Chapter 40: Old Thing! Your Substitute Is the Most Useless!

"Huff-ha! Huff-ha!"

"Boom-rumble~ Boom-rumble~"

In the square, before the wooden tablet.

Two burly men, bare-chested, each held a torch; with their wild dance moves and occasional fire-breathing stunts, the red glow of the setting sun mingled with the sparks, dyeing the entire square's ground and the villagers' faces a deep crimson.

The fervent atmosphere was stoked to life.

The clanging of gongs and drums beside them was deafening.

As if to make the whole world know of this sacrifice's existence.

The Grand Sacrifice of Yin Yuan Village was truly spectacular.

After eating and drinking their fill, the villagers had invited a troupe of performers whose stage clattered noisily nearby.

The massive square, capable of holding over a thousand people, was bustling with activity, resembling a grand garden party.

It was evident that Yin Yuan Village was indeed as described in the dungeon introduction: secure in food and clothing.

One could even say it was quite prosperous.

Wu Wang and the Old Village Head sat side by side on the highest viewing platform.

He occasionally peeled melon seeds from the table, savoring them carefully, and clapped and cheered loudly whenever the performance below reached a highlight.

"Who exactly are you? Where did you put Zhang Sanfeng?" The Old Village Head's voice was not loud, completely drowned out by the surrounding clamor.

Wu Wang, who should have been unable to hear at all, turned his head, forced a brilliant smile toward him, and said, "Who do you think I should be? And why do you need Zhang Sanfeng?"

Previously, after exacting revenge on the Old Village Head with bone spikes, the other party had been unable to act openly under the gaze of the multitude.

Yet he could not simply let Wu Wang escape.

After all, the Skeleton Ghost knew very well he could alter his appearance and build; once he blended into the crowd, he could vanish without a trace in the blink of an eye, especially today when the entire village was here and the chaos was immense.

So he arranged a spot for himself on the viewing platform.

Seeming to have a desire to converse.

The villagers near the two had all been driven away to attend the Grand Sacrifice banquet, precisely to prevent others from overhearing their exchange.

"There is no harm in telling you," the Old Village Head lifted a wine cup from the table, took a gentle sip, and said, "Zhang Sanfeng is the illegitimate child born to a certain Yin Yuan Holy Maiden before her Grand Sacrifice; his life can repay the village's debt."

"Debt? Usury is illegal nowadays," Wu Wang mocked.

Of course, he knew the debt the other spoke of was not money or other worldly possessions.

But rather something else, mysterious and ethereal.

The Old Village Head explained in detail: "All things are relative; the Yin Yuan Great God grants the village prosperity, and we must give Him a satisfactory return; He has always favored the most yin women, requiring one to be presented every year."

"But last year, an accident occurred; the Yin Yuan Holy Maiden hanged herself on the eve of the Grand Sacrifice."

"We owe Him a Holy Maiden; if we make no offering this year, the fate of Yin Yuan Village will reach its end."

"Although Zhang Sanfeng is not a woman, he possesses the blood of the Yin Yuan Holy Maiden, which can appease the Yin Yuan Great God's wrath."

Hearing this, Wu Wang

could not help but chuckle.

With melon seeds in his mouth, he asked indistinctly, "Then what exactly are you?"

Actually, his original intention after exacting revenge on the Old Village Head was

to make the other party, in a fit of rage, reveal his true form,

thereby stripping the villagers of their trust in him.

He never expected this Skeleton Ghost to be so enduring, showing no sign of exposure even after such humiliation.

He was even planning to have a heart-to-heart talk with him.

What scheme was he plotting?

"Me? I am also a villager of Yin Yuan Village," the Old Village Head grinned, speaking slowly, "Or rather, I built this village; I am the first Village Head."

"?"

Wu Wang was stunned.

When he had disguised himself as a villager during the day, he had also inquired about the village's history.

Almost every villager's home had a family tree recording it, so the history had not been lost.

It was built approximately two hundred years ago.

From the very beginning, it was called Yin Yuan Village, though at that time it was still dilapidated and desolate.

It belonged to a group of refugees with nowhere else to go, fleeing disaster, who gathered together and found a place to settle.

Worshiping the Yin Yuan Great God was then just like elsewhere: burning paper money and offering incense would suffice.

Where was there any Yin Yuan Holy Maiden?

But starting from the second Village Head, worshiping the Yin Yuan Great God required human sacrifice.

It was also from that time that the village grew better day by day.

Until it developed into what it is now.

Not only secure in food and clothing, but even able to send some intelligent children out to study.

As for the first Village Head's words...

Is this Skeleton Ghost an existence from two hundred years ago?

"Didn't you want to eat me during the day? Why the sudden change of heart, wanting to become sworn brothers with me? Don't forget I just stabbed you," Wu Wang sneered.

The other party's change in attitude from day to night was simply too great.

So great that one could tell without using their brain that there must be something wrong here.

"After all, I didn't know at first that you had a way to absorb this..."

Having said that, the Old Village Head trembled as he stretched out his hand.

He pointed at the large wooden sign covered with black cloth.

Right there was the eye-mark of the Abyss God.

He turned his head to look at Wu Wang, his deeply sunken, hollow-like eyes bursting with intense desire.

Trembling, he said: "How about a deal? Teach me how to absorb the aura of that existence, and I can give you everything you want!"

"?"

Wu Wang was full of question marks.

What the hell kind of existence is this Abyss God?

Instances polluted by Him become twisted and eerie, yet even stranger figures try to absorb the Abyss God's aura.

Principal Wang in "School's Out" was like this.

This old village head is like this too.

What good could come from absorbing this aura? Why the hell can't I feel it?

Besides changing my mission and trying to turn my brain into mush,

what else can He do?

Sometimes Wu Wang really wants to draw a mouth with a red marker under the red vertical pupil on his wrist.

To make the Abyss God answer his doubts properly.

"Tell me first, what do you plan to do after you get the Abyss God... that aura?" Wu Wang stuffed some candy and melon seeds into his pocket; eat and take, a thief never leaves empty-handed!

The old village head's expression turned serious.

He spoke word by word: "I will replace the Great God Yin Yuan and become the village's new guardian deity."

Pfft—

Wu Wang couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Sometimes he really can't understand these guys.

Or rather, he can't understand their absurdity.

Principal Wang claims to be righteous.

Under the banner of doing good for the students, he tries to strip away their humanity.

The old village head calls the Great God Yin Yuan a guardian deity.

But the price is one life after another.

He even wants to become this kind of man-eating guardian deity himself.

Damn it, what the hell is this even guarding?

Truly a bunch of hypocrites.

"In my first year as village head, I met the Great God Yin Yuan." The old village head's eyes grew melancholy.

"He made a deal with me, giving me the power of immortality, but the price was becoming inhuman. Every thirty years I must change a set of clothes; from then on, I must wear clothes to see the villagers, and only in the ancestral hall can I take off my clothes and catch my breath."

"This life is too hard to endure."

"Fortunately, thirty years ago, while listening to tunes on the radio at home, I heard a call from that existence."

Speaking of this, the old village head patted the wooden sign.

A trace of ambition appeared in his eyes as he said: "That existence is far stronger than the Great God Yin Yuan; even a trace of His aura left here can let me see hope of breaking free!"

"Just say what you want! As long as you help me, I can satisfy you!"

Seeing the other's slightly mad appearance.

Wu Wang wiped the dust from his hands, stained from cracking melon seeds, on the other's clothes.

He finally understood what the human skins placed inside the ancestral hall were.

Those were the newly selected village heads of every term!

The village head of Yin Yuan Village changes every thirty years.

The chosen person enters the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors.

Then the Skeleton Ghost skins and kills them, puts on their skin, and becomes their identity.

This old thing has been replacing others all along!

No wonder, after pretending to be the village head's grandson, that kid was almost beaten to death alive.

The old village head didn't care at all.

Turns out he wasn't even his own grandson.

Afterwards, Wu Wang said mockingly: "Buddy, oh no, old thing, I need to correct you on two things."

"First, those things are called human skins; they are human skins peeled off alive. No matter what you call them, clothes or whatever, no matter how nice the name, they are blood-stained buns."

"Second, you are not immortal; you just became a ghost, and ghosts can die too."

"You haven't seen true immortality yet."

"Old thing, your substitute is the most useless!"

Speaking of this, Wu Wang's smile grew even brighter.

No one understands the Abyss God better than himself!

No one understands immortality better than himself!