Chapter 69
Pray to the mountain G.o.d? The mountain G.o.d was very effective?
Xiao Tangqiu frowned. Logically speaking, Hundred Ghosts Town was the past Hundred Ghosts Village, and Hundred Ghosts Village was the future of Hundred Ghosts Town. Although he didn’t know how many years of changes had pa.s.sed, many traditions should still be the same… For example, Hundred Ghosts Town’s mountain G.o.d worship had been spread to the present, yet during the Hundred Ghosts Town period, the shrine was already ruined and deserted. Could it be that it was rebuilt later?
But this mountain G.o.d…
Did Hundred Ghosts Town and Hundred Ghosts Village really have a mountain G.o.d?
If there was a mountain G.o.d, how could the former Hundred Ghosts Town become so poor and dilapidated?
But if there was no mountain G.o.d, what is going on with this shrine that is said to be very effective? And what about the mountain G.o.d Kisaragi spoke of?
Xiao Tangqiu thought of many questions, but before he could ask, the number of people pouring into the shrine suddenly increased. They praised the power of the mountain G.o.d again and again, as if the prayer was fulfilled right after the wish was made.
“Is this mountain G.o.d really so effective?” Tang Mianmian looked suspicious. He obviously thought of the same thing as Xiao Tangqiu, “If this mountain G.o.d is really so effective, then what happened to Hundred Ghosts Town before…”
Duan Hongzhen snorted, “If this mountain G.o.d is really so effective, how can there be so many natural and man-made disasters in this town?”
“Yeah! That makes sense!” Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, “If this mountain G.o.d is really so effective, then he must first protect the residents of this town, right? Nevermind about man-made disasters like the subway crash or hospital fires, but also to disregard natural disasters such as earthquakes. Isn’t the mountain G.o.d neglecting his duties?”
Xue Junli looked at Kisaragi and asked, “Miss Kisaragi, can you tell me what happened to the mountain G.o.d?”
Kisaragi looked at the wolf-shaped stone statue in front of them indifferently and did not answer.
At this moment, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized that something was wrong, “Wait a minute! That person—”
Tang Mianmian immediately looked in the direction Xiao Tangqiu looked, “What’s wrong?”
“That person…” Xiao Tangqiu’s expression darkened, “It’s the female pa.s.senger I saw on the subway!”
“Female pa.s.senger?” Tang Mianmian saw a few girls in kimonos that obviously came to repay their wishes, “What subway? Are you talking about the ghost subway?”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, “Yes, I saw her playing on her mobile phone…”
“Wait!” Tang Mianmian suddenly yelled, “That’s hedgehog-head! It’s that hedgehog-head!”
Xiao Tangqiu looked over and, as expected, hedgehog-head and his companions appeared not far away, also seeming to have come to repay their wishes.
“How is this possible?” Tang Mianmian was startled. “Aren’t they dead?”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned, “Maybek2026; this was some time before those natural and man-made disasters happened?”
At this moment, Duan Hongzhen raised his eyebrows suddenly, “Isn’t that the couple from the hospital?”
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at the same time. As expected, even the young couple they had just met in the hospital also appeared here. The young man supported his wife while his wife stroked her belly tenderly. Both of them had happy smiles filled with optimism for the future.
“Yes! It’s them!” Tang Mianmian nodded in confirmation.
Xiao Tangqiu also confirmed, “This is indeed some time in the past…”
Although the young wife had a big belly, there should still be some time before delivery. This was obviously a trip to a shrine that happened some time before they went to the hospital.
Tang Mianmian squinted, “These people went to Kisaragi Shrine before they died? Is their death related to Kisaragi Shrine?”
Xiao Tangqiu, “Blind student, you found the main point.”
Tang Mianmian touched his chin and continued down this train of thought, “Could it be that those natural and man-made disasters, subway crashes, hospital fires or even major earthquakes… all be related to Kisaragi Shrine?”
They subconsciously looked at the only Miko who knew the truth, but Kisaragi remained indifferent.
“They are about to enter the main hall!” Yu Fuling called anxiously.
Seeing that those people were about to enter the crowded main hall, Xue Junli promptly said, “Go, let’s follow.”
They rushed into the main hall with the other people. The main hall wasn’t large and it was crowded with people who came to pray and repay their wishes. They lost track of their targets almost instantly.
Xiao Tangqiu looked for the targets among the crowd while looking at the G.o.ds enshrined in the main shrine. There was no doubt that the G.o.d enshrined in Kisaragi Shrine was the mountain G.o.d. He had never been in a shrine before and didn’t know what the enshrined G.o.ds usually look like, but he knew that those idols would definitely not look like the idol at Kisaragi Shrine. The idol enshrined in Kisaragi Shrine was a huge wolf-shaped stone statue!
This wolf stone statue was similar to the wolf stone statues outside of the main hall, except that it was much larger. It sat in the center of the main hall. Although it was only a stone statue, with it’s unique eyes and sharp and beastly fangs, it was exceptionally lifelike.
It looked condescendingly at the people in the main hall. The pitch-black stone statue looked very gloomy, as if it was looking down on them from high above and might rush down with its teeth and claws bared in the next moment, tearing up the men and women who happily came to pray into pieces.
All in all, this wolf statue not only lacked the solemnity that an ordinary idol should have, it even had a dark and terrifying greedy expression and fangs, making chills go down people’s back.
Did ordinary shrines really enshrine such ent.i.ties?
Xiao Tangqiu didn’t know because he didn’t have any references, but he observed the other’s expressions and saw that even Xue Junli frowned. They obviously all thought this idol was very strange.
Tang Mianmian even muttered, “This idol… is too evil? It makes me feel uncomfortable looking at it.”
However, apart from Xiao Tangqiu’s group, the other people did not feel that the wolf-shaped idol was evil, their expressions were even very pious. He quietly observed for a while and discovered something. Those who came to make a wish, although their expressions were respectful and pious, they only stood in front of the wolf idol with closed eyes and bowed. But those who came to repay their wishes not only looked extremely faithful, they were almost crazy, even kneeling on the ground to worship and bowing three times.
This proved one point. It was indeed very effective to pray to the mountain G.o.d. That’s why the people who come to repay their wish would be so pious.
Xiao Tangqiu became more puzzled, what was the origin of this mountain G.o.d? If this mountain G.o.d was really so effective, why had the residents of Hundred Ghosts Town fallen to that point? Didn’t the residents of Hundred Ghosts Town ever make a wish to live and work in peace and prosperity? If this mountain G.o.d was really efficacious, why didn’t it protect Hundred Ghosts Town in the first place instead of coming back to protect Hundred Ghosts Village?
Suddenly, he made an even more amazing discovery, “Wait a minute… the G.o.d statue seems to have grown bigger!”
Everyone was taken aback, “Bigger?”
“It’s getting bigger and taller!” Xiao Tangqiu was taken aback by his own discovery before quickly calming down and continued to observe. Although the wolf idol was tall, it used to have some distance from the ceiling. Now, this wolf idol’s head was close to the ceiling!
Soon, he discovered an even more astonishing fact. Whenever someone knelt down to repay their wish, the wolf idol would grow taller. Although the growth rate was not visible, when a large group of people bowed one by one, the idol grew visibly to the naked eye!
Soon, everyone else also discovered this.
Tang Mianmian looked shocked, “f.u.c.k! Really! It’s really bigger!”
Xiao Tangqiu added, “As long as someone comes to believe in it, it can become bigger.”
Xue Junli’s gaze darkened, “It is absorbing the power of these people’s beliefs.”
Xiao Tangqiu thoughtfully, “So that’s how it became so big?”
What was the intention of this mountain G.o.d? Why did it abandon the villagers of Hundred Ghosts Town in the first place, and only now returned to shelter the residents of Hundred Ghosts Village to absorb their faith? And what did the natural and man-made calamities have anything to do with the mountain G.o.d?
Putting aside all of this, he wanted to know something even more: what was the S-level task of this S-level mission?
It was said that S-level missions were all related to demons…
So was there a demon in this instance?
At this moment, Shen Yuan, who had been silent while they were doing business, suddenly his eyes darkened, and he whispered, “…the aura of a demon.”
The aura of a demon?!
Everyone’s expressions changed at the same time, and Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian’s expressions changed dramatically. They had only dealt with a demon once, but that had hurt them, and Xiao Tangqiu almost died.
Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan nervously. Someone else might be unreliable, but if Shen Yuan said it was a demon, it must be a demon.
…Had the demon appeared?
His heart was on tenterhooks. A sweep with his eyes just happened to land on the young couple kneeling on the ground. They obviously came to repay their wish. The young wife had knelt down while rubbing her belly.
As soon as they finished kneeling, the wolf idol became bigger again, its head hitting the ceiling. It was about to break through the roof.
Somehow, under the eyes of the crowd, no one noticed the abnormality of the idol, and their expressions were still extremely pious as they knelt to the ground.
They did not realize that the wolf-shaped idol they bowed to had become bigger and taller, and its expressions more and more ferocious, as if it would tear them to pieces in the next moment.
Xiao Tangqiu silently watched the strange scene before him. He wanted to stop it, but didn’t know how to begin. If he ran to stop these people from kneeling, he would definitely be driven away by these devout believers. Did he need to destroy these people’s belief in mountain G.o.d first and tell them feudal superst.i.tion was no good, science was the truth of the world?
Then, Shen Yuan moved.
He raised the silver gun and aimed it at the wolf idol.
He decisively pulled the trigger, the bullet shot out, and the wolf idol shattered!
In an instant, the location where the wolf idol stood turned into a huge black hole!