The middle-aged woman before them, who could stay in the Mountain God Temple without any hesitation, was undoubtedly the special Spirit Medium without even needing to guess.
None of them expected their luck to be so peculiar. They had deliberately avoided the villagers to visit the Mountain God Temple, yet they ran directly into the Spirit Medium.
But... a person favored by the Mountain God?
The other five followed the Spirit Medium's gaze.
"..." Feeling the stares from all sides, Xu Xi's brain short-circuited.
Huh? Him?
"You are deeply favored by the Mountain God. I naturally will not stop you," the Spirit Medium said to Xu Xi, then turned her gaze to the other five. "And considering your sincere intentions, I'll make an exception this time and let you all enter together."
With that, the Spirit Medium stepped aside, clearing the doorway for them.
Through the wide-open doors, they could clearly see a statue of the Mountain God standing in the center. Its eyes were slightly lowered, as if watching them, or perhaps overlooking the mortal world. Wisps of incense smoke curled up from the incense burner, adding a touch of solemnity and reverence to the statue.
Judging by appearance alone, this Mountain God truly seemed like a benevolent deity protecting the area.
But Xu Xi felt targeted.
Now he was certain. That old man who knocked on the door was really coming for him.
He now strongly suspected that the reason the other party was so fixated on him might be precisely because of this so-called "favor of the Mountain God."
Xu Xi took the lead and walked inside.
He wanted to see for himself what this Mountain God really was.
——
[A person favored by the Mountain God? Nonono, more accurately, a person screwed over by 'Glittering Play']
[The favor of the Mountain God, huh, what good is that anyway]
[Probably just makes you die faster]
[This instance seems a bit bland aside from the old man knocking at midnight]
[The only obvious danger so far is that old man, and he was easily dealt with by Master Xu Xi. It feels a bit weird.]
[But I have this constant feeling of dread, afraid Master Xu Xi might suddenly drop dead at any moment.]
[First targeted by supernatural beings knocking on the door, now inexplicably favored by the Mountain God. 'Glittering Play', you're not even trying to hide it anymore.]
[First to taste the food, first to open the door for the knocking old man, first to enter the Mountain God Temple... Bro, take it easy. If you're not worried, I am! Ahhh!]
...
Walking back to the village, unlike the trip there, the atmosphere among the six was somewhat subdued.
Xu Xi recalled the moment when the Spirit Medium asked them to offer incense. In a daze, a voice, both androgynous and aloof, seemed to echo beside his ear—
"Make a wish to me, become my follower. I shall grant you exceptional abilities and an immortal life."
At that moment, in his hazy state of mind, Xu Xi almost agreed. However, when he heard the words "immortal life," his heart jolted.
Immortal? How immortal?
More unkillable than his reload ability?
His mind inexplicably cleared, and Xu Xi cautiously replied with a single word: "Screw off."
He thought the voice would get angry—maybe strike him with lightning for his blasphemy, or tell the Spirit Medium he disrespected the Mountain God. In short, he was sure he'd have to reload here for the first time. And then... nothing happened.
The voice seemed to have actually been scolded away by him.
Xu Xi's feelings were a bit complicated.
This Mountain God gave him a feeling of... well... being rather weak?
After all, what kind of Mountain God tries to forcibly recruit a follower by having the follower make a wish themselves?
As he was lost in these random thoughts, a figure quickly walked up beside him.
The baseball cap young man asked with a smile, "Bro, how did you suddenly become a follower of the Mountain God?"
He made no attempt to hide the probing intent in his words.
"Don't know."
Xu Xi wanted to know too.
"Then when you offered incense... did you make a wish?" The baseball cap young man lowered his voice, inquiring quietly.
The players' expressions varied after they left the Mountain God Temple.
After some discussion, they discovered that during the incense offering, several of them had been tempted by an androgynous voice, though the content of the temptation differed for each.
As for whether anyone was tempted into making a wish, only the players themselves knew.
Xu Xi: "No."
The baseball cap young man let out an "oh" upon hearing the answer, then fell back a step and slowly followed behind.
The brim of his cap shaded his eyes, making his expression momentarily hard to read.
The Long Dress Girl suddenly spoke up, breaking the quiet atmosphere. "The old man who knocked on the door and committed suicide by swallowing gold, and that abnormal wheat field, might both be related to this Mountain God."
The Curly-Haired Woman seemed to be spacing out. Hearing this, she suppressed her annoyance and added, "I think it might be the result of making a wish to the Mountain God."
But after saying this, the look of annoyance in her eyes unconsciously grew stronger.
"At least we've gained something. Leaving aside the so-called Mountain God, the Spirit Medium seems to be just an ordinary person," the Suited Man said calmly, his expression unreadable.
He kept replaying the middle-aged woman's every move in his mind. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't find anything particularly special.
"If stopping the sacrifice is really the way to clear this instance, targeting the Spirit Medium directly should be easier."
None of them, like the baseball cap young man, went to ask the hoodie-wearing young man about the Mountain God's favor.
Since he already said he didn't know, they naturally wouldn't pester him further.
Putting everything else aside, no one thought this "favor" was a good thing.
When the six returned to Village Chief Zhu's house, they saw Village Chief Zhu, who hadn't been there at noon, standing by the well in the courtyard, seemingly doing something.
The Suited Man stepped forward and asked, "Village Chief Zhu, what are you doing?"
Village Chief Zhu turned and saw the invited "Masters." He immediately replied, "Oh, the impeller is broken. I'm checking it."
Seeing the strange expressions on their faces, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did the Masters encounter something? Could it be..."
As if thinking of something bad, his voice lowered considerably. "Is Ah Wang's mother difficult to deal with?"
The Suited Man pretended to be tired and rubbed his temples. "It is indeed a bit tricky. We need a bit more time."
"Sorry to trouble the Masters," Village Chief Zhu sighed softly.
In his view, it was normal for it to be tricky. After all, killing over sixty villagers in three years definitely qualified as a vengeful ghost.
The Suited Man seized the opportunity to ask about the Spirit Medium and the Mountain God. "... I heard your village, under the guidance of a Spirit Medium, worships a Mountain God, and it seems quite efficacious. Why not ask Him to help you deal with Ah Wang's mother?"
"So the Masters already know." Village Chief Zhu was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned bitter. "Sigh, I didn't mean to deliberately hide it from you Masters."
"It's just that the Mountain God has indeed brought protection to our village. Yet, I went and invited other Masters to exorcise the evil. In the end, it's... not very appropriate. That's why I asked you Masters to pretend to be my wife's relatives."
The content Village Chief Zhu subsequently disclosed was largely consistent with what the players had guessed.
In fact, during the first year of these three years, over forty people died in Ninghe Village. In the second year, the Spirit Medium communicated with the Mountain God, and the death toll in the village greatly decreased.
Until half a month ago, three villagers in the village died in a very strange manner, completely different from before. The Spirit Medium said Ah Wang's mother's power had increased again, and the Mountain God was almost unable to suppress her anymore.