You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

Chapter 596 Revisiting the Legend of the Hidden Mist Village
"The Hidden Mist Village was very poor, the soil was harsh, and there was no sunlight. Although wild animals were plentiful, every hunt was life-threatening." As Granny Rong spoke, she gazed out the window through the dim light, as if recalling those difficult times. The fog outside was still thick, shrouding the world in a hazy haze. "But it's precisely because of the fire that we believe this is a special place." There was a subtle hint of pride in her tone.

Xia Hui nodded slightly as she took notes: "I see. So, what does that mark mean?" Her eyes sparkled with a thirst for knowledge, and the tip of her pen gently moved across the notebook.

"That diamond pattern with swirls, right?" Tang Yin suddenly interrupted, his eyes sharply catching the look of surprise that flashed across Xia Hui's face.

"That's right. Three marks, which means there are three wolf gods." Grandma Rong's voice was low and certain, and the atmosphere in the entire assembly hall became more solemn with these words.

"How did you know that? Is this kind of thing commonplace here?" Xia Hui frowned, her tone filled with disbelief. Her fingers unconsciously clenched around the pen, a hint of white turning white at the joints.

Granny Rong coughed lightly and continued to explain, "We have a mountain sacrifice here, and every year the Qin family dresses up as guardian beasts and parades in the village." She glanced at the Qin brothers sitting in the corner, "The number of people who play the Wolf God is announced in a similar way." These words were exactly consistent with what Wang Lina had said in Tang Yin's memory, including the statement about there being a maximum of three Wolf Gods during the mountain sacrifice.

"Why three people?" Xia Hui asked, with a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

"Because it's a parent and child." Granny Rong's answer was brief and direct, but it stirred a ripple in Tang Yin's heart. His suspicions were correct; the three wolf gods did indeed have a parent-child relationship. However, based on their previous experience, this information didn't seem very important, as the wolves back then weren't assigned based on parent-child relationships.

"To be honest, I don't want to believe it myself, but things have come to this. As people of the Hidden Mist Village, we must execute the Wolf God." Granny Rong's tone suddenly became heavy. "This is why the elders treat the Hidden Mist Village well, and it is also our obligation."

These words evoked a subtle reaction in the assembly hall. Qin Yi tutted in disdain, and his brother Qin Ming immediately winked at him. Zhao Gang's brow furrowed in displeasure, casting a deep shadow in the dim light. The elders treated the Hidden Mist Village kindly? Tang Yin sneered inwardly, looking at this dilapidated village. How could such treatment be considered kind? Granny Rong's words formed a sharp contrast with the reality before her eyes. Clearly, not many people agreed with her point of view.

However, since she had already told this story, everyone tacitly accepted it as mere background knowledge. The atmosphere in the assembly hall grew somewhat subtler, with only the faint aroma of wine lingering in the air, as if bearing witness to the secrets of this ancient village. Under the dim light, everyone's expression was vague, concealing unspoken concerns.

"For Baifeng Manor's continued existence, Wuyin Village is a very important place." Hualu said softly, her eyes revealing a hint of complex emotions. When Tang Yin heard this, it was as if he had been struck by lightning, and he finally understood the deeper meaning.

Hidden Mist Village, a remote village perpetually shrouded in thick fog, is actually a carefully constructed breakwater by Baifeng Manor. When the wolves return from the underworld, the villagers here are the perfect sacrifices. They don't need to bravely fight the wolves; they simply need to be sacrificed.

The Shenge River, considered the entrance to the underworld in the Qianming God faith, cleverly placed a group of people there. By holding this strange banquet, they successfully prevented the resurrected wolf from continuing its advance towards Baifeng Village.

Tang Yin's gaze swept imperceptibly across Granny Rong's face. Her words, especially her repeated emphasis on the word "obligation," made one wonder if there was some hidden vested interest between her and the elders of Baifeng Manor. The air in the assembly hall seemed frozen, with only the dim light casting mottled shadows on everyone's faces.

However, now was not the time to dwell on the details of the story; there were more important things to focus on. How much of the banquet rules that Granny Rong had described were actually true? Tang Yin decided to wait and see, and listen to her finish explaining all the rules.

He closed his eyes and began to mentally process the information he had just received. A variety of different characters had infiltrated this strange banquet: first, the three wolves, their identities a mystery, yet they lurked among the crowd. Then, there were the guardians of each guardian beast: the snake guardian possessed the ability to verify a person's identity by placing a note with their name on it by their pillow at night;

The two ape protectors knew each other's identities the moment they received the protection; the crow protector could identify the true identity of the person being executed that day at night; and the spider protector could protect the designated person from wolf attacks at night by writing the name in the same way.

The strangest thing was that the distribution of these protectors had nothing to do with the four elder families who inherited the bloodline of the guardian beasts. Tang Yin's fingers tapped unconsciously on his knee, trying to find some pattern in this complex set of rules. In the dim light, he noticed that the expressions of the others varied: some looked thoughtful, some calm, and still others had a flicker of anxiety in their eyes.

The air was thick with the faint aroma of wine, intertwined with the strange rules, shrouding the entire space in an indescribable atmosphere. The fog outside the window seemed to grow even thicker, completely isolating the entire Mist Village from the outside world, as if this place had truly become a different dimension independent of reality, where everyone played their own role, playing out this unpredictable game of life and death.

Within the shadowed gathering hall, Granny Rong's voice echoed, explaining the rules of this bizarre game: Through the special abilities of the Guardians, everyone must discuss and execute one person daily. Three lurking wolves will perform a blood sacrifice at night, and humans must find and eliminate all of them before they are completely annihilated. Those who violate the rules will be contaminated by the supernatural power of the mountain spirit and die.

As these words fell, a flurry of movement echoed throughout the room, like a swarm of restless moths fluttering their wings in the darkness. Tang Yin frowned, about to ask for details, but was interrupted by a sudden voice.

"Mother Rong, wait, there's something I don't understand." Qin Ming's voice suddenly rang out, his perpetually stern face appearing especially serious in the dim light. Tang Yin swallowed the question that was about to come to his lips and turned his gaze to the young man who had asked the question first.

"What's the problem, Qin Ming?" Granny Rong stared at Qin Ming through her pair of reading glasses.

"The Wolf God can only sacrifice one person in one night, right?" Qin Ming's voice was calm and restrained, but contained a hint of doubt.

"That's right." Granny Rong nodded in confirmation.

"Why?" Qin Ming pressed on, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table in front of him. "Because this is the sphere of influence of the Thousand Bright God. Even the Yellow Springs Wolf must obey the will of the Thousand Bright God." Granny Rong replied with a firm tone.

"Why did Qian Ming Shen impose this rule on wolves, and why must wolves obey it?" Qin Ming's question was like a sharp sword, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. The atmosphere in the assembly hall seemed to grow even more solemn.

"Well, I don't know either." Grandma Rong rarely showed a hesitant expression.

Qin Ming did not stop there and asked: "I have another question. If the spider successfully protects one person, can the wolf god turn around and attack others?"

"That's impossible. As long as the spider's protection stops the wolf's attack, it can protect everyone's dreams that night." Granny Rong's answer was still firm.

"Mrs. Rong, how do you know all this?" Qin Ming's voice became sharper, like a knife being drawn from its sheath.

"A long time ago, my grandma told me--" Granny Rong just started to explain when she was interrupted mercilessly by Qin Ming.

"Granny Rong, didn't you attend the Huangquan Ji Banquet?" This question exploded in the assembly hall like a thunderclap.

In an instant, the entire space fell into a deathly silence. Under the dim light, everyone's expression froze. Tang Yin could clearly feel the tension in the air, like a taut string that could break at any moment.

The thick fog outside the window seemed to grow even darker at that moment, completely isolating this shrouded space from the outside world. Everyone's eyes were focused on Granny Rong, awaiting her response to this pointed question. This seemingly simple question seemed to tear open the truth of the entire story.

"Hey, Qin Ming, what's wrong?" Zhao Gang, sensing the unusual atmosphere, spoke up quickly to break the silence. His voice held a hint of unease, as if he anticipated revealing something unspoken. The lights in the assembly hall flickered, casting an eerie veil over the conversation.

"If a fog means a banquet, then someone here must have attended one before." Qin Ming's gaze was sharp as a knife, and his voice carried an undeniable power. His chiseled face looked particularly stern in the dim light. "As far as I know, there was a fog eight years ago."

"Brother, stop talking!" Gao Mei suddenly let out a sharp cry, her pale face twisted with emotion, tears welling in her eyes. This sudden change caused everyone to turn and stare at the trembling girl. The air seemed to freeze in an instant.

"Stop talking. I don't want to think about that." Gao Mei's voice lowered, but it was still trembling uncontrollably. She clutched the edge of her clothes tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, and she curled up into a ball, as if trying to hide herself.

"But, Xiaomei..." Qin Ming's tone softened slightly, but he still insisted on asking. His eyes gleamed with inquiry, as if there were more secrets hidden behind this answer.

"Qin Ming, I'll ask about this later." Gao Zhijie suddenly interrupted him, his voice low and authoritative. A trace of pain flashed in the old man's cloudy eyes. "My son and daughter-in-law were both dead at the time. Don't mention that incident in front of Xiaomei."

"Grandpa," Gao Mei called softly, tears finally streaming down her cheeks. Her shoulders trembled slightly, as if she was enduring unspeakable pain.

A heavy atmosphere permeated the assembly hall. The light from the oil lamp cast flickering shadows on the wall, as if silently recounting past events that were reluctant to be mentioned. Tang Yin's mind suddenly flashed back to Zhao Gang's words: "You've seen the construction site above where the landslide occurred? Eight years ago, when Qian Jin was working on the project, there was an accident there."

The puzzle pieces began to fit together: the landslide and the death of Xiaomei's parents both occurred eight years ago, and there was fog at the time. This coincidence gave Tang Yin a sense of foreboding.

"I wasn't in Kirigakure at the time, remember? You were boarding at the school in Baifeng Manor, and I went there to help," Granny Rong explained hastily, a hint of nervousness in her voice, her aged face looking particularly haggard under the light. "This was my first time attending a banquet, and I don't even know if there was one." She paused, unconsciously twisting her fingers together, and added, "But my grandmother should have been there."

"Really?" Qin Ming didn't press the issue, but the slight frown on his face and the suspicion in his eyes showed he wasn't entirely convinced. An indescribable tension hung in the air.

Tang Yin also found it difficult to understand how these banquet rules, which related to life and death, could be passed down so completely orally. The temperature in the assembly hall seemed to drop a few degrees, and everyone shuddered. After all, these were rules that could be life-threatening if violated. If there were any omissions or errors in the transmission process, the consequences would be disastrous.

At this thought, he suddenly realized that Granny Rong had indeed omitted three important rules: First, wolves could only kill one person per day; second, after being stopped by a spider, wolves could not attack anyone else that night; and third, the protection was communicated through blood letters and could not be discovered by others. Qin Ming had pointedly pointed out the first two, but the last one, which Elder Gao Zhijie had told him privately, had not yet been mentioned.

Tang Yin's thoughts continued: Are rules passed down through word of mouth truly reliable? If this truly is a time-honored tradition, then if a fatal omission occurred during the process of transmission, it should have been completely annihilated due to violations. Such an outcome would inevitably lead to the extinction of the corresponding culture. However, since this had not occurred...
This idea made Tang Yin's eyes light up: this means that there must be other channels for transmitting information.

(End of this chapter)