The sage was determined to die.

He talked to himself in a relaxed tone, as if it were none of his business.

"Do you know the principle of 'you reap what you sow'?" He seemed to be asking someone, but also talking to himself. "That person did succeed. He threw in a chicken, and the next day there were many more chickens in the yard."

"The truth will eventually come out. Seeing that he had benefited, others naturally became envious and eager. When autumn came the following year, each household threw whatever they wanted into the river. At first, they did get what they wanted, but as the days went by..."

"More and more things were thrown into the river. Gradually, the clear river water became foul-smelling, and the smell of rotten fish and shrimp was unbearable. The magical river was finally filled with garbage."

As Chu Ze spoke, his pace quickened, as if he had gained some insight. He said to the person at his feet with his eyes tightly closed, "You see, how easily greed can ruin a person."

The pain in Wang Zhixuan's body gradually intensified. His heart and lungs were still alive, and his charred skin was ultimately just a layer of skin that could be repaired. He slowly opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of this unfamiliar man.

His throat felt like it was being burned, and he opened his mouth and let out an "ah," coughing as if it were going through a broken bellows. He said to the person in front of him, "What do you want?"

Chu Ze slowly said, "I have a friend who thinks I'm hypocritical by nature, that I always speak in riddles and that people have to keep guessing."

Wang Zhixuan was already having difficulty speaking, and seeing the person in front of him speaking in such an incomprehensible way, he suddenly felt that speaking was even more difficult for him.

"I'm not one of those fishermen, I'm not a greedy person," Chu Ze sighed, "I'm actually a very cautious person."

Wang Zhixuan lay on the ground, in pain and confused, and made a "hoarse" sound from his throat, saying to him, "Speak plainly."

Chu Ze looked down at him and said, "I want you... to be my sacrifice."

.

Blood kept spilling from Ji Ying's mouth.

He wiped his finger with his fingers and suddenly laughed, "This makes things a bit easier."

He felt a constant, sharp, needle-like pain emanating from his face, chest, and internal organs. He couldn't help but inhale and exhale repeatedly. Despite the intense pain, his face remained calm.

His hand did not tremble at all as he drew a bizarre and glaring symbol on the ground with his blood.

The two people who were still spying looked at his actions with confusion. Ji Bai hesitated for a moment, then asked the person next to him, "What is he doing?"

As a semi-native who had traveled for a long time, the girl seemed to know a lot in front of Ji Bai, a newcomer. As the examiner here, all of Ji Ying's actions seemed very transparent to her.

"It looks like some kind of mystical symbol," she reasonably speculated.

"Could it be some kind of sacrifice?" After saying this, Ji Bai couldn't help but glance at the old tortoise whose body was not intact, and said, "Is this the only sacrifice? That's too hasty."

The girl paused for a moment, then suddenly said to Ji Bai, "After I came here, I heard a story."

Ji Bai didn't understand why she suddenly brought this up, but still asked, "What story?"

"That happened a long time ago, and I don't remember the specifics very well," the girl said. "But I do remember that it was a story about villagers performing a human sacrifice."

"At first they wanted more fish, so they slaughtered cattle and sheep as sacrifices."

"But one day, a fisherman was overcome by greed. He stole someone else's child and threw him into the river on the autumn solstice..."