The Perfect Sacrifice

Only after Cheng Sheng reminded him did Song Cai come to his senses and toss the stinking urine bucket aside.

Then, once they were outside, he heard Cheng Sheng call out in a low voice, "Run!" Song Cai hurried after him...

Twenty-five minutes later, at the little park outside the entrance to Cheng Sheng's residential compound.

"Here!"

Cheng Sheng tossed Song Cai the phone he had retrieved from the prostitute and asked with a frown, "This phone must have cost close to ten thousand. Where did you get the money to buy it?"

Song Cai, now wearing a pair of pants Cheng Sheng had brought from home and no longer forced to go around with both legs bare, flushed. He stammered for a long time before admitting that he had secretly taken the money from home.

Cheng Sheng was speechless. All he could do was remind him, "Before your parents find out, hurry and return the phone, then put the money back..."

That idiot Song Cai had dared to steal so much money from home. Wasn't he afraid his dad would beat him to death with a stick?

But today's events had been more than enough to teach him a huge lesson. For a long time to come, he probably wouldn't dare go to Pawan District again.

If there was a next time, Cheng Sheng wouldn't help him again.

"A Sheng..."

The two chatted for a while, and Song Cai, having recovered a little, spoke with a worried look. "Do you think they'll come after us for revenge? Those two were with the Red Ba Gang. I heard the whole of Pawan District is Red Ba Gang territory..."

Cheng Sheng thought for a moment and asked, "Did you tell that A Yu your home address?"

Song Cai shook his head.

"Then what is there to be afraid of?"

Cheng Sheng said calmly, "No matter how powerful the Red Ba Gang is, they're not going to search all over Qingsha to make trouble for two students over one prostitute and two thugs.

"But you really do need to keep your head down for a while. Stop running around everywhere.

"I suggest you go straight to work at your dad's coconut sugar factory..."

Song Cai hung his head, seemingly considering Cheng Sheng's suggestion.

After a while, he said he had to go. The phone shop might close if he got there too late.

Cheng Sheng said nothing more and waved him off, telling him to hurry.

As soon as Song Cai left, Cheng Sheng got up and headed home.

He had only been out for about an hour in total. Cheng Yue had argued with him briefly and gone out without coming back, and their parents were out too. Cheng Sheng went into his bedroom, locked the door behind him, and emptied all the money from both pants pockets onto the desk.

"This trip wasn't a complete waste..."

Cheng Sheng's eyes brightened slightly as he looked at the pile of colorful banknotes in various denominations before him.

It would naturally have been impossible to say that Cheng Sheng felt no qualms at all about standing up for Song Cai, only to turn around and rob the Red Ba Gang thugs who had tried to extort them.

But in this world, the police's role was extremely limited because of the Black Tide. Gangs ran rampant throughout Nantu, and public safety had never been particularly good. That was one of the reasons martial arts flourished.

"Since you planned to 'rob' someone else, don't blame them for turning around and robbing you..."

Whether it was because he had completed the Initial Sacrifice, taken his first steps as a sorcerer, and gained the "Sparrow Spirit" ability, or because he had recently made some progress in strengthening his body through martial arts, Cheng Sheng's mindset had undergone a subtle change without him realizing it.

He seemed to have gained some understanding of the underlying rules by which this world operated and was trying to fit into it "happily."

Cheng Sheng quickly counted the money on the desk.

Most of it had come from the prostitute A Yu's small bag. Besides Nan Currency, there was also some currency from Dongyue Country.

All the odds and ends added together came to just under four thousand.

"With the thousand Mom gave me for nutrition, that's five thousand... Barely enough to buy a farm-raised adult crocodile in Balai City."

Balai City lay to the south of Wuda Prefecture. The area was full of rainforests and swamps and teemed with fierce, large animals such as crocodiles, pythons, and hippos. Cheng Sheng's father, Cheng Shuisheng, owned a pair of crocodile-skin dress shoes made in Balai City.

"Having it shipped over would cost too much. This money wouldn't be nearly enough, so I'll have to go there myself.

"It takes four hours by train from Qingsha City to Balai. The martial arts school's formal disciple assessment is in three days. If I leave now and perform the sacrifice there, I should just about make it back before the assessment begins..."

Cheng Sheng's mind raced, his thoughts clear. He soon came up with a plan that was feasible in theory.

He was ready to book a train ticket immediately, but after searching online for information on reliable crocodile farms in Balai City and making a call, he received a piece of news that struck him like a bolt from the blue.

"What?"

"Balai City just activated a level-three Black Tide defense response today? All trains have been suspended?!"

Cheng Sheng slowly hung up, his expression turning a little ugly.

The Black Tide had to spread to Balai City now, of all times-not earlier or later.

The Black Tide itself was actually a minor problem. After all, it came and went quickly. Once it receded and the trains resumed, he would simply have to hurry a little more.

What truly frustrated Cheng Sheng was that the person at the farm had rather tactfully told him over the phone that they didn't sell their crocodiles to just anyone. To buy one, he would first need a guarantor designated by them...

Wasn't that bullshit? A guarantor? Where was Cheng Sheng supposed to find one? He had never even been to Balai City!

"To put it bluntly, I'd have to pay another intermediary fee. In that case, I wouldn't have enough money..."

Even if he did have enough, it wouldn't work. From the sound of the person on the phone, even after finding a guarantor, he would still have to place an order in advance...

Cheng Sheng's plan had been completely overturned!

What was he supposed to do now?

Cheng Sheng paced around the room with a frown, thinking of a solution.

A moment later, he stopped.

"I'll have to find another living creature to replace it..."

Cheng Sheng's expression calmed. Standing in his room, he looked at the ivy leaves trembling in the wind outside his window, a light flickering silently in his eyes.

At three in the afternoon, at the old campus of No. 3 Middle School.

"Phew-"

At the same hidden entrance, Cheng Sheng emerged from the weeds, which were nearly as tall as a person. He then turned around and pulled with both hands, slowly dragging an enormous burlap sack out of the grass with considerable effort.

An abandoned building complex, weeds, a burlap sack, and a furtive-looking teenager...

The scene looked just like a murder and body-dumping scene from a movie or TV show.

But the sack in Cheng Sheng's hands held no corpse. As he dragged it toward the abandoned teaching building, its surface kept shifting, as though something alive were struggling and squirming inside.

With great difficulty, he dragged the sack up the steps to the first floor and headed once again for the third classroom from the left.

Cheng Sheng went in and drew the curtains on the side facing outside. It was still daytime, so he had no need for a flashlight, candles, or any other lighting.

He found a spot, took off his backpack, and untied the sack he had brought in.

The living creature struggling inside finally came into view. It was a black billy goat in its prime!

The black goat was exceptionally handsome, pitch-black all over-so black it shone, like asphalt soaked through by rain.

A pair of thick horns curved upward from its head, bearing numerous marks from rubbing and collisions.

It was the strongest and most ill-tempered black goat on the entire farm. According to the farmer who had sold it to him, the creature was extremely combative. None of the other billy goats on the farm could beat it; it was practically the "king of goats" in his pen.

"I spent 2,800 Nan Currency to buy you..."

Cheng Sheng studied the black goat carefully for a while, then slowly placed his hand on its hard, burning-hot back. "You'd better not disappoint me," he murmured to himself.

With all four legs and its mouth bound tightly with rope, the black goat struggled hard, its front hooves striking the floor with a muffled thud.

It raised its neck and glared fiercely at Cheng Sheng. Its eyes were full of savagery and even streaked with blood. They hardly looked like the eyes a herbivore should have.

Cheng Sheng, however, smiled.

This black billy goat was so strong, so perfect that it almost made him forget all about crocodiles.

He withdrew his hand, turned around, and pulled a sharp boning knife from his backpack.

After formally taking his first steps, the sacrificial process had become much simpler, and many steps could be omitted. But to make this sacrifice more perfect, he wanted to do one more thing.