"I only have one question. Why clean up a haunted house for outsiders like us to stay in?"
Ning Qiushui stared unblinkingly at the woman on the bed.
Mi Lan bit down hard on her lip. She had intended to remain silent, but the sight of the memorial tablet in Ning Qiushui's hand made her tremble uncontrollably!
"That wasn't what we wanted... we didn't want things to turn out this way either..."
Mi Lan's voice was heavy with guilt and helplessness.
"But the Temple's sacrificial ceremony is almost here... if we still haven't prepared enough..."
She had only gotten that far when the middle-aged man in the room roared:
"Mi Lan!"
"Shut up! Do you want to die?!"
"How could you tell them that?!"
His sudden shouting gave all three of them a fright!
They turned toward the middle-aged man and saw that his eyes were bloodshot. His mental state seemed somewhat abnormal.
"You can't tell them... you can't say these things out loud!"
"If the Spirit Medium finds out... we're finished!!"
At the mention of the Spirit Medium, the middle-aged man looked as though he had invoked some taboo. He was terrified, his expression verging on collapse.
Mi Lan, who had been about to tell the three of them everything, also seemed to be jolted back to her senses by his shouting. She bit her lip tightly and fell silent.
Just as the atmosphere in the room reached another impasse, Bai Xiaoxiao, who had been standing calmly beside Ning Qiushui, suddenly pulled a sharp knife from her pocket!
A person's name was engraved on the knife-Zhizi.
"I've already killed enough people outside, so... I usually don't like killing once I'm in the world beyond the blood gate."
Bai Xiaoxiao's voice suddenly turned utterly cold, nothing like her usual languid manner!
Her presence became terrifying. An intense murderous aura filled the room, frightening even Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng beside her!
"If we can't uncover the truth, we'll die."
"If we're going to die anyway, I might as well kill a few more first... and take them down with us!"
As she spoke, she advanced toward the middle-aged man, knife in hand.
He snatched up a wooden stool beside him and tried to fight back, but he had clearly underestimated Bai Xiaoxiao's skill.
She merely sidestepped his attack, and a moment later, the sharp blade in her hand had pierced the middle-aged man's neck, pinning him to the floor!
The chill of approaching death finally brought the middle-aged man to his senses.
He no longer dared to move.
Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng were dumbfounded too.
Holy shit, you could do that?
Just subdue the NPCs inside the blood gate by force?
"Let me make this clear. This stab missed your artery, but if you try anything, all I have to do is twist the blade slightly, and you're dead!"
"Do you understand?"
At that moment, Bai Xiaoxiao's cold, seductive nature was fully on display.
Like a temptress, she straddled the middle-aged man. It should have been an alluring scene, but the cold, sharp blade in her hand left no room for any stray thoughts!
Under the threat of death, the middle-aged man gave a slight nod.
He dared not make any large movements, because Bai Xiaoxiao's knife was still lodged in his neck!
"Now answer our earlier question."
The middle-aged man closed his eyes in anguish. After hesitating for a long while, he finally spoke hoarsely:
"I can tell you the truth you want to know, but you mustn't tell anyone else."
Bai Xiaoxiao smiled sweetly. Her face, ice-cold just a moment before, suddenly became warm and friendly.
"Don't worry. We won't tell anyone else."
"But we already know quite a bit. If I find out you've lied... you know what will happen."
With that, she withdrew her knife and elegantly wiped the blood from it.
The wound in the middle-aged man's neck was shallow and had clearly missed any major blood vessels. It bled only a little before stopping.
He let out a long breath. Clearly, he now understood that if these three people didn't get the answers they wanted today, he and his wife would be unlikely to survive.
"This goes back a very long time, and we don't know the whole story either. I'll keep it brief..."
"The village has to hold a sacrificial ceremony at the Temple every year, and the offerings for that ceremony... are people!"
Although the three of them had already braced themselves for it, they still couldn't help shivering at the revelation that the offerings were human beings.
"What are you making sacrifices to?"
The middle-aged man's expression darkened.
"To... some people who died a hundred years ago."
"Why make sacrifices to them?"
"I don't know... the Spirit Medium has always handled everything. We... we're only responsible for providing the offerings she asks for. We don't concern ourselves with anything else..."
At this point, Ning Qiushui suddenly asked a very strange question:
"Why is the village so poor?"
The question made the middle-aged man fall silent. Only after a long while did he answer:
"Every year, every household in the village has to sell large amounts of grain and meat, then use the money to build the Mountain God Temple and the Earth God Temple. That's the only way we can have favorable weather for our crops the following year..."
Ning Qiushui suddenly laughed at that.
"The Spirit Medium handles all of that too, doesn't she?"
The middle-aged man nodded.
"Yes. It's thanks to the Spirit Medium that everyone in Rain-Praying Village can lead peaceful lives. We have no reason to refuse something that benefits us all. We may be poor, but at least... everyone can live in peace."
Ning Qiushui thought for a moment, then raised one finger:
"One last question. Once you've answered it, we'll leave."
The middle-aged man said:
"All... all right."
Ning Qiushui asked:
"How exactly... did Guang Xiu and his family die back then?"
The moment he finished speaking, before the middle-aged man could answer, an unfamiliar, icy voice belonging to an old woman suddenly came from outside:
"A hundred years ago, when famine struck the village, Guang Xiu and his family not only secretly hoarded huge amounts of grain, but also killed the villagers who went to borrow food from them. They even turned those villagers into food... That family had always lorded it over everyone. Extorting money and grain in the name of the Misty Rain Temple was bad enough, but at such a desperate moment, he committed acts that outraged heaven and man alike, leaving the village destitute and people starving to death everywhere. Fortunately, my ancestor Ruan Kaihuang stepped forward and led the villagers into Guang Xiu's home, finally bringing his wicked life to an end!"
The instant that voice rang out, all five people in the room went rigid!
The middle-aged man and Mi Lan on the bed, in particular, trembled violently. Their faces were deathly pale, drained of every trace of color...
P.S. I'll write four chapters for today, then build up a backlog tonight. Updates should come faster tomorrow.
Before you continue