Chapter 33: Eating Meat (Part 5) Meat

The four lines of poetry were of unknown meaning, seeming like a description of suffering, yet also like a malicious curse.

Qi Si looked around and saw a broom and two rags in the corner.

The rags were brand new, quite clean compared to the dusty room.

He picked up a rag and wiped the tabletop, and after almost all the dust was gone, he used his fingers to turn the pages of the travel brochure.

On the back of the page was a map of the village, marking three locations: ‘Ancestral Hall,’ ‘Village History Museum,’ and ‘Village Chief’s House.’ The player’s current residence, Granny Su’s house, was circled in red, making it clear at a glance.

What puzzled Qi Si was that there was clearly a road on the left side of this map, but it had no markings, as if there were no buildings there, just a wasteland.

Villages on plains were always compactly arranged; could there really be such a large empty space?

Deliberately leaving it empty was practically ‘protesting too much.’

Qi Si stroked his chin, thinking that he could prioritize tricking someone into checking the west side of the village later.

Perfect clearance not only yielded more points but also item rewards. Although he really wanted to trigger the minimum death count mechanism to end the instance early, the thought of a settlement interface possibly showing a rating lower than’S’ made him uncomfortable.

Considering everything, it was better to diligently collect clues and unravel the world view.

“Dinner’s ready, come and eat!” A hoarse shout came from outside the door; it was Granny Su’s voice.

Qi Si put down the page in his hand and pushed the door open.

The round table in the courtyard was already laden with dishes. Apart from a mass of white, gelatinous substance in an iron basin at the center, the surrounding dishes were all ordinary farmhouse vegetarian fare.

There were thirteen chairs in total, each with a set of bowls and chopsticks in front of it.

The players sat in a circle around the table. Qi Si casually glanced at their hands, not seeing anyone wearing rings or similar items.

Yang Yundong was the first to describe the clues from the travel brochure. Other players echoed him, basically confirming that this was a public clue, and the information each player received was largely the same.

During this time, Granny Su, pulling A-Xi, took their seats last, sitting next to Qi Si and Zhu Ling respectively.

Zhu Ling greeted her, “You’ve gone to so much trouble for us, providing a place to stay and making such a large table of dishes to entertain us.”

Granny Su smiled and said, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. You are guests here for tourism, so it’s customary to entertain you this way.”

Zhu Ling nodded lightly and tentatively asked, “We just arrived here, and the map alone is hard to understand. Could you be our guide and show us around tomorrow morning?

“Your village should still be worshipping that deity, right? We all believe in gods. If it’s convenient for you, please take us to pay our respects to Him.”

She had clearly noticed the blank space on the map and wanted to gain important clues by asking questions.

Unexpectedly, Granny Su’s face instantly turned ugly: “It was agreed before that you would just stay and taste ‘God Meat.’ As for anything more, this old woman has no time to accompany you!”

Zhu Ling was rebuffed, awkwardly forcing a smile: “Sorry, sorry, I just mentioned it. I was being presumptuous, please don’t be angry.”

Zhang Licai muttered softly, “That’s great, paying to travel just to stay for five days…”

Zhou Yilin, sitting next to him, mumbled, “But… we don’t seem to have paid anything…”

Zhang Licai: “…”

Qi Si pondered for a moment and asked, “Granny Su, can we wander around the village on our own?”

“Wander if you want,” Granny Su said, “but don’t run around recklessly after dark. If something happens, this old woman won’t be responsible. The night in our village… it eats people!”

The meaning was clear: night meant danger for the players, and it was unclear if “eats people” was literal.

Granny Su had said earlier that the villagers would come out at night, which was almost explicitly telling the players that there was something wrong with the villagers.

The system prompt sounded at the opportune moment, and the corresponding text appeared on the system interface.

【Rules Refreshed】

【2. Granny Su dislikes outsiders. Tourists who wish to explore should try to learn how to use the map and plan their own routes. Please remember, night is dangerous; return to Granny Su’s residence before dark if possible.】

The players exchanged glances, each considering their options.

It was good that they could explore. There were eleven of them; surely they wouldn’t fail to search this small, dilapidated village?

No one asked any more questions. Granny Su pulled out a knife from somewhere and began to cut into the iron basin in the center.

The white gel in the basin pulsed as if alive, trembling as if in pain the moment the knife touched it.

The surrounding air thickened slightly, and an invisible presence poured into the onlookers’ minds. A phantom wail sounded from the depths of consciousness, then dispersed like a receding tide into mist.

The players saw vine-like golden patterns emerge on the surface of the gel, only to dim in an instant, flickering between light and dark, rising and falling, like breathing, like a heartbeat.

Yang Yundong, who was further away, pointed at the basin and asked with a frown, “Granny Su, what is this thing?”

“It’s the flesh of an immortal. Didn’t you come to our village to eat this?” Granny Su answered, her eyes narrowed, almost obsessively.

As she spoke, her hands did not stop moving.

The cold blade cut through the white surface, and a few drops of golden liquid seeped from the incision. A rich meaty aroma permeated the air, seeping into the pores of every living creature nearby through every crevice.

Qi Si heard the sound of loud gulps, one after another, almost from everyone, all betraying greed and hunger.

Fragmented images flashed before his eyes: falling meteors scattered into a bloody downpour, a red-clad deity descended from the sky, impaled on the central earth by a bone scepter, and rivers surging into rings of golden blood… Dark shadows, like swarms of snakes, vied, clustered, and danced, falling into the river and struggling back to shore, the brilliant golden shimmer salvaged, settling into a rich crimson gold.

They surrounded Him, staring intently, finally unable to bear it, pushing each other to rush forward, pouncing, tearing, cutting, gnawing… Qi Si blinked, and for a moment, his flesh felt a sympathetic pain.

【You saw the shadow of an Evil God】

【The Evil God glanced at you】

Two prompts refreshed.

Qi Si looked at the faintly glowing 【humanoid evil spirit】 Identity Card in the upper right corner of his vision and fell into thought… So, this was how the so-called ‘establishing a connection’ worked?

Granny Su cut the meat into eleven portions, placing them one by one in front of each player, smiling and encouraging them: “Eat, it’s delicious. Once you’ve tasted it, you’ll never forget it…”

Allen, sitting next to Yang Yundong, swallowed and asked suspiciously, “Old woman, if it’s really that delicious, why don’t you eat it yourself?”

Granny Su said, “We who worship the immortals, in order to repay the kindness of Him bestowing meat upon us, now only eat vegetarian food.”

She paused for a moment, then added, “We were originally called ‘Su Family Village,’ but later changed our name to ‘Su Clan Village,’ which actually sounds like ‘Vegetarian Village’ when read aloud. We all only eat vegetarian food.”

The players looked at each other, genuinely embarrassed by the pun.

Qi Si, who was studying his Identity Card, narrowed his eyes upon hearing Granny Su’s explanation.

He clearly remembered the couplet posted on the gate:

【Burn incense annually to clear karma】

【Eat vegetarian food yearly to atone for sins】

The couplet clearly stated that eating vegetarian food was for atonement.

According to Granny Su, the deity bestowed meat upon Su Clan Village, and Su Clan Village worshipped the deity. If the entire process was legitimate and compliant, what sins were there to atone for?

The truth was probably as one player had guessed earlier: the deity did not willingly bestow God Meat… Granny Su and A-Xi helped themselves to dishes with their chopsticks, no longer paying attention to the players.

The aroma of the dishes filled the air, accompanied by the two NPCs’ intoxicated expressions as they savored the delicious food, and a sense of hunger spread among the players.

This hunger was by no means an ordinary physiological reaction; it was more like a mechanism of the instance. Everyone felt sharp pains in their stomachs, urgently needing something to fill them.

However, most veteran players were cautious, and no one dared to pick up their chopsticks; the two newcomers also followed suit, sitting upright.

It wasn’t until Granny Su finished her meal and, pulling A-Xi, left the table that the players finally picked up their chopsticks, picked at the dishes Granny Su and A-Xi had eaten, and barely filled their stomachs.

During this time, no one dared to touch a single strand of the translucent “God Meat” in front of them.

Legend has it that during a famine year, the deity descended upon Su Clan Village, allowing the villagers to eat His flesh to sate their hunger; and after the villagers survived the famine, He allowed them to sell His flesh to tourists.

But now, most villagers had become specters that only appeared at night; Su Clan Village had also become desolate and dilapidated, no longer frequented by ordinary tourists.

No matter how one looked at it, God Meat signified misfortune, curses, and danger.

A few fast-eating players put down their bowls within minutes and left the table as if avoiding a plague.

Zhao Feng finished eating but remained seated at the table, staring at the God Meat with a restless expression.

He had promised to give A-Xi meat to eat, and he only had one day left to find it; and it was highly unlikely he would find any other meat at Granny Su’s house besides the God Meat, so he had no other choice… Zhao Feng looked at Yang Yundong: “Do you think if I give this God Meat to that ghost child, he’ll eat it?”

“I don’t know.” Yang Yundong shook his head, “The rule about giving meat didn’t say anything about things going wrong if you give the wrong meat. You can try, just remember not to do it in front of Granny Su.”

Granny Su didn’t eat meat, but A-Xi went around looking for meat to eat, much like a mischievous child secretly doing things behind their parents’ backs.

Of course, the parents shouldn’t know about giving meat.

Zhao Feng understood the key point, grabbed his portion of God Meat, stuffed it into his pocket, and stood up, walking towards a corner of the courtyard.

He watched A-Xi, who was playing hopscotch alone in the distance, anxiously and irritably looking for an opportunity.

Besides Zhao Feng, many players also took meat, saying they wanted it for backup.

One player enthusiastically stepped forward to persuade: “According to the known clues, the villagers of Su Clan Village are all eating vegetarian food to atone for sins, which means that as long as you take God Meat, you will be tainted with’sin.’

“We should all just not take the God Meat. Even if this instance truly requires us to eat God Meat, at that point, the law won’t punish the masses, and with ‘that mechanism’ in place, none of us will be in trouble.”

He was referring to the “minimum death count” mechanism. The players who heard him sneered: “You make it sound so good, but why don’t you take the God Meat with us? You’re tricking us into not taking it; who knows what your intentions are!”

Qi Si silently tore off a section of his sleeve and wrapped his portion of God Meat.

The player sitting next to him had already left, without taking the God Meat.

So, Qi Si conveniently took that player’s portion of meat into his cloth bag as well.

One piece and two pieces made little difference; it was still not safe enough.

Qi Si scanned the entire table with his eyes, but unfortunately, he saw no remaining God Meat.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one planning to survive by relying on others’ hopes.

There were many clever people among the players, happy to block the retreat of others after they made wrong decisions.

The death rules and methods of this instance were still unknown; surely a few people had to die to verify them.