Escape from the Film Set

[When the dance ended, nearly two hours have passed, and I sat on the ground, drenched in sweat.]

[The Sacrifice was underway.]

[Although everything on the open ground was as usual, I knew that the Sacrifice was in progress and all it needed was a little more time.]

[I dragged my tired body back home and slept until dawn the next day.]

[To be precise, it was Wei Guangyuan who woke me up. He questioned me about the Sacrificial Tablet. Thinking of Wei Guangyuan's generally good attitude towards me, I told him about the Sacrifice and the Sacrificial Tablet, but I didn't tell him where I got the news.]

[Wei Guangyuan asked me if I had seen any Black Shadows. How would I know? I slept for most of the day, I know nothing, I could even say I passed out.]

[Although I didn't see it, my guess is that it definitely has something to do with the Sacrificial Tablet.]

[Since it's related to the Sacrificial Tablet, it's related to Immortality. Whether it's the Black Shadow or the White Shadow, I don't care at all.]

[Wei Guangyuan left and headed behind the Mountain.]

[I had a bad feeling in my heart. I'm afraid Wei Guangyuan was going to destroy the Sacrificial Tablet by going behind the Mountain. I remembered the admonition of the person in my dream, but at this moment, I suddenly fell ill.]

[I was blinded and could not see the road, let alone follow Wei Guangyuan behind the Mountain. I could only stay at home awaiting.]

[About an hour passed, how long exactly I'm not clear, my eyes were able to see things again. Just as I was preparing to go out, Wei Guangyuan found me again, and this time he brought a few people with him.]

[He asked me where exactly the Sacrificial Tablet was.]

[I was quite surprised. After moving the Sacrificial Tablet behind the Mountain, I never touched it at all. The Sacrificial Tablet must still be on the open space behind the Mountain.]

[However, Wei Guangyuan said he didn't find it, I didn't believe him.]

[Wei Guangyuan was very angry, and threatened me that if I didn't reveal the location of the Sacrificial Tablet, he wouldn't be polite.]

[What else could I say? I had no idea where the Sacrificial Tablet was. If I did know, it would be on the open space.]

[Wei Guangyuan and the villagers he brought with him threw my furniture out of my house. I thought, after the furniture was thrown out, they would probably hit me in the face.]

[At the same time, I was also very curious about the whereabouts of the Sacrificial Tablet, so I decided to go to the open space behind the Mountain with them.]

[The Sacrificial Tablet was gone!]

[There was no sign of the Sacrificial Tablet on the open ground, no matter how I searched, I couldn't find it.]

[Maybe it's underground? The villagers dug holes in the ground, but still found nothing.]

[Wei Guangyuan looked at me suspiciously again. No matter what I said, they wouldn't believe me, they even resorted to physical violence against me later.]

[But I simply didn't know where the Sacrificial Tablet was.]

[If I had to name a place, my intuition tells me that the Sacrificial Tablet is still on the open space behind the Mountain. It didn't leave, it's just protecting itself from being shattered in some way.]

[After nightfall, I returned home and managed to move the bed into the bedroom.]

[At night, indeed, I saw the Black Shadows. They clung to the walls, showing eerie and somber smiles, but I was not afraid.]

[The Sacrifice was already underway, and I was to become immortal.]

[I wrote these things down so that those who come after me may know what happened in Yu Xi Village and consider it a memento I left behind.]

[June 11th evening, Li Chenxi.]

After reading it, Qian Cangyi revealed an enlightened expression on his face.

Having read the notes left by Li Chenxi, most of the mysteries of Yu Xi Village have been unraveled.

However, there were two important questions left unanswered.

First, where is the Sacrificial Tablet now?

Secondly, what exactly is the Black Shadow?

From a survival perspective, the answer to the first question is obviously more important.

No one in Yu Xi Village knows where the Sacrificial Tablet is now.

An hour was simply not enough for Qian Cangyi and Hawkeye to turn the whole Yu Xi Village upside down.

Besides, the villagers of Yu Xi must've turned their homes inside out already, yet they found no clue.

In other words, the Sacrificial Tablet vanished into thin air.

"Where do you think the Sacrificial Tablet is?" Qian Cangyi wanted to know Hawkeye's opinion.

"I'm not sure where exactly, but the Sacrificial Tablet must still be in Yu Xi Village, otherwise, we wouldn't be alive." Hawkeye said, with his right hand in his pocket.

Qian Cangyi pondered for two seconds before asking:

"Since we're on this topic, I have a question, does the Hell's Movie always provide the possibility of survival?"

"What I mean is, could there ever be situations where death is inevitable?"

"Like the notion of destiny, or fate —that since the beginning we were destined to die?"

Qian Cangyi was rather concerned.

Such scenarios have been presented in many novels, comics, and films.

Once the fate is predestined from the start, no matter how twisted the process is, death is inevitable.

"Does it even matter?" Hawkeye countered.

"Hmm?" Qian Cangyi didn't quite understand.

"Does it make any difference to you? Can you resist?" Hawkeye continued.

The memory of his body being controlled appeared again in Qian Cangyi's mind. The power gap between him and the Hell's Movie was so huge that he could be completely ignored; this gap was even wider than that between the sun and mankind.

Whether the outcome was rigged or not, he couldn't resist.

This was the most despairing aspect for an actor of the Hell's Movie.

Qian Cangyi inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down.

"That being said, if we want to survive, we need to assume that the Sacrificial Tablet is still in the Yu Xi Village." As Qian Cangyi said this, his gaze shifted towards the direction behind the mountain.

"Yes." Hawkeye nodded.

"Li Chenxi believes the Sacrificial Tablet is in the open space behind the mountain. We must go and check it out, there might be new discoveries." Qian Cangyi pointed at the winding path leading into the mountains.

During the Sacrifice, the Sacrificial Tablet would be very fragile.

This was written in Li Chenxi's notebook.

Whether the actual immortal villagers told this to Li Chenxi in his dreams or it's the Sacrificial Tablet itself, Qian Cangyi didn't know, but, the warning in the dream wouldn't be false.

If the Sacrifice was still ongoing, then the Sacrificial Tablet would certainly be fragile.

The fact that the villagers of Yu Xi Village were trapped in the village must be related to the Sacrifice. Destroying the Sacrificial Tablet could end the Sacrifice and free them.

The mountain road was winding and twisting.

Soon, a circular open space the size of a basketball court appeared. The ground was scattered with paper money, candles, and tools like shovels and hammers, with uneven holes everywhere.

The scene before their eyes was completely consistent with the descriptions in Wei Guangyuan and Li Chenxi's notebooks.

Qian Cangyi walked around the open ground but didn't see any item resembling a stone tablet, let alone the Sacrificial Tablet.

If it weren't for proving items like candles, paper money, and fresh dug holes, hinting that this was indeed the open ground, Qian Cangyi might have doubted whether he came to the wrong place.

"It's really not here." Regret filled Qian Cangyi's voice.

Although the chance was small, he truly hoped for a stroke of luck—to find the Sacrificial Tablet as soon as they reached the open ground, and end this all by smashing it.

"There's more road ahead." Qian Cangyi pointed with his right index finger at the path across the ground.