Chapter 441: Evil God Festival - Boathouse

"Your brother is dead?!" Cangta's mind was in turmoil, he took two steps back incredulously, "But Lord Bai Liu said he was going to find your brother!"

Xiao Kui sidestepped her head as she lay on the ground unconsciously stifling a laugh that shook her entire body, "Looking for my brother? Then he'll just have to go to whichever shrine filled with sacrificial tablets."

"But at this point in time, Bai Liu can't see my brother at the shrine, only my brother's ......."

Cangta looks up in horror, "Spite?!"

"It's not my brother's spirit, my brother isn't buried in the shrine." Xiao Kui smiled wryly, "The Kitahara family doesn't allow corpses to be sacrificed at their shrines."

Cangta was shocked, "Isn't the shrine a place for sacrifices? Why would they not allow the bodies of the sacrifices?!"

"How can you put a sacrifice in a sacrificial offering." Xiao Kui rolled her eyes, looking towards Cangta , "Of course you have to put something much more gruesome than the corpse of the sacrifice."

Xiao Kui blanched and covered her mouth with a giggle, "Guess what the shrine put in?"

Outside the shrine, Bai Liu stood still.

After nightfall, the shrine was closed, an inexplicable smell of blood coming out of the cracks of the door, and the shadow of some kind of monster could be seen writhing inside the paper door, in front of which hung a thick hand-rolled knotting rope, with gyozan paper hanging at regular intervals - legend has it that you can use these things to seal away evil monsters.

And when the rope breaks, the demon is released.

Bai Liu lifted his hand to lift the rope and calmly stepped into the night shrine.

A layer of semi-transparent water waves swirled around him, the waves expanded and then dissipated, the knotting rope broke, blood stains appeared on the imperial rice paper, Bai Liu's surrounding temperature suddenly dropped several degrees, and the shrine automatically lit up without any lights on.

The light was an obscure, wavering orange firelight, not the light of the shrine's lamps, but like the treacherous luminescence emanating from the pupils of some gigantic animal in the darkness of the night, with a dangerous sense of voyeurism.

There was a wind blowing out of the closed shrine, like breathing, one blowing out and one sucking in, blowing back and forth, swinging the hem of Bai Liu's coat, and carrying a strong smell, as if it were the smell of rotting meat in the mouth of a vicious dog.

As if he didn't smell it, Bai Liu walked with a shallow expression to the shrine enshrined on the huge wooden cabinet, folded his hands together politely and bowed slightly, then raised his head, lifted his hem and stepped onto the shrine.

The breath-like undulating wind stopped for a moment as if in dismay, and then the wind became violently louder, making a whistling sound, as if a dog were furiously showing its teeth at a thief who had offended his master's territory, exhaling a snort and a warning grunt in its throat, and an immense, unimaginably large, yellow eye appeared on the back of the wooden cupboard, staring straight at Liu Liu with malice in its eyes.

Oblivious to all the strangeness, Bai Liu climbed up to the first tier of the wooden cabinet and tilted his head up to see the shrine placed at the highest part of the cabinet.

The shrine held a black-and-white photo of a young boy, no older than twelve or thirteen, with a boyish face, who was giggling as the photo was taken.

--This is the only posthumous photo of a smiling offering in the entire shrine of the Kitahara family.

Underneath the photo sits the tablet, which reads [Jiro Kitahara].

Bai Liu reaches out to take down the picture and without hesitation reaches straight for the black altar under the shrine, he touches the wet and bloody carcass of an animal, which he then grips and removes.

It was a tiny black Shiba Inu carcass with its neck artificially broken and soaked in some kind of embalming agent.

The Shiba Inu's arms and legs dangled limply against his belly, constantly slipping and dripping liquid onto the floor, and his eyes, which were supposed to be a bright, clear yellow, were so cloudy at the moment that all that could be discerned was a layer of yellowish hue.

The black pupil in the huge clear yellow eye on the back suddenly shrunk into a vertical line the moment he saw Kitahara Jiro's last photo being taken down, the light and shadow of the iris around the pupil flowed, the light inside the shrine suddenly darkened, something jumped out from behind the wooden cabinet, grimacing its sharp teeth at Bai Liu standing on the wooden cabinet, barking away.

In the pitch blackness, some sort of huge beastly roar resounded through the shrine.

[System prompt: Congratulations to player Bai Liu for activating the first page of the Monster Book of the Evil God's Sacrificial Boat House.]

Attic.

Cangta scratched her ears anxiously, "Bai Liu is now going over to the shrine, Xiao Kui, count on me to beg you, can you tell me what was put in the shrine."

"If there are no sacrificial corpses put in the shrine, why did that old servant say that there are very scary spirits there at the shrine and told us not to come out at night?"

"Of course there's a grudge spirit there at the shrine." Xiao Kui curled her mouth strangely, "It's true that the bodies of the sacrifices weren't put there, but the bodies of pets that had the same name as the sacrifices were put there."

"The evil spirits formed by animals are much more terrifying than people."

Cangta, who was sitting on his knees, was dumbfounded and asked in dismay, "A pet's corpse? How can it be a pet's body!?"

Xiao Kui squinted at Cangta : "The corpse of a pet, of course."

"This group of people from the Kitahara family tortured sacrifices every day, so how could they be afraid of the resentful spirits formed by the sacrifices? Even if people turn into ghosts, it's the ghosts that are afraid of people, right?"

Xiao Kui continued with an indifferent face, "But animals are different."

"They don't remember as well as humans do, and after they turn into spiteful spirits they won't remember who tormented them in life, only who was their master, then the evil spirits they form will frantically attack humans who are close to the shrine of sacrifice, their master, in order to protect their master."

Cangta sits paralyzed as she listens in a trance, "...... Why is there a pet's body in the shrine?"

Xiao Kui said, "Because the bodies of the sacrifices are not allowed to enter the shrine."

Cangta asks back, confused, "Why?"

Upon hearing this question Xiao Kui laughed, she laughed until she choked, laughed until she burst into tears, and still laughed: "Because the Shrine doesn't accept people who die in vain."

"The sacrifices here either couldn't endure the pain and committed suicide before the Evil God's sacrifice, or they endured the pain and were successfully sacrificed at the Evil God's sacrifice, but committed suicide because they went mad at the sight of the Evil God's eyes."

"Anyone who commits suicide has died in vain and is unclean and cannot enter the shrine to receive offerings."

Xiao Kui's face turned livid as she hammered the floor and cursed viciously, "But these bitches of the Kitahara family, who are obviously enjoying the pain of these sacrifices, have to pretend to set up a plaque to glorify the pain of these sacrifices, in the name of recognizing their contribution to the Kitahara family, as if the pain is no longer pain, but just a sacrifice of their own free will! "

"And the standing shrines offer sacrifices, most of these sacrifices are tragic deaths by suicide, again not in accordance with the rules of shrine holiness."

"So the group came up with a solution." Xiao Kui sat up with her hands propped up on the floor, she looked straight at Cangta without a trace of emotion on her face, "They decided to replace the sacrifice with a substitute to be put into the shrine and worshipped."

Xiao Kui took a deep shuddering breath before continuing, "I wanted to bury my brother's body by the sea, but the Kitahara family said they would let my brother enter a shrine where he could be worshipped and appreciated all the time, so that after committing suicide my brother's resentful spirit might be able to become a Buddha instead of forming an earth-bound spirit that would remain trapped in the Kitahara family. "

"As much as I resent them, I really want my brother to get out of here, even if it means being a ghost to get out of here."

"So I obliged them and let them take my brother's remains."

Xiao Kui tugged at the corners of his mouth, "My brother had a Shiba Inu with the same name as me, mine died but his is still alive."

"After my brother, the shiba inu lay on his back under the same roof where my brother hung, not eating or drinking for more than three days, until I force-fed him and kept him alive."

"After that, it seemed to realize that my brother was dead, and it would eat when I gave it something, but mostly stayed under the eaves and fumed."

Tears slowly slid down Xiao Kui's face, "He turned out to be a very docile dog, he didn't hurt anyone no matter how much he was beaten, but after my brother's death, when I was being tormented by the people of the Kitahara family, he would frantically rush over to show his teeth to those people, wanting to protect me, and he wouldn't back off even after being beaten several times, being especially stubborn."

"-like my brother did when he was alive."

"It would always follow me around, but on the day my brother's shrine was made and sent to the shrine, I couldn't find it for the life of me."

"I searched and searched in the yard, shouting and shouting its name - Jiro, Jiro, Jiro where have you been, come out Jiro."

Xiao Kui sidled over to the frozen Cangta and laughed in a twisted grimace, tears welling up in his eyes, "And then I finally found it."

"They told me to go to the recently completed shrine to pay my respects to my brother, and I went there while worrying about Jiro, and then in my brother's shrine I saw [Jiro], who had his neck broken and dunked and sealed!"

Xiao Kui cried tearfully, "They're animals, they chose [Jiro] when there were so many alternatives!"

"They just want us living squires to continue to suffer! To become sacrifices in the next round!"

Xiao Kui cried until her voice was hoarse and she couldn't make a sound, tears streaming down her face numbly, "After that, I heard rumors of a grudge."

"I know that it is the ghost of [Jiro] who has taken the form of a resentful spirit that guards my brother's shrine at the shrine day and night, and that if anyone but me were to look up at him before daring to do so, [Jiro] would be chased after this disrespectful person who had disrespected my brother, and the other person would be dragged into the shrine and torn apart to death."

Xiao Kui suddenly laughed nervously, her face full of tears and her eyes in a trance, "If Bai Liu had gone to the shrine, she would have been eaten as a bone by [Jiro] before she met the evil god!"

"What! I have to quickly go back and tell Bai Liu-sama about this!" Cangta panicked and tried to roll down from the window.

But as soon as he stands up, Xiao Kui jumps in and pulls Cangta to the ground by his ankles in a death grip.

Xiao Kui looked up with a messy, disoriented expression and an eerie smile on her tear-stained face, "[Jiro] hasn't been let out to eat anyone in a long time."

"Instead of making your Bai Liu-sama suffer and make sacrifices to the Kitahara family for their development, why don't you let him feed [Jiro] properly?"

Bai Liu sat casually on the floor of the shrine, his left hand lightly petting an immense, black Shiba Inu next to him.

The pupils of this Shiba Inu's eyes are golden, and his body exudes an uncomfortable aura of resentment. On his neck, you can clearly see the white bones protruding out of the wringer, but he kept rubbing against Bai Liu's hand, and also spat out his tongue in a ha-ha-ha manner, sticking out his neck with the white bones exposed to give Bai Liu a handjob.

Bai Liu face does not change the color of the jerk a few times, the shiba inu instantly tumbled down to reveal the belly, when this shiba inu fell on Bai Liu coat, it seems to smell some kind of unfamiliar scent, instantly show up teeth, but when Bai Liu reach over, it is slightly puzzled to sniff the Bai Liu's hand twice, and then lie down to reveal the belly.

Then continue to repeat the above process.

It was extremely unfamiliar with the scent on Bai Liu's body, but it was familiar with the scent on Bai Liu's hands.

--That's the scent of its owner's sister, Xiao Kui.

Bai Liu drops his eyes to the object in his hand - it is a roll of soft, fine hair, which he has taken from the outer curtain of the window thrown down by the Cangta who climbed up.

This is Xiao Kui's hair, one of the weaknesses of this [Black Dog Grievance] monster.

From the two Shiba Inu shaped stone lanterns in front of the Kitahara's house, where the previous year's sacrifice was Xiao Kui's younger brother, to the posthumous photo of the sacrifice at the very top here at the shrine looking a bit like Xiao Kui, the old servant saying that the shrine doesn't accept people who died in vain, but the sacrifice here at the shrine has Xiao Kui's younger brother, all this information combined is enough for Bai Liu to deduce where the key is.

Bai Liu slowly pushed two fingers against the teeth of the Shiba Inu's corpse and slid them down his throat, removing an antique-style key wrapped in plastic wrap.

[System alert: Congratulations to player Bai Liu for completing the side quest - Stealing the Kitahara family's shrine key.]

[Two warm tips:

One, player Bai Liu can now use the Shrine Key to open the Shrine to meet the Evil God, but there will be a greater risk of zeroing the Spirit Value, so please choose your game path carefully.

Second, every morning at five o'clock, the head of the Kitahara family will come here to the shrine to pay his respects and check the key placed inside the black dog's corpse, so please ask the player Bai Liu to take care to return the key before that time.]

Bai Liu placed his hair on the tip of the black dog's spiteful nose, then turned and walked out of the shrine, alone in the night, clad in a loose white tunic so thin as to be almost transparent, and with scarcely a pause and a placid face, made his way toward the shrine that lay above the Kitahara house.

Cangta, who was struggling on the window sill, suddenly saw a dim light on the road leading to the shrine, and her struggling stopped, followed by Xiao Kui.

She pivoted violently away from Cangta, stretching to look in shock at the lamp that kept approaching the shrine, "Bai Liu actually did get the key ......"

"Doesn't this guy want to die? Getting the key and rushing straight to the shrine." Xiao Kui muttered, "Isn't he afraid that the evil gods will drive him crazy?"

"Or maybe you've been crazy about evil gods all along, Bai Liu ......"

Xiao Kui looked dazedly at the lamp that was moments away from the shrine gate:

"...... It can't really be lovers, can it?"

Cangta argued in a small voice, "I've told you, Lord Evil God is Lord Bai Liu's lover."

Xiao Kui's demeanor instantly calmed down, "So what if he's a lover? He won't be able to see the Evil God if he opens the shrine."

Cangta asked incredulously back, "Why?!"

Xiao Kui commented, "This evil god only opens his eyes when he feels enough pain from someone, the rest of the time he's a corpse, a corpse that is sealed in a huge shrine, and no one, by any means, can wake him up."

"The Kitahara family had also tried to use various methods to force the Evil God to wake up after they got the key, but there was no progress except for the people they sent near the Evil God to be alienated and turned into monsters who committed suicide or were killed."

Xiao Kui's gaze fell on the shimmering light at the top of the mountain, and his tone was extremely cold, "That's a very cruel evil god."

"It's not a good thing to □ Man with such a person, and such a thing as □ Man with God is his wishful thinking, isn't it?"

Cangta's face turned red with anger and she waved her fists, "No, they are not! Sir Bai Liu said they are a pair of lovers! A pair!"

Xiao Kui swept Cangta with her afterglow, then turned back to the top of the hill, where she looked at the light, her tone and eyes a little uncertain, as if in a trance, but also as if inquiring:

"Would an evil god who feeds on human suffering also know what love is and how to love someone?"

Bai Liu tilted his head at the closed up door, lifted the lamp and without a moment's hesitation inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it.

"Squeak-!"

With a fine fall of dust and dead leaves, the door was pushed open by Bai Liu, who, carrying a rickety gas lamp, went inside and pushed aside door after door, wabi-sabi door after wabi-sabi door, and came to a shrine cabin with a flying roof.

On the eaves of the house, there is a bell for making a wish, and under the bell there is a thick rope. In front of the wooden house, there is a money box, and through the top layer of the money box, you can see the loose change inside, which are coins that people use to make a wish to the evil gods.

Bai Liu Dropped his eyes, he looked to the game manager hanging over his heart-a coin.

So that's what it was, coins, the trustees of man's wish to God, and that's why it was the way the system manager looked after they, the players, had entered the evil god's game.

--Because this is the medium through which you wish upon the evil gods.

Bai Liu lifted his head as he rounded the crashing bell, stepped over the Sai money box, and pushed through the last of the wooden doors, finally arriving in the shrine's interior.

The interior was large, with some tatami mats on the floor, and directly in front of it were two wooden doors some distance apart from the floor, placed in the center, and closed in the center, which, judging by the system, must have been a huge shrine.

If there are no surprises, Sheta's in there.

Bai Liu stopped in front of the shrine, he reached out his hand to pull open the door of the shrine, but for some reason, the moment he touched the door of the shrine, it was as if the pause button had been pressed, and he remained motionless in mid-air for several minutes.

He rarely hesitated to do things, because there were few things in the world that could make him hesitate.

-- but pushing open wooden doors at this time of year must be one of those things.

Bai Liu lowered his eyes as he looked at his hand paused in front of the wooden door.

The Sheta in this game's worldline is supposed to be the Sheta from the other worldlines before she met him, in other words, the former Sheta.

No matter how much Bai Liu had probed and asked, Sheta had never told him about her past, and this was like a mystery that finally unfolded in front of Bai Liu.

...... former Sheta, a Sheta who has been killed by [him], what will it be like to meet him?

Will ...... kill him? Would you hate him? Or would he simply pretend he doesn't exist, like he did to [Bai Liu] in this world line?

It's like what Sheta did at the orphanage, with the other kids.

Sheta seems to have never been able to understand humans, he ignores children, he ignores investors, he ignores everything around him, and exists in the world like a statue, never having his eyes on any human who comes near him.

It was from Sheta that Bai Liu began to understand that God's eyes seem to have no room for mankind, not because of arrogance, but simply because ......

Can't get attached.

So Bai Liu doesn't understand why of all the human beings, of all the children, of all the [Bai Liu], Sheta would only look at him.

He asked Sheta, who thought about it and answered him, "The problem is not really with me, it's with you, Bai Liu."

Bai Liu thought it was very funny at the time: "The problem can still be with me?"

Sheta looked at him seriously, "Yes."

"Because the way you look at me, no matter what time of day it is, I'm bound to turn around."

"Something like eyes can't convince me." Bai Liu smiles lazily with his chin propped up, "How do you tell the difference between the way I look at you and the way other people look at you? A person who looks exactly like me looks at you, can you also tell the difference?"

"I can." Sheta gazed at Bai Liu with those silver-blue eyes, "Because you are different."

"No matter how many [Bai Liu] there are, you're the only one among these people who looks at me differently."

"The moment you looked at me with that look in your eyes, I was given a soul and feelings."

"I have a soul because of you."

Bai Liu pushed open the door to the shrine, and a huge light fell from within.

Beyond the shrine pushed open was the backyard, and as the night wore on, the outline of a man sitting on the veranda could be seen, and as he stepped in, he could see a soft shimmering layer of moonlight as the man's long, silvery-blue curly hair fell to his waist.

He was dressed in a wide kimono and looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, his body was elongated and fluid, his feet carried golden chains that snaked behind him, and the man seemed to be looking down at a book.

In the center of the backyard was a huge goldfish pond with beautiful orange and red goldfish swimming around, their flower-like tail fins striking sparkling waves on the water, refracting off the pages of the book and the quiet side of the man's face, his long eyelashes falling as if they were covered in crushed snow, falling with water and moonlight.

Bai Liu stopped behind him, a spot where he could almost see the book.

The night wind blew, the woods rustled, and the two men's wide, thin, gauze-knit tunics spread out in the wind, fluttering together like dancing leaves.

The man put down the book and turned back, his eyes lifting to reveal those silver-blue eyes Bai Liu knew so well.

The night wind blew between the two, Sheta looked at Bai Liu through the blown up veil and lightly raised the book in her hand, which had been broken and then glued back together:

"I haven't seen you before, is this your first time at the shrine?"

"Want to watch it together?"