Chapter 1 What's Going On?

"This… what exactly is going on here?" Luan Lihui stared at the hellish scene before him, his mind a complete blank.

"It's xueshehuo, also called zakuaihuo, one of the types of shehuo, and also the most special. It's most popular in the Shaanxi area. This folk custom is based on the story of Wu Song from the Water Margin avenging Wu Da by killing Ximen Qing. The content is terrifying, bloody, and very realistic," Yao Shunyu explained in a low voice.

Huang Jun stared at the strangely posed "corpses," his voice trembling. "So… so these people are wearing makeup?"

After calming down a little, they also noticed some problems. The blood on these "corpses" was all concentrated on their bodies and faces, and there was almost none on the ground. If they were really injured so badly, wouldn't there be a river of blood?

"Water Margin… I know it, but what does any of this have to do with it?" Luan Lihui stared at the strange clothing of these people, all colorful, and some in all black. He felt like these people had other plans.

Yao Shunyu had only heard Li Bai talk about the xueshehuo, but now it seemed different from what Li Bai had described. This was called Blood Maiden shehuo; it must be a unique custom of Blackwater Village.

"Dong…"

Before Yao Shunyu could think further, the sudden sound of a bell ringing made his heart tremble.

"Dong…"

"Dong…"

The bell sound came from the courtyard, the courtyard with the Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Childbirth) Temple. Huang Jun and Luan Lihui covered their ears, their eyes filled with fear.

After the third bell sound dissipated, all the villagers outside the courtyard who were wearing makeup stopped their movements, and knelt down suddenly towards the direction of the courtyard door. The blood-covered faces showed bulging veins, yet were filled with extremely devout expressions.

The next second, an extremely old, yet extremely loud shout that seemed to come from nowhere exploded, "Welcoming the Niangniang!"

The tightly closed black courtyard door suddenly opened, and a team of villagers with even more bloody and bizarre makeup walked out. They took stiff steps, their movements uniform, their faces raised high with their mouths split open, and their eyeballs bulging, as if imitating the fear and unwillingness of people before death. An indescribable aura of resentment spread out.

Even more terrifying things were to follow. A statue about two meters tall was sitting on a specially made giant palanquin, carried by more than a dozen strong villagers, slowly walking out of the courtyard.

A huge red veil covered the statue's head. It was the statue of Zhusheng Niangniang!

Yao Shunyu's pupils constricted violently. No, that's not right, this isn't a statue. This is Zhusheng Niangniang!

Although the statue was covered in a layer of yellow mud, one could still faintly see the dark green skin beneath the mud. The texture of the skin was very rough, like the skin of a rhinoceros, or elephant skin, covered in tiny wrinkles.

Almost instantly, Yao Shunyu realized that the purpose of these villagers tonight was not just to leave Blackwater Village. They… they actually wanted to carry Zhusheng Niangniang out as well!

No, it should be said that Zhusheng Niangniang was driving the villagers to carry it out of the village. They were all leaving!

Yao Shunyu didn't know what was outside Blackwater Village, but there might be a passage to the real world. The thought of such a monster descending on the real world, and the crisis it would cause, was absolutely catastrophic. The powerful reproductive ability of Zhusheng Niangniang would create countless monsters.

Destroy it!

Must kill it!

At least, it must not be allowed to leave Blackwater Village. At this moment, Yao Shunyu also understood why those people were desperately trying to blow up the bridge.

Getting closer, Yao Shunyu could see more clearly that Zhusheng Niangniang was being carried out with its back to them.

There were rules for ordinary statues entering and leaving temples. They had to be greeted by people, and they had to face inward when entering the temple, and face outward when leaving the temple, so that they could rightfully receive incense. But some evil things could not do this. Not only could they not do this, but they also had to cover their faces with cloth, otherwise they would be punished by heaven.

With a "boom," Zhusheng Niangniang's huge body crashed into the beam on the courtyard door. The great force actually collapsed the beam, and then swayed and swayed towards Yao Shunyu and the other two.

Luan Lihui and Huang Jun were dumbfounded. They didn't understand why these people were carrying out a sculpture.

Yao Shunyu had no intention of explaining it to them. If they knew that this was the real Zhusheng Niangniang, it would only cause unnecessary chaos.

Suddenly, all the villagers present stopped, and then stared blankly at Yao Shunyu and the other two, as if time had stopped at this moment.

Yao Shunyu, belatedly, immediately imitated the previous actions of the villagers and knelt on the ground. Huang Jun and Luan Lihui's knees also softened, and they knelt down.

After a few seconds, the team carrying Zhusheng Niangniang moved again, swaying and swaying past Yao Shunyu and the other two, heading towards the Blackwater River, the bridge that Li Bai and the others were responsible for.

After Zhusheng Niangniang passed, the villagers who had knelt outside the courtyard also stood up one after another, following behind the team. Yao Shunyu and the other two were also caught up in it.

Yao Shunyu followed silently behind the large palanquin, and with a slight lift of his head, he could meet Zhusheng Niangniang's red veil.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Yao Shunyu could always feel a pair of cold eyes shooting out from under the red veil.

In addition to this, in front of Zhusheng Niangniang, who was sitting cross-legged on the palanquin, there was also a person sitting in the same posture. This person was also carried by the palanquin, and it could be seen that their status was not low. It was an old woman, so old that she couldn't be any older. Her eye sockets were terribly sunken, as if her eyeballs had been dug out. The cyan-gray flesh on her face was loose. If it weren't for the fact that she was constantly twisting prayer beads in her hand, Yao Shunyu would have even thought that she was a dead person.

Being able to enjoy such treatment in Blackwater Village, that should be the village chief. Yao Shunyu remembered that Elder Sun had said that the village chief could communicate with Zhusheng Niangniang, and was the Niangniang's envoy in the village.

"Yao… Brother Yao, why do I feel like someone is constantly watching me?" Huang Jun didn't dare to raise his head, his eyes nervously observing the surrounding area within a very small range.

"Don't be afraid, it might be psychological," Yao Shunyu comforted him before saying, "It definitely won't be peaceful on the road later. Deal with the situation as it comes, and don't lose your life in vain because of nervousness and impulsiveness."

"What if… what if we get to the bridge and Sister Li and the others haven't repaired the bridge yet, or… or what if they just run away?" Luan Lihui's voice was very low. At this critical moment of life and death, he knew that it was strange for people to do anything. He had actually planned to follow Li Bai before. The women of Blackwater Village had a respected status. If something happened, Li Bai might be able to block it, but it didn't work out.

Hearing this, Yao Shunyu felt a surge of fire in his heart, and his voice was inevitably much stricter. "Just take care of yourself. Li Bai will never abandon us."

In fact, there was something that Yao Shunyu didn't say explicitly. He didn't know whether Li Bai would abandon Huang Jun and Luan Lihui, but she would definitely not abandon himself.