Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Monsters aren't monsters if they can communicate, and if they also exhibit some human traits and vulnerable emotions, they become easier to understand, even accept... because in most people's minds, such enormous ghosts are stupid. And stupidity means they won't lie.

Zheng Zha recalled the scene before he left the village. Yes, when the evil spirit claiming to be the village chief tried to leave the village with him, the iron nails on its body inflicted pain on it, dragging it back to the central square. Zheng Zha remembered the order of events very clearly.

First, the ghost leaves, then it follows, and only then does the curse on the nails activate. The curse restricts whether the ghost leaves the village, not whether there are outsiders in the village.

His gaze suddenly turned serious.

"Then who are you apologizing to? I hear the voices of those nailed to the cross apologizing. What have you done to wrong her?"

"No, we are not apologizing to her, but to the world. Because the people in the village are all honest and good people, and because of our mistakes, we lost the opportunity to completely purify this monster. So we must repent." The huge monster lowered its head and sighed deeply.

“We made a terrible mistake. We shouldn’t have taken in that wicked Western woman. She pretended to be harmless and came to our village to stay overnight, but she secretly wanted to kill the villagers. We discovered her early and caught her before she could do it. I was also foolish at the time. I thought I could reform her with Buddhism, so I tied her to a Western cross outside the village and went there day and night to recite scriptures for her. But I didn’t expect that she would escape during a heavy rain, and then… she became like this.”

"We should have sent that witch to the shrine in the city back then, so that the high priest there could have completely exorcised this wicked monster. But now... we regret it so much."

The story was engaging, but logically flawed, and crucial details were glossed over. Zheng Zha wasn't interested in determining who was right or wrong, but since the other party had mentioned the 'shrine in the city,' continuing the conversation was necessary.

“Alright, I don’t care what happened in your past. Just tell me what you want me to do,” Zheng Zha replied. “If it’s on my way, I’ll help you out; if not, then I’m sorry.”

"You'll definitely find your way, traveler from afar. Because this is also helping yourself. When you entered this village, you were tainted by the witch's curse. Sooner or later, she will find you and cast the curse upon you as well. You are not only helping us, but also saving yourself." The ghost's voice became deep, and a sense of madness seemed to resurface within it.

"Where is that city?" Zheng Zha ignored the hints in the ghost's words and went straight to the point. "You want me to go there to help you find someone who can be of use, right? Is that it?"

"...That's right, head east. Cross two mountains and a river, and you'll find another village. There's a main road at the edge of the village. Head north to reach the city. Tell the people at the temple what happened here, and we'll be freed, and you can also be freed from the witch's curse."

"You must go! You must go!" Black mist began to gush from its body, detaching itself and flowing back into the living corpses nailed to the crosses like a receding tide. Its breath grew weaker, and its voice became intermittent.

"Is there a tower in that city?" Zheng Zha asked hurriedly. "A very tall tower. Tell me, is there such a tower?"

"No... I don't... No, there's a tower there!" it roared, thick smoke rising from the muscles embedded in the iron nails. It futilely reached out towards Zheng Zha, trying to grab something, but its fingers disintegrated into black mist the instant they crossed the threshold.

"You...must...tell us what's going on here...otherwise...you...will become like us!"

"Just like us!"

The demon's form suddenly disintegrated, transforming into a mangled corpse of an old man, which was swept away by a black gale and sucked into the shrine in the center of the village. The decaying wooden gate slammed shut with a deafening roar that echoed in all directions. Even Zheng Zha, who was standing far away on the outskirts of the village, felt a gust of wind rush towards him, and the howling wind stopped abruptly just as it passed his ear.

Everything quieted down.

Author's Note:

..........................................

Perhaps I shouldn't shift the focus to the scumbag.

Perhaps I shouldn't have gone to read the book review section.

No matter what I write, there will always be people who are dissatisfied.

Section Six - Wei

"This guy is probably lying to me." Zheng Zha looked at the quiet village with a complicated expression.

What started as a biased story quickly morphed into veiled threats. That black mist… might indeed be harmful. But Zheng Zha didn't believe that simply coming into contact with it would corrupt him.

This world is strange. Those words echoing in my ears, that death I once experienced, and those... inexplicable words and phrases... everything is strange.

[There are some problems.] He looked at his hands, his fists clenching slightly.

There must be something wrong with this.

[Damn it, if only I could find Xiao Honglu or Margot Lloyd, they're smart enough to analyze the situation clearly. Ugh, my head is starting to hurt.]

He rubbed his face vigorously.

"In short, regardless of how much truth and how much falsehood that ghost told, some things are certain: the statement 'Go east, cross two mountains and a river, and there is a village; follow the main road from the village north to reach a city' is definitely true. Because if I don't do this, then none of the other party's plans will succeed... unless the ghost's initial goal was to make me leave."

"Yes, if it really is the village chief as it claims, then its words are full of flaws. But if it is just a simple jailer disguised as someone else, then the questions in its words can be answered... It deliberately uses flaws in its language to make me dislike the villagers, thus causing me to leave disappointed and no longer care about the trivial matters here. And such a possibility does exist... However, even so, this intelligence may still be correct."

Zheng Zha took a deep breath. That familiar female voice echoed in his mind once again.

'—Think. You need to think, Captain Zheng Zha.'

Every action has a reason and a motivation. A seemingly foolish strategy might take on a different meaning if the roles are reversed. Of course, it's possible the other side is genuinely foolish, but the chances of that are quite low.

"Damn it... If only I could figure it out." He rubbed his head vigorously, utterly bewildered by the lack of intelligence and advice. He finally realized how much frustration requiring independent thought could bring him. As the captain of the Central Continent Team, his job in the future should be to avoid such situations as much as possible.

It is incomprehensible and indiscernible.

Not every situation can be tackled head-on; at the very least, one should figure out the direction in which to focus their efforts. He couldn't help but recall the past. Leaving aside the Resident Evil incident, it was Chu Xuan who guided him in which direction to strive during Alien and Ju-on. And in God and Demon, the guides became Xiao Honglu and Alice.

Ah...that's right. A captain needs to be decisive. But decisiveness requires having alternatives. If there are no choices, what can a captain do?

[I guess I'll just have to pick a direction and go for it anyway.]

But I can't act recklessly now... I need to make sure my companions are here too, and then find them. This world is so real; it's unlikely to be an illusion, and even if it is, I probably wouldn't be able to see through its weaknesses on my own.

[In short, we cannot stay here any longer. If our companions arrive in this land, they will surely travel to a prominent city to leave a message for reunion. Even if they don't go to a city, I can mobilize manpower within it and use the power of this era to find them.]

He looked up at the sky; the downpour had dwindled into a light drizzle during his battle and contemplation. Through the faint moonlight filtering through the clouds, he could vaguely make out the outline of the eastern mountains on the other side of his field of vision.

Japan is situated at the boundary of tectonic plates, making it prone to earthquakes and volcanoes. Three-quarters of its land is mountainous and hilly, and the mountain range in front of us is just one of the many unremarkable ones in Japan. It's not very high or wide, and it shouldn't take long to cross it.

The two mountains should be no more than fifty kilometers apart. Crossing them shouldn't be difficult for him.

So……

[With limited stamina, we'll stick to walking. There might be wild animals like deer in the mountains; if we could hunt one, it would probably fill our stomachs temporarily.]

He turned his head and walked towards the mountains to the east. Ten minutes later he reached the foot of the mountain, and half an hour later, a wisp of smoke rose from the mountainside.

The moon gradually sank below the horizon. Soon, the light drizzle quietly stopped. A faint light of dawn appeared on the horizon.

.............................................

Zheng Zha had to admit that the nights in this era were far from peaceful. The double protection of a moat and wooden fences was indeed necessary for an ordinary village. In the short half hour that followed, after he had hunted a deer in the mountains and found shelter from the rain to roast and eat it, he had been attacked three times!

The first time was when a pack of hungry wolves with gleaming eyes came. They were drawn by the smell of the dead deer's blood, but Zheng Zha casually killed one of them and then slunk away with the dead wolf's carcass.

The second group consisted of three shipwrecked corpses dressed in medieval Western clothing incongruous with the style of Japan. Their mangled bodies even dampened Zheng Zha's appetite for meat. To deal with this, Zheng Zha naturally opted to chop them all into two small pancakes.

The third time was when he was looking for a cave to shelter from the rain, a ghost appeared. It looked similar to the one in the village, but it was much clumsy and weak. Zheng Zha saw its strength and killed it with two strikes. The corpse quickly disintegrated and merged into the earth in the black mist.

This era is very abnormal, extremely abnormal.

Even in the most abnormal world, nothing could stop Zheng Zha from eating meat. Although his cooking skills weren't great, he could still easily stuff the roasted food into his stomach. And after he had eaten an entire adult male stag weighing about 100 kilograms, his lost strength finally returned to a relatively safe level. His demonized blood energy and transformed innate true qi also began to accumulate again within his body, enough to at least sustain him in low-intensity combat.

The more fortified it is, the greater its appetite.

He hadn't paid much attention to this kind of thing before, but now he had a clear understanding of it.

I'll need to put some food and medicine in my storage ring from now on.

He thought to himself, and followed the terrain eastward toward the mountains and forests. The journey of several dozen kilometers was not long for him. After crossing the mountains and slaying those reckless ghosts and ferocious beasts, he washed his cloak and blood-stained demon-headed broadsword in a small river. As the white light slowly appeared on the horizon, he saw several wisps of smoke rising from behind the mountains not far away.

There are people, and a gathering place. It seems this is indeed that village.

Zheng Zha took a deep breath, straightened his appearance, and headed towards the direction of the smoke. Before long, he saw a settlement much larger than the previous village. The defenses around this settlement were also much more extensive.

Not only was there a wide moat connecting to the river, but the walls protecting the village were also sturdy fortifications built of spiked logs, bricks, and earth. At least six watchtowers stood along the edge of the walls. Fires burned on the watchtowers, and militiamen with bows and arrows carefully guarded them.

He had no intention of playing a stealth game, so he made no attempt to conceal himself and headed towards the gap in the moat with the drawbridge.

The next moment, an arrow traveled over a hundred meters and struck the ground three meters in front of him before he even reached the edge of the moat!

"Stranger! Stop in your tracks!" A clear, melodious female voice rang out from the drawbridge gate. "State your origins, or you will not be allowed to approach!"

She was a priestess with her hair tied up, holding a longbow, and her beautiful brows held a resolute and heroic air.

However, her face startled Zheng Zha. Because this face, this voice, belonged to someone who had appeared in his memory—a woman who had long since died and should never have reappeared.

"Ming Yanwei!?"

Section 7 Chu

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

The moment Zheng Zha uttered the words "Ming Yanwei," the witch standing on the gate tower clearly heard him muttering these words to himself from a hundred meters away.

She was taken aback at first, then quickly made a few hand gestures. Accompanied by the creaking sound of gears turning, the massive drawbridge separating the inside from the outside slowly lowered. A minute later, she arrived at the outer end of the moat, protected by several burly men dressed as foot soldiers.

"This outfit... Are you from Earth? You know me, so you're from the 21st century? From Zhongzhou?" She raised her eyebrows, her face revealing undisguised delight. "I never expected to run into someone from my hometown, someone who knows me... As a transmigrator, coming to this chaotic era must have been quite a hardship. Come with me, you look a bit tired."

She whispered a few instructions to the foot soldiers beside her. They immediately bowed with a "Yes, sir!" and hurried towards the village and the riverbank.

"Wait, wait a minute! Ming Yanwei! Don't you remember me? I'm Zheng Zha, the captain of the Zhongzhou team, the God of War..." He abruptly shut his mouth, only to find that he didn't hear the God of War's point deduction notification. In that brief moment of delay, he saw the witch in front of him furrow her brows tightly.

“Zheng Zha? You said your name is Zheng Zha?” Ming Yanwei stared at him, her gaze sharp as an arrow. “You’re from the Main God Space, right? You have a team called the Central Continent Team, and it includes Zhan Lan, Zero Point, Saito Ichi, and Li Jie, right?”

"It's Zhang Jie, and he's already..."

“It’s Zhang Jie, that’s for sure. It’s just a verification.” Ming Yanwei nodded and let out a deep breath. “So it’s all true. I really am…”

She gently tapped her head, then pulled Zheng Zha and turned to walk towards the suspension bridge.

“It’s not safe outside. We can talk once we get to the village.” Her words carried an undeniable air of authority, clearly the result of a long-standing position of power and the habit of giving orders. But after saying it, she realized it was somewhat inappropriate, so she tapped her head and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I'm so used to being a shrine maiden that I didn't react for a moment."

"Uh...it's nothing." Zheng Zha's eye twitched; he hadn't really paid attention to such a subtle change in tone. But since Ming Yanwei had said so, he naturally had to go along with it—he glanced at Ming Yanwei's shrine maiden outfit; clearly, it was custom-made and had been worn for some time. The white robe and crimson hakama fit her perfectly, and were decorated with delicate patterns along the edges. The longbow she carried was also a frequently used weapon, and the rings protecting her fingers showed signs of wear.

"You seem to have been a priestess for a long time?" Zheng Zha asked.

“Yes, it’s been over a year,” Ming Yanwei replied, leading Zheng Zha across the suspension bridge. Several foot soldiers in hard leather armor and an old samurai with a hilt bowed to her, to which she merely nodded casually in response. “When I woke up, I found myself lying in the forest. I thought I would be killed by wolves, but unexpectedly, the old shrine maiden who guarded the area saved my life. I am very skilled with a bow, and she immediately recognized that my hands were bow-wielding hands. After all, I owed her a life, so I had to repay her. So I followed her to learn Shinto knowledge, practice martial arts, and exorcise demons that frequently attacked the village. Then, half a year ago, she was fatally wounded during a demon horde, so I took on her dying request. That’s how I ended up like this.”

"More than a year? You... have been here for that long?"

"Yes, it's been that long. Actually, life here is quite pleasant. The people here need me and respect me, and I can help the villagers build their village and expand their land. Whether it's demons or bandits, I can deal with them all with my bow. Although the food isn't very tasty, you get used to it after a while."

Passing through the gatehouse, one sees several rows of houses built of planks and stones. The ground has been repaired and paved with easy-to-walk stone slabs. Some villagers carrying buckets of water or firewood respectfully bow to Ming Yanwei when they see her, and only after she has walked across the stone path do they tiptoe back to the road to continue their work.

Ming Yanwei's residence was the largest in the village, and it also served as the village shrine. As she led Zheng Zha into her room through the side door, the villagers who were worshipping at the main gate of the shrine began to chatter amongst themselves. Soon after, foot soldiers carrying bamboo spears walked over and loudly rebuked them, driving the villagers away.

“There’s nothing we can do; that’s just how people are these days. Demons and monsters roam the outside world, and there’s not much entertainment. So they gossip about anything new.” She entered the wooden hut, which was significantly better than the stone and wooden houses outside, closed the door, and led Zheng Zha to a low table typical of medieval Japan. A little girl, also dressed as a shrine maiden but only thirteen or fourteen years old, diligently placed tea and food on the table. She turned her head, and when she saw Zheng Zha’s face, her cheeks flushed slightly. She gave a slight bow and then shyly ran away.

"This is Huizi, who should be considered my successor. Her father and mother were eaten by demons, so I had to take her in... I just arranged for someone to come back and prepare some food. Don't worry about the taste, it's barely edible. But it's very nutritious and will fill your stomach. If you want to take a bath, Huizi has already gone to boil water. So until then, let's follow the custom of us Central Plains people and talk over dinner."

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and gracefully sat down across the low table. “My memory is a bit fragmented, so I don’t actually remember who you are. But I think you have some questions for me, so to be fair, let’s exchange information… You can ask first.”

"...Do you remember dying in the Curse of the Grudge?"

The priestess raised an eyebrow, but her face didn't show much surprise. "What you're saying contains a lot of information, but I regret to inform you that I don't remember it. My last memory is of a strange window suddenly popping up on my computer. I think I had drunk a little alcohol at the time... and then..." She gently shook her head. "By the time I came to my senses, I had already arrived in this era."

"Wait! You don't remember?" Zheng Zha's eyes widened. "But you clearly remember the Central Plains Team, and you remember everyone's names. The Ju-on world... the Samsara Team. This..."