Peach Haven Village (23)

Blind Zhao suddenly said, "Third Lady, Third Lady is crying again."

Everyone looked over at once. Two streams of liquid slid down from the corners of Third Lady's statue's eyes, falling onto her clothes. Since the clothes were carved from wood, the droplets flowed down and dripped onto the altar table.

White Cloud Daoist stepped forward and performed an ancient kowtow salute, the foremost of the nine bows, showing his respect for Third Lady.

White Cloud Daoist said, "The boy is young and ignorant. Please forgive his overstepping, Lady Third."

The response White Cloud Daoist received was two fresh tears. As he was about to speak again, Ding Shi said, "That's not the right way to ask."

Ding Shi stepped forward and clasped his fists. "Third Lady, did I make you unhappy?"

The statue did not react. Then Ding Shi had a brain fart and said, "Third Lady, you're ugly."

Everyone here knew the secret of Third Lady's statue. They had witnessed miracles—or perhaps ghostly manifestations. Hearing Ding Shi say that, everyone sucked in a breath and stared fixedly at Third Lady.

Third Lady did not react at all.

Ding Shi let out a breath and spread his hands at the others. "Not me." Then he turned to Third Lady. "I was joking just now. You were already a stunning little beauty before you'd even fully grown up."

White Cloud Daoist felt that something about those words was off, but before he could think it over, the village chief asked, "Daoist, what do we do now?"

White Cloud Daoist said, "It appears it truly has nothing to do with Little Ding."

Zhang San cut in, "Or maybe Third Lady has cried all her tears dry."

Ding Shi sneered, "Idiot."

Zhang San stepped forward angrily. "Say that again."

Ding Shi punched Zhang San in the left eye. Zhang San staggered back several steps and would have fallen if Haitang had not caught him from behind.

Ding Shi smiled and did not strike again. Zhang San was still furious, but that punch had taught him a lesson. He did not keep yapping, instead letting Haitang help him sit off to one side.

The village chief sternly criticized Ding Shi for assaulting a villager. The village chief's favorability decreased by 5 points, leaving 78 points.

Blind Zhao interrupted the farce. "Daoist, what do you think?"

White Cloud Daoist said nothing. He drew a roll of bamboo slips from his sleeve.

Blind Zhao's eyes lit up, as though he had seen something extraordinary.

Ding Shi's heart ached. Old bastard, so he'd kept all the treasures on him. No wonder I turned White Cloud Temple upside down and found only one Third Lady.

White Cloud Daoist unfurled the bamboo slips and muttered an incantation. Six copper coins bounced out of the slips and landed on the ground.

White Cloud Daoist put away the bamboo slips, knelt on one knee, and studied the copper coins intently while continuing to chant. White strands appeared amid his originally jet-black hair. As time passed, the white spread from the top of his head, and age spots emerged on his face. His once fair, smooth skin changed rapidly, turning sallow and wrinkled.

In barely a dozen seconds, White Cloud Daoist went from having the bearing of an immortal to looking frail with age.

White Cloud Daoist reached out and gathered the copper coins one by one. He tried to stand but nearly fell. Ding Shi stepped forward and helped White Cloud Daoist to a seat nearby.

White Cloud Daoist looked at the village chief and the others, his tone calm. "The great calamity has already taken shape." Then he looked at Haitang. "What happened?"

Under the gazes of countless people, Haitang lost her composure and became extremely frightened. Zhang San blocked everyone's view of her. "Come at me if you want something."

White Cloud Daoist said, "Third Lady shed tears because of her."

Ding Shi weakly asked, "Can I ask something, Daoist? Were you fortune-telling just now? Was the cost really that high?"

White Cloud Daoist sighed. "Peering into the secrets of heaven naturally comes at a price."

The village chief shouted, "Haitang, what did you do?"

Haitang shook her head repeatedly. "I didn't. I didn't do anything. I didn't."

Zhang San turned back to comfort her. "Don't cry. I'll take you away. We'll leave this place."

It sounded loyal and heartfelt, but Ding Shi laughed. "You'll take her away? Where to?"

Zhang San said, "The world is vast. There will always be a place for us."

Ding Shi had no response to that. The system had said the ways to leave the instance were death, or taking the minibus at eight in the morning on the eighth day. Could one live in the instance world without leaving it? After all, this was practically like being reborn and transmigrating from the twenty-first century back to the twentieth.

Ding Shi guessed that Zhang San knew what Haitang had done. Zhang San's reason for protecting Haitang might be that they were truly in love, but it was more likely that he was involved in whatever Haitang had done.

Could they also know that Third Lady Temple held a great treasure and had secretly come searching for it, truly offending Third Lady in the process?

Ding Shi already knew that the so-called White Cloud Temple had been built to suppress Third Lady's body. It was also where Blind Zhao claimed Third Lady's true coffin and the great treasure were located. However, Haitang and Zhang San did not know this. If they had only received partial information like he had, Haitang might have taken the risk for her lover Zhang San.

No, Haitang's expression did not seem fake. She truly did not know how she had offended Third Lady.

Could the old Daoist have calculated incorrectly? That was impossible too. He had used his life to cast the divination. He paid with his life and received false information—that violated the rules of mysticism. The Heavenly Dao would get sued.

There was one more possibility: White Cloud Daoist had calculated the answer but had not told the truth. That seemed unlikely as well. White Cloud Daoist had lived alone in the mountains and cultivated for years. He lacked scheming and did not have the ability to lie without changing expression.

"Fog's rolling in," someone outside shouted.

White Cloud Daoist immediately went outside and looked up. A faint layer of mist surrounded Peach Haven Village, and it was still spreading outward.

Standing beside White Cloud Daoist, Ding Shi said, "I heard that Third Lady's groom entered the village to marry her on a foggy day. That was how the snake demon ambushed and killed him."

White Cloud Daoist's expression turned grave. "There is indeed something strange about this fog. Village Chief."

The village chief stepped forward. White Cloud Daoist said, "You can still leave now. This Daoist advises the villagers to get far away from Peach Haven Village."

The village chief asked, "Can it not be saved?"

White Cloud Daoist shook his head. "The great calamity has already taken shape, not that it is about to take shape. It is too late, too late. If this Daoist had arrived one step earlier, perhaps it could have been resolved."

Ding Shi thought, Is he taking a jab at me?

The village chief said, "Daoist, it has been ninety-nine years. This is the final sacrifice. Now that the ritual has been ruined, everyone in our village is too ashamed to face our ancestors."

White Cloud Daoist pondered for a long while before saying, "There is indeed a way, but this Daoist is not certain of success. Are you sure you want to gamble on it?"

The village chief turned to look at Zhang San, then at Ding Shi. Finally, he beckoned Sun Qi over. "You are all university students, the smartest people in our village. You have heard everything that needed to be said. Now, you will decide whether the entire village should evacuate or stay and complete the sacrifice."

He was handing the decision over to the players. It gave Ding Shi the illusion that although this was not a game, the village chief and the others were not truly real people either. They were more like a fictional sandbox world. But wasn't a sandbox world just a game?

Ding Shi knew what he had done at White Cloud Temple, so he was the first to answer the village chief. "I suggest evacuating."

Zhang San said, "We're just one step away from the finish line. Since the Daoist has a way, for Peach Haven Village's future, I oppose evacuation."

Everyone looked at Sun Qi. Sun Qi clearly had no opinion of her own and looked to Ding Shi for help.

Seeing this, Zhang San said, "Sorry, we need to discuss this."