Qin Ci glanced at the sky outside the tent, then looked at the silent group inside, and said, "It's normal that we can't get anything out of the people in the painting, but we still need to be careful in the future. If we 'awaken' them, we might suffer a backlash. I think we have to find a way to continue searching for the remaining sacrificial items ourselves. Before that, we need to figure out how to get through tonight. Fortunately, we have twelve people now, so even if we divide them into groups of three, we can distribute them evenly and there won't be any people who don't meet the requirements."
Ke Xun looked at him: "I think that's actually more dangerous. If we can divide them evenly in groups of three, doesn't that mean that every group could be chosen by that huge black shadow?"
Qin Ci lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment.
"I think," Sha Liu interjected in a hoarse voice, "the key to self-preservation might lie in the sacrificial items we found today. With these sacrificial items, will we be able to avoid being chosen by that black shadow?"
Everyone else's eyes lit up at this.
"That must be it!" Zhou Bin jumped up, "If we take the sacrificial items into the tent, we'll definitely be protected!"
"Then let's divide the groups and the sacrificial items," Qin Ci said.
Zhou Bin's eyes sharpened: "The other meats in the Five Tribute Meat were found by everyone together, so I have no objection to dividing them. But I got the human flesh, and I needed your help, but none of you were willing to help; you all just watched from afar. So the human flesh is mine. Zhao Dan and I are in a group, and you can fill the last spot with anyone."
"I—please add me! Can I be in your group? Please!" Ma Zhenhua knelt down in front of Zhou Bin with a thud.
"Then it's you." Zhou Bin said expressionlessly.
Li Ziling, who had been watching with a pale face, suddenly pulled Sha Liu: "We found the Five Wisdom Dew, so it naturally belongs to us," then looked at Mu Yiran, "Little brother, please be in our group. That way, we'll have three people."
Wei Dong stared in disbelief.
"You've got quite the nerve, girl," Ke Xun chuckled. "Did 'you' find the Five Wisdom Dew? Then let me ask you, which of those earthenware jars contains the large incense stick, which contains the small incense stick, which contains male semen, and which contains phlegm and snot? If you can answer all of them correctly, you can take all of the Five Wisdom Dew without a second thought."
Li Ziling bit her lip and secretly tugged at the willow branch next to her.
Sha Liu said awkwardly, "Anyway, there are quite a few jars, let's divide them up."
Li Ziling was anxious, "It's not enough to share at all, we only got a little bit of blood!"
Sha Liu fell silent. Li Ziling frowned, stared at Ke Xun for a while, and said with a nasal tone, "Then can you tell what's in each of those jars?"
Ke Xun crossed his arms and slightly raised the corners of his lips, "What, if I can tell, you can take all five jars?"
"Why should you take them all?" Seeing Ke Xun's expression, Li Ziling was unsure if he could really tell. "Sha Liu and I got the female blood, you can't take that. The other four types are also plentiful, why can't we share some?"
"Beautiful lady, where does your self-righteous confidence come from?" Wei Dong couldn't help but interject, "Does everyone in the world have to give way to you?"
"Men should give way to women," Li Ziling pouted, her voice hoarse and soft, looking pitifully at Mu Yiran, then at the other men. "Besides, I'm not forcing anyone. There are plenty of those four kinds of Huilu, why can't we share some?"
Wei Dong laughed in exasperation: "You have a good idea, beautiful lady. We found the other four kinds, and since there's a lot, we can share them with you. The last one is what you found, and since there's a small amount, you can't share it with us. Can I ask you which teacher taught you moral education in elementary school?"
"It's not that I don't want to share with you, it's just that there's really very little," Li Ziling started to cry. "We searched the whole village, and there was only one girl who had just finished her period. The blood wasn't readily available either; it was the strip of cloth she was wearing when she had her period that we got, which hadn't been washed yet. It was only a tiny drop, and it was dry. How are we supposed to share that?"
Wei Dong was a little embarrassed when the topic of women came up, and he couldn't say anything more for a moment, so he could only look at Ke Xun.
Ke Xun withdrew his gaze from Mu Yiran's face and calmly said, "Since we can't divide it, then let's not. You can each take half of the remaining four types yourselves."
Wei Dong snorted, "They've collected them all, but we're four short one. Who knows if it'll even be useful?"
"If one type is useless, then the others are useless too," Ke Xun said calmly. "After all, we haven't collected all the required offerings yet. In terms of death, anyone could be in danger." After
Ke Xun finished speaking, he turned to the others: "Who wants to team up with me?"
No one answered. Clearly, everyone still believed that the two of them, who only possessed the four types of Wisdom Dew, were in greater danger of death than the others.
Ke Xun smiled: "Anyway, each tent can only have three people. If no one teams up with me, each tent will have one extra person. We're not in a hurry. We'll go back to the small tent first. You can discuss it yourselves, and one person can come over whenever you've decided. Dongzi, let's go."
With that, he turned and left the large tent.
Wei Dong followed him into a small tent, then sat down on the felt rug with a sullen expression. "This is what they call 'you can't judge a book by its cover,' all beauties are poisonous."
Ke Xun leaned back on the rug, hands behind his head, eyes closed. "You see true character in the face of life and death, men and women are the same."
Wei Dong looked at him. "Ke'er, are you really willing to watch your idol squeeze into those two women's tent?"
Ke Xun looked indifferent. "They have all the Five Wisdom Dews, being in their group is safer than being in ours."
Wei Dong shook his head and sighed. Just as he was about to speak, the tent flap was suddenly lifted, and someone walked in.
Wei Dong stared at the newcomer, speechless, and nudged Ke Xun.
Ke Xun opened his eyes, met Mu Yiran's indifferent glance, and then curled his lips into a smile.
"Big Boss, what brings you here?" Wei Dong obsequiously moved aside to make room for the big boss.
The tent was the same small one from yesterday, barely big enough for two people to lie side-by-side. Now, with three people squeezing in, it felt even more cramped.
Ke Xun sat up, his smiling gaze landing on Mu Yiran, who was sitting opposite him. "Welcome to my humble abode. This small bouquet of flowers is just a token of my delight."
He suddenly reached out from behind and presented Mu Yiran with a small bunch of purple wildflowers.
Wei Dong, standing nearby, was stunned. He couldn't help but want to give his best friend a huge thumbs up—when did he get these flowers? He's incredibly patient! He finally got a chance to be attentive; it would be a shame if Mu Yiran didn't let him win him over.
Mu Yiran also seemed slightly taken aback, his gaze falling on the brightly colored flowers.
They were four o'clocks.
When did this guy pick so many? Was it while he was lost in thought gazing at the mountain this afternoon?
Did he think he liked four o'clocks?
He even secretly brought them back, perhaps thinking he'd be sharing a tent with him again that night, so he wanted to give him a little surprise.
Ke Xun thought Mu Yiran would at most glance at the flower, then give him a cold look as usual, and then ignore him.
Unexpectedly, Mu Yiran actually reached out and took the flower. Ke Xun felt a sudden thud in his chest and looked at him with sparkling eyes.
Mu Yiran held the flower, lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then looked up at Ke Xun: "Mirabilis shouldn't be blooming at this time of year. It's strange that this flower is here
." So that's why he was interested in the flower. Ke Xun took a few flowers from him, examined them closely, and found that apart from lacking fragrance, they were no different from ordinary flowers. He casually tucked one behind his ear and said, "Perhaps it's a painter's mistake, or an artistic creation. What do you think, Dongzi?"
"Yes," Wei Dong said.
Mu Yiran said, "It's unlikely to be a mistake, but if it's for artistic effect, perhaps, or perhaps, these flowers here have another purpose."
Wei Dong also picked up a few flowers to look at, and said, "When we create drawings, sometimes we do add details that can be the finishing touch to achieve color harmony or a novel composition. However, drawing and creating a real work of art are quite different. I don't understand what role these flowers play in this painting."
He was about to throw them away, but seeing that Ke Xun and Mu Yiran were still pondering, he finally pinned the flowers to his belt.
Ke Xun asked Mu Yiran, "Do you have any ideas about deciphering this painting?"
Mu Yiran sat cross-legged, his tone calm, "Currently, it's all just speculation, without any basis. To obtain further evidence, we can only verify it through sacrifice."
Only through someone's sacrifice tonight can we gather more conditions to avoid death.
Recalling Tan Zheng's death last night, Wei Dong shuddered. He pulled out the stone shard Ke Xun had given him from his pocket and checked the edges for sharpness. "This thing might come in handy today... I hope I can use it when I need it, and not end up like Tan Zheng, with my hands and feet gripped. That would be truly maddening..."
Ke Xun, remembering the strange eight-armed figure from last night, asked Mu Yiran, "What do you think that thing was? A spider demon? An octopus monster?"
Mu Yiran said, "Even if it was a spirit or demon, it would be a deity or demon from the Sataka pantheon. I have a vague idea."
"What is it?" Ke Xun asked.
"Malaka, transliterated as Malaga," Mu Yiran said, his eyes darkening. "Originally a heretical demon god, it was later subdued by the gods of the Sataka religion and became summoned and driven by highly skilled cultivators. Among the various variations of the Malaka image, there is an eight-armed form. Moreover, judging from Tan Zheng's death last night, it somewhat proves that the giant shadow was likely Malaka."
"Dismemberment?" Ke Xun raised an eyebrow.
"Perhaps it's not just dismemberment," Mu Yiran pondered. "We'll have to see what happens tonight."
"I'm scared," Wei Dong said. "If that Malaga is a demon god, how could we mortals possibly be its match? Should I die first as a sign of respect? I won't wait for it to make a move; once it does, I'm afraid I won't even have a chance to end my own life."
"Don't talk nonsense," Ke Xun looked at him. "Don't give up until the very last moment. I don't want to die at all."
"Is that so…" Wei Dong stared at a point in the void in front of him, his hands tightly gripping his robes, trembling slightly.
Last night was the first time since he began painting that he had witnessed a living person being brutally murdered by an irresistible and terrifying force.
The immense fear and helplessness chilled him to the bone.
Wei Dong knew he was like an ostrich, adept at self-deception, burying his head in the sand to avoid thinking about anything he didn't want to dwell on.
If during the day he could use jokes and feigned ease to escape and suppress his fear, then at night, this irresistible terror could no longer be contained.
Wei Dong felt that fear had snapped the last nerve of his reason; an inexplicable surge of restlessness and rage broke through his defenses. He looked up at the ever-calm and composed Mu Yiran, and at Ke Xun, who had always protected and helped him since childhood. Their strength and fearlessness made him appear even more vulnerable and insignificant. He couldn't bear the torment of this fear, nor could he bear being so pitifully powerless in comparison.
Suddenly, Wei Dong erupted.