Chapter 75: Blood Moon Ritual

When she saw the starved woman being carried down, she completely broke down—this was murder, damn feudal superstition.

"Sister A Qing, Sister A Qing..."

Axi ran over to shake A Qing, and Nan Qinghuan quickly stepped forward to look at her. A Qing looked about fourteen, as thin and frail as she was. Seeing A Qing's face, she shook her head helplessly. "Stop calling her, A Qing is dead."

"Sister A Qing..."

Axi threw herself onto A Qing's body and wept. Nan Qinghuan's heart ached terribly. She had never seen anyone starve to death before; seeing it for real now completely overturned her understanding.

Starved to death alive.

The thought of that old witch coming to drag her to the treehouse for quarantine made her heart race with fury. "Axi, stop crying. If we hadn't come, they would have been starved to death too. Come on, take them back to eat something and use sanitary pads. I'm going to settle this once and for all. A Qing can't have died for nothing."

Axi suddenly looked up at Nan Qinghuan and wiped her tears. "Qinghuan, where are you going? You can't do anything reckless."

"Reckless? I'm going to liberate all the women of the tribe and make that old witch get the punishment she deserves."

Dropping these words, Nan Qinghuan turned and quickly left. Axi was terrified and immediately ran after her. "Qinghuan, come back, you can't go, you can't go!"

A massive blood moon hung high in the sky, dyeing the forest red. Amidst the gloomy thickets, a moon-worship ceremony was underway. Beside the blazing bonfire, A Yu, the High Priest, wore a beast-skin skirt, followed by several tribe members participating in the ritual. A Yu wore a tall tasseled hat adorned with two peacock feathers. In her left hand she held a bronze drum, beating it incessantly while murmuring what seemed to be some incantation. Atop the towering sacrificial altar stood a blood fox, standing upright on the altar with its jaws wide open, its sharp eyes gazing at the night sky.

A Yu had someone cut the throat of a live wild boar and let its blood flow into the fox's mouth. A strange sight occurred—the fresh blood went straight into the fox's mouth and was not spat back out, yet the blood moon remained unchanged in color.

The tribe members knelt beneath the sacrificial altar, watching the red moon in terror.

After the wild boar's blood was swallowed by the fox, A Yu shook her head. "It's no use. Ying, you saw it—we must use the Plague God's blood as sacrifice to make the blood moon fade. Tribespeople, you've all seen it: the wild boar's blood cannot make the blood moon disappear. Only the Plague God's blood can make heaven forgive us."

The tribe members kneeling on the ground did not want Nan Qinghuan to die. "High Priest, Om is not the Plague God, she is the Goddess! She made precious salt tonight—we'll have plenty of strength once we eat it. She also helped us build a bridge and make sauce, and even made wine. She is not the Plague God, High Priest."

Shiva, hearing this, was far from pleased. She stepped forward and said solemnly, "That female is the Plague God. This old woman's divination of the celestial signs is never wrong. Ying, you can't bear to part with that female—do you want this blood moon to last forever?"

Everyone looked at Ying. Ying swept his gaze over the crowd and raised the scepter in his hand. "Qinghuan is not the Plague God. A Yu, I will not hand her over to you."

Hearing that Ying refused to hand over that female, A Yu's expression turned extremely ugly. She incited the tribe members, "Tribespeople, look at Ying—he wants to protect even the Plague God. He is no longer fit to be the Clan Leader of the tribe."

"A Yu, how dare you!"

Ying suddenly stepped forward and grabbed A Yu by the neck, then effortlessly lifted her up. A Yu was terrified and struggled ceaselessly, while the people beside him quickly stepped forward to dissuade Ying.

Dashan hurriedly said, "Ying, put her down, she's the High Priest!"

"Whoever tries to take Huaner's life, I kill."

After saying this, he gave a light fling, and A Yu was ruthlessly tossed to the ground. Shiva trembled uncontrollably at the sight. "The tribe is doomed—Ying struck the High Priest—the tribe is doomed! Heavenly God, please look upon our tribe!"

Shiva suddenly led the people to kneel down, then mumbled incomprehensibly, not knowing what she was chanting. Seeing this, A Yu also understood—Ying was unwilling to offer that white-skinned female for the ritual.

"Ying, you've forced my hand. Strongman!"

As soon as these words fell, a giant over three meters tall walked out from the thicket. The giant walked unsteadily, with a ferocious and menacing appearance.

A Yu ordered the strongman, "Go bring that Plague God here."

"Yes, High Priest."

The big fellow was the tribe's strongman, named Huo. Just as he was about to go capture Nan Qinghuan, Ying suddenly stepped forward. "Stop, you're not allowed to go."

Seeing Ying, Huo immediately hung his head. "Clan Leader, this is the High Priest's order."

"Who is the Clan Leader of this Ying Tribe?"

Huo was in a difficult position. Ying swept a glance at A Yu. "A Yu, I'll say it once more—Nan Qinghuan is not the Plague God, she is the tribe's Goddess. If you keep causing trouble for her, I, Ying..."

A Yu never expected Ying to protect that white-skinned female to this extent. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. "You want to kill me, the High Priest? Ying, don't forget—the High Priest's divine office is even higher than your Clan Leader's. You..."

"Such big talk—bullshit High Priest."

Suddenly, a clear female voice came from behind. Everyone turned to look and saw... beneath the red moon, Nan Qinghuan in a white dress, ethereal as an immortal, slowly emerging from the thicket. With her arrival, something on her body seemed to be flowing and glowing.

Everyone was stunned by her current appearance. The female had a head of long black hair cascading to her waist, and astonishing white light radiated from her body, flowing gently as she walked.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

"That's..."

Youchao Xuan, seeing the white light on her body, suddenly stepped forward and dropped to his knees with a thud. "It's Divine Light! High Priest, you cannot kill the Goddess!"

"Goddess?"

High Priest A Yu, seeing Nan Qinghuan's body glowing, was also dumbfounded. How could this be—how could she be the Goddess? "Huaner?"

Ying quickly stepped forward to her side. He too was shocked by the light on her body. "Why did you come? Didn't I tell you to stay in the cave?"

"Ying, I'm fine. Tribespeople, all of you get up. The appearance of this blood moon is no great disaster—it's just an ordinary astronomical phenomenon. I've calculated the time: tonight at the hour of Zi, at the mountain peak, this blood moon will disappear."

As soon as these words came out, the tribe members instantly rose to their feet, because everything Nan Qinghuan had said before had come true, so they believed her words.

"Om says this blood moon is no great disaster, High Priest."

"What does she know? She's the Plague God, how could she possibly..."

"That's enough, A Yu. What Plague God? I think you're the Plague God. Since you want to use blood to sacrifice to this blood moon, fine—you're the High Priest, so you go first. When this blood moon disappears, that's when you stop the ritual. How about it?"

"How dare you! You'd make me perform the ritual? I am the High Priest, I..."

"What about you—bullshit High Priest. Tribespeople, you've all been deceived by A Yu. This fox has been dead for so long—no matter whose blood you use, this blood moon won't disappear now. If you don't believe me, then let the High Priest try."

With that said, she turned to look at Youchao Xuan. "Bring me the fruit knife I just sharpened."

Youchao Xuan instantly understood what she intended to do. "Yes, Goddess."

Soon, a gleaming steel knife was handed to Nan Qinghuan. Nan Qinghuan looked at the crowd, then finally turned to A Yu. "Since you're the High Priest, naturally you should begin the ritual first. Ying, what do you say?"

Ying naturally knew what she wanted to do. He turned to look at A Yu. "A Yu, what are you waiting for?"

A Yu stared at Ying with wide eyes. "Ying, you're crazy! I'm the High Priest—how could you use me for the ritual? The Heavenly God will never forgive you, never forgive!"

"Enough, A Yu. You still want to use the Heavenly God to harm people? How do you know the Heavenly God will be angry if you don't perform the ritual?"

"You..."

A Yu never expected this female to be so vicious. "I won't go! I'm the High Priest, I won't go!"

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