"What we can see now is that everyone in the entire mountain village can be said to be our enemies. It sounds like a lot, but in proportion it is actually not a lot."
"Proportion?"
"The cell we are in belongs to the family nearby. The number of people that can be held in such a cell is either too many or too few. Even if we take the twelve people in our place as an average, it can be said that every household Are there so many people imprisoned?"
"If that's true..."
"How many tourists from the distribution center came to this scene? Even if we are modest, our combat effectiveness is still higher than that of ordinary villagers who just work in farming. Even if the negative effects of this ceremony are taken into account, people like Zhao Chenshuang It’s not a problem for one to beat four or five ordinary people. So I think the fighting ability of these villagers is not ordinary.”
"You just said this. I will accept the compliment and focus on the key points." Zhao Chenshuang said.
"If that's the case, where should we start our investigation? I'm afraid it won't work to arrest a few villagers and torture them. So the two most likely possibilities are the records in the literature and the existence of friendly figures."
Cheng Wuling pushed aside a patch of grass, and under the cover of the woods, a thatched house that was different from the one in the village appeared in the field of vision of the four people.
"It could also be someone behind the scenes." Ning Yeyi reminded.
"Yeah...but it's worth a try."
Cheng Wuling made a gesture and asked Lu Ning and Ning Yeyi to stay here. He and Zhao Chenshuang walked to the door of the thatched house and knocked on the wooden door.
After a while, a short old woman opened the door. Behind her, there was a little boy who peeked out and looked at the door. He looked to be less than ten years old.
"Hello, I'm sorry for disturbing you late at night. I wonder if I can stay here for a while?"
The old woman looked at the two of them carefully, then sighed and gave way to the door.
An oil lamp was lit in the room, and there was no trace of modernization. The two beds made of wooden boards were covered with straw and mattresses. They were still a little messy, as if they had just gotten up.
"Where did you escape from?"
The old woman sat on the only chair in the room, took out the tweezers from the drawer and lit the wick, making the room appear brighter.
"Sorry... we don't know where that place is, we just ran out of a dungeon, and then there were people searching for us everywhere."
"Haha..." The old woman smiled lightly and held the little boy on her lap.
"Thank you very much for helping us."
"What's going on outside? What year is it now?" The old woman suddenly asked an irrelevant topic.
Cheng Wuling seemed to have thought about it a long time ago and immediately replied:
"There are wars everywhere outside now. Many people have left their homes, but they still can't find any safe place. We originally thought that this would be a safe place to live, but we didn't expect that there is still no peace."
"You guys... stretch out your arms and let me see."
Cheng Wuling and Zhao Chenshuang looked at each other and rolled up their sleeves to reveal the red spots on their hands.
When the old woman saw it, she burst into laughter.
"We can't leave! You can't leave either!"
"Why?"
"The ceremony has been carried out, and the rotten blood has already flowed in your bodies. How can you leave here again... Haha, haha, just like me, just like me..."
Tears flowed out of the corners of the old man's eyes, whether because of crying or laughing.
"Can you...can you explain it to me in detail? If it's not absolutely impossible, I won't give up."
"Won't you give up? Hahaha, being young is so good, so good..."
The old woman slowly stroked the little boy's back, and soon the boy fell asleep.
"This mountain village is indeed the so-called longevity village. The people here have the longest life span... How old are you rumored to be now?"
"two hundred."
"It's five hundred years old."
The old woman got up, put the little boy on the bed, and tucked him in carefully.
"I came here for this reason, and just like you, they performed that damn ritual without any precautions."
"We saw two bodies."
"They're just victims. The news here attracts many ignorant people to come in every year, and then they are used as 'clean blood' materials to perform rituals." The old woman sat back in her chair and said, "I don't know when it started. , this place has been cursed, and following the bloodline, the people here have received the curse of 'immortality'."
"Immortality does not mean immortality." Cheng Wuling noticed the accent in the old man's tone.
"Yes, people infected with the curse become stronger, and some can even use the power of blood to stimulate their own potential. If there is no external force, they can never die - this is the root of longevity."
"What's the price?" Zhao Chenshuang suddenly said, "Since it's called a curse, it shouldn't only have these benefits, right?"
"Yes... immortality and immortality are two different things." The old man said gloomily, "It's called a curse because the period of youth and adulthood here is extremely short - it's only ten years, unlike the thirty to forty years in the outside world. Around this time, the people here will age quickly, and even their bodies will decay. However, even so, their consciousness will still exist, and they will still be alive, even if they become skeletons, they are still alive..."
Life is worse than death, that's it.
"This curse extends along with the family and genealogy. It cannot be cut off, and it is impossible to cut it off. People here don't want to give up their lives. I don't know when, a ritual was taken out by several clan leaders in the village. This ritual gave the villagers One hope for the aging people is to use the 'clean blood' from the outside world to neutralize the 'rotten blood' in the body, which can not only restore youthful vitality, but even make the body stronger. Haha, it sounds nice, but in fact it is Exchanging the body's 'blood' - each ritual can replace one-third of a person's 'blood', so you should still have two copies of 'clean blood' flowing in your body."
"So there is still hope for us?"
"Hope? Another part of the curse is to keep the 'corrupted blood' here forever. For those who bear the curse, once they leave this mountain, they will age into a pile of organs in a few seconds, and People like you will end up better, except that one-third of the tissues, organs and blood in your body will immediately lose their function."
The old woman showed a charming smile.
"My companions also tried to escape, and then they all died miserably... So, give up. Since there is no hope, don't even think about escaping."
Cheng Wuling started to think, and Zhao Chenshuang took over the task of asking questions at this time.
"Then how did you survive?"
"I chose to be part of the curse."
The old man grinned.
"I'm only forty now... maybe a dozen years older than you. But look at me, the curse won't allow you more youth just because you just joined. If you don't become a member of the curse , then after three rituals, all the blood on the body will turn into 'rotten blood', and people will also age rapidly, but ordinary people have no ability to die."
"Although I roughly know how you joined, please allow me to ask again, how did you become a member of the curse?"
"Did I just say that? Bloodline..."
The old man glanced at the boy on the bed.
"As long as you have children with the people here, the curse will recognize your kinship with this place, and all the blood on your body will turn into 'corrupted blood'. It's that simple."
"The last question is whether this method is suitable for both men and women."
"Yes, as long as the other partner is a cursed person, both men and women will be recognized as cursed. It seems that you are really considering this matter?"
Zhao Chenshuang smiled.
"Of course not possible."
"Oh? Haha, it seems that your will is quite firm now, haha, haha."
The old man laughed loudly, and the laughter full of sadness lasted for a while before stopping.
"For the sake of being in trouble, I'll keep you here for one night. It's up to you whether you want to run away tomorrow or stay here."
"No, you have caused us trouble by bothering us for so long. We will leave immediately." Cheng Wuling suddenly said, "As long as you don't mention that we were here tonight."
The old man nodded and waved his hand tiredly, signaling them to leave.
The two walked out of the thatched house. By the window at the back of the house, Lu Ning and Ning Yeyi also walked out.
"Did you hear it too?" Zhao Chenshuang crossed her arms with a proud smile on her face.
"Survival type... haha." Ning Yeyi sneered.
"It's actually a killing scene for elimination. It's pretty much what we expected." Lu Ning said, "We just need to figure out the process of the dirty blood ritual and find someone to replace one-third of the 'corrupted blood' on our bodies." , you can leave here smoothly."
"But it won't be that simple." Cheng Wuling glanced at a house, "She probably doesn't know..."
"This place is connected to the outside world. Even if the people here can't go out, there are channels to transport things from the outside world in. In addition, the ones who delivered the dirty blood ritual to them are definitely not the clan leaders. There are other beings up there who are up to something." Lu Ning said this and sighed, "But we can't contact other companions now. It will take time to investigate these things. We still don't know the time and impact of the Red Moon Ceremony. There are too many mysteries, so we have to make choices."
"In addition, avoid the villagers here, and don't provoke them even if it's a one-on-one opportunity. I suspect that the so-called 'blood' potential is not a force that is easy to deal with." Zhao Chenshuang curled his lips, "That boy was so... Falling asleep quickly may be one of the abilities that is stimulated.”
The four people walked and talked, and soon left the woods where the thatched house was located.
