Sacrifice Ritual

"Get lost!"

Xu Yanwu grabbed the hand that had touched his cheek and violently flung it away.

As he threw the person away, Xu Yanwu clearly saw what kind of being it was.

It was a very eerie woman.

She had no whites in her eyes, they were entirely black. Her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders, and she wore a white kimono with red splotches that looked like bloodstains.

Furthermore, a black mist connected the woman and the hollow in Xu Yanwu's chest.

As the woman moved further away from Xu Yanwu, he suddenly felt himself become much weaker, as if she were his source of power.

The eerie woman lightly tapped her geta on the air, and she gracefully stopped in mid-air. She then walked on air towards Xu Yanwu.

"Divine Lord is too much, treating me like this..."

As she slowly approached Xu Yanwu, he felt his strength gradually return.

Xu Yanwu's eyes narrowed. With a flash, he grabbed the eerie woman by her slender neck and demanded, "Tell me, what are you?"

Despite having her neck gripped by Xu Yanwu, the eerie woman showed no signs of distress. Instead, she giggled and looked at him, "Oh my, Divine Lord, haven't you figured it out yet? Is it possible that my face is too beautiful, and that's why Divine Lord doesn't recognize 'us'?"

The eerie woman's body dissipated in Xu Yanwu's hands, turning into black mist that flowed through him. After reappearing behind him, she transformed back into the eerie woman and hugged him from behind, tracing circles over the hollow in his chest with her finger.

"Divine Lord, 'our' heart is still beating inside your chest, thump, thump..."

"You... are those sacrifice maidens from before?"

Although Xu Yanwu had a suspicion, hearing the eerie woman's words still made his expression turn grave. He broke free from her embrace and watched her warily.

"That's right. What do you think? Aren't we beautiful now?"

The eerie woman twirled in front of Xu Yanwu. Her demeanor was not at all eerie; instead, she acted like a young girl.

"...What do you want?"

"Hmm?" The eerie woman chuckled. "What could I possibly do to you, Divine Lord? I am already a part of you now..."

"After all, 'we' are the ones who offered our hearts and lives for you. So, Divine Lord, do you hate me?"

"..."

Xu Yanwu fell silent, unsure of what to say.

"...I'll ask you one more time. You... those girls filled with hatred, what exactly do you want?"

After a long silence, Xu Yanwu finally asked this question.

At the same time, a long blade appeared in Xu Yanwu's hand, pointing directly at the eerie woman.

Across Yae Village, various clones of Xu Yanwu were converging towards his location at that very moment.

"It's no use, Divine Lord. You can't hurt me."

The sharp blade sliced through the eerie woman's body, but it only caused her to turn into wisps of black mist. The mist then reformed into her body.

"I am a part of your power..."

"However... Divine Lord, you should rest now..."

The next second, black mist completely enveloped Xu Yanwu's body.

---The Night of the Blood Sacrifice---

Watching his father slit the throat of a familiar older sister from their village on the altar and dig out her heart, Yae Sakura tightly covered Yae Rin's eyes.

"Rin, don't look."

Yae Sakura's voice trembled. This was her first time witnessing what a sacrifice ritual in Yae Village was like. Before this, the Yae God Master had never brought her to participate.

"Sister?"

Yae Rin hadn't seen what had happened, but...

As someone the Yae God Master didn't hold hope for becoming a miko, this wasn't her first time seeing a sacrifice.

That night, she stayed in Xu Yanwu's arms all night, and only then did she feel a little better. She hadn't told her sister about this.

The Yae God Master sheathed his sword and murmured.

"Great Deity... please bless our village with favorable weather. We offer the souls of our sacrifices to you..."

The Yae God Master solemnly placed the heart of the recently married maiden on a tray and walked step by step towards the center of the altar.

There stood a jade statue, Xu Yanwu's body.

"Great Deity... thank you for protecting our village's peace and for slaying demons and evil spirits for us. We offer the sacrifice's heart to you."

The Yae God Master approached the jade statue and slowly placed the pink heart, still faintly pulsing, from the tray into the hollow in the statue's chest.

The ritual, which had remained unchanged for hundreds of years, underwent an incredible change at this moment.

The instant the heart was placed into Xu Yanwu's chest, his body slowly opened its eyes.

Those eyes were a deep black, but the Yae God Master clearly felt that he was looking at the corpse of the sacrifice girl behind him.

Then, that gaze swept over the crowd surrounding the altar again, as if searching for someone.

"The Divine Lord has shown us a miracle!"

"Divine Lord! Please save us!"

Upon seeing Xu Yanwu open his eyes, the villagers below the altar were overcome with excitement. They immediately fell to their knees in a rush, praying to Xu Yanwu.

Xu Yanwu's gaze merely swept over them once before he closed his eyes again, as if nothing had happened.

"Divine Lord!"

"Divine Lord!"

Amidst the crowd of Yae Village villagers.

Yae Rin looked at Xu Yanwu's body on the stage with some confusion.

That gaze just now...

Yae Rin had met that gaze for a few seconds, but the feeling that gaze gave her was nothing like Xu Yanwu's usual eyes.

That gaze gave Yae Rin a very terrifying, very frightening feeling.

That's not the Divine Lord, absolutely not.

Yae Rin thought this, and beside her, Yae Sakura looked at the gradually chilling corpse of the girl on the stage with a dazed expression.

So... this is the kind of deity we've been worshipping...