Over the past few days, Millet Village had descended into utter chaos. Children were stolen or snatched away, and the sobs of women and girls could be heard from time to time.
The old village chief sat in his home, taking puff after puff from his long-stemmed pipe. Wisps of bluish smoke rose from its bowl and drifted through the air. His brows were tightly knitted, his face steeped in sorrow that would not dissolve.
The village had truly fallen into chaos.
Su Jiu had not headed straight for the river these past few days, either. Her divine sense was severely restricted underwater, so she could only wait for the monster to surface before finding a way to probe it. According to the locals, the monster seemed to emerge briefly only during each sacrificial ceremony.
That was precisely the opportunity Su Jiu was waiting for.
As the day of the sacrifice drew closer, many villagers busied themselves preparing offerings and building the sacrificial altar.
The liveliest place was still Old Liu's house. For some reason, however, the closer the sacrifice drew, the more firmly they kept their doors shut.
Many families had brought girls over, only to be turned away.
Today, another five or six people with girls in tow had gathered outside the Liu Household's gate, surrounded by villagers who always enjoyed a spectacle. Amid the crowd, a petty thug who looked rather familiar to Su Jiu suddenly shouted, "Could the Liu Household be unwilling to part with their fortune and planning to give up on their daughter instead?"
Su Jiu noticed that the thug's eyes darted about shiftily as he shouted. He clearly had ill intentions. After calling out those words, he slipped out of the crowd.
All he left behind was a crowd of clueless onlookers buzzing