The crowd’s shouting just made all of us frown—honestly, their ignorance and stupidity is off the charts.
Seriously? You think kneeling on the ground and yelling at some imaginary god will make it rain? What a joke. Absolutely ridiculous!
Just then, the elder holding the baby suddenly shouted, "Last time, our sacrifice wasn’t sincere enough. This time, we need to show the gods how devoted we are!" As he finished, a guard walked up with a huge stone—about the same size as the groove in the altar.
Ivy Shen’s gut dropped—she had a really bad feeling about this. Sure enough, the so-called elder announced, "Since it’s the hottest part of the day, the gods are closest to us. So we’ll use this stone to crush the baby. If the baby cries, the gods will notice and send rain. That’s how it works!"
"Bullshit!" For the first time ever, Liam Willow lost his cool and swore out loud. He just couldn’t stand seeing a baby treated like this—it tore him up inside. Colin Kerr, standing right next to him, looked even more smitten, eyes hopelessly starstruck.
Ivy Shen wrinkled her nose in disgust. Seriously, are these elders even human? Crushing a baby with a stone—he’s only five months old!
Right now, everyone was packed into the square and the little side streets, praying for rain. It was first come, first served for spots—so many people that most couldn’t see or hear what was happening up on the altar. Still, the second someone shouted, the whole crowd joined in, yelling for blessings.
All those voices mashed together into one giant, deafening roar.
You could hear it in their voices—just how desperately everyone wanted rain.
"Pray for the gods to send rain!" At this point, none of the villagers even saw that it was just a child on the altar—they only cared about getting rain. Old Fang had said it hadn’t rained here for half a year. In the desert, that’s a nightmare; people were dying of thirst every single day, corpses everywhere. Their need for rain was so intense, it didn’t even need words.
Honestly, these people would give up anything if it meant rain would finally fall!
As the crowd kept chanting for the gods to send rain, the High Elder nodded, looking super pleased with how obedient everyone was.
"Offer the buns!" the High Elder shouted. Instantly, everyone pulled out their white bread buns and tossed them up toward the sky.
The group stared, totally confused. What was up with the bread-tossing?
"Old Fang, what’s this about?" Butterfly Rogue couldn’t help asking, even though he knew Old Fang was feeling all kinds of miserable right now.
Old Fang choked out, "It’s for the gods. They smell the buns and stop overhead, then... then the offering is made, and..." He couldn’t finish, but everyone got the picture.
"The gods have stopped to watch—okay, let’s bring up the sacrifice." The elder started to put the baby into the groove, and right then, the kid let out the loudest, most heartbreaking wail, like he knew exactly what was coming.
The Second and Third Elders hefted the heavy stone together, ready to drop it as soon as the baby was in place.
That was it—Ivy Shen couldn’t take it anymore. She sprang forward, literally vaulting over people’s heads and landing on the platform. She was so fast, nobody had time to react. In one smooth motion, she snatched the baby right out of the elder’s arms.
The moment the baby landed in Ivy Shen’s arms, he stopped crying. He stared up at her with huge, tear-filled eyes, making soft little noises. Then—whoosh—a tiny gray snake tail popped out and wrapped around her arm, like he was terrified she’d let him go.
Holding the baby, Ivy Shen’s heart melted all over again. He was so tiny—just five months old. He didn’t understand anything about the world yet; he was just an innocent little baby!
"Assassin!" The crowd finally snapped out of it and started screaming. The Fire God, Ice God, and a bunch of badass palace guards charged the stage. Instantly, Ivy’s six combat-ready husbands launched themselves onto the platform, swords flashing and eyes full of murder.
"Who are you people? What do you think you’re doing?" the High Elder barked, voice booming with rage.
Sitting calmly on his throne, Xiska Mon didn’t even blink. "You’re not from the valley, are you?" he asked, voice cool and collected.
Ivy Shen hugged the baby and looked right at him. "That’s right!" She tossed off her cloak, revealing her unique clothes and drop-dead gorgeous face for everyone to see.
Xiska Mon was stunned for a split second at her beauty, then asked, "Do you even know what you’re doing? Ruining a sacrifice gets you beheaded here." He was honestly curious—this woman didn’t show a shred of fear.
"Beheaded? You think I’m scared?" Ivy shot back, eyes cold and steady.
The crowd saw her outfit and skin tone and realized she was an outsider—plus she’d just trashed their sacred ritual. Instantly, people started shouting, "Kill them! Kill them all!"
Xiska Mon just watched, totally unfazed. "You want to save him?" he asked, like he was watching a play.
"Yes!" Ivy answered, firm and clear.
"You really think you can save him?" Xiska Mon raised an eyebrow at the furious crowd below, the meaning obvious.
Ivy Shen shot back, voice cold as ice: "I’ll save him no matter what—whether it’s possible or not!"
"Oh?" Xiska Mon arched a brow and grinned wickedly. "Fine, I’ll give you a chance. Let’s see how you plan to save him!" His voice was light, but he knew the villagers wouldn’t let her off easy.
Ivy Shen snorted coldly, totally seeing through the playful glint in Xiska Mon’s eyes.
The Fire God and Ice God wanted to rush her, but Xiska Mon raised a hand and stopped them. He was actually curious to see what Ivy would do to disrupt the ritual.
Hearing that, Ivy Shen stood center stage, baby in her arms, and glared at the furious crowd. "Wake up already! What are you even doing—sacrificing a living child? Isn’t that completely insane?"
"This is our tradition! It’s been like this for centuries—you can’t just mess it up!" someone in the crowd yelled.
"Shut up!" Ivy shouted, loud enough to startle the sleepy baby in her arms, who blinked up at her in confusion.
"Look—he’s just a child! Do you people have any humanity left? If real gods existed, would they treat human life like garbage? Would they really trade a baby’s life for rain?"