Chapter 114: The Sacrificial Ceremony

Throughout that day of leisure, Yan Luo fully exercised his acting skills, faithfully embodying the role of Jerry. He navigated a series of interactions: with his younger sister Jessica, who harbored ambiguous, worshipful feelings toward her brother; with Brenda, the cold and glamorous redhead desperate to win back her ex-boyfriend; and with Katherine, whose competitive spirit burned to keep her fiancé.

For dinner, they had ingredients flown in by plane two days prior and kept in a refrigerator. Yan Luo ate foie gras, Almas caviar, and white truffle toast, feeling that these so-called "top European ingredients" were not even as tasty as a Chinese street-style *jianbing guozi*. Perhaps this was just the lot of a pauper.

The next day, the notification for the sacrificial ceremony was delivered. The entire village was permeated with a mix of excitement and solemnity, swirling with chaotic fervor. Yan Luo walked around the village, absorbing a significant amount of human emotion.

When night fell, he returned to his hut. The grass-thatched dwelling was partitioned into several rooms, with Yan Luo and the three women each occupying one. The village had no electricity, and there seemed to be some peculiar custom prohibiting the lighting of fires at night. In the pitch-black darkness, Yan Luo lay on a wooden bed covered with furs, pondering the ritual for the so-called "Evil Spirit" set for the following day.

The black elder intended to help Jerry obtain the "power of the Evil Spirit." Though he didn't know what it was, it sounded formidable. However, he was currently a modulator operating under a programmed disguise; if the power of an evil spirit were truly invoked, could it be channeled into him? Would his strength be enhanced? Could he take it with him when he left? Furthermore, who had taken the voodoo doll?

"I suppose I will find out about all of this tomorrow."

Hour by hour, time crept by. In an environment fraught with danger, it was impossible for Yan Luo to truly fall asleep. He kept his eyes closed to rest while remaining vigilant. Around 3:00 AM, he heard slight movements and noises. Opening his eyes just a crack, he could discern the silhouette of a girl.

"Who is it?"

In the absolute darkness, it was impossible to identify her. Yan Luo braced himself as the girl's figure approached his bedside. In the pitch blackness, a faint glimmer shone—it was the girl's eyes! She looked down at Yan Luo on the bed, her expression flickering between tenderness and coldness. She bit her lip, raised her hand, then lowered it. Her eyes shifted again from gentle to cruel, then back to gentle. She let out a soft, melancholic sigh in the darkness, and her gaze returned to tenderness.

Yan Luo: "..."

The figure quietly retreated. The night gradually passed.

Early the next morning, as Yan Luo lay with his eyes closed, he felt a slight tickle on his nose. Opening his eyes, he saw his sister, Jessica. The lovely girl was leaning over the bedside, teasing his nostrils with a strand of her golden hair.

"Sister."

Yan Luo immediately stepped back into character, offering his "sister" a perfect, slightly doting smile that belonged to a brother.

"Jerry!"

The two other beautiful women rushed over, grabbing his arms from the left and right.

"Jerry is mine. Let go!"

"You're the one who should let go..."

The morning passed happily and noisily amidst the bickering and playfulness of the two women.

By the afternoon, the village began its grand celebration. The voodoo cult worshipped spirits, but because the sect was perceived as bloody and malevolent, many considered their deity an "Evil God"—calling it a god might be an exaggeration, but it was certainly an evil spirit. As for the name of the evil spirit worshipped by this tribe, it was impossible to translate, as it was a local indigenous language—tortuous and strange.

Massive piles of wood were ignited throughout the village, forming numerous bonfires. Black men, women, and even children gathered in the plaza. The black elder stood beneath the totem in the center of the village square, uttering a long, unintelligible speech in his native tongue. He then chanted prayers to the evil spirit with a solemn expression. At that moment, an inexplicable force seemed to be stirred between heaven and earth; a massive bank of black clouds appeared in the previously clear sky, obscuring the sun.

A howling gale swept through the village, causing the bonfires to flicker violently. The black elder, who seemed deeply connected to the Hoffman family, wore black robes and leaned on his snake-headed staff while standing on an earthen platform beneath the totem. His face, smeared with oil paint, was grave. He shouted a few times, and several people waiting nearby stepped forward.

Six black men, divided into three queues, each carried a carcass on thick branches. The first was a zebra with black and white stripes, its four hooves tied tightly to the branch, hanging upside down. The middle two men carried a wild buffalo, and the final two carried a humanoid primate: a gorilla.

A tall black man, wearing only a grass skirt and revealing iron-like muscles, walked to the platform. He held a large axe in his left hand and a knife in his right, with a necklace made of human finger bones draped around his neck. Judging by his attire, he was likely the tribe's butcher or executioner. His temperament was fierce, and even his eyes were bloodshot, harboring a deep-seated, bloodthirsty murderous intent.

The three poor animals, serving as "sacrifices," were placed on the ground before the totem. The executioner walked to the zebra, set aside his dark blade, and raised the axe with both hands. His muscles bulged, and with a shrill, piercing cry, he severed the zebra's head with a single blow!

The blood gushing from the neck sprayed the executioner, and more spilled onto the ground, quickly staining the dirt a dark red.

The other two animals watched this scene. Large teardrops rolled from the buffalo's eyes, and the gorilla, also tied up, kept bowing its head to the ground as if begging for mercy. But a cruel smile played on the executioner's lips, and he swung the axe toward the buffalo's neck.

The first blow only cut through skin and flesh. The buffalo, in pain, struggled violently, snapping the ropes, but the second blow followed immediately, striking the open wound on its neck. Like a lumberjack felling a tree, the executioner struck five more times, decapitating the buffalo. Splattered flesh and steaming red blood turned him into a blood-soaked figure. Then, the dark red silhouette turned toward the gorilla.

Having decapitated two sacrifices, the axe blade had grown dull. The executioner tossed it aside and used his long knife to stab the gorilla in the chest. The blade sank in, leaving only the hilt visible, pinning the ape to the ground!

This scene, filled with savage, brutal energy, terrified the three women watching the celebration from beside a bonfire. Jessica curled directly into Yan Luo's arms, while Brenda and Katherine pressed tightly against him from either side. Under the dim, cloud-shrouded light, the wind began to intensify. Then, a small whirlwind appeared on the sacrificial plaza, sweeping over the three carcasses. A strange force stripped all the blood from the sacrifices!

The massive amount of blood remaining in the corpses, the blood spilled on the dirt, and even the blood staining the executioner—all of it was peeled away and gathered into the whirlwind, staining it a deep, vivid crimson.

*Whoosh!*

The blood-red tornado slammed into the totem and then, like a bird returning to the forest, spiraled into it. The skull embedded at the top of the wooden humanoid totem instantly turned from a sickly white to a blood-red, dripping with the color of fresh gore!

"Brother, I'm scared."

Jessica’s body trembled, and Katherine and Brenda were also chattering their teeth. Although all three women carried knives, pistols, and other weapons, the brutality and evil of this scene exceeded the limits of a normal person's endurance.

"Hm?"

Yan Luo did not detect any intense emotions related to fear.

Nevertheless, he played the role of Jerry perfectly:

"Don't worry, I'm here. Brother will protect you, and Katherine and Brenda, too."

He said this with deep affection. Just then, the program sent a notification:

"You have come into contact with one of the village's secrets: The Evil Spirit. You have encountered three of the village's secrets. The main quest has been updated: Survive the sacrifice ceremony of the Evil Spirit."