Chapter 70: Offerings for the Mountain God
However, before she could take her first step—
"BAM!"
A dull impact sound echoed through the narrow corridor.
The female teacher didn't even see who made the move.
A rough hand swung out from the shadows without warning, viciously smashing into her face.
The crisp sound of her nasal bone fracturing was clearly audible. Blood instantly sprayed out.
"Ah!"
The female teacher screamed, her black-framed glasses flying off and shattering to pieces.
"Teacher!"
The children had never witnessed such a scene. They instantly erupted, screams and crying merging into chaos.
"Stop yelling, brats."
"Ungrateful things."
The burly man who struck shook his wrist, his face full of that cold indifference reserved for livestock about to be slaughtered.
The village chief slowly walked forward, looking down condescendingly at the teacher still twitching on the ground, finally tearing off that kind disguise.
"Originally I wanted to let you complete your final journey with dignity. Since you insist on refusing the toast only to drink the penalty wine... don't blame us for being rough."
"Do it! Don't miss the auspicious hour!"
With his command, the surrounding villagers who'd been in standby mode instantly moved.
Like wolves pouncing into a flock of sheep, they roughly grabbed those children trying to escape, dragging them deeper like carrying chickens.
"No... you can't... let them go, don't touch my students!"
Just then, the teacher collapsed on the ground found strength from somewhere, struggling to get up.
Seeing those students crying under violence, her eyes turned red as if about to drip blood.
Then, face covered in blood, the female teacher charged like a cornered lioness, desperately hugging the village chief's waist with all her strength and roaring:
"Run! Children, run!!!"
The surrounding villagers froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting this seemingly frail woman would still have the courage to resist, momentarily hesitant to act.
However, the village chief being held didn't even furrow his brow.
"Hmph, dying struggles."
He snorted coldly, giving those dazed villagers a look.
"What are you staring at? She doesn't even have nail clippers—can she bite me? Beat her!"
Those words awakened them from their daze.
Those villagers instantly reacted. Seven or eight large hands reached out simultaneously, forcibly pressing the teacher back to the ground before her fingers could even touch the village chief's clothes.
"Run... run away!!!"
The female teacher's face was pressed hard against the rough stone slabs, her mouth full of bloody foam and dust.
"AHHHHH!!!"
The children witnessing this scene completely broke down.
Fear spread like plague.
Most children's legs went so weak they couldn't stand, could only collapse trembling on the ground, letting villagers drag them.
Only a few clever ones turned crying and ran toward the path they came from, attempting to escape this hell.
But before running even a few meters, they were grabbed like chickens by villagers guarding the exit and thrown back into the group.
"Waaah... I want Mommy... I want to go home..."
Desperate emotions spread like plague.
Amid this chaos—
Urushihara Michiyo shrank in a corner, watching this hellish scene, her mind completely blank.
Run... must run...
But where was there a path?
Ahead was a dead end, the exit blocked by people.
And there were too many people there.
For someone with severe social anxiety, compared to death, that feeling of being squeezed and locked by countless gazes was equally hellish.
"Don't want to go there... don't want to go where there are many people..."
Just as Urushihara Michiyo desperately looked around, her gaze suddenly caught an inconspicuous side passage.
That place was pitch black, emitting suffocating hot air—the route Chiba had avoided earlier because of the heat.
Normal people absolutely wouldn't run that way.
But Michiyo at this moment had lost normal judgment.
Her social anxiety instinct told her there were no people there.
No people meant safety.
So while the villagers were busy catching classmates running toward the exit, Michiyo dove headfirst into that high-temperature passage even Kazama Chiba couldn't tolerate.
A sharp-eyed villager spotted that pink flash disappearing into darkness.
"That pink-haired girl ran into the Mountain God Path! Chase her!"
Two villagers immediately started to pursue.
"Forget it, don't bother with that escaped fish!"
The village chief glanced at his watch, impatiently waving his hand.
"That path leads to the earth fire vent. The temperature is high enough to melt even iron. That girl going in is certain death. Don't worry about her."
"The auspicious hour is almost here. First take these captured ones to the altar."
Since the village chief spoke, those two villagers were happy to relax—after all, nobody wanted to go in for a sauna.
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, at the circular altar—
Kazama Chiba was researching the statue's specific location when he suddenly heard noisy crying and heavy footsteps coming from the passage behind him.
"Hmm? Back so soon?"
Though he wasn't interested in the so-called ritual, if those villagers spotted him now, explanations would be quite troublesome.
So Kazama Chiba used The Illusion card to conceal his form while using The Windy card to levitate in mid-air, flying up to find a VIP viewing position.
Then a large group of black-clothed villagers escorting over twenty sobbing elementary students and a female teacher emerged from the main passage.
That scene looked like a swarm of black ants carrying prey to the dinner table.
"So this is the so-called Mountain God Festival? Why are there children among the offerings?"
Kazama Chiba watched those elementary students being driven by villagers across the stone bridge below, somewhat doubting whether his earlier speculation was wrong—did these people really worship Tiga?
That leading female teacher was now in complete disarray.
Though that punch hadn't broken her nose, it left her face covered in blood. Though her face showed terror, her eyes hadn't completely given up resistance.
"You crazy people! What are you trying to do?!"
"Bringing a group of children to this kind of place is illegal! The police will eventually find their way here, and then none of you can escape! Is it worth it for a god that doesn't even exist?"
Hearing this, that village chief who'd been facing away slowly turned around.
"Foolish city woman. In this sacred place, there is no law, only the mountain god's will."
"Everything we do is to appease the mountain god's fury, to make that 'great harmony world' descend once more."
He waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to surround those children.
"Alright, enough nonsense. Drive these little lambs to the center. The auspicious hour is almost here—don't keep the mountain god waiting."
"What exactly are you trying to do?!"
The female teacher looked at the surrounding villagers with fanatical eyes holding clubs, protecting several frightened crying students in front of her.
The village chief extended a withered branch-like finger, pointing at those rough murals on the surrounding rock walls.
"Of course we're going to offer you to the mountain god."
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