August 20, noon.
The Sheep Transformation Festival in Xianyang Village proceeded on schedule.
A man stood before Qin Manjiang and Liu Jingqing. After hearing him out, Liu Jingqing went deathly pale and stared at him in disbelief. "You're committing crimes!"
The man's name was Chen Rui. That rabble had chosen him to tell Qin Manjiang everything and ask for help.
He gave a complete account of what had happened on the night of August 19, including how they had chosen Li Rong, dragged her into the Ancestral Hall, restrained her, inserted sheep horns into her head, and dressed her in sheepskin.
Including how, at the end... Li Rong, whose transformation into a sheep had already succeeded, had inexplicably vanished.
The events were so horrific that Liu Jingqing could hardly believe they had happened in this day and age.
"I... I know, but everyone has done it this way since ancient times! I had no choice... none of us did..."
Chen Rui had been trembling, but as he spoke, he actually began to grow agitated.
"The village is blessed by the Immortal Sheep, but it's also cursed by the Immortal Sheep! If we don't do this, we can't survive... can you see it... this village, these paving stones, the food, the population, those houses... everything was bestowed by the Immortal Sheep!"
"When I was little, we only got to smell meat once a month. Poverty... is more frightening than death!" Chen Rui's face flushed with agitation. "It's just killing someone, isn't it? One person every three years, and killing that one person gets us two wishes. Isn't that a good deal?"
Chen Rui's words made Liu Jingqing's skin crawl. Only then did she realize just what kind of place this was.
Suddenly, the crack of a firecracker made Liu Jingqing shudder.