Chapter 57: Fox Village 07

Chapter 57: Fox Village 07

Pei Yi woke up in the middle of the night, noticing incense burning in the room. He mustered his strength and turned on the light.

"Zhou You! Zhou You!" he called out, nudging him awake.

Zhou You opened his eyes groggily, seeing the infuriated Pei Yi, "Pei Yi?"

"Get up."

"But I'm sleeping."

"Why did you light the incense?"

"What are you talking about, Pei Yi?"

Pei Yi grabbed his collar, "Stop pretending. This incense makes people dizzy, it's like a sleeping spell."

Chen Mo also woke up.

The three looked at each other, waiting for an explanation.

"Pei Yi, what are you accusing me of? Why would I harm you?"

Pei Yi extinguished the incense, "It wasn't you?"

"I never lit it," Zhou You denied.

Pei Yi fell silent, lacking evidence. Even if Zhou You did it, he wouldn’t admit it. But the incense indeed couldn’t be lit again. Talking made his head spin, but he couldn’t afford to sleep.

"Were you the one giving me medicine with Lu Zai Chuan?"

Zhou You replied, "Yes, Pei Yi, you were acting stubborn, clinging to Lu Zai Chuan's leg like a child."

Pei Yi: "…………"

He had fiercely resisted, not acted coquettishly. In his memory, they were forcing the medicine. Was it all an illusion? Something was amiss here. Either they were lying, or he remembered wrongly.

He turned to Chen Mo, "Chen Mo, were you there too?"

Chen Mo shook his head, "I was taking a shower at that time."

It was all word-of-mouth, no concrete proof.

After so much talking, Pei Yi felt exhausted and leaned back again, feeling incredibly weak. He had never been this tired before.

He slept straight through until dawn. Pei Yi realized he was genuinely sick, and quite severely at that.

Waking up, his head throbbed painfully.

But he needed to find out the truth, to know what they had tried to make him drink yesterday.

Entering the hall, they were all waiting for him, seven people seated around the table.

Pei Yi sat down, looking around. He didn't know who to trust anymore. Feeling utterly powerless, he was in such a strange world, surrounded by people he couldn’t rely on. He involuntarily touched the dice around his neck.

His first question was to Lu Zai Chuan, "Did you give me medicine yesterday?"

Lu Zai Chuan replied, "Yes. You had a fever of 40 degrees last night. Not taking medicine could have been fatal."

“……”

Hong Jiu chimed in, "Pei Yi, would Lu Zai Chuan ever harm you? Don’t judge others by your own standard."

Zhou You also said, “Pei Yi, really, I wouldn’t harm you.”

Pei Yi looked at the others sitting there; they all kept their heads down, not saying a word.

Lu Zai Chuan spoke, “It's okay if you don’t trust me, I won’t help you with the medicine next time. Zhou You already told me that the incense is just ordinary calming incense, every restaurant and hotel here has it.”

Zhou You quickly pulled Pei Yi to sit down, “Pei Yi, don’t be paranoid, come have breakfast. We’re going to the Fox Temple soon.”

“I don’t think it’s paranoia,” Ying Jun couldn’t help but say, “After that incense is lit, I feel extremely heavy sleep. We should be cautious. Anyway, we can’t light that incense anymore.”

Chen Mo said, “I agree. It’s our third day here and we haven’t found any clues, just being led around by them. If we keep sleeping this deeply, who knows what might happen?”

Lu Zai Chuan said, “If that’s the case,” pointing at Hong Jiu and Bai Qi, “what about you two?”

Hong Jiu quickly said, “I’ll follow Lu Zai Chuan’s lead.”

Bai Qi tried to speak, but Hong Jiu gave her a stern look.

Lu Zai Chuan said, “Okay then. We need to be careful with the incense. Anything else?”

Pei Yi: “Not just the incense, but also that fox juice.” He glanced at Hong Jiu, who was still drinking it, “We can’t drink that anymore.”

Hong Jiu immediately became unhappy, “Why? I like drinking it.”

“It’s the same as the incense. No one knows what it really is. If we keep drinking it, we won’t even know how we die. Do you still want to drink it?”

Hong Jiu glared, silent.

Lu Zai Chuan: “Okay, let’s not touch the drinks anymore. Pei Yi, anything else to point out?”

Although Pei Yi was groggy last night, he clearly heard a few conversations, something about him discovering something. The speaker could only be him. Knowing they are aware, he decided not to hold back. He needs to keep pressing; that’s when those people will become more panicked.

“I received a note.” Pei Yi took it out, placed it on the table, and looked at Lu Zai Chuan, “You have one too, right?”

Lu Zai Chuan was taken aback, nodded, but did not take his out.

“Where’s yours?”

Lu Zai Chuan shook his head: “I lost it.”

“Lost it?”

Pei Yi nodded, “Okay.”

Ying Jun saw it, “They are not human? What does that mean? Who isn’t human?”

Pei Yi: “It could be anyone. Maybe those townspeople, maybe us.”

Hearing this, the faces of everyone present changed.

“I bring this up not to cause panic, but to be cautious. Perhaps everyone here isn’t really human, and even we, who were originally human, could become less human-like because of something like the fox juice, fox incense.”

“Ah!” Zhou You screamed in fright, “Pei Yi! You’re scaring me to death!”

Pei Yi said, “I'm not exaggerating. I took a photo at Black Mama’s residence yesterday. Do you know what I captured?”

Lu Zai Chuan asked, “What was it?”

Pei Yi: “There was no image, under what circumstances would there be no image?”

Chen Mo: “A ghost?” He had played horror games before.

Pei Yi: “That’s one possibility. Any other ideas?”

Ying Jun: “Or maybe this place doesn’t really exist.”

Pei Yi nodded: “I think this is key to solving this game. Today’s visit to the Fox Temple might provide some answers.”

At this moment, Chen Mo raised his hand, and everyone looked at him. Blushing, he said, “I have a thought, not sure if it’s just my intuition. They told us about jumping off cliffs, watching plays, and water burials as rituals. This Fox City seems to be conveying that if we worship the Fox God, we can stay young forever, we can achieve immortality. Even in death, we can separate soul from flesh and enter reincarnation.”

Zhou You: “What are you trying to say?” Wasn’t this what the guide Ah Li said?

“Don’t you think it's like indoctrination?”

His words left everyone in the room stunned.

Indoctrination is different from promotion. The former is passive, the latter active. Since entering Fox City, their beliefs have been passively and even forcibly shaken.

With this explanation, it indeed seemed plausible. Even the upcoming visit to the Fox Temple is to convey that the Fox God can resurrect the dead.

Hong Jiu: “So what? Isn’t it true? Haven’t you noticed I’ve become prettier? What’s this about indoctrination?” She rolled her eyes, “It’s voluntary, whether you choose to believe or not.”

Her words made Chen Mo uncomfortable. Everyone felt awkward.

The discussion ended on a sour note.

Lu Zai Chuan: “Let's see how Xing Guang and Xing Yao are doing first. If they really can be brought back to life, that would be good.”

Yesterday, they had moved the bodies to an empty room. The deceased had been left on the bed overnight, whether that was good or bad remained to be seen.

Lu Zai Chuan was the first to push open the door, and the scene inside was truly horrifying.

The brothers’ limbs had already started to stiffen, turning blue, feeling slightly cold to the touch. Their hair stood on end, their mouths were involuntarily open, and a faint foul smell was emerging. Their eyes were wide open, staring blankly.

Soon, livor mortis would set in.

Several people couldn’t bear to look and turned back.

Could people in such a state still be resurrected?

This made them even more curious.

Pei Yi, unafraid, squatted next to the corpses and even touched an arm, which was indeed extremely stiff. Last night's poisoning seemed like a farce. Seeing the corpses, they realized the twins were truly dead from poisoning.

After examining the bodies, the group withdrew. If resurrection was possible, the revived wouldn’t be human.

Everyone thought this as they heard someone calling from downstairs.

“Everyone, Black Mama says we can proceed,” said the guide Ah Li.

Just as they went downstairs, Ah Li, accompanied by several people, instructed them to move the bodies. As soon as the bodies were taken away, they immediately followed, along with many townfolk heading towards the Fox Temple.

Arriving at the Fox Temple, it was surrounded by a crowd. Inside, the temple was similar to the ancestral hall, with a statue of the Fox Deity.

Inside stood the shamans from the previous night’s play, three in total – representing the great deity and two lesser deities.

Still wearing pointed hats, their masked eyes appeared murky, which Pei Yi found unsettling. Yet, the parts of the shamans that were visible seemed normal, indistinguishable from ordinary people.

Perhaps sensing Pei Yi’s gaze, one shaman even turned and smiled at him.

After a while, Black Mama arrived.

“Fellow villagers, the soul-summoning ceremony cannot have too many people present. Those who are not friends of the deceased, please leave.”

Black Mama's influence was incredibly strong; many townsfolk immediately turned and left, leaving only their group behind.

As soon as the people left, the soul summoning ritual began.

Several shamans started beating the large drum and shaking copper bells, closing their eyes as they began to sing and dance.

The lyrics went like this:

"Sun sets behind the mountains, darkness falls. Every household bolts its doors.

Traveling gentlemen rush to the inn, birds to the forests, tigers return to the mountains.

...Setting up the altar to invite the immortals.

First invite the fox, then the serpent, then the long python and the marten, accompanied by the mourning king.

……

Listening to the first part, Pei Yi thought it was just a typical invocation of the gods, but the latter part of the lyrics made his face change —

"Those who do not wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, desire to wander the mortal realm as Lustrous Knights."

Choose a king, cultivate diligently, and enjoy wealth and honor.

Nourish a person so that gods and demons do not consume their crown, throat, and heart chakras, namely 'Om', 'Ah', and 'Hum'. Make offerings to the Dakinis of commitment, those who consume meat, those engaged in virtuous actions, and those of joyful activity, directing the vase breath through the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, navel, secret, and anal regions.

Direct soul-to-soul contact, warm with sound and feeling, the whole body relaxed and open – this is the completion of the ritual!

Practice the yidam deity method, free from illness, pain, and injury, the supreme secret teaching of the heart.

Hehehehehehehehe.