Thankfully, he really was the last one standing. As a reward, Yao Shunyu also got a dead infant.
The girl with half her face destroyed and the woman who'd caused trouble earlier fixed Yao Shunyu with murderous glares. But no matter how unwilling they were, they didn't dare act out in front of Zhusheng Niangniang and the village chief.
Yao Shunyu picked up the dead infant with his right hand, endured its stench, and stuffed it into his clothes.
The closer the procession drew to the Heishui River, the more often it stopped. About twenty minutes after Yao Shunyu's turn, it halted again.
When Huang Jun saw his former opponent step forward, his face turned ashen.
Another cycle was beginning.
The village chief on the sedan still wore that half-dead expression. "Who will be the first to receive a blessing?"
"This humble one... This humble one, Huang Jun, will be first!" Huang Jun hurriedly answered. "I beg the goddess to grant my wish!"
This genuinely surprised Yao Shunyu and Luan Lihui. Going second clearly had the advantage: all you had to do was make your punishment more brutal than your opponent's to win a dead infant.
But Huang Jun had his own reasons. Going second did have an advantage, but it only won you a dead infant. Who said the thing was definitely useful? The infant seemed downright sinister to him. What if it came to life and clawed its way out of his stomach?
Of course, there was another very important reason: he was afraid of pain. Terrified, really. These strangely dressed villagers were crazy, and he couldn't take it anymore.
If you went first, all you had to do was endure the beating. Then you could decide for yourself how far to go with the self-mutilation.
As expected,