After a brief conversation, the man outside the door left.
“What a sin…”
The door of the old house was never opened, and the old man let out a long, raspy sigh.
Turning around, the old man suddenly felt a chill on his neck.
The sharp edge of a Special Dagger was pressed against his wrinkled skin.
Though not much force was used, it still pressed out a red line, and blood began to seep out.
A graceful figure appeared out of thin air before him.
The old man’s pupils constricted, and he nearly suffered a heart attack right then and there.
“Now, I ask, and you answer.”
Mo Cha’s cold voice rang out.
Having heard the entire conversation and seeing that the other party had not stopped the villagers from capturing “outsiders” like them, she naturally wasn’t going to show any kindness.
“You… are you a Martial Artist?”
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. Tell me everything you know about the Ancestral Temple.”
***
Ever since Tang Shifu’s kick, a large group of villagers stood there awkwardly; none dared to step forward.
An elder among them wanted to negotiate.
Tang Shifu had initially hoped to gather some useful information, but when the Ancestral Temple was mentioned, they claimed to know nothing at all.
Even when explaining why they had started fighting, they hesitated for a long time.
It was clearly a story made up on the spot to deceive her.
“I want the truth.”
Tang Shifu was quite angry, her voice naturally turning cold.
“If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do… We were the ones who offended you first. I apologize. Could you just act as if this never happened?”
As soon as those words were spoken, several people in the distance immediately tried to retreat and run away.
Ye Yuan had already notched an unenchanted arrow.
She pulled the trigger.
A scream rang out.
The young man who had run the farthest was struck in the knee.
He fell to the ground, clutching his leg and rolling around in agony.
Seeing this, the other men trying to flee ran even faster.
“Swoosh”
“Swoosh”
“Swoosh”
Three more arrows.
There were three more sources of screaming, and all of them had been shot in the back of the knee!
To the side, Tang Shifu showed a look of surprise and glanced back at Ye Yuan.
Only three bolts remained, and only two were unenchanted, but all the villagers were now terrified.
None dared to take another step, freezing in place.
No one wanted to gamble on how many arrows were left in the quiver.
A knee injury would ruin them for the rest of their lives, and no family was willing to support a crippled mouth that did nothing but eat.
“Should we grab one and interrogate them?”
Ye Yuan said calmly.
On the surface, she was asking for Mu Bai’s opinion, but in reality, she was speaking to Tang Shifu.
I don’t know what your concerns are, but if you simply can’t bring yourself to do it, I can… That was roughly the sentiment.
Mu Bai said nothing and also looked at Tang Shifu.
The reason she left the decision to Tang Shifu was twofold: first, these people were intimidated by her, and she was largely responsible for reversing the situation; second, she felt that Tang Shifu’s current attitude was related to Mo Cha’s whereabouts.
If she voiced an opinion that conflicted with the other girl’s intentions, it might disrupt their plans.
“No need. Let’s wait for Chacha to return…”
Tang Shifu shook her head.
“We just need to make sure these people don’t run away.”
Mu Bai was deep in thought.
The “Chacha” the other girl mentioned was Mo Cha.
Mu Bai had learned this on the road; it was their habit to call each other by nicknames—one was Chacha, and the other was Fufu.
Judging by Tang Shifu’s reaction, Mo Cha’s sudden disappearance was likely so she could follow the person who left first to gather information.
Keeping these people around was a precaution in case things went south for Mo Cha; they could be used as hostages, or they could resort to Ye Yuan’s method if necessary.
However, looking at Tang Shifu, she seemed extremely confident in Mo Cha.
Ye Yuan had naturally noticed Mo Cha’s absence as well.
She had some faint guesses but didn’t ask further.
About ten minutes later, Mo Cha returned, appearing abruptly in the center of the three.
In her left hand, she held a parchment scroll that looked very old but well-preserved.
In her right hand, she tightly gripped a Special Dagger.
Its design was very similar to Mu Bai’s, with only slight differences in the patterns.
Ye Yuan’s attention wasn’t on the scroll.
Instead, she stared at Mo Cha’s Special Dagger, her gaze darkening slightly.
She somewhat regretted giving the Special Dagger to Mu Bai for self-defense.
These two items looked like a pair.
Having the other one in Mo Cha’s hand made her feel uncomfortable.
It was as if… Mu Bai’s relationship with Mo Cha was better than her own.
“I’ve found everything. Let’s go.”
Mo Cha noticed Ye Yuan’s faint gaze but didn’t think much of it.
The four of them left together, ignoring the group of villagers behind them.
First intimidated by Tang Shifu and then startled by Mo Cha’s sudden appearance out of thin air, the villagers were scared witless.
They didn’t dare follow and instead fled back into the village.
Once they were far from the village, Mo Cha spoke again.
“About twenty years ago, during the Supernatural Descent, people died in the village every night. A Martialist happened to pass by. He had the ability to kill ghosts. Seeing the miserable state of the villagers killed by ghosts, he decided to help the village resolve the crisis…”
Mu Bai was taken aback.
She had thought it would be good enough if Mo Cha managed to locate the Ancestral Temple, but she hadn’t expected a whole backstory.
The fact that she was starting with the history of this Station suggested it was highly relevant to the mission—perhaps even tied to the survival conditions.
Without rushing to ask about the source of the information, Mu Bai suppressed her curiosity and listened intently.
“…On the final night, the Martialist was severely injured. When he returned to the guest room where he was staying, he discovered that the Fist Manual his master had left him had been stolen by the villagers who coveted his ghost-killing power. In his resentment, he transformed into a Fierce Ghost and proclaimed himself a ‘God’. He demanded to be worshipped by the villagers. From then on, no villager could leave the village, and they had to offer a living sacrifice every so often.”
“The methods of a Fierce Ghost are not something ordinary people can withstand. For twenty years, most of the sacrifices have been the elderly and the weak. Because the village is in a mountain valley, there are few outsiders. The once-populous village of over a hundred people now has only about a dozen households left. Today is sacrifice day. If the Fierce Ghost doesn’t get living flesh before midnight, it will go on a rampage.”
Mo Cha finished her explanation in one breath, leaving the other three deep in thought.
“Then shouldn’t we grab a villager and sacrifice them to that Fierce Ghost?”
Tang Shifu asked first.
She had spotted a loophole.
If the Fierce Ghost only needed one villager at a time, couldn’t they just grab one to avert the disaster?
“It’s not that easy. There isn’t actually a ritual for the sacrifices. A group of people simply drags the chosen person to the Ancestral Temple, throws them inside, and locks the door. By the next day, only bones are left. No one knows what would happen if several people went in at once,”
Mo Cha countered.
“Don’t forget, we have to spend the night in the Ancestral Temple.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We rely on this.”
Mo Cha shook the scroll in her hand.
“This is the Fist Manual that was stolen back then. It was the Old Village Head’s youngest son who stole it, which is why it has been hidden until now. This is the most important clue in this Station. If the Station doesn’t require us to confront the Fierce Ghost directly, then this Fist Manual is our only way out.”