Ivy Shen's words dropped like a bomb, stunning everyone—not just the citizens of Flame Valley, but even her own companions were left speechless.
Each of her seven husbands looked utterly incredulous. They knew how desperately she wanted to save that baby, but making it rain from a clear sky...
Honestly, that just sounds impossible!
"Hmph, she's lost her mind. She thinks she can make it rain? Crazy!" Clara Night, standing in the crowd, couldn't help but curl her lips in a mocking smile—clearly, she found Ivy's declaration hilarious.
Just then, Liam Willow couldn't help but move forward, and Colin Kerr followed; Nina Xu hurried after them too. When the six husbands rushed ahead, she wanted to join them, but Clara Night grabbed her by the hem—claiming she needed to "protect" her?!
"Hey, where are you guys going? It's super dangerous up there!" Clara Night had finally managed to hide in the crowd without being noticed, but seeing them heading forward made her panic. She wanted to follow, but with the way things looked, it wasn't safe for them up front; not following was even sketchier, though... Looking at the emotional mob around her, she realized it was probably even less safe to stay put!
Seeing this, Clara could only sigh helplessly and drag Aiden along as she chased after the group up front.
"You can make it rain? Ridiculous! Who do you think you are, some kind of goddess?" The High Elder scoffed at her outrageous claim, not even bothering to hide his disdain.
Hearing that, Ivy just turned her head and shot back with a frosty, sarcastic smile: "If an old guy like you can be called High Elder, why can't I be a goddess?"
"You..." He'd expected his sarcasm to put her in her place, but her savage comeback left him completely flustered and furious.
"Why should we believe you?!" someone in the crowd suddenly shouted. Instantly, a bunch of townsfolk joined in, heckling her, mocking her, telling her to get off the stage and stop ruining the sacrifice ceremony!
Seeing this, Ivy glanced up at the rain cloud above—a small, grayish cloud that didn't look like it would rain anytime soon. Still, she knew: even if it wasn't going to rain, she had to make it rain. Otherwise...
"You think you can just say a few words and make it rain?" The High Elder, having regained his composure, looked at her and continued.
Ivy just turned her head and looked at him, saying nothing.
"If we pray to the gods with enough sincerity, they'll send rain. If you mess with the ritual, you'll anger the gods," the High Elder pressed on when Ivy stayed silent.
"And how many times has it actually rained when you did that?" Ivy frowned, genuinely curious despite his self-righteous attitude.
"Th-this... this is the gods testing us! They're seeing if we're sincere enough, if we're persistent enough," the High Elder blurted out without missing a beat.
"Heh." Ivy let out a cold laugh. "What do you think gods are, anyway? You think they've got nothing better to do than mess with you all day?"
"You... you're blaspheming the gods!" The High Elder stomped his cane in outrage at her blatant disrespect.
"Gods? If you all believe in gods so much, then just call me your goddess!" Ivy arched an eyebrow at the stubborn old men, sounding completely confident.
"You're no goddess at all—more like a demoness! You're deliberately sabotaging the sacrifice! Look!" The Second Elder jabbed a finger at the sun, which was clearly rising higher. "You've ruined the best timing for the ritual. Even if all of you die, it's still unforgivable!"
"That's right! You've angered the gods, and now they're mad—there won't be any more rain, the gods are going to punish us!" The Third Elder suddenly started riling up the crowd, even throwing himself to the ground, gazing miserably at the sky: "We've angered the gods! We've angered the gods!"
Seeing this, thousands of townsfolk dropped to their knees, terrified, begging the heavens for mercy—pleading for the gods to forgive them.
Ivy watched all the trembling townsfolk below—honestly, their groveling was just plain ridiculous.
"Unforgivable! Unforgivable! You all must be killed! Killed!" The High Elder, finally regaining his composure, kept yelling, practically wishing for chaos.
"Kill them! Kill them!" No rain, the gods are mad, and everyone started muttering, clenching their fists so tightly it looked like they'd tear Ivy and her group apart on the spot.
"That's right! Kill them to appease the gods!" The High Elder thundered, shaking his dragon-headed cane.
"Kill them! Kill them!" The townsfolk's rage flared up again, whipped into a frenzy by the High Elder. Their eyes practically shot flames—downright terrifying.
"Waaah, waaah..." The noise was so scary, little Lolo—who'd just fallen asleep—woke up and burst into loud sobs.
"All of you, SHUT UP!" Ivy roared, her voice so fierce that even the High Elder beside her froze in shock.
"Waaah, waaah..." Little Lolo kept crying in Ivy's arms, his voice piercingly loud. The crowd finally quieted down, silenced by the baby's wailing.
Old Fang hurriedly cuddled the child, trying to soothe him. Then he looked up at Ivy, eyes full of deep worry—he was sure none of them would survive this...
Sabotaging the sacrifice—what a grave offense!
The townsfolk were whipped into a frenzy, and Old Fang genuinely didn't want to drag Ivy and her group down with him...
"Are you done causing chaos yet?!" Ivy shouted at the unruly crowd.
At her shout, everyone instantly clammed up. They didn't even know why they obeyed, but seeing her angry face—yeah, that was actually terrifying!
At that moment, Ivy strode over to Xiska Mon, raised an eyebrow, and said, "You promised to give me a chance. Since the ceremony's been wrecked, I owe you all an explanation!"
"Do you even know what fate awaits you now?" Xiska Mon looked at her with playful curiosity. Even at this point, she was still so calm—she really was something else!
"To live. To live well." Ivy curled her lips into a confident smile. She knew she couldn't afford to lose—the price was too high. So she had to win!