Chapter 622: The Eve

Suddenly, three more days passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was the eve of the Sacrifice.

In the outside world, the sun set bit by bit, sinking into Xishan. There is no sun on Wangliang Mountain, but it cannot escape the passage of time. The changes in light and dark allowed the people of Wangliang Mountain to perceive the arrival of evening.

The sun of this world sinks and rises again, and the triennial Sacrifice is about to arrive.

In previous years at this time, there would be at least a hundred places on Wangliang Mountain making final preparations for the Sacrifice, with offerings and human sacrifices piled up like mountains. But this year, strange events have occurred one after another, and at this point, besides the small manors that don't even "play along" with major events like Sword Fighting, only three major locations have the spare energy to fuss over the Sacrifice.

Huanri Manor, Danyue Manor, and the Sunrise Great Camp.

Among them, those who are truly sacrificing... not a single one.

If one were to discuss which of the three still holds a shred of sincerity, it might be Danyue Manor—that is, the original Anxing Manor, nicknamed the Turtle Bandits, those people who claim to be from the Dawai Chao Imperial Court. At least they genuinely want to trade with Wangliang. Even after their headquarters was destroyed by a cannon from Wangliang, they were still willing to console themselves with the idea of a "misunderstanding," and even gathered more offerings, intending to "be polite before resorting to force" with Wangliang. Of course, they prepared even more for the "resorting to force" part.

Meanwhile, Huanri Manor has piled up the most offerings, entirely to put on a show for the remaining manor lords, letting them see with their own eyes that the Sacrifice is still being held, giving them something to hold onto.

As for the Sunrise Great Camp, they are also very busy; rather than calling it preparing for a Sacrifice, it would be better to call it a "swearing-in ceremony."

"When did the person die?"

"Tonight. He was fine this morning, but when I went to inspect again tonight, he was already stinking."

Wei Se walked out of a Prison with a gloomy face, rubbing his hands which had already been washed clean of blood; his palms seemed to still smell faintly of corpse rot.

A young man acting as a guard nearby lowered his head in shame, then said cautiously: "Do you think it could be a 'Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell' trick? He rotted so rapidly after dying for only half a day that one can barely make out his face. Could there be something fishy?"

Wei Se said: "Based on my years of experience seeing many corpses, it is undoubtedly a human corpse. If you say someone else was killed to take his place, how did the body get in, and how did the living person get out? The lock on the door is a special Rune Lock made by the Master, and the dungeon is extremely sturdy. I can only say that old fellow Wu Shayu found an opportunity to commit suicide by dissipating his lifespan; their Long Life Society has such methods. To think it would happen at a time like this... Forget it. Bury him. No, first put him in a sturdy coffin and keep it in the dungeon; be careful he doesn't fake his death and use Resurrection to escape."

His mood was very bad; it was already the final day, and the imprisoned Wu Shayu had actually died. Although this was not a major crisis, it was ultimately a failure on his part.

Truly... he wanted to achieve perfection.

After arranging the sloppy funeral affairs for Wu Shayu, he went to look at the room where the offerings were piled again.

——

"Clang—"

On the pile of colorful offerings, someone had secretly thrown two more pieces of silver.

Wei Se glanced at it and realized that the person had come cautiously and left in a panic, already gone. He found it secretly amusing: these two pieces of silver together didn't even weigh five taels; even by the prices on Wangliang Mountain, they couldn't buy a low-grade sword slave. What was the point of adding two pieces of silver to a mountain of offerings?

Didn't he see that the person who added the silver did so quietly and didn't show their face, clearly feeling it was too embarrassing to bring out and ashamed to appear?

And yet, these few pieces of gold and silver have been continuously tossed in over these past few days, at least thickening the layer of offerings. It seems that because the Sacrifice is the last hope for these manor lords who are like stray dogs, although they are generally at their wits' end and cannot bring out any real treasures, they feel uneasy if they do nothing at all. It seems as if for every bit of silver they throw in, they gain a bit more chance of victory.

Wei Se saw it, but acted as if he hadn't, and turned to the Fuhu Master in front of him: "What did you say just now?"

The Fuhu Master said: "I was saying, is it okay for us to just prepare those offerings? Isn't that too insincere? We need to prepare human sacrifices."

Wei Se said "Oh," and replied: "It's not that we lack sincerity; we are exhausting our abilities and giving all we have. Is this still called lacking sincerity? We don't have human sacrifices because we can't prepare them right now. Cows and sheep were usually bought in Yulang City, but it's too chaotic under the mountain now; I don't dare send people down to buy them, and we can't find any on the mountain, so we can't just conjure them out of thin air."

The Fuhu Master said: "What do cows and sheep count as human sacrifices? The real human sacrifice is people! Lord Wangliang wants living people. Aren't there still some people in this manor? If we don't offer human sacrifices, and our sincerity is so lacking, how will Lord Wangliang protect us?"

Wei Se frowned and said: "Fuhu Master—keep your voice down."

Having said that, he lowered his voice and said: "What if someone hears? Things like catching people to be human sacrifices can only be done quietly, right? It wouldn't be good to startle the person themselves. Among these guests in the manor, who do you think would be better to catch to please Lord Wangliang? Is it better to be a bit younger? How about the Spring Sleep Master? Or I see a slave trader who is plump and sturdy..."

The Fuhu Master was stunned for a moment and shouted: "Huanri Master, what nonsense are you spouting? Everyone is a slave owner, how can we be used as human sacrifices? I see you still have some sword slaves in your manor..."

Wei Se's face darkened and he said: "Fuhu Master, what you're saying makes no sense. How many people are left in my manor? I can't even count them on two hands; that's all the foundation I have left. I've bled for everyone, spent countless wealth, and could be said to have covered the majority of the offerings, yet I still have to provide the human sacrifices? One shouldn't bully people too much. Besides, sword slaves are second-hand goods that have already been sacrificed; what kind of precious human sacrifice is that? How is offering them any different from previous years? How does that show sincerity? If you ask me, human sacrifices have never been offered from among the slave owners in previous years; only by offering one this year can we make Lord Wangliang's eyes light up."

He smiled and said: "Everyone understands this logic, but no one has brought it up. Since you, Fuhu Master, have brought it up, let's ask for opinions. I believe there will always be someone who considers the big picture and is willing to make a sacrifice."

"Otherwise... shall we take a vote?"

The Fuhu Master's hair stood on end, and he hurriedly said: "How can that be done? It will lead to a great riot!"

Wei Se said: "The Fuhu Master is still the one who considers things thoroughly. You're afraid that everyone will be too enthusiastic and eager, and that it will become chaotic because everyone is competing to be first, right? Then let's skip the voting and choose the human sacrifice directly."

He smiled slightly, a smile that made the Fuhu Master shiver, and reached out to pat his shoulder, saying: "In your opinion, who would be better to choose?"

"Sir, choose me!"

A young boy said loudly.

The young man he blocked glanced at him and said: "You? Get lost. What business is it of yours?"

The boy looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, firmly grabbing the young man's sleeve, and said earnestly: "I saw it. The camp is selecting a suicide squad to impersonate human sacrifices and infiltrate the Altar. I think I am qualified."

The young man pushed him away dismissively; there was a huge disparity in strength between the two, and he easily pulled his sleeve out, then grabbed the boy's wrist with his backhand and said: "Don't make trouble, kid. You should have left with the last batch of children yesterday; I don't know where you hid to slip through. Fortunately, there is still one bus today for the unrelated sick and weak to evacuate; I'll take you there!"

As he spoke, he picked up the boy and walked away.

The boy struggled and shouted: "Wait, wait, there is a great advantage in choosing me. I have strengths that others don't. Let me tell you!"

The young man laughed in spite of himself: "How old are you to be acting as a lobbyist? It reminds me of my junior brother; he was also full of arguments at a young age, having to explain everything with one, two, three, four, five, as if he were more reasonable than the adults. Fine, tell me, I'm listening."

The boy breathed a sigh of relief and said sternly: "My biggest advantage is that I don't attract attention. I don't know if you all are choosing human sacrifices just to cover your tracks or to fight. If it's the former, I have a great advantage. Think about it, ordinary human sacrifices are mainly sword slaves, which is to say, people like me—all children who aren't very old. Wangliang has long been accustomed to sword slave sacrifices; seeing me, they will think you are the same force as before and will surely be able to let their guard down. That way, the goal will be achieved."

The young man listened with a smile; he wasn't moved, just thought it was interesting that such a small person had such big ideas.

The boy continued: "My second advantage is that I am more determined than anyone else."

"Actually, when the suicide squad was being selected, some people didn't say it to their faces, but they were actually afraid to go. They worried that the suicide squad was really just being sent to die, that they were pawns in a layout. They might die as soon as they entered, so they didn't dare to go, or even if they did, they might ruin things because of fear. But I'm not afraid, and I don't doubt you."

"I know how worthless human life is on Wangliang Mountain. If you treated human life like grass, you could just catch, buy, or rob people—how many wouldn't you have? But you let everyone sign up themselves; this is valuing human life, and it is also trusting us. Since that is the case, why worry so much?"

"Moreover, if I go to act as a human sacrifice, even if I really fall into danger, I have the resolve to sacrifice myself. I know we are facing a very powerful enemy, an enemy that requires us to fight with our lives to defeat. Since everyone is fighting with their lives, it is normal for me to do the same. Everyone is fighting on the battlefield, and for me to go to the Altar is also going to the battlefield."

"I can even say that since you liberated me from the sword slaves, I have been hoping to fight alongside you. I still remember that day in that large tent, you let us sword slaves walk in batch by batch. I entered the tent, lay on that special bed, and you told me to close my eyes and sleep, and it would be fine. I was really restless at the time, afraid that if I fell asleep, I would never wake up again."

"Until I woke up again, it was like I had been reborn. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw you. Mr. Jiang! I saw the Sunlight outside the tent spilling onto you, and you were as brilliant and bright as the sun. I decided right then that I must become someone like you."

The Mr. Jiang in front of him, hearing the description of "sun," raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled.

"So I am willing to act as a sacrifice for the ritual and do my meager part. Although I can't help much, I would be honored to fight side by side with you. Even if I die in the end, I will have fought."

He spoke with sincerity and looked at Mr. Jiang with anticipation, only to find that although this Mr. Jiang looked very happy, he still had no intention of agreeing.

The boy gritted his teeth and continued to state the pros and cons: "I have one more advantage. That is, I am not a waste! Facing a powerful enemy, every Sword Guest is an important combat force and shouldn't be wasted on the Altar. And even if something happens to me, there is no loss..."

Mr. Jiang had been listening with a smile, but upon hearing this, he stopped smiling, waved his hand, and said: "Alright, that's enough. You already know I can't let you go. And, you've already stated the reason."

The boy said anxiously: "What reason?"

Mr. Jiang said: "You said it yourself, Sword Guests are all combat forces, so do you know what you are?"

The boy said, "I... I am a sword slave..."

Jiang Shenyi leaned forward slightly, his gaze level with the boy's, and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying, "You are hope."

The boy was stunned and whispered, "Hope..."

Jiang Shenyi said, "Hope is the reason we people fight. We are not afraid even if we die in battle because we know that hope always lies in tomorrow. We fight today, and you prepare to follow in our footsteps tomorrow. So, you cannot fight today, so that you may fight better tomorrow! The world is in a bad state now; sooner or later, you will also go to the battlefield."

The boy asked anxiously, "Then when will I be able to fight?"

Jiang Shenyi asked, "How old are you?"

The boy said, "I am twelve."

Jiang Shenyi smiled again and said, "Another coincidental age. My junior martial brother was also twelve when he first came to our villa. Now he is seventeen and can already command a campaign; he is a remarkable big shot. Then I will make a pact with you: when five years have passed and you are also seventeen, come fight side by side with me! I keep my word. I have remembered your name, Xie Qingpeng."

Pale Moon Villa.

"Pillar of State Qiu, you have finally come! Ah, this... why have you come as well..."