Chapter 30: Speculation! The Preliminary Check
Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Speculation! The Preliminary Check
For the Yunjiang People, the Mushroom Festival was a grand celebration.
At the end of spring, after thunderstorms and heavy rains, mushrooms would sprout all over the mountains.
When meat was scarce and the grain had yet to ripen, mushrooms became the finest source of food.
And so, the local Mushroom Festival came to be.
In years past, all the residents of Jianshan Village would gather on the main road, lining it with tables and chairs.
Then, each household would bring out plate after plate of mushroom dishes, each one a showcase of their culinary skills.
Served with cured meats and home-brewed wine, they would also slaughter chickens and pigs, creating a long street banquet.
Everyone would feast and make merry, taking turns sampling each family’s cooking and enjoying nature’s bounty.
But that was all in years past.
Now, Jianshan Village was utterly silent.
Though the sounds of cooking could be heard from every home, there was no laughter or cheer—only the low, mechanical drone of instinctual communication.
Zhu Ge walked down the road, silently trying to sense the lively, human atmosphere that should have been there.
He could smell the cooking smoke, but none of the warmth of humanity that should have come with it.
It was broad daylight, yet the air held a bone-deep chill.
"Sigh... this world..."
Zhu Ge couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
Just then, a voice called out from behind him—a shout that was trying to be a whisper but desperately wanted to be a roar. "Zhu Ge! Zhu Ge!"
Zhu Ge turned to see Ma Laizi, built like a bear, crouched by the wall of a house, calling to him with a tense whisper.
Zhu Ge raised an eyebrow and walked over quickly.
Ma Laizi’s eyes were bloodshot, and dark circles had formed beneath them. He clearly hadn’t slept a wink last night.
"I checked! None of the black powder got wet!" Ma Laizi said nervously. "Are you sure this stuff can kill a god?"
"It can," Zhu Ge affirmed with a slight nod. After a moment of thought, he added,
"Tonight is critical. If we win, we’ll survive and reclaim our very essence. If we lose..."
Zhu Ge didn’t finish, but Ma Laizi understood the implication.
Ma Laizi’s face went white, his lips trembling. "I hope... I hope we can make it through this alive."
Zhu Ge nodded and patted his shoulder.
"When the time comes, you must follow my lead. Mr. Chong hasn’t been back for days; I’m afraid the worst has happened. Yu the Scholar has fallen under its spell too. Luckily, we still have each other."
"I broke free early, but you weren’t far behind. If we work together, we might just survive. But if we don’t... at least we can die knowing we gave it our all, with no regrets."
He meant every word.
Though Zhu Ge had some confidence, ultimately, all he could do was his best and leave the rest to fate.
He would do everything in his power; success or failure was in the hands of destiny.
"Right, right. No regrets. That’s what matters," Ma Laizi’s expression shifted, and he finally let out a sigh.
"I have a son in a nearby city. If I die... I’m asking you, please, help look after him."
Ma Laizi looked up, his gaze sincere. "I don’t know if my memories are playing tricks on me, but I know you’re not the Zhu Ge I once knew..."
Zhu Ge opened his mouth to respond, but Ma Laizi cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"Don’t say anything. It doesn’t matter who you are. I’ll do everything I can to help you. I have a feeling you’re going to make it out of here. If I don’t... I’m still asking for your help."
After a moment’s thought, Zhu Ge chose not to deny it, simply giving a slight nod.
Seeing this, Ma Laizi’s expression eased slightly. He sighed.
"Mr. Chong used to say that the money I made by trading on my reputation and the villagers’ kindness wouldn’t give my son a better life. He said it might even make him feel ashamed of himself."
"Now, with death at my door, I finally realize Mr. Chong was right. We of the Human Race... we have to stand firm on the ground with the sky over our heads. Only by standing tall and proud can we truly live."
Maybe it was the prospect of death that brought out his better nature.
This Ma Laizi was a far cry from the one in the original owner’s memories that Zhu Ge now possessed.
It’s human nature to fear death.
But in the face of certain death, a person’s true character reveals itself.
Ma Laizi was usually a local tyrant, bullying the men, harassing the women, and never paying his debts.
Now it seemed his nature might not have been inherently rotten; perhaps he was just trying to build a future for his son.
Of course, that didn’t excuse his usual wrongdoing.
But with Mr. Chong’s constant, earnest teachings to all of Jianshan Village, Ma Laizi, in the face of death, now seemed to possess a measure of acceptance, courage, and even a sense of duty.
"Alright." Zhu Ge glanced at the sky, checking the time.
"The Long Street Banquet tonight is the crucial moment. Stick close to me, do exactly as I say, and make sure you stay lucid. Don’t let them control you again!"
"Also, I have a few other plans. Listen closely..."
"Right!" Ma Laizi nodded emphatically and followed alongside Zhu Ge to hear the rest of the plan.
Zhu Ge circled the village as he spoke.
Along the way, he checked on his preparations, confirming that Ma Laizi, at least, hadn’t disturbed any of the traps he’d set.
While talking to Ma Laizi, he also kept an eye on what was happening in each house.
The families were all mechanically preparing mushrooms for the evening feast, but one whiff told Zhu Ge that none of it would be edible.
It was either half-raw or smelled of char.
’That made sense. How could food cooked by mindless instinct possibly taste good?’
’Such a waste of good ingredients!’
’The taste of blue-staining boletes...’ Zhu Ge’s mouth watered just thinking about the dish.
’If I survive this, I’m going to treat myself to a huge feast and then sleep for days.’
’The villagers had gathered plenty of mushrooms, after all; there was no way they’d eat them all during the festival.’
But for now, the priority was the shrine that was Hua Liusha’s physical body.
He’d made a round of every house and found none of them empty.
This confirmed his suspicion: Hua Liusha wasn’t hiding in the village, but somewhere outside it.
’That made sense, come to think of it.’
Other than the first time he saw her in the terraced fields, he’d never once seen her during the day.
He figured that even though the god was using Hua Liusha as its shrine, it was still inherently afraid of the sun.
But Zhu Ge still often wondered about the god’s true form.
It was just as Yu the Scholar had asked: how could it use Hua Liusha’s body as a shrine?
’Like Yu the Scholar said, could this god be a Chong Ghost of the Tiger God, stealing the villagers’ physical essence to feed its master?’
Zhu Ge had learned from Mr. Chong that there was indeed a Tiger God near the village, known as the Mountain Monarch.
However, the Tiger God only commanded Chong Ghosts, and Ghosts can’t affect a living being’s physical essence, only their spiritual soul.
So that theory was highly unlikely.
The most likely possibility, then, was related to that aura he’d sensed fleetingly to the west of the village.
Yu the Scholar had estimated that the aura belonged to some kind of living creature that had achieved divinity.
If it could evade detection by Mr. Chong and the Big Cricket, then slipping past Yu the Scholar and Xigui would be easy.
’Perhaps its true form is that thing...’
’And then there’s Ma Laizi...’
A thousand thoughts raced through Zhu Ge’s mind.
He thought as he walked, trying to perfect every detail of his plan.
Beside him, Ma Laizi also looked worried and preoccupied, obviously lost in his own thoughts.
This continued until Yu the Scholar hurried over, his face an emotionless mask.
"Zhu Ge. Ma Laizi. Follow me."