Chapter 438: The Evil God Festival - Boathouse

The hot air came out of the room, puffing out on the faces of the stunned attendants, who blinked in a trance, their eyes slowly falling on the little creature licking itself.

"May we ......" the squire couldn't help but move closer to the warm room, "go in?"

The offering subconsciously blocked in front of them, gathered the yukata, glanced at the dirty to dripping shoes of these attendants, and the expression on his face became a little resistant and embarrassed, "...... What is it, say it directly outside?"

The squires gazed incredulously at the offerings, and the breathing of the little creatures in their arms faded.

Cangta shivered as she stood outside the door holding the seemingly motionless little black cat, looking at the attendants who were being driven away one after another, her hand trembled as she raised it to knock on the door, and several times she was ready to clap down but stalled in mid-air.

...... Bai Liu , the Bai Liu who is rumored to be able to kill small animals at will, will really take him in?

Cangta clutches the little black cat in his arms, he gulps nervously and closes his eyes as he finally prepares to clap his hands.

The paper door opened automatically, and inside was Bai Liu, clad in a loose white yukata with water dripping from the ends of his hair , the neckline of his robe slightly open, and a pendant of a coin could be seen dangling from the skin of his pale chest.

Bai Liu's clean, cold brows were heavy with the vapor that evaporated from his body, a vague sense of detachment, and the tone of his voice was unusually flat, as if he had expected Cangta to show up at his door:

"You've been standing on our doorstep for almost ten minutes, what's the matter?"

Bai Liu was holding the little white cat with silver-blue eyes and long white fur, the bell on its neck had been undone, and it was curiously nestled in Bai Liu's arms, tilting its head to look at Cangta, sticking its head out to give a sound of microphone, and stretching out its paw to pull the unmoving little black cat in Cangta's arms.

But Bai Liu didn't stop the action, he allowed his pet to be intimate with Cangta.

Cangta, for some reason, instantly loosened up, her knees went limp and she knelt down in front of Bai Liu, tears pouring out wildly: "Please, save [Cangta]."

Bai Liu lowered his eyes, "I don't do anything of no value, what can you bring to the table?"

Cangta grasped the corner of Bai Liu's robe as if he had seen hope, his eyes reddened, "...... As long as you are willing to save [Cangta] now, I will be the most useful retainer to you, my lord, and I will never betray you in the future!"

Bai Liu was slightly quiet for a second before he raised his eyes, his pupils dark: "Deal stands."

Thirty minutes later, Cangta, who had been taken to be scrubbed and cleaned up, sat staring blankly on Bai Liu's tatami mat, next to a small black cat that had also been scrubbed and cleaned up and was burying its head in its mouth and eating hard, with its fluffy tail sticking up so high that you could see ......

It's really not a surprise.

Bai Liu's eyes retracted from Xiao Hei's tail and fell back on the small white cat sitting next to him in a dignified and elegant manner.

The little white cat leaned against Bai Liu, tilted its head and meowed, rubbed against Bai Liu, and then shrunk down next to Bai Liu's legs and slept, very well behaved and decent.

...... This regular routine reminds Bai Liu of Xie.

The other little black cat, after having eaten and drunk enough, swept away its moribund appearance and ran around Bai Liu frantically, just like a dog, and also jumped into Bai Liu's arms to squeeze away the other little white cat, jumped up to lick Bai Liu's nose, and wiggled its butt on the ground to chase after the corners of Bai Liu's robes.

All in all it is very much like a certain lizard.

A black cat and a white cat, still so similar in appearance and habits.

In the game Bai Liu never believed in chance, and if he hadn't guessed wrong, this would have been the bad taste of some evil game designer.

Bai Liu lowered his eyes to look at the two cats sleeping soundly on his lap, the white cat shrunk into a small ball resting on Bai Liu's hand, the black cat sleeping on all fours, his bloated belly bulging, and you could hear the sound of purring in his throat.

Cangta had been a little embarrassed that his black cat was so active and wanted to bring it back, but then he looked up and froze.

He saw that Bai Liu, who was rumored to be abusive to small animals, actually calmly stroked the heads of the two kittens with the back of his hand, and instead of moving away from the two kittens that were sleeping close to him, he lifted his head and calmly said, "It's late, go to sleep."

Cangta gave a silly, oh-so-subtly sigh as he slept on the extra tatami mat Bai Liu had brought him, and the two tiny cats slept next to Bai Liu's pillow, like guardians who wouldn't budge an inch.

Bai Liu quickly closed his eyes and fell asleep under the protection of these two "guardians".

Cangta thought he would have a restless night's sleep, but he soon began to fight with his eyelids, snorted, and drifted off to sleep.

Day two.

Cangta had a good night's sleep, and by the time he got up Bai Liu had already changed his clothes.

Bai Liu's outfit consisted of a black tunic and long white lining with a crane and cloud pattern on the collar, while his own was a relatively understated gray squire's tunic.

By the time they had dressed and emerged from the room, Cangta saw at once in the central piazza a number of red-eyed, sleepless squires who had been drenched in the night's rain standing, holding in their hands small creatures whose heads had drooped, whose fur had knotted, and whose corpses had been rigor mortis for eons, whilst they stared in deadly disbelief at the room across the way.

The sacrifices were coming out of the room one by one, and they moved as they noticed the squires across the room, then as if avoiding the sight of the group avoided the men's gaze and walked quickly away, gathering together to discuss the matter in whispers:

"They chose the squire themselves, so the squire should do what the squire does."

"Why should I be made to share my room with them, when I have just enough for myself, and it's not like they have the biggest room, and it's not like they don't have a place to live themselves?"

"Yeah, yeah, and I don't know what kind of diseases their dogs and cats have, what if they let them in and infect my cat? It just looks like it's sick ......"

"I'm going to suffer for the place I live in myself, too; why should I give it to them, the squires, for no reason?"

"...... is so psychotic, why don't you go back to your place and stand outside my door all night?"

Cangta, who heard these grumbling words, paused for a moment.

He knew there was some kind of clear and terrifying change of perception coming over everyone, and he couldn't help but think of what Bai Liu had told him yesterday on the boat about the food chain theory.

[People who enter the food chain of desire lose their ability to empathize.]

[In their eyes, there are only predators who are below them and predators who are above them.]

Cangta subconsciously looked at Bai Liu, who was standing next to him. Bai Liu's face was still as unperturbed as if he had already anticipated this step.

After breakfast all the offerings and attendants were brought to the door of the boathouse, it was a beautiful day, the sun was hot, the attendants held black umbrellas for the offerings, most of the attendants were expressionless.

The person who came to lead the team today was still Mikabune, but judging from Mikabune's face, he didn't have a pleasant time leading the team:

"Today I'll take you to the Northern Plains family, they were the number one tax paying family in Deerling County last year, you'll have to go over there first for them to choose from."

"After noon, you are to proceed to the Gobune family, my home family, the family that was number one in tax payments in Kagome Prefecture the year before last."

"...... Today you're going to the eight great families, and if you're lucky enough to be picked by any of the families to take each other's last name and become a member of each other's family, then you can even move out of the boathouse and enjoy a higher level of treatment."

Gobune's face grimaced as he pulled the corners of his mouth in a leathery smile, "Now go to the Kitahara house."

The moment these words fell from the imperial vessel, Bai Liu heard a clear system beep in his ears:

[System Alert: Player Bai Liu unlocked the side plot mission - Obtain the shrine key in the hands of the Kitahara family head.]

[The body of the old evil god is held behind the shrine on the mountain, where He is suspended in slumber day after day, listening to the pain of the multitudes, and only the most agonized souls can make Him open His eyes and gaze upon the sacrifices that have gone mad with pain.]

[Ask player Bai Liu to steal the key to the shrine where the old evil god's body is being held and make the old evil god open his eyes for you.]

Bai Liu lowered his eyelashes.

Cangta, holding a black umbrella over Bai Liu, swept a glance at Bai Liu, whose complexion was so white in the sunlight that it was almost transparent, and almost drifted off for a moment - it was the first time he had ever looked at Bai Liu's face so closely in such intense light.

"From what you told me yesterday combined with Gosun's reaction today, it seems that the Northern Plains and the Gosun family have a rivalry conflict." Bai Liu sidles up to Cangta, his lowered voice seeming soft, as if whispering, "Is that so?"

Cangta froze for a moment before stuttering a reply, "Should, should be."

"If I want to be chosen by the Kitahara family today." Bai Liu was thoughtful, "What should I do?"

After a short interval, Cangta scratched his head and whispered in Bai Liu's ear, "You shouldn't have to worry about whether or not the Kitahara family will pick you."

"The big families will select quality offerings, you are the best looking child of the lot, the Kitahara family will definitely choose you."