Chapter 246: Ritual
Inside the cramped wooden house, Xiao Luo curled up in the corner, her arms tightly hugging her knees, her fingernails almost digging into the flesh.
"Dong, dong, dong."
The knocking sound was neither fast nor slow, yet it seemed to knock directly on her bones; every strike made her heart beat wildly.
She bit her lower lip tightly, desperately suppressing the trembling, but her teeth still clattered uncontrollably, making a faint clicking sound.
Did not see, did not see, did not see, did not see, did not see...
She chanted crazily in her heart, as if as long as she chanted enough, she could make the person outside truly "not have seen." But she herself did not know who she was praying to—was it gods? Ghosts? Or... those things?
Finally, she forced herself to stand up, but her legs were as soft as if stepping on cotton. She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound steady, but when she spoke, her voice still trembled terribly:
"W-what is it?"
There was silence outside the door for an instant.
Then, a hoarse voice carrying a strange stickiness rang out:
"Outsiders have appeared in the village these past two days; did you see them?"
Xiao Luo quietly let out a sigh of relief, and her fingertips relaxed slightly.
"Didn't I say it yesterday? They already left, leaving from the east side of the village."
She even squeezed out a stiff smile, even though the person outside could not see it at all.
But the next second—
"However, during the day, they clearly came out of your house, didn't they?"
—He saw it!
Xiao Luo's pupils constricted abruptly, and the blood in her entire body instantly froze into ice.
Her lips trembled, but she could not say a single word.
Outside the door, that voice remained unhurried, even carrying a trace of a strange smile:
"Xiao Luo... why did you lie?"
"Creak—"
At the crack of the door, a hand covered in black patterns slowly reached in...
"N-no—!"
Xiao Luo's mournful cry appeared exceptionally shrill in the darkness, but the wooden door was still slowly pushed open.
Three dark shadows stood at the doorway. Moonlight seeped in from behind them, stretching their shadows into twisted and massive shapes, like three tilting tombstones heavily pressing down on Xiao Luo.
"Didn't we agree..." Xiao Luo's voice trembled until it was almost shattered, "You cannot enter my room..."
The old man slowly took a step forward. The black patterns under his skin wriggled under the moonlight, like countless tiny maggots burrowing beneath the skin. He grinned, revealing a nearly kindly smile:
"It was you who broke the rules first."
Xiao Luo still wanted to say something, but the other two had already held her arms from the left and right. Their fingers were as cold as if they were not living people.
The instant they touched her skin, Xiao Luo shuddered violently—those black patterns actually spread a short distance on her arm along their fingertips, then quickly faded, as if they were merely an illusion.
She was dragged along the pitch-black village path; the night wind whimpered as it swept through the empty streets.
Behind the windows of the houses on both sides, pairs of eyes were faintly visible—those villagers were quietly watching this scene, hanging strange smiles on the corners of their mouths.
Until she was brought into a spacious stone chamber.
In the center of the stone chamber, a massive portrait occupied almost the entire wall. In the painting was a towering ancient tree; the trunk was twisted like a convulsing human body, yet the branches and leaves were flourishing to the point of being hideous.
Every leaf presented an ominous dark red color, as if depicted using dried blood.
Xiao Luo's pupils constricted abruptly.
She began to tremble violently, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, making a clacking sound. That was not a tremble of fear—but a deeper, nearly instinctual resistance, as if every cell in her body was screaming to escape.
The old man stroked her hair lovingly, the black patterns between his fingers flowing slowly:
"Why resist?" His voice was terribly gentle. "Clearly everyone has already been blessed..."
The black patterns suddenly erupted, winding around his wrist like living things.
"Why is your family simply unwilling to accept it?"
Xiao Luo began to struggle crazily. Her fingernails scraped against the stone floor, making an ear-piercing sound.
"You promised! You promised!"
"Yes," the old man sighed as black patterns gradually crawled up his neck. "We did promise that you could be an exception..."
His pupils were thoroughly swallowed by darkness. "But we did this so that during the day, you could help us keep those 'outsiders'..."
"But why must you be like your stupid mother and insist on helping those 'outsiders'? Your mother even died because of the betrayal of those outsiders..."
Hearing mention of her mother, Xiao Luo's struggling instantly ceased. Her eyes revealed hatred.
"Those outsiders, even if they are bad people, are at least humans. As for you all, can you still be called humans? A group of monsters! Monsters!"
The old man's laughter echoed within the stone chamber, sounding like the rustling of withered tree bark rubbing together.
"Hehehe... Xiao Luo, that is because you do not know the greatness of the Saint Tree."
He spread his arms wide. The black patterns beneath his skin suddenly wriggled violently, resembling countless tiny snakes burrowing under the skin.
"How wonderful... As long as one makes a wish to the Saint Tree, one can obtain everything—lifespan, power... And the price paid is negligible..."
The air inside the stone chamber suddenly became viscous, as if even breathing had become difficult.
The other two began to move with precise steps. One of them took out a clay pot from his bosom; the pot was filled with brown soil.
He used the soil from the pot to draw a twisted talisman along the ground. The soil strangely seeped into the cracks in the stone, emitting a sizzling sound of corrosion.
The other person took out a bronze lamp; the wick was actually several strands of intertwined roots. After being lit, the flame presented a morbid ghostly green color, illuminating the entire stone chamber like an underwater world.
The most strange thing was that huge painting. The ancient tree in the painting actually began to wriggle slowly. The branches and leaves moved without wind, and the dark red leaves rustled as if desiring something.
The old man drew a dagger from his sleeve. The blade presented an ominous dark red color. The hilt was carved into the shape of twisted tree roots, and a strand of withered black hair was wrapped around the end.
He gently stroked the blade. Black patterns crawled up the dagger along his arm, dyeing the entire blade pitch-black.
"Come, Xiao Luo..." The old man's voice suddenly became unusually kind, just like coaxing a child who was unwilling to sleep. "It is your turn to make a wish."
He raised the dagger, aiming the tip at Xiao Luo's chest.
The temperature inside the stone chamber plummeted. The ghostly green flame flickered crazily, casting twisted tree shadows on the wall.
The ancient tree in the painting seemed to come alive. Its branches and leaves stretched out, almost breaking through the frame.
Right at this moment—
"Clang!"
A snow-bright sword light broke through the window and entered. Like a sudden clap of thunder, it struck the tip of the dagger with precision!
The instant the sound of clashing metal exploded, the pitch-black dagger spun away in response. It nailed into the stone wall with a "ding," the hilt still trembling endlessly.
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