Chapter 38: Start the Feast! So It

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Wu Wang circled back to his dilapidated hut outside the village and saw young Wu Xiaoyou idly sitting on the bed, swinging her feet.

He was about to say something.

Suddenly, he coughed violently twice.

A metallic sweetness surged into his throat; Wu Wang instinctively spat sideways—no point being tidy, the ground was already a trash heap.

【Mental Power: 35—30】

“Hahp!”

Instantly, the room’s atmosphere froze.

Young Wu Xiaoyou stared at the floor in surprise—the black blood he spat out reeked of rot!?!

Wu Wang wiped the blood from his lips and shrugged: “Just a bit of heat in my body lately. Phlegm’s turned red. I’ll drink more Wang Laoji later.”

Bro, come on!

That’s obviously not phlegm!

Are you dying or what?!

Ignoring Wu Xiaoyou’s strange expression, he pulled the large white steamed bun from his pocket and handed it to her: “Eat something first. Tonight, when we go out for the feast, I’ll sneak you back some.”

Watching her take it.

Wu Wang turned and sat on the other end of the bed.

He rolled up his sleeve, staring at the red vertical pupil on his wrist. Whispering voices began to surface in his ears, and his skin itched—as if something was wriggling and growing beneath it.

【Mental Power: 30, 29, 28…】

Under the influence of the Abyssal Mark, Wu Wang’s gaze grew hazy, his thoughts sluggish—but his state grew increasingly euphoric.

“Cough, cough, cough… I don’t believe it… you’re stronger than the Abyssal God?” Wu Wang grinned to himself.

He’d sensed something was off the moment he coughed.

The time he died from the bone spikes—he’d already revived the instant he hit the ground. Logically, he should be at peak condition now.

Spitting black blood? Clearly abnormal.

Combined with the old village chief’s claim that he’d summon the Yin-Yuan Deity to deal with him, it was obvious Wu Wang wasn’t that damn Yin-Yuan Deity.

Now it looked like a curse—perhaps a hex—active no matter where he went.

And this thing didn’t vanish with death; even after reviving once, he was still affected.

But none of that mattered!

Even if they hit him with a box? He wasn’t afraid!

Should he fear such a low-level trick?

What curse dares challenge my Abyssal God brother?

“Sssss… Aaah!”

As expected, when Wu Wang stared into the red vertical pupil, his mind flooded with eerie whispers and his mental power plummeted toward a critical threshold.

A strange sound rose from his back.

Like something burning, sizzling—then a scream, fading into nothingness.

【Mental Power: 15】

Wu Wang snapped his gaze away.

He grinned, panting: “How’s that? Feeling the Abyssal God’s gaze? Hope you don’t turn into a tentacle monster—that’s the confidence the Abyssal God gives me!”

Not everyone could stare into that red vertical pupil’s bizarre mental assault like Wu Wang could.

He could always just die.

Others—even ghosts—couldn’t do this.

The entity behind the curse had just been brutally opened by the red pupil through the mark.

That scream was brutal.

Real-life online trolling!

Turning back, Wu Xiaoyou’s gaze grew even stranger.

She clutched the bun like a hamster, nibbling it, mumbling through her mouth: “How long am I stuck here? So boring.”

She didn’t mention Wu Wang’s bizarre condition at all.

She knew it was his secret.

If he didn’t bring it up, she wouldn’t ask—even if she didn’t understand that insane state, she chose to respect it.

“Two… don’t rush. You’ll stay at most three days. If you’re truly bored, I’ll find a way to let you go out tomorrow.” Wu Wang grinned cheerfully.

The hut was, in a way, safe.

Almost no villagers ever came here.

The young second sister was safe here.

At least for now.

But hiding forever wouldn’t work—the Fuben wouldn’t leave such a loophole. He’d eventually have to figure out what the Yin-Yuan Sacrifice was really about.

After feeding her, Wu Wang leapt out of the hut again.

Now, he was heading out to explore the village outskirts.

He was gone for several hours.

When he returned, dusk was near.

He’d learned the surroundings well enough.

The entire Yin-Yuan Village was surrounded by mountains, mostly uninhabited forests—with not a single proper path leading out.

The deeper he went into the forest, the worse his sense of direction became.

Eventually, he wandered back, dazed, to Yin-Yuan Village.

He’d once trekked solo across several of China’s famed “life Jinqu ” mountain ranges and forests last year, using only a single Bear Grylls-style knife.

He’d brutally ganked wild monsters.

From rats to crocodiles.

None escaped Wu Wang’s hunt.

By all logic, a normal adventurer—even several professional teams combined—couldn’t match Wu Wang’s experience.

Yet here, he was lost.

Clearly, some invisible, mysterious force was manipulating the area, preventing him from leaving.

As night fell.

Li Shen had said she’d take him to the village feast—he had to hurry back and hide in the hut before she noticed anything amiss.

“Erwa! Asleep yet? Auntie’s here to take you to eat!” Li Shen’s boisterous voice rang out.

Wu Xiaoyou quietly pulled the ugly hat over her head.

The beggar boy said wearing this made others unable to see him when he crouched—he didn’t know if he’d lost his mind, but she’d actually believed that nonsense.

Click.

The door opened.

Li Shen entered, a bandage wrapped around her neck, forcing a weak smile. Her gaze toward Wu Wang held pity.

She knew this poor child would be sacrificed to the Yin-Yuan Deity in two days.

Let him eat well these two days.

Better to die full on the path to the netherworld.

“Auntie, why do we have to eat outside? What’s so special?” Wu Wang’s eyes suddenly turned wise; he bit his finger and asked like a simpleton.

Then he dug in his nose and wiped the gunk on Li Shen’s clothes.

Wu Xiaoyou nearly burst out laughing.

She couldn’t believe this was acting.

He really did look like a dumb, crazy little idiot!

Li Shen spoke as gently as she could: “The day after tomorrow, we’re holding a sacrifice for the Yin-Yuan Deity. From today, we’ll feast for three days straight—we must make it grand, or the Deity won’t be pleased, and the village won’t get good harvests.”

Saying this, she tied a thick hemp rope around Wu Wang’s neck, afraid he’d run off.

Then, like leading a pet animal, she dragged her “little madboy” out the door.

She never once looked at Wu Xiaoyou.

She was utterly stunned.

This ugly hat actually works?!

————

Wu Wang chatted cheerfully with Li Shen along the way, speaking nonsense as if delirious.

But every two or three sentences, he slipped in a question about the village.

He paid no mind to the humiliating hemp rope around his neck.

After all, in his eyes—

Li Shen was just a corpse speaking.

She, and everyone in Yin-Yuan Village, would soon pay the price. Since the main quest was unclear, he’d improvise.

Sacrificed in three days?

By then, they’d all be dead anyway!

Just as Wu Wang had told those murderers in the Xinshoufuben —he had never claimed to be a good man, and in a certain sense, no one in the world despised life more than Wu Wang.

So there was no point getting angry at a corpse.

The two arrived at the square.

Wu Wang did not first notice the grand decorations around him, nor did he observe the vast crowd of villagers gathered in the square, where every table held a whole roasted lamb and suckling pig.

His eyes saw only one thing—

That was a massive sign, dozens of meters tall, standing on the platform where the old village chief sat.

Carved upon it was a vivid, lifelike eye.

From its overall shape and color scheme,

It was practically an exquisite Plus version of the red vertical pupil on the inside of the wrist.

Fuck! It’s you again, you bastard!

Has this Fuben been corrupted too?

Yuan Shen, you deserve ten thousand deaths!