Sunshine Boy glanced at the Deceitful Mother Fate Grid and the Light Chain high in the sky. After a careful Inference, he left the Life Mansion.
Sunshine Boy then expended two more Fate Grids to create two Life Substitution Wood Children.
He kept one for himself and gave the other to the Book Listener.
Only six bait Fate Grids remained.
Sunshine Boy performed Mind Guarding Spirit Platform to recover his Magical Power, then took out the Iron Armor Paperman he had made earlier. He wrote two characters on its Iron Armor.
Afterward, he used a fragmented version of the Life-Separating Skill to refine the Iron Armor into a life-separating substitute.
Next, he used Hao Yunsheng’s blood, hair, and a fingernail clipping to create a drop of Life-Linking Liquid, which he dripped into a Spirit Awakening Talisman.
With everything prepared, Sunshine Boy left the East Courtyard with the Book Listener and the Foodie. Looking up, he saw that only eight of the white lanterns on the White Tower were lit.
Below the White Tower, at the entrance to the Five Goddess’s main hall, a long incense table was laid out.
Upon the table, five memorial tablets with golden borders, black backgrounds, and red text stood tall, each a full three feet high.
Inscribed on them were the names: Lady of Prayer for Birth, Lady of Delivery, Lady of Protection for Birth, Lady of Celebration for Birth, and Lady of Longevity.
In front of the five tablets were five incense burners, each packed with lit incense sticks. The smoke curled upwards, its fragrance drifting into the sky.
Between the tablets and the burners were five enormous blue-and-white porcelain platters.
The four platters in the back held a pig’s head, a whole chicken, a sheep’s head, and an ox’s head, respectively. The central platter in the front was empty.
Sunshine Boy stared at the empty platter, and his heart trembled for no apparent reason.
Sunshine Boy looked at the platter with the pig’s head. The mole near its eye looked familiar.
The Mugwort on the platter was still there.
Sunshine Boy walked forward and took the Mugwort.
Sunshine Boy looked outside the main gate. Today was the main day for worshiping the Lady of Celebration for Birth. The area outside was ablaze with activity as the great festival for the Five Goddess reached its climax.
The other five Night Guards were standing under the blood-red lanterns at the entrance, looking in.
Sunshine Boy looked at the seven of them, his eyes glinting, and said slowly, "Tomorrow is the last day, and the most critical one. All of you, be prepared."
The group nodded lightly.
Just as Sunshine Boy was about to leave, Nanny Xiang and Wang Laoshu walked over together.
"Tonight is the great festival for the Lady of Celebration for Birth. It will conclude with a village dance-play. After you’ve watched, you may all return to your rooms to sleep," Wang Laoshu said.
"You must not speak until the dance-play is over." Nanny Xiang smiled and gestured, and a young girl in a Patchwork Robe brought over eight chairs.
Seven were placed outside the gate, and one was placed behind Sunshine Boy.
The group exchanged glances, shut their mouths tightly, and sat down.
Nanny Xiang picked up Sunshine Boy and placed him on his chair.
Sunshine Boy channeled his Magical Power to seal his own mouth, sat on the chair, and looked forward.
Behind the main gate of the Goddess Temple, Wang Laoshu and Nanny Xiang, dressed in mottled Patchwork Robes, stood on either side of Sunshine Boy.
Above the gate, four blood-red lanterns hung high, their flames crackling and popping, dripping with a blood-colored liquid.
Outside the threshold, seven chairs were lined up in a row. The seven Night Guards sat upon them, facing a bonfire ahead.
To the east of the bonfire, a stage had been erected.
Below the stage, villagers sat together in a circle, laughing, while children ran around.
DOOM-DOOM-DA-DOOM... CLANG CLANG CLANG...
The sound of gongs and drums erupted. A group of simply dressed villagers walked onto the stage and began to dance.
Some bent over, hoeing fields. Some washed clothes, some wove cloth, some played, some slaughtered pigs and cut meat, some gathered herbs...
From somewhere unseen, a voice began to sing-speak in a theatrical tone: "Clear skies shine on the fields, a gentle breeze carries the song of insects, life in our Fangyuan Village is so prosperous and bustling! Mrs. Liu’s daughter gave birth to a big, healthy boy, Old Man Wang’s storehouses are full of fish and shrimp, and Butcher Zhangg has finally plucked his pig clean..."
The audience below erupted in laughter.
The children giggled along with the adults.
On stage, the villager-actors performed various practiced movements. Each one seemed to be living their own life, their faces beaming with smiles.
After a short while, the stage descended into chaos. Some people argued, some rolled around on the ground together, some stood there at a loss, and others just fooled around.
The people below laughed even harder.
The Night Guards watched the villagers on stage performing with such effort and listened to the laughter and chatter from the audience, and they slowly began to relax.
The play slowly depicted daily life in the village.
Farming, weaving, repairing houses, planting trees...
Arguing, dividing family property, fighting over fields...
Finally, they returned to ordinary life, gathering to chat, eat, and gossip about daily trifles.
At the most heartwarming moment, the sound of thunder and lightning suddenly came from behind the stage.
The actors on stage looked terrified, scrambling to hide.
The villagers in the audience stared wide-eyed at the stage.
"A Demon Fiend appeared between heaven and earth, turning the clear White River murky. From then on, our little village suffered many hardships. Mrs. Liu’s big, healthy boy was snatched by the Demon Fiend not three months after he was born. Old Man Wang encountered bizarre misfortunes and caught consumption from his fish and shrimp. And that Butcher Zhangg... he caught the plague from a pig..."
The audience below was completely silent.
On stage, the villager-actors stooped over, their heads bowed in dejection.
The farmer hoed sluggishly, the weaver worked listlessly, the players spun in place. People would periodically cough violently, clutching their chests and wailing, while one person muttered that it was nothing serious...
Suddenly, a clap of thunder echoed.
A humanoid Demon Fiend wearing a tall, pointed, cone-shaped white hat and draped in a pristine white robe walked out from the west side of the stage. The white hat covered its head, and a white cloth masked its face, revealing only two shimmering green eyes.
The villagers trembled at the sight of this pointed-hat Demon Fiend.
The one who had been slaughtering pigs dropped his knife, collapsed to the ground, and crawled forward on his belly.
The pointed-hat Demon Fiend stepped on him. The butcher’s limbs flew up high and then slammed back down. His head lolled to one side, and his eyes closed.
The pointed-hat Demon Fiend reached out its hand, seemingly plunging it into the butcher’s stomach. It pulled out a wad of cloth strips, placed it in its mouth, and chewed meticulously.
The villager-actors, their faces filled with terror, slowly backed away.
The pointed-hat Demon Fiend walked on, and one by one, the villagers fell.
Finally, the pointed-hat Demon Fiend walked up to a pregnant woman dressed in a grand red outfit with a Phoenix Crown and Wedding Robe. It plunged its right hand into her clothes, pulled out a cloth doll of a little girl in red with two braids, and swaggered off.
The scene was deathly quiet. The Night Guards suddenly realized that every single villager was crying.
Tears as crimson as blood.
Wang Laoshu was crying. Nanny Xiang was crying. Even the children who didn’t understand the play and were still hopping and playing around were crying.
Suddenly, five people carrying five blank memorial tablets walked onto the stage. A few others in Patchwork Robes followed behind them, wailing incoherently and jumping about wildly, as if performing a ritual.
Slowly, the people on the ground rose to their feet. They were crying tears of blood, but their faces wore smiles.
The blank tablets were carried across the stage and then left. The villagers went back to doing the same things as before.
Farming, weaving, repairing houses... arguing, fighting over fields... eating, chatting...
Only the pregnant woman in the Phoenix Crown and Wedding Robe, looking like a bride, sat in a corner, holding a buckwheat husk pillow and rocking it gently.
Her dark hair hung down, hiding her face.
PATTER PATTER...
A light rain began to fall, dampening the village.
In the curtain of rain, the dance-play concluded. The actors left the stage, and the villagers dispersed.
"Everyone, please return."
Wang Laoshu and Nanny Xiang were smiling.
The group looked over, their hearts trembling.
Tears of blood were slowly streaming from the eyes of the two, vanishing as they reached their chins.
The other seven returned to the public quarters, while Sunshine Boy was carried back to the Dark House in the West Courtyard by Nanny Xiang.