What is a Yin Fate? The Mystery of the Saintess

"Heh, neither of them are good people."

Wu Wang scoffed.

"A dog-eat-dog fight, and they're trying to pull me into it?"

The Old Village Chief was clearly not a good man. He was always scheming against others, a ruthless and conscienceless man willing to do anything to satisfy his own desires.

This Yin Fate Great God wasn't any better.

He demanded the sacrifice of a Yin Fate Saintess every year. So how could the village only owe him for one?

In other words, over the past two hundred years, countless innocent girls had suffered horrible fates.

If it were just the villagers of Yin Fate Village serving as Saintesses, that would be one thing. They weren't good people, so they would just be getting what they deserved.

But it was clear that outsiders could also become a Yin Fate Saintess. Who knew how many times these villagers had tricked and abducted girls for their ritual?

Two vicious dogs were tearing at each other, and now they wanted him to pick a side?

"Unlucky Sister, if you have this kind of nightmare again, pass a message to that damn Yin Fate Great God for me."

Wu Wang handed her the food, his voice soft.

"Tell him if he has something to say, he should say it to my face. I'll go see him."

Wu Xiaoyou's trembling gradually subsided, but she didn't have the energy to protest his "Unlucky Sister" nickname.

After a long sigh, she took the food.

She sat on the bed and began to eat without a word.

Though she normally loved good food, the village's carefully prepared delicacies tasted like wax in her mouth. She just mechanically opened and closed her mouth, swallowing with difficulty.

Wu Wang noticed the dark circles that had inexplicably appeared under her eyes. When she opened her mouth, he saw a thick, white coating on her tongue. This was more than just a severe fright.

Her Mental Strength had been greatly depleted.

It seemed the Yin Fate Great God's dream message came with significant side effects.

Speaking of which, Wu Wang thought, why didn't the guy just send me a dream message?

When it came to Mental Strength, Wu Wang was stacked. Stats? He had them. Skills? He... also had stats!

All he had to do was die once, and his Mental Strength would be instantly refilled.

He had more than enough time to dance with the god in a dream or chat about the latest stock market trends.

Swish, swish...

Just as a moment of peace settled over the small, dilapidated house, a faint noise came from outside. It was the sound of something moving through the knee-high weeds.

But there were no footsteps.

Gusts of eerie, cold wind swept past.

"Speaking of which... why have you stopped whispering to me again?"

Wu Wang asked, glancing at the Red Vertical Pupil on his wrist.

He looked down at it. The strange mutterings were gone.

This had happened before. Back in the Art Building during the "Fight Back to School" scenario, the Red Vertical Pupil had also fallen silent right after granting him its vision.

What did this mean?

Why was the Abyss God's Mark sharing its vision with him again?

Swish, swish... patter, patter...

The sounds outside grew more distinct.

Wu Wang could now hear them clearly from inside the house, but when he looked at Wu Xiaoyou, she seemed completely unaware.

Was it something that could only be perceived under specific conditions? No wonder the Abyss God had suddenly shared its vision with him!

"What's wrong..."

Although Wu Xiaoyou couldn't hear the noises, she saw Wu Wang's expression turn grim. His entire body was tense, on guard against some unseen threat.

Before she could finish her question, he performed a double-jump and vanished through the hole in the roof.

A single, soft-spoken sentence drifted down in his wake.

"Don't talk while you eat. Finish your food."

Looking down from above, he saw them.

Outside stood a dense crowd of figures, and more were emerging from the forest behind the house in an endless stream. In the short time he had been distracted, they had completely surrounded the dilapidated building.

The eerie thing was that their movements were silent. They didn't communicate. Only the occasional rustle of disturbed weeds betrayed their passage.

He couldn't see their faces clearly.

A thick fog, like a blindfold, seemed to cover the area where their eyes should be, obscuring their features.

He could only vaguely tell that the figures were all female, judging by their long, flowing hair and the generous curves of their chests.

【Mental Strength: 40 → 39】

Wu Wang, who had just restored his Mental Strength by dying, felt it draining away again.

He froze. At some point, every single figure had lifted its head to stare directly at him.

After a single glance, they lowered their heads again, their attention fixed on the window of the dilapidated house.

From their angle, they could see Wu Xiaoyou sitting on the bed, her face ashen as she ate.

The figures stared for a moment, and then their mouths suddenly split open.

Like crocodiles opening their massive jaws, the split stretched to their ears. Their entire lower jaws hung open, revealing rows of sharp, vampire-like fangs.

They were smiling, a grotesque, bizarre sight.

Wu Wang was baffled.

"What the hell are these things? Faceless nurses from Silent Hill? The uniforms don't look right."

He wrinkled his nose.

"And has anyone told you your breath stinks?"

"Hiccup... Uncle Li, do you think I'll be able to form a Yin Fate this year? If I do, I'll have to give everyone in the village a big red envelope!"

The speaker was the brawny man Wu Wang had seen at the village entrance. Flushed from drinking, he let out a foul-smelling, alcoholic burp and slung an arm over the shoulder of the man he called Uncle Li.

The man, Uncle Li, just shook his head slightly.

"Hard to say. There's no standard for forming a Yin Fate."

A little boy, only a few years old, happened to run past holding a tanghulu. Hearing the adults' conversation, he approached them with interest.

"Uncle Dao, Grandpa Li, what's this Yin Fate thing you're talking about? Can you eat it?"

The brawny man, Dao, ruffled the little boy's hair.

"Let me tell you," he explained cheerfully. "During the three days of the Grand Ritual every year, one lucky kid will be chosen to form a Yin Fate. That means a Saintess from a past year has taken a liking to you."

A trace of envy flickered across his face. He picked up the wine on the table and took another big swig.

"It's great for the kids who form a Yin Fate," he said, his words slurring. "I hear they get to see the Yin Fate Great God, and he'll promise to grant you one reasonable request."

He leaned in closer.

"Money, beautiful women, a house... you can get whatever you want! Then I could find the best wife, hehehe..."

He trailed off, giggling foolishly. The alcohol finally got the better of him, and he slumped onto the table, fast asleep.

Seeing this, the little boy ran off to share the secret of Forming a Yin Fate with his friends.

Uncle Li watched this scene, sighed silently, and walked alone to the edge of the plaza to smoke.

Everyone in the village longed to form a Yin Fate, himself included.

Although they said only children were chosen, there had been cases where adults were picked. It wasn't a rare occurrence.

His family's financial situation wasn't good. In fact, it was terrible. Because last year's Grand Ritual was missing a Saintess, their crops had failed completely.

They had been plagued by bad luck for the entire year.

First, his wife, Aunty Li, broke her leg while going up the mountain. Then their car had a random blowout and rolled into a ditch, getting totaled. There was even a strange person who fell from the sky and smashed their house.

All these little disasters cost money.

He'd heard that when the Saintesses of years past looked for someone to form a Yin Fate with, they liked to pick people who were alone.

He really hoped he would be chosen this year.

Speaking of which, he mused, the village has had over two hundred Saintesses over the years. Why does only one come out to form a Yin Fate each time?

How great would it be if they could all appear at once!

Then the village would surely become even more prosperous...