Chapter 42: What is a Yin Marriage? This is the Mystery of the Saintess

"Heh, neither of them are any good. You're trying to lecture me while these two dogs are busy tearing each other apart?"

Wu Wang laughed out of sheer exasperation.

The old village chief was clearly no saint. He spent every day stripping people of their lives to replace them, ruthless and devoid of conscience, willing to use any means necessary to satisfy his own desires.

This Yin Yuan Great Deity wasn't any better.

Every year, a Yin Yuan Saintess was sacrificed, and yet to this day, the village only owed him one? That meant for two hundred years, so many innocent young girls had suffered.

If it were just the villagers of Yin Yuan Village serving as Saintesses, it would be one thing—after all, they weren't exactly good people either, so they would be reaping what they sowed. But clearly, outsiders could also serve as Yin Yuan Saintesses; he could only imagine how many times they had kidnapped foreign girls for sacrifice.

Two vicious dogs were biting one another. And now, they wanted him to help one of them?

"Unlucky Sister, if you have this nightmare again, help me tell that damn Yin Yuan Great Deity that if he has something to say, he should say it to my face. I'll go see him myself," Wu Wang said, handing over the food to comfort her.

Wu Xiaoyou's trembling body slowly calmed down, but she didn't have the energy to argue against his "Unlucky Sister" label. After letting out a long sigh, she took the food and sat on the bed, burying her head in it to eat in silence.

She used to love fine food, but now, eating the delicacies meticulously prepared by the village felt like chewing wax; she merely moved her mouth mechanically and swallowed with difficulty.

From her inexplicably dark circles and the thick white coating on her tongue when she opened her mouth, Wu Wang could tell this wasn't just from being startled. Her mental strength had been heavily depleted. It seemed the side effects of the Great Deity's dream visitation were significant.

Speaking of which, why didn't the guy just visit him in a dream instead?

Setting aside everything else, when it came to mental strength, Wu Wang truly had the stats, the technique... and more stats! As long as he died once, his mental strength would instantly refill! He would have had plenty of time to dance with the guy in a dream or chat about the current trends of the A-share market.

*Rustle, rustle—*

While the dilapidated shack was peaceful, a strange, faint movement came from the outskirts. It sounded like someone walking, causing the knee-high weeds to brush against one another. Yet, there were no footsteps.

Eerie gusts of Yin wind swept past.

"Speaking of which... why aren't you whispering to me anymore?" Wu Wang asked the red vertical pupil on his wrist.

Now that he was looking at it, that strange muttering had vanished. This had happened before. Back when Wu Wang entered the Art Building in *Escaping the Tyrant*, the red vertical pupil had granted him the ability to see through the eyes of those students; when he viewed everything through its perspective, the muttering would stop.

What did this mean now? Why was the Abyss God Mark sharing its vision with him again?

*Rustle, patter, patter—*

The movement outside became more obvious. Now, Wu Wang could hear it inside the room, but looking at Wu Xiaoyou beside him, she seemed completely unaware. Was this another thing that could only be perceived under specific circumstances? No wonder the Abyss God was suddenly sharing its vision with him!

"What's wrong..."

Although Wu Xiaoyou couldn't hear the noise outside, she could see that Wu Wang's expression had turned serious, and his entire demeanor seemed to be on guard against something.

Before she could finish her sentence, he performed a double jump and vanished through the hole in the roof, leaving only a light sentence behind.

"Eat in silence, sleep in silence. Just eat your food and don't talk," Wu Wang said, lowering his voice as much as possible.

Looking down from above, he saw it.

The area was crowded with dense silhouettes of people, and even more figures were emerging continuously from the forest behind the house. In the brief moment he had spent chatting and thinking, the dilapidated shack had been almost completely surrounded.

The eerie thing was that their movements made absolutely no sound, and they didn't even communicate with each other. Only the occasional friction of the weeds would reveal that something had just passed by.

He couldn't see their faces clearly. Their eyes seemed covered by a thick layer of mist, like blindfolds, making it impossible to discern their features. He could only vaguely judge that these figures were female by their loose, flowing hair and the curves of their chests.

【Mental Strength: 40—39】

Wu Wang, who had recovered some mental strength by attempting suicide earlier, suddenly realized his Sanity was dropping again.

He suddenly realized that all the silhouettes had, at some point, raised their heads to look at him on the roof. After a single glance, they lowered their heads again to look toward the window of the shack. From that angle, they could see the pale, bloodless Wu Xiaoyou sitting on the bed eating.

After staring for a moment, they suddenly split their mouths open.

It was like a crocodile opening a bloody maw, stretching all the way to the ears until the entire jaw dropped, revealing sharp, vampire-like fangs.

Their smiles were so grotesque.

Wu Wang was somewhat bewildered.

"What kind of crap is this? Silent Hill's faceless nurses? Is the uniform a bit off?"

"And how long has it been since you guys brushed your teeth? I can smell something!"

***

"Burp~ Uncle Li~ Do you think I can form a Yin Yuan this year? If I get a Yin Yuan, I'll definitely give everyone in the village a huge red envelope!"

The man Wu Wang had seen at the village entrance earlier was flushed from drinking. He let out a foul-smelling drunken hiccup and placed his hand on Uncle Li's shoulder as he asked.

The other man merely shook his head slightly in response. "Hard to say. There's no standard for this Yin Yuan thing."

A young boy carrying a candied hawthorn skewer happened to run past. Hearing the adults talk, he stepped forward with interest.

"Uncle Dao, Grandpa Li, what is this Yin Yuan thing you're talking about? Can you eat it?"

The man at the village entrance rubbed the boy's head and explained cheerfully, "I'll tell you, within the three days of the Great Sacrifice every year, a lucky kid will be chosen to form a Yin Yuan. That means a Saintess from previous years has taken a liking to you."

As he spoke, a look of envy appeared on his face. He picked up his wine and took a large gulp, saying drunkenly, "Kids who form a Yin Yuan have it great. I heard they can see the Yin Yuan Great Deity, and the deity will promise them one reasonable request."

"Money, beautiful women, houses—whatever you want, you get! I'll be able to find the best wife, hehehe..."

As he spoke, he began to giggle foolishly. As the alcohol hit him, he slumped onto the table and fell asleep. Seeing this, the child ran off to find his friends to share the secret of the Yin Yuan.

Uncle Li saw this and sighed silently, walking alone to the edge of the square to smoke.

Everyone in the village yearned for a Yin Yuan, including himself. Although they said children were the ones chosen, there had actually been cases where adults were selected, and quite frequently at that.

Currently, his family's economic situation wasn't particularly prosperous in the village. In fact, because the Yin Yuan Great Sacrifice lacked a Saintess last year, his family's crops had suffered a disaster, leaving them with nothing.

He had been plagued by bad luck for almost an entire year. Either Auntie Li broke her leg while going up the mountain, or the car mysteriously blew a tire and rolled down a ravine, or even during the day, a strange person fell from the sky and smashed his house.

All these little things required money!

He had heard that when the Saintesses of previous years looked for people to form a Yin Yuan, they liked to find those who were alone.

He truly hoped he would be chosen.

Come to think of it, the village had had over two hundred Saintesses throughout its history, so why did only one Saintess ever come out to form a Yin Yuan each time?

If only they could all appear at once! Then the village would surely become even more prosperous...

(End of Chapter)