The Second Sacrifice

The Black Book described how, during a sacrifice, placing the offering in a state of fear, pain, hatred, despair, or similar emotions would often produce better results.

It was like sprinkling MSG, pepper, salt, and other seasonings on a dish before serving it, making it taste even better.

Now, Cheng Sheng was the "chef" preparing to carry out that final step.

Cheng Sheng walked over to the male black goat with a boning knife, considering where to cut.

The placement mattered: he had to make the goat feel pain without killing it in just a few strokes.

After a moment's thought, Cheng Sheng set the boning knife against the sinew of the goat's front leg and drove the tip in hard-

The bound black goat's whole body jerked violently upward in response!

The force of the impact made Cheng Sheng stagger violently, nearly sending the knife flying from his hand. He quickly went with the motion and slashed downward...

"Kh-"

Scalding fresh blood flowed out. The black goat, its mouth bound shut, made a muffled sound deep in its throat, like phlegm rattling, then began struggling madly.

"Phew..."

Cheng Sheng stepped back twice and let the goat thrash.

He had thought it would stop on its own once it had struggled for a while and run out of strength. Instead, the farm's "king of the rams" struggled more and more violently, even moving out of its original position and shifting a considerable distance to the side.

"Can't let the offering get away before the sacrifice even starts."

Cheng Sheng thought for a moment, then rushed forward in a few strides. Gritting his teeth, he raised the knife and stabbed it viciously into the black goat's belly!

It felt as though the blade first met a layer of tough leather, then pierced it, leaving nothing but softness beneath...

Cheng Sheng struck several times in quick succession. Blood splashed onto his face as he pulled the knife out.

His heart had begun racing at some point.

Cheng Sheng had killed chickens and fish, but this was his first time facing a living creature this large.

Beneath the tension and trembling, there also seemed to be a faint, inexplicable, suppressed... excitement.

Cheng Sheng wiped his face hard, the goat's pungent, gamey smell filling his nose and mouth.

After he had stabbed it several times, the male black goat on the floor struggled like mad. Cheng Sheng paid it no mind, quickly picked up a rag, dipped it in the freshly spilled, still-warm black goat blood covering the floor, and began drawing the sacrificial design.

From time to time, he picked up the knife and gave the goat a few more stabs, both to keep it in pain and to replenish the blood needed to draw the array.

By the time he finished drawing the entire array, the male black goat on the floor had stopped struggling. The massive loss of blood had gradually drained its strength.

When Cheng Sheng dragged it to the center of the array, the male black goat was still alive-its beautiful fleece had hardened into clumps with blood and dust, its chest and belly rose and fell, and it kept making a sound like a leaky bellows...

It was unusually quiet, as though it knew the death that awaited it.

Yet its eyes were bloodshot, staring fixedly at Cheng Sheng.

Cheng Sheng met its gaze, then walked to the edge of the array, took a deep breath, and began to sense the Black Book and recite the incantation.

"Vo't..."

As one strange syllable after another left his mouth, some of the dust on the floor rose of its own accord, and the atmosphere in the classroom gradually turned gloomy and eerie...

"Dark Sacrifice!"

When he shouted the final words of the incantation, Cheng Sheng's body swayed a couple of times, somewhat "weakly," but at least he did not fall.

Then the entire classroom suddenly fell silent.

The curtains billowing behind him stopped moving, every stray noise vanished, and the setting sun shone in obliquely through the windows opposite. The eeriness faded, and everything was so tranquil that it felt almost cozy.

"What's going on?"

Cheng Sheng looked at the sacrificial male black goat, unchanged in the center of the array before him, suddenly unsure what to make of the situation. "Could it have failed?"

He frowned.

Then, just as he lowered his head to consider which step had gone wrong...

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."

A strange, chilling sound suddenly rang out!

Cheng Sheng jerked his head up, and the next second his pupils abruptly contracted-

The black goat, which had been lying quietly in the center of the array a short distance away, had actually risen to its feet.

The ropes fell from its body on their own, and a large puddle of asphalt-like blackness lay beneath its feet.

It looked at Cheng Sheng, its neck tilting to the side little by little, and then...

A bizarre, distinctly human smile appeared on its face.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."

The strange laughter Cheng Sheng had heard earlier, like chattering teeth, was coming from deep in the black goat's throat.

The black goat walked toward Cheng Sheng as it laughed. Its eyes had turned completely red at some point, but not quite like the bloodshot eyes from before. This time, the red was utterly clear and pure, like agate without a trace of impurity.

Even though Cheng Sheng had already been through a sacrifice once, the sight before him still made his scalp tingle.

He instinctively tried to retreat, but his body seemed to be under the control of some inexplicable force, unable to move at all.

Salt! The salt is in the backpack!

Just then, the black goat, which had been approaching Cheng Sheng step by step, stopped.

The bizarre smile vanished from its face, replaced by terror.

The pungent smell of sulfur permeating the air changed as well. An intensely cloying scent, like an overripe, slightly rotten apple, spread throughout the classroom.

"Aaah-!"

The black goat let out a humanlike scream of terror, and its entire body was swiftly dragged backward by something... Finally, it sank into the large black puddle in the center of the array and disappeared.

"Huff... huff..."

Cheng Sheng's body returned to normal, and he drew great gulps of air.

Before he could catch his breath, he heard that familiar, coquettish laughter by his ear again, making his face and ears burn.

He raised his head, but the next second, a violent force surged out from within him!

"Boom!"

Cheng Sheng's eyes flew wide open, and the veins near his temples bulged.

If the last time had been an icy, stabbing sensation, like countless ice picks piercing his bone marrow, this time it was countless pairs of tongs heated red-hot, constantly churning inside him.

He felt the muscles all over his body tearing, melting, and reforming at a furious pace... It was as though a ram were charging madly inside his chest.

"Thump! Thump, thump! Thump, thump, thump!!"

His heart was already beating beyond its normal limit, pumping out a vast amount of blood every second...

Perhaps five minutes?

Or half an hour.

All the pain faded.

Drenched in sweat, Cheng Sheng knelt on one knee with both hands braced against the floor, panting for breath.

This time, it was truly over.

Cheng Sheng raised his head and looked at the normally peaceful scene before him. Without stopping to check himself, he gave the classroom a quick cleanup, then hurried away.

However, what he did not notice was-

Just as he left the abandoned building, a door in a classroom on the third floor of the teaching building suddenly opened without a sound.

Through the pitch-black crack in the door, something seemed to be hiding in the darkness, secretly watching his retreating figure...

"Splash-"

Warm water poured down from the showerhead.

As usual, he changed clothes and took a shower.

After his shower, Cheng Sheng dried himself off, but instead of hurrying to get dressed, he carefully examined himself in the bathroom mirror.