The backdrop can also be propped up.

Prepare some... Fangcheng thought through everything he had seen that might be related to magic.

When the thought of the red rope, bell, and talisman came to mind, those few sheets of paper could be flipped through again.

Just as Fang Cheng was about to continue reading, he heard the bell ring.

The few people who were still passing around the diary immediately organized it in order.

Bai Xingyi placed the neatly arranged diary back into Fang Cheng's hands and said, "Keep this safe for now, we'll discuss it again at dinner." After saying that, he and the others hurriedly left.

Fang Cheng took the stack of papers in his hand and went back to his room to look at the papers he had just unlocked.

The newly unlocked diary entries were noticeably different from the previous ones. The first two entries looked like they were drawn with charcoal on scrap paper, while these entries looked more like they were written on blank paper with a proper pen.

It was written on the paper:

When the schoolteacher arrived, I realized it was my father.

Such a big red mole at the corner of his eye; apart from my father, I've never seen anyone else with such a big red mole.

The little stick looked surprised when he found out, and at the same time told me that there was no need to care about my father being used as a sacrifice. If my father had any conscience, he would not have abandoned my mother and me and run away with a man, causing me to come here to be a servant.

I didn't sympathize with him. To be honest, I was more curious about why he would choose to run off with a man, especially such an ugly one.

Boys' aesthetic sense is all weird.

Like a little stick, the little stick said the manager wasn't as handsome as him. I said the manager was more handsome than you, but the little stick said he wouldn't listen. He said the manager really wasn't as handsome as him, and I said, "But you're not even as tall as the manager."

The little stick got angry and threatened me, saying he would tell Zhang the liar that my birthday and age were perfect for being a sacrifice.

I knew the little stick was teasing me, so I told him to say whatever he wanted. That way, I would have my mother with me when I was born, and my father with me when I die, which is still very good.

The little stick shut up. He seemed to be looking at me like I was an idiot, but it's okay, I know he won't be able to say anything now, hehe.

This is my third diary entry. Wow, I only wrote three entries this week! But then again, I write such long entries every day. I only feel motivated to write on the first day.

The old schoolteacher in the village saw me writing. He was surprised and praised my handwriting, saying that I shouldn't write on such rough paper with charcoal. So he gave me some paper and pens, hoping that I could maintain this attitude.

I was pleased, though the little stick seemed somewhat disdainful. He said that people like us, from the lowest rungs of society, would never change our fate in our entire lives, so what was the point of reading so many books?

He said the old schoolteacher was a bad old man and that the old schoolteacher wanted to harm him. The old schoolteacher overheard him and kicked him in the buttocks several times.

The little stick covered his bottom and looked very unhappy; he probably felt ashamed.

The two people sleeping next to me were called away by the master's favorite servant; they were probably taken away as sacrifices.

There are fewer familiar faces in the village, and more unfamiliar faces.

The original person in charge was gone; he had also been used as a sacrifice.

The new manager was timid and hesitant.

The older sister in the kitchen who would give me extra food is gone; another boy has taken her place.

Other people have also disappeared; this is what I heard from other tea-picking women. They said that the main caregivers for carrying things, washing clothes, and fetching water have all been replaced.

Many people have disappeared.

Moreover, some people said that the old schoolteacher had also disappeared and been replaced by the new schoolteacher, who was my father.

At first I thought I misheard, but after asking them again...

Yes, it's that old schoolteacher.

How could that be? Didn't he just give me paper and pen, giving me the opportunity to go to him and learn to read?

After picking the tea leaves, Xiao Mugun came to me again and told me that no matter what Zhang the liar said to me, I should insist that what I saw was a piece of paper, not some red thread.

Speaking of the red thread, I remembered what Zhang the swindler said to the master before. Could it be that it's my turn for the sacrifice?

I asked the little stick, but he didn't say anything more. He just turned around and ran outside. But after a while, he ran back and told me to hide the paper and pen.

Fang Cheng frowned as she finished reading the papers. It felt like a tangled mess in her mind had found a starting point, but she wasn't sure whether pulling out this starting point would help the tangled mess organize into individual strands or make it even more tangled.

Upon seeing the last of the unlocked papers, Fang Cheng frowned even more. The last paper contained only one sentence:

What I saw was a sign prohibiting people from going upstairs.

That's all there is to see. Fang Cheng was a little confused—the ending that was unlocked this time was different from the previous ones that required filling in blanks.

The previous fill-in-the-blank questions were obvious; they were filled in before the sentence was even finished. But this time, a complete sentence was given.

However, this sentence... is a bit strange. Fang Cheng stared at the last sentence, looking at it again and again, as if it were written specifically for someone else.

Moreover, the handwriting is much neater than the previous ones, which clearly shows that the person who wrote it has practiced hard. They must have grown up and their hands are stronger, so they can hold the pen better when writing.

The newly unlocked last image should be from a much different time period than the previous ones, and it seems to have been deliberately written to make it look like it was meant to be seen.

The original owner of the diary was discovered to be literate, meeting the criteria to become a sacrifice. Therefore, the original owner hoped to escape the fate of being sacrificed by letting people know that what she saw was not a red thread but paper.

Who discovered that this literate tea-picking girl was writing in her diary? Was it one of the other tea-picking girls? Or was it the person who suddenly searched the literate tea-picking girl's room?

Fang Cheng felt like he had an idea. He looked up at the window and realized it wasn't dinner time yet.

The equation was decided to be sorted out by himself first.

"First, it becomes a customary ritual, which requires selecting offerings." Fang Cheng picked up the small piece of charcoal he had found first in the house and began to draw a process diagram on the floor.

Lu Renkui and the system WQBYRZM also stepped out of the equation's trap and helped analyze it together.

"In addition to making the tea shop prosper as before, this time we've added the idea of ​​that Master Li—the owner—wanting to become an immortal."

"Therefore the offerings were larger than ever before, and the ceremonies performed were larger than ever before."

"And then things went wrong..."

"Uh, what went wrong? Was it because the Taoist priest wasn't capable enough and messed up the ritual?" Fang Cheng subconsciously wanted to bite the thing she was holding—this was her habitual reaction when she was thinking.

When he felt something was wrong after biting into his mouth, Fang Cheng quickly spat twice.

“That should be part of the reason, but it shouldn’t be just that,” Lu Renkui said, looking down in thought. “I think we might have missed something.”