Chapter 31: Hua Liusha Appears
Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Hua Liusha Appears
Yu the Scholar?
Zhu Ge narrowed his eyes and motioned for Ma Laizi to stay quiet. Then, in a stiff, mechanical voice, he answered, "Okay."
Ma Laizi looked confused but lowered his head and followed behind Zhu Ge.
The two followed Yu the Scholar to the main path in the center of the village.
"You two, go move the tables and benches," Yu the Scholar said, his voice mechanical. "It’s just the two of you. Zhang San, Li Si, and the others have disappeared, so there’s no one to move the tables."
"I will go gather everyone. Starting tomorrow, we will begin Martial Arts Practice to guard against spirit-snatching."
With that, Yu the Scholar left.
’So he just wants us to move things...’ Zhu Ge didn’t refuse. Instead, he motioned for Ma Laizi to do it.
As for Zhang San, Li Si, and the others, they were the ones who had previously been controlled by Xigui.
Those people were likely still acting under Xigui’s control, so naturally, they wouldn’t be performing this kind of instinctual activity.
"Zhu Ge, h-how am I supposed to move all this? You want me to move them for the entire village?" Ma Laizi was dumbfounded. "That’s hundreds of tables and benches!"
"Move them," Zhu Ge said softly. "But don’t use all your strength. Conserve your energy and take your time."
"This is a good chance for you to knock on their doors. I want to see if Hua Liusha’s physical body is hidden in one of the houses."
"Alright." Seeing no other choice, Ma Laizi went to the surrounding houses, knocking on each door to explain that he needed to move their things.
The villagers were all under control, so they naturally showed no reaction, simply opening their doors to let Ma Laizi take what he needed.
Zhu Ge, meanwhile, used this opportunity to observe from the shadows. He found that every household was indeed just preparing mushrooms to eat, and he didn’t spot any suspicious figures inside.
After all, they were all farming families. The moment a door opened, you could see everything they owned at a glance. There was no place to hide a person.
While he was observing in secret, the controlled Yu the Scholar went to notify everyone who wasn’t cooking to gather in the open space at the village center.
By around four or five o’clock, Ma Laizi, working under the hot sun, had already set up dozens of tables and benches.
Some villagers also brought out wooden trays of mushrooms and placed them on the tables.
The people who had been instinctively toiling in the fields had also returned.
Everyone silently walked to the tables in front of their homes and sat down. If a house didn’t have a table, they went to carry one themselves.
But after the tables, benches, and mushrooms were all set up, Yu the Scholar called everyone to gather in the open space at the village center once more.
Zhu Ge was also hiding in the shadows, carefully observing his surroundings.
He had a premonition that something big was about to happen.
Ma Laizi, next to him, looked anxious, his face covered in sweat.
"Do you have any strength left?" Zhu Ge asked in a low voice.
Ma Laizi nodded but didn’t say much.
They were on a mountaintop, so the sun was scorching.
But despite baking in the sun, no one said a word. They stood in place like a group of statues, waiting for Yu the Scholar.
"Zhu Ge, Yu the Scholar is here!" Ma Laizi suddenly looked past Zhu Ge.
Zhu Ge looked over as well.
Yu the Scholar was carrying a small boy with a vacant expression, clearly the last person in the village.
Reaching the front of the crowd, Yu the Scholar set the boy down. The child walked stiffly over to his parents.
Then, Yu the Scholar spoke. "The Teacher has been gone for many days and is likely dead. Zhu Ge has suggested that we all practice martial arts together. Does anyone object?"
Yu the Scholar’s voice was devoid of emotion, and the villagers answered with equally emotionless voices, "No."
It was like a conversation between two groups of robots.
"We will begin practicing martial arts tomorrow," Yu the Scholar said. "For now, everyone may be seated and eat the mushrooms."
In the past, the village had a similar ceremony. The Teacher would usually speak, offering some words of blessing.
But now that the Teacher was gone, Yu the Scholar naturally took his place.
After Yu the Scholar’s brief speech, the crowd was supposed to go to the tables in front of their homes, sit down, and begin eating.
But at that very moment, Zhu Ge stepped forward.
"Wait! I have something to say!"
At that moment, the sun was setting, and the sky was filled with fiery clouds.
Including Yu the Scholar, the entire crowd turned in unison. They stared intently at Zhu Ge, waiting for him to speak.
Zhu Ge stood tall, the light of the setting sun bathing his back, and walked with firm steps to Yu the Scholar’s side.
"A god has entered our village."
Zhu Ge stopped and scanned the crowd before announcing loudly, "All of you... have already had your spirits stolen!"
When Zhu Ge had just transmigrated, he had kept this news to himself to avoid causing a panic or triggering some unforeseen change.
But that was before.
After the cautionary tale of what happened to him, Yu the Scholar, and Ma Laizi, he decided he had to speak up.
’The more chaos, the better!’
After he said this, the expressions of most people in the crowd remained unchanged. Only on the faces of a few did a look of struggle appear.
Fortunately, Zhu Ge wasn’t counting on just a few words to shock the villagers back to their senses.
"Now, everyone, stand still and do not move! I am going to destroy the god’s shrine and save the entire village!"
Zhu Ge shouted to Ma Laizi, who was not far off, "The fire!"
Having been instructed beforehand, Ma Laizi immediately rushed into a nearby house, grabbed a piece of burning firewood, and handed it over.
Zhu Ge took the firewood and, in a few large strides, arrived at the nearest spot. "The true body of that god is hidden in this village! I am now going to destroy its physical shrine!"
"I have buried gunpowder underground. All I need to do is light it to set off an explosion across the whole village! It will blow its true body to smithereens!"
As his words fell, the crowd still showed no signs of commotion.
However, what Zhu Ge had been anticipating finally happened.
RUMBLE...
A terrifying tremor shook the mountains. The ground began to roll like a wave, and countless specks of light appeared upon its surface.
That was just the strange movement of the ground.
Just as Zhu Ge was about to throw the firewood and set the village ablaze, points of light also emerged from within everyone’s bodies, all of them located somewhere below the navel.
Zhu Ge had them on his body, too!
At the same time, a soft laugh echoed from a distance.
"Brother Zhu, you are so cruel~"
Hua Liusha could be seen approaching gracefully from afar. She wore simple clothes draped in the sunset’s glow. A few bright red mushrooms were coiled on top of her head, and there were woody-looking marks on her face.
Seeing Hua Liusha in this state, Zhu Ge’s pupils couldn’t help but contract.
In that instant, he finally confirmed in his heart what this god’s true form was.
"For us to live, you must die," Zhu Ge said coldly. "If the Teacher hadn’t left, would you have ever dared to invade?"
"Invade?" Hua Liusha let out a snicker.
"This whole world, these mountains and forests, are filled with life and death. Why is it that the life and death of your Human Race must be more important than that of all other living beings?"
"When your Human Race cooks lamb, slaughters cattle, kills chickens, and butchers pigs, why don’t you feel that you’re invading their pens and coops?"
"When your Human Race forages for mushrooms all over the mountains, just for a delicious taste, why don’t you feel that you’re invading the forest?"
"You have your Mushroom Festival, so why can’t we have a Human Flesh Festival?"
As she finished speaking, Hua Liusha’s smile grew even more bewitching.
At this point, nearly all the villagers below had collapsed to the ground, their bodies twitching.
And from almost every person’s body, two fleshy tumors were bulging out, specks of light twinkling within them.
One was located at the navel, and the other was at the center of the head.
One after another, bizarrely shaped, brightly colored mushrooms burst forth from the flesh, gaining new life.
Only a few people were spared.
"What delicious souls..."
"I was originally planning to raise your village just like you raise pigs and dogs. But thanks to you, Brother Zhu, I have to harvest them early now!"
"Today is the day I evolve to the next level!"