Volume 2: The Days of Playing with Monkeys in the Village
Evil God
Her family does not have a deity statue
Mrs. Zhang took the child away. The little brat lay on his mother’s back, staring at her without blinking.
On the day she first arrived, Shen Maomao was terrified by him and had always been a bit afraid of him. But she felt that ghosts and monsters were like vicious dogs – the weaker and more afraid you are, the more they want to stare at you and bite. So she mustered up her courage, widened her big eyes, and stared back at the child without blinking. Only when his mother carried him into the house did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Lou Jingmo kept staring blankly at the jujube tree. The eyes in the photo were very clear; she noticed something unusual without looking too carefully. But in reality, where the eyes should be, there was only a small hollow, just big enough for a human eye, as if tempting her to put her eye against it.
She felt somewhat tempted, her eyes fixated on the tree hollow, her right leg shaking uncontrollably, struggling to resist the desire to step forward and take a look.
This kind of thought was dangerous. Who knows what’s inside the tree hollow, and besides, there’s no light inside, so she probably wouldn’t be able to see anything clearly. There was really no need to go over and offer up her eye.
She relied on her willpower to sit on the bench, her buttocks as if rooted, not moving an inch.
After watching for a while, her ears caught the breathy sound coming from Shen Maomao’s mouth beside her.
That sound, though very faint, was like an alarm bell, jolting her out of that mystical state she was in just now.
She suddenly turned her head and saw Shen Maomao with her big eyes wide open, cheeks puffed up, looking like an angry little frog. She was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud: “Shen Guagua? What are you looking at?”
Shen Maomao: “How can you just give people nicknames so casually?”
Lou Jingmo deliberately changed the subject, warning her: “Don’t stare at this tree for no reason, it’s easy to get entranced.”
Shen Maomao took the bait: “How entranced?” She deliberately glanced at it provocatively, then quickly averted her gaze, focusing intently on the goddess’s calm face-pinching, vividly illustrating what it means to be both provocative and cowardly.
Lou Jingmo felt like laughing again: “Remember where the eyes were in the photo? Now there’s a tree hollow there, no eyes. You can try staring at it, and in about a minute, you’ll find yourself unable to resist wanting to put your eye up close to look.”
Shen Maomao waved her hands repeatedly: “No, no, I won’t look.” In case there was something inside and a finger poked out, she’d have to play this round as a one-eyed dragon.
Today was the fourth day of the game, and Shen Maomao had a slight inkling of the plot.
Every family in the village worships the Monkey God. The Monkey God turns misfortune into fortune, cures all diseases, and can even f*cking grant children. But according to the actual situation: The Monkey God made the Zhang family’s little grandson smart by actually replacing the original child with a monkey; it made Liu Zhuangshi’s wife pregnant, but she’s pregnant with a bunch of little monkeys…
Where did the Monkey God come from? Who exactly is this deity? These things are still unknown.
However, based on the above, this is hardly a righteous god that can bless its followers, but rather seems more like an evil god.
Not long after, Zhang Aiguo returned from the meeting at the village chief’s house.
As soon as he entered the gate, he first saw Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo sitting in the courtyard, then somewhat unnaturally averted his gaze. He didn’t even greet the two of them and hurriedly went into the inner room.
Lou Jingmo stood up from the small stool: “Something’s up.”
“What’s wrong?”
Lou Jingmo didn’t answer her question, but instead instructed: “I’ll go eavesdrop a bit. You wait in the courtyard, and don’t look at the jujube tree.”
Shen Maomao nodded, watching as she tiptoed into the house.
Only she was left in the courtyard. A cool breeze brushed over her body, and the leaves of the jujube tree behind her rustled loudly, asserting its presence.
“Rabbit,” someone suddenly called out to her. She turned around and saw Wei Yu standing under the tree, not knowing when she had arrived there.
Why was Wei Yu here? Hadn’t she gone out with Wang Xiaoming to search for clues?
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Shen Maomao took a step back.
Wei Yu said, “Wang Xiaoming is injured. I can’t bring him back alone. Can you help me?”
Shen Maomao took another step back: “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Didn’t you say that if I had any difficulties, I could come to you for help? If it’s within your ability, can’t you help us?” Wei Yu pleaded.
Shen Maomao hesitated: “Is Wang Xiaoming badly hurt?”
“Very badly.”
“Is he bleeding?”
“He’s lost a lot of blood…”
Shen Maomao put on a sad expression: “I’m sorry, actually I faint at the sight of blood…”
Wei Yu: “…”
Shen Maomao suggested: “Why don’t you wait a moment, I’ll go in and call Xiaolou, and have her go with you to rescue him.”
Wei Yu looked at her deeply: “She won’t go. You know better than anyone how cold-blooded she is, don’t you?”
“You’re talking bullshit!” Shen Maomao couldn’t stand anyone speaking ill of her goddess. She immediately put her hands on her hips and confronted Wei Yu, “Xiaolou is beautiful and kind-hearted, she can be salty or sweet, she’s not cold-blooded at all, she’s just tsundere! Do you know how hard she tries? How can you say that about her? She even tried to find clues and complete the level with a 40-degree fever, what right do you have to call her cold-blooded?!”
Wei Yu: “…”
Shen Maomao: “You don’t know anything! Yet you call her cold-blooded! You’re profiting from others’ misfortunes! I never thought you were this kind of person. Xiaolou is practically a fairy, I won’t allow you to say anything bad about her!”
Wei Yu: “…”
Shen Maomao: “I’m trying to help you out of kindness, yet you speak ill of Xiaolou! You’re simply not human! Pah! You don’t even know how wonderful Xiaolou is! What right do you have to talk about her? Are you close enough to her to judge her? How do you know she wouldn’t agree to rescue someone? She would definitely go! Do you dare to wait here for her to come out?!”
Wei Yu: “Forget it, I’ll go rescue him myself.” After saying this, she turned and walked out of the Zhang family’s place.
Shen Maomao watched her walk away. Only when she could no longer see her figure did she sit down on the small stool with weak legs, still feeling the lingering fear.
In that moment when she had locked eyes with Wei Yu earlier, Shen Maomao noticed that her eyes were a beautiful light brown, warm like sunlight.
After waiting outside for less than ten minutes, Lou Jingmo came out together with Zhang Aiguo’s wife.
Shen Maomao stood up to greet them but didn’t initiate conversation.
Zhang Aiguo’s wife said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to the small store.”
Lou Jingmo kept her eyes straight ahead, also not making a sound.
Shen Maomao guessed that Lou Jingmo had been discovered, so she used going to the supermarket as an excuse. She followed along inconspicuously, trying to communicate with her through eye contact.
Lou Jingmo continued to look straight ahead.
Shen Maomao gave up on communicating.
Lingyuan Village had a very small grocery store on the south side of the village. It sold some daily necessities, cigarettes, alcohol, and snacks. It didn’t even have a sign, so they hadn’t noticed such a place before.
The store was very dimly lit, with a damp smell. Inside, there was a counter with food and other items piled on it haphazardly. An old woman sat behind the counter, drowsy, lazily fanning herself with a split bamboo fan.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Lou Jingmo lightly tapped the counter with her index finger: “I’d like to buy something.”
The old woman lifted her eyelids, glanced at her, and asked unhurriedly: “What do you want to buy?”
“502 super glue,” Lou Jingmo said.
The old woman slowly got up and started searching on the counter, stirring up a cloud of dust.
A small, pitch-black insect crawled past Shen Maomao’s feet. Zhang Aiguo’s wife let out a scream, stepped back twice, and said, “I… I’ll wait for you outside!” Then she rushed out.
As soon as she left, the old woman began talking to Lou Jingmo: “Outsiders?”
Shen Maomao chimed in: “We’re here to take photos in the village.”
The old woman laughed, with a hint of mockery: “What’s worth photographing in this dump?”
Shen Maomao lied through her teeth: “Your village has beautiful mountains and clear waters, with talented people and a spirit of the land. It’s perfect for photography!”
“Heh,” the old woman said languidly, “Talented people and spirit of the land…” as if lamenting something.
Shen Maomao asked her: “What’s wrong, Grandma?”
The old woman glanced at her: “Nothing. Found it!” She handed a small white bottle to Lou Jingmo, “One yuan.”
Lou Jingmo took out a hundred-yuan banknote.
“I can’t make change,” the old woman waved her hand.
Lou Jingmo said with difficulty: “This is all I have.”
The old woman thought for a moment, then said: “Never mind, it’s a gift for you.”
The two thanked her and prepared to leave. Before they went out the door, the old woman said in a low voice: “Outsiders, don’t believe in gods so easily…”
Shen Maomao paused and looked back, but the old woman had already closed her eyes again and was no longer paying attention to them.
Lou Jingmo said: “Let’s go.”
The three remained silent all the way. When they arrived at the Zhang family’s house, Zhang Aiguo’s wife left them with a “Call me if you need anything,” and hurriedly went inside, closing the door behind her, probably afraid that Lou Jingmo would continue eavesdropping.
With only the two of them left in the courtyard, Shen Maomao immediately said: “Mine is more urgent, let me tell you first! After you went in, Wei Yu suddenly appeared and told me Wang Xiaoming was injured and asked me to help, but she appeared so suddenly that I didn’t dare to follow her. Should we go check on the situation now?”
Lou Jingmo immediately grasped the key point: “Go where?”
Shen Maomao: “…I forgot to ask.”
Lou Jingmo said: “Then let’s walk around and look for them.”
Shen Maomao’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but smile.
When she had confidently told Wei Yu earlier that Lou Jingmo would definitely help, she wasn’t actually sure in her heart. Now, hearing what Lou Jingmo said, she couldn’t help but think, “I really didn’t misjudge her.”
Lou Jingmo called to her: “What are you grinning about? We can talk while we walk.”
Shen Maomao added: “Actually, I’m a bit suspicious of Wei Yu. Her eyes are light brown…” The eyes in the tree hollow were also light brown, though a bit murkier.
“It could be her, but not necessarily. Let’s check the village entrance first,” Lou Jingmo said as they walked, and began to recount her experience.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Earlier, she had silently snuck into the house and hid outside the door to listen to the Zhang family’s conversation. Because she went in a bit late, she only heard Zhang Jiansheng telling Zhang Aiguo about the sacrifice being moved up. The whole family gathered to praise the Monkey God and discussed the sacrificial offering for this ceremony.
“The so-called offering,” Lou Jingmo said, “is a member of the Zhang family.”
Shen Maomao was stunned: “They’re using their own family members as offerings?!”
“In their understanding, becoming an offering isn’t something dangerous, but an honor. The person who becomes the offering seems to receive blessings. Their little grandson was last year’s offering.”
“Did all the offerings turn into monkeys? And the villagers don’t know about it?”
“I’m not sure either. I was discovered, so I made up an excuse about going to the supermarket. They sent Zhang Aiguo’s wife to take me there, and you know what happened after that.”
Shen Maomao nodded: “Speaking of which, that old lady seemed to know something. She even advised us not to believe in gods…”
Lou Jingmo: “Didn’t you notice? There was no deity statue in her shop.”
The author has something to say:
One more chapter!
This chapter has less filler, so I’d like to thank all the cuties who have favorited, commented, subscribed, and tipped! Thank you for your continuous support!