Chapter 74: The Devil’s Sacrifice (24p3)
“…”
Yu Bingci squeezed the cigarette butt and said coolly, “As he wished, when Bright Sun Day came, he brought back the ‘glory of the gods’ and made people believe that he was indeed carrying out the will of the gods.”
“He became the dark horse of that session, suppressing the other popular candidates for the new bishop, and successfully succeeded as the 476th bishop of the Apocalypse Cult.”
The story followed the trajectory of history.
“It’s just…”
Yu Bingci raised her pale hand.
Because it was about to go out, the cigarette butt was flickering, like a faulty signal light.
Her voice was flat:
“From then on, I lost my vague telepathy with him.”
Yu Jiao was silent.
“At first, I thought it was just because we had grown up. But for the next seven years, he became less and less like himself, often doing some… unbelievable things. Until one day, he, who was so deeply in love with Hongyue, actually hurt his beloved.”
Yu Bingci threw the cigarette butt into the sink and pressed the flush button, watching with cold eyes as it was drowned.
“I knew I couldn’t delay any longer, so I also took a probe ship and went to the ‘palace of the gods’ he had mentioned.”
Yu Bingci gazed at the vortex at the bottom of the water and did not speak for a long time.
Yu Jiao spoke up, “Did you find it?”
“…”
“I found it.”
She took a deep breath and lifted her ice-blue eyes.
“As he said, in the very center of this planet.”
“…”
Yu Jiao was as if following her description, deep into the mysterious earth’s core.
“On the way deep into the earth’s core, I had another unexpected discovery. The filthy sand, the turbid sea, and the five great divine landforms each extended a few winding paths to the earth’s core, connecting to the temple. Like blood vessels. And the temple—”
Yu Bingci’s gaze seemed to have looked into the depths of Yu Jiao’s eyes. She said softly, “Is the heart.”
“…”
“I’m not exaggerating. It’s really a pile of rotten flesh.”
Her voice had a strange rhythm.
“A… huge pile of rotten flesh.”
“It’s as if it exploded from the inside, and it’s scattered everywhere. The shape of the pieces of flesh is different, but their volume is similar.”
Her words came faster and faster. “Each piece is connected to a few [blood vessels], and they are still beating faintly, at different frequencies. The entire earth’s core is very noisy, like there are countless people talking in your ear. If you stay there for too long, you’ll go mad.”
“The piece of flesh in the very center is the largest. I braced myself and drove the probe ship in.”
“And then… I saw the rotten flesh and white bones, wrapped in protective suits. Based on the badges on the protective suits, I determined that they were all Yu family servants. They were the family servants who had followed Yu Fenghe to the earth’s core seven years ago.”
“Just then, I suddenly realized,”
Yu Bingci lowered her eyes, her toes tapping the ground, as if she were there. “The largest piece of flesh under my feet was not beating.”
“And at this moment,” she looked up, her gaze on the closed bathroom door, her voice cold, “the countless noisy beating sounds outside were gradually unifying. The sound was very special, like a distant, simultaneous roar. They were saying—”
Yu Jiao’s heart also began to pound.
“—[He has escaped].”
…
[He has escaped]
[Run]
[He has been gone for too long]
[He has been planning this for a long time]
[Go back]
[He has found her]
[There is danger]
[Don’t let him hurt her]
[It’s too late]
[It’s going to be too late]
[It’s too late!]
[Run!]
[Go back!]
[He’s going to hurt her!]
…
Click.
Yu Bingci lit a new cigarette.
Yu Jiao came back to her senses.
“In the increasingly urgent heartbeat, I was also like I was going mad. I quickly took the probe ship and, at the fastest speed, left the earth’s core.”
“On the way, I sent you, oh, no—I sent a message to Jiao Hongyue.”
Yu Bingci exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“But I was too far from the Divine Kingdom, and the signal was very poor. I don’t know if the message got through, or if she replied.”
“With this unease, I didn’t dare to rest for a moment and returned to the Divine Kingdom.”
“And I saw her body.”
“…That day was Bright Sun Day, her twenty-sixth birthday.”
…
…
After Yu Bingci had finished, she was holding a cigarette and left a sentence, “After you enter the coffin, be careful of all ceremonial actions. That is His trick,” and then she left without looking back.
Yu Jiao was left alone in the room, filled with a lingering smoke, as if she were lost in a foggy forest.
She went over what Yu Bingci had just been told in her mind, from beginning to end. She thought for a moment, then asked the system, “The un-possessed Yu Fenghe and the possessed Yu Fenghe, which one is the real capture target?”
The system did not hesitate this time and quickly gave a very strange answer:
【From a macro perspective, both are.】
【From a micro perspective, the un-possessed Yu Fenghe is.】
“…”
Yu Jiao had always thought that the parasitic monster was the capture target.
After all, as the Yu Jiao of eleven years later, she had seen the successfully possessed monster, not the former Yu Fenghe. After seeing the monster, the system had personally said: 【All four capture targets have now appeared.】
But now it seemed there was a hidden story.
…Could it be that Yu Fenghe has already merged with the monster? So they both count?
She couldn’t be sure of the answer now, so she temporarily set the question aside.
Just then, the Smart Brain rang, reminding her that the memorial service was about to begin.
Looking in the mirror, Yu Jiao tidied her clothes, left the restroom, and, under eleven’s guidance, returned to the memorial ground.
At this moment, the vast memorial ground was silent. The people were standing in their respective positions in an orderly fashion, all looking at the lonely Yu Jiao with unreadable gazes.
Yu Jiao suddenly had the strange feeling of being unable to breathe.
Everyone’s gaze was like a dense, impenetrable silk net, weaving a cage from which there was no escape.
Yu Jiao composed herself and walked slowly towards Helan Duo, who was dressed as a priest, not far away.
Just like the memorial service on Wood Sun Day, Helan Duo purified her with incense and a bell.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The ethereal sound of the bell echoed, like a huge hand, scooping up everyone’s minds to the high dome.
—Only she was falling.
Pulled by the gravity of the earth’s core, she was falling into the “temple.”
Yu Jiao looked down at Helan Duo’s flying robes as they fell.
“Alright.”
He said softly, pulling the falling Yu Jiao back.
Yu Jiao looked into his calm, peaceful, pale green eyes and watched as he took a bare, pure gold scepter from the tray and handed it to her.
She had no choice but to take it.
The process went on, bit by bit. Sprinkling holy blood, chanting hymns. Soon, they had arrived at the familiar coffin, as black as Yu Fenghe’s eyes, not a sliver of light showing through.
Helan Duo’s melodious, pleasant voice sounded:
“Metal Sun Day.”
“Please, Madam, enter the coffin. Use the cult leader’s mortal remains as a medium to pray for His mercy.”
“And let the heart of the dome be transformed.”
Yu Jiao held the heart of the dome and, step by step, she walked up the stairs and stood at the highest point.
She did not look like a defenseless sacrifice, but more like a newly crowned queen, holding a scepter, proudly looking around, taking in the various expressions of the people below—
Yuan Cang was staring at her without blinking, Nie Hongshen’s lips were slightly curved, and Helan Duo’s eyes were lowered, his face expressionless.
Fu Sheng’s brow was slightly furrowed, Yu Bingci had taken out a cigarette, and Jiao Baishuang’s expression was unconsciously nervous and worried.
“…”
Yu Jiao withdrew her gaze and, her whole body, entered the dark coffin.
A bone-chillingly cold water enveloped her.
Yu Jiao was used to this. She immediately climbed out of the water.
Before she had even gotten her footing, the sound of gold clinking sounded. All the gold ornaments on her ears, neck, arms, waist, and ankles suddenly softened, like boneless snakes, and flowed down, all of them falling into the water and then rising high. As if an invisible hand were painting.
In just a moment, a golden cage was woven.
Yu Jiao was trapped inside.
A coolness on her ankle. The black line Yu Fenghe had left behind had turned into a thin, golden chain, which was wrapped around her ankle and extended to connect with the center of the cage.
Yu Jiao frowned and looked at the broad back that was facing her.
“What other tricks are you playing this time?”
Yu Fenghe was toying with the bare, golden scepter and, with a casual wave, the golden afterimage dissipated. Yu Jiao’s vision suddenly blurred, and in the blink of an eye, she and the cage had appeared before him.
His thick eyebrows were slightly raised, and his cold, qualitative voice sounded, “Didn’t I say so last time? It’s time for the second night of our seven-day wedding.”
He raised his hand, and the long, thin scepter reached through the bars of the golden cage and lifted Yu Jiao’s chin.
“My bride.”
He narrowed his dark, ink-like eyes and glanced at the chain on Yu Jiao’s ankle, saying with a wicked tone, “Oh, no. You’ve been demoted. You should be my—canary now.”