"Is that Xu Jingqi?!"
Everyone gasped. "Then what are we waiting for?!"
"Let's go inside!"
Although everyone seemed extremely agitated, they still had the sense to tread lightly as they entered, afraid of alerting the NPC inside.
They crept up to the doorway and carefully peered into the room.
Just as Bo Yi had said, the girl in Qiqi's Mom's arms was indeed Xu Jingqi. She was struggling constantly in her mother's embrace, but a child's strength was no match for an adult's to begin with. On top of that, Xu Jingqi was terribly weak for "certain reasons." Each attempt to struggle was like a kitten scratching an itch-nothing but futile resistance.
"Don't be afraid, Qiqi..." Qiqi's Mom wore a joyful smile, her voice full of anticipation. "Once tonight is over, your illness will be completely cured!"
As she spoke, she kissed the little girl's dry, yellowed hair and carefully lowered her toward the wooden barrel in front of her.
The waist-high barrel was already filled with the thick, black liquid Jiang Miaoyi had described, which slowly gave off a foul, fishy stench. Faint sounds of splashing could just be heard from within.
"Why do I feel..." Jiang Miaoyi turned back and mouthed to the other players, "like there's something swimming in that barrel?"
Bo Yi nodded slightly. By the dim candlelight, he too seemed to see ripples spreading across the surface, as though something were swimming underneath.
Above the barrel, Xu Jingqi was still struggling desperately. Her mouth kept opening and closing. From her lip movements, she seemed to be calling "Mom," but she was too weak to make a sound. Tears of anguish spilled from her wide-open eyes and slowly slid down from their corners. As she was lowered into the barrel, she even tried to hook her