With the mission from the cage temple issued, everyone had a goal.
But the requirements for this mission were very broad. The secrets of Qing Shen Village, what kind of secrets were the true answers?
The next day, the dawn was faint.
Lu Zhi's eyes immediately opened upon hearing the sound of a lock being opened, finding himself leaning on Shen Qi's shoulder, unsure how he had fallen asleep last night.
Lu Zhi rubbed his eyes, the door opened from the outside, and the middle-aged man who had locked them in the woodshed last night looked at Lu Zhi and the others with gloomy eyes. Confirming the numbers were correct, he said, "Get in line and get out."
Lu Zhi and the others pretended to be frightened children, walking out of the woodshed with scared and uneasy expressions.
Outside the woodshed, the sun was bright, and many villagers were gathered around, but what Lu Zhi found strange was that they were all women around thirty years old.
"Wang Jiu, why are there only seven?"
A woman suddenly spoke, scrutinizing Lu Zhi and the other children like objects.
Wang Jiu, the middle-aged man, simply replied in a deep voice, "The inspections have been strict in recent years, seven is good enough. Old rule, highest bidder wins."
Over a dozen women started bidding eagerly, afraid they wouldn't get one. Lu Zhi was eventually bought by a woman named Liu Cuiping, and Shen Qi was bought by a woman named Zhang Hong.
Lu Zhi realized from the women's dissatisfaction that they were not from the same village. At that moment, Lu Zhi's stomach grumbled with hunger.
Liu Cuiping stuffed a steamed bun into Lu Zhi's hand, "Here, eat."
Lu Zhi, with his small, dirty face like a kitten, took the bun with an uneasy expression. His dark, bright eyes remained still, and he cast a trusting glance towards Shen Qi's delicate, clean little face.
Shen Qi stared intently at Lu Zhi's little dirty face, holding a steamed bun in his hand, bringing it to his lips. Although he hadn't eaten it, he clearly indicated to Lu Zhi that he could eat.
Lu Zhi was relieved and took a bite. The taste was average, not very good, and the texture was also poor, but for someone hungry, anything was delicious.
Yan Shao and Jiang Yue, catching a glimpse of Lu Zhi eating, also ate their food boldly.
Shi Yu and Li Le quickly finished their dry biscuits. Lu Ming, who did real estate business, looked disgusted with the food in his hand. After swallowing a bite, he held it and refused to eat any more. Having been accustomed to delicacies, this food was simply unpalatable to Lu Ming.
"Wang Jiu, this won't do. With only seven days left until the sacrifice, where are we supposed to find children?"
"Exactly, exactly. If we can't find children, what will our village do this year?"
"You have to think of a way."
The women who hadn't bought children chattered, their eyes anxious and uneasy.
Wang Jiu ignored them. "Old rule, bring the children and follow me. Everyone else leave the village before dark, or face the consequences."
The women's faces changed slightly, and they could only turn and leave resentfully.
Lu Zhi, with his arm pulled by Liu Cuiping, followed behind Wang Jiu, walking deeper into the village. The houses gradually receded, and they entered the back mountain. The surrounding trees were dense, and jagged boulders with strange shapes stood on both sides of the mountain path.
After walking for about five minutes, a temple came into view. It wasn't a magnificent building, resembling an ancient ancestral hall, about a hundred square meters.
Liu Cuiping pulled Lu Zhi's hand and followed Wang Jiu into the temple. As soon as they stepped inside, Lu Zhi felt as if he were being stared at by countless eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
There were no living creatures inside the temple, only many statues placed on the altar, and not just one.
[Temple of Many Gods, Mother and Child God, Day of Sacrifice]
[Demons emerge, blessings of peace, maternal love awakens]
The cage temple's prompts came suddenly, but they successively let Lu Zhi and the others know why they had become children.
Wang Jiu knelt and worshipped the statues with great reverence, carefully taking a statue of a mother holding a child from among the many statues and placing it in the center of the altar. It appeared to be made of ceramic based on its material.
Then Wang Jiu took a rusty small knife from the altar and looked at everyone.
Liu Cuiping very readily offered her palm upwards, and Wang Jiu cut her palm with the small knife, then looked at Lu Zhi.
This seemed to be a necessary procedure, like some kind of ritual. Lu Zhi hesitated, then pretended to be scared and trembling as he extended his palm.
Just as the small knife was about to fall, a strange wind rose from the ground, stirring up dust that stung everyone's eyes, making it impossible to open them.
In less than ten seconds, when the wind stopped, Wang Jiu's knife had already cut Lu Zhi's palm. The dripping blood collided with the ironware in his hand, mixing with Liu Cuiping's.
Lu Zhi whimpered softly, feigning pain. As Liu Cuiping pretended to comfort him, Lu Zhi's dark, bright eyes glanced at Shen Qi's expressionless profile. He then slowly looked down at his palm, finding no wound.