Chapter 28 Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God

With a bang, all the water ghosts on the little boat fell into the water.

With two bangs, the water ghosts in the water turned belly up.

The crew of the Mechanical God Sect on the steamship were dumbfounded, and the Holy Blood members who were wielding knives to fight were speechless.

Lei Jie, who had thrown the grenades, stood innocently by the ship's side, still holding a grenade with the pin not pulled.

"Throw it into the water!"

A crew member shouted at him. Lei Jie paused for a moment but still threw the grenade with the pin pulled onto the small boat.

"Boom!"

Another loud explosion followed. The remaining few water ghosts were so frightened that they fled wildly, recklessly jumping back into the water from the steamship and quickly diving away.

In a flash, Chen Jian saw the flippers between their fingers and the faintly exploded scaly skin on their bodies.

The fierce battle ended abruptly at an unbelievable speed. The bewildered crew all looked at Lei Jie, seemingly unsure of how to approach him for a moment.

Damn, we were just fighting, and then you come up and throw two grenades?

And throw them by the ship's side?

Where did this fool come from? Aren't you afraid of sinking the ship?

----But to be fair, the water ghosts were indeed driven away, and he did have good intentions.

It's just... too reckless, right!?

A man who had a hollow ship's wheel hanging from his neck, holding a single-shot rifle in a wasteland style, and looked like a captain, walked up to Lei Jie, glaring and shouting:

"How can you do that?!"

"You almost sank our ship!"

"For the sake of the Holy Trinity, stop being so reckless, okay?!"

Lei Jie turned to look at Chen Jian, who shrugged and did not speak.

So he could only reply perfunctorily:

"I didn't have time to think too much, I was scared."

"How do you look scared? You look like a fool! A fool!"

The captain waved his rifle angrily, and Lei Jie took two steps back, afraid that the gun might go off.

"Now get back to your quarters!"

"And you! Xu Lie!"

"Keep an eye on your friends! Dealing with monsters is our business, keep them out of the way!"

"...They were just trying to help."

Xu Lie coughed lightly and stepped forward to block Lei Jie, saying:

"Alright, alright, Big Anchor, stop talking."

"I'll have a good talk with them, let's keep the ship moving."

"We have to get away from those water ghosts quickly, they might come back..."

"They won't come back!"

The captain, called Big Anchor, spat roughly into the water, then said:

"That's none of your concern! We'll check for ship damage once we land!"

"If the Mechanical Soul of the sacred steam is displeased because of this, you must pay for the ritual!"

"Don't worry, don't worry, my friends are reasonable people..."

As he spoke, Xu Lie turned and started walking away with Lei Jie.

He gestured to Chen Jian, who followed closely behind him back into the quarters.

After closing the cabin door, Xu Lie remarked with amusement and helplessness:

"Chosen one, I know you have your own fighting style."

"But as I've said, you really should hold back a bit."

"Didn't you notice? This ship is made of wood."

"If the grenade had punched a hole in it, we would have to swim back..."

Chen Jian chuckled and replied:

"Relax, the grenades we used won't damage the hull, they're only effective against living beings."

"They won't damage the hull? That sounds like some kind of... ridiculous Mechanical God Sect magic."

Xu Lie frowned slightly, curious, and asked:

"Why won't they damage it?"

"It's just God's truth."

Chen Jian replied casually.

He had no intention of explaining to Xu Lie why thermobaric grenades wouldn't penetrate fortifications; such "divine knowledge" would be incomprehensible to him even if explained thoroughly.

Rather than waste time, he figured it was better to ask about these so-called water ghosts and what they were about.

"So where did these water ghosts come from? Why are they attacking transports?"

"From what I see, there's nothing here valuable to them, given their level of intellect."

"You remain as sharp as ever."

Xu Lie sighed with admiration and then said:

"Obviously, it's your first time encountering water ghosts, but just in the brief ten minutes of interaction, you've already figured out the essence of this attack."

"This might just be the true 'God-given truth'..."

Pausing, Xu Lie continued:

"Indeed, as you've observed, these water ghosts attack not for any resources."

"Their attacks arise from an instinctual perverse desire."

"They are obsessed with killing, blood, violence, and torture; any moving creature is their target."

"And among these targets, the more similar they are, the more they satisfy their desires."

"Therefore, humans remain at the top of their prey list... of course, they also cannibalize each other."

"In fact, the arch-enemies of these water ghosts are those monsters known as Terror Demons that roam the shore."

"Around the Han Shui area, their conflict has lasted for decades. Sometimes I can't comprehend why they haven't wiped each other out through cannibalism…"

"Terror Demons?"

Chen Jian noted the new term from Xu Lie's mouth and immediately asked:

"What are those?"

"The same kind of things as water ghosts, except water ghosts live in water, while Terror Demons live on shore."

"Both of these monsters are products of the same mutation—you might have noticed the skull-like scar on the front of the water ghosts' chests, that's their symbol."

"I did see that."

Chen Jian nodded slowly, then asked with puzzlement:

"But it doesn't make sense. If they formed a communal totem, why do they act so... stupidly?"

"Because that's not a man-made totem."

Xu Lie patiently explained:

"Whether they're water ghosts, Terror Demons, or 'ghouls' wandering over much of this continent, they all share a common name."

"Blood Skull."

"The origin of this name is the skeletal designs on their chests."

"The design comes from a mutation that, once a Blood Skull newborn is born, spreads across the chest as herpes; the bright red color leads to the name Blood Skull."

"The herpes gradually fades away as they grow, eventually forming a skull-shaped scar."

"That is their origin."

It sounds quite plausible.

The so-called Blood Skull is likely some form of... genetic disorder?

Chen Jian silently noted the information about the water ghosts and Blood Skull in his mind, but just as he was about to pull out his PDA to update the information, a sailor's shout came from outside the cabin.

"Han Shui is here! We're about to dock!"

Chen Jian perked up, following Xu Lie out of the cabin once more.

The Han Shui City of his memories was still far away, but iconic places like Baisha Island and Jiayu Bridge were now looming in front of him.

Except, the bridge had collapsed.

Chen Jian stared intently at the broken bridge surface, and as the steamship drew closer, he noticed movement on the bridge.

He discreetly pulled out binoculars from his chest to observe the bridge, avoiding the Mechanical God Sect crew's line of sight.

It was a group of people.

To be precise, it was a group of Blood Skulls.

They were hanging a mangled but still living body onto the broken iron frame.

The person being hoisted struggled frantically, but the hooks through her wrists and ankles bound her tightly to the frame.

Blood flowed freely, and the Blood Skulls swarmed to lick the blood off the ground.

Then, someone approached with a rusted iron sheet, peeling away her skin.

The flesh turned to mush instantly, as if they were scooping fruit paste…

Chen Jian frowned without speaking, forcing himself to watch.

It wasn't until the steamship passed the bridge that the Blood Skulls' torment finally ended.

By then, the woman's body was already torn apart, and her head had been carefully severed and neatly placed on a stone platform.

The head still bore an expression of terror and pain from her final struggle.

Xu Lie, standing beside Chen Jian, witnessed the same scene.

His hand gripped his pistol at his waist as he said:

"This is the Blood Skull's ritual."

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the skull throne!"