"Your brother is dead?!" Cang Tai's mind was in a mess. He took two steps back in disbelief. "But Lord Bai Liu said he wanted to go find your brother!"
Xiao Kui turned her head to the side, she lay on the ground and laughed unconsciously, her whole body was shaking with laughter: "Looking for my brother? Then he can only go to a shrine that is full of festival signs to find him."
"But at this time, Bai Liu can't see my brother at the shrine. He can only see my brother's..."
Sota raised his head in horror: "A vengeful spirit?!"
"It's not my brother's vengeful spirit. My brother is not buried in the shrine." Xiao Kui smiled strangely, "It is not allowed to place sacrificial corpses in the Kitahara family's shrine."
Sota was stunned: "Isn't the shrine a place for offering sacrifices? Why is it not allowed to place the bodies of the sacrifices?!"
"How can you put a sacrifice in a sacrifice?" Xiao Kui rolled her eyes and looked at Sota, "Of course you have to put something much more terrifying than the corpse of the sacrifice."
Xiao Kui's face turned pale, and she covered her mouth and giggled: "Guess what's in the shrine?"
Outside the shrine, Bai Liu stood quietly.
After nightfall, the shrine is tightly closed. An inexplicable bloody smell comes from the cracks in the door, and the shadow of some kind of monster can be seen twisting inside the paper door. In front of the door hangs a knotted rope made by thick hands, with Xuan paper hung on it at certain intervals - legend has it that these things can be used to seal evil monsters.
If the rope is broken, the monster will be released.
Bai Liu raised his hand to untie the rope, then calmly walked into the shrine in the night.
A layer of translucent water waves rippled around him, expanding outward and then dissipating, the knotted rope broke, and blood smeared on the rice paper. Bai Liu's body temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees, and the shrine lit up automatically without any lights being turned on.
The light was a dim, flickering orange-yellow flame, not the light of the lamps in the shrine. Instead, it was like the pupils of some giant animal emitting an eerie fluorescent light in the dark, with a dangerous sense of peeping.
Wind blew out from the enclosed shrine, blowing out and in like breathing, blowing back and forth, swaying the hem of Bai Liu's clothes, and carrying a strong smell like rotten meat from the mouth of a vicious dog.
Bai Liu acted as if he didn't smell anything. He walked to the shrine on the huge wooden cabinet with a nonchalant expression. He put his hands together and bowed slightly as a polite gesture. Then he raised his head, lifted his skirt, and stepped onto the shrine.
The breathing-like ups and downs of the wind seemed to stop for a moment as if in surprise, and then the wind suddenly became stronger, making a whistling sound, as if a dog was baring its teeth angrily at a thief who had offended its owner's territory, breathing out of its nose, and making a warning gurgle sound in its throat. An extremely huge yellow eye appeared on the back of the wooden cabinet, staring straight at Bai Liu with malicious intent.
Bai Liu turned a blind eye to all the anomalies. He climbed up to the first level of the wooden cabinet and looked up to see the shrine placed at the highest point of the cabinet.
In the shrine is a black-and-white photo of a little boy who is no more than twelve or thirteen years old. He has a childish face and is smiling foolishly when the photo was taken.
——This is the only photo of a smiling offering in the entire Kitahara family shrine.
There is a tablet under the photo with the words "Kitahara Jiro" written on it.
Bai Liu reached out to take the photo, and without hesitation, he reached directly for the black altar under the shrine. He touched a wet and bloody animal corpse, then he grasped it and took it out.
It was the body of a small black Shiba Inu, with its neck artificially twisted and soaked in some kind of preservative.
The Shiba Inu's limbs hung limply against its belly, with liquid continuously dripping onto the ground. Its eyes should have been a bright yellow, but now they were so cloudy that only a layer of yellowish color could be seen.
The black pupil in the huge yellow eye behind him suddenly shrank and turned into a vertical line the moment he saw Kitahara Jiro's portrait being taken down. The light and shadow of the iris flowed around the pupil, and the light in the shrine suddenly dimmed. Something jumped out from behind the wooden cabinet, bared its fangs at Bai Liu who was standing on the cabinet, and barked away.
In the pitch darkness, the roar of some gigantic beast echoed through the shrine.
[System prompt: Congratulations to player Bai Liu for activating the first page of the monster book "Evil God Festival·Boathouse". ]
attic.
Cang Tai was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks: "Bai Liu is going to the shrine now. Xiao Kui, please tell me what is in the shrine."
"If there were no sacrificial corpses in the shrine, why did the old servant say that there were scary ghosts in the shrine and told us not to go out at night?"
"Of course there are vengeful spirits in the shrine." Xiao Kui raised her lips in a weird way, "There is indeed no corpse of the sacrifice there, but there is the corpse of a pet with the same name as the sacrifice."
"Evil spirits formed from animals are much more terrifying than humans."
Kneeling on the ground, Sota was stunned and asked in astonishment: "A pet's corpse?! How could it be a pet's corpse!?"
Xiao Kui squinted at Sota and said, "Of course it's the body of a pet."
"The Kitahara family tortures the sacrifices every day, so how can they be afraid of the vengeful spirits formed by the sacrifices? Even if people become ghosts, it is the ghosts who are afraid of people, right?"
Xiao Kui continued with an indifferent expression: "But animals are different."
"Their memory is not as good as that of humans. After they become vengeful spirits, they will not remember who tortured them in their lifetime. They will only remember who their master is. Then, in order to protect their master, the evil spirits they form will frantically attack humans who approach the sacrificial shrine, that is, their master."
Sota was in a trance after hearing this, and he sat on the ground paralyzed: "...Why are there pet corpses in the shrine?"
Xiao Kui said, "Because the bodies of the offerings cannot be brought into the shrine."
Confused, Sota asked back, "Why?"
Xiao Kui laughed when she heard this question. She laughed until she coughed and cried, but she was still laughing: "Because the shrine does not accept people who died unjustly."
"The sacrifices here either couldn't bear the pain and committed suicide before the evil god ceremony, or they endured the pain and successfully sacrificed themselves at the evil god ceremony, but because they saw the evil god's eyes, they went crazy and committed suicide."
"People who commit suicide are considered to have died in vain and are unclean. They cannot enter the shrine to receive offerings."
Xiao Kui's face turned fierce. She hammered her hammer on the floor and cursed viciously: "But the Kitahara family, these idiots, are clearly enjoying the pain of these sacrifices, but they still have to pretend to erect a memorial archway to beautify the pain of these sacrifices, calling it a tribute to their contributions to the Kitahara family, as if the pain is no longer pain, but their voluntary sacrifice!"
"The shrine has many offerings, most of which are tragic suicides, which is not in line with the shrine's sacred rules."
"So this group of people came up with a plan." Xiao Kui sat up with her hands on the floor. She looked straight at Sota, with no emotion on her face. "They decided to use substitutes instead of offerings to be placed in the shrine for worship."
Xiao Kui said this, took a deep breath and continued, "I originally wanted to bury my brother's body by the sea, but the people of the Kitahara family said that they would let my brother enter the shrine, so that he can always be worshiped and appreciated. In this way, my brother's vengeful spirit after suicide may be able to become a Buddha, instead of becoming a ground-bound spirit and being trapped in the Kitahara family."
"Although I hate them, I really want my brother to leave here, even if he can leave here as a ghost."
"So I agreed to let them take my brother's body away."
Xiao Kui pulled the corner of her mouth: "My brother and I both have a Shiba Inu with the same name as ourselves. My Shiba Inu died, but his is still alive."
"After my brother, the Shiba Inu lay under the eaves where my brother hung himself for more than three days without eating or drinking, until I force-fed it food and it survived."
"After that, it seemed to realize that my brother was dead. It would eat the food I gave it, but spent most of its time sitting in a daze under the eaves."
Tears slowly rolled down Xiao Kui's face. "It used to be a very docile dog. It wouldn't hurt anyone no matter how hard it hit me. But after my brother died, when I was tortured by the Kitahara family, it rushed over like crazy and bared its teeth at those people, trying to protect me. It didn't retreat even after being hit several times. It was very stubborn."
"—Just like what my brother did when he was alive."
"It always followed me around, but on the day my brother's shrine was completed and brought to the shrine, I couldn't find it."
"I searched and searched in the yard, calling and calling its name - Jiro, Jiro, Jiro, where have you been? Come out quickly, Jiro."
"I searched from dawn to dusk and shouted until dusk, but I still couldn't find the Shiba Inu."
Xiao Kui turned to look at the dazed Souta, laughed with a twisted and devilish smile, tears welling up like a spring: "And then I finally found it."
"They asked me to go to the newly built shrine to worship my brother. I went there while worrying about Jiro. Then, in my brother's shrine, I saw Jiro with his neck cut and sealed!"
Xiao Kui cried heartbreakingly: "They are a bunch of beasts. There are so many things that can be replaced, but they chose [Jiro]!"
"They just want us, the living servants, to continue suffering! To become sacrifices in the next round!"
Xiao Kui cried until her voice became hoarse and she could not make any sound. Tears flowed down numbly: "After that, I heard the legend of the vengeful spirit."
"I know that it is Jiro's ghost that has transformed into a vengeful spirit guarding my brother's shrine day and night. Except for me, if anyone dares to look up at him, Jiro will chase the person who disrespects my brother and drag him into the shrine to bite him to death."
Xiao Kui suddenly laughed out loud in a crazy way, her face full of tears and her eyes dazed: "If Bai Liu went to the shrine, he would be eaten as a bone by Jiro before he met the evil god!"
"What!? I have to go back and tell Master Bai Liu about this!" Cang Tai panicked and wanted to jump out of the window.
But as soon as he stood up, Xiao Kui rushed over, grabbed Sou Tai's wrist tightly and pulled him to the ground.
Xiao Kui raised her head with a confused expression, and a weird smile appeared on her tear-stained face: "It's been a long time since [Jiro] was let out to eat people."
"Instead of letting your Lord Shiroku suffer as a sacrifice to the Kitahara family and contribute to their development, why not let him feed Jiro properly?"
Bai Liu sat cross-legged casually on the ground of the shrine, gently stroking a huge black Shiba Inu next to him with his left hand.
The Shiba Inu had golden eyes and exuded an uncomfortable resentment. The protruding white bones on its neck could be clearly seen, but it kept rubbing against Bai Liu's hand in an uncoordinated manner, sticking out its tongue and stretching out its bony neck for Bai Liu to stroke.
Bai Liu stroked it a few times without changing his expression, and the Shiba Inu instantly turned over and exposed its belly. When the Shiba Inu fell on Bai Liu's coat, it seemed to smell some strange scent and instantly bared its teeth, but when Bai Liu stretched out his hand, it sniffed Bai Liu's hand twice with a little confusion, and then lay down again with its belly exposed.
Then continue to repeat the above process.
It was extremely unfamiliar with the aura on Bai Liu's body, but it was very familiar with the aura on Bai Liu's hands.
——That was the breath of its owner’s sister, Xiaokui.
Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at the thing in his hand - it was a roll of soft hair, which he took down from the window curtain thrown down by Cang Tai when he climbed up.
This is Xiaokui's hair, and it is also one of the weaknesses of this monster [Black Dog Ghost].
From the two Shiba Inu-shaped stone lanterns at the door of the Kitahara family, the offering last year was Xiaokui's younger brother, to the portrait of the offering at the top of the shrine that looks somewhat like Xiaokui, the old servant said that the shrine does not accept people who died unjustly, but the offering here is Xiaokui's younger brother, all these information combined are enough for Bai Liu to deduce where the key is.
Bai Liu slowly used two fingers to pry open the teeth of the Shiba Inu corpse, slid into its throat, and took out an old-fashioned key wrapped in plastic film.
[System prompt: Congratulations to player Bai Liu for completing the side quest - stealing the shrine key from the Kitahara family. ]
【Two warm reminders:
1. Player Bai Liu can now use the Shrine Key to open the Shrine to meet the evil god, but there will be a greater risk of the spirit value returning to zero, so please choose the game path carefully.
Second, every morning at 5 o'clock, the head of the Kitahara family will come to the shrine to worship and check the key placed in the black dog's body. Please pay attention to return the key before then. 】
Bai Liu placed her hair on the nose of the black dog ghost, then turned and walked out of the shrine. In the night, wearing a white loose coat that was so thin that it was almost transparent, she walked towards the shrine above the Kitahara family with a calm face without any pause.
As Sota was struggling on the windowsill, he suddenly saw a dim light on the road leading to the shrine. His struggling movements stopped, and soon after, Xiaokui also saw it.
She pushed Sota away abruptly and stared in amazement at the lamp that was getting closer to the shrine: "Bai Liu actually got the key..."
"Is this guy going to die? He rushed straight into the shrine after getting the key." Xiao Kui muttered to herself, "Isn't he afraid that the evil god will drive him crazy?"
"Or rather, you have been going crazy for the evil god, Bai Liu..."
Xiao Kui looked at the lamp that was approaching the shrine gate in a daze:
"…Could they really be lovers?"
Cang Tai argued softly, "I told you, Lord Evil God is Lord Bai Liu's lover."
Xiao Kui's expression instantly calmed down: "So what if it's my lover? He won't be able to see the evil god even if he opens the shrine."
Sota asked incredulously: "Why?!"
Xiao Kui sneered: "This evil god will only open his eyes when he feels enough pain. The rest of the time he is just a corpse. This corpse is sealed in a huge shrine. No one can wake him up in any way."
"After the Kitahara family got the key, they tried various methods to wake up the evil god, but there was no progress except that the people they sent to get close to the evil god were transformed into monsters and committed suicide or were killed."
Xiao Kui's eyes fell on the faint light on the top of the mountain, and her tone was extremely cold: "That is a very cruel evil god."
"It's not a good thing to have sex with such a person. He must be willing to have sex with God."
Sou Tai was so angry that his face turned red, and he waved his fist vigorously: "No! Master Bai Liu said that they are a couple! A couple!"
Xiao Kui glanced at Sota with her peripheral vision, then turned back to the top of the mountain. She looked at the light, her tone and eyes were somewhat ambiguous, as if she was in a trance, and as if she was asking:
"Can an evil god who feeds on human suffering understand what love is and how to love someone?"
Bai Liu looked up at the closed door, shone the light around it, and without hesitation inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it.
“Squeak—!”
Along with the falling of fine dust and dead leaves, the door was pushed open by Bai Liu. He walked inside carrying a swaying gas lamp, pushing open one Japanese-style door after another, and came to a wooden shrine house with a soaring eaves.
A bell for making wishes is tied to the eaves of the house, and a thick rope is hung under the bell. A money box is placed in front of the wooden house. Through the top layer of the compartment, you can see the scattered change inside. These are the objects of hope that people use to make wishes to the evil god - coins.
Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at the game manager hanging on his chest - a coin.
So that's how it is. Coins are what people use to place their hopes on God, so that's what the system manager looks like when these players enter the game of Cthulhu.
——Because this is the medium through which you make a wish to the evil god.
Bai Liu raised his head, walked around the bell, stepped over the money box, pushed open the last wooden door, and finally arrived at the shrine's interior.
The room was very large, with some tatami mats on the floor. Facing each other were two wooden doors that were placed in the center at a distance from the floor and closed in the middle. Judging from the design, it should be a huge shrine.
If nothing unexpected happens, Sheta will be inside.
Bai Liu stopped in front of the shrine. He stretched out his hand to open the door, but for some reason, the moment his hand touched the door, it was as if a pause button was pressed, and it remained motionless in mid-air for several minutes.
He seldom hesitates to do anything, because there are very few things in this world that can make him hesitate.
——But pushing open the wooden door at this time must be one of them.
Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at his hands that were paused in front of the wooden door.
The Sheta in this game world line should be the Sheta in other world lines before meeting him, in other words, the Sheta of the past.
No matter how Bai Liu explored and questioned before, Xie Ta had never told him about his past, and this thing that was like the answer to a mystery finally unfolded in front of Bai Liu.
...What would the former Shetta, the Shetta who was killed by [him], be like when she saw him?
...Will he be killed? Will he hate him? Or will he simply pretend that he doesn't exist, just like he did with [Hakuroku] in this world line?
Just like what Shetta did to the other kids in the orphanage.
Shetta seemed to be unable to understand human beings. He ignored children, investors, and everything around him. He existed in the world like a statue, and his eyes never cared about any human being who approached him.
Bai Liu began to understand from Xie Ta that in the eyes of God, it seems that humans cannot be tolerated. It is not because of arrogance, but simply because...
Unable to develop emotions.
So Bai Liu didn't understand why among so many humans, so many children, and so many [Bai Liu], Xie Ta would only look at him.
He asked Xie Ta, who thought for a moment and replied, "The problem is not with me, but with you, Bai Liu."
Bai Liu thought it was very funny at the time: "How could the problem be with me?"
Shetta looked at him seriously and said, "Yes."
"Because of the way you look at me, no matter what time it is, I will definitely look back."
"Eyes can't convince me." Bai Liu held his chin up and smiled lazily, "How do you distinguish the way I look at you from the way other people look at you? Can you tell the difference when someone who looks exactly like me looks at you?"
"I can." Shetta looked at Bai Liu with his silver-blue eyes, "Because you are different."
"No matter how many [Bai Liu] there are, you are the only one among them who looks at me differently."
"The moment you looked at me with those eyes, I was given a soul and developed feelings for you."
"I have a soul because of you."
Bai Liu pushed open the door of the shrine, and a huge beam of light fell from inside the shrine.
Behind the shrine is the backyard. Late at night, one can see the silhouette of a person sitting on the corridor. When one walks in, one can see the person's long, smooth, silver-blue curly hair falling to his waist in the moonlight, emitting a soft glow.
He was wearing a loose hunting robe and looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a tall and smooth figure, and golden chains on his feet that curved behind his body. He seemed to be reading a book with his head down.
In the center of the backyard is a huge goldfish pond, with beautiful orange goldfish swimming around in it. Their flower-like tail fins create ripples on the water, which are reflected on the pages of the book and the man's quiet profile. His long eyelashes look like they are covered with crushed snow, and are covered with water and moonlight.
Bai Liu stopped behind him, at a position where he could almost see the book.
The night wind blew, and the trees rustled. The two people's large and transparent gauze coats stretched in the wind, like fluttering leaves, overlapping and flying together.
The man put the book down, turned around, raised his eyes, and revealed the pair of silver-blue eyes that Bai Liu was so familiar with.
The night wind blew between the two people. Xie Ta looked at Bai Liu through the blown gauze and raised the broken and glued book in his hand with a light expression:
"I haven't seen you before. Is this your first time at the shrine?"
"Want to watch it together?"
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