Once a terrifying thought took root in the mind, it was hard to dislodge.
Food.
Once that word appeared before the three of them, they could no longer shake it.
"No way..."
"Even if it was for food, surely they wouldn't have killed anyone!"
Liu Chengfeng sucked in a breath.
It wasn't the killing itself that frightened him.
It was the reason those villagers had murdered Guang Xiu's entire family... simply for a mouthful of food.
"This was far from the first time something like that had happened. In ancient times, when severe drought and famine struck, people would even exchange their children and eat them. A lot of people think that's just an exaggeration, but it isn't exaggerated at all!"
Ning Qiushui's voice was heavy.
"Of course, that isn't the most frightening part."
"After all, in those circumstances, people could only survive by following the law of the jungle!"
"What's truly frightening is that, after surviving the crisis, those who committed those atrocities concealed their crimes with lies and pinned the blame on their victims!"
"Back then, Guang Xiu's family was robbed of more than just their food. They lost their lives, their reputations..."
Bai Xiaoxiao sighed sympathetically as well.
"That's the most frightening part..."
"Everyone knows you're innocent, yet not a single person stands up for you. They even band together to invent absurd crimes you supposedly committed, then point their fingers in your face and pass judgment on you..."
"I think I can understand why such terrifying vengeful ghosts came into being in this village..."
"This goes beyond a simple grudge over life and death."
Their hearts heavy, the three of them said no more and returned to their guesthouse in silence.
By now, they could more or less guess what had happened in the village back then, but they still hadn't found a path to survival.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was time for dinner again.
Thanks to everyone's caution, there had been no further losses apart from Tang Jiao.
Seven of them remained.
As they ate, everyone sat silently around the dining table.
Only Luo Yan kept smiling as she stared at her plate.
Her smile was eerie, and she seemed deeply dazed. No one knew what she had experienced alone in the guesthouse that afternoon.
Ning Qiushui studied Luo Yan, feeling as though he had seen that smile somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. The others had noticed it too, of course, and discreetly moved farther away from her.
And so a very strange scene unfolded around the circular dining table-
Luo Yan sat alone, with empty space on either side of her, while the other six all crowded together on one side.
"Luo Yan, Luo Yan!"
"What are you smiling about?"
At last, someone couldn't help speaking up.
It was Zong Fang, the extremely timid girl.
Luo Yan's appearance had frightened her badly.
But Luo Yan didn't respond at all. She held her chopsticks without picking up any food, simply staring fixedly at the plate before her and letting out a soft laugh now and then, as though someone beside her were telling jokes to amuse her.
The scene was so unsettling that Zong Fang felt she would have run out immediately without looking back if there hadn't been so many other people in the room!
"W-what's wrong with her?"
The man with glasses panicked too.
But no one answered his question, because none of them knew.
Ning Qiushui continued eating with his head lowered, though he occasionally looked up at Luo Yan, as if watching for something.
Then, suddenly, he stopped reaching for food.
He remembered.
He finally remembered why the smile on Luo Yan's lips seemed so familiar...
He had seen that very smile on Mi Lan's face not long ago!
The Spirit Medium had approached the bedridden Mi Lan, recited some sort of incantation over her, and sprinkled something on her. Afterward, Mi Lan had worn that same smile!
Could it be...
Was this the Spirit Medium's doing?
What was she trying to do?
While Ning Qiushui was lost in thought, Luo Yan suddenly rose in a daze and walked toward the door.
She moved like a walking corpse, seemingly devoid of life.
But no one in the room dared to stop her.
Only after she had gone far away did Zong Fang speak timidly.
"Are we... are we going to die?"
Her voice was panicked and thick with tears.
"There are only four days left. We've been to almost every attraction we can visit and looked for practically every clue we can find... but we still haven't found the path to survival!"
"Could there... be no path to survival inside this gate at all?"
Under immense pressure, emotions were the first thing to break down.
And once emotions collapsed, intelligence was the next casualty.
People in that state would constantly doubt themselves and everything around them!
Everyone looked grim.
"Hey, Bai Xiaoxiao, have you found any useful clues?"
"Tell us about them. We can all help figure something out. That's better than going it alone!"
"After all, we're all in the same boat now!"
Although the man with glasses was a newcomer and hadn't performed particularly well in many respects, his initiative in seeking a path to survival gave his teammates a great deal of confidence.
"All right-"
"We have found some useful clues. There are seven of us left now... no, strictly speaking, only six. I'll share what we've learned."
Bai Xiaoxiao began to explain.
First, she told everyone present about the famine in the village a hundred years ago, then mentioned the hints the blood gate had given them.
"The hints from the blood gate usually aren't complete. In fact, besides the [Benevolent One], the [Compassionate One], and the [Innocent One], there's also an [Evildoer] in this village."
"And that [Evildoer] is the village's Spirit Medium!"
"Our theory about the path to survival... is that we need to help the Benevolent One take revenge, eliminate the Evildoer, then help the Compassionate One find their missing head and restore peace to the village."
"And we have less than four days to accomplish all of this."
"If we haven't done all these things before the Temple festival, what awaits us then... will very likely be the final reckoning of the [Benevolent One] and the [Compassionate One]!"
P.S. There should be four more updates today.
Before you continue