Volume 2: The Days of Playing with Monkeys in the Village
Attending the Sacrificial Worship Ceremony
Ba le ge ba ba ba ba ba
Shen Maomao believed his nonsense. This old bastard is terribly wicked!
Judging by the level of brainwashing among the villagers, they would absolutely not agree with everything the village chief said. Moreover, the village isn’t short of money at all. How could they possibly use such an important ritual as a gimmick to make money, allowing so many non-believers to watch?
He even said that worshipping gods is feudal superstition). But you, tama (a euphemism for a vulgar curse word), explain what happened to the players who disappeared or died?
Yun Shengjin also said, “Previously, one of our friends was sent to the back mountain just for looking at the deity statue. When he came back, he was neither human nor ghost. A few days later, he disappeared again… How do you explain this?”
The village chief gave a dry laugh: “You all should know what happened to Liu Zhuangshi’s family, right? If he hadn’t offended the deity statue, this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened.”
His statement is self-contradictory. One moment he says believing in gods is feudal superstition, the next he says these things happen because they offended the deity statue. So does this god exist or not?
After saying this, the village chief also realized the inappropriateness and changed his words: “However, this is all what Liu Zhuangshi himself believed. He was confused at the time. I was afraid he would lose his mind and do something irreparable to your friend, so I quickly had someone send him to the monkey cave in the back mountain. It’s very safe there. As you said, he came back. As for why he disappeared again, that has nothing to do with us, right?”
Yun Shengjin looked at the others.
Lou Jingmo has always been expressionless, with an inscrutable look, who knows what she’s thinking.
Beside her, Shen Maomao imitated her appearance two or three times, also looking like a seasoned player not to be trifled with. Because there hasn’t been much communication between the two sides, he still doesn’t know that Shen Maomao is Rabbit.
Finally, his gaze quickly swept over the two newcomers, not considering them important.
After looking around, he said to the village chief, “We need to discuss and consider this.”
The village chief nodded: “Starting today, we need to prepare for the ritual. The date for the ritual is set for tomorrow evening. Give me an answer as soon as possible. Why don’t you discuss it here for a while?”
Hearing this, Shen Maomao’s expression changed.
The timing of the ritual was too coincidental, she couldn’t help but overthink.
The ritual on the evening of the sixth day, and shortly after it ends, the great massacre begins. If they can’t find the exit after the ritual ends, only one lucky person will be able to leave the game…
She didn’t think that lucky person would be herself.
After they agreed to discuss for a while, the village chief generously left the reception room, giving them space to talk.
The room fell into a suffocating silence. No one spoke first. Shao Mei looked anxiously at Ye Tingnan, then immediately lowered her head.
Shen Maomao pretended to be a fool, staring intently at the pattern on the teacup lid.
At this life-or-death moment, the three inexperienced newcomers still didn’t have the right to speak.
After another long while, Yun Shengjin finally couldn’t bear it anymore and asked, “I can’t make this decision alone. What do you all think?” Although he said this, he was mainly looking at Lou Jingmo.
The four people in the reception room all focused their attention on Lou Jingmo.
Lou Jingmo replied concisely: “Go.”
Yun Shengjin narrowed his eyes, as if he was plotting something. He nodded and then looked at Ye Tingnan and Shao Mei: “Are you going?”
Shao Mei was almost frightened out of her wits by the recent changes. At this point, she had completely lost her own judgment and could only cast a pleading look at Ye Tingnan.
Ye Tingnan had no time to receive her pitiful and delicate gaze.
He didn’t know whether they should go or not, but he felt that Lou Jingmo was reliable. So when he saw that Lou Jingmo wanted to go, he didn’t hesitate much and chimed in: “We’ll go too.”
Shao Mei nodded repeatedly.
Seeing this, Yun Shengjin said, “Since everyone wants to participate in the ritual, I’ll go notify the village chief now…”
Shen Maomao stood up: “I’ll go with you.”
Yun Shengjin paused his steps and looked at her with a half-smile: “What? Don’t trust me?”
Relying on Lou Jingmo’s support, Shen Maomao didn’t give him face at all: “Don’t you have a clear picture of what kind of person you are?”
Yun Shengjin’s face turned very unpleasant. He let out a cold snort and walked ahead.
Shen Maomao made an “OK” hand gesture to Lou Jingmo and followed closely behind him.
The two went together to find the village chief in other rooms. Under Shen Maomao’s surveillance, Yun Shengjin didn’t pull any tricks and honestly relayed the message.
The village chief, beaming with joy, returned to the reception room with the two and said to the remaining five players: “Since that’s the case, you should first return to your lodgings. Someone will arrange what you should do during the ritual.”
Before leaving, Yun Shengjin asked the remaining two newcomers: “Do you want to follow me?”
Ye Tingnan said with a flattering smile: “Brother Yun, we don’t dare to switch rooms. Could you condescend (屈尊降貴, a four-character idiom expressing humility) to come and stay with us?”
Yun Shengjin smiled back: “I don’t need anyone’s protection.”
Ye Tingnan: “What a coincidence, we don’t need it either.”
Shao Mei glanced at the two of them, then stepped forward and grabbed Ye Tingnan’s hand: “Brother Tingnan, I’m scared. Let’s go back quickly…”
“Alright, then seniors, we’ll take our leave now.” Ye Tingnan nodded to the group, his attitude and tone completely beyond reproach.
After saying this, the two of them left hand in hand. Lou Jingmo, seeing Yun Shengjin’s pitch-black expression (angry face), felt like laughing but ultimately didn’t.
“Let’s go,” she said, then walked straight out of the village chief’s house. Shen Maomao hurriedly followed.
Before leaving, she glanced back at him. Yun Shengjin flashed her a smile, but the ill intent that flowed from his smile frightened her so much that she dared not look any longer.
“Sister Lou, do you think…” After walking some distance, Shen Maomao couldn’t help but ask, “Is Yun Shengjin planning to…”
Lou Jingmo nodded: “He wants to kill everyone and become invincible directly.”
Shen Maomao was silent for two seconds, then said, “How can he bring himself to do such a thing…”
“Shen Maomao,” Lou Jingmo suddenly became very serious, “As a person, one needs to have at least a basic moral bottom line. Do you understand?”
Shen Maomao felt that she should understand.
If a person has no moral bottom line, even if they can survive by stepping on others’ lives, can the person who survives still be considered human?
After causing others’ deaths, doesn’t Yun Shengjin ever have nightmares?
“Survival is important, but some things are more important than survival,” Lou Jingmo said.
Shen Maomao smiled: “I know, ‘every man has to die, but death can be as heavy as Mount Tai or as light as a feather’ (a famous quote from Sima Qian). I want to live too, but I’m a coward and don’t dare to do bad things.”
Lou Jingmo pressed her lips together: “If only everyone had your level of understanding.”
Many people, in order to survive, have forgotten the popular saying among veteran players – 《The Confession Game》 selects only those who are guilty, and the game creators hope that players can recognize their mistakes and repent for them through fear and torment. Most people no longer take it seriously.
Shen Maomao proudly lifted her chest and head: “Although I smoke, drink, and get perms (抽煙喝酒燙頭, a colloquial phrase describing rebellious behavior), I know I’m a good girl!”
Lou Jingmo glanced at her sideways: “Ace, can’t beat that.” (對A，要不起, a reference to poker games)
Shen Maomao: “Qiao li ma?” (敲裏馬, an internet slang expression of disbelief, derived from “seriously?”)
Lou Jingmo used her pinky to clean her ear, quickening her pace: “Let’s go, let’s see what arrangements the Zhang family has.”
Shen Maomao: “Wo kao! (我靠, an exclamation of surprise) Is having big breasts so great? Can you mock people just because you have big breasts? Don’t you know? Every flat-chested girl is an angel with broken wings, only by embracing each other can we spread our wings and fly?”
Lou Jingmo: “You non-mainstream kid.”
Shen Maomao: “??” She declared that she would unfollow for three minutes! (脫粉三分鐘, an internet expression for temporary disappointment in an idol)
…As soon as they entered the Zhang family’s courtyard, Shen Maomao noticed the family’s deity statue.
The red cloth that originally covered the deity statue had been removed, revealing its true appearance before them.
It was a stone monkey slightly smaller than the statue in Liu Zhuangshi’s house, but on the stone monkey’s face… human features were carved.
Shen Maomao’s eyes widened: “Sister Lou… isn’t that the face of that mischievous child?”
Lou Jingmo looked carefully for a moment and nodded.
Last year, the Zhang family prayed for their grandson’s health during the ritual, the Liu family for their daughter-in-law to get pregnant, and it’s unknown what others prayed for, but abnormalities certainly occurred in all cases.
Zhang Jianshe’s granddaughter said her brother was a monkey, Liu Zhuangshi’s daughter-in-law gave birth to a bunch of baby monkeys, children liked to imitate others’ actions, and the old grandmother caught insects from tree holes to eat…
As she pieced things together, Shen Maomao felt she might have grasped something important. She followed the trail of her inspiration, adding in the monkey god statue and the village’s main source of income. An idea formed in her mind like unraveling a cocoon.
“Sister Lou…” Shen Maomao tugged at Lou Jingmo’s sleeve, “Tell me… is a monkey valuable?”
Lou Jingmo said: “If we can’t escape tomorrow, you’ll know the answer to that question.”
“Do you know something?!”
Lou Jingmo nodded: “We are tomorrow’s sacrificial offerings. I have a general idea of what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Shen Maomao exclaimed in shock: “How do you know?”
Lou Jingmo curled her lips: “By using my brain to think.”
Shen Maomao: “…” Forget it, she wouldn’t ask anymore. Asking too much would surely lead to being mocked for low IQ.
Seeing that she didn’t continue asking, Lou Jingmo’s face actually showed a hint of disappointment.
Shen Maomao: “…” Ni ma de (尼瑪的, a mild curse expression), what are you disappointed about!
Zhang Jianshe and his wife came out to greet them, leading them into the courtyard. Auntie Zhang asked eagerly: “How is it, girls? Will you participate in the ritual?”
Lou Jingmo said: “We will.”
The couple sighed in relief: “Then auntie will boil some water for you. Why don’t you go upstairs now to take a bath and prepare for tomorrow’s ritual?” As they spoke, they were about to lead the two upstairs.
Lou Jingmo glanced at Shen Maomao.
Shen Maomao received the signal and started firing questions like a little machine gun, tu tu tu tu: “Auntie, what time does the ritual start tomorrow? Where do we depart from? Where’s the exact location? Besides bathing in advance, what else do we need to do? Are there any taboos? What’s the specific process of the ritual? Around what time will it end? Will the Monkey God really show its divine power? If it does, can we capture it on camera?”
Auntie Zhang and Zhang Jianshe: “…”
Shen Maomao: “Oh, right, Uncle Zhang, Auntie Zhang, why does your deity statue have that little kid’s appearance? Does this have any special meaning? Won’t the deity statue feel disrespected now that non-believers have seen it? You’re not going to press our heads down and make us kowtow to the statue, are you? By the way, can we take photos of the deity statue? Would your family be willing to stand in front of the statue for a photo that I can take out to promote? Isn’t your village planning to develop tourism? If it develops well, can I get free admission when I come to play again in the future…”
Two lines of cold sweat ran down Auntie Zhang’s forehead.
The author has something to say:
The case has been cracked “ba le ge ba ba ba ba ba” (破案了叭了個叭叭叭叭叭, an internet expression using onomatopoeia to emphasize excitement or surprise) by Shen Maomao!!
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