Bai Yanliang quietly observed him; this Xiaobin had behaved strangely from the very beginning.
Yesterday, when the village chief suggested they rest in the village for a night, Xiaobin’s reaction was peculiar.
It wasn’t dissatisfaction from a conflict with Tian Dawei; it seemed more like a plea, a plea for the chief to let them leave.
Bai Yanliang was sure he wasn’t the only one who picked up on the underlying meaning in Xiaobin’s words.
"Who is she?" Bai Yanliang asked.
Xiaobin’s expression suddenly turned eerie as he looked at Bai Yanliang and asked, "Do you believe... there are ghosts in this world?"
The air in the room suddenly felt colder; Bai Yanliang nodded, "I believe."
Xiaobin smiled, stared at Bai Yanliang, and said, "Alright, I’ll tell you..."
Bai Yanliang’s heart stirred as he quietly looked at him.
"That old house belongs to a woman who died; we sacrificed her alive."
Xiaobin’s words were concise, but to others, they were bone-chilling. This text is hosted at N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Bai Yanliang showed no extra reaction, although the word was chillingly terrifying.
Xiaobin found Bai Yanliang’s calm reaction a little strange but didn’t dwell on it too much.
"Jixue Village isn’t originally called Jixue Village; its initial name was Sacrificial Blood Village."
"One Homecoming Festival a year, one Homecoming Sacrifice every ten years. Festivals must have offerings to the God, sacrifices must have human offerings. Last year... she was the offering."
"So, Sacrificial Blood Village has minor sacrifices annually and a major one every decade?"
"You could say that."
Xiaobin confirmed Bai Yanliang’s understanding.
Minor sacrifices for the God, major sacrifices for humans...
Obviously, the ’God’ here didn’t refer to gods but... spirits, intellect.
"Well... isn’t it foolish? In this day and age, such a foolish custom still exists? Isn’t it unbelievable?" Xiaobin looked at Bai Yanliang with a somewhat twisted expression.
Bai Yanliang clearly nodded, "Indeed, it’s foolish."
Xiaobin’s eyes lit up, and excitement brought a flush to his cheeks.
"A bunch of disgusting, shameless, ignorant, selfish people! They deserve to be poor here, deserve to be stuck in Sacrificial Blood Village! Hahaha!"
Xiaobin’s emotions were a bit out of control, but Bai Yanliang didn’t stop him, letting him vent his saliva-spraying rant.
Suddenly, Bai Yanliang remembered something. He glanced around, didn’t see a calendar, and asked, "What’s the date tomorrow?"
Xiaobin, after venting, finally calmed down a bit, looked at Bai Yanliang, and said, "The first of October."
He referred to the old calendar.
The first of October on the old calendar...
Bai Yanliang looked at Xiaobin and asked, "Do you know what day the first of October in the old calendar is?"
Xiaobin was taken aback, then shook his head.
Growing up in the village, the only festivals he knew were New Year and the Homecoming Sacrifice.
Bai Yanliang softly uttered a few words, "Tomorrow is the Cold Clothing Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, Ghost Head Day."
The coincidence of Homecoming Sacrifice with Ghost Head Day was no accident.
Bai Yanliang never believed in coincidences.
If it were as Xiaobin said, then... the ghost haunting the village should be her.
The woman sacrificed alive in last year’s ceremony.
"Her name..." Xiaobin’s expression was complex, with remembrance, fear, confusion, and even a bit of... admiration.
"Her name is Lu Rendong, she was... a very good woman."
Bai Yanliang nodded, stood up, and said, "I have some matters to attend to, I’ll be leaving now."
Xiaobin ignored Bai Yanliang, caught in deep memories since mentioning Lu Rendong’s name, and didn’t come back to his senses even after Bai Yanliang left his house.
Bai Yanliang looked back at Xiaobin, but his mind wasn’t on Lu Rendong.
Instead... what role did this Xiaobin play during last year’s Homecoming Sacrifice, or in these events?
Li Mu left the village chief’s house and headed straight to the back mountain.
He had found out that the sacrificial site for tomorrow was deep inside the back mountain, at the end of the village.
The sky was overcast; the sun that shone in the morning was now nowhere to be seen.
Occasionally, villagers cast glances at him, but once he entered the forest at the village’s end, there was none.
Because there were no farmlands nearby.
Li Mu stepped into the forest and suddenly felt something was amiss.
It was an indescribable feeling... In any case, it was an ominous feeling, as if... if he continued forward, something very bad would happen.
Reason told him he should stop.
But... this was Fog Gathering, he couldn’t deceive himself; he was determined to see the ritual site in the back mountain.
If he didn’t, he might encounter terrible consequences due to inaction.
Li Mu rarely found himself in such a dilemma, when suddenly a shout came from deep in the forest: "Hey? You’re here too?"
Li Mu followed the sound and saw, besides Tian Dawei, He Miao holding a dog, the old man Chen Qingshan, and the quiet Sun Liang.
Besides Tong Li, who was tending to her husband’s corpse in the village, they were all here.
But, Li Mu noticed that Tian Dawei used the word ’too.’
"Did you guys just meet my friend?" Li Mu asked.
"Yes... It was that guy Huang Yourong... He initially said he would walk with us, but then he just disappeared," Chen Qingshan replied.
Hearing their words, Li Mu’s heart sank, knowing... Huang Yourong must be in trouble.
Looking at these few people before him, Li Mu suddenly had an idea.
"He might have gotten lost in the forest; could you all help me look for him?"
This request wasn’t unreasonable, and after a moment’s hesitation, the others agreed.
"Alright... let’s go then!"
Li Mu nodded, finally making up his mind, and stepped into the forest.
But at that moment, a sudden alarm peaked in his heart!
A strong feeling of suffocation surged within him, like... the call of Fog Gathering.
Something was wrong... something was very wrong!
Li Mu hung back, his gaze sweeping over the four people repeatedly.
Finally, his heart trembled, and he fixated on one person’s back.
He... something was off!
Just when Li Mu sensed something eerie, Tian Dawei, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped, turned, and looked at Li Mu, asking:
"Why are you walking so slowly?"
Li Mu’s heart was pounding, but ultimately, he had survived the longest in Fog Gathering.
Upon hearing this, not only did he not panic, but he even forcibly controlled his racing heart.
"Haven’t exercised in a long time, feeling a bit tired."
Tian Dawei stared at him, then suddenly smiled, "Then, why don’t you walk in front of us."
Li Mu felt a chill run down his back, but now... he couldn’t refuse.
He nodded and said, "Alright."