Chapter 11: The Temple

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Shen Si’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

“I said they were killed by me.” Yang Liuqing rolled her eyes. “Is that really so hard to understand?”

“But you—I…” Liang Dan stammered. “Why did you kill them?”

Yang Liuqing dropped heavily to the floor and leaned against the statue. “Because they were dying anyway. Taking them with us would only have caused trouble, so I killed them.”

Shen Si stared at her in disbelief. “If you had no way to take them with you, why did you promise us you would?”

Yang Liuqing closed her eyes. “Because I was lying to you. The villagers were about to come back. If I hadn’t deceived you, would you have left so quickly?”

The temple was brightly lit, yet Liang Dan felt wave after wave of cold run through her. She had considered that Yang Liuqing might be lying, that she might abandon the three people to their fate—but she had never imagined that Yang Liuqing would simply kill them.

Shen Si shuddered and hugged her arms. “You’re terrifying.”

Yang Liuqing smiled faintly. “Thank you for the compliment.”

Liang Dan sat down on the floor. “Let’s sort through the information we have in common. We still have six days to get through together.”

Shen Si frowned and remained standing where she was.

Yang Liuqing opened her eyes, shifted away from the statue, and sat down beside Liang Dan.

Shen Si moved cautiously, then sat beside Liang Dan as well, keeping some distance between herself and Yang Liuqing.

Liang Dan asked, “The old man and I only learned what our beginner missions were after we completed them. Was it the same for you?”

“Yes,” Yang Liuqing said. “Only after we found a house willing to shelter us did we learn that our beginner mission was to find a household where we could stay before nightfall.”

“That makes sense,” Liang Dan said. “After we left that abandoned building, we suddenly arrived in this area, within the boundaries of this village. What about you?”

“We were the same,” Shen Si said. “The moment we left that building, we somehow ended up here.”

“Good,” Liang Dan said. “Then here’s the question: why did the three of you all choose to seek shelter in a house?”

She studied the faces of Shen Si and Yang Liuqing, both flushed red by the firelight. “You had received no instructions at all. Why didn’t you simply stay outside?”

“I was watching from outside at first,” Shen Si said. “But that man—the one who died in front of us—looked extremely confident as soon as he entered the village. He went straight to a villager’s door and asked to stay the night.”

“Exactly,” Yang Liuqing said. “We had no information when we first arrived, but there was someone who seemed like an experienced player and knew exactly what he was doing, so we followed him and knocked on the door.”

Shen Si added, “And when we went to knock, he seemed especially annoyed. He told us not to imitate him.”

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Liang Dan considered their words carefully. What Yang Liuqing and Shen Si had said was probably true.

Of course, it was also possible that while Liang Dan had been luring the villagers away, the two women had reached some sort of agreement and were merely pretending to be at odds in front of her.

Even so, Liang Dan was willing to believe them.

She nodded. “So that means the man may have obtained some kind of skill after completing the test questions, just as I did.”

Shen Si looked somewhat embarrassed and scratched her head. “I’m sorry. I lied to you earlier. I also obtained a skill after completing the test questions.”

Liang Dan smiled. “I understand. We were supposed to be cautious.”

Yang Liuqing shot Liang Dan a sidelong glance. “So did I. I gained a skill after completing the test questions.”

Liang Dan was a little surprised, but she nodded and continued. “When I was luring the villagers away, I noticed that their cornfields were growing extremely well. The plants were dense, and not a single leaf had been touched by insects.

“From that, it seems the villagers must cherish those crops very much. Yet when they were chasing me, they didn’t hesitate to trample them underfoot.

“Besides, the corn was already too old to eat, but it was still growing in the fields, untouched and unharvested.”

“And there was that little boy—the priest,” Liang Dan continued. “When I caught him, he said that all women were liars, and that he would trick every woman into coming here and sacrifice them to the River God.”

The moment Liang Dan finished speaking, all three of them looked toward the raised platform in the center. The iron basin on it reflected the candlelight, and the water inside lay perfectly still.

Yang Liuqing said, “Then does that mean the people who cultivated the land and the villagers here now aren’t the same group?”

Liang Dan frowned. “That was my thought too. But earlier, the system’s notification referred to the villagers here as the natives.”

The three fell silent.

Suddenly, Shen Si raised her head. “Where is the river?”

Liang Dan asked, “What river?”

“The river! Those villagers said they were offering sacrifices to the River God. Where is the river?”

“Hahahahaha…”

A child’s laughter came from somewhere unknown. Liang Dan sprang to her feet, covered in gooseflesh.

“Hahahahaha…”

The laughter sounded delighted and crystalline, like something one might hear in a cartoon.

Then it stopped, and a voice said lightly, “Are you my sacrifices tonight?”

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In an instant, the entire temple erupted in chaotic noise. Every candle on the tables along both sides went out, and the water in the basin churned violently before spilling onto the floor.

The three of them ran forward. With a loud bang, the temple doors slammed shut, plunging everything into darkness.

Liang Dan’s heart tightened. She shoved hard against the temple doors, but something seemed to be bracing them from the other side. They would not budge.

“Oh dear,” the voice said, ethereal and distant. “My sacrifices aren’t behaving.”

A chill prickled across Liang Dan’s scalp. Something soft and fleshy dropped onto her head. She frantically shook it off and heard it hit the floor.

“Ah!”

Shen Si let out a scream, followed immediately by the sound of something collapsing. It seemed that several objects had fallen on top of her.

Liang Dan shouted, “Are you all right?”

“I—I…” Shen Si sobbed.

Liang Dan rushed toward the sound. When her hand reached out, she touched something smooth and slippery.

The next moment, the texture beneath her fingers changed into hard wood. Liang Dan heaved upward and moved the wooden block pressing down on Shen Si.

With a sharp snap, every candle on the tables flared to life, and the temple was brightly lit once again.

Yang Liuqing emerged from behind a statue, a thin cord in her hand. “So the so-called River God is nothing more than a few children pretending to be spirits.”

Liang Dan hurriedly cleared the wooden blocks from Shen Si. “What do you mean?”

Yang Liuqing yanked hard on the cord. The candles instantly toppled onto the tables and went out.

A second later, they sprang upright again and reignited.

Yang Liuqing stared at the cord with interest. “A little mechanism hidden beneath the table. Rather ingenious.”

Once all the wooden blocks had been removed, Liang Dan pulled Shen Si to her feet. “What happened to you just now?”