https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-194-Orange-Village-Feast-and-Sacrifice/12850322/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-196-Deceased-Villagers-Living-Skeletons/12850326/
Chapter 195: Is This Thing an Animal or a Plant?
Chapter 195: Is This Thing an Animal or a Plant?
Night fell over Orange Village.
The terrifying scene Qin Muye had imagined did not materialize. Instead, there was a harmonious atmosphere, with a large number of oranges piled up in the square, ranging in size. Many of them had burst and oozed out orange juice due to the pressure.
At first glance, it seemed quite normal, but as the atmosphere grew more intense, Qin Muye noticed something was off.
For instance, the smell of the oranges was tinged with a putrid odor.
This putrid smell grew stronger and stronger, yet none of the villagers seemed to notice, as if their noses were malfunctioning.
Before Qin Muye could take action, the putrid smell had already made the villagers even more excited, as if they were high on something.
Qin Muye immediately activated the Lord's Summoning, and Bai Ge, Tie Gu, and other spirits instantly appeared. Along with them, a large number of other spirits emerged, surrounding the entire square so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.
In an instant, the originally joyful and excited atmosphere came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had clamped their throats.
"Bind them all, and clear away the oranges," Qin Muye said calmly.
Then the spirits moved, working with incredible efficiency. Within five minutes, all the villagers were hung up, and the oranges were burned to ashes.
"Master, all the villagers have been captured, and none have escaped," Bai Ge reported.
Qin Muye nodded. "Come, step forward if you have any issues. Otherwise, I'll have to bleed you one by one."
The villagers looked at each other, unsure what he meant by "issues."
"Nothing to say? Or do you all think you have no issues? Then don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll start by cutting your major arteries to give you a taste of what I can do," Qin Muye said immediately.
The rule against slaughter meant that lives must be spared, but other matters were irrelevant. Otherwise, how could he deal with these people gently? If they were simple and honest, it would be one thing, but what if they were troublemakers?
So, the tasks in "The Lord's Era" weren't so rigid. The point was to keep them alive, not to kill them.
Spirits with knives in hand approached, ready to demonstrate their capabilities.
Seeing this, everyone panicked.
"Wait, wait, you can't do this, or you will anger the Orange God. He will unleash His wrath and burn the entire world," the village chief shouted, though he didn't know what a major artery was. Seeing the towering spirits with knives, he knew what was about to happen and had to shout.
Qin Muye understood that the chief was clever. It seemed like a threat, but in reality, he was revealing the information Qin Muye wanted.
But Qin Muye didn't stop them, feeling it wasn't enough yet.
"Stop immediately, you must quickly use orange juice to appease the messenger of the Orange God under the square, or He will awaken, and none of us will survive!"
The village chief spoke with genuine sincerity. If Qin Muye hadn't been able to sense his emotions faintly, he might have believed him.
Only then did Qin Muye order the spirits to stop.
He had the spirits check, and they quickly confirmed, "Master, there is no messenger of the Orange God under the square."
Don't ask how they checked. They simply dug up the entire square. There was no messenger, nor were there any oranges.
"Do you have anything to say?" Qin Muye asked calmly.
The promised messenger of the Orange God was gone, which was quite a surprise.
This situation left the village chief breathless. Clearly, there was no way to resolve this peacefully now.
"The Orange God is a great deity. As long as we offer Him sacrifices every year, He will make our oranges large and sweet."
"The messenger of the Orange God comes here at a fixed time each year to collect the sacrifices, which is the Orange Feast. We must offer the sweetest oranges to the messenger of the Orange God."
The village chief's eyes flickered as he gave a brief introduction, but it was vague and incomplete, raising Qin Muye's suspicions. More importantly, there was something hidden in his words.
"Is that all?" Qin Muye asked.
"That's all, really, that's all," the village chief said.
Soon, another spirit reported, "We found a large number of human bones under the square, and the soil and their form are unusual, as if these bones were trying to emerge from the ground but stopped halfway."
"Give me one more chance. If you continue to withhold information, I'll bury you halfway in the ground, with your lower half above the soil and the upper half buried," Qin Muye threatened.
If it were appropriate, Qin Muye would have thrown the village chief into a dungeon where skilled spirit heroes specialized in interrogation and torture would take over.
"I'll speak, I'll speak, but this secret concerns the Orange God. I can't tell anyone else, only you," the village chief said immediately.
"That important, huh? Then I won't listen. Time to send this one on his way," Qin Muye said, and Pestilence casually drew his dual pistols and opened fire, aiming to end the chief's life immediately.
He wasn't a fool. What if the village chief transformed and attacked him as soon as he got close? Qin Muye had high health and strong defenses, but that didn't mean he was immune to pain.
Normally, a headshot would have blown the village chief's head apart, but this chief was clearly not ordinary. As Pestilence drew his guns, the chief's body began to swell rapidly, like a giant gorilla. However, unlike a regular gorilla, his body was covered in fleshy tumors. Upon closer inspection, Qin Muye realized these were human heads.
These heads were soft and boneless, like mere chunks of flesh.
Just as the chief was about to speak, a bullet shattered his head, and orange flesh and juice splattered out. It seemed the chief was not made of blood and flesh.
But in just a breath, the chief's head reformed from the massive amount of juice and fruit flesh.
The strong scent of oranges gradually spread, refreshing and invigorating, a stark contrast to the previous putrid smell.
"So, the ancient god's minion is a giant orange gorilla?" Qin Muye was momentarily skeptical.
This was really disappointing. He had expected something truly terrifying, but this was just a large gorilla with human head tumors, and it even smelled like oranges.
"You have desecrated the god's sacrifice," the village chief said, even though he had transformed into a gorilla. The other villagers seemed unfazed by this transformation.
However, the chief appeared to be a rational person and did not attack. He knew he was no match for Qin Muye, especially not with the countless spirits that could easily overwhelm him.
"So, are you an animal or a plant?" Qin Muye was more intrigued by the chief's unique body structure than by his words.
The spirits understood Qin Muye's thoughts and immediately restrained the chief, bringing him to Qin Muye.
"He looks like someone made of oranges," Qin Muye commented, giving a signal to his subordinates to interrogate the other villagers about the Orange God. The villagers clearly knew something, and they were to be interrogated separately to prevent collusion.
As for the chief, Qin Muye wasn't in a hurry to interrogate him. He wanted to study the chief first, as the sacrifice had been stopped and the ancient god's minion captured.
The only surprise was the chief's appearance.
First, Qin Muye decided to dissect the chief to understand his condition.
Soon, Qin Muye found the core of the chief: a blood-red orange.
"Fascinating, this is your true form, and the rest is just a derived template," Qin Muye said, pulling out the blood-red orange. Immediately, the chief's massive body began to wither, turning into something like dried orange flesh.
The chief had two forms: a human form, likely a disguise, and a fruit-flesh gorilla, which was his normal form.
There might also be a berserk form, but the chief didn't have the chance to transform into it now.
The moment Qin Muye held the blood-red orange, he felt numerous fleshy tentacles trying to root into his hand. He could also sense the corruption from the ancient god attempting to erode his body and suck his life force.
It was his powerful strength that allowed him to ignore these effects; otherwise, someone else might have been overtaken by now.
"Truly resilient, but I wonder if your consciousness still exists," Qin Muye mused. He thought this could be a valuable specimen to study.
But what about the mission? He needed to kill the ancient god's minion, and if he left now, the mission might fail.
So, should he choose the mission reward or the ancient god's minion?
(End of Chapter)
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