“Yang Gui’s” eyes gradually cleared, and he instinctively struggled a bit. Chen Fuzhou then released his grip.
“What’s going on?” Bu Quegan, having regained consciousness, rubbed his aching head and glanced at Yan Lin, who was still unconscious on the ground, asking in a puzzled tone.
“We’ve been pulled into an illusion realm. You’re not Bu Quegan now—you’re ‘Yang Gui.'” Seeing Bu Quegan regain consciousness so quickly, Jinshu also breathed a sigh of relief, lazily sitting down to the side. She had thought Bu Quegan would be unconscious for a long time like Yan Lin, but it seemed only A Cui was somewhat different.
“Why does my whole body hurt?” Bu Quegan was still a bit dazed.
He rubbed his arms with a bewildered expression. Jinshu quickly changed the subject: “Senior Brother, you must be disoriented from fainting. Don’t dwell on these trivial things—it’s probably some aftereffect of the illusion realm. Hurry and think about the memories belonging to Yang Gui in your mind. See if you can find anything noteworthy?”
Chen Fuzhou added, “These two bodies of ours are too young, so what they know is limited.”
Bu Quegan was swayed by their words. Looking at the trusting gazes of his junior brother and sister, he firmly nodded, pulled over a chair, sat to one side, and closed his eyes to recall.
The baby in Chen Fuzhou’s arms had been away from its mother for too long and had begun to whimper. Jinshu leaned over, gently poking the baby’s soft cheek with her finger, and sighed helplessly, “How much longer is she going to cry? We can’t take her with us when we go about our business later.”
Chen Fuzhou clumsily imitated A Cui, rocking the swaddled baby, but Yang Zhen only cried louder.
“Ah, your posture is wrong. You can’t hold her like that—you’re making her uncomfortable.” Recalling how nurses held newborns in the hospital, Jinshu reached out to adjust Chen Fuzhou’s arms. The young man grew even more flustered, and Jinshu couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of him blushing in his frantic efforts.
“Let me.” A hand steadily lifted the swaddled baby from Chen Fuzhou’s arms—it was Yan Lin.
“Huh? Senior Sister, when did you wake up?”
“Just now.”
“Senior Sister, is there anything important in A Cui’s memories?”
Yan Lin furrowed her brows, thinking for a moment before replying, “Nothing particularly strange. It’s not much different from the background story she told us before. She seems like an ordinary girl.”
Chen Fuzhou also unconsciously frowned. “The master of this illusion realm seems to be especially protective of her.”
“Ouch!” Bu Quegan opened his eyes. “There’s so much stuff in this head—it’s exhausting.”
Jinshu looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Well? Did you find anything unusual?”
Bu Quegan pursed his lips. “Nothing unusual. But there is one important thing. This village holds the sacrificial ceremony we saw last time at regular intervals, right? Actually, only married men in the village can participate in this ceremony. Yang Gui and A Cui have been married for almost a year. Because the family is too poor, Yang Gui goes up and down the mountain to transport daily necessities for the villagers, relying on this hard labor to support the household. Each trip takes at least ten days or as long as several months. And the particularly coincidental thing is that, over the past year, every time Yang Gui went down the mountain, it happened to coincide with the sacrificial ceremony, so he hasn’t participated even once to this day.”
“Just before I returned, the village chief specially sent someone to tell me that I must attend tomorrow morning’s sacrificial ceremony, and he particularly emphasized that I must bring Yang Zhen along.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Fuzhou also stood up. He walked to the window, pushed open the half-closed window, and saw the bright moon hanging high in the sky, with several old crows cawing hoarsely as they flew toward the horizon.
He said thoughtfully, “I suppose I’ll also be notified to attend the ceremony when I return.”
The baby in Yan Lin’s arms had fallen asleep again, sucking on its fingers, seemingly completely unaware that the person holding it had changed: “Oh, I remember now.”
Yan Lin gently placed the swaddled baby on the bed and stood up as well: “You two are from the family we visited back then!”
“The one where the mistress went mad.”
Upon hearing this, Jinshu widened her eyes. After inheriting Ah Hua’s memories, she realized Ah Hua was an incredibly resilient girl. Logically, having finally escaped a poor, patriarchal family and married into a wealthy household, how could she have ended up becoming a madwoman instead?
“Do you remember what I said at the time?”
Jinshu recalled the scene: “It seems that after her child died, Ah Hua went mad. She kept screaming that someone had come back for her? Something about her dead child coming to demand her life? And that she was sorry for her child?”
“Exactly! By then, she had become emaciated, her loose clothes hanging on her like a skeleton. With disheveled hair, she crawled out of the house like a ghost, shrieking that many babies were tugging at her clothes, demanding her life! At the time, I couldn’t understand it no matter how hard I thought. Those children who died were all harmed by monster beasts—what did it have to do with her?”
Thinking that she was now Ah Hua, Jinshu couldn’t help but shudder, feeling a chill run down her spine.
“Another matter involving children? This ceremony is likely closely tied to bearing children and continuing the family line.”
“Wait a minute?” Bu Quegan interrupted, “Where did Junior Brother go?”
Jinshu was stunned. The protagonist wasn’t here—could he have gone off alone to fight the big boss? And perhaps seize some opportunity others couldn’t obtain?
Chen Fuzhou spoke up, “I haven’t discovered Junior Brother Li’s whereabouts yet. It’s getting late, so the two of us should head back first. I’ll also attend tomorrow’s ceremony. Senior Sister, you should quietly follow along. The master of this illusion realm likely assigned us these identities for a reason. Junior Brother Li is probably in a similar situation to us, and we’ll most likely run into him at tomorrow’s ceremony.”
With that, he tilted his chin toward Jinshu, “Shall we go?”
Jinshu stood up, stretched her limbs, and nodded to Yan Lin and the others, “Then, Senior Sister, we’ll take our leave now. See you tomorrow.”
The two stepped out of the room. Inside, Bu Quegan was still asking Yan Lin in a puzzled tone, “Why do I still ache all over? How come you look completely fine?”
Hearing this, Jinshu stumbled a couple of steps and couldn’t help but say, “Whatever you do, don’t let Senior Brother know it was us who did it!”
Upon returning home, the two were indeed informed about attending the ceremony the next day. Chen Fuzhou obediently agreed. Early the next morning, he got up and followed the married elders of the household toward the ancestral hall at the village center. Jinshu also quietly slipped out, avoiding the main crowd heading to the ancestral hall and taking a longer, roundabout route to the meeting spot she had arranged with Yan Lin.
The weather today was quite pleasant, with a bright sun hanging high in the sky. Warm and radiant sunlight bathed the earth, enveloping the ancestral hall in a golden glow that made it appear solemn and sacred, like a palace that inspired awe and hesitation.
Jinshu felt both curiosity and trepidation. The truth about Yanjian Village was finally about to be revealed. Her heart pounded restlessly, as if wrapped in a poorly made woolen cushion, prickling with an unbearable itch.
Spotting Yan Lin waiting for her by a corner of the wall outside the ancestral hall, Jinshu quickened her pace and jogged over.
“Senior Sister!”
“Slow down, be careful not to trip. The ceremony will officially begin after three drumbeats, followed by the ritual of offering incense and paying respects to the divine statue. I suspect the most important matters will be discussed afterward.”
Jinshu listened intently. The ancestral hall was currently filled with a cacophony of voices, making it difficult to discern any clear words. “It seems it hasn’t started yet. If this were an ordinary situation, we could simply cast an invisibility spell and observe openly. But in this illusion realm, we’re no different from mortals, so we must proceed with utmost caution. If we’re caught, it’s over.”
Yan Lin frowned deeply. “I had planned to listen from outside the courtyard, but from here, it’s impossible to make out anything being said inside. It looks like we’ll have to find another way.”
After a moment of thought, Jinshu smiled. “I have an idea! Senior Sister, follow me. I know what to do.”
The ceremony unfolded exactly as Yan Lin had described.
The two of them hid beneath the wooden table holding the divine statue, lifting a corner of the heavy cloth draped over it. From their concealed spot, two pairs of large, bright eyes peered out cautiously, scanning their surroundings.
Bu Quegan and Chen Fuzhou were attending the ceremony for the first time and were placed at the back of the crowd. Yang Zhen, whom they had been instructed to bring along, was nowhere to be seen. Yang Dafu stood before the group, holding incense sticks, and bowed three times reverently toward the divine statue.
“May the Child-Giving Goddess bless our village with many sons this year.”
After his bow, he stepped aside and addressed the crowd. “All of you who have married in recent years, come forward and pay your respects to the Child-Giving Goddess. Without her, our village would likely have become a kingdom of daughters. Sincerely pray to the Goddess to grant you sons, understood?”
Several men lined up in order, each taking incense sticks and bowing devoutly before the statue. Bu Quegan and Chen Fuzhou were among the last in line, both wearing grim expressions, clearly reluctant to pay homage to this so-called “Child-Giving Goddess.”
Soon, it was Bu Quegan’s turn. He shuffled forward reluctantly, grabbed the incense sticks, and gave a perfunctory bow. Yang Dagui, standing nearby, noticed his lack of enthusiasm and his face darkened. He stepped forward and clamped a hand on Bu Quegan’s shoulder.
“Don’t you dare put on that attitude. Do you know this ceremony is being held for your sake? You had a worthless girl, and now you dare treat the Goddess with such disrespect? Be careful you never have a son and end your family line! Now bow properly and see what the Child-Giving Goddess has to say!”
Yang Dagui knew Yang Dafu was a pushover, so his words were particularly harsh. Bu Quegan seethed with anger and was about to shake off the fat hand gripping his shoulder when he felt something strike his foot with a light but distinct thud.
He lowered his head to look and saw a round grape rolling away from his foot—it was one of the offerings that had just been placed there today. Bu Quegan glanced toward the table in surprise and saw a pale, delicate hand silently emerge from beneath it, making a few subtle pressing motions.
Bu Quegan understood this was a signal for him not to act rashly, so he suppressed the anger in his heart and obediently bowed three times toward the “Child-Giving Goddess.”
While his head was still lowered, he heard Yang Dafu’s greasy voice excitedly exclaim, “The Goddess has nodded! The Goddess has nodded! Quickly bring that little girl from Yang Gui’s family. Our Yanjian Village will surely prosper with more children this year. Hurry, all of you!”
Several people hurriedly stepped over the threshold and ran toward the side room outside the ancestral hall. Bu Quegan raised his head and saw the lotus flower held by the “Child-Giving Goddess” emitting an unusual glow. On the offering table, a vividly crafted paper lotus flower had also appeared out of nowhere. The smile on the face of the “Child-Giving Goddess,” seated high upon the platform, grew even wider, the corners of her lips stretching almost to the edges of her temples.