Yin Xiu didn't dare to confirm it directly, but he accepted the possibility in his mind.
Judging from the townspeople's reactions, they really disliked the woman who appeared during the day, and were quite happy to prepare for the sacrificial ceremony.
"Did you see the stone tablet at the entrance of the town when you came?" Seeing Yin Xiu's silence, the town mayor brought up another topic.
"I've seen it." Yin Xiu nodded. It contained the rules of this small town, which he not only read but also memorized.
"Do you still remember the first rule?" the mayor asked with a smile.
"Children are not allowed to touch the altar in the square at night?"
"Yes." The mayor turned his gaze from Yin Xiu to the altar in the distance. "Before the seal was placed, that woman loved to eat the children in the town. But after the seal was placed, she no longer had the power to eat them. Her only power was to turn people into monsters through the altar. This only worked on children because they had no resistance. Therefore, children must never touch the altar at night, or they will be tainted by the curse and turn into monsters."
Yin Xiu lowered his eyes and pondered.
Foreshadowing: A happy little girl moves in with her mother to her grandmother's monster town.
The little girl came to the town with her mother, which meant they were outsiders and not considered residents. At this time, the town had become a monster town, where only the residents could turn into monsters, while the little girl and her mother, who were outsiders, could not.
But the little girl is now turning into a monster...
"She touched the altar...?" This was the only thing Yin Xiu could think of, because the fifth rule of the town allowed outsiders to watch the sacrificial ceremony, as long as they did not break the rules.
It is possible that the little girl participated in the sacrificial ritual but broke the rules and was transformed into a monster.
Town Rule Number Six...
[For outsiders who accidentally violate the rules, do not let them leave alive.]
Is that why the mother kept reminding her to hide the little girl from her notes?
Because the townspeople will deal with these rule-breaking outsiders and won't let them leave alive, the little girl must also die.
The mayor's brief words gave Yin Xiu a lot of clues. He now guessed that the monster should refer to the woman, not the little girl who was originally human.
As I was lost in thought, the ceremony seemed to begin. The torches surrounding the altar were lit one by one, their dim yellow light standing out in the chilly night and adding a touch of warmth to the gloomy town.
Many players inside the building peered out of their windows, watching the ceremony unfold.
"Would you like to come with me to take a look now?" The mayor extended his hand to Yin Xiu again, his face still beaming with a warm smile.
Yin Xiu lowered his eyes and stared at his hand, pondering the value of the information he had just received, before silently reaching out to touch it.
The live chat was filled with the shocking comment: "He reached out! He reached out!!!"
"He actually spoke to the mayor! What did they talk about just now?? Was what he heard different from what I heard? Did I miss some information?! Why did Yin Xiu's attitude change so much?!"
"Look closely, the man in the picture is named Yin Xiu. He just responded to another man holding his hand, but at this moment, another man in the second-floor window is staring at them with a gloomy face and a strong murderous intent. How will this strange love triangle end? Please watch the live stream of the episode tonight."
"Haha, you in front, you know how to explain things."
"The murderous aura is already emanating from the screen. I hope the mayor is alright."
"Ahhh, I'm a newbie! Experts, please stop watching! Can someone explain to me what information the mayor was trying to convey? Why am I the only one who doesn't understand?"
"Don't worry, we didn't understand either, but we'll understand by the end. We might as well just watch the show."
"..."
The mayor pulled Yin Xiu through the edge of the crowd of townspeople and into the inner circle. The townspeople stood in a circle around the altar, leaving an opening. At that moment, two people carried a large sack through the opening and carried it onto the altar amidst cheers from the townspeople.
Yin Xiu examined the sack. It was a large bundle, so heavy that it would take two people to carry it. The contents of the sack were cut into pieces. Through the marks on the sack, Yin Xiu could still make out some familiar outlines. In addition, there was a layer of dark red liquid stains on the surface. He could roughly guess what was inside.
As soon as the items were placed on the altar, white mist suddenly filled the air from all directions, making it almost indistinguishable from daytime. It was the woman who had appeared.
The players were so frightened that they retreated back into their rooms and closed the windows, but the townspeople were much calmer than during the day, and not a single one of them left the altar.
"The sacrificial ceremony begins! After the three calls, everyone must close their eyes and not open them during the ceremony until the announcement is made!"
"Three! Two! One!"
As the leader of the ceremony gave a countdown, the townspeople around quickly closed their eyes. Although Yin Xiu was confused, he also quickly closed his eyes.
Having experienced the daytime events, even when they were in an apartment building, many players immediately closed their eyes, not daring to provoke the woman in the slightest. A couple of people, wanting to see what would happen next, closed the doors and windows and huddled in their rooms to watch.
After the countdown, there was a silence for about half a minute. The white mist still lingered, carrying a chill around everyone in the square.
Yin Xiu listened quietly and paid attention. Suddenly, a sound of footsteps rang out outside the crowd in the silence. The sound slowly passed through the circle of people and walked towards the altar.
The sound carried a sticky, dripping sound along its path, and the stench of blood and the damp chill made it hard to imagine what she looked like.
When Yin Xiu bumped into the woman during the day, the fog was thick and he had already gone inside before she arrived, so he didn't see what she looked like. But the sound that passed by him at that moment aroused his curiosity.
The footsteps were uneven, one leg was probably lame, and there was a slight dragging sound of something on the ground between the steps, as it walked past the crowd.
After the footsteps stopped on the altar, the sound of a burlap sack being torn open filled the air, and clumps of sticky stuff fell to the ground, instantly filling the air with the stench of blood.
The sounds of tearing and chewing then rang out, clearly echoing among the townspeople.
The gruesome biting, coupled with the smell of blood, quickly conjured up terrifying images in the minds of those with their eyes closed. The more they tried to keep their eyes closed, the more likely they were to imagine something horrific.
Yin Xiu remained standing upright at the front of the crowd, listening intently to the sounds from the darkness.
He initially thought the sacrificial ritual was a way to suppress and reinforce the seal, but now it seems... the offerings were for feeding women.
This is clearly a form of confinement seal, like putting a wild beast in a cage and feeding it regularly to make it lose interest in resisting. If you want to be more careful, you probably have to add other conditions to the seal to ensure that it will not resist at all.
Thinking about the offerings, Yin Xiu began to think that there might not be any normal people left in this town. The shape of the burlap sack was clearly human hands and feet, but such a ritual was performed every night.
The crunching sound gradually stopped in the silence, as if the woman had finished eating, but she did not leave.
Her brief pause caused those around her to suddenly become breathless; clearly, this was an unexpected situation.
Only after the footsteps sounded again did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, but they didn't relax for more than a few seconds before their tension returned.
The woman's footsteps didn't mean she was leaving; rather, they began moving among the townspeople. Each person she passed would breathe heavily until the footsteps disappeared from their sight, at which point they would finally exhale.
After the footsteps continued for half a minute, the woman slowly walked past Yin Xiu.
Suddenly, she stopped.