Chapter 85: Folklore Horror (15)
It had started to snow.
Mother Goddess Mountain was steep, and light snowflakes drifted down, settling on the leaves and forming a thin layer of frost. Along the boundary between dawn and darkness, the faint reflection of ice glimmered subtly.
The ground had grown even slipperier.
Several times, Nong Lingling slipped. In the moments before hitting the ground, she reached helplessly for Jian Yuntai, causing him to fall as well.
By the time they got back up, the palms of their hands were scraped raw.
The livestream viewers kept whining and crying:
“Wuwuwu, Fuzhu, my Fuzhu! If he were here, Jian Dadan wouldn’t have fallen so many times.”
“Just looking at this is freezing, ugh—”
Nong Lingling scrambled up embarrassedly, grabbing a dead branch for support. “Every year around this time, it snows on Mother Goddess Mountain. At night, it usually turns into a heavy snowfall.”
She busied herself helping Jian Yuntai. Their fingers were stiff and red from the cold, as if they’d spent a night soaking in an ice pit. As they moved their joints, the bones cracked audibly.
After the Light Injury buff had been cleared, the suffocating feeling eased somewhat. But its effect was slow, and Jian Yuntai still felt physically weak; walking felt like stepping on clouds, never fully grounded.
Sitting under a tree to catch his breath, Jian Yuntai asked, “How much farther?”
“About two kilometers.” Nong Lingling scanned the steep cliffside and said, “Once we pass this forest, we’ll reach the Small Temple. The Great Temple is where the Mother Goddess is worshiped, mostly visited by villagers at the mountaintop. The Small Temple sits between Mother Goddess Village and the main temple; that’s where the high priests live.”
Jian Yuntai didn’t respond further. He continued in silence, pressing on.
Nong Lingling, however, seemed endlessly curious about him. Panting, she asked, “Are all demon hunters like you?”
Jian Yuntai glanced back, puzzled. “Huh?”
She smiled. “Good-looking.”
Before Jian Yuntai could respond, she continued on her own: “I often go down the mountain. The town at the foot of the mountain looks like a big city to me. Once, I went down to buy something, and I saw the shopkeeper holding a board. It wasn’t as big as a TV, but bigger than a phone.” She was referring to a tablet.
“You have one of those too, right?”
“No.” Jian Yuntai was quieter than ever, taking long strides over the fallen leaves. To Nong Lingling, he seemed like a handsome special agent from a TV drama.
Special agents were impressive, but demon hunters—the profession itself sounded like it carried a mix of mystery and danger, tinged with lethal allure.
Nong Lingling was just a sixteen-year-old girl, spirited and exuberant. Even if Jian Yuntai’s answers were brief, she would keep talking to herself:
“If everyone outside looks as good as you, I’d really want to see the world out there.”
“Eh—how did you tame that little fox? Like in storybooks, defeat him and make him acknowledge you as master?”
“How do you know if someone has the potential to be a demon hunter?”
“….” Her constant chattering went in one ear and out the other for Jian Yuntai.
At that moment, he couldn’t help but miss Fuzhu. If Fuzhu were here, Nong Lingling wouldn’t dare to talk so much.
Two kilometers wasn’t a long distance. Soon, they had crossed steep mountains and trekked through wild forests. The imposing Small Temple suddenly came into view.
The Small Temple seemed even larger in area than the actual main temple. It resembled a palace, built magnificently. Its navy-blue walls were capped with thick snow, and the ground bore mottled footprints that had tracked snow into mud.
Jian Yuntai looked at Nong Lingling casually. “Once all this is over, you can go see it for yourself.”
“…!” Nong Lingling’s eyes lit with longing. She nodded, a faint dimple appearing on her cheek.
Before the Small Temple, there was a steep bridge, suspended nearly ten meters above. Below flowed the river running through Mother Goddess Village. At this time, the river had a thin layer of ice, and the brown ropes of the bridge were damp and darkened by snow.
Stepping onto the bridge, Jian Yuntai moved cautiously, not daring to tread heavily. The wooden planks were aged, seemingly gnawed by insects, groaning and creaking under each step.
The bridge swayed precariously.
Nong Lingling, worried, suggested, “We could take the stone bridge two kilometers to the right. Shouldn’t we?”
Jian Yuntai shook his head. “No, we need to go quickly.”
After crossing the wooden bridge, two masked men dressed in shamanic robes stood in front of the Small Temple. Jian Yuntai’s hearing was beyond normal; even from twenty meters away, he could catch their words.
One spoke in exasperation: “Another one? How come they keep coming?”
“This group of Geological Survey Team people really doesn’t give up. One after another, and we already said it’s impossible.”
“Annoying to death.”
“…….” Had other players already come here before him? Jian Yuntai thought silently.
Three days had passed in the instance. By now, most players would likely trigger main quest step 1: Proof of the Demon. Convincing the high priests that the Mother Goddess was malevolent would complete that task.
But… Nong Lingling was a key NPC. Without her, players couldn’t succeed.
As Jian Yuntai drew closer, the two priests naturally couldn’t speak badly to his face. Their words were curt. “You’re here to see the high priest as well, right?”
They led him toward the Small Temple.
Inside, the Small Temple was equally grand. The air smelled of pine and snow, mixed with incense. Occasionally, a clear, long toll of bells or drums echoed.
Men in masks moved to and fro, their steps heavy, ignoring Jian Yuntai entirely.
The last time he saw the priests had been during the ceremony of carrying the statue around Mother Goddess Village. Back then… they hadn’t worn masks. Why were they all masked inside the temple?
Jian Yuntai watched several priests pass by, focusing on the masks—crafted from refined iron, they looked solid. The masks covered from hairline to jaw, leaving only the eyes exposed.
“Ah! Let’s see… the three-day festival should be over by now, right?” Nong Lingling explained, “Every year, a three-day festival is held, offering the year’s harvest to the Mother Goddess. On the night of the third day, the Mother Goddess blesses the villagers. Only during this time do priests wear masks—part of a special ritual in the village.”
Jian Yuntai asked, “What is the blessing?”
“It’s not a thing, more like a saying.” Nong Lingling scratched her head, uncertain. “Every time there’s a blessing, my parents won’t let Xiao Liuliu or me go outside. They don’t go either. Our family is unusual—most villagers go out to receive the blessing.”
She paused, then her tone turned indignant. “And then the aunts in the village get pregnant. This must be the Mother Goddess’ scheme, maybe some kind of spell.”
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a furious roar from ahead: “Nonsense! The Mother Goddess cannot be malevolent!”
The two priests guiding them stepped aside. The cobbled road ended at a tightly shut door.
It was a study, temporarily converted into a reception room.
……
……
Inside the reception room, Li Mingsha was almost drunk, feeling nothing but speechless exasperation and anxious frustration, fuming at the lack of progress.
Securing a spot to enter a C-level instance in the real world was no easy task. It was especially difficult when that instance was slated by the Livestream Team to be broadcasted—the challenge felt like walking across a narrow wooden bridge.
Many people competed, but only a few could claim a spot. The simplest way to cross the “lowborn” class barrier was to join the Livestream Team. Yet, the Livestream Team wasn’t something anyone could join on a whim. So most people settled for the next best thing: joining an instance that already had a streamer, hoping to share some of the spotlight.
Maybe, just maybe, grabbing a few moments on camera could make them famous.
It hadn’t never happened before. Ordinary players had followed a streamer into an instance once; the streamer didn’t become famous, but the ordinary player did. Once famous, they could start a social media account, attract fans, leverage their fame for opportunities, and in some lucky cases, bypass the substitute list and land directly in the Livestream Team as a streamer.
Li Mingsha thought along those lines. He had begged and pleaded to secure two spots for a folklore horror instance—and this time, he had brought his girlfriend along.
They said couples fighting monsters together worked twice as effectively.
But dammit! His girlfriend had disappeared at the very start!
Even funnier, the only two streamers in the instance—Chen Sanxian and Jian Yuntai—had gone missing as well. They hadn’t been seen since descending the mountain, and in all likelihood, had been taken by the Mother Goddess.
At this point, Li Mingsha tossed any thought of getting camera time aside. All he wanted was to find his girlfriend. In his panic, he didn’t even stop to look for Nong Lingling; he charged ahead alone to plead with the high priest.
But the high priest was like a block of wood. No matter how Li Mingsha reasoned or appealed, the high priest repeated the same line: “The Mother Goddess cannot be malevolent!”
Li Mingsha’s anger reached its peak. He shouted, “Then how do you explain the disappearances in our team? All the girls are gone!”
The high priest replied calmly, “They were taken by other demons.”
Li Mingsha scoffed. “You must have a misunderstanding about the girls in our team. They aren’t like the women in your village, hiding inside all day and clinging to men. Many of the girls in our group could fight two people at once. Some even stronger than me. Ordinary demons wouldn’t stand a chance against them.”
And yet they were taken silently, even while eating a banquet. To this day, Li Mingsha still had no idea how it happened. How could such a large group disappear so completely?
The argument went back and forth, stuck on the same points. Finally, the high priest grew impatient and snapped, “If you want me to believe you, you need to provide proof.”
“……” Li Mingsha felt like he was about to have a heart attack.
He knew his words made no logical sense. If you flipped the perspective, centuries of faith suddenly being dismissed by some reckless kid—people would just think the kid was crazy.
It was like a crime show: the cops know who the culprit is, but without evidence, they can’t act. They only respond to proof, not to ordinary people’s words.
Li Mingsha felt stifled and frustrated.
Just as he was about to feel utterly defeated, a clear, casual voice called from outside: “I brought her in for proof. How’s that?”
Creak—the door swung open suddenly.
The pale morning light, carried with a cold wind, drifted in. Snowflakes scattered and floated in the air. Both men inside turned to look and saw a boy with delicate features, leaning half against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow: “Why are you looking at me? Look behind me.”
Only then did they realize and glance back.
A girl, timid and hiding behind him, peeked out with a pair of wide eyes, looking frightened by the situation.
She seemed vaguely familiar.
Li Mingsha stared for several moments. Then, his eyes lit up with recognition. He shouted excitedly, “You’re Nong Lingling!”
A rush of joy filled his chest. He glanced at Jian Yuntai in astonishment—he had thought the streamer was taken too and that they would have to rely on others for the rescue. But… no way! She had already been found!
“Ha!” Li Mingsha threw his head back, a triumphant sneer aimed at the high priest. “You don’t trust outsiders, but you raised Nong Lingling. Surely you trust her, right?”
“……” The high priest’s face turned pale.
It was as if centuries of rigid tradition had been suddenly swept away. His gaze lingered for a long time, and he slowly exhaled a clouded breath.
“Prepare tea,” he called out to someone outside.
……
……
The feeling of having one’s faith shattered was indescribable—like telling a devout believer that their religion was false. Even the gentlest person would instantly leap up; not throwing you out was already restraint.
Jian Yuntai had fully prepared himself for the worst.
He had expected the high priest to fly into a rage, maybe even strike him. But nothing happened. By the time the tea was served, Nong Lingling had recounted her experiences over the past days.
By the end, the high priest’s face was pale, his eyes bloodshot. “You must take responsibility for what you’ve said!”
Nong Lingling, intimidated by his fierce gaze, shrank behind Jian Yuntai. After a moment, she murmured like a little mosquito, “Everything I said is true. The Mother Goddess really took me to the underground palace. I still remember the paths down there. If you don’t believe me, I can show you myself.”
“Now do you believe?” Li Mingsha was ecstatic, like a freed serf singing with joy. He drank his tea greedily.
Opposite him, the high priest looked utterly defeated and shocked, his mouth open, unable to form a word.
The background system confirmed the moment perfectly:
【Main Quest Updated!】
【Congratulations, player has completed Main Quest Step 1】
【Proof of the Demon】
【Please locate the missing Nong Lingling and inform the high priests that the Mother Goddess is malevolent. Convince them that the deity worshiped by the Mother Goddess Village was a demon.】
【Player has received a fifteen-day survival time reward.】
At the announcement, Li Mingsha could barely contain his excitement. He kept glancing at Jian Yuntai. Before, he had thought the top-ranked streamers were impressive, and the lower-ranked ones… well, he could handle them too.
But now, his perspective had completely shifted. Yesterday he was just thinking about sneaking camera time; today, he was after the quest itself. He had really gotten lucky this time.
Step 1 of the main quest was complete.
Next, they needed to figure out how to trigger Main Quest Step 2. Judging from the current situation, it would definitely involve capturing the Mother Goddess.
With Jian Yuntai already having the livestream feed, Li Mingsha, eager to take credit, hurried to speak before him: “Since you already believe it, go tell the other priests. Let’s figure out a way to capture the Mother Goddess together and rescue my girlfriend… ahem, I mean, all the missing people.”
He waited several seconds.
But Main Quest Step 2 was not triggered.
“……” Huh? What’s going on?
Li Mingsha was confused and couldn’t help but ask again, “The Mother Goddess is hiding and won’t come out—do you have any information to provide?”
It seemed like Li Mingsha had turned the entire Life Crystal world into an RPG game. In his eyes, the high priest had a big exclamation mark over his head. After some dialogue, that exclamation mark would turn into a question mark, and he would receive a new quest.
Jian Yuntai furrowed his brows and glanced at Li Mingsha. Ding ding—his white fingers tapped the edge of the teacup, drawing curious gazes from the other two people in the room.
“I have a question…” Jian Yuntai slowly raised his eyelids, his gaze locking with the high priest’s as he continued, “On the day of the ritual, the village head said all the priests came to Mother Goddess Village for the sacrificial ceremony. The look you gave me that day made me uncomfortable, so when I went outside, I deliberately observed.”
The high priest’s expression grew more rigid, and Li Mingsha looked at him, confused. Jian Yuntai’s face remained calm as he spoke, his tone smooth.
“All the priests together are no more than twenty. But after entering the small temple, I saw more than twenty people. Who are the extra priests?”
The high priest, puzzled, asked, “What kind of look did I give you that day?” He waved his hand dismissively and said, “I’m not saying it’s you, but your team’s missing a few people, and now you’re throwing around all these accusations. I don’t even remember seeing you that day.”
“You do remember,” Jian Yuntai replied, his gaze steady. “From the moment I entered until now, you’ve been secretly sizing me up.”
And the look you gave me—it was exactly the same as that day, a look full of desire. Your eyes lingered on my face before finally focusing on my Adam’s apple. These actions were done in secrecy, but the Adam’s apple is one of the most sensitive spots on my body. I’ve been stabbed through the heart before, but to imagine being stabbed there… it’s terrifying.
After a brief pause, Jian Yuntai spoke again, his voice calm, “Is my Adam’s apple beautiful?” He slightly lifted his chin, revealing his pale neck, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.
“Or are you… regretting that I’m not a woman?”
At that, the livestream viewers were already in a state of shock. The comments flooded in faster than ever:
“WTF? What’s going on?”
“Jian Dadan, what are you trying to say? Why does the high priest regret you’re not a woman?”
“Is the high priest into Jian Dadan?”
While the viewers were left confused, Li Mingsha suddenly came to a realization. Despite his usual carelessness, he could still think on his feet in critical moments.
He slapped the table and stood up, “So you don’t believe what we’ve been saying? You don’t believe Nong Lingling either! And if Jian Yuntai and I were women, would you still want to ‘offer’ us to the Mother Goddess?!”
He shook his head in disbelief, muttering “ignorant” several times. Having seen the wider world, he couldn’t fathom the twisted, cult-like worship and belief.
But then, he quickly dismissed the thought. If the high priest didn’t believe them, how would the main quest step one have been completed?
“He believes,” Jian Yuntai said emotionlessly as he looked at the high priest. “You believed from the start because you’ve been aiding and abetting the evil. You knew the strange happenings in the village were caused by the Mother Goddess long ago.”
The high priest, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. Leaning back in his chair, his knee lifted and he smiled, “But why would I help the evil?”
“……” Jian Yuntai furrowed his brow.
That question stumped him. Every action people take has a purpose. Maybe the Mother Goddess offered some kind of benefit to the high priest?
What kind of benefit could it be?
Jian Yuntai thought back to everything he had seen and heard in the small temple. Those extra priests… After a few seconds, his eyes flickered, and an incredibly unbelievable thought suddenly emerged in his mind.
Even he was shocked by the thought, a cold breeze sweeping over him, his hands and feet growing cold.
When he spoke again, his voice was dry, “The extra priests in the small temple… are they the missing young men from the village?”
The high priest didn’t answer. His facial muscles twitched awkwardly before a chilling smile slowly spread across his face.
That smile was too horrifying—greed and desire exposed without a shred of subtlety. The livestream viewers felt their hearts race, and many gasped aloud:
“The missing young women died in the underground palace, and the missing young men turned into the high priest! Holy shit!”
“I feel like I’m watching a cult unfold here…”
“So the high priest isn’t aiding the evil, he is the evil! He and the Mother Goddess are in cahoots?”
“No, they’re not in cahoots!!! Don’t forget when the Mother Goddess pretended to be Lord Fatty, she repeatedly said, ‘She came to save the world, who will save her?’ The Mother Goddess is also being controlled!”
“But the Mother Goddess is a demon! How could a bunch of humans control her?”
“The Mother Goddess’s nine statues can extend her life for nine years—what if those statues fell into the hands of thieves? Something that extends life could easily become a weakness for them to exploit!”
“Holy shit, I’m getting chills. So the missing young men joined this cult? Those so-called priests? This is a group of scumbags!”
“God… I feel so sorry for the innocent villagers in this town, and for those girls. Growing up in a place like this, always under the gaze of people with ulterior motives…”
After understanding the web of causes and effects, the viewers looked at Jian Yuntai in awe.
When did Jian Yuntai figure all this out?
【Main Quest Updated】
【STEP2 — Proof of the Demon Part 2】
【The Mother Goddess was once a divine girl transformed by divine gratitude. Years ago, she was controlled by humans, and it’s been continuing ever since. Every year, the villagers offer young women to be sacrificed to the priests. Every year, missing young men join the priesthood.】
【The village’s river was poisoned by the priests, causing the village women to become infertile. After the Mother Goddess’s blessing on the night of gratitude, the priests will release the antidote in the river. That night is a celebration for the Mother Goddess Village.】
“……” A group orgy?
The words suddenly popped into Jian Yuntai’s mind.
【Please stop the villagers before the Night of Gratitude. Expose the high priest’s true nature to the villagers.】
【This quest reward grants 15 days of survival time.】
【Attention, players!】
【The Night of Gratitude will begin after three days of the festival. At the stroke of midnight, the villagers will fall into a frenzy, losing all inhibitions. Their desperate desire for children will drive them into madness. You must stop them before midnight.】
【16 hours left until midnight!】
At this moment, both Nong Lingling and Li Mingsha had noticed something was wrong and stood up, preparing to retreat.
Thud!
Li Mingsha fell back with a crash, knocking over a chair. Everything before him blurred, his head spinning. His eyelids felt heavy, almost impossible to lift.
He stared at the high priest in shock, then slapped his head a few times, trying to gather his wits. “What did you do?!”
Of course, the high priest didn’t answer him.
Li Mingsha’s mind was foggy.
Why was he so dizzy, yet Jian Yuntai appeared perfectly fine, his eyes still as sharp as ever?
Drip drip—
As Li Mingsha fell backward, he weakly grabbed the table, knocking over the teacup. The tea spilled, flowing along the intricate carvings of the table.
Li Mingsha stared at the spilled tea, his eyes rolling back as he collapsed. Before he passed out, he felt a tightness in his chest—
Jian Yuntai had intentionally avoided drinking the tea!
No wonder Jian Yuntai had given him such a strange look when he drank the tea earlier…
The boss must think he’s an idiot, qaq!
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