Chapter 44: Carnivore (16) Wax Sacrifice

“Thus, the bright spirits descend. Among men, they are called shamans; among women, they are called witches.”

“The people are thus able to possess loyalty and sincerity, and the spirits are thus able to possess bright virtue.”

“Humans and spirits do not disturb each other; each obtains its proper order.”

“—‘Discourses of the States’”

Human belief in gods first arose from fear of the unknown.

Unable to explain a series of events like famine, disaster, and death, they attributed everything to the mighty power of the gods.

They tried every means to please the gods, hoping to exchange their devout faith for divine blessings.

Later, people no longer blindly begged for divine handouts but regarded the gods as a deterrent.

With gods three feet above their heads, what man does, Heaven sees, so one must obey virtues and do good deeds.

But gradually, some people stopped believing in gods and lost their faith.

They used the name of gods to justify their atrocities and commit evil with impunity.

“Although it’s a new era, I still have to quietly tell everyone today that our Su Clan Village was originally protected by a god.”

The Old Village Chief stood under the locust tree and said to the villagers, “Granny Su in our village was originally a Divine Maiden. Every year she presided over the Wax Sacrifice, our village had favorable weather and never suffered famine.”

The villagers chattered, “It’s been more than ten years since we held a Wax Sacrifice. No wonder there was a great disaster this year. It must be a divine punishment from the Lord God.”

“Let’s hold a Wax Sacrifice as soon as possible. If the Lord God is pleased, maybe we’ll have food. This must be done secretly, don’t let those people know and report us.”

The Wax Sacrifice ritual, to worship the gods and pray for a bountiful harvest, was prepared in secret.

Granny Su was too old to preside over the sacrifice, so the villagers found her granddaughter.

The young girl prayed under the locust tree for three days and three nights, but did not receive divine blessings.

The angry villagers claimed they had been deceived. Amidst the pushing and shoving, the young girl lost her footing and fell into the copper pot.

That day, the villagers thought of a new way to survive the famine, claiming it was instructed by the gods, and implemented it through violence.

After that day, every household ate meat. A new legend was fabricated and then verified by the God Corpse at the bottom of the well… The illusion of the sacrifice faded, the sky completely darkened, and faint green light spots undulated around the players, flickering like will-o’-the-wisps.

Dragging footsteps echoed in the silence, and gaunt, elongated figures emerged from the depths of the thick fog, swaying and trembling.

Some carried hoes, others shouldered carrying poles. At first glance, they were no different from farmers working during the busy season, but without exception, they were all cloaked in black, almost blending into the night.

They were villagers, villagers who only appeared at night.

Sounds of “gulp” as they swallowed saliva and “splat” as saliva hit the ground rose and fell, making one suspect that beasts were lurking, and they themselves were the delicacy on the plate.

The villagers carried farm tools in one hand and lanterns in the other, their faces adorned with drooling and greedy smiles, which appeared extremely eerie in this scene.

“Ah! Which bastard pulled my hair?” The Tattooed Woman cursed, bending her elbow to strike behind her.

The withered, mummy-like shadow was flung away; it was a villager who had circled behind her at some unknown point.

Her voice was like a signal. One villager was kicked away, and in an instant, more shadows surrounded them.

“The rules say that night is dangerous, and we should return to Granny Su’s courtyard before dark if possible. Let’s forget about the ancestral hall and go back quickly!” Zhu Ling exclaimed loudly, slicing behind her with the dagger tightly gripped in her right hand.

A head was chopped off and flew away, and the dark body stretched like noodles, rejoining itself after catching up to the head.

More villagers lunged at her.

“Meat, give us meat…”

“We want meat… meat with souls…”

Groups of figures surrounded them from all directions, like walking corpses, muttering the same monotonous phrases.

Qi Si quietly stood between Yang Yundong and Zhao Feng, not attracting too much attention for the moment, as clues arranged themselves in his mind.

These Ghosts’ demand for meat was the same as A-Xi’s: they only wanted fresh, living human flesh, not dead flesh or God Meat.

Furthermore, God Meat, in the eyes of these Ghosts, was likely foul-smelling and inedible.

Playing dead was somewhat troublesome, but making oneself seem unappetizing was easy to do.

Qi Si’s gaze fell on Zhang Licai, who was carrying a bag of God Meat.

He let go of Yang Yundong’s hand, pulled Zhao Feng over, and said, “Let’s get some God Meat.”

Zhao Feng didn’t understand why, but in his opinion, trusting the judgment of an intelligence-type player was always correct.

He swung his left palm, bound with a crucifix, and slapped two villagers blocking the way. Intense white light burst from his palm, a charred smell permeated the air, and the villagers instinctively made way.

Zhang Licai’s legs went soft the moment he was surrounded by villagers, and he plopped down on the ground, the military coat wrapped with God Meat on his back trembling with his shaking.

He tightly closed his eyes, heard footsteps approaching, and shouted, “Don’t eat me! My meat is full of fat, it’s unhealthy, not tasty…”

Zhao Feng slapped away the villager blocking him and Qi Si. Qi Si moved sideways, reached out, and tugged at the sleeve of the military coat.

The slip knot came undone, and a large lump of God Meat fell to the ground, exuding a strong aroma.

In an instant, the villagers recoiled as if they had seen disgusting vomit or rotting, festering garbage.

Qi Si drew a blade from his special bracelet, sliced a thin piece of God Meat from the lump, covered his mouth and nose, and the exhaled air instantly carried the scent of God Meat.

He smiled and walked towards a skinny villager, kindly asking, “My friend, are you hungry? Do you still need meat now?”

Villager: “…”

Zhao Feng watched the villager being pressed back step by step by Qi Si, and for a moment almost thought the villager was a player and Qi Si was the most terrifying ghost in the instance.

He quickly understood the reason behind it: God Meat was probably as bad as feces to the villagers. If you met someone covered in feces on the road, wouldn’t you try your best to avoid them?

He couldn’t help but feel respect for Qi Si: was it worthy of a formal member of the Sera Guild? To find the key to breaking the situation so quickly!

Zhao Feng followed suit, slicing off a piece of God Meat with a blade and placing it over his mouth and nose.

With Qi Si, Zhao Feng, and Zhang Licai as the center, the villagers retreated like a tide, turning to swarm other players who didn’t have God Meat on them.

As soon as Zhang Licai opened his eyes, he saw that the crisis was resolved. He mumbled, “It can be done like this,” then turned to Qi Si with a fawning smile, “Little brother, lend me your knife, I’ll return it soon…”

Yang Yundong noticed the situation here and said loudly, “Everyone, move towards the God Meat! The villagers are afraid of God Meat!”

He flipped his wrist, and the back of his plain blade struck a villager’s chest. The villager, just before being knocked away, reached out to grab him, leaving a long bloody scratch on his arm with sharp claws.

He suppressed the pain, swinging his plain blade to clear a path with one hand and grabbing the emaciated man next to him, who had collapsed from exhaustion, with the other, rushing towards Zhang Licai’s direction.

Although the Tattooed Woman and Zhou Yilin had no means of self-preservation, they were fortunately close enough to dive into the protective range of the God Meat in a few steps.

Zhu Ling was an experienced player, skilled and knowledgeable in dealing with anomalies, and reached Zhang Licai safely, albeit with a scare.

Yang Yundong and the emaciated man arrived last, with several chunks of flesh torn from their bodies, but fortunately, they were still alive.

Zhang Licai took the blade Qi Si lent him, sliced off pieces of God Meat, and handed them to each person in turn.

Five minutes later, every player was wearing a God Meat brand mask.

Perhaps the villagers knew they couldn’t harm the players, or perhaps they were disgusted by the strong scent of God Meat, so they all retreated into the shadows, their traces no longer found.

Perhaps it was because night had fallen, the range of the Tattooed Woman’s facial mutation did not expand further, and she seemed much more energetic.

While other players gasped and celebrated their survival, she deftly re-wrapped the God Meat, slung it over her back, and laughed heartily, “Let’s not dawdle, let’s go back to Granny Su’s house for dinner. This old lady is starving to death!”

The players had no objections. The group, carrying the scent of blood from their wounds and the aroma of God Meat, walked wearily towards Granny Su’s house.

The return journey seemed much shorter than the way there. After walking for only a short while, the two red lanterns in front of Granny Su’s courtyard came into view, hanging high like eyes, guiding the way.

When they first arrived at Su Clan Village yesterday evening and saw this dilapidated and crumbling courtyard, the players only felt nervous and scared; now, seeing it again, they inexplicably felt a sense of security, as if they had returned home.

The courtyard door was unlocked. Everyone filed in, and the Tattooed Woman threw the package from her back into the corner.

Dinner was already prepared, lavishly spread out on the dining table in the center of the courtyard.

Perhaps because it was past dinnertime, Granny Su and A-Xi were not in the courtyard. A dim yellow light shone from the main house window, revealing two figures, one large and one small.

The players had been running around all day and were starving. Now, they successively took their seats, burying their heads in their bowls and shoveling food into their mouths.

After eating and drinking their fill, Yang Yundong stood up, dragged the package containing God Meat from the corner to the table, and divided it evenly into eight portions with his plain blade.

He placed a portion of meat in front of everyone, reminding them, “After eating God Meat, you’ll sleep until the next morning, and you won’t wake up even if you encounter danger. Everyone, try to wait until you’re too hungry to bear it before eating.”

“We’ve all eaten God Meat, and according to the instance’s setting, we all bear sin. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go to the ancestral hall together to take a look.”

Zhou Yilin quietly asked, “What if we still can’t find the ancestral hall? What if we encounter the same situation as today…”

“Even if we can’t find it, we have to go. If we go early, we’ll surely find it.”

Yang Yundong sighed, “Everyone has seen our attrition rate. I suspect that the minimum survival number for this instance is one. If we don’t decipher the world view, we will die until only one person is left to clear it.”

Such a judgment was not without reason; the atmosphere became stagnant, and the players all looked grim.

Qi Si had no intention of participating in the discussion. He simply said, “I’m leaving first,” and returned to his room with his portion of God Meat.

The broken door bolt had been replaced, and the bed board and bedding, covered in knife marks, were also brand new.

On the flyleaf of the travel brochure placed on the desk, the original four lines of poetry had disappeared, replaced by new verses:

“Kin in the same house kill each other, no relatives or friends come and go.”

“Families cook their own children, what guilt do gods and Buddhas bear?”