Chapter 69 "The Little Taoist Priest" - Human Food
As the system announced that they had exited the instance and re-entered the main storyline, the well disappeared again.
Zhong Ding parted the mist and pulled the person out. His own body began to feel unwell, and he endured the unbearable pain, speaking softly and gently, "Tonight, great misfortune."
"If you walk back alone, it might suddenly attack your bedside and climb up to your face."
"Take some clothes and go to my room to sleep."
Master Jian's face was pale, his mind blank as he processed the fear, when he was suddenly struck by the shock.
"In your room?"
Zhong Ding looked down and found that a young Taoist priest had broken free from his cold hand. He simply turned sideways and hugged him, cunningly using both hands to grab the Taoist priest's belt.
Master Jian: "...Why are you pulling down my pants?"
What do you think?
Zhong Ding sneered, his sarcastic words already conveyed through his eyes. He felt he had just saved someone, so why was that person treating him like a monster the moment he stepped out of the courtyard?
Master Zhong was young and fair-skinned, with outstanding looks. He possessed the romantic spirit of a man with the seven emotions and six desires, and his broad and imposing frame exuded a sense of intimidation from someone who had mastered martial arts. He was an exceptional man.
One glance at him and you'd lose your soul. There's no reason why the young Taoist priest should be afraid of him.
Master Jian didn't think so.
On the first night, neither of them had their brains with them.
Fortunately, it was dark at the time, so no one really suffered a loss.
But wouldn't it be abrupt for two single men to stay together for one night?
Seeing the young Taoist hesitate made Zhong Tianshi feel uncomfortable. He raised his hand to touch his face and began to speak with a sharp tongue, "You big, burly guy, don't be shy like a little girl."
"Or does Master Jian himself want to do something with me... or what he wants to do with me?"
Master Jian: "..."
What does this paralyzed patient mean?
Does he look down on muscular men with eight-pack abs just because he's good-looking? Or is it because he doesn't have muscles that he's jealous of himself?
Master Jian rarely argues with people, but Master Zhong is still being sarcastic and sarcastic.
Why are you pouting?
"No." He can't afford to offend Miss Zhong, okay?
"..." Zhong Ding's stunningly beautiful face, which made people hold their breath at first glance, did not miss the unconvinced look on the face of this handsome and dashing young Taoist priest. His lips drooped down, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, and those who were thinking about this and that began to misunderstand something.
"If you're unwilling, then I won't force you to stay. It's up to you."
"..."
Master Jian ignored him.
Zhongding said:
"I'm talking to you."
He figured that his sarcastic remarks would work, and someone would come back to his room with him. Thinking about something, Zhong Ding even started to feel inexplicably excited. The medication had worn off, but his spine and legs, which had been ailing for years, were now sending a warm current through his trousers as he fantasized about a man…
He knew that his feelings were somewhat despicable.
If Master Jian were to see his eager little brother, he would probably be terrified by the true power behind that stunningly beautiful face.
But today, both of them were acting strangely, insisting on saying the opposite of what they meant. Master Jian, who was usually honest, stopped tolerating their bad habit of not speaking properly.
"I'm listening, but I won't go then, thanks."
Master Jian replied, then waved his hand and was about to leave, showing no intention of thanking Master Zhong.
Master Zhong thought he had misheard. He was as if he had been possessed. He was so angry that he suddenly exploded, "Wait!"
Master Jian asked, "What are you doing?"
Zhong Ding, being of noble birth and from a prominent family, took the young Taoist's words seriously and his face darkened. With the arrogance and awkwardness of a traditional male chauvinist, he said, "Is this how you treat your savior?"
"And also, did I give you permission to leave?"
"You should know that I'm the one in charge of Qingyang Town. Where you originally came from is one thing, but the first time you climbed into my bed, you belong to me."
"..."
"Is that so?" Master Jian looked at the man, as if trying to distinguish between the gentle man from the ruthless man now, who was real and who was fake. "Then I will leave Qingyang tomorrow. There are not so many rules outside of here, so that will be fine."
As soon as the young Taoist finished speaking, he left, but a hand followed him, its force increasing the volume of their angry argument.
Zhong Ding's thoughts were indeed in disarray.
He spoke recklessly, arrogantly, and even wanted to hurl insults. But the object of his harshest curses wasn't the young Taoist priest, but rather righteous thoughts, morality, and responsibility—qualities that might not even exist in this world.
From ancient times to the present, the Taoist priest of Qingyang Town has been entrusted with the task of exorcising evil spirits and demons. The whole town regards him as a righteous gentleman. However, his long-standing inferiority and loneliness, combined with his mental exhaustion, caused his self-loathing, which he had suppressed for many years, to suddenly emerge. This was another side of a noble and proud man that he had to hide. He had only shown it to Jian Dieda in his life, and no one else knew the truth.
"You, stop right there right now."
"..." Jian Dieda, who had been silent, heard that his voice was trembling and he was no longer so fierce.
Suddenly, Zhong Ding seemed to realize he had done something wrong, and he even felt aggrieved, saying, "You know I'm a cripple and can't walk, so you're making me angry and bullying me."
Jane Dieda said, "I didn't, I didn't bully you, you bullied yourself."
Zhong Ding was stunned, blinked, and his voice caught in his throat. An indescribable feeling made his desire neither rise nor fall.
Fearing that more of his secrets would be discovered, this awkward, burly man turned his face away, feigning modesty, and said, "You should go..."
Suddenly, Jian Dieda could no longer bear it. With mixed feelings, he turned around and kicked Zhong Tianshi's left leg lightly. Zhong Ding didn't feel anything at all, and his skin and flesh certainly didn't hurt. But he deliberately bent down and grabbed his right leg, pretending to be in pain and crying. He used his old bones to block the young Taoist's way.
The fingers of this handsome man in his thirties trembled as if he had fainted, looking frail and delicate.
"Ah! You, you dare to hit me! Let me tell you, don't go too far. Do you think I care if you stay or leave? Fine... fine, it's all a small matter, I'll let it go for now. I went too far again this time, okay... cough cough—"
The long-haired elder looked at him with an expression of deep regret and boundless indulgence.
Fifth Master and the others are here, and they'll be thunderstruck by Master Zhong again.
Master Jian was shocked by the series of out-of-character moments he had created. He suddenly realized that he was the one who was acting like a lawless brat because he had a man who liked him...
He broke into the mansion.
He climbed into the bed.
Zhong Ding's criticism wasn't wrong. He ran around doing missions, almost turning Qingyang Town upside down, but even so, he couldn't do anything to the little girl by the well.
By the time he realized what was happening, his body had already fallen towards the bell and tripod.
Zhong Ding was clutching his aching leg when he suddenly felt the young Taoist priest squat down and apologize in a way that stunned and moved him. In that instant, the moonlight was still the moonlight of a boy, only exceptionally gentle and bright.
Zhong Ding's gaze towards Master Jian became increasingly subtle and eerie.
Master Jian sensed it; even with his thick skin, he was quickly becoming flustered by Zhong's sweeping gaze.
He also wanted to ask the bald guy for help, wondering how he could resist this type of strange man on his own. He really had no dating experience, and this challenge was a real test for a lifelong single.
At this moment, the voice of the narrator, a senior administrator of the system, who could no longer stand it, appeared coldly, like a stagnant pool.
[Due to your slow progress in solving this case, the demon that the Nine Schools are looking for has begun to upgrade and is about to launch a new round of nighttime murders.]
[Please, demon hunters, solve the case as soon as possible, clear Xiaomei of suspicion, and form a team to explore and uncover the truth behind the horror film in Qingyang Town!]
As he spoke, a piece of Xuan paper depicting the woman at the bottom of the well appeared on the panel, along with a notification that a temporary team-up between him and Zhong Ding had been activated.
[A summary of the storyline involving Master Zhong at Cilonggou in Qingyang Town]
Achieving the "Reach the Destination Seal" achievement will repair 60% of the peach wood sword.
[If no hair falls within the specified time, 300,000 hairs will be deducted.]
[Completion Rate: 0]
...
Even though Master Jian was used to being the son of a game, he understood that the narrator, his "father," was messing with him.
Zhong Ding was just saying that he needed to find his fifth uncle to fill the well, to prevent the creature from floating out again. However, the task on the panel had already started, and if his fifth uncle came, Zhong Ding, out of duty as the successor of the Celestial Master, would surely refuse to be approached by outsiders in public again…
"Zhong Ding, wait a minute, I've made a discovery. Don't call anyone else yet."
He interrupted the man.
Since that's the case, never mind. Writing novels is fiction, and people without the ability to create fiction can't be good screenwriters. So, although he's very introverted, his specialty is making things up.
The April night fog enveloped the long lanterns in the mansion. Master Jian, wearing a white jade toad hairpin, stepped forward. He was still "out of strength" and collapsed into the red robes of the long-haired man. The beautiful celestial master, with a dazed expression, was unable to control himself and his mind was wandering. He stared blankly at the slender and fragrant young Taoist priest who covered his legs. His mood suddenly felt as if he had fallen into a fairyland, and all of this converged into one sentence that made him want to cry.
Jane... Jane wouldn't let him hug her again.
No one in the world had ever hugged him before.
His mother, who had long since passed away, his fifth uncle, and everyone else treated him as a strong person, not a weak one. The young Taoist priest was the first person to embrace his weakness.
If he could spend his whole life lying on those broken legs with her by his side, could he let go of his pretense and the two of them find a thatched hut in this world and be happy as farmers in the mountains, cultivating the land and living out their old age?
But it was all just an illusion. Master Zhong withdrew his gaze after a long while and subtly returned to his business.
"Oh, what... discovery?"
Master Jian continued to hold him by the waist, keeping Master Zhong close to his heart, before gently pulling on his left hand, which wore a gold ring, and speaking in a low, slow voice:
"I've found evidence that Xiaomei didn't kill anyone."
"She definitely didn't kill him."
Why?
Zhong Ding looked at him.
Master Jian organized his thoughts after hearing this.
That's because all criminal suspects have motives mixed with personal emotions and desires. Murder requires emotional support, whether it's anger, impulsiveness, or fear and resistance. In his case, Xiaomei did not have the conditions to commit the crime.
In the old society, the greatest aspiration for a young woman from a poor background was to be redeemed by a patron and leave her servitude, because only if her husband's family was alive could she become a respectable woman no longer tainted by filth. The ancient town was conservative, and Xiao Mei, being a widow, would quickly attract the covetous eyes of other local men.
Back then, the reason she remarried an old man so quickly was probably the same reason this poor little woman offered to exchange her body for a man when she first met Master Jian.
Faced with this murder charge, Xiaomei has lost the ability to defend herself.
Her husband died, and she had done nothing wrong, yet everyone was gossiping about her. Wasn't that a tremendous injustice?
It was as if her beauty was a terrible mistake she was born with; women despised her, men coveted her, and she suffered more than if she were dead after losing her husband, yet she had no way to express her bitterness.
The story of the beautiful peony, whose tears could not be stopped, brought down the life of a woman in Qingyang Town, and also corresponds to the well they had just seen.
The woman in the well who gave him the hint was probably a manifestation of the resentment of women like Xiaomei.
Secondly, let's go back to the customs of Qingyang Town that he investigated.
“Xiao Mei is also from Qingyang. She couldn’t possibly have killed someone at the mountain god temple. That would have undermined the local people’s faith in the gods.” With such authority in the town, how could an ordinary person dare to defy the superstitious activities of Zhong?
"But I also think she concealed a clue; she didn't dare to say that she saw something in Cilonggou."
Master Jian spoke with the air of a famous detective, Conan, and remained calm. Zhong Ding looked at him with a strange expression, first glancing at the gold ring on his hand, and then probing Master Jian further on the topic.
"You can't convince the constables to release him based on this alone."
Without beating around the bush, Master Jian continued, "Also, on my way here, I went to the mortuary and examined the deceased."
Zhong Ding raised an eyebrow with a hint of disapproval; he knew this man was truly fearless.
He slays demons with a single sword. He breaks into a widow's village at night; what else is there that the mighty Jian Dadan wouldn't do?
Master Zhong had a splitting headache, but he still had to convince himself to listen: "Tell me, what is your discovery?"
Master Jian felt that the bell and tripod had been captivated by his wisdom.
He made multiple discoveries.
His intuition for solving the case formed a vast chain of clues in his mind. As a gamer, his abilities were being witnessed by countless smaller worlds. Master Jian didn't pause; he quickened his pace, speaking concisely and to the point.
“From the very beginning, the government has found the wrong common point of death. They did not die because they all married Xiaomei, but because they had another common similarity that led to their deaths. If we find this common point, the motive for the murder and what the demon is will fall apart.”
First, there were two dead people in the town, but strangely, their bodies appeared to have gained a lot of weight in a short period of time.
Both of them used to be considered thin among normal people, but later they became unrecognizable, their out-of-shape limbs and accumulated facial fat making them look like a big white pig.
This is not normal.
This kind of rapid weight gain is unlikely to be due to fat accumulated from daily food and drink, but rather more likely to be a side effect of some people in modern society taking too much Western medicine hormones.
That night, Furongdan and the other two were also there. After the coffin lid was opened, all four of them had an incomprehensible discovery during the autopsy.
"Why are these two dead bodies so...fat?" Bai Xiaosheng didn't think that there couldn't be fat people in the world, but the two male corpses had been dead for several days, and the bodies in the tomb were strangely obese.
"Does Xiaomei just like men with this body type? Or are they both exceptionally talented despite being overweight...?"
Antique Zhang took a puff of his pipe, shook his head, and said.
Furong Dan rolled her eyes upon hearing this. "Your words are truly heartbreaking. Let me ask you, if you were a woman, and a man weighed around 300 pounds but was very talented, would you marry him?"
People are pragmatic, and the three of them talked nonsense without clarifying this point of doubt in the case, but Master Jian remembered it. Later, he came to the Zhong residence and was starving for several days, unable to get enough to eat. At first, he didn't remember anything until just now.
The monster at the wellhead made him realize that humans were just food for demons. The demons approached the living people in Qingyang Town and used every means to transform into real people because they were very hungry.
Only demons like slightly chubby food.
So it's not that Xiaomei always marries fat husbands, but that her husbands just happen to become sacrifices raised by a demon.
At this point in the story, even a normal person would get goosebumps.
The points on the panel also skyrocketed again.
By turning off the comments section where replies can only be viewed, you can see some of the viewers in a small world.
"So this town is just a small ranch?"
"Slaughterhouse, ahhhh."
"Um, if you don't understand, just ask. Pigs can be eaten after a year, but how long should humans be raised for optimal taste?"
These speculations are enough to send chills down your spine, yet they also correspond to the eerie customs of this ominous ancient village. In the face of demons, all the living people in the town are nothing more than a plate of pungent, boiled pork used by mortals to worship the gods.
“This script shouldn’t be called ‘The Strange Tales of Qingyang’,” Master Jian said to the unfinished decryption progress bar, feeling completely immersed in the story. “It should be called ‘The Scoundrel’.”
What's even more terrifying is that when players first start playing, they don't realize how frightening the abnormal human world, where divine authority has been lost, truly is. When they find themselves in the story, the hungry ghost realm of the ancient town has already been wide open.
What kind of creatures dwell in that ancient temple of human skin shrouded in mist?
"Congratulations to the player for triggering the nine-player Monopoly dungeon for weddings and funerals - 'Human Food Bureau' has officially opened."
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Author's Note: Couples can only make up at the foot of the bed after a fight.
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