The meaning of the four lines of poetry was unclear. They seemed to describe suffering, yet also read like a malicious curse.
Qi Si looked around and spotted a broom and two rags in the corner.
The rags were brand-new, clean compared to the dust-covered room.
He picked up one and wiped the tabletop. Only after clearing away most of the dust did he pinch the pages of the Travel Guide between his fingers and turn them.
The back of the page showed a map of the village, with three places marked: "Ancestral Hall," "Village History Museum," and "Village Chief's House." Granny Su's residence, where the players were staying, was circled in red. At a glance, the map was simple and clear.
What struck Qi Si as strange was that there was clearly a road on the map's left side, but nothing was marked there. It was as if there were no buildings in that direction, only empty wasteland.
Villages on the plains were usually laid out compactly. Could there really be such a large vacant lot?
Leaving it blank on purpose was practically shouting, "There's nothing here!"
Qi Si rubbed his chin, thinking he could try to talk someone into checking out West Village first.
A perfect clear would earn more points and item rewards. He really wanted to trigger the Minimum Death Quota mechanism and end the instance as soon as possible, but the thought of the results screen showing a rating below "S" made him feel awful.
All things considered, it was better to gather clues and unravel the world's secrets as thoroughly as he could.
"Dinner's ready. Come and eat!" Granny Su's hoarse call came from outside the door.
Qi Si set down the page and stepped out.
The round table in the courtyard was already laden with food. Apart from a mound of white, gelatinous stuff in the iron basin at the center, the dishes around it were all ordinary farm-style vegetables.
There were thirteen chairs, each with a set of bowls and chopsticks laid out in front of it.
The players took their seats around the table. Qi Si happened to glance at their hands, but didn't see anyone wearing a ring or anything similar.
Yang Yundong was the first to describe the clues in the Travel Guide. The other players chimed in, and they basically confirmed that it was a shared clue, with each of them having received more or less the same information.
Meanwhile, Granny Su and A-Xi took the last two seats, one beside Qi Si and the other beside Zhu Ling.
Zhu Ling exchanged pleasantries. "You've made room for us to stay and prepared such a big dinner, too. Sorry for the trouble."
Granny Su smiled. "It's only right. You're guests here on holiday."
Zhu Ling nodded and asked carefully, "We just got here, and we can't make heads or tails of the map just by looking at it. Could you be our guide tomorrow morning and show us around?"
"Your village still worships that god, right? We all believe in gods. If it's convenient, could you take us to pay our respects?"
She had clearly noticed the blank space on the map and wanted to probe for important clues.
Instead, Granny Su's expression darkened. "We agreed beforehand that you were just here to stay for a while and try the 'God Meat.' I don't have time to go around with you old folks any more than that!"
Zhu Ling's attempt fell flat, leaving her a little embarrassed. Zhang Licai, sitting beside her, patted his chubby face and muttered under his breath, "That's great. We paid for a vacation just to sit around for five days..."
The timid Zhou Yilin mumbled, "But... I don't think we paid anything."
Zhang Licai: "..."
Qi Si thought for a moment, then ventured, "Granny Su, can we wander around the village on our own?"
"Go ahead if you want," Granny Su said. "But don't go running around after dark. If anything happens, don't expect this old woman to help."
The meaning was clear: nighttime meant danger for the players.
She had already said that the villagers came out at night. She was practically telling them outright that something was wrong with the villagers.
The system notification sounded just then, and the corresponding text appeared on the system interface.
[Rules Refreshed]
[2. Granny Su doesn't like outsiders. Travelers who wish to sightsee should try to learn to use the map and plan their own routes. Remember, nighttime is dangerous. Please return to Granny Su's house before dark if possible.]
The players exchanged glances, each weighing their options.
At least they were free to explore. There were eleven of them—surely that was enough to search this pathetic little village thoroughly?
No one asked anything else. Granny Su produced a knife from who knew where and plunged it into the iron basin, slicing through its contents.
The white gelatinous mass seemed alive. The moment the knife touched it, it trembled as if afraid of pain, though it might simply have been an instinctive reaction.
The air grew thicker. Something invisible seemed to suck at the onlookers' brains. Faint wails rose from the depths of their consciousness, like hallucinations, then ebbed away like the tide.
For an instant, Qi Si thought he saw twisted red lines appear on the gelatin's surface. But they faded at once, and the whole mass began to rise and fall, twitching as if it were breathing.
It was obvious what the thing in the basin was. Yang Yundong, standing farther away, pointed at it and asked, though he already knew the answer, "Granny Su, what is that?"
"It's the god's flesh. Isn't that what you came to our village to eat?" Granny Su narrowed her eyes and answered with something close to reverence.
She didn't stop working as she spoke. Her cold, gleaming blade sliced through the white skin, and a few drops of golden liquid seeped from the cut, like beads of blood or tears.
The rich aroma of meat filled the air, seeping through every crack and into the pores of every living thing nearby. Qi Si heard one person after another gulping. Nearly everyone sounded greedy and ravenous.
A red-robed god descended from the heavens. Every inch of its flesh seemed fashioned from beauty. Its lush fragrance stirred their appetites, and the villagers' awe soon turned to desire.
They surrounded the god and stared at it. At last, unable to hold back, they shoved and jostled one another as they rushed forward, pouncing, tearing, cutting, biting...
A scene flashed before Qi Si's eyes. He blinked, and for an instant, his flesh seemed to feel the pain.
[You saw the shadow of the Evil God]
[The Evil God looked at you]
Two lines of text refreshed.
Qi Si looked at the [Humanoid Evil Spirit] Identity Card glowing faintly in the upper-right corner of his vision and thought in despair, So this is what they mean by "establishing a connection"?
Granny Su cut the meat into eleven portions and placed one in front of each player. Smiling, she urged them, "Go ahead and eat. It's delicious. Once you've tried it, you'll never forget it..."
Allen, sitting beside Yang Yundong, swallowed and asked skeptically, "Old woman, if it's so delicious, why don't you eat it yourself?"
"We who worship the god now eat only vegetables, to repay the debt we owe for the flesh the god gave us back then," Granny Su said.
She paused, then added, "Our village used to be called 'Su Family Village.' Later, we changed it to 'Su Village.' It sounds just like 'Vegetarian Village.' We all eat only vegetables."
The players looked at one another, thoroughly embarrassed by the pun.
Qi Si was examining his Identity Card. Hearing Granny Su's explanation, he raised an eyebrow.
He clearly remembered the couplet pasted on the gate:
[Year after year, incense drives away the burdens of sin]
[Year after year, eating vegetables absolves our sins]
Was their vegetarianism really out of gratitude? Probably not.
The couplet made it perfectly clear: they ate vegetables to atone.
If, as Granny Su claimed, the god had given flesh to Su Village and the villagers worshipped the god, and the whole arrangement was aboveboard, what was there to atone for?
In the vision just now, the red-robed god had seemed afraid of pain, and had never explicitly allowed the villagers to divide its flesh among themselves.
Qi Si had a suspicion. A cold smile spread across his lips as he looked at Granny Su with renewed scrutiny.
Granny Su and A-Xi seemed unaware of anything, helping themselves to vegetables with their chopsticks.
The food smelled delicious, and as the two NPCs savored it, hunger spread among the players.
This was no ordinary physical hunger. It felt more like an instance mechanic. Everyone's stomach cramped again and again, desperately needing something to fill it.
But the experienced players were mostly cautious, and none dared touch their chopsticks. The two newcomers followed their example and sat stiffly in their seats.
Only after Granny Su had finished her meal and left the table with A-Xi did the players begin eating. They picked at the dishes Granny Su and A-Xi had eaten, managing to fill their stomachs with a few bites.
Not one of them dared lay a finger on the translucent "God Meat" in front of them. Whether judged by the legends or its appearance, the stuff was clearly strange and dangerous.
A few players finished quickly and set down their bowls, leaving the table as if fleeing from snakes and scorpions.
Zhao Feng, who had provoked A-Xi earlier, stared at the God Meat on the table, looking tempted.
He had promised A-Xi he would give him meat, and he had only one day to find some. Apart from the God Meat, Granny Su's house probably had no other kind of meat. He had no other choice!
Zhao Feng looked to Yang Yundong for help. "Do you think that Ghost Child would eat this God Meat if I gave it to him?"
"I don't know." Yang Yundong seemed to be thinking about something and answered absentmindedly. "You can try. Just don't do it in front of Granny Su."
Granny Su didn't eat meat, while A-Xi was always looking for it. He was just like a naughty child sneaking food behind his parents' backs. Naturally, his parents couldn't find out that someone had given him meat.
Zhao Feng understood. He grabbed his portion of God Meat, stuffed it into his pocket, then left his seat and went to watch A-Xi from a corner of the courtyard, waiting for an opportunity.
Quite a few other players took the meat, too, saying they wanted to keep it as a backup.
One player earnestly urged them, "Taking the God Meat will taint you with 'Sin.' We'd be better off if none of us took any. Even if this instance really requires us to eat it, the punishment won't fall on everyone if we all do it together. With 'that mechanism' in place, none of us will get hurt."
He was referring to the "Minimum Death Quota" mechanism. A player who heard him sneered. "You make it sound so noble. Why don't you take some with us, then? You're trying to stop us from taking it. What are you really up to?"
Everyone had their own opinion, and no one could convince anyone else.
Qi Si searched himself but couldn't find anything to carry the meat in, so he tore off part of his sleeve and wrapped his portion in it.
The player beside him had already left without taking his portion.
So Qi Si casually added that piece to the cloth bundle, too.
Thinking it still wasn't safe enough, he scanned the entire table, but there was no more God Meat left to find.
There were plenty of clever people among the players, happy to shut off someone else's escape route once they'd made a bad decision.
No one yet knew this instance's death rules or methods. Someone would have to die to test them.
And in the Eerie Game, if you misjudged the situation, you had only yourself to blame if you died.
Before you continue