The dagger was indeed incredibly sharp; the severed hands fell to the ground, blood spurting out instantly. The two men groaned in pain, still accusing the dagger: "How dare you break your oath to the true god!"
Xiao Cheng had already rushed quite a distance away by this time, without even turning her head. She took the opportunity to give them the middle finger: "What kind of bullshit god is this? If you've got the guts, let him come and bite me!"
At the altar, Number 7 was confronting the NPC alone. When he saw Xiao Cheng approaching, his eyes lit up. He brandished the chipped cleaver in his hand and jumped up to greet her through the group of masked burly men: "Xiao Cheng! Xiao Cheng! Shall we take them down?"
"What are you doing? Get Xu Chu out of here first! If you wait any longer, you'll be able to smell the meat!"
Xiao Cheng nimbly dodged several villagers, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the witch still sitting calmly in the shrine with her eyes closed, seemingly unconcerned about the farce.
Number 7 reacted quickly, ignoring the scorching flames, he raised his hand and chopped at the wooden figure, smashing through the charred wood with a few blows, and pulled Xu Chu out.
"Are you alright?" Number 7 saw him coughing violently, as if he was about to choke, and hurriedly patted his back to help him catch his breath.
"It's nothing." Xu Chu's physical condition was what it was; apart from a few burns and scalds, he recovered in no time and started fighting the villagers with his bare hands.
Number 7, relying on the weapon in his hand, swung the kitchen knife wildly with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he heard a loud clang, his hand jolted, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw the village chief holding the kitchen knife horizontally with his cane, staring at him with a sinister look.
Looking back at Xu Chu and Xiao Cheng, they were both quite far away from her, one on her left and one on her right.
His eye twitched involuntarily. Could it be that bad? Could it really be that he had to deal with the mini-boss like this?
On the other side, Xiao Cheng swiftly hacked down several villagers and ran towards player number 4. She was still unconscious, lying there peacefully asleep.
Xu Chu saw through her intention and deliberately led most of the villagers away from the altar.
Xiao Cheng used his dagger to fight his way through the crowd and finally reached Number 4. He cut the ropes binding her with two slashes, then grabbed her off the sedan chair and held her tightly by the shoulders.
"Don't move!" Xiao Cheng shouted, attracting everyone's attention.
Under the villagers' murderous gazes, she tightened her grip on Number 4's arm, and pressed the dagger against Number 4's neck with her other hand. The blade drew blood with the slightest touch.
"What are you trying to do?" The village chief abandoned Player 7, walked up to Xiao Cheng in a cold tone, and pierced her with his sharp gaze.
"Let us leave, and I won't interfere with your rituals." Xiao Cheng narrowed his eyes, forcing out two dry, cold laughs. "Hmph, after all, you don't want the new priestess to get hurt, do you?"
All the villagers remained silent.
The village chief stared intently at the dagger in her hand, lost in thought.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Number 7 moved closer to Xu Chu with small, quick steps and asked in a low voice, "What's going on now? Using players to threaten NPCs? Is that even possible? And why do we look like the villains?"
Xu Chu: "..." To be honest, he didn't understand what was going on either.
Xiao Cheng herself felt a little uneasy. Seeing that the fusion of the priestess and the phantom in the shrine was nearing its end, she steeled herself and pressed the blade down a little more.
More and more blood gushed out, covering No. 7's gradually turning blue skin.
"My patience is limited!" Xiao Cheng shouted again, "Village Chief Lan, you don't have that much time to think!"
The village chief snorted coldly and slammed his cane into the ground. Then he waved his hand angrily: "Make way! Let them pass!"
Xiao Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief and slowly withdrew from the villagers' encirclement while holding No. 7 hostage, eventually reuniting with Xu Chu and No. 7.
"You're really good." Number 7 looked at her with admiration and gave her a subtle thumbs up.
"Hurry up! Stop wasting time talking." Xiao Cheng suddenly felt a chill down his spine and turned around abruptly, just in time to see the priestess in the shrine slowly opening her eyes, her inorganic gaze meeting his from afar.
“The safety is only temporary; we can’t leave the instance yet.” Xu Chu took Player 4 from her, ripped the wooden tag off her neck, and then reached out to check her pulse and breathing.
"A wooden plaque! Let's go to the shrine maiden's house!" A sudden inspiration struck Xiao Cheng. "A peach wood plaque can bring us protection!"
Xu Chu gave her a deep look, but didn't ask how she knew.
Behind him, the ancient and profound voice rang out again, echoing like waves, one after another, growing louder and louder.
The voice carried obvious anger: "Disrespectful one...stop!"
"Damn it, run!"
Only a fool would stop at this point; the three of them took off running without even glancing back.
Suddenly, Xiao Cheng stopped abruptly, almost falling to the ground.
With a blank expression, she looked down at the little boy who was clutching her clothes: "Let go."
"No way." The boy pleaded and sat down on the ground.
"Silly girl, why are you running? You are chosen by the true god, how can you fear that filthy thing?"
The female ghost floated up to Xiao Cheng and smiled mischievously: "The peach wood tablet relies on the power of a true god. You don't want... your companions to completely lose their protection, do you?"
Xiao Cheng: "..." You're really good at applying what you've learned!
Xu Chu and the others noticed that Xiao Cheng was lagging behind, but they couldn't see the boy and the female ghost. Somewhat puzzled, they turned around and urged, "What are you standing there for? Run!"
Xiao Cheng was on the verge of tears. Under the coercion and enticement of the female ghost, he forced a bitter smile: "You guys go first. As for me, I have to stay and fight the BOSS."
According to the female ghost's explanation, Number 4 is being corrupted by the power of the false god, and if he does not receive purification from the peach wood tablet soon, he will soon perish.
After hearing Xiao Cheng's account, Xu Chu and the others saw that Number 4's face had turned half blue, so they dared not delay any longer and turned to continue running towards the witch's house.
"Be careful!" Xu Chu reminded him before leaving.
Xiao Cheng waved to him, took a deep breath, and felt particularly desolate and forlorn.
From the altar, the sound of villagers praying and praising the true God could be heard.
The female ghost gave a disdainful sneer: "Foolish believers blinded by false gods."
"It's come to this, sister, please tell me what happened?" Xiao Cheng casually wiped the blood off the dagger. "We even have to go through a cutscene before we defeat the final boss."
The matter is actually quite simple. The true god that Jueding Village originally worshipped was replaced by a false god. The villagers were deceived by the false god and killed the original witch and the true god's followers with their own hands, sealing their bodies in the courtyard.
It wasn't until Xiao Cheng and the others opened the coffin that the true god's followers would demand the life of the false god during the sacrificial ceremony.
"The witch is just a pawn; the village chief is the true representative of the false god," the female ghost said in a chilling tone.
"Alright, let's fight then. King against king, general against general, call out your true god to beat up the false god." Xiao Cheng felt that dealing with the village chief shouldn't be too difficult, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"The true god isn't here." The female ghost waved her hand with a smile. "Silly girl, guess why we need your help?"
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