Chapter 42

"Hah, neither of you is anything good, and now you're trying to lecture me while you're biting each other's throats?"

Wu Wang laughed bitterly.

The old village chief is clearly no good person.

Every day he peels others alive to take their place, heartless and devoid of conscience, willing to do anything to satisfy his own desires.

The Yin Yuan deity isn't much better either.

Every year he claims one Yin Yuan Holy Maiden—yet today the village only owes him one?

That means, over two hundred years, countless innocent girls have suffered.

If only the villagers of Yin Yuan Village themselves became the Holy Maidens, that might be understandable—they're no good anyway, they brought it on themselves.

But clearly, outsiders can become Yin Yuan Holy Maidens too; they've probably kidnapped and sacrificed countless foreign girls.

Two vicious dogs are tearing at each other.

And now they want me to help one of them?

"Bad luck sister, if you have this nightmare again, tell that damn Yin Yuan deity for me—he should come speak to me face to face. I'll go see him." Wu Wang handed her the food to comfort her.

Wu Xiaoyou’s trembling body gradually calmed, but she had no energy left to argue about being called "bad luck sister."

After a long sigh, she took the food.

She sat on the bed, silent, burying her head in her meal.

She who once loved fine food now chewed the village’s carefully prepared delicacies like sawdust, mechanically opening and closing her mouth, swallowing with difficulty.

From her inexplicably dark circles and the thick white coating on her tongue when she opened her mouth, Wu Wang could tell this wasn’t just shock.

Her spiritual energy had been massively drained.

Clearly, the Yin Yuan deity’s dream-delivery has severe side effects.

Then again, why doesn’t he just haunt me instead?

Not to mention, in terms of spiritual energy...

Wu Wang has the numbers, and the skill... and more numbers!

Just die once, and his spiritual energy instantly refills!

He could dance with her in the dream, chat about the current A-share market trends—plenty of time.

Rustle-rustle—

Inside the tiny shack, all was peaceful.

Outside, strange faint noises arose, like someone walking through grass taller than the knee, rustling it.

Yet there were no footsteps.

Waves of eerie cold winds brushed past.

"By the way... why aren’t you whispering to me anymore?" Wu Wang asked the red vertical pupil on his wrist.

Now he looked at it.

That strange muttering had vanished.

This had happened before.

That was when Wu Wang entered the art building in "Escape from School Dragon," and the red vertical pupil granted him the ability to see those students, letting him view everything through its eyes—the muttering stopped then.

What does this mean now?

Why has the Abyss God’s mark started sharing its vision with me again?

Rustle-rattle-rattle—

The noises outside grew louder.

Now Wu Wang could hear them clearly from inside, but when he glanced at Wu Xiaoyou beside him, she seemed utterly unaware.

Something only perceivable under specific conditions? No wonder the Abyss God suddenly shared his vision!

"What’s wrong...?"

Wu Xiaoyou couldn’t hear the sounds outside.

But she saw Wu Wang’s expression turn serious, his entire demeanor now alert, on guard.

Before she could finish speaking, he leapt twice and vanished through the hole in the roof, leaving only a faint whisper behind.

"Eat without speaking, sleep without talking. Just eat your food and don’t talk." Wu Wang lowered his voice as much as possible.

From above, he saw.

Outside, countless shadowy figures stood packed tightly, and more kept emerging endlessly from the forest behind the house.

In the brief time he’d spent chatting and thinking, they had already completely surrounded the broken shack.

Yet strangely, their movements made no sound at all, nor did they speak to each other—only the occasional rustle of grass brushing against grass revealed they had passed.

He couldn’t make out their faces.

Their eye sockets seemed veiled in thick mist, like blindfolds obscuring all detail.

Only from their long, disheveled hair and the varying curves of their chests—rising like ridges from the front, sloping like peaks from the side, differing in distance and height—could he tell they were all female.

[Spiritual Energy: 35—34]

Wu Wang, who had just restored his spiritual energy by suicide, suddenly realized he was losing San again.

He suddenly noticed—all the shadowy figures had lifted their heads and were staring at him on the roof.

One glance, then they lowered their heads toward the broken window.

From that angle, they could clearly see Wu Xiaoyou sitting on the bed, eating, pale as death.

After staring for a moment, they suddenly opened their mouths.

Like crocodiles yawning wide jaws, stretching to their ears, their chins fully unhinged, revealing sharp fangs like vampires.

They smiled with eerie delight.

Wu Wang was baffled.

"What the hell is this? Silent Hill’s faceless nurse? The uniform doesn’t even match!"

"And how long has it been since you last brushed your teeth? I can smell something foul!"

————

"Burp~ Uncle Li, do you think I’ll get a Yin Yuan match this year? If I do, I’ll give every villager a big red envelope!"

The man Wu Wang had seen at the village entrance, his face flushed with drink, belched a foul odor as he slung his arm over Uncle Li’s shoulder.

Uncle Li merely shook his head slightly: "Hard to say. Yin Yuan? Who sets the standard?"

A little boy, no more than a few years old, ran past holding a candied hawthorn on a stick.

Hearing the adults’ talk, he became curious and stepped forward to join in.

"Uncle Dao, Grandpa Li, what exactly is this Yin Yuan thing? Can you eat it?"

The village man rubbed the boy’s head.

He chuckled as he explained: "I’ll tell you—every year, during the three-day grand sacrifice, one lucky kid gets chosen to form a Yin Yuan bond—that means last year’s Holy Maiden took a fancy to you."

As he spoke, a look of envy crossed his face.

He lifted his cup and drained another large gulp, drunk and slurring: "Kids who form a Yin Yuan bond are lucky—apparently, you get to see the Yin Yuan deity, and he’ll grant you one reasonable wish."

"Money, beauties, houses—you name it! I’ll find the best wife ever, hehehe..."

As he spoke, he began to laugh foolishly.

The alcohol overwhelmed him; he slumped onto the table and drifted off to sleep. The boy, seeing this, ran off to tell his friends the secret of Yin Yuan.

Uncle Li watched this scene and sighed silently, walking alone to the edge of the square to smoke.

Everyone in the village longed for Yin Yuan—even himself.

Though they say only children are chosen.

But adults have been chosen before—more than once.

His family’s financial situation isn’t especially good; last year, because the Yin Yuan sacrifice lacked a Holy Maiden, their crops failed completely.

They’ve been plagued by misfortune all year.

Either Aunt Li broke her leg falling from the mountain, or their car mysteriously blew a tire and rolled into a ravine, wrecked—or even a strange man fell from the sky and smashed their house.

All these little disasters cost money!

They say past Holy Maidens prefer to bond with lonely people.

I truly hope I’m chosen.

Speaking of which, the village has had over two hundred Holy Maidens—why does only one ever emerge to form a Yin Yuan bond?

If they could all appear together, how wonderful that would be!

Then the village would surely prosper even more...