PD -Chapter 182 The Malicious Intent of a God

Zhenzhen revealed that the place where her parents had died in a car accident was the very same narrow road we had taken. Her mood visibly sank.

She lowered her head and continued eating for a while. Then, as if something had suddenly struck her, she looked up at me and Tang Shanshan with a slightly panicked expression.

“Sister Shanshan, I didn’t tell you to take that road because I wanted to harm you! My parents’ accident was just that—an accident. That road isn’t actually hard to drive on. I even take it often when I go back home.”

“And… and when you asked me about the route of that couple a few days ago, I didn’t think much of it. I just told you and my uncle about that same road,” Zhenzhen added, then lowered her head again, as if afraid we might blame her.

Tang Shanshan picked up a piece of meat and placed it into Zhenzhen’s bowl, smiling gently.

“I know you didn’t mean any harm. Don’t worry about it.”

“But Zhenzhen, we actually ran into something strange on that road,” she said, setting down her chopsticks and looking at her.

“You mean… that Old Li with the gun?” Zhenzhen asked, lifting her head.

I shook my head and took over the explanation.

“We accidentally discovered a wooden hut in the forest beside that road. It looked extremely strange. We’re not sure what it was used for. Could that Old Li be living there?”

Zhenzhen thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“Old Li lives in the old village area, not near that road.”

“The wooden hut… that should be an old Mountain God temple,” she said, scratching her head. “But it’s been abandoned for years. Who still believes in mountain gods nowadays? That temple should’ve been deserted long ago.”

“Did you go inside the temple?” she asked.

I shook my head. “We were curious and wanted to take a look, but Old Li stopped us.”

“It’s best not to go there,” Zhenzhen said. “I’ve heard some stories about the Mountain God… but that was when I was little. They say beneath the temple is a mass grave—very unlucky. Full of bodies, buried in pairs.”

“In pairs?” I frowned and put down my chopsticks.

Zhenzhen nodded, about to continue, when the sound of the gas station owner calling from outside interrupted her, urging her back to work.

“Brother, Sister, I’m going to my shift now. Enjoy your meal.”

She quickly finished a few bites and ran out.

For a moment, Tang Shanshan and I sat in silence, both lost in thought about what we had just heard.

We finished our meal and returned to our room. The information we had gathered finally gave me a clearer direction.

But everything was still only speculation. We needed more evidence.

After thinking it over, I called Di Ting and asked her to have the 507 Bureau use their connections through the local public security system in the Shennongjia Forest Region to investigate all traffic accidents and missing-person cases near Longxiang Village over the past decades.

An hour later, my email inbox received a large batch of files—records of disappearances and deaths in that area.

Soon, Tang Shanshan and I found a common pattern.

Over the past forty years, nearly a hundred pairs of men and women had met misfortune in Longxiang Village.

All of them came in pairs—either couples or husbands and wives. This confirmed what Zhenzhen had said about the legend of the Mountain God’s burial ground.

And it also matched my hypothesis perfectly.

Shennongjia Forest Region, with its vast primitive woodland, has always inspired deep reverence for nature. The customs and beliefs of the locals differ greatly from those outside.

In such forested regions, worship of the mountain god was once a way for ancient people to communicate with nature and seek its protection.

So the so-called burial ground beneath the Mountain God temple likely wasn’t a burial ground at all.

It was probably a sacrificial pit.

And the offerings to the mountain god were likely those pairs of corpses.

In ancient times, people revered nature deeply, and sacrifices to deities were common. Now, thinking back, the small hill beside the road we took might well conceal those who were once offered as sacrifices.

But with the development of society, the so-called gods have gradually lost their believers. And with fewer followers, even minor local deities like this mountain god would have faded away.

Di Ting had once told me that gods rely on the power of faith to sustain themselves—without it, their power weakens and they may even disappear.

So it was likely that this mountain god had developed a twisted intent, beginning to seek sacrifices on its own just to survive and maintain its divine status.

“So it seems what we’re dealing with isn’t some ordinary evil entity… but a god gone wrong,” I muttered to myself.

Tang Shanshan looked at me in shock and asked what I meant.

I explained my reasoning while dialing Liu Xiaopeng’s number.

I had dealt with many evil entities before, but this was the first time I faced a corrupted deity.

I knew how to exorcise spirits—but killing a god with my own hands still made me uneasy. After all, even a mountain god is still a god. A starving camel is still bigger than a horse.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable…”

The automated voice came through the phone. I sighed.

It seemed I would have to handle this alone.

But I couldn’t take Tang Shanshan into danger with me. She had only just recovered after everything we went through—I didn’t want her dragged into this again.

After a moment of hesitation, I sent Liu Xiaopeng a WeChat message, briefly explaining everything and our location. I didn’t know if he would come, but I had to try.

Then I turned to Tang Shanshan.

She asked whether we should head back to the Mountain God temple and investigate overnight.

I shook my head and stood up.

“We’re returning to the 507 Bureau tonight. We’ll hand this over to Di Ting’s Zero Task Force.”

“But…” Tang Shanshan jumped up from the bed, clearly unwilling to abandon the lead we had risked so much to uncover.

I sighed.

“This is too dangerous. Neither of us has fully recovered. Facing a god right now isn’t a rational move. We go back, report everything to the 507 Bureau, and let them handle it.”

Though reluctant, she was reasonable. After a pause, she nodded.

We quickly packed our things and slipped out of the inn under the moonlight, heading for the car, preparing to leave quietly.

But what we didn’t expect was—

Even now, leaving was no longer an option.