The curly-haired woman crossed her arms and offered a different perspective. "It's also possible she was suppressed by the Mountain God, wanting to act but unable to. Moreover, Ah Wang's mother, having transformed into a vengeful ghost, might not necessarily retain her reason or emotions."
"If she had no emotions, she wouldn't target specific people for revenge; she'd just kill randomly. But Village Chief Zhu said earlier that the first to die were those villagers who gossiped about Ah Wang's family," the baseball cap young man retorted.
"Village Chief Zhu and the villagers all say the continuous deaths in the village over the past three years stem from Ah Wang's mother's revenge. But has anyone actually seen Ah Wang's mother appear with their own eyes?"
The long dress girl's counter-question left everyone stumped.
In fact, upon careful recollection, even Village Chief Zhu didn't know exactly how those villagers were killed by Ah Wang's mother, let alone having witnessed her himself.
Judging from the current situation, Village Chief Zhu opposes the living sacrifice, which is why he hired them to exorcise the evil, aiming to protect Ah Wang. So, Village Chief Zhu definitely hopes they act as quickly as possible.
In Village Chief Zhu's eyes, they are 'experts.' Logically, telling them more about Ah Wang's mother should help them complete the exorcism faster.
Yet, apart from explaining Ah Wang's family background, Village Chief Zhu provided almost no other information, which is clearly abnormal.
"Village Chief Zhu probably doesn't know the inside story either," the long dress girl said calmly. "This village gives me the feeling that whenever something happens, they just pin it on Ah Wang's mother."
Someone dies, it's Ah Wang's mother's doing. The wheat field mutates, still Ah Wang's mother's doing. Something bad happens, it must be because someone made a wish to Ah Wang's mother.
"And the cause of the fire at Ah Wang's house three years ago, why Ah Wang's mother harbors such intense vengeful feelings towards the village, Village Chief Zhu couldn't explain any of it."
"I suspect the villagers' deaths might have another mastermind behind them, and Ah Wang's mother is just a scapegoat."
The baseball cap young man remembered the question he asked Village Chief Zhu at the beginning. "I recall Village Chief Zhu said they reported it to the police, but the police searched the entire village and found nothing unusual."
At this moment, the suited man, who had been listening to their discussion, suddenly interrupted them. "Don't forget there are other supernatural forces in the village."
The curly-haired woman quickly followed up. "The Spirit Medium and the Mountain God."
The suited man nodded lightly. "Exactly. Our focus next can be on these two."
Xu Xi, forced into silence on the side, never expected that his simple question about Ah Wang's mother's 'vengeful ghost' image would lead these smart people to deduce so much information.
He hadn't been suspicious before, but after hearing the others' analysis, he too became suspicious.
"So, when those villagers said the abnormal wheat field was related to Ah Wang's mother, they thought the original owner of the field made a wish to her?" The baseball cap young man was still hung up on the wheat field matter.
The long dress girl said, "Probably, yes."
"What about the old man who knocked on the door last night? Could he also have made a wish to Ah Wang's mother and then died from swallowing gold?" The curly-haired woman extrapolated, making a casual guess.
"In the villagers' eyes, that would likely be the 'truth'," the long dress girl stated calmly.
"They're really dumping every pot on Ah Wang's mother's head," the baseball cap young man clicked his tongue.
He now also believed Ah Wang's mother was just a scapegoat for the real mastermind.
The suited man looked up at the high-hanging sun. The blinding light made him instinctively squint. "Not sure if the villagers have a napping habit. We'd better go find the Spirit Medium or visit the Mountain God Temple while there are fewer people around."
The Spirit Medium holds a rather special status in the village. Her every move draws the villagers' attention. Rashly going to find her could easily alert the enemy, and her danger level is also unknown.
Who knows what is enshrined in the Mountain God Temple? It might very well be something akin to an evil god, its danger level equally unknown.
After some discussion, everyone decided to go check out the Mountain God Temple first.
...
On a rugged mountain path, the six of them trudged along the dirt road with difficulty.
"Why was the Mountain God Temple built here? Isn't it exhausting for the villagers every time they come for sacrifices?" The baseball cap young man had decent stamina, but even he couldn't stand taking a few steps only to stumble over another uneven mud pit.
The suited man walked at the front, occasionally observing their position.
The long dress girl and the curly-haired woman supported each other, carefully navigating around the gravel that could easily twist an ankle.
Xu Xi followed behind. Perhaps because he spent half a day climbing a mountain in the last instance, this time he actually felt much more relaxed.
The tall, skinny guy walked at the very back, seeming to be in the best condition.
According to Zhu Yu, the Mountain God Temple was built halfway up the mountain behind the village. Apart from the annual sacrifice when the Spirit Medium would organize all the villagers to come offer tributes to the Mountain God and pray for its continued protection of the village, usually no one would come to disturb the Mountain God, as the Spirit Medium said the Mountain God preferred tranquility.
They walked for about half an hour before finally seeing the outline of the Mountain God Temple.
After another ten minutes or so, the group finally arrived in front of the Mountain God Temple.
Xu Xi curiously examined the Mountain God Temple before him.
The temple wasn't very large, with red walls and grey tiles. Bronze bells hanging under the eaves emitted clear, crisp *ding-dong* sounds as the breeze brushed past them.
The six stood before the door, no one moving for a moment.
The baseball cap young man looked up at the three simple, large characters on the plaque reading "Mountain God Temple" and asked in a low voice, "Wouldn't it be too reckless for us to just go in like this?"
The suited man's tone was quite calm. "Taking risks is part of the instance."
"Listening to the villagers, they said during sacrifices they need to keep their heads bowed the entire time as a sign of respect for the Mountain God. Later, when we go in, everyone should keep their heads down, don't look directly at the statue," the long dress girl said.
But what they didn't expect was that the originally tightly closed door suddenly began to slowly swing open inward at that moment.
The creaking sound from the wooden door made their heartbeats suddenly accelerate, and they instinctively took a few steps back.
However, contrary to their expectations, there was no terrifying scene inside the door. Instead, there stood an expressionless middle-aged woman.
Her gaze was cold as she looked at them. It was she who had opened the temple door.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Don't you know the Mountain God prefers tranquility?"
The suited man reacted quickly, immediately putting on an awkward expression to explain. "We're tourists visiting Ninghe Village. I wonder if you know Auntie Cuifen? We're her relatives. We heard the Mountain God Temple here is very efficacious, so we wanted to come and pay our respects."
"We're really very sorry. If we've disturbed the Mountain God, we'll leave right away."
Perhaps hearing a specific word, the middle-aged woman's expression softened considerably.
Her gaze swept over the group, finally settling on the second-to-last person.
"Person blessed by the Mountain God, you have finally come."