A whole night passed without incident.

It was Wan Qian's fourth day in Mushroom Village.

Early in the morning, she was woken by the noise outside.

When Wan Qian opened the door and stepped out, she found the entire village brimming with festive cheer, with red silk ribbons hanging everywhere.

The villagers' faces were filled with barely concealed joy as they gathered one after another, gradually forming a procession heading in the same direction.

In the air, the faint sounds of flutes, erhus, suonas, and drums could be heard. It felt like a grand wedding celebration.

This must be the ritual to the God Worship Festival, she guessed.

Wan Qian had a good night's sleep. Though she was woken up by noise in the morning, she wasn't particularly angry—in fact, she seemed quite interested in the village festival.

The suited man once again appeared before the group.

"Did you rest well last night?" the suited man asked with a smile.

As soon as Wan Qian saw him, she quickly handed him the thermal container in her hand.

"I slept really well, thank you for the thermal container."

The suited man took the container and noticed that the food Wan Qian had packed in it last night was all gone. Even the inside edges had been licked completely clean.

The suited man let out a faint, cold laugh. It seemed these outsiders, starved for three days, still couldn't resist the temptation of food.

"Well then, please come with me. You are an important part of this festival."

The suited man led them to follow the line of villagers, heading toward the back mountain of the village.

After walking for a while, they reached their destination. A sacrificial altar had already been built there.

All the villagers surrounded the altar, their eyes burning with eagerness, as if they were waiting for something.

Hao Shijun noticed that around the altar were several cages covered with black cloth.

Judging by their size, they were far too big for small livestock — big enough to hold an adult human.

No one knew what was inside.

For some reason, Hao Shijun instinctively remembered the moment when he had peeked into the yellow clay hut at Third Uncle's house.

Back then, when he reached in with his hand, something had licked him. The wet, hot touch of that tongue still seemed to linger on the back of his hand.

The crowd bustled for a long while before slowly quieting down.

Third Uncle, dressed in a heavy ceremonial robe, stepped onto the altar. The villagers began to bow one after another, kneeling and prostrating themselves on the ground.

Even the suited man who had brought Wan Qian and the others here got down on all fours to bow low.

Seeing this scene, Wan Qian felt a bit awkward, not knowing what to do. Standing alone while everyone else was kneeling made her feel far too conspicuous.

At that moment, Wan Qian noticed someone else in the crowd who wasn't kneeling. It was Doctor Jiang.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, watching the altar with interest, as if waiting for something.

Because he was seated, he didn't appear out of place. Wan Qian immediately copied him and sat down too.

She thought to herself, "No wonder he's a doctor — he believes in science and isn't superstitious at all."

He was also gentle and kind, respecting the villagers' customs while sticking to his own principles.

Seeing Wan Qian sit down, Hao Shijun and the others followed her lead and sat down as well.

After Third Uncle finished speaking on the stage, he knelt down again.

He offered incense and kowtowed several times before standing up and shouting loudly to those below the altar:

"Now, our honored guests from afar, please come onto the altar to receive the Dog God's blessing!"

Immediately, all the villagers turned their eyes toward Wan Qian and the others.

The suited man also smiled warmly. "Guests, please step onto the altar."

A strong sense of danger suddenly exploded inside Fang Minglan.

Dangerous! So dangerous! Absolutely cannot go up there!

Fang Minglan bit her lip hard, forcing herself not to scream in this setting.

But she was so terrified that her body instinctively trembled uncontrollably. Her legs felt weak.

"I—I'm just an outsider. How could I deserve such an honor?" Fang Minglan forced out a smile. Her vocal cords tightened with fear, causing her voice to crack.

The suited man just kept smiling — an empty, stiff smile. It looked like it had been welded onto his face.

"How could that be? You are our village's honored guests and will bring fresh blood to this place."

Then, the suited man's eyes fell on Fang Minglan's hands wrapped in white gauze.

"You seem to be hurt," the suited man said with a grin. "All the more reason for you to step up and receive the Dog God's blessing. The Dog God will heal your wounds."

Fang Minglan looked at the suited man's chilling, dangerous smile. She suddenly realized that maybe she shouldn't have come here with him at all.

Looking around at the villagers watching them like wolves, Fang Minglan knew with crystal clarity that even if they joined forces with Hao Shijun and the others, it would be nearly impossible to escape the villagers' encirclement.

Not to mention, these villagers were not human at all.

But why hadn't any rule ever warned her not to attend the festival?

Wait— Suddenly, Fang Minglan remembered. She had never seen any specific information about "Mushroom Village" on the forum for thriller world.

From the beginning, she had assumed it was a newly spawned haunted realm..

Could it be that this haunted realm had already wiped out more than one wave of people? That would explain why no messages ever got out.

From the very start, she had obtained the rules too easily and encountered very few threats.

Her worst injuries had been being controlled by the corpse-leaping black cat and having her fingernails pulled off.

That had greatly lowered her guard toward this haunted realm.

Until the final day — the God Worship Festival. This was the most deadly—

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