I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?
Chapter 397
Xu Ziyan rubbed his forehead with a headache. All he felt was that the small town was extremely eerie, and the occurring events were completely unreasonable.
Mysteries piled up one after another, like layers of fog, hiding away their path to leave the place. It was even unclear where the thread to unravel that tangled mess was located.
“Brother, there’s no need to be too anxious. After all, we are in this together.” Xu Zirong gave his brother an embrace from behind, with a very relaxed smile on his lips. As long as he could be with his big brother, he did not really mind staying anywhere.
“Stop it!” Xu Ziyan was still unsure whether Xu Zirong was considering the possibility of enclosing him in a dark house, so he just habitually bumped him with his head.
Xu Zirong licked the corner of his mouth very regretfully. Well, even though he thought that having his brother’s naked body in silver chains would look very seductive, perhaps being able to initiate physical intimacy and kiss his brother would be even better…
Yet, he could not have both the fish and the bear’s paw. The idea of locking up his brother had been tempting him all the time, but when compared to the various cheeky ways of intimacy that his brother would choose, it was obvious that Xu Zirong was more attracted to his brother’s cheeky ways of taking the initiative!
“What are you thinking?” Xu Ziyan looked at Xu Zirong who was showing a strange smile, and inexplicably shivered. =.= Why is my buttock suddenly feeling a bit chilly? I obviously wore pants…
“Nothing…” At that time, Xu Zirong’s smile was so sweet that even Xu Ziyan, who had long been used to his delicate appearance, was fascinated for a moment.
(﹃) Drooling
A few seconds later——
Xu Ziyan: _(:3∠)_ Why do I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen after we leave here…
The two brothers finished exchanging meaningful glances (Nope, they didn’t!), and Xu Ziyan returned to the inn with Xu Zirong with a mindful of doubts.
Tianle returned to the room a little earlier than them. At that moment, he had just brewed a pot of tea and was about to take a sip.
“Wait!” Seeing that, Xu Ziyan suddenly had a strange premonition and spoke out.
However, Tianle was unaware of their return and was about to drink that cup of tea without realizing anything.
Crash!
The dagger thrown by Xu Zirong successfully knocked the teacup to the ground, Tianle’s expression changed abruptly, and he stood up in vigilance.
“Who’s there?!”
Xu Ziyan used the method they used the previous night and wrote on the table with the tea that had just been spilled.
Tianle looked at the spilled tea that was overflowing with spiritual energy, the corner of his mouth twitched, “Guys, if you want to write, just write. There’s no need to waste my pot of spiritual tea… This is the tea specially found by this inn’s little attendant for me. Do you know that wasting things like this can lead to a lightning strike in the future?!”
Xu Ziyan could not help but rolled his eyes, and wrote on the table with his finger, “Don’t touch any food in this town!”
Tianle read the words and raised an eyebrow, “Why? Something fishy?”
The water stains on the table moved, outlining the word “intuition”.
Tianle: …
He gently rubbing his forehead. Fine, if it’s an intuition, so be it. Sometimes, a person’s intuition is quite reliable, just like how he found Xu Ziyan oddly pleasing in the beginning.
The two sides began to exchange information using the water stains on the table again. Judging from the several suspicious points they discovered, the Ghost Deity Festival in the small town was indeed a very strange ritual.
The people who communicated with Tianle were all ordinary townspeople, so from them, Tianle learned the following information: Offering sacrifices to the ghost deity through the Ghost Deity Festival can gain the blessing of the ghost deity, blessing them with immortality.
However, the information Xu Ziyan got from those ghostly creatures was: By offering sacrifices to the ghost deity, they can be turned from their ghostly figures to human, significantly advancing their cultivation base.
It was the same Ghost Deity Festival, yet it was human sacrifices during the day, and ghost sacrifices at night. They obviously had the same body, but different results were achieved, which showed how peculiar the Ghost Deity Festival was.
The living people sought immortality, while the ghostly creatures sought humanization. From the looks of it, the strange scenes that appear in the small town when day and night rotate seemed to meet the requirements of those people/ghosts.
“The night after tomorrow will be the Ghost Deity Festival. We still have one more day to investigate. It’s best to clarify and uncover the truth. Otherwise…” Xu Ziyan’s face turned slightly gloomy. His “intuition” told him that if they could not figure out the secrets of the town before the Ghost Deity Festival, they might never be able to leave again.
The group of “laborers” at the dock might be their fate.
Xu Ziyan imagined his body being imprisoned, compelled to play a fixed role. That kind of life was really frightening.
As night fell, the sky over the small town turned into hazy grayish-white as the first star emerged.
The people in the small town seem to have shed their human skins, revealing their hideous, ghostly forms. Yet, they still continued discussing those family affairs, trivial things. The situation was oddly comical.
“Oh, two fellow guests? You both haven’t left yet?” The skeleton attendant went upstairs to clear the tables, and asked in surprise when he saw Xu Ziyan sitting by the window.
“Huh? Is it strange that we haven’t left?” Xu Ziyan’s curiosity piqued as he asked with a smile.
The skeleton boy scratched his bony nose and chuckled embarrassedly. His pale teeth collided together, making a terrifying clattering sound, which sounded extremely creepy.
“It’s not like that. It’s just that the Ghost Deity Festival is approaching. If you don’t leave, you’ll be staying here forever… Hehehe…” The attendant spoke as the two flames in his eye socket danced excitedly, as if he was thrilled about having someone joining the small town.
Xu Zirong’s gaze turned sharp at once. He clamped the attendant’s neck with one hand, and forcefully slammed him onto the table, speaking in a stern tone, “Explain clearly, what do you mean by staying here forever?”
The attendant yelped in pain, the two flames in his skull immediately shrank back again. He looked at Xu Zirong tremblingly, “Dear guest, let’s talk things over!”
Xu Zirong’s actions alarmed other customers on the second floor. Seeing that Xu Zirong was so ruthless, those ghostly creatures began yelling like ordinary people, as if they had completely forgotten their identities.
The innkeeper downstairs heard the commotion from the guests, and hurried to the second floor. The innkeeper was a chubby man during the day, but at night, his skeleton looked quite slender. Even his movements were much quicker than daytime.
“Eh? What happened?” The innkeeper looked towards Xu Zirong as soon as he went upstairs. He was frightened by his sharp gaze, and immediately waved his hands, “Misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! Dear guest, is our inn’s service inadequate? Please don’t get angry, dear guest. We can talk things over!”
Xu Zirong glanced at him coldly, paying no attention to his intentions.
On the other hand, Xu Ziyan received the message from Xu Zirong, and quickly put on a peacemaker expression, deliberately saying to the innkeeper while looking displeased, “How can your attendant speak like that? We’ve only stayed here for a day, yet he actually said that we can never leave. You’re also running a business, so you should know that this kind of statement is really taboo for us merchants!”
Upon hearing that, the innkeeper gave the young attendant a glare, cursing in his heart, “They merchants always travel all around the world, so they fear accidents on the road the most. You’re saying that they can never leave? Isn’t that giving them a death curse? Since you said something like that, I wouldn’t mind giving you a beating!”
Although he was scolding, the innkeeper knew his own staff did not have any ill intentions. He was just a bit simple-minded and spoke bluntly, which led to that trouble.
He repeatedly bowed to Xu Ziyan and explained in a friendly tone. Xu Zirong did not insiston being stubborn either. He signaled to Xu Zirong with his eyes, and Xu Zirong released the young staff.
The little skeleton, who was easily suppressed by Xu Zirong, scampered away from the second floor in fear, leaving the poor innkeeper to clear up his mess.
“You mean… your staff member wasn’t actually cursing us, but just can’t speak properly?” Xu Ziyan smiled faintly, not intending to let the innkeeper fool him so easily.
Through the past two days of observation, he discovered that the people in that small town were incredibly united, to an unbelievable extent.
It was not that Xu Ziyan had never seen large harmonious families before, where the relationships between the different branches of the family tree were harmonious. However, those situations were usually based on strong blood ties.
To say that the whole town was united like one big family? Either everyone living there were all saints, or every individual in that small town had a common secret.
Apart from those two possibilities, he really could not imagine any other reason that could unite a whole town.
Whether it was Tianle, who had been inquiring for info during the day, or he, who chatted with the ghostly creatures at night, he was in the position of an “outsider.” However, Tianle seemed to have been subtly accepted by the townspeople, so could he infer that they, “outsiders,” were actually likely to share the same secret with the townspeople, and could potentially become a part of the “big family”?
If that was indeed the case, as long as he had a small opportunity, he could definitely hear the details of the secret from the innkeeper!
Upon hearing Xu Ziyan’s words, the skeleton innkeeper looked a little hesitant, as if he was unsure whether or not he should disclose the information.
After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly raised his head and locked his gaze onto Xu Ziyan.
Being stared at by two blazing will-o’-wisps (ghost light), even Xu Ziyan was taken aback.
However, his face maintained his calm. He did not even lift an eyelid, fully embodying the meaning of cool, calm and collected.
The two flames in the innkeeper’s eye sockets danced slightly, and he suddenly let out a sinister chuckle, “Dear guests, you’re actually here to… specially participate in the Ghost Deity Festival, right?”
Xu Ziyan’s eyelids twitched, and he calmly inquired, “Why do you say that?”
The innkeeper burst into eerie laughter again, as if he had suddenly become familiar with Xu Ziyan. He patted Xu Ziyan on the shoulder with great force as he spoke, “Hah, you’re coming to our Ghost Jiangnan specifically at this time and not even planning to leave yet. I’m no fool, so how could I not see that? I don’t know how you learnt the secret of the Ghost Deity Festival, but since you’ve came, it must’ve been fate. I believe the Great Ghost Deity will not mind us for having a few more townsfolk.”
Xu Ziyan lowered his eyelids slightly and lightly chuckled, “That would be the best.”
The innkeeper smirked, “I knew you respectable guests are different from those newly-arrived idiots. Tsk, tsk, those laborers, they really are quite something. They are clueless of our Ghost Jiangnan’s rules, but how dare they go around town and rampantly kill people, they’re simply idiots!”
