Chapter 194: The Prophecy from Twenty Years Ago

"You haven't answered my question yet," Ye Lin reminded him.

"This is Bajin City. As for the rest... I don't know," the boy shook his head.

"You don't know what Class-Changers and monsters are?" Ye Lin was surprised.

The boy continued to shake his head.

"Then what is this 'quota' you speak of? Why were they so excited when they heard I was sick?" Ye Lin pressed.

"Great-Grandpa says the people of Bajin City are livestock kept in captivity. Every year, one hundred thousand people must be sent to the sacrificial altar to avoid the city being slaughtered. Those one hundred thousand are the quota. Sick people are sacrificed first; once the quota is met, the others don't have to die," the boy explained numbly.

Ye Lin's heart skipped a beat. This matched his guess perfectly.

Having no power to protect themselves yet surviving in a place filled with monsters—the only explanation was that these humans were livestock and rations kept by the Demon Clan.

"You're here to save us, right?" Light flickered in the boy's eyes. "Great-Grandpa said someone from the outside would come to save everyone in Bajin City!"

"You're mistaken. I'm just passing through," Ye Lin said coldly.

"Impossible! Great-Grandpa's words cannot be wrong. Come with me to see Great-Grandpa. Great-Grandpa will surely..."

The boy wanted to say more, but Ye Lin chopped the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious, and tossed him into a corner.

If he chose not to help, nothing would happen to him; but if he chose to help, there was no telling what trouble he might invite.

When prosperous, one helps the world; when poor, one tends to one's own virtue.

Keeping humans as livestock was not something ordinary monsters could do. There was definitely a Demon Clan presence behind Bajin City. With the enemy's strength unknown, Ye Lin did not want to invite disaster.

He would just focus on grinding levels and leave once the Weeping Soul Realm closed.

Ye Lin put his hat and mask back on and turned to leave Bajin City. On his way out, he passed a towering stone platform—this must be the "sacrificial altar" the boy spoke of.

The stone platform was engraved with ancient, mysterious runes, flickering with a dark, eerie light. The massive platform felt like a giant beast devouring all life around it.

When the numb crowd saw the platform, they would show expressions of fear and quickly move away.

Yet at this moment, a little girl carrying a crude woven cloth bag was picking something up beneath the platform.

Ye Lin looked closely and realized the little girl was picking up pieces of meat.

The meat looked very strange, as if the blood had been drained and it had been dried by high heat—shriveled and dry, like aged, cured meat.

The little girl's face was dirty, but her round eyes were bright and pure.

One piece...

Two pieces...

Three pieces...

She was like a diligent little bee, picking up the scraps of meat from the rubble one by one, not stopping even as sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Is this your food?" Ye Lin couldn't help but ask.

The little girl looked up at Ye Lin and shook her head.

"No, this is my daddy."

After saying this, the little girl ignored Ye Lin and lowered her head to continue picking up the meat scraps under the platform.

Ye Lin fell silent. It felt as if an electric current was passing through his body, and he couldn't stop the numbness.

Without a word, he squatted down and joined the little girl in searching for meat scraps among the rubble.

The two figures, one large and one small, said nothing more, quietly busy beneath the stone platform.

Time ticked away.

By now, the crowd in Bajin City began to gather toward this spot.

Leading them was an old man with white hair, leaning on a cane.

The old man's face was covered in age spots, and his skin was shriveled and sagging, like an orange peel left in the fridge for a month.

The boy Ye Lin had knocked out was now following behind the old man.

After the crowd gathered, no one spoke. They stood there, quietly watching Ye Lin help the little girl pick up the meat scraps.

However, the numb expressions on their faces showed a subtle change, and a glimmer of light called hope appeared in their hollow, dull pupils.

Ye Lin picked up a small bag of meat scraps and handed it to the little girl.

"Thank you."

The little girl reached out with chubby hands, took it, and carefully placed it into her crude cloth bag.

Ye Lin patted the little girl's head, his face unreadable.

"What is your name?" Ye Lin asked.

"My name is Bai Siyou."

There was no fear or sadness on her face, only an indescribable sense of numbness.

Thump!

The white-haired old man knelt on the ground, his knees hitting the gravel hard.

Immediately after, the dense crowd behind him also knelt like a tide.

"Please, save Bajin City," the white-haired old man said, trembling.

"Please, save Bajin City!"

The crowd behind the old man let out hysterical cries, countless gazes filled with hope fixed on Ye Lin.

Ye Lin looked at these people and asked calmly.

"Why do you think I can save you?"

The white-haired old man looked at Ye Lin and explained.

"Because of a prophecy."

"You are not the first outsider to come to Bajin City. Twenty years ago, another outsider appeared here."

"He left us a prophecy: only when everything in the prophecy is fulfilled can the people of Bajin City welcome true freedom."

"And you are a part of the prophecy!"

The white-haired old man looked at Ye Lin excitedly.

"The stone tablet engraved with the prophecy is still in the city. Please, come with me!"

Ye Lin narrowed his eyes and moved to follow the old man.

At first, he hadn't intended to get involved in Bajin City's affairs, but upon seeing Bai Siyou, Ye Lin suddenly changed his mind.

When that little girl numbly picked up the meat scraps and calmly said, "This is my daddy,"

Ye Lin realized that perhaps he should do something.

The old man led Ye Lin to a somewhat dilapidated courtyard in Bajin City, the original white walls now covered in dark green moss.

The old man pushed open the courtyard gate. As he turned a stone pillar behind the gate, a long underground passage appeared before Ye Lin, and a smell of decay rushed toward him.

Ye Lin walked to the end of the passage, and before him stood a stone tablet engraved with the prophecy the old man had spoken of.

"Twenty years after I leave, someone will come from afar. Evil will ravage Bajin City, and blood will stain everything red. When sunlight shines upon this city, the guardian deity of Bajin City will awaken from its origin..."

Ye Lin stepped forward, reached out, and gently traced the characters on the tablet. His breathing gradually quickened!

Because he recognized this handwriting! ===== CHAPTER 195 =====