Chapter 319.
Chapter 319 – Prying News
The village chief had explained that the matter of the sacrifice should not be mentioned to outsiders.
Fortunately, he only mentioned the sacrifice and didn’t reveal too many details.
Looking at Ah Da’s back as he left in a panic, Xu Chuniang revealed a thoughtful expression.
It seemed that this so-called sacrifice might be the key to leaving this Land of Extinct Spirits.
Over the next few days, new “outsiders” continued to enter the village.
Without exception, these people were all cultivators who had entered the Heavenly Dao Palace just like Xu Chuniang.
But not long after they entered the village, they disappeared, and no one knew where they had gone.
“I heard that two more outsiders came this morning, there are so many outsiders coming to the village lately.”
“It’s strange to say that so many outsiders have come to the village and then left, only the three who came at the very beginning are still around.”
“What’s so strange about that, they must have seen that our village is broken and sneaked away again.”
A few children chatted for a few moments, and soon noticed the bone blade Xu Chuniang was polishing in her hands, and their eyes all lit up.
“What a beautiful blade, it’s made from tiger bones!”
“It looks much more imposing than my father’s bow and arrow!”
A group of small children stared at the bone blade with great covetousness, and finally someone plucked up the courage to step forward, “Hello, outlander, can we borrow this to play with?”
Xu Chuniang glanced at the few people and did not say anything.
She had been wandering around the village for a few days in the past few days, inquiring sideways about the sacrifice.
However, as long as she brought up these two words, this group of pure and passionate village people would become nervous and uneasy, deliberately avoiding the topic.
So after a few days of inquiring, she was unable to get any more information.
She only knew that the so-called sacrifice would be held at the ancestral land, and that more than one village would participate in the sacrifice.
Xu Chuniang had no choice but to try and get an answer from this group of children.
“Where is the farthest place you guys have traveled to?”
The group of children’s answer, however, disappointed her.
“We have not left the village.”
“You’re not allowed to leave the village until you’re twelve years old, and Papa says I’m too young.”
They answered absentmindedly, their eyes still fixed on the bone blade in Xu Chuniang’s hand, clearly not dead in the water.
Xu Chuniang’s fingers carelessly stroked across the bone blade, “You guys just said that many outsiders have disappeared, is that true?”
“Naturally it’s true, originally there were a few outsiders living in that room next to my house, but I went to see it and there was no one inside the room.”
“They must have disliked the shabbiness of our village and sneaked away.”
Xu Chuniang heard what she wanted to hear and handed them the bone blade, “Give you guys to play for a while, be careful not to hurt yourself.”
A few children got what they wanted and erupted into a cheer, carefully lifting the bone blade to play with it on the side.
Xu Chuniang picked up another tiger bone on the ground and began polishing it, remembering the two strange cultivators who had visited her door not long after she first entered the village.
Those “outsiders who come and go”, I’m afraid, have already been killed by those two cultivators.
That day, they came to her, most likely wanted to take action against her, but for whatever reason, they gave up.
Seeing that it was almost time, Xu Chuniang retrieved her bone blade and headed towards the village chief’s house.
In this kind of ancient and closed village, the village chief was the one with the most power and knowledge, so instead of looking for other people to slowly find out, it would be better to go directly to the village chief and ask him.
When the village chief learned of Xu Chuniang’s visit, he received her warmly.
“Esteemed guest, are you still accustomed to living here these days?”
“Quite well, I’ve heard that there are many other villages far away, I wonder if that’s true.”
The village chief froze, then laughed, “Naturally it’s true. But those villages are really too far away, I’m afraid I have to walk up for a whole month to get there.” “Then have you been to other villages?”
The village chief let out a bitter smile, “That’s not true, I can’t leave the village for too long. And the attitude of the other villages towards us can’t be called friendly.”
Xu Chuniang’s gaze moved slightly, these villages would travel to the same ancestral land every year to offer sacrifices, it was highly likely that they, in all likelihood, shared a common ancestor.
But for the village chief to say that the relationship between the villages was not considered friendly, this was intriguing.
Could it be that the objects that each village sacrificed to were not the same? Or were these villages in competition with each other?
“Then where is the farthest place you’ve traveled to?”
“Hehe, I can’t travel far with these old bones.”
The village chief subconsciously avoided the line of sight and lifted his tea bowl, “It is already dark ……”
Xu Chuniang inwardly sighed, it seemed that if she didn’t pick her words apart, the village chief would keep playing dumb.
She interrupted him with a meaningful comment, “I’ve heard that you guys have to go to your ancestral land once a year to participate in the rituals.”
The village chief’s hand holding the tea bowl shook, the tea in the bowl nearly spilled out, he finally realized what was going on, his face did not look too good.
“Although I feel grateful that you saved my clan, but this is a matter of our clan, I am not obligated to tell you.”
“Since it’s a sacrifice, there must be sacrifices prepared, right?”
The village chief’s face went white, “It’s just an ancestor sacrifice, there’s no need for any expensive offerings.”
After saying this, no matter how much Xu Chuniang asked, he refused to open his mouth.
She had no choice but to leave the village chief’s house.
On the way back, it was already dark.
The woman’s thin whimpers came out of nowhere, mournful.
Xu Chuniang had been in the village for a few days and was no stranger to this sound.
The village’s young and strong men were experienced in hunting, but daily battles with fierce beasts made injuries a common occurrence, and if they were unlucky, they might even lose their lives.
Perhaps it was someone’s family that had suffered another misfortune.
She was about to avoid it when she heard a sad whisper.
“Shuang’er has been chosen, and the ritual will be held next month ……”
“It’s all fate, Shuang’er is the one chosen by the Witch God, we should accept it. She will serve the Witch God for us.”
“I know, but why is it my Shuang’er, she’s only ten years old, whoops ……”
“The Witch God is above us, Shuang’er will bless us.”
Under the man’s persuasion, the whimpering slowly diminished, eventually returning to silence and dissolving into the deep night.
Xu Chuniang took a deep breath, a bold guess in her heart.
That Shuang Er, who was nearly ten years old, had been chosen as a sacrifice, and would be given to the Witch God first at next month’s sacrifice.
And such a sacrifice facing the Witch God, once a year, had lasted for endless years.
And not only this village, all the villages in the vicinity have to go to the ancestral land to participate in the sacrifice every year. ……
It seems that the “God of Witchcraft” really has a big appetite.
Xu Chuniang’s eyes flushed with coldness, no wonder when she asked about the sacrifice, the village chief kept mum, there is actually such a secret hidden in it.
Perhaps this Witch God is the key to leaving this land of extinct spirits.
Xu Chuniang closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there were no more waves.
Since the sacrifice would be next month, then when the time came, all she needed to do was to follow behind this group of people, and she would be able to smoothly travel to their so-called ancestral land and find out what was going on.
(End of chapter)