Realm of the Night God

Watching the old farmer depart like a plague deity, Kuai Le shifted his gaze to the mobile phone screen. Sparse bullet comments were still floating around, but Kuai Le paid little attention to them. His focus was captivated by the increasing number of viewers in the live broadcast room.

Initially, there were only a few people in the room, but now it had grown from a handful to dozens, filling him with excitement and dissipating some of his earlier fears.

"It seems choosing this path was right. For a poor guy like me to boost my popularity, taking this route is the only way to make a breakthrough. Although the process is painful, the rewards must be astonishing!"

His spirit exploration had just begun today, and in a short time, his popularity had surged tenfold. This not only brought hope but also diminished the fear in his heart while increasing his determination.

"Hey, guys! Did you see that? The old man seemed to know something! I'm going to catch up and ask about the situation! Maybe today we'll really have some gains!"

After addressing the screen, Kuai Le hurriedly followed the departing old farmer.

Outside the earthen house, a crazy woman stood motionless at the doorway. She watched Kuai Le's retreating figure, still giggling and muttering, "Hehe... noodles... noodles... delicious... slippery..."

Kuai Le seemed to sense the crazy woman's gaze, turned to glance at her, involuntarily shivered, and quickly averted his gaze, hastening his steps to catch up with the old farmer.

"Old man! Wait for me! Wait for me!"

Since he came out to explore spirits as a broadcaster, the timing was naturally set for the evening. Kuai Le left in the afternoon, and by the time he arrived here, it was already late. The sun was setting, and darkness would soon envelop the sky.

Under the setting sun, their figures stretched long. One person walked briskly ahead as if avoiding disaster, while the other desperately pursued his dreams from behind.

Kuai Le's physique wasn't robust, but compared to the old farmer, he was clearly outmatched. Without much effort, Kuai Le caught up with the farmer who had left first.

"Old man, why did you leave without saying a word?"

The old farmer didn't answer but maintained a stern expression, adjusting the burden on his back as he walked.

In Kuai Le's view, if the old farmer remained silent, extracting useful information from him would be challenging. The first day of spirit exploration would end in failure.

Failure on the first attempt would undoubtedly have a negative impact on his popularity. Kuai Le, who already had pitifully low popularity, didn't want to see it plummet again after finally seeing improvement.

Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, today's live broadcast must end on a satisfactory note. To achieve this, he had to find a way to get the old farmer to talk. If that proved impossible, he would have to look for information from other villagers.

Although there were only a few households in this sparsely populated village, Kuai Le believed there must be more than just the old farmer and the crazy woman. If he couldn't get the old farmer to speak, he would have to change his target.

Kuai Le incessantly chattered to the old farmer, who remained silent and didn't even glance at him.

"Old man, let me carry that burden for you. It looks heavy."

The old farmer stopped suddenly, looking at Kuai Le.

The abrupt halt caught Kuai Le off guard, and he almost collided with the old farmer. However, he dared not complain and could only chuckle as he looked at the old farmer.

"Do you really want to carry it for me?" the old farmer asked.

"I'm willing! I'm more than happy to!"

Kuai Le felt a surge of joy and quickly reached out to grab the burden, attempting to take it off the old farmer's back.

The old farmer didn't resist; instead, he followed Kuai Le's lead and removed the burden.

"Wow! It's quite heavy!"

Kuai Le hoisted the burden onto his back and couldn't help but laugh.

"My home is just ahead. Follow me."

After saying this, the old farmer led the way, and Kuai Le followed closely behind.

After about ten minutes, they arrived at a house.

This house, like the one Kuai Le saw near the crazy woman, was also made of mud. However, the old farmer's house was in much better condition than the one near the crazy woman, with fewer cracks.

At the old farmer's gesture, Kuai Le put down the burden and took the small wooden stool handed to him by the old farmer. He sat down, panting.

By now, the sky had gradually darkened, and there were no barking dogs or human voices in the village, creating an eerie quietness.

In this environment, Kuai Le felt a bit uneasy, but when he looked at the mobile phone screen, he found that the popularity in the live broadcast room had increased again, reaching over a hundred viewers from the previous dozens.

In just a little over ten minutes, the audience had grown by dozens, making him very happy.

Even for some slightly popular broadcasters, a hundred people might be nothing, but for Kuai Le, it was already a significant number.

Kuai Le felt as if success was waving at him from a distance. The desire in his heart, the temptation of money, gave him considerable courage.

Gasping for breath, Kuai Le found it strange. Despite his family's poor financial situation, he had done quite a bit of farm work, and his body, though not very strong, shouldn't have been exhausted from carrying pig feed.

The burden of pig feed on the old farmer's back was much heavier than Kuai Le had imagined, making him quite tired.

Though he found it strange, Kuai Le didn't dwell on it. The sky was getting dark, and he had more important things to do. If he couldn't handle it well, today's live broadcast might end in failure, so he had no time to think about this issue.

"Old man, here, have a cigarette."

Seeing the old farmer take a small wooden stool and sit in front of him, Kuai Le quickly took out a cigarette from his pocket, gave one to the old farmer, and enthusiastically lit it for him.

"I don't understand why a young guy like you chooses to do a program like spirit exploration. Aren't you afraid of attracting something unclean?" the old farmer asked after taking a puff of the cigarette.

Kuai Le felt helpless in his heart. Of course, he was afraid. But for the sake of his goals, even if he was afraid, he had to continue.

"Old man, I have my reasons. Please be kind and tell me what you know," Kuai Le pleaded.

"Ah, I really don't know what you young people are thinking. I can tell you what I know, but some things are better left unknown. Don't investigate just out of curiosity or other motives; otherwise, you might attract things you shouldn't. You'll regret it," the old farmer warned, but Kuai Le didn't take it to heart. He nodded along with the old farmer's words.

"I know, I know. I have a sense of it. Old man, you can trust me," Kuai Le assured with full confidence.

The old farmer nodded, took another puff of the cigarette, and continued, "Speaking of strange occurrences, our village indeed has them. Do you remember the crazy woman from before?"

When the crazy woman was mentioned, Kuai Le's face showed a look of lingering fear. He chuckled and said, "How could I forget? She startled me before. I have a vivid impression of her."

"She wasn't crazy originally. However, since a trip up the mountain, she came back like this. People in our village say she attracted something unclean on the mountain."

Pointing to a mountain in front, the old farmer said, "See that mountain? At the top, there's a dilapidated temple. It's said that the temple is very eerie. The crazy woman went to that temple and became crazy after returning."

Looking in the direction the old farmer pointed, Kuai Le couldn't see the temple clearly due to the darkening sky. He could only vaguely make out the silhouette of the mountain.

"Since the incident with the crazy woman, few people in our village go up that mountain, let alone visit the dilapidated temple."

At this point, the old farmer's expression became more serious. After a pause, he continued, "Although I've already warned you, I want to remind you again. Don't mess with things you shouldn't mess with. Otherwise, you'll regret it."

The old farmer stood up and said, "It's almost dark now. I guess you haven't eaten yet. I'll make some noodles to fill your stomach."