God Worship

The island village is built against the mountain.

The mountain it relies on is the only mountain on the island, about 200 meters high, and covered with lush vegetation.

Hundreds of villagers gathered in the open space outside the ancestral hall, and then they could step onto the mountain path.

All kinds of offerings have been prepared.

Including three monkeys tied to the bamboo sedan chair,

A jar filled with poisonous insects.

A sika deer hanging upside down on a bamboo pole with its limbs bound.

There was also a small, rather delicate-looking metal box, but I had no idea what was inside.

The procession carrying the offerings led the way, guided by an elderly man carrying a lantern.

The other villagers followed behind, without carrying any lighting equipment, simply keeping their heads down and moving forward in the footsteps of the person in front of them.

Ten tourists who came to experience primitive life were arranged to follow at the back. They were required to remain silent throughout the entire process, as any words spoken would be considered disrespectful to the Mountain God and might even result in invisible punishment.

All the villagers were chanting an unknown slang. Luo Di had heard many types of Chinese dialects, but he couldn't understand this language at all.

Meanwhile, the documentary team, also at the rear of the procession, was secretly recording the entire God-worshipping Ritual using hidden cameras, occasionally turning to film Hua Yuan's location.

After walking up the winding mountain road for about 100 meters, we finally arrived at a hillside with a gentler slope and even a platform structure. The trees here had been completely cut down, leaving a lot of open space.

As people set foot here, their eyes were immediately drawn to a unique mountain structure.

A mysterious and dark cave is not far ahead.

The cave shows obvious signs of human intervention, with cement lining and stone figures of children placed on either side of the entrance.

The area directly opposite the cave has been transformed into a spacious stone altar.

The so-called God-worshipping Ritual is being held here.

Various bound living creatures were arranged in a certain order and position, with a mysterious and exquisite little box placed in the very center.

The monkey and deer, who were exhausted from being tied up for so long, suddenly cried out loudly, as if they were afraid of something, afraid of something in the cave.

Several older villagers began to dance around the altar.

The remaining villagers knelt on the ground, making hand seals, and buried their heads.

Luo Di and the others knelt on the outermost edge, silently observing the God-worshipping Ritual. Their gazes were unconsciously drawn to the cave, as if something truly existed in the depths of that darkness.

Sudden,

The oldest man in the village raised his arm and pointed at Luo Di, speaking in some unintelligible dialect.

The tour guide standing next to the tour group started translating:

"The village chief said that they had just established contact with the Mountain God and explained to the Mountain God that you have donated a lot of money to support the development of the village and have also participated in the worship activities with great piety."

The Mountain God is pleased and wants you, as an outsider, to help complete the final sacrificial offering.

It's very simple; you just need to open that sealed metal box.

This is a very rare occurrence. If you can gain the favor of the Mountain God through this, you will be free from all illnesses and live a peaceful and safe life.

Of course, if you don't want to, we won't force you.

Although the tour guide said he wouldn't force anyone, all the villagers kneeling on the ground turned around and stared wide-eyed at the chosen Luo Di.

"Go..."

One of the sisters' voices came through.

Clearly, they had already checked the metal box and found nothing wrong. Moreover, this unexpected opportunity might yield more useful clues.

Luo Di nodded, and as he got up and walked toward the altar, the villagers along the way made way for him.

Although he couldn't understand what the village chief was saying, he could sense that the chief was urgently urging Luo Di to quickly open the small metal box on the altar and complete the final sacrifice.

All the sacrificial dances and sounds taking place here have stopped.

The scene, with hundreds of people present, was completely silent.

Everyone was waiting for the final step of the sacrificial offering.

The silent urging prompted Luo Di to crouch down and reach out to grip the edge of the metal box. The pituitary gland implanted in the back of his hand was ready to be activated at any moment to deal with any danger that might emerge from within the box.

Click!

Open the box.

The starlight illuminated the contents of the box.

One eyeball,

An eyeball, connected to a bright red nerve at the tail, is placed inside.

It looked as if it had just been peeled off, and was even still wriggling between the boxes.

This eyeball was extremely familiar to Luo Di.

The moment Luo Di saw the eyeball, half of his vision was taken away, as if he had returned to the dream from last night, back to the moment his eyeball slipped from its socket.

In my haste to pick it up, I accidentally dropped my eyeball into the drain.

I never expected to appear here... to be sacrificed as a offering.

wrong,

The logic here is clearly inconsistent.

The former is a dream, while the current God-worshipping Ritual is reality. Moreover, how could an eyeball lost in a pool in a dream end up in a remote island village as a sacrifice?

but,

A heavy feeling weighed on Luo Di's mind, blocking the assistance of logic and reason, forcibly linking the two things together.

Despite his loathing and scorn for fear, Luo Di felt a strange sense of dread arise once again. It seemed this feeling couldn't be erased simply by willpower.

As fear arose, he was forced to look up at the cave directly in front of him.

The cave under the gaze of the one-eyed observer underwent some changes.

A few colors shone in the depths of that darkness.

These colors are not luster, but more like some kind of living thing, and this living thing is surging towards the outside of the cave.

Tap! (A clicking sound)

This time, the snapping sound wasn't as loud as before, but it still shattered the entire scene before my eyes.

The video feed cuts out.

There was nothing in front of Luo Di, just a normal cave. As for the small metal box, there were no eyeballs at all, only a piece of dried skin, though the wrinkles and patterns on the surface of this skin did somewhat resemble an eye.

The tour guide's voice came from behind.

"The God-worshipping Ritual is over, Mr. Di, we can leave now."

"Um."

Luo Di shook his head and rejoined his group, leaving the Katayama with the villagers.

As he descended the mountain, Luo Di glanced back at the eerie cave and the offerings placed not far away. The monkey seemed utterly hopeless, its eyes wide open and no longer howling.

Back to the village.

The village chief also hosted a grand banquet, arranging a modern-style nighttime barbecue to properly entertain these travelers from afar.

After a satisfying meal, everyone returned to their rooms.

The four sisters had already made plans for the rest of the night, not to mention that Luo Di had just had a strange reaction during the sacrificial ceremony.

After staying inside for a while, and waiting until most of the villagers had gone back to their houses to rest, they quietly went to the back mountain where they had previously worshipped the gods, taking advantage of the darkness and shadows.

Needless to say,

That cave needs to be explored.

Not long after the five-person team left the room, the middle-aged members of the documentary team, unable to contain their restlessness, took the initiative to come to the door.

They wanted to invite Hua Yuan to their place for drinks, and were so persistent in doing so that they wouldn't give up until they succeeded.

After knocking on the door for a long time without any response, the Baldy actually went around to the window to try to peek, but the inside had already been covered with newspapers and he couldn't see what was going on.

One of the people in their group actually knew how to pick locks and easily opened the rather flimsy wooden door.

When they rushed into the Hua Yuan inside the house, filled with intense desire, they found it empty.

Where did they go!?

"No, we must find Miss Hua Yuan tonight!"

The back mountain, in front of the cave.

The five people were standing in front of the altar.

The offerings that were placed here two hours ago are all gone, leaving only bamboo poles, jars, and metal boxes.

It's as if something accepted the offering and finished its meal here.

The five of them still pretended to be adventurous and curious young people. After some discussion, they decided to go deep into the cave to find out what was going on, just like a suicide squad in a horror movie.

Because the cave is narrow, it can only accommodate a maximum of two people side by side.

Xiao Yan linked arms with Shia and walked in front, pretending to be scared.

Hua Yuan and the class monitor walked side by side in the middle, while Luo Di, the only boy, brought up the rear, carrying a special and somewhat bulging hiking backpack.