It was not hard to surmise that the people of Black Stone Town were conducting some kind of ritual. The woman played the character of a priest.
In the next painting, the style suddenly changed. A giant, horrifying monster appeared on the white stone plate…
It had sharp and twisted horns, a muscular body, fish-like gills, and two bat wings protruding out of its scaly back. Its most terrifying feature was its giant maw that could swallow a person whole.
When they saw this, Chen Ran and Jiang Cheng were silent. They were not unfamiliar with this creature. They saw it once on the first stone door.
“Brother Hao.” Chen Ran looked at Jiang Cheng as if he could see through him. “There are 35 people in the group who enter the forest.”
Jiang Cheng stared at the aged woman. Then, he corrected, “It’s 36. You forgot about the dead person.”
“You’re right.” Chen Ran smiled.
When they entered the forest, 35 living people carried a dead person. When they left the forest, the wooden board was empty, and there were 36 people in the group. With what they saw near the stone plate… the power of this ritual was clear.
Then, the seed of greed started to grow in their hearts. Not many could resist the offer of immortality. They were no different. The following paintings proved that. They started to interact more with the locals to get more information about the secrets of the altar. Plus, they stopped caring about fixing the boat. Instead, they channelled their focus into how to unveil the altar’s secrets and then how to use it and the locals to serve them.
As time passed, the locals realised that the outsiders’ interest in leaving the island dwindled. Inversely, their interest in the forest greatly increased.
Conflict was inevitable.
The trigger was a child. It was a child of the outsiders. He seemed to have caught a rare disease. His mother carried him in her arms as he was dying. A group of outsiders huddled around the woman and her child as they came to the largest building in town. Eventually, an elder walked out of the building. The elder’s clothes were more exquisite than the other townspeople. Jiang Cheng believed he was the tribal leader or the mayor. In the painting of the locals sneaking into the forest at night, it was this elder who led the group.
At first, both parties were rather gentle. However, things took a quick turn for the worse. Their expressions changed until an argument erupted. Townspeople rushed in from all sides. More outsiders gathered as well. They removed the weapons from the ship. The lance-like weapons glowed coldly. The thing colder was the outsiders’ gazes.
It was not hard to guess that they hoped the elder would use the altar’s power to help the child. Perhaps in their minds, since the altar could revive the dead, it could definitely save a dying person. Of course, the premise was the locals were willing to help them.
However, the elder firmly rejected them. In the final painting, the elder looked enraged. He pointed at the fixed ship that was parked by the shore. His meaning was clear. He wanted the outsiders to leave as soon as possible. In the end, they parted unhappily.
On that night, the accumulated greed and desire finally exploded. Even though there were fewer outsiders than the locals, they had better weapons. They split into teams of ten. They took down the local guards easily. Then, they yanked the sleeping locals out of their homes and corralled them to the square in the middle of the city. It was the square where Jiang Cheng was invited to the feast.
Soon, the elder was hauled to the leader of the outsiders with his hands tied behind his back.
The helpless locals were demanded to kneel on the ground. The outsiders watched over them like prison wardens. The identities of the saved and the saviour disintegrated. They were no longer people who needed help but a bunch of bandits.
Everyone knew that the request to save the boy was merely an excuse. The death of the boy would mean nothing to them. He was, at most, just an experiment. For the ‘civilised’ outsiders, the boy was just a valid request.
It was hard to tell how the negotiation went. However, based on the paintings, after a few locals lost their heads, the elder chose to submit. With him leading the way, the locals and their kidnappers departed into the forest. The outsiders brutally punctured the local’s shoulders and strung them together with a rope. They held the weapons and prodded the locals along.
Different from the locals, who were filled with fear, the outsiders exuded fanaticism and desire. No one could escape death, but it didn’t stop people from trying.
And now… the chance was right before them. How could they be calm?
The inspiration brought by science was swept away by the shock of a divine revelation. The women tied to the post… The people around the pyre pointed at them. The women were not afraid of hell because they were already in hell. The fire burned as the spectators looked on with admiration and awe.
Soon, the elder led them to the stone plate. The crowd started to boil. The thing so many people looked for was within their reach.
Before the ritual started, the elder tried to warn them again.
However, no one listened to him. When a muscular outsider placed his weapon around the neck of a trembling girl, the elder shut up with a sigh.
Then, the elder personally accepted the dying child from the woman. He walked to the stone plate and respectfully placed the boy down on the altar. Then, he picked him up and carried him steadily near his chest.