Chapter 1

"Hey, is that sacrifice they brought in a few days ago still alive?"

A group of maidservants, carrying ornate robes, a ceremonial crown, and an assortment of jewelry, were led by an older woman. They proceeded in a grand procession toward the secret chamber in the rear courtyard of the general's mansion.

The general's household was lavish; the robes were embroidered with pearls, and the jewelry was priceless. Even under the dim light of night, the luster of the pearls and gems was undeniable.

"You'd better pray she's still alive. If she dies, we're in deep trouble," the leading woman said irritably. "She's to be the living sacrifice in place of our young lady. If she dies, shall we offer you in her stead?"

"No, no..." The maids hurriedly bowed their heads in apology, sensing the woman's displeasure.

"Here we are. Go on in."

The woman pushed open the side door, and the maids filed in. No sooner had they entered than a loud clang rang out—a whip lashed against an iron cage, startling the maids into a collective flinch.

"You, a lowborn wretch, get to take the young lady's place in the sacrifice and die for her—that's your good fortune!" Steward Li glared at the young woman in the iron cage, his voice unnaturally shrill.

The woman in the cage showed no reaction. Her clothes were singed with black burn marks. She sat hugging her knees, curled up in a corner of the cage, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

"Just leave the things there. What are you staring at?" Steward Li turned and snapped. "Seen enough? Then get out!"

At the steward's command, the maids immediately fixed their eyes on the uneven floor, not daring to look again. They set down the robes and jewels and retreated, fearful of provoking the steward and being singled out for punishment.

Hearing the commotion, Lin Yu finally looked up, meeting the fierce face outside the cage.

Three days ago, because her birth chart was remarkably similar to that of the general's daughter, the young lady had sought out Lin Yu, wanting Lin Yu to take her place as the sacrifice for the Moon God Festival, to be offered to the Moon God.

The young lady's father was the renowned General Song.

In his old age, General Song had become a devout follower of the Moon God. For years, he had burned countless lamps and offered gold and jade. As the Moon God Festival approached, he had gone mad enough to want to sacrifice his own daughter to the Moon God.

The general's daughter didn't want to die, and neither did Lin Yu. But the festival was near, and one of them had to die.

So Steward Li had led his men to burn down Lin Yu's medicine shop and capture her alive. In that fire, several shop hands had been caught in the blaze and burned to death.

That night, cries filled the air, and seven people from the shop were reduced to charred remains in the raging flames.

When Lin Yu woke, she found herself imprisoned in the iron cage.

Leaning against the cold bars, Lin Yu looked up at Steward Li, who was now roughly stuffing the robes the maids had brought into the cage.

He said nonchalantly, "Change out of those rags. Tomorrow you'll be the human torch. Don't blame anyone—blame your low birth for not being able to bear such a blessed fate!"

The jewelry clattered as it was tossed into the cage. The steward kept rambling, even pocketing a few hairpins for himself.

Lin Yu seemed still trapped in that blazing fire from days ago. The scorching sensation made her voice hoarse as she spoke her first words in three days.

"Steward, before I die, I'd like to ask a favor," she said cautiously, pulling a dark jade pendant from her sleeve and showing it to him. "Please take this jade to my elder sister. She is a priestess at the Tower of Heaven's Mandate."

Hearing this, the steward leaned close to the cage, his face nearly pressed against the bars, eyeing the dying Lin Yu without shame. His eyes lit up at the sight of the jade, and his greedy gaze fixed on it.

"Oh? You've been hiding such a treasure! This jade looks quite extraordinary—like an immortal artifact."

He reached through the bars, trying to grab her, unaware of the dagger concealed in her other sleeve.

In that instant, Lin Yu's eyes flickered. A cold gleam flashed as she slashed the dagger across the steward's throat!

Warm blood splattered against the dark cage.

Steward Li's eyes widened in disbelief as he touched the wound on his neck. He clutched his throat, trying to roar, but blood gushed into his windpipe, choking him silent.

He coughed violently. As he staggered and was about to collapse, Lin Yu grabbed the front of his clothes through the bars and yanked him hard.

"Bang!"

His chest slammed against the iron cage, producing a harsh clang. The impact was so heavy that he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The steward was dizzy, his face twisted in pain, the whites of his eyes shot with red.

Lin Yu paid no mind to his suffering. She snatched the ring of keys from his waist and let go. He crumpled to the ground, his throat twitching uncontrollably, his fingers clawing at the floor as he watched Lin Yu calmly unlock the cage.

"Creak—" The rusty cage door swung open from within.

She stepped out, circled around his prone body, then crouched beside him, playing with the dagger. She raised an eyebrow at the dying man.

"Not dead yet?"

Before he could ponder what she meant, an even sharper pain seized him.

Stab after stab.

"I'm the type who fears the night dragging on, so I always root out the problem completely," Lin Yu said flatly, her gaze vicious as she stared at the now-still body.

Once she confirmed he was dead, Lin Yu didn't linger. She didn't want to get entangled; her priority was to escape. But as soon as she stepped out, she ran into the general's daughter—

Something had happened in Zhi Fu's residence, for the young lady was running frantically out of her room, darting through the corridor, calling for help.

Suddenly, she spotted Lin Yu. The young lady froze, then pointed a slender finger at her, exclaiming, "Lin Yu! You..."

Seeing the blood on Lin Yu, she understood at once. "So you dared to run!"

She grabbed Lin Yu and shouted toward the outside, "Guards! Guards!"

But before she could finish, Lin Yu clamped her hand over the young lady's mouth, yanked her down, and pressed her to the ground. At the sight of the cold blade, the young lady's pupils contracted!

Terror robbed her of voice. Before she could beg, the tip of the dagger plunged straight into her heart.

Blood burst forth, splattering the ground.

Only after confirming that she had breathed her last did Lin Yu stand. She looked around, keenly sensing something off.

It was deep night, and the Moon God Festival was the very next day. Yet in this vast mansion, there wasn't a single servant or guard.

She realized that something must have happened in the house. If so, no one would ever discover that she had killed the general's daughter.

Lin Yu turned back. The familiar iron cage came into view. She dragged the lifeless body of the young lady inside, then calmly locked the cage.

...

The mansion was empty. Lin Yu left without trouble, blending into the night, racing toward the Imperial City. The night was dark as ink, clouds shrouding the sky.

In this world, a deity's power came from the faith of believers. More believers meant stronger faith and greater divine might.

But believers also needed the deity's power. They prayed for protection, for good weather and a safe year, and the deity bestowed blessings in return, granting their wishes.

Divine power was the source of all hope.

Yet, what believers worshiped was not truly the god but their own desires; their faith was not sincere.

With such weak faith, how could it transform into divine power?

Thus, human sacrifice flourished.

Sacrificing a life, extracting all that person's willpower to give to the deity, turning it into the god's endless power, became the most popular method.

The gods, moved by the believers' sincerity—willing to give their lives to the deity—would naturally grant blessings.

Thereafter, on every immortal's ascension day, birthday, or any festival, countless people were offered as sacrifices.

There were even rumors that devout believers who willingly sacrificed themselves would ascend to the Nine Heavens to serve the gods after death. But since people weren't sure their faith was strong enough to earn that, few volunteered. Instead, they captured ordinary folk to be sacrificed in their place, to show their devotion.

Whether anyone actually became an immortal after death and ascended to serve the gods—that was anyone's guess. After all, people wouldn't question the gods; they'd only doubt their own sincerity.

Lin Yu didn't believe in gods. She had stopped believing since she witnessed her first human sacrifice at age seven.

She remembered that summer day—it was scorching hot, cicadas droning everywhere. Her mother had taken her to watch a living sacrifice. A crowd had gathered below the altar.

The weather was dry, and the torches caught fire easily. The blaze spread quickly. Dozens of living people were burned alive in that sacrificial fire, writhing and screaming in agony, yet the onlookers cheered and clapped.

The laughter around her clashed with the distorted faces of the victims.

She saw the charred remains of the sacrifices and, terrified, burst into tears, curling into her mother's arms.

Lin Yu couldn't understand why gods needed such foolish methods as human sacrifice to gain power, to protect mortals. Why must it be built on the deaths of humans?

Were her life, the lives of everyone in her shop, and the lives of all those sacrifices in every ritual so meaningless in the eyes of the powerful and the divine?

The moon sank deeper. Lin Yu hurried toward the Tower of Heaven's Mandate to find her elder sister, Lin Zhao. As a priestess, Lin Zhao had been sent to the tower at age twelve due to her affinity with the gods. She had already achieved half-immortal status and would ascend in another two years.

The wind rattled the doors and windows of the houses outside the tower, and strangely, no light shone anywhere, as if the night were too deep.

Lin Yu groped through the dark, slipped into the back courtyard, hesitated in the corridor, and finally knocked on the ancient wooden door. Oddly, no one answered. She paced outside, waiting for Lin Zhao to open it.

After a long while, there was still no sound. Growing uneasy, Lin Yu eased open the door to Lin Zhao's room.

The moment it opened, the pungent stench of blood hit her. Frowning, she felt for a candlestick and lit a candle. The weak light revealed the scene within.

She didn't light more candles. She could hear her own heart pounding wildly.

By the dim light, she surveyed the room: it was in disarray, bamboo slips and documents scattered about, traces of blood smeared everywhere. A window was wide open, letting in a fierce, cold wind.

Finally, her gaze settled beneath the flapping window. Her pupils contracted, and her breath nearly stopped. There lay Lin Zhao, still as the dead.

Priestesses always wore white, but Lin Zhao's robes were now stained a deep red with blood.

Trembling, Lin Yu approached and knelt beside her sister. A sharp peachwood stake pierced Lin Zhao's heart, running straight through her body. Her hand clutched a few bamboo slips.

Her face was as cold and distant as ever, though her brows were furrowed. Lin Yu wanted to brush the blood-matted hair from her forehead, but her hand shook too much to touch her.

Voices drifted from afar. Lin Yu's suspended hand trembled. The voices grew closer, and an old man's voice became clear.

"General Song has died of illness, and the Moon God is displeased. The Xianzun has ordered that tonight, twelve women with celestial affinity be killed with peachwood stakes as offerings to the Moon God. Tomorrow, during the festival, they are to be burned along with the general's daughter as a sacrifice to heaven. It's almost midnight, and we've killed eleven of the tower's priestesses. Just one more to go. What do we do about it?"

Lin Yu frowned, recalling the general's daughter's frantic search. Likely, General Song had already died by then.

General Song had been so devoutly superstitious, even willing to sacrifice his only daughter, which had brought this disaster upon Lin Yu. It was said he had the Moon God's favor and would live to a hundred. How could he have died of illness?

A chill ran through Lin Yu as she looked at Lin Zhao, lifeless in a pool of blood. Her throat tightened, and she found the whole notion of gods bitterly ironic. The gods favored no one.

"What a pity," someone outside lamented. "I heard one of the priestesses had already reached half-immortal status, close to ascension. But because of the general's death, she was killed along with the others."

"An ordinary weapon can't kill a half-immortal. The Xianzun had to crush her spiritual essence, then pierce her heart with a century-old peachwood stake and drain her blood. It was a miserable death..."

The voices faded into the distance.

Lin Yu knelt beside Lin Zhao's cold body, knowing they were talking about her sister.

The blood seeped through the cracks in the floor, staining the hem of Lin Yu's robe. She clutched Lin Zhao's sleeve, tears streaming down her face, a devastating pain overwhelming her senses.

In just a few days, all her kin had died because of a ridiculous Moon God Festival sacrifice.

"Wait!" An old voice called out. His seek-immortal compass suddenly spun, pointing unerringly toward Lin Zhao's room. "There's still a living person here!"

"Catch her!"

In an instant, the door burst open. Startled, Lin Yu shoved open the window and leaped out, fleeing toward the fog-shrouded mountains. The group gave chase.

This must be the royal altar grounds, with stone steps and shrines dotting the mountain. Lin Yu slipped into a shrine, hid behind the altar on a horizontal beam, and only then noticed there was someone else inside.

In the solemn shrine, a tall figure knelt before the stacked altars, dark robes with hidden gold threads, the thick smell of incense almost acrid, smoke filling the hall.

Through the haze, the figure was indistinct, like a dream. Lin Yu's gaze dropped, noticing that the altar before him held no idol, and the offerings seemed unusual.

Fu Ming's expression was calm. He held a bundle of incense sticks, using them to light a letter. As the flames spread, he said in a cool voice, "Who's there?"

Lin Yu held her breath, silent. The cool voice came again: "Come out."

This time, the tone carried strong authority.

Seeing she was exposed, Lin Yu didn't hide. She jumped down from the beam and stepped out from behind the altar. Before Fu Ming could say anything, she knelt with a thud on the prayer mat. "Your Majesty, forgive me."

Fu Ming said nothing, nor did he tell her to rise. Twirling the burning incense, he studied the girl kneeling with her head bowed for a long moment before speaking. "Are you a disciple of the Xianzun?"

Lin Yu looked up, meeting Fu Ming's amber eyes. Before she could answer, the old man appeared at the shrine's entrance with his group.

"We pay respects to Your Majesty. By the Xianzun's order, this girl is the last sacrifice for tomorrow's Moon God Festival, but she fled. We've come to arrest her."

Lin Yu felt her heart racing, pounding so hard it numbed her body.

Fu Ming was silent for a moment, then waved a hand without even looking at them. "Then follow the Xianzun's command. Take her away and kill her."