[Nether God Sacrifice] Xu Xiaocai's request

Unlike what Shao Lan had seen before, Song Liru had now completely transformed into a blind fish. Scales covered her entire body, and her hair had turned snow-white. Her mouth gaped wide, and her bulging, calcified eyes looked especially terrifying in the moonlight.

"Liru... Liru..." Xu Jiaojiao struggled like a madwoman, tears and snot streaming down her face. "I didn't mean to. Please, please don't kill me..."

Song Liru lunged onto the wooden board. She opened her mouth wide and sank her teeth into Xu Jiaojiao's neck.

Blood spurted out, and Xu Jiaojiao let out an uncontrollable scream.

More and more blind fish leaped up, one after another, their white tails engulfing Xu Jiaojiao until not a gap remained.

The stench of blood drifted over the entire stretch of sea, lingering for a long time.

Shao Lan was heading toward the houses when he suddenly heard a commotion in the distance.

He climbed to a high spot and narrowed his eyes. Countless white blind fish writhed in the sea, but he couldn't tell whom they were devouring.

A jumble of footsteps sounded, and Shao Lan quickly ducked into the shadows.

The few adult villagers in Xu Family Village were all running toward the shore.

Once they had all gone far enough, Shao Lan emerged from his hiding place.

But not everyone in the alley had left. The moment Shao Lan stepped out, he saw a girl standing quietly at the far end.

It was Xu Xiaocai.

Xu Xiaocai turned and saw Shao Lan.

The fire crackled in the stove as Xu Xiaocai brought Shao Lan a cup of hot water.

Xu Xiaohong was asleep in the inner room, still clutching the candy wrapper Shao Lan had given him earlier.

"Something went wrong with the Sacrifice Ceremony," Xu Xiaocai said. "Dad and the others have gone to check. They won't be back for a while. If you have any questions, you can ask me."

Shao Lan looked at Xu Xiaocai. Now that she had eyes, she seemed a little more lively, but she was still thin and small, clearly malnourished.

When Shao Lan didn't speak right away, Xu Xiaocai took the initiative. "Do you want to ask whether we have any boats?"

Shao Lan raised his head, a hint of surprise in his eyes-Xu Xiaocai was more perceptive than he had expected.

"That woman called Xu Jiawei came with the Village Chief and forced every household to burn their fishing boats," Xu Xiaocai said. "I know what they're doing. They're afraid you'll escape out to sea."

"But not all the villagers were willing to listen. The harvest was poor this year, after all, and everyone was counting on fishing for an income. So some families secretly hid their boats-I know which ones."

Shao Lan immediately caught her meaning. "Little girl, are you trying to make a deal with me?"

Xu Xiaocai paused. "A deal? Yes, you could call it that. Or you could say I want to work with you."

A deal was a kind of cooperation anyway-but he couldn't let Qin Ning hear him say that.

Shao Lan gave a wry smile. "Go on."

"I'll help you get a boat," Xu Xiaocai said. "In return, you have to take me with you when you go out to sea."

Shao Lan frowned.

"Can you tell me why?"

Getting them a boat meant helping the sacrifices escape, something Xu Family Village would never tolerate.

Even more puzzling was Xu Xiaocai's demand to board the boat herself.

She knew perfectly well that she could never go back to sea-once the children of Xu Family Village received their eyes and returned from the depths, they bore original sin. For the rest of their lives, they could never approach the sea again, or the blind fish in its waters would attack them.

Xu Xiaocai didn't answer Shao Lan's question directly. After thinking for a while, she asked him, "How much do you know about my family?"

"Your dad didn't tell me much. Most of it is guesswork," Shao Lan said. "Your family lived outside the village for a long time, didn't you?"

Xu Xiaocai nodded silently.

Shao Lan had originally come to this alley because he wanted to talk to Xu Gao.

His instincts told him that Xu Gao was different from the other villagers.

When the Village Chief spoke to Xu Gao, he had said, "Xiao Cai is this weak now because your family stayed away too long before returning to the village."

From that, Shao Lan could infer that Xu Gao had left the mountains, married, and had children in the outside world.

Perhaps he had thought he had escaped this horrific fishing village.

But as it turned out, the curse didn't disappear just because he left.

When his wife gave birth to their daughter, Xu Gao discovered to his horror that she had no eyes.

As long as they were descendants of the Xu Family, their children would always be born without eyes. The only way to obtain eyes was to return to Xu Family Village and keep passing down the Nether God's Sacrifice Ceremony forever.

Xu Gao hadn't wanted to. He was unwilling to live in that blood-soaked village again, but Xu Xiaocai had grown weaker and weaker.

In the end, he had no choice but to return.

"Your parents must have loved each other very much, right?" Shao Lan asked Xu Xiaocai.

"Yes. When we came back to Xu Family Village, Dad kept trying to persuade Mom not to come, but she refused."

"She said Dad and I were the people she loved most in this world. We were a family, and no matter where we went, we couldn't be separated."

"Later, we returned to the village. A few years after that, Mom gave birth to my little brother."

"My mom was an amazing woman," Xu Xiaocai said. "During her years in the village, she kept gathering the Village Records and all kinds of other materials, piecing together Mother Ming's story."

"She said Mother Ming was a very pitiful woman."

"In ancient times, the villagers believed there was a god in the deep sea. They thought every disaster at sea meant the god was angry, and that they had to sacrifice a young woman to become his bride."

"Mother Ming was a young woman from elsewhere. She fell in love with a young man from Xu Family Village and followed him home, hoping to spend the rest of her life with him."

"But then she discovered that he'd brought her back because the woman he truly loved had been chosen as the Nether God's bride. He wanted the girl to take his beloved's place and be sent into the deep sea."

"The girl was put aboard a boat bound for the deep sea, while the young man married his beloved."

"In the depths, the girl was devoured by blind fish and split into two souls."

"One soul was the older sister. She hated the young man and all the children he had with his beloved, bringing a curse upon every generation of Xu Family Village. The other soul was the younger sister. She was compassionate and kind, and wanted the people of Xu Family Village to have eyes."

"Does her kindness only extend to Xu Family Village?" Shao Lan asked. "Don't the outsiders who have their eyes taken deserve her compassion too?"

Xu Xiaocai shook her head. "That's why outsiders have to be fed blind fish fry first, to undergo the initial stage of transformation."

Shao Lan understood.

Humans who had begun transforming carried the scent of blind fish, causing the younger sister within Mother Ming to mistake them for blind fish.

Blind fish lived in the deep sea and didn't need eyes, so the younger sister believed she could give their eyes to the villagers of Xu Family Village.

"Mom said that to lift the curse, we had to go into the deep sea."

"We had to tell the younger sister within Mother Ming the truth, and also appease the older sister's resentment."

Xu Xiaocai lowered her head. "Mom was going to do it herself, but she..."

Xu Xiaocai trembled for a long time.

"She became a sacrifice, didn't she?" Shao Lan said softly.

Xu Xiaocai nodded hard, tears falling from her eyes.

Shao Lan had guessed as much.

The Village Chief had been willing to give Xu Xiaocai the eyes of Song Liru, the first to die. He had stated his reason: "The two children's mother did me a great kindness."

In Xu Family Village, what could count as a great kindness?

Only one thing.

The Village Chief's eyes had belonged to Xu Gao's wife.