Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

Although I haven't seen that core obsession yet, after seeing what I just saw, I think the core obsession this family could cultivate might be just like that. Even if the source of this obsession isn't necessarily what I'm talking about, its existence is definitely inseparable from the concept of [Yingti Village] itself.

{So, Kaguya-san, you'd better be extra careful from now on. We all have traces of our [Li Family Village] identity left by Ahai through the land deed. If we really encounter a core obsession, it's hard to say how they will treat us~}

As they spoke, something in the darkness seemed to be stirring.

Neither Kaguya nor Chika showed the slightest fear at this moment.

Chapter 127: Historical Remnants Found While Diving into the Abyss

{Hmph, "Bottomless Lake," what a fitting name! It's been so long, and it shows absolutely no sign of bottoming out.}

During the temporary mental link, Tangyuan's voice clearly carried a hint of excitement and joy. It was evident that she showed no fear of the abnormal environment she was in; on the contrary, she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being in this surreal place.

{This place… must be the special area formed by the fox spirit's power that you mentioned, Mr. Gao? It's amazing that it has a lake as its entrance. However, Miss Tangyuan, I suggest you be more cautious. After all, according to the information you provided, Mr. Gao, the fox spirit is in a state of being uncommunicable and extremely dangerous. If we accidentally encounter her, we might face total annihilation.}

Cat Bro's expression didn't change much, though it did carry a hint of surprise and astonishment. Clearly, even for a veteran Red Moon-level player, this was an unprecedented experience for him.

Gao Hai remained silent.

He simply observed his surroundings silently, carefully maintaining his balance while floating, and then continued to descend.

Don't be too nervous, Haijun. I'm here. Let's keep going. This should only be the outer area right now; we're still quite a distance from where we need to go.

At that moment, he heard Maki's voice beside him. He turned his head and, through the white light of the artificial light source, he could clearly see the smiling expression on the girl's face, feel the force of her hand gently patting him, and hear the words and emotions she was conveying through their mental link.

{Um……}

Despite responding to Maki's words, Takami's tension was not going to subside so easily.

In his view, Kaguya and Chika's investigation had reached the point where they needed to return. After all, Li Xiaoxiao, one of their key combat assets, was inexplicably missing and inexplicably in a state of distress. The mysterious stalker who had inexplicably appeared and whose fate was uncertain, along with their current predicament of being led to [Yingti Village], all clearly indicated that the situation was spiraling out of control. Even with Goto Ichiri's clone and [Teacher] protecting them, Takahashi couldn't rest easy.

He knew, of course, that his worrying was pointless, and he understood that as long as they didn't encounter the Blood Flower, Kaguya and Chika's investigative abilities and experience were unlikely to cause any trouble. Yet, he couldn't suppress his fear of that "what if" scenario, and because of it, he kept a close eye on Kaguya and Chika's situation. If it weren't for Maki's constant encouragement and support, Takahashi probably wouldn't have been able to focus so intently on his own investigation.

{There's new land ahead, Kaijun, be on high alert!}

Maki's voice rang out again, and Gao Hai looked up in the direction she indicated, gazing at the faint light that suddenly appeared in the darkness ahead.

He tried his best to steady himself and slowly floated towards the light with Zhenfei.

Floating, yes, Gao Hai and Zhen Fei, along with Mao Ge and Tang Yuan behind them, are all floating.

After diving into the Bottomless Lake, they arrived at a completely new space. In this eerie space, players are slowly pulled downwards by an invisible force. During this process, players can float freely up and down as if swimming in water. They can resist this force or go with it to accelerate their descent.

Oxygen and similar issues seem to be no concern in this pitch-black, unseen space. Occasionally, players can see and touch broken objects from the darkness. Some are small, some so disfigured they are unrecognizable, only vaguely remnants of temples or monasteries. Others are enormous, including partially collapsed temples, ruined village complexes, even a vast island with no visible boundaries, or strange objects that could not exist in the real world.

The deeper they descended, the more numerous these broken objects floating in the darkness became, and their forms became more complete.

For example, floating directly below Gao Hai at this moment are some very old terracotta figurines, the kind that would fit perfectly into a museum. Most of these fired terracotta figurines are in the shape of humans or foxes, while there are also bizarre terracotta figurines that combine features of both.

Reach out and grab one of the slightly damaged terracotta figures.

In the next moment, Gao Hai sensed some blurry images, as if he saw many people bowing their heads in devout prayer, and saw the graceful body on the high platform, worshipped and venerated by the people.

The image was very blurry and lasted only a very short time before dissipating. Along with the terracotta figurine Gao Hai had been holding, it turned to dust, losing its original form.

Zhenfei then grabbed a green jade pendant, and then she saw an ancient city, a tall temple with a statue of a god being worshipped, and cattle and sheep as sacrifices and the heads of prisoners of the enemy country beneath the statue.

These items all seem to have some connection with the Fox Queen. Even after the passage of time and the passing of those associated with her, lingering memories remain in the darkness, slowly decaying in this eternal silence.

Gao Hai could now clearly see the land that Zhen Fei had mentioned.

After descending at least three or four thousand meters, another massive landmass appeared before the four. This landmass was incomplete and seemed to have suffered some kind of natural disaster, as the cities on it had collapsed beyond recognition, with many buildings crumbling and broken, barely recognizable as an ancient city.

{Roof tiles and wooden structures...enclosed courtyard design...this city likely dates back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, definitely later than the Shang Dynasty. Goodness, didn't the Zhou Dynasty condemn fox worship as evil? How could they still maintain a city-scale religious practice at that time?}

Tangyuan, after all, had the title of "historian," so after a little identification, she roughly determined the possible historical period of the building.

Meanwhile, Gao Hai had already taken the lead and landed in the city ruins, quickly releasing his senses to perceive the place.

There was no trace of any obsession.

All that can be felt are vague illusions, the last lingering dreams of those who have passed away peacefully.

There were no strange creatures in this ruin. If we want to find the core obsession related to the Fox Queen, we will probably have to go deeper into this darkness.

{The item isn't here, keep going.}

Thus, Gao Hai, speaking through the mental link and the temporary mental link, stepped to the edge of the ruins, and with a light leap, continued to fall deeper into the rubble.

{Haijun, what do you think is the connection between this place and the Fox Queen herself?}

At this moment, Zhenfei, who was standing next to Gao Hai, frowned and asked.

{...It's hard to say, I personally prefer the embodiment of memory}

Gao Hai remained silent for a moment, then gave an answer that he himself was not entirely sure about.

{Wow, I've seen something really awful. The followers of the Fox Queen are actually using the guise of fertility to lure women who can't have children. I thought this only happened in temples. It seems the attraction to married women is a timeless phenomenon.}

Then, from the temporary mental link, Tangyuan's slightly teasing voice rang out.

Gao Hai looked up and saw that Tang Yuan had just jumped out of the city ruins and followed him down. He wondered what she had been investigating.

{Oh dear, you have no idea what I just saw. The believer walked up to a beautiful woman who looked to be about twenty-five years old and said to her, "Madam, do you really want to have a child?" Then he led her to a secluded spot where two burly men were waiting. And then the three of them together...}

{Ahem, Miss Tangyuan, I think it's better to save this topic for after the mission is over.}

Tangyuan, who seemed a little excited, enthusiastically recounted her discovery in the temporary mental link. However, before she could get to the important part, Cat Bro, who couldn't stand it anymore, interrupted her.

Since Maki had already had various interactions with Takahashi and had gotten used to the experience, she wouldn't blush or get flustered over topics of this level anymore. She just squinted at Takahashi.

{Speaking of this kind of topic, I actually hear my parents mention it occasionally. After all, the high-level executives and wealthy people they usually associate with all have some strange quirks, more or less. Haijun, you wouldn't happen to be like that too, would you? I won't go into the things you did with Fujiwara, but like what Miss Tangyuan mentioned... married women and stuff, you don't like that kind of thing, do you?}

It's unclear what Zhenfei was thinking, but she asked such a baffling question to Gao Hai.

Hmm, I can feel that Kita's spirits have lifted. What's wrong with this child? Why does she always chime in whenever this kind of topic comes up? Is this her usual personality?

I absolutely hate the "married woman" playstyle!

Gao Hai answered righteously and sternly in the spiritual link.

{Playing with other men's wives is absolutely forbidden to me. If I'm going to play with someone, it'll be my own wife, like my lovely little Zhenfei—that's the only way. NTR is absolutely unacceptable; all cuckolds deserve to die!}

He even felt that his initial words weren't strong enough, so he emphasized them again even more earnestly.

The phrase "cute little Zhenfei" is unnecessary. Don't try to flirt during dungeon exploration; I was just asking, don't get too worked up.

As expected, Princess Zhenfei was taken aback by Gao Hai's words, and her face subconsciously flushed red. Although Princess Zhenfei rarely acted arrogantly these days, it would probably still be somewhat difficult for her to accept Gao Hai's praise and compliments with a calm and collected attitude.

{Yes, yes, I know, my lovely little wife, Maki, don't worry.}

{So I've already said this isn't the time to talk about this kind of thing. If you keep teasing me, I'm going to get angry!}

Gao Hai teased Zhenfei again until she puffed up her cheeks and showed an unhappy expression. Only then did he finally restrain himself and turn his attention back to the darkness below.

More things floated in it, their forms becoming visible under the light carried by Gao Hai and the others.

The number of dilapidated objects on a city-wide scale has begun to gradually decrease.

Meanwhile, the number of floating objects at the village scale gradually increased, and they gradually became more dispersed.

But after descending a further distance, the number of objects began to decrease dramatically. All types of objects became increasingly scarce, to the point that the darkness began to become increasingly empty, gradually moving towards a state of complete desolation.

Are these changes... a reflection of the gradual decline and erosion of the faith in the Fox Goddess?

Gao Hai pondered silently in his heart.

Then, he felt a chill, a cold aura suddenly coming from below, which instantly swept through the dark space.

A mutilated infant appeared before Gao Hai's eyes.

Then came the second, the third, and countless more children, all lifeless, floating densely in the darkness.

The vast majority of these children are girls, and all of them are newborns.

Gao Hai's senses picked up from their already cold bodies, revealing the dying woman, the man holding the child, and the elderly man. He also saw the expressions of disappointment on their faces after they checked the child.

【If you members of the Li family truly believe in the Empress, then keep the child! Such heinous behavior cannot be approved by the Empress, and this kind of immoral act cannot continue.】

"Ha, you Liu family really think you're something special? You actually want to control our Li family? If we don't have sons, how are we supposed to carry on the family line? Are you expecting women to do all the farm work? Are you expecting all our women to marry into your Liu family and give you all our land and property? Get out of here, it's none of your business!"

[Damn beasts! They're all stubborn and unrepentant! Keep the child here; the Liu family can just adopt him!]

"Hey, you really think the Li family is a place for you to do good deeds and accumulate merit? The important thing is to keep this child alive. If we want a son, we have to let the Fox Queen know that we don't want girls. So she has to die, and die a horrible, unpleasant death. The more miserable she is, the less likely the next child will be a girl. Don't you understand? Besides, if you raise her, aren't you raising the Li family's enemy? Why don't we just give her to the Fox Queen? She loves children so much, wouldn't it be better for me to send this child to her?"

Laughter, shouting, cursing...

Even before the twisted curse erupted and the extraordinary power descended upon the village, something had already begun to grow in people's hearts, and signs of division began to spread.

The aura of death, carrying with it the emotions of pain, was ultimately delivered to the weakened and broken deity in the name of faith and through sacrifice.

Although this level of pollution is nothing to a true god, when the object is a god who is nearly dead and in a deep sleep, and after accumulating over at least a hundred years, it begins to trigger a kind of destructive transformation.

More corpses floated silently.

As they descended further, the things floating in the water were no longer just infants, but ranged from toddlers to young men and women, and elderly people...

The vast majority of them did not have intact bodies; they were either hacked to pieces or burned by flames. They all suffered terrible torment before their deaths and accumulated twisted resentment and obsession.

No, that's not all.

Some things that are not clear from the outside finally become clear here.

【Although the Li and Liu families can currently coexist with Ping, this situation won't last. Those Liu family members seem to truly possess divine power; even if they can't perform great feats like summoning heavenly lightning, their harvests, whether from the fields or from hunting and fishing, are always better than ours. If this continues, the Li family will inevitably be bullied, and they will certainly lord it over us. Mr. Du, do you have any solutions?】

From those twisted corpses, Gao Hai found crucial information through Jonathan's blessing, finding that vital fragment of memory.

Of course, in this day and age, the power of gods has become extremely difficult to find. After all, true gods no longer exist; what remains are merely their relics. The Liu family members are indeed remarkable; perhaps one of their ancestors experienced a bloodline reversion, which allowed them to reconnect with the Fox Queen. But this level of connection, at most, brings them some changes in luck; receiving guidance from the black bear is pure luck.

From within those blurry fragments, a man's confident voice rang out.

Please, sir, save our Li family!

Whatever Mr. Du desires, as long as it's within the Li family's capabilities, we will give it to you!

Another figure knelt down and kowtowed decisively, his voice filled with humility and flattery.

What I want is something you'll likely find difficult to give me, but without your help, I probably wouldn't be able to achieve my goal either. So please stop kneeling before me; I can't accept such a grand gesture.

Although he said that, the man called "Mr. Du" had no intention of helping the other person up at all.

Regardless, in this area of ​​Little Black Mountain, your three villages—the Li, Liu, and Zhang families—have indeed established a connection with the Fox Queen. It's just that the Liu family can sense the Fox Queen's presence and will to a certain extent, while you others cannot.

"Well, since we're lacking that certain feeling, let's find a way to make up for it. You need to offer more sacrifices to the Fox Queen. Newborn children are best, young men and women are also good, and those who are old but don't want to die are also acceptable. The key is that the sacrificed people must be from your Li family. Before truly establishing contact, you must sacrifice as many members of the Li family as possible, so that the blood of the Li family can be transferred to the Fox Queen."