firmly nailed, with the nails driven through the hard carpet into the cement, and could not be pulled out even if one tried hard with one's hands. It's old and a bit rusty.
The four walls are painted red, and even the load-bearing wooden pillars are covered with red paint, with religious murals carved on them. There were several empty wooden barrels placed in the corner, next to a large rolled-up white cloth.
Lin Muyu retracted his supernatural power. He felt that his eyes were attacked by the red sky. The moment he opened his eyes, everything in front of him was red.
If I use shadow reconnaissance directly, I'm afraid I won't find any useful information even if I waste a lot of energy. He couldn't help but think so, and raised his eyes to ask Qi Heng:
"I heard you say there was a strange aura on the statue?"
"Well, can't you see?"
Qi Heng described to them what he saw.
The three of them understood this feeling of disgust, as the BOSS they faced in the previous dungeon had eight eyes.
Ye Yunhe imagined more eyes, and felt a little intensive phobia:
"The good news is there is no mountain god, the bad news is there is something else."
"That's how players are," Si and An agreed, "In dungeons, they just need to give it their all, but we players have a lot to consider."
"The blanket covering the floor is also abnormal." Lin Muyu recalled and returned to the topic.
Qi Heng felt the same way. He kicked the blanket deliberately beforehand and found it was as solid as a rock and as still as a mountain. The material was as hard as iron and must be very heavy.
"It sounds like it's covering something. The cushion is probably nailed down to make the blanket more secure."
"As for the statue, you didn't feel anything strange. Maybe it's because we have different standpoints. To be determined."
Lin Muyu took over his words and continued: "I think we all have ideas now. Let's make plans for tomorrow and then take a rest."
He looked at the bright moon hanging high in the sky.
…
By the time the four of them had planned the tasks they were going to do, they felt exhausted both physically and mentally. The three people who were far away from the house looked outside silently.
Si and An clapped their hands and suggested that we sleep in Qi Heng's room, which is safe and convenient.
The three looked at the owner of the house.
Qi Heng naturally didn't mind and directly opened the cabinet and pulled out several bundles of thick quilts and mats.
The others looked around and started working as well. Soon, several people packed up and lay down safely.
Ye Yunhe slept on a small single bed, and the three men lay on a long mat. Because both the bed board and the floor were hard and unfriendly, I specially laid a clean quilt as a mattress.
The windows and doors were closed, blocking out the cool night breeze. The temperature was just right, so the four of them slept in their clothes.
A dreamless night.
——
In the early morning, the precise automatic timepiece began crowing, penetrating into the house and waking people up.
Qi Heng woke up with a feeling of oppression.
He opened his eyes silently and turned his head to look at Si Yu'an beside him. This man's sleeping posture was really bad. A heavy hand crossed the sideline and rested on his chest. He also kicked him a few times in the middle of the night. The force was not strong but it greatly affected his sleep.
Qi Heng picked up the other person's rude hand and threw it aside, propped himself up and dusted off the quilt.
Lin Muyu had already woken up. He looked at what was happening around him and found out that the reason he had a good dream that night was because the victim was someone else.
After nudging the dazed Si and An, he stood up and tidied his appearance, while asking Qi Heng if he had slept well.
"It's okay, quite familiar."
Qi Heng used his hands as a comb and picked up the hair tie to quickly tie up his hair.
"I only ate a few steamed buns last night. I'll go see if there's anything to eat."
"good."
Lin Muyu nodded, folded his quilt and put it in the closet. He heard someone getting up behind him and saw that the other two had woken up as well.
There were only some vegetables and egg buns in Qi Heng's house. It was hard to imagine what kind of belief the original owner had that allowed him to be so energetic without eating meat or raising livestock.
The four of them ate steamed buns with pickles, an egg each, and a plate of sliced cucumbers, and finished their breakfast quietly.
My stomach is filled and my strength is back.
According to last night's plan, the protagonists went to the mountain temple to wait for the opportunity, while Qi Heng went to check whether there were any sacrifices hidden in the suspected house.
The house that Si Yu'an was talking about was located on the left side and was surrounded by villagers' homes on all sides. From this perspective, it was indeed suitable for detaining people.
When Qi Heng arrived there, the nearby villagers were chatting and talking as usual. He looked at the marked suspect house and found that the windows were wide open, the furnishings in the house were the same as others, and there was no one in sight.
At first glance, there's nothing wrong.
He walked towards the nearest villager and patted him gently. When the man looked over, he glanced towards the house as if indicating something.
"Hey, you're asking that?"
The old man swallowed the bun in his mouth, glanced at him, and slowly shook his head and sighed.
"The man you captured is quite capable. I said you have good taste. He is a smart man. It would be appropriate to send him to serve the mountain god."
Contribution is indeed what attracts people. Since you respect the mountain god so much, why don’t you send yourself over there?
Do you want this blessing?
Qi Heng scratched his face sheepishly, feeling shy about the compliments from his elder brother, but silently complaining in his heart.
"What about the others? They are so disobedient?" He realized something belatedly, frowned and put on a cold face: "It's really unreasonable!"
"I have to give them a lecture and let them know how great the mountain god is and what kind of honor he has received."
The elder brother had an expression that said "I knew this would happen" and said, "I knew you would say that. Go ahead. We don't intend to compete with you for this kind of job."
"I also heard that you were assigned a task by the high priest. You can do it, but you have to be careful and act quickly. Practice more. This is the experience of someone who has been through it."
"Thank you, big brother. I'll keep it in mind." Qi Heng tried hard to put on a grateful smile, waved to the villagers and turned to walk forward:
"Then continue eating your buns, big brother. I'm leaving."
Arriving in front of the house, Qi Heng pushed the door open rudely and looked inside with an unhappy look on his face.
There are six people in total.
Two men, two women, and a pair of boys and girls.
The four adults had their limbs tied up tightly and were lying on the ground in a miserable state. They probably exhausted their energy from struggling constantly, and their faces looked tired and their lips were dry.
The child was tied to a single bed, just staring blankly off into the distance, with traces of tears on his face, and snot and tears stuck to his sleeves.
The six people heard the sudden noise and turned to look together.
When one of the men saw who was coming, he immediately showed an angry expression, as if he wanted to bite a piece of flesh off Qi Heng alive. He asked at the top of his voice: "Do you know what you are doing?!"
"This is kidnapping! Qi Heng, you are going to jail!"
This person is obviously the victim I abducted.
But they don’t know what they are being treated as yet.
Qi Heng walked over slowly, picked up the kettle on the table and shook it, answering the question irrelevantly: "Are you thirsty? You haven't had water for a long time."
"Nonsense! What on earth are you going to do? I trusted you so much, and you treat me like this??"
The man became even more furious when he saw his performance. He struggled on the ground, trying to break free from the rope and punch him in the face.
The others also stared at him quietly, their eyes filled with panic and hatred.
"Calm down, my friend."
Qi Heng put on the most natural and comfortable expression—expressionless, looking out the window calmly. It was an empty place with no one watching.
Because I have a green name in the eyes of the villager NPCs, they have great trust in me. These villagers are extremely xenophobic, as if they do not consider themselves human beings, but purely followers of the mountain god. In order to please the mountain god, they are even willing to abandon their humanity and harm their own kind.
How long does this sacrifice last? It is performed once every three years, with six people participating each time. I learned from an old man that this year is the fourteenth time.
In this chaotic society, the loss of a few insignificant people will not cause much trouble. But thirteen times, seventy-eight lives were lost simply because of the ignorance and desires of others, and were buried here without an intact body.
In the dungeon, malice and resentment are born together, just like the leader of a circus who will be swallowed by black air because of evil thoughts and turned into a monster that is neither human nor ghost.
And those seventy-eight wronged souls would naturally develop resentment and gather into a group, born for revenge. As time passed, they became stronger and stronger and broke free from their restraints.
This is what “survival” means.
It was not the villagers, the mountain gods, or the high priest, but revenge from a third party - the victims.
The person who gets the wooden sign will be the first to be chosen, so Qi Heng will see the black spots parasitic on the statue, which is a bad omen seen by a dying person.
“…”
While Qi Heng lowered his eyes and pondered, the six people stopped moving and just looked at him vigilantly. Even the hot-tempered man fell silent and stopped cursing.
The man looked at the boy with some panic. The boy was completely different from before. The confusion and anxiety that had been suppressed deep inside surged up. The imagined endings were all miserable and terrifying.
"Qi...Qi Heng, what do you want? My family has money...as long as you let me go, I can give it to you!"
"What on earth are you going to do! Can you please give me a quick death?! Is this fun?!"
The two children couldn't help sobbing. At home, they were the spoiled babies of their parents, but here they were treated like beasts worse than pigs and dogs. The white, tender and soft wrists were rubbed raw from the resistance. I hadn’t had any water for several days and had very little strength left. I could only cry helplessly, begging my parents to rescue me.
During the past few days since they were captured, the six people have been locked in the house. No matter how they called for help, shouted, or cried, no one opened the tightly closed door.
But through the open window, one could see the villagers walking back and forth. They were talking and laughing loudly, all ignoring this house and not casting any glance at it.
The feeling was indescribable, despair and panic overwhelmed several people. They may be poor, or rich, may be loved by their families, or may have grown up alone, but they should not be here.
“…”
In a trance, a variety of other people's emotions poured out, inevitably affecting Qi Heng.
He stretched out his hand curiously and pressed his heart, feeling the subtle changes around him, as if thinking about something.
After a while, Qi Heng squatted down, grabbed the rope that tied the man, and said in a gentle tone:
"I'm here to get you out, don't worry."
"Next, do as I say."
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