My Demon Friends-Chapter 702 - 663 Sacrifice

July 15th by the Gregorian calendar, the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, was, many years ago, a grand sacrificial day for the small mountain village. However, few people probably remembered it now.

The roadside vegetation glistened with dew; their passage had unwittingly destroyed countless spiders' webs, spun painstakingly through the night. Despite the peak of summer, the mountain mornings were always cool, the sunlight still gentle. A few humans and demons stood atop a small hillock, gazing at the distant Evil God Temple.

This was a rare open-air temple, secluded and far from the village, backed by a large mountain. Its most striking features were the huge stone sacrificial altar and the freshly cleaned statue.

Zheng Zhilan still remembered when she first met him.

It was during a ritual sacrifice. Back then, people still worshipped the Evil God. She was very young, taken to witness the sacrifice for the first time. That day, the adults knelt and burned incense before a severely distorted, even somewhat comical stone statue of a monster in the small temple. But in her eyes, a huge and majestic monster stood on the hillside behind the temple. Its limbs were powerful, its claws sharp as knives. It stood with its wings folded, its gigantic head lowered, watching the mortals who offered it sacrifices.

His expression was so solemn, as if he were attending some grand ritual, that she suddenly felt this was an extremely serious affair.

Yet, the people participating in the sacrifice that day numbered fewer than a dozen.

Later, times changed swiftly. The village went from having only one color TV to every household owning numerous electronic devices. The elderly gradually passed away, adults who went to work in the cities never returned, and the youth no longer believed in these "Lustful Temples and Evil Sacrifices." The temple's door lock rusted from neglect. It was opened only once a year, and each time, only a young girl would enter alone to worship and pray.

Until a mudslide from the highest mountain rushed down, destroying half the village.

Only she remained.

Zheng Zhilan used to think that perhaps the world would continue in this direction: everyone heading to the city, the small mountain village completely forgotten, never to be rediscovered. She imagined that after some years, even her uncles would forget the way up the mountain, and her life with Qinghe and the Evil God would continue forever.

「...」

The girl in plain blue clothing knelt quietly before the sacrificial altar, alone, head bowed, praying softly.

She had been busy since yesterday preparing for the sacrifice, selecting twenty sheep. She had woken up early this morning to clear all the weeds in the temple and dust the statue. Now was the time for prayer.

The other humans and demons stood at a distance watching. Most of them were respectful and quiet; even His Royal Highness, the Elm King, who was a Demon King, kept silent. Only the old monster was truly irritating.

"The sixth of June, the crops do bloom...

"Ah, spring arrives when willows sprout anew...

"Hey, what do you all think—"

Huai Xu turned to look at them and stopped singing. "The Evil God is truly amazing, eating only this one meal a year. Can he really stand it?"

Baozi quietly turned to glance at him.

Her previous interactions with Brother Huai Xu had been scarce, mostly just sharing occasional meals where everyone was a freeloader. Theirs was a superficial acquaintance—as they say, a friendship built on scrounged meals is as tasteless as plain water—so they didn't know each other well. She only knew Brother Huai Xu was incredibly handsome, the object of Cotton Swab's nightly fantasies. But after this deeper interaction, she suddenly felt... is there something a bit off with this guy?

She didn't dare voice her thoughts, only pondering them silently.

Zhou Li shot Huai Xu a look and muttered softly, "This shows that Lord Evil God is a demon who has transcended lowly desires, unlike certain other demons who only think about eating all day long."

Huai Xu frowned upon hearing this.

His Royal Highness, the Elm King, also furrowed his brows.

"Except for Your Highness!" Zhou Li quickly added.

"Phew..."

His Royal Highness, the Elm King, relaxed.

The Great Devil King's brow furrowed even more deeply.

Baozi sneaked another glance at Brother Nan, pondering the term 'Your Highness.'

"HAAAH..."

The old monster yawned again, casually plucked a small flower from nearby, and began chewing on it. "Is it always this long?" he said impatiently. "Do they have that much to say?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"You're so annoying," Zhou Li said.

"How am I annoying?" Huai Xu retorted.

"Just be quiet."

"He's not a Deity; he's just a demon, like me," Huai Xu said, shaking his head. PTOO! He spat out the flower petals. "Your girlfriend is still standing right here, you know."

"..." Zhou Li glanced at him. "What did it taste like?"

"Bitter. Not good."

"Just stop talking."

"Oh..."

The girl kneeling in the temple was so devout. Before her, the Evil God, his enormous head hanging low, also looked solemn. His blood-red eyes gazed intensely at the slender girl, who seemed so small compared to his massive head, as if he could swallow her in a single bite.

The Evil God was also unusually silent.

Zhou Li watched intently.

The world around them was a blur; the only clear sight in the distance was the large figure and the small one, as if they were the center of the universe.

The girl's voice carried on the wind, "If you wish to leave, then please go. There's no need to keep watch here. We are all very grateful to you..."

That was her last sentence.

The girl stood up, bowed, and retreated.

CREAK...

The old temple doors slowly closed.

The girl turned to face the closed doors. She stood there for a long moment before finally turning and walking away down the narrow path.

"Is it over?" the old monster quickly asked her.

"Yes," Miss Zheng nodded gently.

The old monster blinked, gazing at the distant Evil God. "He hasn't eaten the sheep yet. When will he eat?"

Miss Zheng took the reins of her mount, on which Zhou Li was seated. She didn't feel much like talking right then, but she still answered softly as they walked back, "I don't know. We are not in a position to decide when Lord Evil God enjoys the offerings. Generally, he partakes of them at night."

"At night? Is he afraid of being seen?" The old monster's eyes darted around. "Well, if I just stood here and didn't leave, kept watching him, would he be too embarrassed to eat?"

"..."

「Back in the village.」

Miss Zheng sat under the eaves, a pear in her hand, quietly peeling it.

Because she wasn't very skilled at it, her expression was particularly serious.

The peel hung in a long, unbroken spiral.

When she finished, she tossed the single, long strip of peel to a member of the Dog Gang. Holding the now smooth pear, she handed it to Zhou Li.

"Thank you."

"Mhm."

Miss Zheng picked up another pear and continued peeling.

Several other mouths were already queuing up nearby.

Meanwhile, His Royal Highness, the Elm King, had found a jump rope and started skipping again. She would stop every few jumps to check if the number on the small screen on the handle was correct, then speed up and try again. It seemed she was less interested in the exercise of skipping itself and more in the smart jump rope.

Lord Dumpling, who was nearby, had already been hit by the rope several times. Miraculously, neither His Royal Highness, the Elm King, nor Lord Dumpling seemed to mind at all.

Perhaps this explained why Lord Dumpling was so resilient.

"When are you all heading down the mountain?" Miss Zheng asked.

"The day after tomorrow morning, I think," Zhou Li replied.

"The day after tomorrow, huh…"

"Yeah, because my younger brother is back," Zhou Li said quietly. "He keeps pestering me to play ball with him."

"Oh."

"We'll come back before school starts," Zhou Li smiled. "If you ever have business in Yan City, or are just passing through, you can come find us. We can all go get skewers."

"Okay."

Miss Zheng finished peeling another pear and handed it to Huai Xu, who was next to Zhou Li.

Little Cousin was next in line after Huai Xu. She waited patiently, not at all anxious, seemingly watching Brother Nan skip rope, but actually eavesdropping on the conversation between her cousin and Miss Zheng.

She was very disappointed about having to leave the morning after next. Days like these—filled with endless desserts, cold drinks, unlimited ice cream, and fruit peeled for her by someone else—might only come around again in her next lifetime. It was just a pity she was only a Baozi, with no power to change anything.