Offer Up Life

Cao Jiu felt a surge of joy in his heart.

He stomped his feet against the ground with every step, pushing himself to the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his life, running for his very existence.

He was truly terrified that the wizard had been nothing more than a hallucination and would vanish the next moment.

Fortunately, the wizard was still standing steadily on the road, his robes gradually becoming soaked by the rain.

Cao Jiu ran up to him, gasping for air as he asked, "What you said before, does it still count? Will the Wind God really save everyone?"

The young wizard nodded.

Cao Jiu hurriedly pressed on, "Then, then how does one become a sacrifice to the Wind God? I—I am willing!"

The young wizard looked at him, then pointed a finger toward the mountain not far away.

"That is Wind God Mountain. You only need to jump from Wind God Mountain and fall to your death."

Although Cao Jiu harbored thoughts of self-sacrifice, he still flinched upon hearing the wizard's words.

Fall to his death?

The wizard's words were far too cold and detached.

Thinking about it carefully, this wizard might not be reliable, and the Wind God might not even be real. If Cao Jiu ran away on his own, he could escape to the mountains and hide; he might just survive this flood.

Countless thoughts flashed through Cao Jiu's mind in an instant.

The wizard offered no explanation, simply watching him in silence.

Rainwater streamed down from the wizard's head, plastering strands of black hair against his cheeks.

The wizard's eyes were pure and clear.

Cao Jiu lowered his head and whispered, "I hope the Wind God keeps his word and saves everyone."

"Wizard, I am willing."

With that, Cao Jiu bent his legs and suddenly propelled himself forward, sprinting rapidly toward the legendary Wind God Mountain.

Wind God Mountain was close by, and it didn't take long for Cao Jiu to reach the summit.

In truth, Wind God Mountain was not very high, but one side featured a sheer cliff with a massive drop; just one look at the edge made Cao Jiu feel dizzy and faint—it was terrifying.

Cao Jiu looked back, but the wizard was no longer on the road; he had disappeared somewhere.

The levee could not hold out much longer.

Cao Jiu closed his eyes, struggling to suppress his fear.

"Wind God, I entrust my life to you, but you must save everyone in the village!"

Then, he took a few steps back, sprinted, and leaped out over the precipice.

Cao Jiu's thin body plummeted through the air.

In a daze, he heard a vast, distant voice echo in the sky:

"I promise you."

Suddenly, a surge of great force washed over him, and Cao Jiu lost consciousness.

Cao Jiu woke up.

He blinked and moved his body.

He felt as if he were in a very cramped space, his limbs bound, with nothing but darkness before his eyes.

Then, light gradually began to glow within that darkness.

An arc of light appeared, surrounding him.

He saw a meadow and stone walls appear within the arc of light.

Cao Jiu scrambled to his feet. At that moment, he saw the light change; the meadow vanished, leaving only stone walls and trees.

It took him a long while to realize that he was viewing the outside world through this arc of light surrounding him.

"Where am I?"

Cao Jiu tried to stand up, and then, he felt a very strange sensation.

It was as if he were operating a body that did not belong to him.

It took a while for Cao Jiu to finally grow accustomed to the sensation of the body, feeling the feedback from his limbs.

That's right—earlier, it seemed that someone had spoken many, many things to him in the darkness, teaching him how to control this body.

Cao Jiu tentatively moved his hands and feet.

It was a strange feeling; his body seemed immense and filled with power.

And... he should be able to do this...

Cao Jiu spread his arms, kicked off the ground with all his might, and leaped into the air!

In an instant, he left the ground, feeling a gust of wind buoying his body.

He was flying! He had flown up into the sky!

The wind... that voice had once told him that he could use his hands to control the wind!

Cao Jiu fumbled around his hands and quickly found a rod-like object. As long as he pulled it upward, he would ascend; pressing it downward would make him descend, and swaying it left or right would shift him horizontally.

Pushing it forward would move him forward, and pulling it backward...

After experimenting in the air for a long time, Cao Jiu finally mastered the usage of this body: moving forward, retreating, taking off, landing, swiping his claws, twisting his torso, stretching, and flicking his tail.

Among these, the tail was the hardest to control; after all, Cao Jiu had never had a tail when he was a human.

Most of the time, he had to swing his tail indirectly through the movement of his waist.

At this moment, his vision passed through an arc-shaped light screen, revealing his own body.

It was pitch-black, massive, covered in scales, with four sharp and ferocious claws, and a tail.

Am I... no longer human? Why is my body so long and so big, and why do I have a tail and claws?

Suddenly, Cao Jiu saw the ground from the air.

On the ground in the distance, the levee was collapsing.

The floodwaters were surging directly into the village.

There were many black dots moving within the village—they were the villagers!

Cao Jiu immediately flew toward the levee. Regardless of what he was, he only knew that he seemed very strong now and could stop the flood!

Just as a massive volume of water came roaring down the river channel, Cao Jiu barely arrived in time. He spread his entire body out, curled his tail, and blocked the flood with his own frame!

The river water let out a thunderous roar, kicking up huge waves as it tried to bypass Cao Jiu and head toward the village.

"You shall not pass!" Cao Jiu roared at the river.

How was he supposed to block it... Cao Jiu suddenly remembered the method he had been taught. He gripped the round rod and rotated it slightly. With a faint "hum," his four claws suddenly emitted a hazy glow.

"Hold it back for me, ahhh!"

Cao Jiu braced his back against the ground, his four claws pushing against the flood.

The glow on his claws connected into a single piece, forming a screen of light that intercepted the flood directly!

Cao Jiu looked back and shouted at the stunned villagers:

"Run! Hurry and run!"

The villagers finally heard the sound emitted by the long, black monster clearly.

The voice was booming and thunderous, yet it was also incredibly familiar.

"That's Little Jiu! Little Jiu saved us! Let's go, quickly!"

The villagers wore expressions of disbelief, then turned and continued to flee.

They did not understand why Cao Jiu had suddenly turned into a monster; they only knew that they had a chance to survive!

Cao Jiu used his own body to form a new levee, intercepting the river water flowing down from above. The water level rose higher and higher, and the pressure grew increasingly intense.

Cao Jiu struggled to withstand this pressure. He felt as if he had become a monster, yet he also felt as if he were still human, just with a body inside the monster.

However, he could feel the external pressure perfectly.

The water level gradually rose, slowly nearing the top of the light screen.

Had all the villagers escaped? Cao Jiu looked behind him.

Through the arc of light, he saw that only a few people remained in the village who hadn't evacuated yet—they were so close!

Hurry, Cao Jiu shouted in his heart, hurry!

Finally, the flood roared again, surged directly over the light screen, and poured down.

Cao Jiu did not move yet; he continued to use all his strength to hold back the river. He would block as much as he could. If he let go now, the aftermath might still harm the villagers!

When Cao Jiu could no longer hold back the flood, he rolled away, rotated the rod in the opposite direction to retract the light screen, and flew back into the sky.

In the air, Cao Jiu panted heavily, looking toward the direction in which the villagers had fled.

Good! They had all reached the mountain! They had all escaped!

Cao Jiu was so happy he was on the verge of tears.

Wind God, thank you!

After thinking for a while in the air, Cao Jiu decided to reunite with the villagers.

He flew toward the mountain where the villagers had gathered.

Many gazes greeted him—some curious, some worried, and some joyful.

However, there was no fear in anyone's eyes.

This put Cao Jiu at ease; he knew the villagers still recognized him.

Cao Jiu flew to the edge of the mountain and landed cautiously near the villagers.

Uncle Axe walked over with a few others and spoke tentatively:

"Little Jiu?"

Cao Jiu nodded hurriedly and said:

"It's me, it's me, Uncle Axe!"

The villagers' expressions turned to wild joy. Heavens, it really was Little Jiu!

Cao Jiu smiled as well. He was so happy. He hadn't died; even though he had turned into a monster, he had saved everyone, and he could still speak in human language. It was wonderful!