An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 71 Weird Village
The ceremony is progressing smoothly!
Upon seeing this, Chai San angrily exclaimed, "I told you so! This boy is definitely related to the ritual!"

Zhou Juncai curled his lip: "We're not prophets, how could we know in advance? Besides, it's only five percent, this should just be a hint from the abyss."

Chai San snorted coldly and didn't argue with him.

As the pile of licorice burned out, the villagers who had been watching dispersed.

However, they did not go to sleep. Some went back to their houses and lit oil lamps, while others went to the village tavern. They chatted and laughed, and no one talked about what had just happened, as if the tragic death of the boy was just a trivial matter in daily life.

The eerie atmosphere made everyone's faces show unease.

"Outsiders."

At this moment, the man in black armor, accompanied by a group of guards, walked up to the group.

"No outsiders have come here for a long time, and we do not welcome outsiders. Please leave immediately."

His expression was unfriendly, and his sharp eagle eyes were fixed on Chai San, clearly dissatisfied with his previous words of obstruction.

"Sir, I apologize for my companion's behavior just now. We had no intention of interfering with your operations," Zhou Juncai said with a forced smile as he stepped forward. "However, it is getting late. Could we please stay the night and leave tomorrow?"

The man in black armor stared at him intently, then glanced at the others before speaking: "That five-story building over there is the village tavern. You can stay there, but leave as soon as it's light tomorrow. I'm warning you again: if any of you dare to cause trouble during this time, I will not let you off the hook."

"Yes, yes, thank you, sir." Zhou Juncai smiled obsequiously.

After the man in black left, he turned around, glared at Chai San resentfully, and spoke rudely: "Chai San, we are a group, and our interests are shared. Can you please stop acting on your own? Look at what you've done! Now the whole village is on guard against us. How are we supposed to gather information?"

"Also, you caused this mess, and now I'm expected to apologize on your behalf. Do you think that's fair?"

After he finished speaking, many people looked at Chai San with hostility.

Feeling the cold stares of others, Chai San seemed somewhat disheartened. He didn't explain much, but simply shook his head and said, "My twenty years of gold-digging career have taught me one thing: if you disregard the lives of others, one day you will be left helpless when you need help."

"The world in the trial is a fragment of a real world, and it cannot be regarded as data in a dungeon."

"Heh." Zhou Juncai chuckled dismissively and said nothing more.

Chu Xiu watched coldly, feeling a sense of pressure.

"This dungeon is definitely not the type that can be easily cleared."

Just now, Chu Xiu scanned the area with his Demon Eyes. The black-armored man was a Warrior-level warrior with a lot of question marks on his face, while the other guards were between level 6 and 9 of the Mortal rank. Because of their decent equipment, they would be more difficult to deal with than monsters of the same level.

In a direct confrontation, excluding Chu Xiu, the trial participants would definitely not have the upper hand.

Not to mention that the team has now fallen apart, with everyone having their own agendas.

"Moreover, the fighting strength of this town is definitely more than this. Without understanding the specifics of the ritual, trying to force our way through is too risky!"

"We still need to figure out the rules of this instance, just as Jiang Xue said."

After the boy was burned to death, the ritual progressed rapidly, which instantly sparked a series of speculations in Chu Xiu's mind.

"Death? Flame? Sacrifice?"

"We need more information to determine which one it is."

Chu Xiu thought to himself.

"Now that things have come to this, let's stick to the original plan and first gather some information from the villagers."

Just as he was thinking, Zhou Juncai made a suggestion.

No one objected, and the group entered the tavern, where many villagers were already drinking.

However, since the group had offended the villagers, no one greeted them after they entered the tavern. Several trial participants tried to inquire about the ritual from the villagers, but only received glares in return.

The villagers here seem very united, but also extremely xenophobic.

Seeing this, Chai San said, "You guys still lack experience."

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist, and a gold coin appeared in his hand. The moment the gold coin appeared, all the nearby villagers looked over.

Chai San smiled smugly and handed the gold coins to the tavern owner: "Boss, I need to ask you something."

The boss was a bald, middle-aged man. He stared at the gold coins for a while, then grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Luna, bring some food to our guests."

Not long after he finished speaking, a little girl ran over carrying a black iron bowl containing a pork chop that was still sizzling and smelling delicious.

Chai San glanced at it and said, "I'm not hungry. Give this to the other guests. I just want to ask you something."

However, the shop owner acted as if he hadn't heard, only wearing a strange smile on his face: "Guest, my Luna gets very tired holding it."

Chai San turned to look at the little girl, who returned his innocent smile, raised the pork chop in her hand even higher, her arm trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Chai San softened and took the iron bowl: "Boss, you can do it now!"

He suddenly let out a scream, his hand slipped, and the iron bowl crashed heavily to the ground. His hand, which had been holding the bowl, was now bright red from the heat!

Only then did everyone notice that the little girl's hands were covered with knife wounds and burn scars. Her fingers, which had just been holding the bowl, were now a bloody mess, with some flesh still stuck to the bowl, emitting a burnt smell!
Upon seeing Chai San's burns, she acted as if she had successfully pulled off a prank, laughing and running outside. The tavern's customers and owner also joined in the laughter.

"You..." Chai San covered his hands, his face full of anger.

This bizarre scene sent chills down the spines of all the trial participants. Zhou Juncai even drew his long sword from his waist and pointed it directly at the tavern owner: "What the hell do you mean?!"

The tavern owner looked terrified, crouched down with his hands over his head, and shouted, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

His expression was extremely exaggerated, like a clown trying his best to perform.

This made Zhou Juncai's face extremely ugly: "These guys are playing us! Damn it!"

Just then, another panel popped up.

[Current Ceremony Progress: 8%]

"The ceremony is progressing faster again!"

Everyone's face darkened.

If the previous progress of the ritual was due to the boy's death, what is it due to now? Is it because Chai San was burned? Or is it that the ritual progress will increase as time goes by?

Even Chu Xiu's expression hardened slightly, and a fierce glint flashed in his dark eyes.

"We can't delay any longer! We have to take some drastic measures!"

"Kidnapping, coercion, intimidation, and even torture!"

The mission only has a three-hour time limit, there's no time for them to explore slowly, and the people in this village are very abnormal, completely unable to communicate normally, so we have to use some special methods!
Chu Xiu's gaze swept over everyone in the tavern. There was a father with a child and a husband with his wife. These were all good targets for threats.

But in the end, he rejected them all.

It wasn't that he had suddenly become kind-hearted, but rather—

"If we have to break off relations, then the elite class will definitely be the most profitable. Taking action against these ordinary villagers here will not only likely yield less benefit than expected, but may also arouse the vigilance of those in power in the village."

Just as he was secretly thinking about how to bypass the guards and find the village's leader, a loud bang of a wine glass shattering was heard, followed by a woman's terrified scream!

Chu Xiu looked up and saw that the cold-faced young man, Wu Xiujie, had suddenly grabbed a little girl's hair, and with his other hand, a gleaming dagger was placed against the little girl's neck!

The girl screamed in fear, and the little girl's father across from her jumped up in alarm.

Wu Xiujie shouted angrily, "What is Az Ilituya Mgos? Why did you burn that boy to death before?"

"Say!"

(End of this chapter)