Chapter 178: With Me as the Eyes

Someone was carrying a coffin beside her, their semi-transparent body floating in the air, walking in the opposite direction to her.

Someone was kneeling on a soft cushion burning incense, only to dissipate shortly after. Someone was driving a car, braking straight into the river, falling into the water in a daze.

Everything existed in the form of spiritual bodies. She vaguely guessed that perhaps these were the causes of death of the living dead behind her, or perhaps their memories from when they were alive.

In any case, those things didn't attack her. She followed the guidance, walking forward step by step, yet the further she walked, the more familiar it felt.

This was the bamboo forest in the backyard of Li Meili's house. Su Mian had accidentally entered it once when catching chickens. Her footsteps quickened, and she soon saw a familiar place.

That abandoned Mountain God Temple.

The living dead behind her began to act strangely as soon as they entered this area.

They screamed and groaned in pain, tearing at their bodies, and finally turned into ashes. Some were blown away by the wind, and some were buried in the soil.

The surroundings returned to silence. Su Mian didn't leave, but instead lifted the hem of her wedding dress and walked forward. Weeds hooked onto the girl's ankles, causing an itch.

In front of the temple, there were three dead people. Their skin had turned gray-green, and their muscles had atrophied, sticking to their bones, emitting an unpleasant odor. They had probably been dead for less than a week.

She covered her nose and leaned in to observe. The stomach area of one of them was a horrific sight, as if it had been blown open by something. The other two had pale faces and had been scared to death.

Their place of death happened to be under a wishing tree tied with red silk ribbons, as if they had come to make a wish, experienced something, and died here.

But Su Mian didn't care about any of this. What puzzled her most was that the person who died the most miserably was wearing clothes identical to the ones she saw on Mao Rongjun's back the first time they met.

What was going on?

Her brain was a mess. Just then, footsteps came from behind. Su Mian turned back immediately and found it was that Daoshi.

"Yo, solved it so quickly?"

Su Mian didn't give him a good look, after all, this person had encouraged players to die and hadn't told them the correct solution.

Seeing Su Mian's look as if she wanted to kill him, the Daoshi coughed awkwardly twice.

"I was just trying to save trouble. Sigh, in the past, the living dead were suppressed by this Mountain God, but it's so troublesome. Just feed a bride and it's done, how could we trouble the Mountain God every day?"

"Trouble every day?"

Su Mian muttered. The Daoshi looked puzzled. "You aren't from this mountain, how could you not know?"

Su Mian didn't pretend either, being straightforward. "I don't pay much attention to these things. Could you tell me about it?"

Seeing the girl's confused look, the Daoshi figured she was another "spilled water" who was urged by her family to follow the three obediences and four virtues, had no opinions of her own, and understood nothing. He felt pity and became patient.

"This Mountain God was raised by an old man. Everyone said he was stupid and told him to look at the story of the farmer and the snake, but the old man wouldn't listen and insisted on raising the snake."

"Hey, you say it's a coincidence, the snake grew up and actually swallowed that old man in one bite."

"The villagers were terrified and immediately said he deserved it."

The Daoshi looked at the abandoned Mountain God Temple and shook his head with a sigh. "As for why we built a temple for that snake, it's because later, the living dead broke out in the village."

"I was the first one sent to perform the rites."

"Hey, didn't suppress them." He smiled honestly, not feeling ashamed at all. "Instead, that pet snake that transformed after swallowing the old man suppressed this group of monsters."

"Later he left. As for where he went, no one knows, but there are always people who feel he often comes back."

"Because there is a wishing tree next to the temple we built, and from time to time, the wishes of those who have made them come true."

Su Mian looked over following his words. Those red ribbons fluttered in the wind, seemingly responding to them. She unfolded one at random.

"Want Mom's cancer to get better."

It looked like it was written by a child. They didn't know how to write the character for cancer, so they used pinyin instead.

"The one in your hand also came true."

"People often ask, a man-eating monster, how could it help people fulfill their wishes?"

"But indeed, many impossible wishes have come true."

"Some say he might be..."

"Atoning."

Su Mian interrupted him, muttering. The Daoshi froze for a moment and nodded.

"Yes, coming back to atone."

Having said what needed to be said, the Daoshi shook his cattail fan and left, leaving Su Mian alone in a daze.

She was somewhat trance-like, raising her hand to read those wishes one by one. Her eyes felt a bit sore, but her heart was very uneasy.

What was she looking at? What did she want to understand?

Whose past did she want to see through these?

Su Mian rubbed the red silk ribbon, her fingertips feeling a heat, her fingers trembling.

To verify her thoughts, she ran into the Mountain God Temple. That huge Mountain God sculpture was still quietly watching her from high above.

Su Mian climbed onto the altar, trying hard to stand on tiptoe, attempting to touch the sculpture's face.

Her fingers trembled as she touched the corner edge of the sculpture. There was a small raised circle. She suddenly lost her strength; everything had received an answer.

The sculpture wasn't faceless, nor was it eroded by wind and frost, or uncarved.

This was what they saw—the Mountain God's original appearance.

Wearing a mask, which was why it had no face.

The Daoshi said the last time the living dead appeared and were suppressed was a year ago.

But A Si said it was a week ago. At that moment, Su Mian unconditionally believed A Si.

But now, she knew.

His background, everything about his past, was thoroughly revealed before her eyes like this sculpture.

Why he left, why he would eat the provider who raised him—Su Mian didn't believe A Si did it voluntarily.

In others' eyes, he was a cold-blooded and cruel DM, but in Su Mian's eyes, he was just a cute little snake. Upon hearing those words, her eyelashes trembled, forcing herself not to vent those contemptible emotions.

Now she was even more firm in her thoughts.

A Si was not the cold-blooded monster in the rumors.

He was a living life, raised by someone, possessing human feelings.

Her lover had a tragic past, forced to eat the provider who raised him, enduring cold eyes and deep despair, falling into bottomless self-reproach and pain.

Su Mian stroked that face that hadn't taken off the mask. Tears had already fallen, dripping onto the gorgeous wedding dress.

She held that face and kissed it on tiptoe, but couldn't stop her tears, unable to control her panting.

She didn't dare think—when the little snake opened its mouth, was it hunger, or was it being forced into a desperate situation?

To survive...

He was just trying to survive...

A boy appeared in Su Mian's mind, holding a ground full of bloodstains and ash remains, kneeling at his grandfather's feet, crying uncontrollably.

You must become a god.

You must abandon everything, including those vulgar things that only humans possess.

The boy with the snake tail shook his head, crazily gnawing on his own tail, gnawing until there were bloodstains in the gaps of his scales.

He couldn't forgive himself either, and was finally swallowed by a white light, the remains on the ground also disappearing completely. ===== CHAPTER 179 =====