Xu Xi didn't know where the fire had started, so he could only search in the direction where the flames first appeared.
Under the heavy darkness of night, a thin figure carried a bucket of oil and poured it around several farmhouses in batches.
After going back and forth, he finally managed to pour oil around the selected households.
The man's body wasn't particularly strong, and he had been sedentary for many years. At this moment, he was exhausted, leaning against the wall while panting heavily, yet a hint of excitement flickered in his expression.
This wave should be enough to pressure Village Chief Zhu into agreeing to the living sacrifice.
He might even make a huge profit!
He chuckled twice. Just as the man was about to light the fire with his lighter, a sudden pain shot through the back of his head, and his entire body went limp, collapsing to the ground.
Behind him, Long Dress Girl calmly put away her brick prop.
The tall, skinny guy kicked the man lying face-down on the ground, flipping him over.
Instantly, the man's face was revealed to the three of them.
"Gao Zhuang?" Long Dress Girl frowned slightly. "How is it him?"
Originally, she and the tall, skinny guy weren't clear about the hoodie-wearing young man's purpose in bringing them here, but when they saw the figure sneaking around pouring oil, they immediately understood.
This village was almost on the verge of a massive fire.
But...
Long Dress Girl discreetly glanced at the young man beside her, whose emotions were unreadable, and quietly suppressed the curiosity in her eyes.
She considered herself quite observant and skilled at analysis, yet she couldn't figure out at all how the other party had known.
Had she overlooked some detail somewhere?
The hoodie-wearing young man didn't seem inclined to offer them any explanations. Instead, he coolly said, "Let's go find Village Chief Zhu now."
Originally, they had planned to wait until tomorrow morning, but who could have expected such a sudden turn of events tonight?
Xu Xi felt that reporting to the police was better done sooner rather than later, especially since they had caught Gao Zhuang red-handed.
Even if they couldn't immediately prove he had poisoned and killed people, at the very least, the charge of attempted arson was undeniable.
Since Long Dress Girl had the brick, she was considered the most combat-capable among the three, so she stayed behind to keep an eye on Gao Zhuang.
If he woke up midway, she would just give him another hit.
The tall, skinny guy went to Village Chief Zhu's house to fetch him.
Xu Xi thought for a moment and decided to stay behind as well.
He hadn't forgotten that there were still two powerful dried corpses waiting to ambush him later.
Staying by Long Dress Girl's side felt much safer.
With one brick strike from her, no matter how strong the dried corpses were, they would still see stars.
So when the tall, skinny guy brought Village Chief Zhu over, he saw two corpses, withered like branches, struggling and crawling persistently toward the hoodie-wearing young man's direction as if coveting some delicious treat.
Meanwhile, Long Dress Girl, who was being ignored, had a strange expression on her face but still relentlessly gave those two things a whack with her brick from time to time.
Village Chief Zhu hadn't expected those two dried corpses to be here as well. He was trembling with fear, but seeing Long Dress Girl's fearless demeanor and how she suppressed them without giving them a chance to fight back, he relaxed a bit.
Strangely enough, they had tried various methods in the past to completely destroy these inhuman, ghostly things, but whether it was burning them with fire, drowning them in water, or using other means, nothing worked. They had even nearly lost several robust villagers in the process.
They were literally impossible to kill, so they could only let them wander around the village.
Fortunately, they only came out at night. As long as the villagers closed their doors early and didn't create any bloody smells, they were generally safe.
Upon learning from Village Chief Zhu about the undying nature of these two corpses, Long Dress Girl gave up on the idea of trying to kill them.
However, they couldn't just leave these two dried corpses unattended either. The moment they let their guard down, the corpses would pounce on the hoodie-wearing young man.
Just as Long Dress Girl was racking her brains over what to do, the tall, skinny guy used his syringe to jab them.
The two withered corpses that had been baring their teeth at Xu Xi immediately tilted their heads and fell silent.
"They're not dead, just fallen into a deep sleep," the tall, skinny guy explained briefly. "But how long they'll sleep is unknown."
Xu Xi stood to the side, quietly marveling at how practical these two props were.
One could deliver an unreasonable hard stun, and the other could force a target to fall asleep.
Thinking of his own two wedding candies, his eager heart cooled down.
Recalling how he couldn't get the prop into his mouth when he was poisoned, and then thinking about the High-Ponytailed Woman's passively triggered necklace in the last instance, Xu Xi sighed softly.
If only the wedding candies could automatically sense when he was poisoned or cursed, and even better, automatically jump into his mouth.
Putting aside his wild fantasies, he looked at the two corpses lying quietly on the ground, and his mind uncontrollably recalled the so-called Mountain God's seductive words in the Mountain God Temple.
The other party had promised that as long as he became Its believer, It would grant him exceptional abilities and immortal life.
The dried corpses' immense strength—exceptional abilities.
The dried corpses' immortality—immortal life.
...Damn, you have to admit, it actually matches up.
Xu Xi couldn't help but feel fortunate. Thankfully, his will had been firm back then.
With the threat gone, the three of them recounted the whole story to Village Chief Zhu.
Ignoring Village Chief Zhu's shock and disbelief, Long Dress Girl waved the brick in her hand, her expression still gentle. "Village Chief Zhu, please call the police quickly."
Perhaps he was too shocked—first poisoning, then arson, and the mastermind behind it all was actually the village's trusted barefoot doctor. Village Chief Zhu didn't have time to think. In a daze, he subconsciously followed the instructions of these "experts," his hands trembling as he started calling the police.
Perhaps it was because the three-year-old unsolved case had finally found a breakthrough, or perhaps the idea of burning down the village was too horrifying. In any case, even though it was night, the police arrived surprisingly quickly.
The arrival of the police broke the village's silence. The awakened villagers didn't dare open their doors, only secretly peeking through their windows at the scene outside.
Watching the police arrest Gao Zhuang with their own eyes, Village Chief Zhu finally snapped back to reality.
He slapped his thigh hard, his face filled with grief, muttering, "What a sin."
He was half-convinced, half-doubtful about the conclusion that Gao Zhuang had poisoned the well water, but he had seen the evidence of the attempted arson with his own eyes.
Village Chief Zhu truly couldn't understand. Gao Zhuang had grown up in the village, went out to learn a skill for a few years, then returned to live in the village again. Clearly, he had no grudges against the village, so why would he do such a heinous thing?
"Village Chief Zhu."
A clear, cool male voice suddenly called out to him.
Village Chief Zhu looked over in confusion and saw a young man wearing a black hoodie on top and wide-leg pants below. His posture was upright yet seemed nonchalant, looking at him with a meaningful gaze.
The other party's tone was ambiguous.
"Something as elusive and intangible as a Mountain God is better off smashed."
Village Chief Zhu was stunned for a long moment, then suddenly shuddered and nodded hurriedly. "Alright, alright, I'll organize the villagers right away."
Xu Xi looked strangely at the old man who had suddenly become fearful and trembling.
He had just casually suggested it, so why did the other party seem so scared?
Xu Xi's suggestion to smash the Mountain God Temple was indeed a spur-of-the-moment idea.
He didn't know if the way to clear this instance was to completely eliminate the hidden dangers in this village.
Gao Zhuang, as the mastermind, had now been captured. It was only a matter of time before he faced justice. The Spirit Medium, on the surface, hadn't done anything life-threatening, and the living sacrifice hadn't started yet.
Although after tonight, Village Chief Zhu and the villagers would know the Spirit Medium was a fraud, there was still the covetous "Mountain God" to consider.
Whether smashing the Mountain God Temple would be useful or not, it was still the same old saying: no harm in trying.
Noticing the meaningful looks from his two teammates, Xu Xi felt a bit creeped out and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
Long Dress Girl smiled gently. "Smashing it is indeed a good idea."
The tall, skinny guy also chimed in, "It's pretty good."
Xu Xi: "...?"
As the first witnesses to discover the situation, the three players naturally couldn't escape questioning and giving statements.
The entire village was forced to remain "lively" until the middle of the night.
By the time the three of them finished giving their statements, Village Chief Zhu had already led people to smash the Mountain God Temple, and the Mountain God statue was shattered into pieces.
Strangely enough, at the same time, the old man who knocked on doors and the two dried corpses, who were under police control, also turned to dust and vanished.
Regardless of how much shock this unbelievable mystical phenomenon brought to the police, the players felt a flash of white light beneath their feet at that very moment.
The instance had actually been cleared in this unexpectedly scientific way.