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Chapter 75

“What happened?!”

Tang Mianmian was shocked. The shaking here seemed to be even greater than the previous major earthquake... Could it be a landslide?

Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware of the increase in demon energy around him. Ever since he was scratched by a low-level demon, his sensitivity to demon energy had grown. For example, now he could vaguely feel the magic fluctuations in the air.

Kisaragi rushed into the shrine without hesitation and Xiao Tangqiu chased after her without even thinking about it. He had just stepped into the shrine when he became keenly aware of the increase in demonic energy in the air. It even made it difficult to move for him... Such a terrible demonic coercion, it was even more terrifying than Lippinobert’s!

Although he didn’t have any specific comparisons, he could guess that they were facing a very difficult big guy this time. He felt even more certain after he chased Kisaragi into the main hall.

But the strange thing was that when they entered the shrine, the violent tremors subsided.

Like Hundred Ghost Village’s shrine, Hundred Ghost Town’s main hall also enshrined a wolf-shaped idol in the center. But this wolf-shaped idol was several times larger than the Hundred Ghost Village idol, and it was also more strange and terrifying. It stood condescendingly in the center of the main hall, looking down at everyone from above with a gloomy and cold gaze like a cold-blooded beast.

No matter how you looked at it, this statue was more like a demon god than a mountain god.

“Who are you? Don’t intrude upon the shrine without permission!” A voice suddenly rang behind the idol.

It turned out that someone was hidden behind the idol. After that person stood up, Xiao Tangqiu discovered that it was a Hundred Ghost Town villager he had met before. The villager looked at them vigilantly and seemed to recognize them.

“It’s you! Outsiders! Leave the shrine immediately! You do not belong here!”

Hundred Ghost Town residents were actually hiding in the shrine!

Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised, but he wasn’t sure whether this villager was a normal human being or not. Nevertheless, he tried hard to obtain information, “Can you tell us... what happened here?”

The villager’s expression gradually turned frightened, “Outsiders! Leave the shrine immediately! Leave Hundred Ghost Town immediately!”

Xue Junli said solemnly, “We will leave soon, but before that, can you tell us... what is going on here?”

“Leave immediately!” The villager’s expression became more and more frightened, and his voice became more and more urgent, “Outsiders! Get out of here!”

His hostility was very obvious. But at this moment, an elderly low voice rang out, “Enough...”

Xiao Tangqiu quickly asked, “The mountain god is angry? Why is that?”

The lady elder glanced at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, “Outsiders, this is not the place you should be, and this is not something you should know...”

The previous villager exclaimed in agitation, “The mountain god is angry because of your offense! The mountain god has condemned Hundred Ghost Town! It’s all your fault!”

Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. At this moment, Kisaragi suddenly spoke coldly, “It is not the mountain god that condemned the Hundred Ghost Town, but the living that you sacrificed. The deceased have a deep grievance that cannot be resolved. They will not dissipate for a long time and it has affected the mountain god... The mountain god of today is no longer the mountain god of before!”

“You speak nonsense!” The villager immediately retorted angrily.

Kisaragi asked coldly, “Then I ask you, where did the other villagers go?”

The villager stammered, but he couldn’t say anything.

Kisaragi sneered, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t say it. Anyways, I already know that the villagers have become monsters under the influence of the mountain god!”

“Nonsense! How can they change... become monsters under the influence of the mountain god!”

“Really?” Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, “but your expression doesn’t say that.”

“Nonsense! You’re all talking nonsense! It’s just nonsense!” The villager was full of anger. “We of Hundred Ghost Town worshipped the mountain god for generations, and the mountain god has always protected our Hundred Ghost Town. How can the mountain god turn the villagers into monsters?”

Xue Junli asked, “So where are the other villagers?”

The villager choked and could not speak for a long while.

The lady elder heaved a long sigh, “Forget it, we can’t cover it up anymore! The other villagers of our Hundred Ghost Town have indeed become monsters...”

Her originally hobbled and rickety figure seemed more and more worn and aged. With the support of a few villagers around her, she looked at the idol enshrined in the center of the main hall with dim old eyes. The idol appeared darker and darker under the dim candlelight in the shrine, mysterious and unpredictable.

“In fact, this matter started a few months ago...”

In the beginning, someone discovered that Hundred Ghost Town had suddenly lost a villager.

The Hundred Ghost Town was not big, and there are even fewer villagers. Including the swaddled baby, there are only a hundred villagers in total. Everyone knew each other and the relationship was considered harmonious. One day, someone suddenly realized that one of the villagers had disappeared.

At first, a few people were sent from the town to look for them, but they searched all over the mountains and in the end, they didn’t find the person. They guessed that the person might have fallen off the cliff and died, and the matter was considered over.

Although the disappearance of that villager brought a shadow to Hundred Ghost Town, birth, old age, sickness and death were commonplace. They didn’t put too much heart into it and the days went on as before until the second villager also disappeared unknowingly.

The town sent people to look again, but they still couldn’t find them. This time, the people in the village began to worry, and it was then that the unusual “wild beasts” began to appear near the village.

Unfortunately, some villagers who were alone were taken away by the “wild beasts” and disappeared. Once another villager disappeared, the number of “wild beasts” would increase.

Some villagers who witnessed the “wild beast” went mad and shouted, “That’s not a beast! That’s a monster! They have all become monsters! Those missing villagers have become monsters!”

Naturally, the other villagers didn’t believe it, thinking that this guy was just being overly frightened and went mad. As a result, the madman disappeared shortly afterwards... And the “wild beasts” seemed to increase again.

The villagers disappeared one by one, and there were unidentified “wild beasts” nearby. Hundred Ghost Town became more and more panicked and could only worship the mountain god more piously. Then one day, someone discovered that after they “presented sacrifices” to the mountain god in accordance with the ancient sacrifice ceremony, no villagers would go missing for a long time.

Their pious worship finally received the blessing of the mountain god!

The villagers were overjoyed and believed in the mountain god more and more devoutly. For a long time, no villager disappeared... until a group of outsiders broke into Hundred Ghost Town, breaking the hard-won peace of Hundred Ghost Town.

“Since you left that day...”

The elder woman looked at Xiao Tangqiu with deep eyes, her voice hoarse and weary, “Villagers have disappeared again, and this time... an entire half of the villagers have disappeared!”

Half of the villagers disappeared?

Xiao Tangqiu frowned because he clearly realized what it meant.

“Those villagers have all become cannibals. They pounced on their former relatives and friends with their teeth and claws...” The lady elder gave a long sigh. “The rest of us could do nothing but desperately hide and escape. So we came back to the shrine with our pious faith, looking for the protection of the mountain god.”

“The mountain god showed its powers. Those monsters dare not approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine. We are temporarily safe.”

“It’s all the fault of you outsiders!” The previous villager was very enraged, “If it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t have become monsters at all! It’s all your fault!”

Xiao Tangqiu frowned. He felt that something was wrong. If the vanished Hundred Ghost Town villagers were all affected by the mountain god, then why did the monsters that the villagers turned into not dare to approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine?

Duan Hongzhen scoffed, “How the hell is this our fault! Even without us, your weird village will become a real Hundred Ghost Town sooner or later! Just talking about your weird old customs, are the old people abandoned by you not resentful enough? The grievances in your village are already serious enough!”

The villager defended, “This is the tradition we have always passed down...”

“Do you think that laws are not the fault of the public? I think you all did this to yourselves,” Duan Hongzhen sneered, “In two words: well deserved!”

The lady elder stopped the agitated villager, “There is no need to argue with outsiders. The most important thing now is to solve the current problem.”

She looked fixedly at Xiao Tangqiu and asked, “Do you have a way?”

Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. Was this an NPC quest?

Before he could speak, Tang Mianmian rushed to shout, “We accept this task!”

Xue Junli suddenly spoke, “Even if the price is to eliminate your mountain god?”

The lady elder’s expression sank, “What a joke! The mountain god is the god that we have always worshiped in Hundred Ghost Town...”

Tang Mianmian said solemnly, “It’s clear that this matter is caused by your mountain god. No matter how much of a delusional fan you are, you can’t make it all our problem! Do you take us passersby as blind!”

The lady elderly, “...Although I don’t understand what you are talking about, the mountain god is our Hundred Ghost Town’s faith! The mountain god has always protected us! Those monsters dare not approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine!”

“Yes, why don’t those monsters dare to approach the shrine?” Tang Mianmian subconsciously turned his head and looked at Xiao Tangqiu.

Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, and then said, “Although those monsters are ferocious, maybe... there is something more ferocious than them in the shrine.”