Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!

Chapter 1476 - 212: The Grand Banquet

However, after walking around the village, Xu Shu didn’t find that "isolated and independent" "best house in the village," but rather noticed something unusual.

The village only had about two hundred households, yet a large-scale temple was built within it, with twelve large bells neatly arranged in the courtyard in front.

Xu Shu arrived just in time for dinner.

In the freezing cold, the slender villagers knelt at the entrance of the temple, both kneeling and forming a queue.

Their kneeling posture was strange; hands clasped behind their backs, in front of them were old porcelain bowls filled with food offerings ranging from rice, flour, and eggs for those with average means, to meats like chicken, duck, and fish for the wealthier ones.

Ding ding ding~

Every time the bell tolled, a solemn female voice resonated from within the tightly shut temple doors, chanting indistinct phrases like "Goodness" and "Blessings."

Then a villager would shout "Thank you, Buddha Mother, for your protection," placing the bowl filled with offerings through a passageway under the door.

Afterwards, the villager would go around to the back of the temple, receiving a rather luxurious-looking bronze vessel filled with some type of porridge from the presumed village head, and would then squat elsewhere to eat after performing three kneels and nine kowtows.

With each bell toll, the queue progressed further, inch by inch forward, everything orderly without any chatter.

The scene seemed like some special kind of "canteen opening."

A little child appeared to be starving, impatiently swallowing their saliva, eager to eat the food from their bowl, but their mother clamped her hand tightly over their mouth and nose, stopping only after tears and snot burst out.

Xu Shu frowned as he watched.

A feast with bell chimes?

In scale, it appeared like the treatment one would expect for the rich and noble.

But the problem was, why were these villagers offering high-quality ingredients to the temple, but receiving rotten food in return, eating bran and vegetables?

That bronze vessel looked grand, but the food in it was miserably poor, not even a bit of oil, with a few floating, rotten vegetable leaves, it was considered good!

What the heck is going on?

Clearly, there’s something fishy about the temple...

Xu Shu glanced at Xiao Ya, gestured a silent signal to her, then transformed himself into a blood form, silently slipping inside the temple.

Upon entering, Xu Shu was taken aback.

In the center of the temple, several people in white robes were working, accepting villagers’ offerings and handing them to a massive figure behind them.

It was a monstrous mountain-like woman, so enormous she couldn’t be described by "individual" or "person," likely weighing over a thousand pounds, sitting in the middle and occupying a large part of the grand hall.

"Whoa, what a giant tank of a woman! Wait... isn’t this the village’s witch?!"

Xu Shu was amazed, spotting the same blue lotus mark on this hulking woman’s neck as Yang Su’s and Ning Xiang’s.

All the villagers’ offerings were consumed by this tank-like witch.

She ate until her mouth dripped with oil, while having her subordinates scoop some or more or less of the "porridge" from something like a pig trough behind, filling the bronze vessels, and handing them to the villagers outside through a side passage.

Despite the woman’s size, her voice was quite impressive; each time she spoke words like "Goodness" and "Marvelous," her tone was solemn and majestic, clear and melodious like Huang Ying’s voice.

If Xu Shu hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, but was deceived outside by walls, the first impression in his mind would definitely be of a peerlessly beautiful, dignified, holy nun!

Hiss...

"I’ve finally understood, is this fat witch exploiting her position for personal gain?

"Damn it, is this another new method for oppressing the lower class? Good food goes in, and rotten food comes out, disguised with a name saying ’your heart isn’t sincere,’ isn’t this considered fraud?

"However, this witch is somewhat different from the previous two; she seems to have more of a cooperative and profit-sharing relationship with the White Lotus Sect, and her status clearly appears higher than Yang Su and Ning Xiang, who simply help the sect search for live sacrifices.

"It seems there are factions among witches? Talking about background and lineage?"

Xu Shu sat up on a beam, observing for a moment, and noticed something worth attention.

The altar here, with its statue of "Mother of Non-Birth," was quite different from those elsewhere, featuring a figure with an exposed upper body and open arms, the lower body having intertwined legs like a turtle and snake, looking somewhat dubious.

"I’ve never seen this kind of Buddha... does the White Lotus Sect have a concept like Buddha Mother?"

Xu Shu pondered briefly, then suddenly his eyes shifted, patting the small jade Buddha at his waist awake, mischievously saying, "Goddess Guanyin, come out and see your fellow temple!"

Whoosh~

Summoned by Xu Shu, the small jade Buddha opened one eye and looked down.

In an instant, peasants kneeling, the fat woman devouring food, swill blending into meals, all the ugliness of the world came into view.

"???"

"..."

The environment seemed to freeze for a second, with the air around the small jade Buddha vibrating slightly, creating some sound.

Her sound gradually formed into a complete sentence.

It said:

"Hey... Look over here~ Look over here~ Look over here~"

Crash!

Invisible sound waves swept across the scene, enveloping every white-robed person sitting in the temple.

"Life-taking Mantra"!

Xu Shu was instantly startled.

He was not amazed by the small jade Buddha’s direct attack, but more by the thought: did she secretly skip a few words in the life-taking mantra he amended?

Before he could think further, wherever the life-taking mantra reached, the clothes of the white-robed people reversed, covering their heads.