Demonic Ritual

Lu Yao observed that the Forest Tribe had no faith in any deity, no temple, and no symbols resembling totems.

The Shaman, unlike the Prophet, did not display dependence on a god. He was more like an experienced elder, guiding the entire tribe with knowledge passed down through generations.

This was actually a good thing for Lu Yao.

If the Forest Tribe also worshipped some god, a conflict of faith would likely arise, and the tribes might even break into war.

Now, a wider road had been built between the Garlic Tribe and the Forest Tribe. Houses had been erected along both sides—thatched huts from the Garlic Tribe and treehouses from the Forest Tribe. The two tribes were drawing closer.

Lu Yao waited for the complete fusion of the tribes.

Suddenly, he heard a faint cellphone ringtone.

The ringtone lasted over twenty seconds, then started again, over and over.

The sound came from outside.

Lu Yao lived in an old residential area. His building was on the outer edge, next to a semi-enclosed alley. The alley was usually used for parking, and many cars were covered in dust.

During the day, the alley was nearly empty; at night, it was even quieter.

Lu Yao walked to the window and looked out.

In the parking alley, there was only a single concrete lamppost. The dim yellow light illuminated only a small area beneath it; everything else was pitch black.

Lu Yao saw something swaying left and right under the light, as if something was hanging from the lamppost.

He felt a sense of unease.

The lamppost was only about twenty meters from the window, close enough to make out the general shape. Lu Yao looked closely and saw that a person was hanging by a rope from the concrete lamppost.

It was already night, and the street was quiet. The cellphone ringtone was especially clear in the alley.

Lu Yao immediately dialed 110.

"Hello, officer? I'm at the Locomotive Factory Dormitory in Jiuyuan Community. There's a person hanging by a rope in the alley outside. Please come quickly."

The police asked for the exact address and details, telling him not to act rashly and that they would arrive immediately.

Putting down his phone, Lu Yao breathed a slight sigh of relief. This kind of thing was best left to the professionals.

The Cactus Follower, which had been dormant, suddenly jumped onto the windowsill. It faced the direction of the person in the alley, its spines bristling as if on high alert.

"What? Did you find something?" Lu Yao instinctively looked at the little thing.

The Cactus Follower nodded.

Lu Yao sighed. "Too bad you can't talk. If only you could speak."

"Great God Yao, if you command speech, your humble servant will speak."

The Cactus Follower knelt on the ground, and a strange, accented voice came from its green body.

The voice was hard to tell if it was male or female.

Lu Yao was startled. "You can talk?"

"Only if you permit it, your humble servant can speak," the Cactus Follower said. "Otherwise, the humble servant cannot make a sound."

Lu Yao thought it over. Since the Pixel World and the real world had already breached each other, a talking cactus wasn't that strange.

He asked, "That person hanging there—what did you notice?"

"Great God, that is a Demonic Ritual."

The Cactus Follower said respectfully, "Demons gain faith through cruel and extreme rituals, using fear and ignorance to deceive and control their followers."

Demons?

Lu Yao's expression shifted.

"What's the difference between a demon and a god?"

"Great God, a demon is a heretical Evil God."

Lu Yao understood.

Demon... in other words, another god player. Besides himself, someone else was using the God Simulator to acquire sacrifices.

He immediately remembered what Sister Peng had said—that a pervert was lurking in Jiuyuan Community, stripping people and hanging them up.

Lu Yao warned himself to be more cautious. He couldn't let anyone discover the simulator on his computer. Once a demon player found out, they would surely try to steal his magical artifact and attack him—and that would no longer be just a game.

He found a small flowerpot and told the Cactus Follower, "Without my permission, you must not move or speak. You are just a cactus. Stay put in here, understand?"

"Yes, Great God." The Cactus Follower bowed.

In the parking alley, the cellphone ringtone kept repeating, as if calling for help.

Lu Yao looked again at the person hanging under the lamppost. They seemed tired, no longer swaying or struggling, and their body features became clearer.

Under the light, the person was wearing a black bra, so it was likely a woman. She was also dirty, with what looked like many bloodstains on her skin.

Lu Yao remembered he had a telescope at home. With its help, his view became even clearer.

He actually recognized the person under the lamppost. The victim was a hairdresser who worked at a barbershop called Exemplary Precision Cut across from the neighborhood. Her work name was Lisa; her real name was unknown.

Since Exemplary Precision Cut was affordable—fifteen yuan for a wash, cut, and blow-dry—Lu Yao often got his hair cut there, so he had some impression of Lisa.

She had dyed her hair a pale gold, was probably in her early twenties, spoke in a soft, gentle voice without rambling into awkward small talk, and wasn't unpleasant to be around.

After the police rescued Lisa, she was completely terrified. She didn't say a word, wrapped in a jacket the police had given her, her expression somewhat dazed.

Her body was smeared with many strange symbols in blood. Those symbols looked like some kind of distorted Arabic numerals, linked to each other like chains, wrapping layer after layer around her body.

The police cordoned off the scene and also came to Lu Yao's door to take his statement.

He truthfully recounted what he had witnessed, only omitting the parts about the simulator and the Demonic Ritual.

By the time the police finished the rescue and statement, it was already two in the morning.

Lu Yao, holding the [Energy Staff], wasn't sleepy at all. Staying up all night was no problem.

He looked at the cactus in the flowerpot on the table. "Have you been to our world before?"

"Your humble servant has come to your divine realm for the first time. I was given life by the Forest God, but the divine realm where the Forest God resides seems different from yours. There is water everywhere... I am too insignificant to fully understand what a divine realm is."

"What does the Forest God look like?"

"He cannot be gazed upon directly. Just like you, Great God, I cannot describe the appearance of such a great existence. I can only vaguely see some shadows revealed by the gods."

Lu Yao pried some information out of the cactus's mouth.

The cactus had no name. It was one of the many Cactus Followers created by the Forest God, spending its entire life doing odd jobs in the Temple. The Forest God had created the Cactus Followers in His own world, bestowed them into the Pixel World, and never recalled them.

It only knew that the Temple gradually fell into ruin, which meant the Forest God had fallen. In the end, the cactus was buried underground along with the Temple's collapse, and many years later, it was dug up by people from the Forest Tribe while they were foraging for mushrooms and berries.

But only a god could command the cactus. Pixel lifeforms could never restore the cactus to its true form; they could only sense that it was different from other plants.

"Since you're a relic left by the Forest God, then you shall be called..."

Lu Yao pointed at the cactus's forehead and said, "Little Fire."