Chapter 346 Beware of the Rabbit (20) The God Lord Enters the Divine Residence

Late at night, Qi Si was led by a Rabbit Shrine attendant to the wooden house deep within the shrine, where successive generations of God Lords had lived.

Along the way, the white-haired attendant remarked wistfully, “I have been serving the successive God Lords at the Rabbit Shrine since I was fifteen. They were all about your age when they entered the Divine Residence, and then one by one, they left…”

Qi Si watched him with a smile, noncommittal.

Seeing that he did not reply, the attendant said no more, only letting out a faint sigh.

New text refreshed on the game panel:

【Your Identity: Evil God disguised as a Shaman】

【Note: How could a human shaman know the ritual for imprisoning a god? Only another god can harm a god.】

This undoubtedly provided Qi Si with new information outside the worldview known to the Kannagi Family Head and the Kurokawa Family Head.

The Rabbit God was imprisoned in Rabbit God Town, and the construction of the rules involved the authority of transaction and contract. Qi must have been involved in this.

Qi Si suspected that Qi’s shadow was behind this instance. He had traded with Li to come here, and he wondered if this was also part of Qi’s scheme.

Later, Qi’s divine body was trapped in the *Carnivorous* instance and allowed to be butchered by the villagers of Su Family Village, which felt somewhat like karmic retribution.

Of course, considering his relationship with Qi… Qi Si didn’t find it funny at all, and was even a little annoyed.

Disguising himself as a Shaman was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but signing a contract with the Kurokawa Family Head was premeditated; he needed the power of rules to guarantee his plan.

He also needed to borrow Qi’s divine personality to gain more influence and clear obstacles for his subsequent actions.

However, probably because *Escape from Rabbit God Town* was a game created by Lu Ming, and most of the NPCs inside were not real people with souls, Qi Si did not obtain the soul leaf of the Kurokawa Family Head.

He couldn’t help but recall the Rabbit God Festival in the Hope Middle School dormitory, where the girls prayed to him, yet he likewise did not gain their souls. The vines deep within his Mental Palace were undisturbed, silent as death.

If it weren’t for the presence of the Rabbit God, the overall benefit of this instance would truly be quite low.

The streets were sparsely populated at night. The dense net of ropes overhead was covered with red silk banners that moved without wind. Occasionally, a few longer prayer ribbons were blown against Qi Si’s cheek, causing a slight tickle.

The night was silent, the moonlight like water. The lights in the houses on both sides were all extinguished, and the lantern in the attendant’s hand was like a bean, casting a flickering, dim yellow light.

The outlines of people and houses were blurred, and the scenery entering his eyes was dull and hazy. Qi Si inexplicably felt a little sleepy.

He let out a soft yawn, covering the Rabbit God statue in his arms with his hand to draw in coolness, yet it failed to clear his mind even slightly.

“God Lord, from here onward is the dwelling place of the gods. Others are not permitted to disturb it at night.” The attendant handed the lantern pole to Qi Si and bowed slightly. “I will come back to sweep tomorrow after sunrise. Does the God Lord have any other instructions?”

Qi Si took the lantern, looking up at the beam and purlin supported by two pillars ahead, his gaze following the path that stretched endlessly. “I might be a little lonely living in the Divine Residence by myself. Can Kurokawa Ming and my brother come to visit me often?”

This sounded like a timid request from a child leaving home for the first time. The attendant’s eyes showed pity, and he agreed without suspicion, retreating into the darkness behind him.

Qi Si waited until he disappeared from sight before continuing forward with the lantern.

He walked through the torii gate and proceeded along the path, catching a faint scent of cherry blossoms.

At this season, the flower trees on both sides were in full bloom, adorned with colorful wind chimes that rang out different tones with the breeze.

The night mist gradually thickened, taking on a milky white color, much like the white fog in the mountains outside Rabbit God Town, cold and desolate.

“The Rabbit God descends to the Northwest—”

A shout came from afar, accompanied by the vibration of an ancient bell. The sound was drawn out long, strange, and distorted.

A plot point was triggered.

Qi Si sensed this, hearing a wave of footsteps coming from behind him. He quickly retreated to the side, concealing himself among the cherry blossom trees.

He glanced toward the source of the sound, only to see a procession of elaborately decorated people emerging from the thick fog, stretching out endlessly at first glance.

Those clearing the way, driving the carriages, and playing instruments were all dressed in bright red kimono, their faces covered with fluffy Rabbit Masks, making it look as if human bodies were topped with rabbit heads.

“Draped in red and seated high, granting blessings for ten thousand generations—”

The chanting grew closer, and the carriage pulled by the rabbit-masked people came into full view. From the body to the four pillars, it was painted red and carved with golden, vine-like patterns.

Golden tassel curtains hung in front of the carriage, dripping down like rain, through which one could vaguely see a young boy seated inside, dressed in a red hunting robe, resembling a Shinto priest.

The boy’s eyes were tightly shut. His pale face was smeared with two patches of red rouge, and his lips were painted a blood-like vermilion, making him look ugly and strange.

He must be the God Lord chosen in previous years, serving as a vessel for the Rabbit God, now heading toward the end of death.

And this scene before him was a ghost-replicated illusion, a re-enactment of past events containing various clues.

Qi Si held his breath and watched intently, silently memorizing every detail.

The Rabbit God’s procession slowly passed him, bringing with it the scent of cherry blossom incense and the burning fragrance of talismans; the rabbit-masked people moved stiffly, pulling the carriage forward one step at a time.

“Three families celebrate the fireworks—”

“The carriage passes East and West Street, buried deep before the mountain cave—”

The procession gradually moved away, but the chanting grew louder and longer, circling and echoing between heaven and earth, lingering for a long time.

Qi Si’s mind stirred. He took the Rabbit God Mask out of his item bar and placed it on his face, tying the red ribbon used for securing it behind his head.

With an identical mask and a kimono of the same color and style, he seemed to be one of the rabbit-masked people in the procession. Without careful distinction, no one would notice anything amiss.

Qi Si muffled his footsteps and silently followed the group, standing in the back row, head bowed.

Quiet discussions began to sound in his ears.

“The Shaman said that if a vessel wasn’t chosen in time to offer faith and life, the Rabbit God would escape the shrine’s confinement.”

“It’s a good thing the Edo Family’s child sacrificed himself in time. Alas, the Kurokawa Family’s vessel ran away. How insensible…”

“You can’t say that. The Kannagi Family was the one who first broke the rules. I don’t know what method they used, but the person who should have been chosen failed to be selected. They cast the lots three times and failed every time.”

“Silence! How can we discuss matters of that level? Let’s just think about what wishes we’ll make tomorrow.”

The voices gradually died down, and Qi Si caught the key information from the conversation—casting lots.

He previously couldn’t understand why, if he was supposed to seize the Rabbit God’s divine power in the past Rabbit God Town, the Rabbit God statue would still wreak havoc at Hope Middle School.

Now he vaguely had some guesses: Could it be that something went wrong with the lot-casting segment, and his plan failed?

But if that were the case, where did the Rabbit God’s divine power go?

The instance had fallen into a paradox: If Qi Si had seized the Rabbit God’s divine power, Reiko would not have died, and the game *Escape from Rabbit God Town* would not exist; if Qi Si had failed, the Rabbit God statue at the bottom of Hope Middle School Lake would not be so quiet and harmless.

Unless this game model was not a simple confrontation between two parties, and there was a third party hidden in the dark, waiting to reap the benefits… The Rabbit God’s procession passed house after house, and the men and women inside, all wearing Rabbit Masks, came out one after another and joined the queue.

A tall and magnificent shrine appeared ahead. Beneath the black and gold intertwined triangular roof were curved vermilion railings and outer walls, like ribs. Paper lanterns of various sizes hung scattered, swaying slightly.

The procession drove into the shrine and suddenly disappeared, as if swallowed by the giant mouth of a monster.

Qi Si carried the lantern across the threshold. The fragrance of rosewood permeated the entire building, immersing him in the quiet aroma.

One by one, the concealed doors were blown open by the wind. He took off the 【Rabbit God Mask】 from his face and, in his identity as the “God Lord,” walked through the winding corridor, bypassing the carved copper stands holding candles.

The light was dim deep inside the shrine. Old prayer ribbons, stained by time, hung down from the roof, their edges frayed and the writing faded white.

Wind chimes swayed on the doors and windows, making a clear sound that drew Qi Si’s attention. A wooden plaque hung on the red-painted wooden door, on which two characters were written clearly in black brushstrokes—

【Divine Residence】.

Qi Si hung the lantern on the hook outside the door and pushed open the wooden door. The smell of rotten wood rushed out, mixed with soot and dust.

No one had lived here for eighteen years, and the people who once resided here had all died and become ghosts.

Borrowing the moonlight from outside, he could see an oil lamp placed on a desk by the door, next to a box of matches.

Qi Si struck a match and lit the oil lamp.

In the weak light, he saw mottled scratch marks crisscrossing the inside of the door panel, dotted with hardened bloodstains, as if the imprisoned person had gone mad trying to get out, only to realize the door was locked from the outside.

The fingers were slender, and the distance between the fingers was small, clearly belonging to a child. Those locked here, wanting to get out, were all children.

On the desk lay an old, cracked wooden board, engraved with precautions for the 【God Lord】:

【1. After entering the Divine Residence, everything you see, hear, and dream are the ravings of demons and spirits; do not believe them lightly;

【2. You should recite the prayer at least once daily on the cushion, maintaining piety without interruption;

【3. The God Lord must maintain the cleanliness of the physical body. Food will no longer be provided after August Third, but water is permitted;

【4. The God Lord must not leave the confines of the Divine Residence from the time the lots are cast until the eve of the Rabbit God Festival on August Sixth;

【5. There is a carving knife and wooden blocks beneath the couch. The God Lord should carve as many Rabbit God statues and prayer plaques as possible.】

The so-called Divine Residence was merely a wooden cell of about twenty square meters. A wooden couch and a small table were on one side, and a shrine and a cushion were on the other.

Incense smoke curled up from the altar behind the cushion, draping a light veil over the carved shrine. Seated inside the shrine was a giant humanoid rabbit, sitting with closed eyes, wearing a black hunting robe embroidered with golden patterns—it was the Rabbit God.

Qi Si nodded at the Rabbit God statue as a greeting and turned to the wooden couch in the corner.

He lifted the covering sheet and indeed saw a wooden box beneath the couch, filled with palm-sized wooden blocks. A carving knife wrapped in red cloth was tucked into the edge, and the tip of the knife seemed stained with blood.

The box contained none of the past Rabbit God statues or prayer plaques. Perhaps they were discarded, or handled in some other way.

Something was carved on the wall deep beneath the bed. Qi Si picked up the oil lamp to illuminate it, revealing it was covered in crooked writing:

【The adults lied to us. The Rabbit God doesn’t love us at all. He is imprisoned here…】

【I must not believe the Rabbit God. No, I must believe the Rabbit God, otherwise…】

【I don’t want to die! I hate all of you, I hate…】

【I’m so hungry and thirsty… Just let me die…】

The incoherent writings, full of fear and hatred, spread wildly. Dust flew before Qi Si’s eyes, reflecting an illusion in the faint light of the oil lamp.

A child whose face couldn’t be clearly seen woke up from a nightmare, fell to the floor, and then struggled to stand, looking around with an expression that was both terrified and bewildered.

He rushed toward the wooden door, frantically turning the doorknob, but failed to push it open.

He pounded on the door, shouting phrases like “Someone help” and “Let me out,” but no one answered from start to finish.

He searched every corner and knocked on every wall, but never found a way to leave.

Desperate, he sat back down by the couch, took the carving knife from the wooden box, and began carving the wooden blocks as required by the precautions.

The attendant entered to collect the finished Rabbit God statues and prayer plaques. The child tried to seize the opportunity to run out the door but was blocked by the Shinto priests strictly guarding the outside.

Someone earnestly whispered something, likely threats, telling him that if he failed to complete the Rabbit God Festival, not only would he die, but his family would also face utter disaster.

He quieted down, returning despairingly to the bed to continue carving the wooden blocks, unconsciously carving all the blocks until they were finished.

Later, no one came anymore. There was no food, and the permitted water was not delivered as promised. Hungry and thirsty, he cried for help to no avail, and then frantically clawed at the door panel, but ultimately could not budge it an inch.

He exhausted all his strength and had no choice but to lie back down under the bed, scratching lines of text onto the wall.

Gradually, the wall was not enough, and his knife fell upon his own body… Blood filled his vision. The strange thing was that even after losing all his blood, the wounded corpse continued to breathe, as if its life state was frozen, perpetually suspended between life and death.

Qi Si looked thoughtful, reaching out to grasp the carving knife in the wooden box.

Two seconds later, prompt text refreshed on the system interface:

【Name: Divine Engraver】

【Type: Item】

【Effect: Carves any living being into a God】

【Note: You carve a cut, I carve a cut, carving out a God that belongs only to us; you speak a word, I speak a word, entrusting our desires to the newborn God; blood flows ceaselessly, wounds are numerous, O God—He will not die, the corpse suffers pain, the soul is immortal…】

The carving knife was cold to the touch. Bone-chilling cold seeped into his flesh. The blade was wrapped in suspicious bloodstains, revealing an ominous and bizarre quality.

The note seemed to be a nursery rhyme, bloody and terrifying. Just reading it silently made one feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

Qi Si thought of the Rabbit God’s weakness, how easily it could be butchered by Qi and Li, who were also gods, and how a being at the divine level needed to consume souls to fulfill wishes… Threads of inspiration floated at the bottom of his mind, elusive and not yet solidified, difficult to grasp.

But what concerned Qi Si the most was that an item of the Divine Engraver’s caliber could be taken out of the instance.