Those ordinary offerings could no longer provide effective power to the Mountain God. If they wanted to request the Mountain God to completely eliminate Ah Wang's mother, they needed to hold a special ritual involving a living sacrifice.
Logically, living sacrifices could include livestock like chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs, but how could those animals compare to the spiritual nature of humans?
Although the villagers all revered the Mountain God and the Spirit Medium, and also wanted to completely eliminate Ah Wang's mother, no one was willing to offer their own child to the Mountain God.
That's when someone mentioned Ah Wang, who was considered an unlucky star that brought misfortune to his parents, and whose mother was still causing trouble in the village.
Speaking up to this point, Village Chief Zhu couldn't help but feel a bit angry, yet also somewhat helpless. "For the villagers, Ah Wang is simply the best offering for this ritual, but... sigh, I practically watched that child grow up."
"A human sacrifice is a bit cruel, especially for a pitiful child like Ah Wang," the Suited Man comforted him for a moment before asking, "The three villagers you mentioned from half a month ago, how did they die?"
Village Chief Zhu figured he had already said things he shouldn't have, so there was no point in holding back on this. He no longer concealed it. "They... according to the Spirit Medium, they made wishes to Ah Wang's mother."
One of them was surnamed Liu. His wife died early, he never remarried, and he had no children. The village called him Old Man Liu.
Old Man Liu loved money and was easily blinded by it. He made a wish to Ah Wang's mother, wanting to get rich. That very day, he dug up a piece of gold in his own field. Before he could be happy for long, he was found dead in his home the next day, having died by swallowing the gold.
The other two were a married couple. Their children were all working outside the village. Following Old Man Liu, they were found dead in the wheat field they cultivated. All the blood in their bodies had been drained, yet that wheat field grew exceptionally ripe and full.
"Probably, that couple wished for something like a bountiful harvest for their wheat field," Village Chief Zhu shook his head. "They didn't think about how there's no such good thing as getting whatever you wish for. Everything comes with a price."
Now the players were certain that the old man knocking on doors at night was that Old Man Liu who died by swallowing gold.
The abnormality of that wheat field also had an explanation.
But...
"It seems like someone has been constantly irrigating that wheat field?"
Village Chief Zhu nodded. "The corpses of all three of them underwent Mutation, and they only appear at night. Old Man Liu likes to knock on villagers' doors. As long as you don't open the door, nothing happens. Even if you accidentally open it, just tell him you have no gold."
"That couple is easily attracted by the scent of blood. To prevent them from wandering around the village, we specifically assigned villagers to irrigate the wheat field with livestock blood every evening to attract them there."
With the Village Chief's explanation, the players finally resolved some of their confusion.
"I wonder if you esteemed experts could eliminate them along the way?"
Facing Village Chief Zhu's hopeful gaze, the Suited Man calmly fabricated, "Don't worry, once the source disappears, they will naturally vanish as well."
"That's good then," Village Chief Zhu was relieved.
Having obtained the information they wanted, the group did not disturb him further.
Walking to a secluded spot, the Curly-Haired Woman was the first to speak. "I'm afraid those three people made their wishes to the Mountain God."
The others who had also been tempted felt the same way.
The Suited Man said gravely, "The anomalies in the village now have explanations. Although we still don't know how the previous sixty-plus villagers died, I'm more inclined to believe it's also related to that Mountain God and the Spirit Medium."
It might very well be a self-directed performance to provide "offerings" to the Mountain God.
Once there's a first time, there will be a second. This time, they eliminate "Ah Wang's mother," but what about the next time, and the time after that? Without "Ah Wang's mother," there will be "Ah Zhuang's mother," "Ah Cai's mother," and so on.
"The key to preventing this ritual from happening lies with that Spirit Medium."
However, they must be careful of the Spirit Medium's ability to cause inexplicable deaths.
The Spirit Medium herself might not possess any special power. That ability most likely comes from the so-called Mountain God.
...
Evening.
Village Chief Zhu's house.
The players looked at the sumptuous dishes, discreetly glancing with the corners of their eyes at the hoodie-wearing young man who was always the first to start eating every time.
Xu Xi ate a few bites, thinking the flavor of this meal seemed a bit strange.
Not long after eating, he suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous. Feeling tightness in his chest, he couldn't help but start coughing.
Damn it, the food is poisoned!
Xu Xi's abnormality caught the attention of the others.
Especially when they saw the hoodie-wearing young man cough up blood, their expressions changed drastically. They immediately understood something was wrong with the food.
The Curly-Haired Woman and the baseball cap young man, who had also eaten a little, hurriedly stuck their fingers down their throats to induce emergency vomiting.
Xu Xi only felt intense pain in his eyes and chest, and breathing became extremely difficult, as if he was about to suffocate the next second.
Hearing the commotion, Village Chief Zhu's family came out from the kitchen. Seeing this scene, they were shocked, their faces filled with horror.
"This... this is the curse of Ah Wang's mother!!"
Just as Xu Xi was thinking maybe he should just die first this time, he heard Village Chief Zhu mention the word "curse."
It wasn't because of the food? Could it be that he had fallen victim to the Mountain God and the Spirit Medium's trick?
Xu Xi suddenly remembered he had a piece of patterned wedding candy that could clear all his negative status effects.
However, when he took the wedding candy out of his pocket and unwrapped it, he found he couldn't get the candy into his mouth.
His hand kept trembling, causing it to miss, or his body would shudder from time to time.
It was as if some force was specifically preventing him from eating the candy.
Xu Xi: ??? Is some dirty thing jinxing him?
At that moment, the tall, skinny guy quickly walked over to Xu Xi, squatted down beside him, took the wedding candy from Xu Xi's hand, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Xu Xi was stunned for a moment, then gave him a grateful look, moved.
Brother, you're a good person.
The candy turned into a warm current flowing into his abdomen as soon as it entered his mouth, but Xu Xi waited for a while and found it had no effect at all.
... Damn, it's not some curse at all, the food really is poisoned!
"Pocket... other one... cough..." Xu Xi's voice was hoarse and broken as he tried to tell the tall, skinny guy to take out the other piece of wedding candy from his pocket.
The tall, skinny guy acted swiftly, taking out the other piece of pure white wedding candy and, without another word, fed it to Xu Xi.
As soon as Xu Xi finished eating the pure white wedding candy, all the pain in his body instantly disappeared, and his condition returned to its peak in an instant.
Sure enough, it was because of the food.
The patterned wedding candy didn't work, but the pure white wedding candy took effect, proving this was definitely not some curse as Village Chief Zhu said, but physical damage.
The Curly-Haired Woman and the baseball cap young man were already curled up on the ground, barely alive, just like Xu Xi had been moments ago.
The Suited Man and the Long Dress Girl had restrained Village Chief Zhu's family and were interrogating them.
Seeing Xu Xi was fine, the tall, skinny guy went to check on the other two.
Slowly standing up, Xu Xi casually wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth.
... Wasting two pieces of wedding candy like that, feels like a bit of a loss.
Xu Xi slowly shifted his gaze toward the table of food.
...
As Xu Xi's vision gradually cleared, he found himself just picking up his chopsticks.