Ita Era

Chapter 5 Peach Blossom Village (Part 3)
After the identity cards were distributed, the village chief glanced at the plum blossom watch on his wrist and said, "It's 8:30 now. You can wander around the village as you like this morning, and go home for lunch."

Ding Shi asked, "Village Chief, may I come to your house for dinner?"

The village chief nodded and said, "My daughter-in-law cooks very well."

The villagers left first, and the players, who were not very familiar with each other, exchanged a few polite words before entering the village separately.

Taoyuan Village is shaped like a crescent moon, with a stream running through its center. Villagers live along the stream, with a two-meter-wide dirt path on each side. This area is the core of the village. Another 30% of the villagers are scattered around the perimeter. The straight-line distance between the southernmost and northernmost villagers exceeds four kilometers, and the total distance is seven kilometers, including two kilometers of hilly mountain roads.

In the center of the village are a barbershop, a bicycle tire repair shop, restaurants, a primary school, the village office, a supply and marketing cooperative, and the village chief's house. The primary school is near the village chief's house, and a library is between the primary school and the village chief's house.

Ding Shi was very surprised. Although the library was small, villages with libraries were extremely rare in this era. The library had only one floor, with a bookshelf against one wall. After browsing the catalog, Ding Shi realized that the library was a special resource provided by the system.

Ding Shi took out the "Biography of the Third Sister" from the "Chronicles of Taoyuan Village" and sat down on the bench to read it. The book recorded some people and events related to Taoyuan Village, the Third Sister, and the sacrificial rites.

In the early years of the Republic of China, a giant man-eating snake appeared in Taoyuan Village. Initially, it only ate livestock, but later it began devouring living people. The villagers initially revered and worshipped it, but this turned into a relentless pursuit. At the village chief's plea, the county militia dispatched a 20-man musketeer squad to locate the snake's lair and ambush it. However, the bullets struck the snake but failed to penetrate its defenses; instead, two squad members were pulled into the snake's lair. This gave rise to the legend of the snake demon.

The Taoist priest came, the Taoist priest died; the monk came, the monk died. They tried everything—fire, poison, lime—but the people of Peach Blossom Village couldn't get rid of the snake demon. As for realgar? Actually, snakes aren't very afraid of realgar; garlic is said to be more effective.

In the village lived a 16-year-old girl named San Niang. She and a man from the county town fell in love and got married. Unexpectedly, when the groom came to pick up his bride, the procession was attacked by a giant snake, and the groom was swallowed whole by the snake.

Upon hearing the devastating news, Third Sister wept tears of blood. Just then, a beggar passed through Peach Blossom Village and asked Third Sister for a bowl of water. After hearing about her plight, he gave her a packet of medicinal powder before leaving.

That night, San Niang put on her wedding dress, took the medicine powder, crawled into the snake pit, entered the giant snake's lair, and buried herself in a small hole.

Seven days later, San Niang, using the moonlight, transformed into a zombie and burst out of the cave, engaging in a bloody battle with the giant snake. The snake could not strangle San Niang, and San Niang's sharp claws could not pierce the snake's body. The two fought for a day and a night, alarming the elders and villagers of Peach Blossom Village. When they came with torches, they saw that the giant snake's head and body had been severed, its seven-inch slit bitten off by San Niang. San Niang's wedding dress had turned into strips of cloth, lying silently on the ground.

Grateful for San Niang's kindness, everyone placed her in a coffin. Unexpectedly, several days later, San Niang broke free of the earth and killed many domestic fowl. When everyone was at a loss, a Taoist priest who had come seeking the dead Taoist arrived in Peach Blossom Village. This Taoist priest possessed profound magical powers; he sealed San Niang back in the coffin, then submitted a petition to the Heavenly Court, requesting that San Niang be appointed as the Earth Goddess and that a temple be built for her to maintain incense offerings, thus resolving the problem.

The Taoist priest suffered great damage to his primordial spirit after this ordeal, so he settled down on the mountain, which is the origin of the Baiyun Temple on Taoyuan Mountain.

In short: It's the story of San Niang transforming into a zombie to seek revenge.

To commemorate and appease the Third Sister, the Taoist priest left behind a ritual. The goddess was the key to dispelling the Third Sister's resentment. According to the priest, for six days during which the goddess married in the Third Sister's place, the Third Sister's spirit would remain by the goddess's side, gradually dissolving the malevolent energy within her soul. A hundred years later, the Third Sister would truly become the local earth goddess, protecting Peach Blossom Village with favorable weather and a prosperous population.

Even in the most difficult times, Taoyuan Village still secretly carried out sacrificial activities.

Ding Shi closed the book, unsure how to evaluate the story. It wasn't a traditional tale of love and hate, because San Niang herself became a menace after eliminating the scourge. It also lacked any educational value, offering nothing worth learning or admiring.

After putting the book back, Ding Shi was drawn to another book, titled "On Ghosts," and was about to take it out to read when he heard a commotion outside. Going out, he saw Li Si being blocked in the road by several villagers.

Li Si held a machete, while three villagers wielded carrying poles and hoes. The two sides faced off, attracting onlookers. With a two-meter height difference, Ding Shi crouched on the edge of the stone platform, looking down. He saw Li Si growing increasingly panicked, while the villagers merely blocked him without attacking. However, their expressions were strange, seemingly a mixture of fear and anger.

An older woman squatted down next to Ding Shi, grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds and curiously straining her ears, seemingly wanting to hear what they were arguing about. Seeing Ding Shi looking at her, the woman placed a handful of sunflower seeds in Ding Shi's palm: "Homemade, delicious."

So Ding Shi started eating melon seeds. When Sun Qi and the others arrived after hearing the noise, they saw several villagers blocking Li Si from leaving, while Ding Shi squatted down to watch the commotion.

Sun Qi squatted down next to Ding Shi, looked down, and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know." Ding Shi divided half of the melon seeds in his hand and gave it to Sun Qi.

Before long, a group of people squatted down above, including several players.

There was no fighting or arguing among the people below; they simply said, "Don't leave. We'll talk when the village chief arrives."

After a while, the village chief, leaning on his cane with one hand, arrived at the crime scene with difficulty and effort. He looked up and saw Ding Shi, then pointed and said, "Little Ding, come down."

Ding Shi spat out a sunflower seed shell: "Village Chief, I haven't started work yet."

Village chief: "You can go to work now."

Task Assignment: As the village chief's assistant, you need to solve the village chief's problems and follow his instructions. Village chief's satisfaction level: 0.

The first task: Dispute.

Ding Shi descended the steps to the road and went to serve the village chief. The village chief nodded in satisfaction, looked at the parties involved on both sides, and said, "What happened? Ah Cai, tell me."

Ah Cai was a young man around thirty years old. He stammered a bit, which angered the village chief. He raised his cane to hit him, but Ah Cai stepped back to dodge. Ding Shi immediately took the cane, stepped forward, and struck Ah Cai twice on the back and lower back. Then he respectfully put the cane back into the village chief's hand: "Village chief, how can I let you suffer for such a thing?"

The crowd exclaimed in amazement: What a sycophant!

Village chief's satisfaction rating: 10.

As a member of the underworld and an undercover agent, Ding Shi did his fair share of sycophantic work. The saying "a dog relying on its master's power" is essentially a case of the master wanting the dog to bite the master, but the boss couldn't take action due to his status, so the underlings naturally had to keep an eye on things.

Is it shameful? Yes, it is. But Dante didn't even know them. What was beneficial to him was the village chief's satisfaction. There's a saying in the martial arts world: you can disregard anyone who has no vested interest in you.

(End of this chapter)