The moonlight bathed the land.
Crimson hues.
All surrounding things seemed to be draped in festive, vibrant red.
Lu Zhi cautiously exited Liu Cui Ping's house, scanning his surroundings.
He clearly remembered the monstrous beasts that had appeared in Qing Shen Village on his first night.
Shen Qi: "This way."
In contrast to Lu Zhi's cautious movements, Shen Qi moved as if strolling through his own backyard.
Lu Zhi questioned, "Aren't you worried about being discovered?"
Shen Qi glanced sideways, a smile tugging at his lips, "If we're discovered, we'll cut them down to the root."
Lu Zhi's expression was one of being choked for words, "When you say that, you sound like a major villain."
Shen Qi's fluffy ears twitched. As he raised his silver-grey cat-like pupils, it seemed as if he had swallowed the crimson moon of the night, "I'm being serious, you know."
Lu Zhi was shamelessly charmed by the 'you know' at the end of his tailing sentence. He suppressed the urge to pet the cat and asked sternly, "Why?"
Lu Zhi didn't believe Shen Qi would do anything pointless.
Shen Qi explained, "This sacrificial enclosure appears complex and perilous, but as long as we kill everyone in the village, the vile god will lose its power source, deprived of faith."
Lu Zhi was taken aback.
The birth and power of deities stemmed from human faith. When believers perished, the deities' power would gradually weaken until it vanished.
Indeed, it was the simplest and most brutal method, also the most savage form of slaughter.
"We're here." Shen Qi's cat tail coiled around Lu Zhi's wrist, gently tugging him into an open space.
They had merely stepped past an invisible barrier of red mist. A massive idol and an altar came into Lu Zhi's view, along with a throng of villagers kneeling towards the idol with earnest devotion, their backs turned to him.
For a moment, Lu Zhi froze on the spot, like an innocent little animal that had stumbled into a hunt by a pack of predators. kuAiδugg
"They won't wake up before dawn," Shen Qi's tail tugged at Lu Zhi, leading him towards the abundant food laid out on the altar table.
The offerings for the deity included fresh fruits, as well as chicken, duck, and pork, filling the entire table.
However, seeing the villagers kneeling silently with closed eyes beside the altar gave a chilling sensation. It was as if these villagers would open their eyes at any second and look towards him.
"What? You don't like it?" Shen Qi frowned, tore off a chicken leg, and offered it to Lu Zhi's mouth, "The taste is average, make do with it."
Lu Zhi was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. His gaze flickered towards the three-meter-tall idol. He felt as though the eyes of the mother-and-child statue held the wrath of an offended deity.
Lu Zhi cautiously bit into the chicken leg. It tasted quite good. He glanced at the idol again, and then his entire body froze.
He saw the stone-carved eyes of the mother-and-child deity actually roll slightly.
If Lu Zhi were a cat, his fur would likely stand on end. He quickly grabbed Shen Qi's hand, "Shen Qi, Shen Qi! The eyes, the eyes are moving!"
Shen Qi glanced at the idol, "Oh."
Lu Zhi: ???
Lu Zhi: "That's it?"
Shen Qi looked, then grabbed a piece of red cloth used to cushion the buns on the offering table and draped it over the idol's head, like a bride's red veil, "There."
Lu Zhi: ... What's the difference between this and plugging one's ears while stealing a bell!!!
Just then, a strange wind swept across the flat ground, making the red cloth on the idol's head flutter noisily. A corner of it lifted, and Lu Zhi looked up, meeting the idol's eyes, which had turned dark and inky.
Lu Zhi: !!!
Shen Qi, you've made a mess of things, the idol is enraged!