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They were breathing normally, but they looked translucent and crystal clear like crystal glass. And each baby's shell seemed to have another baby-shaped shell nested under it, layer by layer, divided into seven layers...

"Seventy-seven forty-nine, this is the forty-ninth reincarnation of 'Pluto'!" The prophet suddenly realized.

"not only that."

Li Re suddenly pointed around and whispered, "Look again, how many people are there in this village?"

"No need to look. I counted them when I first came in. Including the seven people holding the baby, there are forty-nine old people in total." The werewolf stood to one side with his hands clasped and his voice was low.

"That's right!" Li Re spread his hands and looked around at everyone and continued, "Forty-nine 'babies' and forty-nine old men. The existence of the youngest and oldest forms here itself represents a certain phenomenon - not to mention that there are both men and women among these old men. Although the transparent babies have no distinction between men and women, they also have both yin and yang!"

"Shaoyin, Shaoyang, Taiyin and Taiyang?" The priest murmured to himself. As the saying goes, every profession has its specialties. The mysterious werewolves naturally don't know much about these. The prophets have some knowledge of them but are not very clear. Only the mythological 'priests' can see them clearly!

of course.

None of them could compare to the spiritual beings that were of the same lineage as ghosts and gods - even if Li Re was only at the bronze level, if he had not been deliberately suppressed, he would have been promoted to silver long ago!

He said: "Yes, it is Shaoyin Shaoyang, Taiyin and Taiyang."

"In fact, you don't have to take things like 'ghosts and gods' too seriously. Ghosts and gods have the same origin as the supernatural. Although they are stronger as a superior, their terror is still based on the unknown - and this unknown can also be solved!"

"The ghost that possessed the 'priest' before was like this."

"The same goes for 'Pluto'!"

"It seems that you have figured out the principle of the existence of 'Pluto's reincarnation'?" The prophet's young and 'weathered' face stared at Li Re in front of him!

"it's actually really easy."

Li Re grinned and said, "The most important thing about the reincarnation of Hades is us!"

This answer was somewhat unexpected to the three non-players. Even the mysterious 'Mirror' slightly looked sideways - after saying so much before, they still thought that the basis for the existence of 'Pluto' was this entire village!

The priest looked thoughtful and did not seem too surprised.

after all...

"Before we arrived, this village was full of old people. The so-called 'Moon' and 'Sun' were already in a state of balance, similar to the restraint between the spirits. Our arrival directly broke this balance."

"When things are difficult, they must change. When they change, they can get through. The balance is broken. Taiyin gives birth to Shaoyin, and Yang gives birth to Shaoyang. Therefore, our arrival is the moment when the 'reincarnation of Hades' is born!"

In other words.

It's not that Pluto foresaw the arrival of the player in advance.

Instead, 'Pluto' deliberately chose to be born when the player arrived!

Li Rexin thought that this 'Pluto' was indeed a master-level ghost and god, who directly bound his own birth to the 'player' who came with a mission. This move was truly unpredictable - if he did not carry with him psychic magic images and could observe details and see the big picture from the small details, he might not be able to deduce it!

"So what you mean is that now, we, the old people in the village and these seven 'babies' have formed a delicate balance again, and we must not only protect these seven babies, but also the old people in this village? And they can't leave here!?" The werewolf made such an inference based on Li Re's words and thoughts. He frowned and looked at the ordinary old people around him!

We have to protect them, but we can't send them away. However, once the ghosts and gods attack, how can these mortals withstand the aftermath of the battle?

At this time, the 'prophet' who had some knowledge of the supernatural suddenly said in a hoarse voice: "Since it is a balance similar to the supernatural, then there must be a way to reasonably use this balancing power..."

"Wait...baby, newborn, seven days - this sounds like some kind of customary time for newborn babies in this world?"

"That's right." Li Re nodded, pointing to the seven crystal clear babies without hiding anything: "Ghosts and spirits are similar to the supernatural. As a balance, each part should have its role. Based on this, the way to use this balance is actually very simple. That is - let us old people in front of us, who are also at one end of the balance, complete the baptism of these seven newborns according to the customs of this world for newborns, so that they can get through the most vulnerable period of infants faster - accelerate their growth!"

"I guess this is why we need to protect it for seven days - these seven days are not for us, but for the elderly here!"

"The ritual itself is a power, and our existence is only to protect these seven babies during the non-ritual time of these seven days. That's why the ghost who occupied the sacrifice today said that he would come at midnight tonight... because after midnight, the ritual will be over!"

At this point, Li Re suddenly paused, groaned, and continued:

"Seven babies, corresponding to a seven-day 'ritual'. I now even suspect that these seven babies are not the real Hades, but the 'sacrifice' that Hades uses to allow his complete self to appear directly in this world."

"These seven babies... and forty-nine old people, are all like this!"

At this time, the evening wind was still howling, and the strange village that had just been bustling for a while became unusually quiet again. The old people hung their heads as if they were in a deep sleep. When the players began to talk about "ghosts and gods", they had already been hypnotized by the "werewolf" with some mysterious means.

Mortals cannot listen to the matters of ghosts and gods, as this will only bring them harm, not benefit.

Li Re, who witnessed the werewolf's mysterious tricks, thought that this man looked quite brave, careful, lawful and kind.

It is also this moment.

As Li Re finished speaking, the players looked at the seven transparent "babies" and fell silent for a moment.

After listening to Li Re's words, the more they thought about it, the more they felt that this was the case.

And such strange villages and strange rituals also made them feel chills in their hearts unconsciously...

Suddenly there was another sound!

“One is birth, two is the third day, three is the full moon, four is the hundredth day, five is the first birthday, six is ​​the passing of childhood, and seven is the adulthood.” This sentence was not said by Li Re, but by the "sacrifice".

He opened his eyes and looked at everyone seriously: "What he said is absolutely correct!"

"I have heard it... This is what 'Pluto' meant!" The 'witch' who communicated with ghosts and gods spoke in a low voice, and everyone seemed to see a mysterious figure of ghosts and gods behind him.

These words were obviously what the real Pluto heard when he communicated with him!

From birth, three days, to full moon and anniversary, ten years old, to adulthood...

"It seems that I still underestimated this Hades - He wants to achieve his goal in one step and grow up into an adult in just seven days!"

Li Re grinned when he heard this.

Looking at the other people's uncertain expressions, it was not difficult for him to guess what they were thinking. This underworld that had been destroyed for three thousand years did not welcome the reincarnation of Hades, and now, Hades had to complete the entire growth process in just seven days - it was foreseeable that they would inevitably face unprecedented attacks from ghosts and gods.

But others may be afraid, but Li Re will not.

He just finds it interesting.

He could only think that this was in keeping with the thrills and excitement of a C-level ghost mission!

As the voice faded, the last ray of light in the sky completely dimmed.

The north wind is colder.

The coldness is getting deeper!

Chapter 315: Strange Ritual and Announcement

Of course, no matter how solemn and fearful you are, since you have accepted the mission of Paradise and entered this dungeon world, you must not give up halfway. The consequences of giving up halfway are far more tragic and desperate than the consequences of failing to complete the mission! Although Paradise never kills players, it will make players who violate the rules live a life worse than death!

So soon.

All the players except Li Re calmed down and came to their senses.

The werewolf released his hypnosis on the elderly people around him.

Completely sunk into the world of darkness, the old people began to move around as if nothing had happened - as if some mechanism had been activated.

They even ignored the players who were still standing there and went about their own business.

Someone had piled up firewood outside the hut.

Someone opened the hut door.

The seven old women holding the 'babies' turned and walked into the house.

But it was not the innermost hut they had walked out of earlier.

But different huts.

Seven huts, seven old women, and seven babies.

The old man with a long beard waved his hand, directing six old men in the crowd to walk into one of the huts... Their eyes were dull, and their movements were smooth but revealed a bit of inhuman weirdness.

The players looked at each other and thought that Li Re’s guess was correct.

The 'ritual' has begun!

Li Re looked at this scene with his eyes slightly dimmed, and began to think in his mind.

...

That night, the night was getting increasingly silent, the sky was like an abyss, without stars or moon, and the endless land below was covered in a vast darkness, so deep that it looked like a cave.

But nearby, the piled up firewood was burning blazingly in the open space between the clustered huts, and the blazing flames dispelled the darkness, as if it was decorated with lights and was very lively - the old people were sitting around the campfire, and in the hut directly in front of the campfire, seven old men were dressing up a crystal clear and strange-shaped "baby" with meticulous care.

Those wrinkled faces looked extremely serious in the light.

The players standing outside the hut and by the window watched the scene with serious expressions.

They looked at the old men, whose demeanor had suddenly changed, as they dressed the "baby" in a serious manner and put on jewelry and jade pendants. Although all they saw around them were dilapidated huts, the coats they took out were not gorgeous but not shabby either. They were just plain, the kind of solid color without any dye. The jewelry and jade pendants were also not luxurious, but very delicate.

But compared to these, what is even more bizarre is the old people themselves——

The first old man put an inner garment on the baby, and after closing the front of the garment, the old figure suddenly stood up and pulled out a long knife hidden under the couch where the baby was lying.

The next second, the knife slid off and blood splattered all around, adding a bit of strange "red" to the environment illuminated by the fire, and directly dyed the baby's inner clothes red.

But the old man did not fall down. Instead, he raised his hand, took off his head and held it in his arms, then walked out step by step on the blood!

It's like I didn't realize I was already dead...

Such a scene was undoubtedly extremely weird.

But the other elderly people had no reaction to this and continued to do their own things.

One after another...

Silence throughout.

The whole process was weird.

"These old men are indeed 'sacrifices'!" The wolf man's huge gray wolf head trembled with fur on his face when he saw this scene. "The so-called 'Pluto' is indeed an evil god!"

"After all, they are ghosts and gods - strange and unpredictable vicious beings." The priest leaned against the window and whispered, "But at this point, we must complete the task..."

"Moreover, the return of Hades will only bring benefits to this world where ghosts and gods are out of control, and no harm!" Having experienced the horror of ghosts and gods at close range, he felt this deeply!

"They are just some native NPCs. Why are you so angry?" The prophet said in a hoarse and disdainful voice, "Let's get ready. I have a feeling that when this weird 'ritual' is over, we will face great difficulties!"

"You don't need to tell me, I know."

The werewolf's voice was low and slightly unhappy, but he still suppressed the anger in his heart...

"This is not Hades' fault, but our own choice!" At this time, the old man with a long beard who was also standing outside the hut, but not in front of the window, but at the door a few steps away, exhaled and spoke. He looked at the headless old man staggering away, and the backs of the other old men making way for him, and said as if waking up from a dream: "We are able to live until now because of Hades' protection, so we gather here and are willing to become sacrifices for Hades' return - three thousand years, countless generations, we have waited too long, only when Hades returns... can this world return to its original track!"

"But don't worry, we have already dug our own graves, and we will walk there on our own after we die... We won't cause any trouble to the gods!"

The old man said this very resolutely.

After he finished speaking, he swayed his body again, and the light in his eyes disappeared again, as if he had woken up specifically to explain something to Pluto.

But these words were sincere and came from his own will!

Then the werewolf's anger disappeared and he remained silent.

"By the way...where is that supernatural player Li Re, and that other mysterious player?" The priest suddenly turned around and looked around and asked in a deep voice. However, he only saw three players: himself, the werewolf, and the prophet. Li Re and 'Mirror' had disappeared at some point in time.

"Lord Li Re said he wanted to go for a walk around, investigate the surrounding environment, and prepare for attacks by ghosts and gods. He will be back before the ceremony is over."

The werewolf said, "As for the other one... huh? When did she leave?"

“Don’t pay attention to them.”

The prophet interrupted their questions: "'Pluto's Reincarnation' is dressed."

"Tonight is the first day of the 'birth ceremony.'" The priest also retracted his attention and turned his gaze back to the house: "After putting on clothes and wearing jade halberd jewelry, it's time to 'name' and 'announce the good news.'"

"Give the baby a good name, then spread the name widely, inform the whole world of the good news of the birth of a newborn, and the birth ceremony will be complete!"

This mythical professional player recounted the information he had just obtained from the brief communication with Pluto.

It's easy to say and doesn't sound difficult.

But is it really possible to succeed without any troubles?

As the evening wind howled, the werewolf's ears on his head moved slightly - standing in front of the window of the hut, he suddenly turned his head and looked into the dark world beyond the light of the firewood bonfire.

A rustling sound came in the wind.

The werewolf's pupils shrank and his eyes became slightly focused!