Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Killing these people is undoubtedly the simplest and fastest method.

Chapter 444 The Greatest Human Sacrifice

Did they succeed?

"It's a success..." Bao Ben revealed a bitter smile.

He remembered that it was a fairly good day; the continuous rain hadn't fallen all day.

At that time, most of the villagers were infected with the disease and were very weak, so they could only stay at home.

Originally, there were two doctors in the village, him and his master, but this epidemic originated from evil spirits, so how could they cure it?

His master had gone insane and was imprisoned due to excessive contact with evil spirits, so he could only use things like violet melon and sage to make placebos to treat the villagers.

That day, he went out to pick sage grass and happened to encounter a troop of shogunate soldiers.

They were a small group, and according to them, they were ordered by their patriarch, Kujo Takayuki, to oversee the situation on the island.

Because of the evil spirits causing chaos, the front-line troops of the shogunate army developed a severe fear of battle. If it weren't for this, the situation here would not have attracted the attention of this important figure far away on Narukami Island.

This team has been on Bayun Island for some time now. The first few days were fine, but as the exploration deepened, they started to have headaches, some team members started coughing up blood, had nightmares every night, and even developed rashes on their skin and felt a stinging, damp sensation in their chest.

This is a precursor to an epidemic; many people in the village fell ill and became bedridden after exhibiting these symptoms.

He naively believed that since the shogunate army knew of the true existence of the evil spirits, they would definitely try to suppress them again, or at least try to reduce their influence.

But he later realized he was wrong.

Led by his company, they went to Hisaki Village. Out of his natural trust in the shogunate, he spoke at length about the village's situation, the villagers' disease, and the hardships they faced...

The group of soldiers lied, claiming they already knew the situation and had received orders to come and take them away to Narukami Island for treatment.

Upon hearing the news, the villagers were overjoyed and helped to transport the villagers affected by the epidemic to the boats moored at Wumingzhai.

Although Wenbing's health was also affected at that time, she did not become one of them.

However, he later learned that the so-called treatment was just a scam, and the group's real purpose was to kill the villagers to eliminate any future trouble.

They not only want to kill those infected with the disease, but also those who are not yet greatly affected.

Since the goal is to eliminate future troubles, then everyone must be killed to truly eliminate future troubles.

The team sank the boat in a remote part of the sea, and the boat carrying most of the villagers sank into the sea.

After that, the team returned to the island.

This time, their target is those who are still alive.

However, the soldiers did not get what they wanted.

Some time had passed since they returned to the island. Many villagers who continued to live in the village were influenced by the evil spirits, claiming to hear "divine words," and became somewhat insane.

The most serious case involved the village chief, Wujin.

He was the youngest and strongest warrior in the village.

After the shrine was destroyed, he immediately led people to rebuild it, organized people to buy food from pirates, and sought help from the shogunate and Umijima Island, doing his best to maintain stability in the village.

But things didn't go as planned.

The harder you try, the more desperate you become.

Ultimately, he descended into madness, and his madness became the most complete.

They followed the instructions of the evil spirit and began to sacrifice villagers to the shrine.

It was at this moment that Wen Bing noticed something was wrong and left the village.

As soon as the troop of soldiers returned to the village, they were surrounded by the frenzied villagers. After a chaotic battle, only one man managed to escape.

Before the altar of the shrine, the terrified soldier revealed the truth, which only drove the villagers into a frenzy.

Blood, chaos, madness, the bizarre...

That was the greatest human sacrifice.

After that, the few remaining people in the village became increasingly scarce. To this day, besides him, there is only one other child in the village named Changci.

Although the village chief is still alive, he sits cross-legged in front of the shrine all day long and has been completely assimilated by the evil spirits.

After hearing the whole story, Jiang Bai didn't know what to say.

The story, like the atmosphere on the island, is oppressive, desperate, and suffocating.

Jiang Bai didn't ask the person in front of him whether they had tried to stop him or acted as an accomplice; it was all meaningless now.

The tragedy has already happened and cannot be changed.

The person before me was also deeply affected by the evil spirits and did not have much time left.

However, if there is a chance, we could take the only surviving child away from here.

Looking at the silent Jiang Bai in front of him, Bao Ben suddenly spoke up: "I want to ask you for a favor."

"What kind of help?"

"I would like to ask you to take Nagatsuji with you."

"Aren't you afraid that I'm in league with those shogunate soldiers?"

"I'm afraid, but I have no other choice."

No one has come to Hiki Village for a long time, so how much of what happens here will be known to outsiders?

He chose to tell the young man what had happened not expecting him to do anything, but he was simply unwilling to let what happened in Hishikura be buried along with their deaths!

At least, after his death, there will still be one person in the world who knows the truth about this place.

Jiang Bai looked at him, "Take him away, then what about you?"

Bao Ben gave a wry smile. "As a pharmacist, although I can't cure the epidemic, I am still clear about my own physical condition."

He won't live past this month.

“Changci is still young and hasn’t been affected much. He still has his mother and a future.”

“If he’s willing to come with me, I’ll take him to a safe place.” Jiang Bai sighed. He was indeed too kind.

"Thank you." Bao Ben gave a slight smile.

This was probably the most relaxing day he'd had in a while.

"I'll take you to him." Bao Ben led Jiang Bai out of the room. It wasn't raining outside, but there were occasional flashes of lightning.

“Because of what happened in the village, Nagatsugu’s personality…” Homoto carefully chose his words, “…is not very good…”

"How is it bad?"

"A little snobbish and greedy might not be very likable, but this child isn't a bad person at heart..."

Bao Ben quickly led Jiang Bai to a house. Next to the house was a shrine, and a child was placing clay offerings on the shrine as sacrifices.

"Nagatoshi!" Baoben called out.

"Uncle Baoben, what brings you here? What's this all about?" Changci ran over.

He looked about eight or nine years old, very thin, and because he lived alone with no one to take care of him, his clothes were dirty and his hair was messy.

He had some freckles on his face and wasn't particularly good-looking, but his eyes were very bright.

It's a bright hope for life, completely different from simply breaking even.

Chapter 445 Only by surviving can there be hope

Bao Ben patted his head and said, "This is Brother Jiang Bai, a friend of mine."

"Brother Jiang Bai?" Changci looked at Jiang Bai with some doubt, as he had never seen this person before.

"Changci, from now on you will stay with Brother Jiang Bai. He will take you away from here."

"But...I still need to save money to find my mother..."

Changci didn't really want to leave.

Although the mines were sealed off, crystallized bone marrow could still be mined on the island. This crystallized bone marrow could be used to make weapons that could cut through iron like mud, and it was very expensive.

Once he leaves this place, he will no longer be able to extract bone marrow crystals.

"Where did his mother go?" Jiang Bai asked Bao Ben in confusion.

Could it be that he was already dead, but Bao Ben didn't want to hurt the child's feelings, so he lied to him?

Baoben rested his hand on Nagatsugu's shoulder, gazing into the distance in the direction of Inatsuma.

"If all goes well, we should have reached Mount Sumeru by now..."

"Sumeru? How did we get there? There's a ring of thunderstorms in the sea outside Inazuma..."

Judging from the fact that the principal is guaranteed, this Changci's mother must have left some time ago, but Jiang Bai doesn't quite believe that she really left.

He can take the child away from here, but only away from here. He can leave him on Umijima Island or Narukami Island.

With his duties to fulfill, he really didn't have much energy to describe a bright future to the children.

When the lie is exposed and the child can't accept it, will he have to give the child emotional counseling?

The story of Baoben's mother, Changci, is told slowly.

Changci's mother's identity is not special, but what is special is her physical condition.

After the outbreak of the evil spirit, most of the villagers were affected by it, either falling ill or going mad.

The eldest son's mother was the only exception.

The power of the evil spirit did not corrupt her; instead, it flowed freely within her body. Her mind and body were not greatly affected, but she still experienced persistent fever and occasional bleeding.

If that's all there is to it, it won't affect her life in the village.

Unfortunately, she was targeted by the [Soul God].

She was seen as a sacrifice by the crazed villagers, who tried to offer her to the evil spirits.

She escaped once, but she couldn't escape a second or third time.

Later, Choji's mother found him and entrusted her to the pirate Oni-ryu, asking him to take Choji's mother to Sumeru for treatment.

Although Guilong was a pirate, he did not do anything evil.

Guilong agreed to the request and has already set sail with Nagatsu's mother.

"I see." Jiang Bai looked at the child named Changci, but did not ask where his father had gone.

The situation on this island is so dire that his father must have died long ago.

“Come with me. If you stay here, you won’t live to see the war end.”

Changci looked at Baoben, who nodded to him.

If there were a way, he wouldn't want Nagatoshi to follow a stranger, but for now, he could only leave and consider other options.

Changci is actually 12 years old, but because of food scarcity and lack of nutrition, he looks like an eight or nine-year-old child.

At this age, one has already learned a lot; otherwise, one wouldn't be criticized as materialistic for preserving capital.

"it is good."

He silently went back to his room to pack his things. He had very few belongings: a few changes of clothes, a small photo frame with a family portrait, and the rest were crystallized bone marrow samples he had collected.

He put all these things into the bamboo basket, covered it with the raincoat his mother had made for him, put on a straw hat, took one last look at the home he had lived in for more than ten years, and locked the door.

They will come back once they find their mother and once the war ends.

While Changci was packing his things, Jiang Bai looked at the weakened Baoben and made no attempt to hide his threat:

“Since I’ve already promised to take this child away, I will definitely do it. It’s just that I’ll do it after I find Wenbing. You’d better not lie to me about Wenbing.”

Baoben bowed respectfully to him, saying, "Besides Nagatsugu, I am the only living person left in Hishiki Village. I am also nearing the end of my life, so there is no need to hide anything. I swear to General Raiden that everything I say today is from the heart and contains no lies."

Jiang Bai looked at the sky, which remained overcast, with no sudden thunderstorm expected.

Changci quickly packed his things and came out to say goodbye to Baoben.

With Bao Ben watching them go, their sight disappeared at the edge of the village.