<h4>Chapter 75</h4>
“What happened?!”
Tang Mianmian was shocked. The shaking here seemed to be even greater than the previous major earthquake... Could it be andslide?
Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware of the increase in demon energy around him. Ever since he was scratched by a low-level demon, his sensitivity to demon energy had grown. For example, now he could vaguely feel the magic fluctuations in the air.
Kisaragi rushed into the shrine without hesitation and Xiao Tangqiu chased after her without even thinking about it. He had just stepped into the shrine when he became keenly aware of the increase in demonic energy in the air. It even made it difficult to move for him... Such a terrible demonic coercion, it was even more terrifying than Lippinobert’s!
Although he didn’t have any specificparisons, he could guess that they were facing a very difficult big guy this time. He felt even more certain after he chased Kisaragi into the main hall.
But the strange thing was that when they entered the shrine, the violent tremors subsided.
Like Hundred Ghost Vige’s shrine, Hundred Ghost Town’s main hall also enshrined a wolf-shaped idol in the center. But this wolf-shaped idol was several timesrger than the Hundred Ghost Vige idol, and it was also more strange and terrifying. It stood condescendingly in the center of the main hall, looking down at everyone from above with a gloomy and cold gaze like a cold-blooded beast.
No matter how you looked at it, this statue was more like a demon god than a mountain god.
“Who are you? Don’t intrude upon the shrine without permission!” A voice suddenly rang behind the idol.
It turned out that someone was hidden behind the idol. After that person stood up, Xiao Tangqiu discovered that it was a Hundred Ghost Town viger he had met before. The viger looked at them vigntly and seemed to recognize them.
“It’s you! Outsiders! Leave the shrine immediately! You do not belong here!”
Hundred Ghost Town residents were actually hiding in the shrine!
Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised, but he wasn’t sure whether this viger was a normal human being or not. Nevertheless, he tried hard to obtain information, “Can you tell us... what happened here?”
The viger’s expression gradually turned frightened, “Outsiders! Leave the shrine immediately! Leave Hundred Ghost Town immediately!”
Xue Junli said solemnly, “We will leave soon, but before that, can you tell us... what is going on here?”
“Leave immediately!” The viger’s expression became more and more frightened, and his voice became more and more urgent, “Outsiders! Get out of here!”
His hostility was very obvious. But at this moment, an elderly low voice rang out, “Enough...”
Xiao Tangqiu quickly asked, “The mountain god is angry? Why is that?”
Thedy elder nced at Xiao Tangqiu coldly, “Outsiders, this is not the ce you should be, and this is not something you should know...”
The previous viger eximed in agitation, “The mountain god is angry because of your offense! The mountain god has condemned Hundred Ghost Town! It’s all your fault!”
Xiao Tangqiu was stunned. At this moment, Kisaragi suddenly spoke coldly, “It is not the mountain god that condemned the Hundred Ghost Town, but the living that you sacrificed. The deceased have a deep grievance that cannot be resolved. They will not dissipate for a long time and it has affected the mountain god... The mountain god of today is no longer the mountain god of before!”
“You speak nonsense!” The viger immediately retorted angrily.
Kisaragi asked coldly, “Then I ask you, where did the other vigers go?”
The viger stammered, but he couldn’t say anything.
Kisaragi sneered, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t say it. Anyways, I already know that the vigers have be monsters under the influence of the mountain god!”
“Nonsense! How can they change... be monsters under the influence of the mountain god!”
“Really?” Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, “but your expression doesn’t say that.”
“Nonsense! You’re all talking nonsense! It’s just nonsense!” The viger was full of anger. “We of Hundred Ghost Town worshipped the mountain god for generations, and the mountain god has always protected our Hundred Ghost Town. How can the mountain god turn the vigers into monsters?”
Xue Junli asked, “So where are the other vigers?”
The viger choked and could not speak for a long while.
Thedy elder heaved a long sigh, “Forget it, we can’t cover it up anymore! The other vigers of our Hundred Ghost Town have indeed be monsters...”
Her originally hobbled and rickety figure seemed more and more worn and aged. With the support of a few vigers around her, she looked at the idol enshrined in the center of the main hall with dim old eyes. The idol appeared darker and darker under the dim candlelight in the shrine, mysterious and unpredictable.
“In fact, this matter started a few months ago...”
In the beginning, someone discovered that Hundred Ghost Town had suddenly lost a viger.
The Hundred Ghost Town was not big, and there are even fewer vigers. Including the swaddled baby, there are only a hundred vigers in total. Everyone knew each other and the rtionship was considered harmonious. One day, someone suddenly realized that one of the vigers had disappeared.
At first, a few people were sent from the town to look for them, but they searched all over the mountains and in the end, they didn’t find the person. They guessed that the person might have fallen off the cliff and died, and the matter was considered over.
Although the disappearance of that viger brought a shadow to Hundred Ghost Town, birth, old age, sickness and death weremonce. They didn’t put too much heart into it and the days went on as before until the second viger also disappeared unknowingly.
The town sent people to look again, but they still couldn’t find them. This time, the people in the vige began to worry, and it was then that the unusual “wild beasts” began to appear near the vige.
Unfortunately, some vigers who were alone were taken away by the “wild beasts” and disappeared. Once another viger disappeared, the number of “wild beasts” would increase.
Some vigers who witnessed the “wild beast” went mad and shouted, “That’s not a beast! That’s a monster! They have all be monsters! Those missing vigers have be monsters!”
Naturally, the other vigers didn’t believe it, thinking that this guy was just being overly frightened and went mad. As a result, the madman disappeared shortly afterwards... And the “wild beasts” seemed to increase again.
The vigers disappeared one by one, and there were unidentified “wild beasts” nearby. Hundred Ghost Town became more and more panicked and could only worship the mountain god more piously. Then one day, someone discovered that after they “presented sacrifices” to the mountain god in ordance with the ancient sacrifice ceremony, no vigers would go missing for a long time.
Their pious worship finally received the blessing of the mountain god!
The vigers were overjoyed and believed in the mountain god more and more devoutly. For a long time, no viger disappeared... until a group of outsiders broke into Hundred Ghost Town, breaking the hard-won peace of Hundred Ghost Town.
“Since you left that day...”
The elder woman looked at Xiao Tangqiu with deep eyes, her voice hoarse and weary, “Vigers have disappeared again, and this time... an entire half of the vigers have disappeared!”
Half of the vigers disappeared?
Xiao Tangqiu frowned because he clearly realized what it meant.
“Those vigers have all be cannibals. They pounced on their former rtives and friends with their teeth and ws...” Thedy elder gave a long sigh. “The rest of us could do nothing but desperately hide and escape. So we came back to the shrine with our pious faith, looking for the protection of the mountain god.”
“The mountain god showed its powers. Those monsters dare not approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine. We are temporarily safe.”
“It’s all the fault of you outsiders!” The previous viger was very enraged, “If it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t have be monsters at all! It’s all your fault!”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned. He felt that something was wrong. If the vanished Hundred Ghost Town vigers were all affected by the mountain god, then why did the monsters that the vigers turned into not dare to approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine?
Duan Hongzhen scoffed, “How the hell is this our fault! Even without us, your weird vige will be a real Hundred Ghost Town sooner orter! Just talking about your weird old customs, are the old people abandoned by you not resentful enough? The grievances in your vige are already serious enough!”
The viger defended, “This is the tradition we have always passed down...”
“Do you think thatws are not the fault of the public? I think you all did this to yourselves,” Duan Hongzhen sneered, “In two words: well deserved!”
Thedy elder stopped the agitated viger, “There is no need to argue with outsiders. The most important thing now is to solve the current problem.”
She looked fixedly at Xiao Tangqiu and asked, “Do you have a way?”
Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows. Was this an NPC quest?
Before he could speak, Tang Mianmian rushed to shout, “We ept this task!”
Xue Junli suddenly spoke, “Even if the price is to eliminate your mountain god?”
Thedy elder’s expression sank, “What a joke! The mountain god is the god that we have always worshiped in Hundred Ghost Town...”
Tang Mianmian said solemnly, “It’s clear that this matter is caused by your mountain god. No matter how much of a delusional fan you are, you can’t make it all our problem! Do you take us passersby as blind!”
Thedy elderly, “...Although I don’t understand what you are talking about, the mountain god is our Hundred Ghost Town’s faith! The mountain god has always protected us! Those monsters dare not approach the Holy Mountain and the shrine!”
“Yes, why don’t those monsters dare to approach the shrine?” Tang Mianmian subconsciously turned his head and looked at Xiao Tangqiu.
Xiao Tangqiu was silent for a while, and then said, “Although those monsters are ferocious, maybe... there is something more ferocious than them in the shrine.”