Chapter 5: The Sacrifice Begins
Jade Island.
By the seaside, towering waves scoured the sands, their momentum vast and terrifying.
Fang Qing’s mood was just like this sea—surging and turbulent—as he recalled the intelligence he had previously obtained from Ma Old Three.
“Very good fate… studying the classics, family traditions?”
“Qi-gathering method… immortals?”
Clue after clue connected in his mind, forming a conjecture: “For the Luo family to dominate a region, there are likely cultivators within the household… it’s just that their power isn’t comparable to the Black Moth Sect. When others spread plague within their sphere of influence, they can only watch helplessly… but to mortals like us, they are still a colossal force.”
“Then the ‘immortal’ our Fang family’s Immortal Ancestor encountered a hundred years ago—could that person have been surnamed Luo?”
“The Luo family let my Fang family obtain a qi-gathering method, allowing us to receive silver every year, then open schools to enlighten children and foster literary customs… and afterward gather qi for their family… were they devouring my family’s fate, or our literary qi?”
At this thought, a chill ran down his spine.
To the Luo family, the Fang family was simply livestock raised for a hundred years! “No wonder my Fang family, though poor, could have children who all knew how to read—so that was the reason!”
Fang Qing resolved yet another doubt in his heart.
By common sense, even if a clan had income from a qi-gathering method, it would be impossible to pour it all into education.
“If that’s the case… then the Black Moth Sect disciples spreading moth-plague actually disrupted the Luo family’s plan instead. Presumably, the Luo family is also somewhat overwhelmed right now;
otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent only Ma Old Three, a mere mortal, to deal with us…”
“But then again, are the cultivators of Ancient Shu all this insidious? One scheme lasting a hundred years—after the plan collapsed, even if my Fang family were reduced to just a couple of stragglers, they would still relentlessly investigate… is it to silence witnesses and eliminate hidden dangers? Or to continue raising pigs?”
“Compared to that, Jade Island—where everything is laid out in the open—can practically be called ‘simple and honest folk customs.’”
Fang Qing’s expression was solemn: “That side of Ancient Shu… can’t be visited for now.”
The Luo family had cultivators!
After Ma Old Three’s death, they would surely heighten their vigilance!
And his current strength was still insufficient!
“If I want to deal with cultivators over there, at the very least I need magical power, right?”
“A hundred years of grudges—what my Fang family lost was far more than just a few hundred wisps of ‘Moonflow Radiance’… there must have been something even more important!”
Fang Qing clenched his fists. Being kept like livestock for a hundred years—what a hatred that was!
One day, he would certainly uncover the truth and repay it all in kind!
“The only good news is that my old uncle wasn’t caught last time… hopefully good fortune will keep him safe.”
Fang Qing sighed and returned to Dahua Fishing Village.
……
As soon as he reached the village entrance, several young men came up to meet him.
The leader was tall and dark-skinned.
Fang Qing recognized them—local hooligans from the village. The leader was called ‘Ruan Seven.’
“Fang Qing… you left, so why did you come back?”
When Ruan Seven saw Fang Qing, his expression looked rather unpleasant.
“Naturally because I couldn’t stand seeing you bully orphans and widowed elders…” Fang Qing shook his head. Over these three months, he had incidentally heard quite a bit of news in the fishing village.
For example, every year during the ‘Sea Dragon King’s Birthday,’ each household had quotas and obligations.
Without him, Old Man Zha’s family had no idea what price they would have to pay.
They might even have been forced into ruin—this was also a kind of devouring an entire household.
“Hmph! I’ll be waiting for you to die on Sea Dragon Reef!”
Ruan Seven’s eyes sharpened. He seemed ready to make a move, yet held back by something, merely sneering coldly.
Fang Qing brushed past him and arrived at Old Man Zha’s home.
“Young fellow, these days you were out—did you investigate everything clearly? Other families can’t possibly have conditions as good as this old man’s.”
Old Man Zha held his copper-mouthed smoking pipe, his face full of hopeful smiles, showing not the slightest sign of being driven to a dead end.
‘This old man… is quite steady.’
Fang Qing laughed inwardly: ‘If I clapped my hands now and said I was done playing, I wonder if he’d spit blood?’
However, the man had, after all, ‘saved’ him and formed a good karmic connection, so he definitely couldn’t do that.
“Of course.”
He nodded.
“Excellent. This old man will take you to register your household right away.”
A trace of a smile appeared on Old Man Zha’s face as he knocked his pipe bowl against the bluestone slab beneath him. “This old man will take care of everything—rest assured.”
He planned to register Fang Qing under his own household, so that Fang Qing contributing effort during the Sea Dragon King’s Birthday would be entirely proper and justified.
Yes—so-called ‘Treasure Fish’ had been nothing more than a pretext thrown out by Old Man Zha from the start.
What he truly hoped for was simply for Fang Qing to replace his family in performing the sacrifice—that alone would be enough.
If they obtained a Treasure Fish, it would be an unexpected joy;
if not, there would be no real regret.
With a Treasure Fish, Zhu’er might have a fallback after the Immortal Opportunity Assembly—but if the family collapsed before the Immortal Opportunity Assembly, then everything would be lost!
“Mm.”
Fang Qing said nothing more, merely nodding lightly.
Old Man Zha turned and left, yet after turning his back, his eyes dimmed abruptly, as if tinged with guilt.
……
“Raise the sails… welcome the Dragon King!”
On the day of the Sea Dragon King’s Birthday.
Accompanied by the hoarse yet sonorous cry of an old fisherman, dozens of small boats set out from Dahua Fishing Village.
Fang Qing wore a straw rain cape, his face smeared with oil paint, and an unknown feather stuck into his hair. He complained inwardly: ‘This getup… really is something.’
But at this moment, he stood with a serious expression, gazing at the ‘sacrificial offerings’ beside him.
Among these offerings were wine and meat—rare delicacies for fishermen. The dark wine jars faintly exuded a medicinal fragrance from their surfaces.
What surprised him even more was that after sailing several nautical miles, waves of fishing boats arrived one after another, converging like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, forming a massive fleet.
“This Sea Dragon King’s Birthday… just how many people are involved?”
Seeing this, Fang Qing couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.
“The nearby Black Fish Village, Upper Red Village, Lower Red Village… all came.”
“Heh heh… youngster with no experience. This ‘Sea Dragon King’s Birthday’ is a celebration for our entire Jade Island… just Sea Dragon Reef alone has over a hundred locations.”
Beside him, a fisherman with thin lips and dark skin sneered.
Fang Qing recognized him—he seemed to be one of the hooligans who had followed behind Ruan Seven back then.
“Over a hundred Sea Dragon Reefs?”
He marveled inwardly. “This scale… truly frightening. Jade Island is quite large… though thinking about it, it’s normal. It’s said that among ordinary people, the proportion with immortal affinity is almost one in a thousand—how many suitable children can a single village have?”
Sea Dragon Reef!
From afar, the reef looked like a gigantic turtle lying prone, its limbs stretched out, with excellent docking harbors formed between its claws.
At this moment, fishing boats docked one after another. The many fishermen formed a long, winding line, converging toward the center of the island.
‘This island isn’t small either…’
Fang Qing carried the wine steadily, his steps firm.
Most fishermen had practiced the Thousand-Catties Drop—this was basic training.
Everyone moved swiftly, arriving at the center of the island, where a lake lay before them. Evening clouds filled the sky, ripples shimmered, and golden light undulated like liquid.
“We’re here… Coiling Dragon Pool!”
“The sacrifice… begins!”
Several old fishermen shouted as the crowd began placing offerings, building fire pits and sacrificial platforms…
Fang Qing noticed that everyone moved with extreme speed, as if afraid of missing the timing and not being able to flee in time.
‘At night… there truly is great terror!’
He had no mind to admire the scenery, silently calculating instead.
Sure enough, once the sacrifice ended, the crowd fled impatiently, leaving behind only several dozen strongmen guarding the offerings, staring at one another in dismay.
In Fang Qing’s eyes, rather than guards, they looked more like the true ‘offerings’!
After all, in ancient times, human sacrifice had been entirely normal—commonly known as ‘burying the living’ or ‘human pillars,’ and the like…
Night fell heavy.
The surrounding darkness was like a monstrous beast opening its blood-filled maw, ready to devour at any moment.
Seeing this, Fang Qing silently made up his mind and walked a few steps away.
“Wait… what are you doing?”
A hooligan from the same boat had been watching Fang Qing closely. Seeing him leave, he immediately shouted.
“Just walking around… anyway, after nightfall no boats can leave Sea Dragon Reef—this is an iron rule… and as long as the offerings don’t leave the range of Coiling Dragon Pool, it’s fine, right?”
Fang Qing didn’t stop. He quickly disappeared into the darkness.
On the altar, the massive torches flickered, illuminating the speaking hooligan’s face like that of a malevolent ghost.
His face twitched a few times as he sneered coldly: “As expected of an outsider. Leaving Coiling Dragon Pool during the sacrifice… you’ll only die even more miserably!”
The strongmen from other villages said nothing, merely edging a little closer to the torches.
The night… grew even deeper.
One stick of incense passed, a short while, half an hour…
Rustle!
Rustle!
Suddenly, rustling sounds came from all directions, as if some gigantic creature were crushing sand and grass beneath it, making the surrounding shrubs emit cries of strain.
“It’s… it’s coming.”
On the altar, all the strongmen’s faces turned deathly pale. They might not recognize the owner of that sound, but from the rustling alone they could already imagine just what kind of colossal being was wandering and approaching…
Closer, closer still…
Finally…
In a state close to suffocation, the hooligan saw two points of blood-red, bewitching light rapidly enlarging—like two red lanterns in the darkness!
Hiss hiss!
“Ah!!”
……
“N-no… don’t!”
“Sea Dragon King… spare us!”
“We have always faithfully offered, offered…”
On another desolate island, countless strongmen meant as offerings screamed and fled, yet could not escape being swallowed by a massive maw.
If viewed from the clouds above, one would see that it was actually a giant python, its girth thicker than a water bucket.
It devoured all the strongmen, then swept up the wine jars meant as offerings with a flick of its tail, drinking them like a whirlwind. Its movements grew even more unrestrained and intoxicated as it lazily crawled up a slope, beginning to inhale and exhale toward the bright moon in the sky.
Wisps of purple mist coiled around the blue serpent’s body, making it appear increasingly dreamlike and illusory.
“Good! This snake has already learned to breathe in and out spiritual impetus. It has finally entered a rank and become a demonic beast!”
Above the clouds, a massive green leaf hovered in midair.
At the tip of the leaf stood a young man in blue robes, laughing loudly at the sight. “Out of one hundred and eight reefs, our location has succeeded. After returning, there should be quite a few merit rewards… if Little Blue performs well and can stimulate a trace of flood-dragon bloodline within its body, becoming a second-rank demonic beast, then perhaps your and my hopes of Foundation Establishment will rest on it…”
“Senior Brother Ye…”
Behind the blue-robed youth stood another young disciple, his face showing reluctance. “Year after year of blood sacrifice—just to raise this group of sea snakes with flood-dragon bloodlines?”