Chapter 46: I Feel Worse Than Yuan Shen

Outside the Sacred Maiden Valley.

Wu Wang and Wu Xiaoyou were walking back toward the village.

For the first half of the journey, the two remained silent.

Especially Wu Xiaoyou.

After witnessing the horrors shown by the Sacred Maiden ghosts, she harbored utter malice toward the entire village—especially when she thought of the old village chief’s wrinkled face, which grinned like a Shar-Pei, making her feel nauseous.

“That… why did the chief treat the Sacred Maidens this way? There’s no need to torture them before sacrifice, is there?”

Wu Xiaoyou couldn’t hold back and asked halfway through.

According to her knowledge, the Yin Yuan Great Sacrifice only required offering the Sacred Maiden’s heart to the Yin Yuan Great God.

The prior torment was entirely the chief’s personal cruelty.

“Because the current state cannot fill the chasm of his desires, he can only soothe his twisted soul through others’ suffering,” Wu Wang replied without expression.

He knew perfectly well why.

That old bastard had no balls!

He’d effectively been a eunuch for two hundred years; every year when a new Sacred Maiden was chosen, he could have freely abused her before the sacrifice—but he had no tools to commit the act.

So he could only satisfy his long-suppressed twisted soul by inflicting torture-like physical pain and watching her scream herself hoarse.

“Dead pervert…”

Hearing the muttered curse beside him, Wu Wang smiled faintly and comforted her: “Don’t worry—he’ll truly be a ‘dead’ pervert soon. I promise.”

Saying this, he suddenly bent down.

He pulled out some strange-looking object from his pocket, dug a small hole, and buried it.

Wu Xiaoyou was no longer surprised.

In fact, on their way down the mountain last night, he’d buried a dozen or so of these things along the path; she’d asked curiously what they were.

All she got was his cryptic reply: “These are the magical tools we’ll need later.”

She’d stopped asking after that.

Not long after, they returned to Yin Yuan Village.

The old village chief had been waiting for them at the ancestral hall.

He wanted to hear the madman explain what he meant by “sacrificing oneself.”

There was already a ready-made Sacred Maiden right here!

But the moment he opened his mouth, he was met with a loud accusation.

“What’s the point of sacrificing the Sacred Maiden? It’s just repeating the same suffering from the past two hundred years. What you’re supposed to do this time is replace the Yin Yuan Great God! Can’t you think bigger?” Wu Wang’s tone was resolute.

“Bigger… thinking?” The old village chief was confused.

Wu Wang, who hadn’t even had a drink since coming down the mountain, spoke passionately: “He’s up in the heavens! You’re stuck on the ground—you can never replace Him unless we find a way to pull Him down! The Sacred Maiden can’t do it—but I can!”

“You saw it yesterday—I have a way to escape even certain death.”

“Imagine: if the offering slips away from the Yin Yuan Great God’s own hands, won’t He rage? Won’t He come down to exterminate everyone? Wouldn’t that let you use His presence’s aura to replace Him?”

The old bastard, who hadn’t left the village in two hundred years, didn’t know what PUA was.

But he felt his heart racing, a surge of blood rushing to his head!

That’s right! It makes perfect sense!

If the Yin Yuan Great God doesn’t come down, how can I replace Him?

He’d seen the madman’s abilities yesterday—pierced by bone spikes, drained of life by curses—and yet still showed up alive and kicking at the village banquet to cause chaos.

“But… how can you be the offering?” The old chief hadn’t lost all reason despite his excitement.

He remembered trying over a hundred years ago: only women born in Yin year, Yin month, Yin day, Yin hour could become offerings.

The Yin Yuan Great God simply wouldn’t accept anyone else.

The original Zhang San was the only exception—he was not only the Sacred Maiden’s child, but also born at the correct hour.

Even so, his role was only to prevent the Yin Yuan Great God from becoming angry.

The usual blessings never appeared.

“I have this! Look.”

Saying this, Wu Wang rolled up his sleeve and showed the old chief his red vertical pupil.

He subtly shifted his body to block Wu Xiaoyou’s view, so she wouldn’t see the Yuan God Mark.

This thing’s spiritual corruption wasn’t something an ordinary person could endure—but the old bastard had been exposed to the aura’s pollution for thirty years, just like Principal Wang, so one glance shouldn’t hurt.

“Hum—”

Even so, the old chief felt his skull about to explode.

He immediately turned his gaze away.

But he noticed Wu Wang’s figure and appearance had now become that of the little madman—even he couldn’t detect any difference, and Wu Wang now even possessed the “Yin Yuan” birth conditions.

“Brilliant! Truly brilliant!” The old chief gave a thumbs-up, then sheepishly asked: “Then… how do I absorb that being’s aura?”

Wu Wang gave a mysterious smile.

He reached into his crotch and pulled out a strange ring.

“This is the ‘Stretch Legs and Stare Eyes Pill’… no, wrong channel—this is a mysterious ring I happened upon; it once housed an old man who could forge pills and emit white cold fire.”

Wu Wang handed it over.

He continued: “Unfortunately, that old man was rescued by some guy surnamed Xiao, leaving only this storage ring—it can absorb that being’s aura.”

It was a pure white ring.

This was the access ring Principal Wang had given Teacher Yao for his investigation in “Skipping School Dragon.”

When Wu Wang left the office, he’d actually stolen it using “Shadow Duel Technique.”

He’d only kept it as a habit, like carrying a recorder as a backup.

He never expected it could be taken out of the dungeon.

This was the very ring Principal Wang had used to store Yuan God aura—perfect for conning the old chief.

“This… this divine artifact…” The old chief, upon receiving it, became incoherent with excitement.

Wu Xiaoyou asked curiously with a strange expression: “Why is it called a storage ring?”

She was a modern person who knew this meme!

Wu Wang paused for two seconds, then said:

“Maybe because it goes ‘Nan nan nan.’”

Old chief: “?”

Wu Xiaoyou: “?”

What the hell are you playing at?!

Though hesitant, the old chief could indeed feel the ring’s extraordinary nature—especially after putting it on, the dizziness from staring at the red vertical pupil had lessened significantly.

This ring really worked!

“By the way, must the sacrifice wait until the night after next?” Wu Wang asked curiously.

The old chief shook his head: “No, actually, the sacrifice can happen anytime within these three days—even right now.”

“Then why do you always wait until the last day? Why make such a big fuss the first two days?”

The old chief shrugged: “It just feels more ceremonial. The villagers believe in this—otherwise, how can we show the greatness of the Yin Yuan Great God? They need to convince themselves.”

“Oh, feudal superstition…”

Wu Wang’s voice grew colder and lower.

He hated this kind of fraud.

It seemed the path to promoting “science, debunking superstition” was still long.

“Then let’s go to the ancestral hall now, before anything else happens,” Wu Wang suggested.

The old chief thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

He didn’t want to wait another second!

Freedom… the long-desired freedom!

The three moved toward the ancestral hall.

The old chief carefully removed the human skins and locked them in a box, then took a plate from before the altar and handed it to Wu Wang.

Wu Wang frowned: “Does the sacrifice really require placing the heart on this plate?”

He suddenly realized—he couldn’t do it.

If he removed his heart, he’d immediately revive, and the heart on the plate would vanish and return to his body.

For his question,

the old chief was now utterly forthcoming.

He immediately explained: “Oh, no, you don’t need to place the heart on it—just stab this dagger into your heart, and you’ll see the Yin Yuan Great God. He’ll draw out your soul. Placing it on the plate? That’s just my fabricated ritual.”

Saying this, he handed over a dagger stained with countless bloodstains, never cleaned, its entire surface dark red.

The moment it was drawn, Wu Xiaoyou felt the wailing of the Sacred Maidens echoing from the blade.

Her fists clenched involuntarily.

“OK, no problem then.”

“Do you need me to help…”

*Plop—*

Before the old chief could finish speaking.

He had already seen the other person twist the dagger backward and plunge it deep into the heart, so forceful that only the hilt remained outside the body.

Even the old village chief, who had killed countless people, felt a shiver in his chest.

Someone could really be this ruthless toward themselves!

He didn’t even hesitate?

So, without thinking, he asked: “You… how do you feel?”

Wu Wang’s life now hung by a thread, his gaze dimming; in his fading consciousness, he saw a tear open in the sky beyond the ancestral hall, from which emerged two slender arms, skin like congealed fat.

Spiritual corruption instantly flooded his soul.

He tried to draw them toward his arms.

He forced out a sneering, mocking smile:

“I feel… She’s not even worth a single strand of the Deep God’s…”