Famine 70: Rescue
by Cristae[Will you have a smile?]
For a mass of vapor, this question was an almost outrageously pointed challenge.
For a moment, Si Zhiyan wasn’t sure how he ought to respond.
—Comply? Show respect? Resist?
He froze, watching the doll with utmost caution.
The puppet’s askew body quivered, black hair swirling in the boiling water, her smile stretching wider and wider, threatening to split her whole head apart.
[Are you you you you you satisfied satisfied satisfied?]
Her mouth gaped wide, her whole body trembling, as if—should Si Zhiyan give a negative answer—she would erupt into violence.
Yet, as a phantom projection, he wasn’t truly able to smile. Only by condensing the surrounding gas into a semi-solid form, shielding himself from the heat, then simulating a smile within that translucent mass, could he approximate the gesture.
Si Zhiyan only hesitated for half a second when the puppet abruptly lunged forward, filling his entire field of vision.
[Can you you you you smile smile smile smile smile smile…]
The words pitched higher and higher, shrilling like a broken radio. Even the water in the pool vibrated.
Si Zhiyan realized instantly—this entity’s patience was limited. He had very little time left.
He had to act fast and show a smile, at least enough to placate her. As long as she relaxed—even a little—he could grab the terrain bait and leave. With the blood array broken, whatever miko or deity this was, there’d be no more entanglement and nothing else here need concern him.
The logic was sound, but it didn’t feel quite right.
No. Floating among the corpses, Si Zhiyan stilled himself, thinking deeper.
What did he know? This was a hot spring inn.
The front desk was underwater, and behind the desk should stand an owner—if this wooden doll could be called an owner.
The spa’s décor was elegant, clearly a service venue, every detail geared toward the best possible guest experience.
At the same time, it was a sacrificial blood array.
Everyone within would be offered to the Heaven’s Vein.
The “owner” was a miko-dressed doll.
And the miko was craving a grand smile.
She was asking—were you satisfied?
Si Zhiyan suddenly recalled what Zhong Yanqing had said:
[The reverence for Heaven’s Vein means that, when things are as they should be, the sacrifices ought to come willingly, even with pride.]
If sacrifice to the gods was seen as an honorable thing, why turn the ritual into something so dark and gruesome?
Combine both facets, and one answer beckoned…
“This is… an end-of-life hospice.”
Back at the farm, Si Zhiyan exhaled slowly.
“This hot spring was designed from the start, specifically for the sacrifices!”
With that, a vivid scene played out in his mind:
Those chosen for sacrifice, proud of their fate, had said their farewells to loved ones, crossed the icy wilds, and come to these springs.
They entered the steaming baths, purifying themselves in the waters. The array began to leech away their vitality, making them hungry so they could indulge in food and drink, relishing their final days.
It also let them acclimate to the rising temperature of the pools.
At last, with a genuine smile, they would step into the boiling water.
The miko presiding over the ritual stood waiting in the scalding pool, greeting each guest with a tender, radiant smile.
[Lord, did you enjoy my service?]
[Lord, are you satisfied?]
[Lord, congratulations on fullness. I will now offer you… to Heaven’s Vein.]
Whoosh!
In the corner of his vision, Si Zhiyan saw a corpse float by, a huge satisfied grin stretching cheek to cheek.
In the endless stream, there was no rot, no blood, just a single contented smile.
To smile meant to be satisfied—to be ready to become a sacrificial gift.
—And once you smiled, the miko would attack!
Decisively, Si Zhiyan moved forward a sliver, molding within his phantom form a face of glistening tears and sorrow.
The vapor vibrated, reproducing a near-human voice.
“I… I can’t smile yet…
I’m not ready… I haven’t accepted it yet…”
CRACK!!
The miko puppet’s head split in two beneath that smile.
She squirmed, both halves contorting at unnatural angles before snapping back together.
[So so so so so regrettable…]
Her rage slowly abated.
]
[I will wait…]
Click.
Her head drooped sideways, motionless.
Just as expected!
Si Zhiyan breathed out.
Zhong Yanqing’s deduction was correct.
The array was meant for voluntary sacrifice—Heaven’s Vein, the goddess and miko, would never force the offerings.
If someone wasn’t ready, they’d simply wait. When you were prepared, you’d return.
Or, when time ran out, you’d merge passively into the array, and that was that.
The miko’s head bowed, black hair swirling beneath the surface, cradling a gold flower in her hands, face still twisted in that radiant, uncanny smile.
Gently, Si Zhiyan extended a vaporous wisp toward the yellow flower.
The icefield spring’s blossom was golden as in the forest, and the moment he touched it, it dissolved.
It seeped into his phantom avatar, and in the murky water, little golden flowers bloomed within the drifting mist.
[Ding! [Terrain Bait—Hot Spring] acquired.]
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!
The whole cave began to shake, the water heaving in tumultuous waves.
At the farm, Si Zhiyan heard—through his headset—Zhong Yanqing’s joyous shouts: “It’s gone! The blood array’s wall is gone!”
Liang Qingshuang’s voice echoed in the cave: “Really! We’re free! Cyclops! Hey!”
Outside, the sound of weapons and chaos mixed with cheers, gratitude, and excited chatter filled the cavern.
After all this time, the Spring Grass Mercenary Company was finally saved!
Before Si Zhiyan could even catch his breath, the shrine maiden’s puppet emitted a hoarse, disbelieving cry.
[Ah…]
[Ah ah ah…]
[Ah… ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah—!!]
In an instant, the smile on the puppet’s face warped into an enormous, spiraling vortex—eyes, ears, mouth, and nose all jumbled into a horrifying, unrecognizable cry.
Before Si Zhiyan, every corpse’s face twisted, and all the dead began to wail.
The miko’s voice rose to a pain-piercing shriek: [Smile’s gone gone gone… smile… smile… vanishing…]
BOOM!
She and the whole riverbed quaked; a storm of rotting corpses swirled up from below.
Countless bloodless, hollow corpses, mixed with the puppet’s disjointed limbs, surged toward Si Zhiyan.
It was clear—even without thinking—what Si Zhiyan had to do now: run.
If he could just escape the boiling river and get out of the cave, he’d be safe.
But as he stared at her, a wild idea struck him.
His heart pounded, running every aspect of the plan through his mind for feasibility—
The miko could react to facial expression—she was able to communicate.
She received his non-committal, not her desired answer, but didn’t attack—displaying some reasoning and logic.
She’d gone mad because the sacrifices had escaped—meaning the mercenaries were already gone.
Even if he failed, the worst outcome would be losing a phantom projection—a cost he could accept.
Fine! No problem!
Swoosh!
The phantom avatar shot toward the surface.
Luckily, there were no people left in the area—but the pursuit was far from over.
Sulfurous boiling water surged up, spiraling into a giant tornado, scalding and swirling, nearly filling the entire cavern.
The smiling corpses, like puppets on strings, bowed their heads, stepping forward in waves.
Shrouded in mist, Si Zhiyan didn’t dodge—he faced the boiling tornado, slowly coalescing into physical form, floating in midair.
Facing the puppet at the center of the storm, he said, “You need smiles?”
“I can bring them to you.”
Clack.
The tornado halted. The corpse tide stopped as well.
She understood.
“There’s no need to get worked up, miko.”
His familiar composure returned.
Hidden in the fog, Si Zhiyan spoke each word, unhurried and clear.
“I have no wish to be your sacrifice, and you haven’t forced me.
I’ve fed these people, stopped the array—and you did not grow angry.”
“The only thing that makes you furious is that I can’t produce a smile, and that I’m leaving with everyone else.”
“That means, in fact, you aren’t directly in charge of the array’s sacrificial offerings, am I right?”
“Your job is simply to draw more smiles here.”
Whoosh…
The boiling tornado collapsed, water cascading back into the scalding river.
A soggy half of the puppet’s head slowly rose to the surface.
The miko puppet.
On her face was a stylized, demure Japanese smile, her head cocked a touch to the side.
The expression seemed to ask: So, what now?
“I know you’re angry,” Si Zhiyan said quietly from within the mist. “Out here on the empty icefield, you worked so hard just to gather these guests. And now—everyone’s gone.”
From within the clouds, his voice was measured and soft:
“But it doesn’t matter.”
“As long as you are willing to cooperate with me, I can bring you countless smiles. Much, much more than those handfuls you had before.”
The miko studied him.
As expected. She required genuine intent.
Si Zhiyan met the puppet’s gaze, and very, very slowly, lifted the corners of his mouth.
—He stood before the death-bringing miko, offering a hesitant, clumsy smile.
Hum!
Countless fine threads whipped out through the water, a net of fate instantly enclosing him.
Nearly invisible, each strand possessed the strength to slice stone.
“Fair exchange. Mutual benefit.”
“This is my deposit.”
Si Zhiyan didn’t move a muscle, his mouth faintly upturned, hovering motionless in the air as if the lethal web didn’t exist.
“Please, trust that I can achieve an outcome satisfying to us both.”
For a long moment, the miko’s puppet face, submerged, showed no change.
At last, her damaged voice whispered:
[What do you… require?]
Suspended in the heart of the fatal web, Si Zhiyan slowly extended his hand to her:
“I need you to do just two things for me.”
“First, seven days from now, I will face a great calamity. If I am not here, there’s nothing further to discuss. But if I am—defend me.”
“Second, this inn and its hot springs… I’d like you to leave them in my care.”