Chapter 121: There’s a priest, he’s gone mad!
Two wolves were openly discussing their tactics on the field, while the good people, constrained by the rules, could only watch helplessly as the wolves decided who would live and who would die.
After Shen Ti finished speaking, he straightforwardly reported the people he had checked since the first night, “I checked Matsubara on the first night. As a Gargoyle, my first night was definitely about finding a teammate. So, I observed everyone when the cards were dealt, and Matsubara’s expression was very tense. If he wasn’t the seer, which is a card where you have to beg for your life, he was a wolf. When I checked him at night, I really found a teammate.
This guy even faked stabbing himself to get the witch’s potion, which is quite impressive. To dare to stab himself in a game where people really die is not something an average person would do. So, I analyzed the situation from both sides yesterday and also stepped on him a bit, trying to elevate his status. But with a gravekeeper, no matter what, he had to go on the second day.”
He smiled, “The second day I listened to the speeches and then checked this No. 11. He actually didn’t sound like a hunter; he sounded more like a wolf. I was aiming to find the gravekeeper. I always had a hunch that Zhou Yijue might not be the gravekeeper, so I checked No. 11. He felt very much like the gravekeeper hiding among the wolves, afraid of being killed. Funny enough, he turned out to be a hunter, but it makes sense. If a hunter sees the gravekeeper jumping, and is left alone, of course he would hide.”
After speaking, Shen Ti looked at Megan, “This No. 11 will probably jump out and tell you he’s a gargoyle soon, telling you not to kill him. Let me make it clear: you are obviously one of the wolves, and now I’ve also revealed myself. The hunter has been identified, so the situation is very clear. I initially said to vote for you, but later I thought it’s fine to vote for me too. We’re sure to win this game, there’s no need to argue anymore. I can’t self-destruct; if I could, I would have done it already.”
Turning his head, Shen Ti continued, “I’m just worried about the second mission in this instance, which might be related to the festival outside. They said we need to liberate those townsfolk, but since we can win the first goal, we should be able to survive. Just vote me out. You don’t need to self-destruct; it won’t make much sense now.”
His tone was casual as he spoke to Megan: “The seer is dead, the witch is dead, the gravekeeper… if Zhou Yijue isn’t the gravekeeper, let me think…”
Shen Ti frowned, thinking for a while, “Then it can only be No. 1.” He said, looking at An Wujiu, “I didn’t check No. 1. He doesn’t sound like a priest, but he might be a hiding gravekeeper.”
“Forget it,” Shen Ti said to Megan, “I don’t think it’s him. Zhou Yijue got up that round and reported Andrew as a good person, leading the situation in the right direction. I don’t think a civilian could do that. If he wore the gravekeeper’s outfit, he would definitely be afraid of the gravekeeper marking him as a wolf because only wolves and gravekeepers know who is good or bad during the day. Zhou Yijue should be the gravekeeper.”
“Enough, let’s not get distracted again. No. 11 is the hunter, vote me out, and you can kill No. 11 tonight. Pass.”
Shen Ti finished speaking.
It was evident that his strange behavior from the first round had been explained.
It was Wu You’s turn to speak.
An Wujiu looked at Wu You, feeling that he was still immersed in shock, unable to speak for a moment.
After more than ten seconds, he finally spoke, in a low voice, “What else is there to say?” Without even looking at Shen Ti, he continued, “Now the good people are at a great disadvantage. If we kill the hunter, we lose. I pass.”
The speaking turn went to No. 9, Noah.
She innocently turned her face to look at Shen Ti, then at Yang Ce.
“If the gravekeeper isn’t Zhou Yijue, haven’t the good people lost yet?” She thought for a moment, “Because the gravekeeper can’t prove himself either. If he really isn’t, then with the gravekeeper and hunter still in the game, we can sacrifice a wolf today, a god dies tonight, and tomorrow we have one god and one wolf, and the wolf is known. We can directly sacrifice him.”
“But if the gravekeeper is really him…” Noah sighed lightly, “Then we might have lost.”
“I can’t say much more.” Noah looked at Yang Ce, “I’ll pass for now.”
It was now the turn of No. 11, Yang Ce, the new focus of the game.
Being identified by Shen Ti, he looked somewhat displeased but still calm. After a moment of silence, he spoke.
“I’m not the hunter,” he said solemnly, “I’m just a civilian. Whether you push me or the wolves kill me tonight, I can’t shoot. Whether No. 7 is a gargoyle doesn’t matter; if he wants to die so badly, let him die in the daytime, in front of everyone.”
Yang Ce turned to Megan, “Do you think I sound like a hunter? If I were the hunter, I would definitely let myself be taken out this round to take you with me. I believe the gravekeeper is still in the game. I don’t think Zhou Yijue is the gravekeeper. Pass.”
It was now the middle priest’s turn to speak.
An Wujiu paused, his brows gradually furrowing, “Actually, our only hope now is that the gravekeeper is still in the game. Others don’t know, but I can see my own card, it’s just an ordinary civilian card. I think if the real seer had seen I had a role, he wouldn’t dare to give me the staff.”
“If the gravekeeper is still in the game and there’s still a hunter, we actually have enough. Shen Ti jumping out at this time is just betting that the gravekeeper is no longer here.”
An Wujiu frowned, “Shen Ti has always been someone who doesn’t value his own life much, so his actions this time are actually very in line with his character.”
“It’s just that I’m quite sad,” An Wujiu lowered his eyes, “I always held onto a bit of wishful thinking, hoping we could be on the same side. I didn’t expect it to turn out this way.” As he spoke, he looked at Shen Ti, and complex emotions filled his clear black-and-white eyes.
“But personal feelings are personal feelings.” An Wujiu’s gaze turned cold, and he pulled his lips into a merciless smile, “He wants to die, but I want to win.”
These words made everyone’s hearts leap.
Everyone knew about their relationship; it was no secret.
But in the altar, where was there any true affection?
An Wujiu paused, “If the hunter really dies tonight, I hope we can shoot the last wolf tomorrow. If the gravekeeper is still here, then we can still gamble and win this round.”
“Actually, Shen Ti,” An Wujiu looked at him, “You and I are both gamblers. It’s just that you like to gamble on mentality, while I like to gamble on human nature. But considering we’ve slept together and you’ve pleased me, I’ll give you some advice.”
Shen Ti gave a charming smile, raising an eyebrow to show he accepted.
“People often don’t lose to their opponents, but to their own arrogance and the heart about to win everything.”
“I’m done.” An Wujiu smiled, “My vote will go to number 7.”
Megan watched him return his vote, thought for a moment, then looked down at the projection of the surviving players and still clicked on Shen Ti.
“Voting is over.”
The holy voice announced the results.
“Player 11 voted for himself, all other players voted for player 7, player 7 Shen Ti is out. Please give your final words.”
Shen Ti burst into laughter, laughing so hard that he squatted down, and then simply leaned against the wall and sat down, “Let me get into a good position for myself first, so I don’t faint directly on the ground later, and no one will help me collect my body.”
As he said this, he directly stared at An Wujiu and sighed, “I lied to you, I did lie to you, but it’s not the first time. Don’t be angry. Besides, you won’t die, at most you’ll be an NPC. Maybe we’ll still end up in the same game, and the altar doesn’t forbid players and NPCs from getting together.”
After enough teasing, he pointed at Yang Ce to Megan, “I’ll die laughing at this number 11. He’s so pretentious, voting for himself. You keep saying you’re not the hunter, so why are you so afraid of being killed? If you’re just a villager, when I say you’re the hunter and tell her to kill you, you should gladly accept. Oh, uncle, don’t be so grim. Accepting the consequences of a gamble is basic game etiquette.”
“I won’t say much more,” he leaned against the wall and instructed Megan, “You’ve had a hard time too, hiding it all this time. Kill the hunter tonight and you’ll be free.”
Finally, Shen Ti looked at An Wujiu, curled his lips, and tilted his head at him.
“Goodbye, An’an.”
“Final words concluded.”
As soon as the holy voice appeared, Shen Ti closed his eyes, tilted his head slightly, and fainted against the wall.
“All other players, please prepare. At dusk, the player will be sacrificed at the mountaintop.”
A projection appeared before everyone’s eyes, depicting seven people forming a circle. At the center of the circle on the ground were some symbols and words, and lines forming a shape similar to a seven-pointed star.
“Now, everyone please stay here and follow the instructions to pray for the High Priest. Ensure the High Priest’s safety, as his life or death will affect whether each of you survives. The ceremony is progressing smoothly, and after the ritual ends, the sarcophagus will appear. You may leave this place to complete today’s dusk sacrifice. Once the ceremony concludes, everything will be settled.”
After delivering these instructions, the holy voice disappeared and did not return.
The atmosphere grew awkward, as there was still an obvious werewolf among the remaining people, making it impossible to coexist peacefully, even for the wolf.
“I know you all feel uneasy now,” Megan finally spoke up, “But this is also a task from the altar, probably related to the second objective mentioned at the beginning. You can’t kill me now, so we might as well complete the task together.”
What she said made sense, and Nan Shan also spoke up, “Yeah, let’s see exactly how to pray first.”
With Nan Shan speaking, Wu You also compromised. He looked at the projection, “It seems like we need redstone powder to draw lines, and blood to write.”
“Is this the redstone powder?” Noah saw a bag on the bottom shelf of a storage rack in the corner, showing some red color. She walked over and opened it, finding it filled with dark red powder.
Wu You went over and took the bag of redstone powder, intending to try it out.
“We also need a turkey heart and dried corn leaves.”
“These seem to be here too. Everything we need is provided.”
Everyone was preparing for the prayer ritual, except An Wujiu, who stood calmly in place, his eyes always gazing at the frozen glass window.
Nan Shan noticed him, “Do you think something is off?”
An Wujiu still looked outside, although all he could see were the low houses in the city.
“Did you hear a sound?”
Nan Shan listened carefully, but his hearing wasn’t as keen as An Wujiu’s, so he shook his head, “What sound?”
“The sound of chains scraping,” An Wujiu said softly.
After he spoke, he turned his face and glanced at the projection behind Nan Shan, finally retracting his gaze.
“I want to leave here,” he said to Nan Shan.
Although the words were spoken softly, Wu You heard them. He came over and grabbed An Wujiu’s arm, “You can’t leave, the Holy Voice just said we must stay here and wait for the sacrifice to begin.”
But An Wujiu whispered to him, “He didn’t say leaving would definitely result in death.”
“What, what do you mean?” Wu You didn’t understand.
Megan also heard him. Her hand was cut by the sharp edge of a corn leaf while she was planning to draw those symbols on the ground. She turned around and said, “You can’t leave. We need all seven people, or the blessing ritual will fail.”
“He didn’t say we all had to be alive.” An Wujiu pointed at Shen Ti, “You can put him in one of the positions to replace me.”
“The sky will get dark soon. I don’t have time to explain it to you.” With that, he turned and was ready to leave, telling Nan Shan and Wu You, “You don’t have to come with me.”
An Wujiu opened the door to the room on the second floor, ignoring the other players trying to stop him, and descended the spiral staircase, leaving the tower alone.
Pushing open the door, the wind and snow mixed with the sound of revelry hit him in the face, making the sound of chains scraping seem insignificant.
An Wujiu quickened his pace and arrived at the “red-roofed red house” described by the preacher. The entrance to the house was surrounded by many fallen tree trunks, all covered in white snow.
The door of the red house was closed tightly. An Wujiu reached out to push it, and it opened immediately.
Inside the house, everywhere he looked, there were spread-out pieces of tree bark paper, each already written on, and the amount was overwhelming.
These papers and their contents, like the snow covering the entire Water City, had spread everywhere, leaving no place untouched.
An Wujiu picked up one of them. The blank part gradually revealed a pattern, depicting the exact process of their twilight sacrifice!
The priests were digging out the sacrificed person’s heart, which was then carried away and devoured by an eagle.
He crumpled the piece of bark paper in his hand, searched the entire house, but did not find the legendary elder.
Finally, An Wujiu returned to the starting point, his gaze falling on the oil lamp burning on the stone table.
Meanwhile, in the tower, Wu You couldn’t rest easy. He wanted to find An Wujiu but was stopped by Nan Shan.
“Since Wujiu said we don’t need to, we should stay here. Now, with Shen Ti, we barely count as seven people. If you leave, you will become the target.”
Wu You, helpless, could only stay put, but he was uneasy, glancing out the window from time to time, until he suddenly saw a firelight.
“What is that…”
The citizens who came to collect the bark to give to the elder saw a raging fire at the red house.
“It’s on fire!”
He saw An Wujiu’s departing figure and hurriedly ran away, heading towards the festival where the guards and other citizens were gathered.
“There’s a priest, he’s gone mad! He burned all the sacred texts!”
The guards at the festival also saw the firelight and immediately pursued An Wujiu.
At this moment, An Wujiu, wearing a hooded cloak, had already blended into the crowd of citizens participating in the festival.
He looked up at the high steps leading to the temple. Everything happening here was as he expected, rivers of blood, human tragedy.
An Wujiu had long suspected this place and the city’s faith. Even if a traitor among the priests needed to be executed, the method of sacrifice was too cruel.
The leader’s promise to bring back food mentioned by Yasia’s husband, the woman with shackles in the snow asking for help, the legend of the god of rebirth’s self-sacrifice, the fanatical citizens, the belligerent nation—all clues pointed to one fact.
The faith of Water City was based on human sacrifice. Every festival was a large-scale sacrifice, and the “food” they mentioned was not the turkeys and wild boars brought back, which were far from enough. The real “food” was these human sacrifices.
The Holy Voice’s so-called blessing ceremony was entirely a misleading trap, meant to keep them all in place. The reason they were not allowed to participate in the subsequent festival content was to prevent them from witnessing the human sacrifice rituals.
The Holy Voice specifically pointed out that the missionary ceremony would begin after the festival successfully concluded, highlighting the content of this festival, with the same arrogance towards the players as always.
What convinced An Wujiu the most was his last sentence—after the festival ends, everything will be settled.
It seems that once the festival is over and all the living sacrifices are dead, the second objective of this game will be completely blocked.
And the second objective, which mentioned liberating all the citizens of Water City, returning freedom and peace, essentially means destroying this deeply rooted religious belief.
He looked at the happy and fanatical expressions on their faces, their reverence, and their worship of their faith.
Destruction is probably impossible; the fire can only burn away the recorded texts.
It would be better to replace it.
Those who died were displayed on the snow-covered stone steps like exhibits. The leader who executed all this was now accepting the people’s adoration, with bloodstained arms spread wide, stepping down the steps one by one, coming among the citizens.
The citizens automatically made way for him, allowing the leader to go deep among them and convey the will of the gods.
“The Battle of the Crown of Glory is victorious! The Sun God blesses us! Stop this heavy snow!”
An Wujiu slightly lowered his head and saw many citizens holding stone knives, chanting the leader’s name.
“After all the sacrifices, their souls will be with the Sun God and the Rain God, and their bodies will be dedicated to us. This is the highest honor!”
At this moment, An Wujiu twisted the hand of the person beside him, snatching his stone knife.
The leader passionately announced, raising the stone axe that had killed countless people high, “The sun will surely rise tomorrow, and the land will return to…”
The crowd also shouted along, but the next scene left them all stunned.
Blood spurted out, splashing on their faces, and blurring their vision.
In the shadow of blood, the leader clutched his throat and fell heavily to the ground. An Wujiu, who had slit his throat, took off his cloak hood, revealing his beautiful, pale face.
The citizens were extremely shocked; some were dazed, others screamed.
An Wujiu, with a cold face, calmly and madly said, “Just a human leader.”
He took off his cloak, rolled up the sleeves of his robe, exposing his smooth and snow-white arm, then picked up the stone axe from the ground, turned around, and said to the citizens gathering around, “Watch carefully.”
The next second, he gripped the stone axe with his right hand and fiercely chopped at his left arm without even frowning.
The crowd was stunned, stepping back in fear; some even fell to the ground.
An Wujiu merely curled his lips, showing them his wound. He raised his arm, letting the snow and daylight shine on the silver bones beneath his torn flesh.
“Do you see? My flesh and bones are indestructible.”
Blood dripped onto the snowy ground.
An Wujiu dropped the stone axe and smiled, “I am the incarnation of the Sun God.”
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
