Chapter 67: The Devil’s Sacrifice (17p1)
The sky was gradually darkening.
The dim sky was stained with a thin, tragic red.
The Sun Day was departing, and the Dark Night was coming.
On the wide shore, two figures, like endlessly entangled threads, were weaving a seamless tapestry… a long, slender arm, strengthlessly reaching for the sky, like a beautiful, fragile flower. Another broad, powerful hand captured it.
With a posture that was as if he wanted to press her into his very bones, Chow Chow held her in a deep embrace. His movements were filled with a suppressed self-restraint, yet his tightly furrowed brow held a reckless abandon, born of a painful struggle.
Like a sailor, willingly falling, actively lured by a siren.
The waves were churning.
“…”
Before they could become one.
Suddenly, a rustling sound approached, and then, an innocent, childish voice sounded:
“What are you two doing?”
“…”
Chow Chow froze, like a startled, bristling cat, and immediately rolled to his feet.
After wrapping Yu Jiao tightly, he covered his steaming face with one hand and, with the other, rested his hand on his waist, which was covered in several red scratches. He turned his head sternly and met a pair of large, curious eyes.
“Xiao Ling?”
Chow Chow cleared his throat and feigned a threatening tone. “Why did you run out of the settlement? It’s very dangerous. Don’t you know?”
Yu Jiao looked at his pretentious, serious look and, amused, gathered her clothes, peeking at the “uninvited guest.”
The little girl pouted. “I’m sorry…”
She was wearing a dusty robe, her head covered by a hood. A small, round, tender face was hidden inside, as cute as if she had stepped out of a fairy tale.
Xiao Ling held up a small white flower in her hands. “I came to see my brother.”
Chow Chow: “Isn’t your brother already—”
He suddenly stopped.
“Sob…” Tears welled up in Xiao Ling’s eyes, and she whimpered, “Brother left on the dark night of the last Wood Dark Day. It’s about to get dark, so I wanted to bring him a bouquet of flowers for the afterlife.”
The more she spoke, the sadder she became. She accidentally blew a snot bubble and, in a fit of despair, began to wail, “Brother—”
The scene was enough to make anyone’s heart ache, to bring tears to their eyes.
Yu Jiao’s heart softened at the sight. She pushed away the helpless Chow Chow, walked past him, and bent down to wipe the little girl’s dirty face with the gauze of her clothes. She comforted her in a soft voice, “Don’t be sad. I’ll go with you to give the flowers to your brother, okay?”
“Sob… sob… okay.”
Xiao Ling hiccupped and, when she looked up, she was stunned, her eyes blurry with tears. “Sister… you’re so beautiful… are you a fairy?”
The little child, who had been crying uncontrollably just a moment ago, immediately shifted her attention and looked at Yu Jiao blankly.
Yu Jiao was still wearing the clothes from the float parade, and she was bathed in a vibrant, dazzling sunset, looking truly like a fairy.
Xiao Ling was stunned.
She tilted her head up, and her hood slipped slightly. There was a fine, sparkling light on the side of her half-hidden face and neck. They were dark scales. Xiao Ling suddenly came back to her senses and pulled her hood tight, hiding herself completely.
“Ah! Fairy sister, don’t look at me… I… I’m an ugly monster.”
“…”
She was like a snail, shrinking into its shell, a soft self-loathing.
—Aberration.
In the silence, Chow Chow slowly frowned. “Is the settlement’s [sweet dew] all used up? Xiao Ling, why are you…?”
The small, dusty snail lowered its head, as if in guilt, and answered in a small voice, “It’s almost gone. I… I wasn’t in a hurry to use it, so I gave it to someone else.”
“…”
Her sensitive antennae felt a grim atmosphere.
Xiao Ling’s head drooped even lower. It’s all my fault, she thought. I accidentally let the leader and the fairy sister see my ugly scales. Now everyone’s unhappy.
Xiao Ling took a sad breath, but in her dark vision, she caught a glimpse of a small piece of shining, beautiful gauze. It was gracefully hanging down, approaching.
The next moment, a fragrant hand gently caressed her face through the hood.
“Xiao Ling is very beautiful and cute. You’re not a monster.”
The voice was soft and gentle, yet so certain.
Xiao Ling’s heartbeat seemed to slow down. She was dazed. Suddenly, her vision brightened—the hood had been taken off.
Then, a weight on her head.
—The ‘fairy sister’ had taken off the ‘magic weapon’ on her head and had carefully placed it on Xiao Ling’s.
The dazzling crystals hung down, making the dusty robes look much brighter.
Xiao Ling’s mouth was agape, her round face even more lovely.
The ‘fairy sister’ smiled. “Now you’re a fairy too. Let’s go! Let’s go and offer flowers to your brother.”
“…”
“Let’s go!”
Chow Chow suddenly lifted the dazed little fairy up.
Xiao Ling: “Waaah!”
She was sitting on his broad shoulders, terrified, and she hugged his neck. The ‘fairy sister’ timely took her other hand, with a reassuring force.
Xiao Ling held the soft, fragrant hand tightly and looked up, her gaze full of a fighting spirit as she looked at the churning, turbid sea.
The three of them’s shadows were stretched by the setting sun, like a small piece of peace and warmth in this treacherous world.
“…”
Xiao Ling placed the flower by the reef.
As she was chattering to the reef, Yu Jiao and Chow Chow gave her some time alone with her brother and stood not far away, waiting.
Looking at the small figure, Yu Jiao felt a sense of loss.
Suddenly, a fresh, vibrant flower appeared before her, forcefully tearing away her gloomy thoughts and injecting color and vitality.
Chow Chow’s arm was straight, extended towards her. The tips of his ears were slightly red, his gaze shifting away, a look of forced heroism on his face.
“Look.”
Chow Chow uttered a single, cool word.
The next moment, the beautiful flower, as if it had crystallized, gradually withered and bent. Its surface was covered, inch by inch, by a vibrant, black, hard shell, as if it had been brushed with a sealing coating, mysterious and alluring.
Chow Chow didn’t look back, his hair flying in the wind, his expression also filled with an irrepressible arrogance. He was like a childish fool, showing off to his beloved.
The once-long flower was now a small circle, lying quietly in his palm.
Chow Chow lowered his eyes, took Yu Jiao’s hand, and, with great care, put the small flower ring on her middle finger.
Like a silent vow.
“…”
“Wow!”
The mood-ruining voice sounded again. Xiao Ling peeked out, her face full of curiosity. “Is the leader proposing to the fairy sister?”
“…”
A vein throbbed on Chow Chow’s forehead. He couldn’t bear it any longer and gave the little third wheel a light flick on the forehead.
“It’s none of a child’s business!”
Xiao Ling held her forehead and ran away, shouting, “A bad-tempered, petty man will never be loved by a woman!!”
Chow Chow: “…Get back here!”
Watching them chase and play, Yu Jiao pressed her lips together in a smile. When she looked at the “ring” on her hand, her smile gradually faded.
…
…
The dusk in this land was also very long. The blood-red sky was as if frozen, never fading. A long, drawn-out drama.
After settling Xiao Ling, Yu Jiao and Chow Chow were ready to go. They were preparing to go to the Divine Moon Moth’s headquarters to steal confidential documents.
“And [sweet dew] and [shining gold].”
Chow Chow was tying a wristband and said with a dark gaze.
After so long, Yu Jiao already knew: [sweet dew] was used to purify pollutants, and [shining gold] was used to defend against the fallen race.
Besides…
eleven’s gentle, cold voice seemed to sound in her ear again:
On Wood Sun Day, the god bestowed the [Tree of Life], and so humans had the [sweet dew] with the quality of purification;
On Metal Sun Day, the god bestowed the [Dome Earth Vein], and so humans had the [shining gold] with the ability to defend;
On Fire Sun Day, the god bestowed the [Meteor Lava], and so humans had the [tinder] with the power to expel;
On Earth Sun Day, the god bestowed the [Boundless Wilderness], and so humans had the [pure land] to distinguish from the filthy sand.
On Water Sun Day, the god bestowed the [Vast Spring], and so humans had the [cleansing water] to distinguish from the turbid sea.
Now, these divine gifts were becoming increasingly rare.
The remaining stock was all controlled by the cult, the politicians, the major financial groups, and the families.
The Divine Moon Moth was a huge financial group that owned an entire [Dome Earth Vein] and monopolized [shining gold].
***