Sacrificial Lamb (1)
“Have you heard? This time it’s the Zhou family’s child.”
“He just turned eighteen yesterday. If he’d been born a few days later, maybe none of this would’ve happened.”
“It’s all fate.”
Outside the door, the soft murmur of voices drifted in. A few women stood at the entrance, quietly chatting as they held piles of laundry to be washed.
Soon, they were hurriedly driven away by someone rushing down the corridor. With eyes blazing and voice barely contained, he snapped: “The Holy Son is still resting! If you keep gossiping, none of you will keep your jobs!”
“Sorry, High Priest,” the women meekly apologized and retreated. Serving the Holy Son was a great honor—and the work was easy with good pay. Nobody wanted to lose their position.
Once the voices faded and no one remained outside, Chen Li, who had been sitting upright on the bed, finally shifted uneasily. Tugging at his loose white sleeves, he asked: [001, what’s going on here?]
System 001: [The background of this world is complicated—a mix of modern elements tangled with ancient and medieval influences. Right now, your identity is the Holy Son of this town.]
Chen Li tugged at the gold ornament hanging from his clothes, feeling awkward: [Am I wearing women’s clothes?]
He looked like he was dressed in a shrine maiden’s outfit—completely covered, but underneath, his legs were bare, with no pants at all.
System 001 reassured him: [No, it’s gender-neutral.]
Chen Li made a small “oh” sound and couldn’t help but tug at the hem again. Then, thoughtfully, he asked the question he really wanted to know: [What about the player?]
Feeling uneasy, he didn’t understand why his mission panel had broken after arriving in this instance—there were no task prompts at all.
Luckily, he still had the system to accompany him, though it didn’t know much either.
System 001: “[The player’s role should be a detective sent to this town to conduct an investigation.]
[Detective?] Chen Li blinked in surprise.
It seemed this instance’s background was indeed a confusing mix of things.
[I don’t know what their mission is either,] System 001 said apologetically. [You’ll have to find out on your own.]
Chen Li smiled wryly: [Thanks, 001.]
The white orb of light, System 001, flickered pink shyly, said it was no trouble.
Apart from the little commotion outside at noon, no one else had passed by the room since—as if everyone had forgotten this place existed.
Seeing Chen Li getting bored, System 001 eagerly asked: [Want to watch a movie?]
Chen Li thought for a moment and nodded: [I want to watch a Doraemon movie.]
So the two of them spent the day watching, from daylight until the sun set, only stopping when dinner was served. Finally, a shy young maiden appeared at the door with his meal.
If Chen Li hadn’t called out quickly, she would have darted away.
Even then, when stopped, she didn’t dare turn around. Her small shoulders trembled as she asked: “Do you have something you want to ask?”
Chen Li, burdened by the heavy folds of his robe, rubbed his face in suspicion. Was he really that scary?
Clearing his throat, he softened his voice as much as he could: “Do you know where the High Priest went?”
He’d heard the women outside call the man that earlier, and tossed out the question to keep her talking.
Sure enough, the young maiden stopped trembling and seriously thought it over.
Obviously, she was instructed not to have too much contact with the Holy Son inside the room, but unfortunately, being too young, she was easily deceived.
As an adult, Chen Li spent a brief three seconds feeling guilty about tricking a child.
After thinking for a while, the young maiden gave a vague answer: “He seems to have gone to see this time’s sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?” Chen Li feigned surprise.
The young maiden’s voice was clear: “This time the sacrifice is the young master of the Zhou family in town!”
A thunderclap shattered the calm sky.
The young maiden jumped and her face went pale, still turned away from Chen Li: “I—I can’t say anymore. I have to go.”
No matter how much Chen Li called after her, she ran swiftly around the corner.
The heavy Holy Son robes hampered Chen Li’s movement. When he finally caught up at the corner, the young maiden was gone—but instead he bumped into the High Priest rushing back.
The High Priest wore a wooden mask painted with several realistic eyes. He grabbed Chen Li’s shoulder with a grip so strong it felt like he wanted to sink his fingers right through.
“Holy Son, how dare you run out on your own!?”
Chen Li winced in pain: “I just wanted to take a walk.”
He stared at the mask, momentarily unable to tell which eyes were real.
The High Priest slowly released him: “The sacrificial ceremony is about to begin. There can be no mistakes. Please go back.”
Chen Li nodded obediently and turned to leave. As he did, he noticed the High Priest’s feet were covered in dirty mud.
Without objection, Chen Li picked up his now lukewarm dinner and went back inside.
The High Priest glanced back suspiciously, only relaxing once he was sure Chen Li wasn’t trying to leave again.
As Chen Li ate, he noticed a tall figure pacing outside the door, which only deepened his unease.
“If they’re so afraid of me leaving this room, why don’t they just lock me in?”
Maybe he wasn’t actually being restricted—the High Priest’s fear was just his personal wish, and he had no right to demand more freedom.
The moonlight grew stronger. Chen Li didn’t want to act alone in the dark, so he put aside the thought of going out and decided to wait until tomorrow.
. . . . .
As expected, the next day after lunch, Chen Li slipped out. Along the way, a few people respectfully bowed to him—no one tried to stop him.
He just needed to get back inside before that strange, paranoid High Priest returned.
The people here had a strong sense of hierarchy. No one dared to meet Chen Li’s eyes directly. He had to stop someone himself and ask where the detective who came to town was.
The person he stopped was visibly frightened, lowering his head and refusing to answer directly: “Sorry, sorry, the High Priest forbids us from speaking with you.”
Not wanting to lose his job, he kept repeating the same excuse.
The young maiden from yesterday had said the same thing. Chen Li frowned: “Why does the High Priest forbid you from talking to me?”
The NPC was definitely acting strange.
The man shook his head vigorously: “Sorry, sorry.”
There was no point pressuring such a helpless NPC. Chen Li sighed, lowered his hand, and went to look for someone else.
Having learned from experience, this time everyone stepped back quickly as he approached, avoiding direct contact. The area suddenly felt empty.
Before Chen Li could ask anything, he paused in frustration: “…”
No one was willing to tell him. Just as he was debating whether to go to town wearing his flashy outfit to find the player himself, a noisy commotion came from the main gate.
Curious, he lifted his robes and went to see. Sure enough, a few figures stood out—they were players dressed in modern clothes.
He pretended not to notice their odd appearance and approached with a serious face: “What’s going on?”
The players watched as the guard, who had been bossy and arrogant moments before, instantly changed his expression and smiled obsequiously: “Holy Son.”
They exchanged glances, and no one dared to say more.
To the players, this attitude made Chen Li seem very dignified and powerful, someone even the NPCs feared to talk to.
One of the players, a big guy with a black vest showing a large tattooed arm, stepped forward first: “We’re detectives investigating the missing persons case. May we speak with you?”
Surprised that they openly revealed their purpose, Chen Li’s eyes brightened slightly. He fought to keep a straight face: “Alright, follow me.”
The guard was stunned. The High Priest hadn’t given any instructions for handling this situation.
After hesitating for a while and seeing that the whole group had already gone inside, the guard grit his teeth and said: “Forget it—no one is allowed to talk about what happened today!”
Chen Li led them back to his room. Because his movement was restricted, they moved slowly—no one dared rush him.
Chen Li: “How do you prove your identities?”
The players were taken aback. Prove their identities? Was that really necessary?
Usually, no matter what roles they played—even if they seemed out of place—the NPCs would believe them. Why was this NPC so different?
The tattooed man asked: “How do you want us to prove it?”
As he talked with them, Chen Li observed each person carefully.
He quickly ruled out the three female players and an elderly man who looked retired. That left three male players.
One had a large tattooed arm, another wore a brightly colored, flashy shirt, and the last one was only about 1.6 meters tall—none of them looked like Fu Moyang.
Could it be that Fu Moyang hadn’t come with him into this instance?
Chen Li nervously blinked, feeling a little lost over this realization.
But he still had art he wanted to share with him.
The man in the colorful shirt rambled on until he was dry-mouthed, trying to convince Chen Li they really were detectives. Yet, Chen Li’s eyes drifted off, zoning out.
The colorful-shirt man felt frustrated but dared not show it.
Then System 001 reminded him: [The High Priest is back.]
Chen Li suddenly stood up, his face darkening: “You all need to leave.”
Having spent time with Fu Moyang, Chen Li had somehow learned a bit of his aura. It startled the players, leaving them stunned.
They hadn’t expected that they came looking for clues but ended up giving away their basic information instead.
Trying to argue more was pointless. Chen Li opened the door: “You can come back at this time tomorrow.”
That finally put an end to their persistence.
After they left, Chen Li quietly shut the door and tiptoed back to lie down on the bed.
[Where is he now?]
System 001: [He’s on his way here.]
Thinking of those strange, unsettling eyes, Chen Li immediately pretended to be asleep.
Soon, heavy, steady footsteps sounded outside the door.
The visitor calmly pushed the door open and, with a chill in his step, quickly approached the bed.
Chen Li tried to keep his breathing steady and silent. His hands, hidden inside the wide sleeves, clenched tightly from nervousness.
The High Priest’s cold gaze scanned his feet, hands, abdomen, and finally his face. After staring for a long moment, he let out an ambiguous snort and turned away.
Chen Li quietly exhaled, relaxing his clenched hands.
Suddenly, System 001 shouted: [Wait!]
But his body reacted faster than his brain. His trembling eyelids opened the next second, and Chen Li locked eyes with one of those crooked, unsettling eyes—so close it blurred his focus.
The eye blinked maliciously at him: Got you.
Thanks for the update