The village chief has instructed that matters concerning the sacrifice should not be mentioned to outsiders.
Fortunately, he only mentioned the sacrifice and did not reveal too many details.
Looking at Ada's hurriedly leaving back, Xu Chunniang looked thoughtful.
It seems that this so-called sacrifice may be the key to leaving this soulless place.
In the next few days, new "outsiders" continued to enter the village.
Without exception, these people are cultivators who entered the Tiandao Palace like Xu Chunniang.
But not long after they entered the village, they mysteriously disappeared and no one knew where they went.
"I heard that two more outsiders came this morning. There are so many outsiders coming to the village recently."
"It's strange to say that so many outsiders came to the village and left again, and only the three who came at the beginning are still here."
"What's so strange about that? They must have sneaked away because our village is so run-down."
The children chatted for a while and soon noticed the bone blade that Xu Chunniang was polishing in her hand. Their eyes lit up.
"What a beautiful knife, made of tiger bones!"
"It looks much more impressive than my father's bow and arrow!"
A group of children stared at the bone blade with envy. Finally, someone mustered up the courage to step forward and said, "Hello, stranger, can you lend this to us to play with?"
Xu Chunniang glanced at them and said nothing.
She has been wandering around the village for several days these days, asking around for information about the sacrifice.
However, whenever she mentioned these two words, this group of simple and enthusiastic villagers would become nervous and deliberately avoid the topic.
So after asking around for a few days, I still couldn't get any more information.
All I know is that this so-called sacrifice must be held in the ancestral land, and that more than one village will participate in the sacrifice.
Xu Chunniang had no choice but to try to get the answer from these children.
"Where is the farthest place you have ever been?"
However, the children's answers disappointed her.
“We never left the village.”
"I was not allowed to leave the village until I was twelve years old. My father said I was too young."
They answered absentmindedly, their eyes still fixed on the bone blade in Xu Chunniang's hand, obviously not giving up.
Xu Chunniang's fingers carelessly stroked the bone blade. "You just said that many outsiders disappeared. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true. There were a few outsiders living in the house next to mine, but I went to check and there was no one in the house."
"They must have thought our village was shabby, so they sneaked away."
Xu Chunniang heard what she wanted to hear and handed the bone blade to them, "I'll let you play with it for a while, but be careful not to hurt yourself."
The children got what they wanted and cheered. They carefully raised the bone blades and played with them aside.
Xu Chunniang picked up another tiger bone from the ground and began to polish it, thinking of the two strange monks who had visited her not long after she entered the village.
Those "strangers who came and went" were probably killed by the two monks.
When they came to her that day, they most likely wanted to attack her, but for some unknown reason, they gave up.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Xu Chunniang took back the bone blade and walked towards the village chief's house.
In this ancient and closed village, the village chief is the person with the most power and the most knowledge. Instead of asking other people slowly, it is better to ask the village chief directly.
When the village chief learned that Xu Chunniang was visiting, he received her warmly.
"Dear guest, are you still used to staying here these days?"
"It's good. I heard there are many other villages far away. I don't know if it's true."
The village chief was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Of course it's true. But those villages are too far away. I'm afraid it will take a whole month to get there."
"Have you been to other villages?"
The village chief smiled bitterly, "Not really, I can't leave the village for too long. Besides, the attitude of other villages towards us is not friendly."
Xu Chunniang's eyes moved slightly. These villages would go to the same ancestral land to worship every year. It was very likely that they had a common ancestor.
But the village chief said that the relationship between villages is not friendly, which is intriguing.
Could it be that the objects of worship in each village are different? Or are these villages in competition with each other
"So where's the farthest place you've ever been?"
"Haha, my old bones can't walk very far."
The village chief subconsciously avoided the gaze and picked up the tea bowl, "It's already dark..."
Xu Chunniang sighed inwardly, thinking that if she didn't make things clear, the village chief would continue to play dumb.
She interrupted him and said meaningfully, "I heard that you go to your ancestral land once a year to participate in the sacrifice."
The village chief's hand holding the tea bowl shook, and the tea in the bowl almost spilled out. He finally realized something and his face looked unhappy.
"Although I am grateful to you for saving my people, this is a matter between our tribes, and I have no obligation to tell you."
"Since it's a sacrifice, we must prepare sacrifices, right?"
The village chief's face turned pale. "It's just a memorial ceremony for the ancestors. We don't need any expensive offerings."
After saying this, no matter how Xu Chunniang asked, he refused to speak.
In desperation, she had to leave the village chief's house.
On the way back, it was already dark.
A woman's faint whimpering sound came from somewhere, so mournful.
Xu Chunniang had stayed in the village for a few days and was no stranger to this sound.
The young and middle-aged men in the village have rich hunting experience, but fighting with fierce beasts every day, injuries are common, and if they are unlucky, they may even lose their lives.
Maybe someone's family has encountered misfortune again.
She was about to avoid it, but she heard a sad whisper.
"Shuang'er has been chosen, and the ceremony will be held next month..."
"This is all fate. Shuang'er is the one chosen by the witch god. We should accept it. She will serve the witch god for us."
"I know, but why did it have to be my Shuang'er? She's only ten years old, wuwuwu..."
"God of War, Shuang'er will protect us."
With the man's comfort, the sobbing sound gradually subsided, and finally fell silent and dissolved into the deep night.
Xu Chunniang took a deep breath and made a bold guess in her heart.
Shuang'er, who is nearly ten years old, was chosen as a sacrifice and will be given to the witch god at the sacrifice next month.
This kind of sacrifice to the witch god has been going on once a year for endless years.
And it’s not just this village, all the nearby villages go to the ancestral land to participate in the sacrifice every year…
It seems that the "Witch God" has a pretty big appetite.
There was a chill in Xu Chunniang's eyes. No wonder the village chief remained silent when she asked about the sacrifice. There was such a secret hidden in it.
Perhaps, this witch god is the key to leaving this soulless land.
Xu Chunniang closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there was no more ripples.
Since the sacrifice will be held next month, she only needs to follow this group of people and she will be able to smoothly go to their so-called ancestral land and find out what is going on.