Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

He glanced at Zhao Hao with a hint of surprise: "You do have some real strength."

"Please don't be offended, sir. I've come to ask you some questions about the water demon. I plan to exorcise it!"

The old man's lips trembled, but he didn't say anything in the end. Instead, he relaxed his grip on the door.

"Exorcising demons... another one who's reckless. Come in... don't call me 'old man,' it doesn't sound right. My name is Guo Jiu..."

……

Zhao Hao entered the courtyard and found a dead chicken missing. The blood had been drained, but the knife used to kill it lay to one side, the bloodstains still untouched. In front of the knife was a small bowl containing millet and three incense sticks. The incense had only burned halfway…

The strangest thing was that the knife was actually a foot-long boning dagger!

Good heavens, this is truly using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!

Zhao Hao instinctively felt something was off; something was amiss!

Guo Jiu seemed to notice Zhao Hao's interest in offering incense to the knife, and asked with drooping eyelids, "Curious?"

Without waiting for Zhao Hao's reply, he continued, "This is a bloodletting bell. This knife is a bloodletting knife passed down through three generations of butchers in the town. I don't know how many animals it has slaughtered. I kill chickens every day to worship it, hoping that one day I can use it..."

If Zhao Hao hadn't spent two months learning about supernatural common sense and Taoism from Uncle Tie, he really wouldn't have known what a "Xin Zhong" was.

The "Xinzhong" was an ancient sacrificial bell in which the blood of a sacrifice was smeared on it. "Xin" is the name of the sacrifice, meaning a blood sacrifice.

The Mencius, Book 1, Part 1, records:

The king was sitting in the hall when someone led an ox past below. The king saw it and asked, "Where is the ox going?" The person replied, "To consecrate the bell."

The king said, "Let him go! I cannot bear to see him trembling, as if he were innocent and about to die."

He replied, "Then should we abolish the ritual bell?" The other said, "How can we abolish it? We can replace it with a sheep!"

It is said that King Hui of Liang felt compassion for the oxen that were trembling with fear as they were about to be slaughtered, so he replaced the oxen with sheep to sacrifice to the bell.

Putting aside how innocent the sheep may be, the main issue is that the practice of provoking the bell has a very long history in ancient China.

This is a very primitive form of blood sacrifice!

Of course, since it is primitive and bloody, it naturally has its harms. Mencius also said later: "Therefore, a gentleman keeps away from the kitchen."

Doing such things too often, or even just seeing them too often, will cause problems due to excessive emotional involvement.

So, Guo Jiu was actually sacrificing blood to this butcher knife?

Zhao Hao activated his demon-hunting senses and discovered that Guo Jiu didn't have any spiritual energy fluctuations, but the aura above his head was very strange, unlike anything he had ever seen before. It resembled a cloud, but with a large piece missing. It was wobbly and looked like it was about to collapse!

This is not a good sign!

However… Zhao Hao remembered that he had secretly used the Qi Observation Method to check the fortune of Linshui Town earlier. The fortune above the entire town was like a surging yet gathered dark cloud, as if it were pregnant with something.

This situation most likely foreshadows a major disaster!

However, the color of this auspicious color doesn't quite match; it's a warm, auspicious yellow!

This contradicts Zhao Hao's summary and conclusions over this period. Why does it seem like a mixed bag?

This is the state of Linshui Town; when the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact? It would be strange if Guo Jiu were to recover!

In fact, Zhao Hao has been quietly observing quite a few people since yesterday.

Most people are even worse off than Guo Jiu; they are in a situation where they could die a violent death at any moment!

So Linshui Town looks quite peaceful now, but Zhao Hao dares not let his guard down.

Guo Jiu stood at the door, seemingly lost in thought, and after a long while, he suddenly laughed—a bleak laugh.

"Since you're an outsider, come in. Let me tell you something... I hope it's helpful."

……

To be honest, Zhao Hao found Guo Jiu's attitude and words a bit strange.

What is an outsider?

Does he know he comes from the surface world? Does he know this is a bizarre realm?

Could he be the legendary quest guide NPC?

Guo Jiu first recounted how, in his early years, he and some other young men in the town, who couldn't stand the water demon harming people, devised a plan to kill it.

Zhao Hao had heard similar versions from some elderly people in the town before, and they were pretty much the same.

However, those dozen or so people all met tragic ends, dying horribly. Only Guo Jiu survived.

It is said that he is the best swimmer in the entire Linshui Town, and once he stayed underwater for two hours without taking a breath!

He was the only one who managed to escape with his life after being dragged into the water by the water demon.

However, Zhao Hao had some doubts. Even if Guo Jiu was an excellent swimmer, Zhao Hao had witnessed the strength of the water demon, which was far greater than his own underwater. How could an ordinary person like him possibly escape from a water demon?

More than a dozen brave men fought off the demon, but he was the only one left. The manner of their deaths was shrouded in mystery, and Zhao Hao couldn't help but be suspicious.

But to everyone's surprise, Guo Jiu actually took out a set of clothes from a hidden package!

A modern set of children's pajamas!

------------

Chapter 66 Killing the Fish!

"Where did you get these clothes?!" Zhao Hao frowned, his eyes focused.

If Guo Jiu were to utter even the slightest lie or pretense, Zhao Hao would immediately take him down!

The problematic painting had already been causing trouble before it even reached Zhao Hao's hands.

Not only that unlucky, heartless Louis, but also some of the children of his hired laborers had mysteriously disappeared from his plantation!

Louis disappeared after all six children had gone missing!

Some of them disappeared without a trace, while others left their pajamas on the bed, as if they had vanished into thin air!

Louis Zhao Hao has been found in the bamboo forest, trapped and killed there for unknown reasons. It's highly likely he violated some rules of the strange realm, resulting in his death.

Zhao Hao originally thought that the children hadn't been able to leave the bamboo forest either, but unexpectedly he saw a set of modern children's pajamas here!

Zhao Hao stared intently at Guo Jiu, still poised to strike. "You'd better explain to me where this clothing came from."

The idiot sat blankly on the bench, unaware that something was amiss. But the orange-haired creature he was holding had already quietly opened its eyes.

Guo Jiu didn't care about Zhao Hao's attitude; he gently placed the package on the table.

"It seems you at least know this child. That makes sense; you might even have met him."

Zhao Hao didn't understand the meaning behind Guo Jiu's words and shouted, "Stop trying to bluff! Where did these clothes come from? If I had seen that child, would I need to ask you?"

Zhao Hao sensed that the old man wasn't being honest, and he figured he might have no choice but to take action. He was even prepared to use the [Dragon-Slaying Crescent Blade].

Although this old man was just an ordinary person, he escaped from the water demon underwater back then, and who knows what tricks he had up his sleeve. Moreover, he actually knew the method of consecrating the bell, so he was probably not simple either.

But Guo Jiu looked sorrowful, and his voice was even a little hoarse: "How come I've never seen it? Those water demons don't usually move around. But I heard from Shadan that you killed a half-grown water demon by the river. Wasn't that the child?"

These words struck Zhao Hao's heart like a bolt of lightning, causing it to clench painfully!

So that's how it is.

Zhao Hao had a bit of an idea: why the water demon child had initially evaded his sight, and why its spiritual energy seemed strange after he killed it.

If it had just transformed from a human into a water demon and still carried the human energy, then it would make sense!

"Why? Why did that child turn into a water demon? And what do you mean by 'outsider'?" Zhao Hao swallowed hard.

This development has far exceeded my expectations.

Guo Jiu sat on the bench, head bowed, his voice low: "It's not just that child who will turn into a water demon; everyone in the town will turn into a water demon. Even the dead will be no exception..."

He looked up at Zhao Hao: "As for why I know about outsiders, it's because I've seen too many people like you who have unintentionally come here..."

Zhao Hao hurriedly asked, "Then how did they leave?"

"Leave? They all stayed here."

……

This is a bizarre place, indescribable. The conditions for entering are strange, but Zhao Hao is certainly not the only one who has entered. However, to this day, no one has been able to leave.

Guo Jiu told Zhao Hao that there wasn't much time left. If they couldn't kill all the water demons, everyone in the town would turn into one. They just didn't know it.

This is why those dozen or so demon-slaying warriors, who killed several water demons, all met a tragic end.

The number of water sprites will increase, and they are controlled by humans!

Guo Jiu sprinkled water on a whetstone, and then sharpened the boning knife on it, stroke by stroke.

He said, "I've been waiting for this day for so long. Now that you're here, my chances of winning have increased a bit. Don't even think about hiding; you can't escape it."

"I don't know where the water sprite came from, and I don't care anymore. All I want to do now is kill that fish!"

"Fish? What kind of fish?" Zhao Hao asked hurriedly.

Guo Jiu said, "Those water demons who turned into that fish are all controlled by it! It was it that killed those brothers! I'm going to kill it, will you help me?"

Zhao Hao: "I'll help!"

In fact, Zhao Hao always harbored some doubts about Guo Jiu. After all, everything he said was his own, and Zhao Hao had no way to verify it, so he could only believe it for the time being.

Most importantly, Zhao Hao is currently completely clueless, with Guo Jiu as his only lead, which he absolutely cannot afford to lose.

If anything unexpected or unforeseen happens, how much worse could it be than being trapped in this bizarre situation and completely oblivious? It's just a battle, after all! It's better than guessing a riddle!

Moreover, Zhao Hao still has many trump cards up his sleeve! If he's still killed by someone underhanded, then there's no way he'll get out of here alive.

Zhao Hao let Sha Dan ride the Thousand-Mile Donkey back to town by himself, while he and Guo Jiu went to exorcise the demon.

As Sha Dan watched Zhao Hao and Guo Jiu leave the high ground with menacing expressions and head towards a branch of the Yao River in the distance, he scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to do.

"I should go back and check on Little Ni'er! Hey, where's my cat? Mimi? Mimi~"

The fool couldn't find the orange seat that had disappeared sometime ago, so he had no choice but to climb onto the donkey's back and head towards the distant Linshui Town.

After walking for about ten minutes, we had descended the hill and suddenly a person emerged from the edge of a grove of trees.

"Idiot, where have you been?" the man asked with a smile as he approached.

The fool recognized the man; he was also from the town. "Brother Zhao and I went to see Uncle Guo Jiu."

"Oh? Where are they?"