The husband's face was grim. "I knew she was a stubborn brat. You can't raise her to be loyal. Does she think she can survive just by running away like this?"
"If she avoids people in these mountains, she's not afraid of being snatched away by some wild beast!"
The wife cursed, "We should have tied her up! Why did we bring her out? We should have dragged her here tonight and taken her to see the Dragon God! What does it matter if she runs off now and dies outside? Where else are we going to find a child who meets the requirements?"
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox already knew that the Dragon God the wife mentioned was not the original Dragon God of the village, but the "Mountain God," the black snake, who was currently impersonating the Dragon God in the minds of these people.
It seemed that Xiao Miaomiao hadn't lied at all. This middle-aged couple was indeed malicious, and they hadn't wronged them in the slightest.
Ye Tiancheng's fists clenched as he watched them. If he hadn't been afraid that punching them would break the effect of the talismans, he might have already rushed forward.
The little fox's face also turned ashen. She couldn't believe that such parents existed in the world. But then, thinking that they were only Xiao Miaomiao's adoptive parents, there seemed to be nothing more to say. She could only conclude that the couple, who had their own children, couldn't empathize and treat an innocent little girl like this.
They adopted Xiao Miaomiao only to offer her as a sacrifice to the "Mountain God." Before that, they had cruelly bullied an innocent little girl. Had their conscience been eaten by dogs?
They had their own children, and by doing such things, weren't they afraid of retribution falling upon their own children?
They had no reverence for life at all.
Whenever they encountered such matters, it made one unable to help but think, when facing such situations, one would sincerely hope that retribution truly existed in this world.
Scum like them should be struck by lightning, damned forever, and never reincarnated.
And it wasn't just this couple who were scum. One could say that every follower of the "Mountain God" who worshipped him and made vows to him were all people who couldn't distinguish right from wrong and were devoid of humanity. Wasn't this reality terrifying?
If the "Mountain God" didn't exist, even if these people had various evil thoughts, they wouldn't be able to do many things due to human limitations. Yet, they and the "Mountain God" were in perfect sync. Once they met, they naturally became even more daring in committing inhuman acts.
Some people, even like Mei Mei, the owner of the guesthouse, were not worthy of any sympathy.
Being miserable oneself was not a reason to offer others as sacrifices and gain benefits. Taking another's life to extend one's own life was undoubtedly evil.
Therefore, in the final analysis, it was best to deal with that "Mountain God" as soon as possible. Even if it couldn't stop the evil intentions of the world, it was better to eliminate the existence that could amplify such evil intentions.
After all, without the "Mountain God," many of the evil deeds people committed could at least be contained within a controllable range and could be prevented. In fact, many people might never commit evil deeds in their lives if the "Mountain God" didn't incite their greed.
At the very least, it wouldn't be like now, where they either wouldn't commit evil deeds in their lives, or once they did, it would be irreversible evil deeds directly involving human lives.
Humans had seven emotions and six desires. Perhaps they couldn't prevent the generation of evil thoughts in others, but at least they could prevent these evil thoughts from being amplified, as most humans couldn't resist temptation.
Ye Tiancheng suddenly shivered.
He realized what was happening and immediately said to the little fox, "No, let's go! Follow the procession!"
The little fox asked confusedly, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Ye Tiancheng replied urgently, "They both said they were going to see the 'Dragon God' tonight! Otherwise, time will be too late!"
"This means that the time for those people to fulfill their wishes and offer sacrifices to the 'Mountain God,' that black snake, is tonight. If we don't hurry to stop it, how many people will be harmed tonight?!"
The little fox also understood instantly, and a chill ran down her spine.
"Yes, they are doing this tonight to fulfill their wishes! They only have this one chance a year!"
The two of them finally realized the urgency and no longer cared about the middle-aged couple. Anyway, they wouldn't be able to find Xiao Miaomiao again. The next time they might see Xiao Miaomiao would be at least after they were arrested and brought to justice.
If they were still alive.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox hurried and finally caught up with the procession. Fortunately, the procession had not ended. Although it was more than halfway through, it would still continue for some time before temporarily concluding.
After joining the procession, they listened to the conversations of some onlookers, tourists, and villagers, and roughly understood that after the procession ended, it was highly likely to be the time for wishing and fulfilling wishes.
At that time, most villagers who didn't believe in the current "Mountain God" would leave early after the procession ended. Those who remained would either be onlookers or those who knew what was going on.
Then, the sequence of events would likely be to enter the wishing phase first. In this situation, it would be convenient for some uninformed tourists to watch, and it would also allow the "Mountain God" to find opportunities to attract more followers.
After this phase ended, some newly attracted followers and those who had long been deceived would be kept behind, while other tourists would not be able to follow into the next phase and could only return.
It was just unknown how the "Mountain God" actually attracted followers and accurately filtered out other tourists.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox followed the procession closely. In this procession, there were countless innocent people who had no idea what would happen tonight. Those who brought them here, perhaps friends or relatives, actually harbored the thought of sacrificing them and were about to offer them as sacrifices to the so-called "Mountain God."
Gradually, the "Mountain God's" procession came to an end, and they returned to the original square, entering the wishing phase.
By this time, some people had already started to leave. Most of them were likely innocent tourists who didn't understand the situation. The remaining group included a considerable number of uninformed tourists and the majority of those with ulterior motives.
However, due to some people leaving, the venue was no longer so crowded.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox waited for the ritual to proceed slowly, observing the tourists around them, waiting for the crowd to thin out and then move on to the final wish-fulfillment phase.
The newly attracted followers were, it must be said, very conspicuous in the crowd. As it was their first time witnessing such a scene, their expressions were eager. Perhaps next year, they would be the ones returning here with sacrifices.
But now, Ye Tiancheng would not allow such a possibility to be realized.
He would put an end to all of this in the next few days, ensuring that this evil would not continue.
When it came to the wish-fulfillment phase, of course, sacrifices had to be offered first. Those chosen as sacrifices were naturally not aware of what was happening, or at least most of them definitely were not. Therefore, when they were offered, their expressions were exceptionally bewildered, completely unaware of what was happening, let alone what would happen next.
But at this point, Ye Tiancheng no longer intended to let the ritual continue.
Once the "Mountain God" began to fulfill wishes, it would be too late.
Ye Tiancheng prompted the little fox, "Little fox, we should start making our move soon. Are you ready?"
The little fox clutched the talisman in her hand and softly replied to Ye Tiancheng, "I'm almost ready. I'll try my best to control it and not harm any innocent people, minimizing casualties. If it's really difficult to manage, I'll also try to be careful and not let them get too seriously injured."
Although there were fewer people now, the number was still not small. In such a dense crowd, it was undoubtedly very difficult to avoid implicating the innocent. Ye Tiancheng also understood the little fox.
Getting slightly injured was better than losing one's life here.
Their purpose in making a move tonight was not to directly fight the "Mountain God," but mainly to stop the ritual. As long as they waited until tomorrow, Nie Chongyang and the others would arrive and begin evacuating the crowd. That would be the time when they should truly make their move.
The little fox saw the opportune moment and directly activated the talisman.
Without any warning, a bolt of lightning struck from the sky, directly hitting the sedan carrying the idol. The little fox used a lightning talisman and did not expect to heavily injure the "Mountain God," but this was undoubtedly the best way to stop it.
At least this way, the lightning would not strike ordinary people.
The bolt of lightning struck directly downwards, aiming at the sedan. At the same time, the "Mountain God," the black snake, which had already entered the idol within the sedan to facilitate its divine manifestation, also sensed the approaching danger very keenly. A very powerful energy erupted from the sedan, clashing with the bolt of lightning.
This had to be said, the lightning talisman was indeed a very useful type of talisman.
At least in this scenario, it was a very suitable talisman. Mountain spirits and monsters like the black snake were most afraid of heavenly lightning. Thunderbolts had a natural restraint effect on them, could serve as a significant deterrent, and could also harm them.
Even if the opponent was a bit more powerful and could resist some of the damage, due to the natural restraint of lightning on mountain spirits and monsters, even if they could resist it, they could not avoid getting injured.
For example, at this very moment, after the little fox activated the lightning talisman, the bolt of lightning that struck downwards met the energy within the sedan. Everyone present could immediately hear an extremely shrill and strange scream coming from the sedan, mixed with bursts of "hissing" sounds.
If anyone could hear clearly, or knew the origin of the "Mountain God," they would recognize it as the sound made by snakes.
"Ah!!! Who? Who is it?!"
The furious voice of the "Mountain God," the black snake, echoed from the sedan. The little fox, without hesitation, activated the lightning talisman again. Another bolt of heavenly lightning struck down. Under the impact of the forces, the entire sedan could no longer withstand it. The sedan compartment exploded on the spot, revealing an idol that was very familiar to Ye Tiancheng.
It was the same type that Ye Tiancheng had seen in the village chief's house before.
However, this idol, probably due to the effect of the little fox's lightning talisman, had clearly been damaged by the heavenly lightning. The idol had many scorched marks, and even some cracks.
And not only that.
What was exposed to everyone's eyes was not only the heavily injured idol but also a large black snake with its skin torn and flesh exposed. The large black snake had a pair of inconspicuous horns on its head.
The large black snake was seriously injured and kept rolling on the ground in pain.
All of this happened too quickly, leaving everyone completely unable to react.