Using an A-rank Weird as a sacrifice?!

"Has your Chen Family gotten so extravagant with its ancestor worship that you're using an A-rank Weird as a sacrifice?"

The old woman's words fell.

The entire front courtyard fell so quiet that a pin could be heard dropping.

The livestream, however, exploded the next second.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Matchmaker: I just came to pick up a sacrifice. Why did you serve me an A-rank combo meal?"

"She really took Shen Niannian for an A-rank Weird!"

"Did the aura around her change?"

"That outfit might have a disguise effect or change her aura."

"Now we can see just how valuable the Lightless Train's S-rank reward is!"

"And did you notice? With it on, Shen Niannian really looks like some little young mistress who secretly ran away from a family in the Weird World..."

In the Chen Family courtyard.

The other players reacted much the same way.

The middle-aged man playing the master looked at Shen Niannian.

Then he looked at the sacrifice-collecting matchmaker, who was already clearly regretting coming in.

His expression was complicated.

Backstage just now.

They had only known that Shen Niannian had suddenly changed into an outfit that was a weird item.

Only now did they truly understand-

The outfit could actually mimic the aura of an A-rank Weird!

Ye Qinglan's eyes flickered as well.

But she didn't ask any further questions.

She simply turned her attention back to the current plot.

Her task was clear.

[Do not let outsiders take the sacrifice away.]

So whether or not the matchmaker was afraid of Shen Niannian.

They couldn't let her take Shen Niannian away.

The player playing the master quickly got into character too.

He looked at the matchmaker and said in a low voice, "This is a private matter for the Chen Family. The sacrifice must be personally escorted into the ancestral hall by a member of the Chen Family. There's no need to trouble outsiders."

The old woman was visibly taken aback.

Immediately afterward.

No violation notice appeared above the theater.

Ye Qinglan understood at once.

Those words worked!

The group of "sacrifice collectors" before them was most likely an interference element in the first act to begin with.

They would actively try to persuade the Chen Family to hand over the sacrifice.

If they actually handed her over-

The first act's completion condition, [the sacrifice enters the ancestral hall], could no longer be met!

The smile slowly faded from the old woman's face.

"Master Chen, that's not right. We came to collect her on the ancestral hall's orders. Hand the sacrifice over to us, and we can still get her inside."

It sounded reasonable.

They were even offering to help complete the task.

But Ye Qinglan remained firm.

"My plot explicitly requires me not to let outsiders take the sacrifice away. We can't trust what she says."

Shen Niannian nodded.

Besides-

She now had an even more direct way to check.

[Identity Archive]

[Target: sacrifice-collecting matchmaker]

[Danger level: B-rank]

[Identity: Mourning Hall escort]

[Relationship to the Chen Family: none]

[Current objective: take the sacrifice away]

Additional information soon appeared.

[Environment-related information: Once the sacrifice leaves the Chen Family's Delivering the Sacrifice procession, she will be considered to have voluntarily left the first act's plot.]

Shen Niannian's gaze sharpened.

Just as she thought.

She couldn't go with them!

"You're not members of the Chen Family. I won't go with you."

She gave them a definitive answer.

The old woman's face darkened at once.

"Since when does a sacrifice get to choose her own path?"

Shen Niannian: "..."

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

That sounded so reasonable.

But the next second.

The old woman had already reached out to grab her.

Ye Qinglan drew her blade almost simultaneously.

But before she could actually strike-

The old woman's hand stopped in midair.

It was less than ten centimeters from Shen Niannian's shoulder.

From Shen Niannian's shoulder.

[Current status: afraid]

[Current status: afraid to make contact]

The aura of an A-rank Weird bore down on her at close range.

The old woman's deathly pale fingers visibly trembled.

Shen Niannian blinked.

Then she suddenly straightened her back a little.

(｀・ω・´)

So you're scared?

That makes things easy.

She tried to make her voice a little calmer.

"Didn't you just say you were here to collect the sacrifice?"

"Come on."

"Try touching me."

Old woman: "..."

Livestream:

"Hahahahahaha!"

"She's started using her borrowed power to bully Weirds!"

"Shen Niannian has mastered the proper way to use her equipment!"

"Matchmaker: I was just being polite. Why are you actually telling me to touch you?!"

The four faceless sedan chair bearers stood behind her.

Yet not one of them dared step forward.

Even the corpse powder on the old woman's face seemed to turn a few shades whiter.

She clearly didn't want to touch Shen Niannian.

But the theater seemed to be forcing her to continue carrying out her plot.

And so, for a moment, the scene became utterly comical.

A B-rank matchmaker.

With four Weird sedan chair bearers.

Surrounded a silver-haired loli who stood less than 1.5 meters tall.

And yet-

None of them dared lay a hand on her.

Finally.

The old woman gritted her teeth.

And switched targets.

"Since the sacrifice is unwilling to go of her own accord, the Chen Family can put her in the sedan chair."

With that.

She looked at the player playing the master.

"Master Chen, if you please."

The master player's expression changed.

The problem had landed back on them.

If they put Shen Niannian in the sedan chair.

They would be actively letting outsiders take the sacrifice away.

That wouldn't do.

But if they outright refused the sacrifice collection process.

Would that cause another plot error?

Just then.

Ye Qinglan suddenly spotted the curtain on the white paper sedan chair outside the gate.

Three small, blood-red characters were written on it.

[Mourning Hall]

Her gaze instantly turned cold.

"They aren't from the ancestral hall."

Everyone immediately looked at her.

"The place the sacrifice is actually being sent to is the Chen Family Ancestral Hall. There's been no mention of any Mourning Hall anywhere in the plot."

The master player understood as well.

"So this part isn't a required step in the Delivering the Sacrifice process at all."

Shen Niannian nodded.

"They're here to snatch her."

Now the logic was completely clear.

The master player hesitated no longer.

He spoke directly in character: "The Chen Family has its own rules for Delivering the Sacrifice. Please leave, all of you, and do not delay the auspicious hour."

As his words fell.

The white lanterns in the courtyard swayed at the same time.

[Character behavior is consistent with the current plot.]

The check passed!

The old woman's expression turned utterly ugly.

But she had no reason to keep pressing them.

Besides, Shen Niannian's A-rank aura was still bearing down on her.

Finally.

She could only let out a couple of sinister chuckles.

"Fine."

"Then we'll wait outside the ancestral hall."

"And see whether the Chen Family can get this sacrifice inside tonight."

With that.

The four bearers turned around.

The white paper sedan chair slowly retreated through the courtyard gate.

The old woman was the last to leave.

As she passed Shen Niannian, she even unconsciously took an extra half-step around her.

The livestream instantly caught the moment.

"She went around her!"

"Even a B-rank horror has to give Shen Niannian a wide berth!"

"That Lolita outfit was so worth it!"

"Could that be the reward she got from her last instance?"

Shen Niannian was very satisfied too.

(✧ω✧)

It looked good.

It could scare ghosts.

And when it mattered, it could keep people from touching her whenever they pleased.

This reward really had been worth getting!

But soon,

The theater's broadcast sounded again.

[The outside guests have departed.]

[One quarter of an hour remains until the hour of the pig.]

[Please have the Chen Family's Delivering the Sacrifice procession proceed to the ancestral hall immediately.]

At the other end of the courtyard,

A black wooden door that had been tightly shut until now

Slowly opened.

Beyond the door

Was a flight of stone steps leading straight down.

On either side of the steps,

Spirit tablets were packed tightly together.

And in the depths beyond,

A blood-red ancestral hall was faintly visible.

The red string around Shen Niannian's wrist

Suddenly tightened at that moment.

[The first act has entered its final stage.]

[The sacrifice must enter the Chen Family Ancestral Hall before the hour of the pig.]

Ye Qinglan gripped her dagger.

"Let's go."

The group re-formed the Delivering the Sacrifice procession.

They made their way down.

The closer they got to the ancestral hall,

The stronger the smell of blood in the air became.

When they reached the entrance to the ancestral hall,

Shen Niannian finally got a clear look inside.

In the very center,

There was no deity statue.

There was only a huge black offering table.

Seven spirit tablets stood on the table.

And in front of the seven tablets-

Sat a blood-red wooden box just large enough for a child to lie in.

Its lid was open.

The inside was lined with red cloth.

Shen Niannian: "..."

(°ー°〃)

That size...

No matter how she looked at it,

It seemed to have been prepared especially for her.

Meanwhile,

One final passage in blood appeared on the wall.

[The sacrifice must enter the ancestral hall alone.]

[The first act will end once the sacrifice has entered.]

Ye Qinglan's expression changed slightly.

"Alone?"

In other words,

From this point on,

The others couldn't go in with her.

Shen Niannian, however, wasn't immediately afraid.

She read the rules again.

They only required her to-

Enter.

They still didn't say she had to lie down in that box.

That made things easy.

Shen Niannian took a deep breath.

Holding up the hem of her black-and-red skirt,

She stepped over the threshold of the ancestral hall.

One step.

[The sacrifice has entered the ancestral hall.]

A second step.

The doors behind her suddenly began to close.

Boom!

Ye Qinglan and the others were completely shut out.

At the same time,

The seven spirit tablets in the ancestral hall

Lit up one after another.

An old, hoarse voice

Came from the deepest part of the darkness.

"The sacrifice has arrived."

"Then..."

"Please enter the coffin yourself."

Shen Niannian's steps faltered.

She slowly looked toward the blood-red wooden box.

"..."

(￣ー￣)

She knew it.

Going inside was only the first step.