Chapter 83: The Situation in Fengrao Village Takes a Turn; The Snipe and the Clam Fight
Zhou Fangdong looked at the system panel, pondering which room's ghosts to use to corrupt the instance.
Too many tenants are involved this time, so we need to choose a suitable one.
The main dungeon in the downtown shopping mall... Let's rule out the ghost in the mirror in Zhao Dawei's room for now. This ghost only pays 300 ghost coins as rent every month, so its strength should be very weak compared to the ghosts in the other rooms.
The Ripper Ghost Zhou Fangdong in Xiao Xiaoyu's room was used in the Abandoned Hospital instance. It is a very powerful offensive ghost, but there are many ordinary people in the mall, so attacking alone is not enough; control skills are also needed.
In case those ordinary people panic and flee in all directions, we need skills to restrict their movements... For the shopping mall instance, let's use the Dismemberment Ghost from Miao Zheng's room to corrupt it.
The remote mountain village instance where Hong Zhong and his group are located is corrupted by the cat ghost in Hong Zhong's room.
There was a pregnant woman in their group who had reported the incident, and Zhou Fangdong was worried that using the child ghost from Duan Wenyu's room might lead to something unexpected. Meanwhile, the sick ghost in Li Zhe's room attacked indiscriminately; if they used it to corrupt the entire dungeon, the entire village, both humans and ghosts, would probably die.
As for Hou San's copy, he's the only tenant in this copy, so we can just use the Puff Ghost from his room.
After quickly selecting the monsters, Zhou Fangdong clicked on the dungeon erosion function.
The loading bar didn't appear immediately; instead, a system pop-up window appeared:
[If two or more room ghosts simultaneously invade the main god instance, the loading time will double. Continue the invasion?]
Zhou Fangdong frowned as he looked at the pop-up notification.
The loading bar is doubling in length? Hong Zhong's side is well-prepared and can wait until the loading bar finishes, but Zhao Dawei's side can't wait that long.
Zhao Dawei and his group only had Xiao Xiaoyu with powerful ghost-slaying abilities. Miao Zheng hadn't replenished her talismans after returning from Penghu Home, and all she had was a substitute doll and a paranormal camera. Zhao Dawei's talismans were only enough to protect himself.
Moreover, there are many ordinary people in the mall. If the time is delayed, there will definitely be large-scale casualties under the threat of the monsters in the dungeon.
Zhou Fangdong quickly made a decision and canceled the instance erosion on Hou San's side.
Hou San is a half-ghost, and Zhou Fangdong trusts his ability to survive. Moreover, Hou San carries a substitute doll and a shadow puppet he hadn't had time to retrieve. If they encounter an insurmountable danger in the instance, Zhou Fangdong can simply use the shadow puppet to help them.
This time, the dungeon erosion function did not prompt any system messages, and the loading bars for both dungeons progressed smoothly.
Zhou Fangdong tidied up the system panel, arranging the live broadcast videos in a horizontal row for easier viewing.
The three main god dungeons probably haven't officially started yet.
Hou San stood in a dark, windowless room. Judging from the layout of the room, it seemed to be an ancestral hall. No one knew how he had gotten in.
Although he was caught up in the main god instance, Hou San showed no panic on his face. He strolled around the secret room with his hands behind his back, occasionally touching the ornaments in the room, as relaxed as if he were visiting a museum.
Under the direction of the mall manager, Zhao Dawei and the other customers gathered on the first floor of the mall. Because it was morning and the mall had just opened, there weren't many people inside; besides the merchants and Zhao Dawei, there were only about sixty or seventy customers.
Hong Zhong and his group were still in the car, which they had parked in front of the small road leading into Fengrao Village.
Fengrao Village is located in a very remote area, situated on a mountain over 700 meters high. Vehicles cannot pass near the village; one must walk along a mountain path for some time to reach it.
Hong Zhong looked out the car window at the rugged path hidden in the mountains and said to the pregnant woman in the back seat, "You should stay in the car and wait for us. We'll be back soon after we've finished investigating the village."
Lin Yuanxin gently touched her pregnant belly, shook her head, and said firmly, "Although I am five months pregnant, I am not yet at the point where I cannot move around."
At this point, she seemed to recall some unpleasant memory, and her face turned a little pale: "The villagers are all a bit stubborn. If I hadn't gone with you, and you had been caught by the villagers, they probably wouldn't have let you go easily."
On the way there, Hong Zhong had heard the woman who reported the case give a brief introduction to the situation in Fengrao Village.
This remote village nestled in the mountains is very backward and xenophobic; even the power lines were only installed in recent years.
The rumor about "human sacrifice" originated from their village's ancestral worship ceremony. According to Lin Yuanxin, the younger generation of villagers in Fengrao Village would hold a sacrifice once when they got married and were included in the family genealogy. After having a child, they would also need to perform a "human sacrifice".
—For every newborn child, one of the older generation must die, and the spirit of the older person will protect the newborn as it grows up safely.
This is the tradition of Fengrao Village, and this sacrificial activity has not stopped even after the occurrence of the paranormal events.
Lin Yuanxin's husband, He Shunliang, was born when his grandfather passed away.
It's currently unknown whether Lin Yuan is carrying a boy or a girl.
If it's a girl, He Shunliang's mother will die; if it's a boy, He Shunliang himself will die... because He Shunliang's father died unexpectedly when he was young, so he has to be the guardian of this newborn.
He Shunliang, a college student who came from a remote mountain village and received a modern education, scoffed at this feudal tradition.
Despite the current outbreak of paranormal events and the rampant presence of ghosts and monsters, he still doesn't believe in guardian spirits.
Newborns are destined to die at birth. It's already a miracle if they don't become vengeful ghosts and kill other newborns. How could they possibly protect them? It's impossible for anyone to be so selfless as to willingly give up their own life and calmly face death for the sake of so-called offspring.
He Shunliang did not want his child's birth to cause his mother's death, nor did he want to die because of it.
He only returned to the village once, on the day he married Lin Yuanxin. According to Lin Yuanxin, He Shunliang had a falling out with the village elders that day when the family genealogy was being compiled, and he took her away from the village overnight, never to return again.
At that time, He Shunliang told Lin Yuanxin that he would never return to the village again, no matter what.
So it was strange that he suddenly went back this time... Lin Yuanxin suspected that the people in the village had somehow found out the gender of the child in her womb, so she tricked her husband into going back and wanted to kill him.
After hearing Lin Yuanxin's explanation, Hong Zhong also felt that things were getting a bit tricky.
If this tradition is true, then Fengrao Village probably has accumulated quite a few vengeful ghosts.
Although no paranormal events have occurred in or around Fengrao Village since the outbreak of the paranormal incidents, this does not prove that the so-called 'human sacrifice' guardian spirit is truly effective.
The village's 'human sacrifice' is very likely some kind of evil magic that commands ghosts; if it gets out of control, the backlash will definitely be severe.
Now strange things are starting to happen. First, Lin Yuanxin's husband returned to the village inexplicably, and then a strange force shielded the village from existence—this phenomenon may very well indicate that the backlash has begun.
This is also why Hong Zhong didn't want Lin Yuanxin to enter the village. He was not only worried that her pregnant body would not be able to walk the mountain road, but also worried that she would be persecuted by the evil spirits in the village because she was carrying the blood of Fengrao Village.
Hong Zhong didn't want Lin Yuanxin to get off the bus, but Lin Yuanxin insisted on staying with them.
Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, Hong Zhong suddenly heard an electronic voice in his mind.
The electronic sound was still fleeting, disappearing as soon as a syllable was uttered.
Hong Zhong's expression immediately turned serious.
He looked at Li Zhe and Duan Wenyu, whose expressions mirrored his own.
Li Zhe looked serious, not understanding what had happened, while Duan Wenyu instantly became alert... because he had already experienced this kind of incident twice before, and this was the third time.
—The vanished electronic voice was the God's points system, and they were drawn back into the God's instance.
The main god instance suddenly appeared without any warning, which is a bit strange.
If Hong Zhong had known beforehand that the incident in Fengrao Village was related to the main god, he wouldn't have brought so few people with him.
The Oversight Bureau now possesses instruments capable of monitoring energy fluctuations in the Main God's dungeons. The Main God's creation of dungeons in the real world involves an assimilation and transformation process, requiring the selected dungeon areas to be gradually stripped of reality. Even subtle energy fluctuations can be detected.
However, this Abundant Village instance appeared without any warning, as if the main god had prepared an instance in his own space in advance and then suddenly threw it down.
Compared to assimilation, this action of directly discarding the finished product copy must have consumed more power. What is the purpose of the main god doing this?
Could it be that you want to report the Bureau of Supervision because it intercepted several unfinished copies of the main god?
Hong Zhong began to worry about the other investigators who were out on field assignments.
Lin Yuanxin had obviously heard something too. She looked frightened and panicked: "Captain Hong, a voice suddenly appeared in my head. It said I'm in the 'Human Sacrifice' instance and that I need to get to the village as soon as possible, or I'll be killed..."
Hong Zhong's expression turned serious: "Is there a countdown?"
“There’s a 30-minute countdown…” Lin Yuanxin’s voice was trembling with tears. “It takes more than 20 minutes to walk along the path into the village.”
Hearing her say that, Hong Zhong no longer hesitated, quickly packed up his equipment, and gestured for them to get out of the car.
As soon as the car door was opened, the unique damp air from the mountains, carrying a strong smell of grass and decaying leaves, rushed out.
The road into the village hadn't been maintained for a long time; the stone steps were mostly overgrown with weeds and very difficult to walk on. The group hurried along and finally arrived at the village entrance just before the countdown ended.
There are about a hundred households in the village. The houses are all old and low adobe houses with walls made of yellow mud mixed with straw. Due to years of wind and rain erosion, the outer walls have been eroded with grooves of varying depths, revealing the dark straw inside.
Many of the roof tiles were crooked and broken. Due to excessive moisture, most of the roof tiles were covered with a layer of slippery, dark green moss, making it look as if the tiles themselves were green from a distance.
When Hong Zhong and his group arrived at the village entrance, the village was unusually quiet. There were no children playing, nor could they hear the sounds of roosters crowing or dogs barking.
At the village entrance, only a few middle-aged people sat in the shadows of their doorsteps, coldly watching these uninvited guests.
These people looked to be only in their forties, but they had a listless and aged appearance, like old people who were about to die.
Their cloudy, yellowish eyes were full of vigilance, as if they were scrutinizing the four of them... Finally, their gazes all fell on Lin Yuanxin, or more precisely, on her stomach.
Although Lin Yuanxin was very scared, she did not flinch and let them look her over.
After a moment of silence, a tall, thin middle-aged man stood up and asked in a low voice, "The He family's daughter-in-law?"
Lin Yuanxin said in a trembling but firm voice, "Yes, I am He Shunliang's wife. I have come to the village to find my husband. Please give him back to me."
A smile forced across the middle-aged man's wrinkled, gaunt face. "Look at what you're saying. We didn't imprison A-Liang." He then looked at Hong Zhong and the other two beside Lin Yuanxin. "What are these three doing?"
“They are all my friends. They came to the village with me to take A-Liang back,” Lin Yuanxin explained.
The middle-aged man shook his head helplessly: "Friends? They look more like bodyguards to me... We don't eat people, we don't need to bring thugs."
After he finished speaking, he waved to the villagers sitting on the threshold like him, telling them to stay put. Then he said to Hong Zhong and the others, "Now that you're in the village, don't go out for the time being. He's wife can stay at He's house for now. The rest of you, come with me. I'll find you a place to stay."
"My husband..."
“Ah Liang is staying at his house. If you want to find him, just go there. You know where his house is, right? Just go there yourself.” After saying that, the middle-aged man looked at Lin Yuanxin’s worried and conflicted expression and added, “Afraid of being separated from your bodyguards? In that case, we’ll go with you to find Ah Liang first, and then we’ll find accommodation for your bodyguards.”
The friendliness shown by the middle-aged man surprised Hong Zhong. The village was not as closed and xenophobic as he had imagined, nor did it arrest outsiders as Lin Yuanxin had said.
Moreover, judging from what this person just said, they didn't seem to have any intention of killing He Shunliang.
Wasn't He Shunliang tricked into returning to the village to perform a human sacrifice? If he returned on his own initiative, why didn't he contact his wife, causing her so much worry?
Hong Zhong tentatively said, "We won't stay in the village anymore. We'll leave once we find He Shunliang."
The middle-aged man paused in his steps, and without turning his head, said, "Our ancestors have said that danger is about to befall us. During this time, our ancestors are protecting Fengrao Village, and we cannot enter or leave casually, otherwise the protection will be compromised. We would appreciate it if you could stay with us for a while."
The protective effect... Hong Zhong recalled the power that had hidden the fertile village and made people deliberately forget about it.
Is this what they call ancestral protection? But why did their ancestors hide the village?
Hong Zhong continued, "Have other people come to Fengrao Village recently? How are those three people doing?"
The middle-aged man glanced at Hong Zhong: "Were those three young punks with you? Hmph, they're fine, just a bit rude, entering our ancestral hall at will and taking pictures without permission. We've smashed their cameras and locked them up. Once we can leave the village, we'll let them leave with you."
"When can we leave?"
Although the middle-aged man was indifferent, he answered every question: "Three days later, during the sacrificial ceremony, the village chief will cast the divination blocks in the ancestral hall. If the ancestors agree, you can leave."
Hong Zhong pondered for a moment, then asked, "By the way, did you hear an electronic voice in your mind...?"
Before he could finish speaking, the middle-aged man interrupted him directly: "Electronic voice? What electronic voice? Are you possessed by an evil spirit?" At this point, he was clearly very impatient, and his tone became very unpleasant.
Seeing this, Hong Zhong immediately shut up.
Since we still need to investigate the 'human sacrifice' rumor in the village, there's no need to anger this person now.
From the middle-aged man's words, it was clear that the villagers of Fengrao Village had not been chosen by the main god to become players... Hong Zhong did not have an points system and did not know what this main god instance was all about.
In fact, Hong Zhong had a vague feeling that something was not quite right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Zhou Fangdong watched the live broadcast and sighed softly.
Hong Zhong might not be able to see it with the naked eye, but he could see it clearly through the broadcast video... Every one of the Fengrao Village villagers that his group encountered at the village entrance had a mountain of dark shadows on their backs.
Those mountain-like black shadows were clearly layers upon layers of ghosts, among which the tall, thin middle-aged man, X, who led them into the village, carried the most and tallest ghosts on his back.
This ghostly figure is probably the so-called 'ancestral guardian spirit' of this bountiful village.
It's confirmed now that the human sacrifice in this village really exists... but can a living person really live long carrying so many ghosts on their back?
Hong Zhong was completely unaware of this. Although the testing equipment showed that the villagers all possessed supernatural powers, the equipment did not issue a warning because the ghosts carried by the villagers were not aggressive.
The middle-aged man led them to a house in the center of the village and called out to the house, "A-Liang! Come out for a moment, your wife is looking for you."
"My wife?" a young man's voice rang out, followed by a figure running quickly out of the house.
Upon seeing Lin Yuanxin standing at the door, the man froze. "Wife! What brings you here?!"
Lin Yuanxin burst into tears and hugged He Shunliang, crying, "You suddenly left home and went back to the village. I couldn't contact you and was worried that something had happened to you... What would we do if something happened to you?"
He Shunliang was even more surprised: "Didn't you receive the note I left for you? Didn't I tell you that something happened in the village and I had to go back and stay there for a month? It's very dangerous in the village; a group of strange people have recently appeared there..."
"Ah Liang," the middle-aged man stopped He Shunliang from continuing, "Now that your wife has come looking for you, take good care of her and don't let her leave home easily."
"Okay, okay." He Shunliang agreed repeatedly and led Lin Yuanxin into the house.
Hong Zhong frowned as he watched the interaction between the two.
He Shunliang left a message for Lin Yuanxin, so why is Lin Yuanxin still so anxious to find him?
Who are those strange people He Shunliang mentioned who appeared in the village? Is it because of these people that Fengrao Village chose to use the power of its ancestors to hide the village?
"Alright, come with me." The middle-aged man's words interrupted Hong Zhong's thoughts. "You can stay near my house, but don't go out at night."
Hong Zhong nodded solemnly, and before leaving, he discreetly tossed a round object, about the size of a thumbnail, into the shadow of He Shunliang's threshold. The dusty, round object landed and blended seamlessly with the pebbles beneath the threshold.
After the three of them left with the middle-aged man, Lin Yuanxin followed He Shunliang into the house and sat down in the main room.
She looked around and asked, "Ah Liang, where's Mom?"
“Mom went to the ancestral hall with the village elders. They’re going to worship our ancestors in a couple of days,” He Shunliang said, as he picked up the kettle from the stove and made a cup of honey water.
He placed the honey water in front of Lin Yuanxin and said, "What would you like to eat for lunch? Crucian carp and cardamom soup? White lotus stamen and egg soup? Or soybean and pork rib soup? My dear wife, just order whatever you like, and I'll make it for you. Our village may not have much else, but we have plenty of ingredients."
"No need to trouble yourself," Lin Yuanxin shook her head.
“How can you complain about cooking for your wife?” He Shunliang smiled as he sat down next to Lin Yuanxin and gently put his arm around her shoulder. “You’ve been through so much while you were pregnant, I have to take good care of you and the baby.”
Lin Yuanxin stared at him for a while, then lowered her head, cradling her pregnant belly, her smile gentle, radiating a holy maternal glow.
"Ah Liang, the baby seems to have moved just now, come and take a look."
"Really?!" Ah Liang leaned down. "I..."
A sharp blade was plunged into He Shunliang's neck, silencing him before he could say anything.
He Shunliang stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Lin Yuanxin placed He Shunliang's head on her knees, gently stroking his face and wiping away the blood that kept oozing from the corner of his mouth: "Don't struggle, be careful not to hurt our baby."
He Shunliang did not struggle; he just stared blankly at his wife, seemingly not understanding why she was doing this.
"Have you forgotten, Ah Liang? You didn't come back to the village on your own, and you didn't leave me any note. It was those old things on you that made you come back."
“Even if those old fogies took you away and deliberately blurred my memory, they couldn’t separate us… Thanks to the people from the Supervision Bureau, they helped me find the way back to the village and also helped me find you again.”
"Ah Liang, I love you, but I love God even more. When God revives you in the future, I will make God bring you back to life, and then we can be together again."
He Shunliang made a 'hoarse' sound in his throat. Although Lin Yuanxin had not pulled out the knife, it had already pierced his trachea and esophagus, and blood was gushing from his mouth.
Tears streamed down Lin Yuanxin's cheeks and dripped onto He Shunliang's face, mingling with the blood overflowing from his mouth.
She choked back tears as she said, “If everyone in the village had listened to us, if they had believed in the gods like we do… if the blood sacrifice ritual at the amusement park had succeeded… maybe I, the backup blood sacrifice, wouldn’t have been needed… Now, there’s another god coming to interfere… I really have no choice, Ah Liang, I really have no choice, I’m sorry. After the gods are restored, we will definitely be reunited, and then we and the baby can live happily together.”
He Shunliang gradually lost his breath.
He did not resist or struggle until his death, but only looked sadly at his wife, his eyes wide open in death.
Upon seeing the video feed on the system panel, Zhou Fangdong immediately stood up straight.
Fengrao Village and the abandoned amusement park are both located in the northern suburbs of Linjiang City—this pregnant woman and this village were the alternative ritual sites after Yin Xi's blood sacrifice ritual failed!
No wonder the main god suddenly descended upon the instance in Bountiful Village... It must be because the instance in the mirror was stolen by the 'evil god' yesterday, so it is deliberately taking revenge on the Heirs of the Bone Society.
The point of its selection of infinite flow players in the Abundant Village instance is not to expose the location of the Evil God's Resurrection Ritual and prevent the Heirs from resurrecting the Evil God.
After Hong Zhong and his group arrived at Fengrao Village, they abandoned the instance. Even if the ritual was successfully completed after the instance was cleared, the Bureau of Supervision would still send a large number of people to investigate.
It's hard to say whether the cultists of the Bone Inheritance Society or the main god instance is more harmful. An innocent villager has already died. If these cultists are allowed to run rampant in the village, the entire village will probably be sacrificed.
Why is the loading bar for the Erosion instance so slow...?
Zhou Fangdong was so anxious that he paced back and forth in the bathroom.
Hou San's location overlaps with Hong Zhong's group, and the secret room he is in should also be in Fengrao Village.
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong directly asked the system, "System, can I use the shadow puppet function at the same time as using the dungeon erosion function?"
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