Chapter 536 – The Zombie Sacrifice

The so-called “Living Dead Offering” was an extremely bloody and cruel punishment passed down from ancient half-beast tribes. Those who served as “Living Dead Offerings” were typically heinous criminals or prominent leaders of enemy tribes. The half-beasts would select their most skilled executioners to sever the limbs of the “Living Dead Offering” before the tribal totem pole, gouge out the “offering’s” eyes, cut off the “offering’s” tongue, pierce the “offering’s” ears deaf, flay the offering’s skin, and then use shamanic magic to ensure the “offering’s” survival. Finally, the tribe’s shaman would gradually shatter the soul of the living dead offering piece by piece.

Due to the powerful healing capabilities of shamanic magic, this brutal ritual often lasted three days. During these three days, the tribal people would “appreciate” the living dead offering’s piercing screams while singing, dancing, and feasting.

This was a special form of sacrifice. Superstitious half-beasts firmly believed such offerings could please their ancestors, and the entire tribe would thereby receive ancestral blessings. Although any somewhat educated professional could prove that their so-called “Living Dead Offering” did nothing to substantially strengthen the tribal ancestors beyond making the hatred-saturated ancestral spirits increasingly frenzied, and the notion of pleasing ancestors was pure superstition, most half-beast tribes still delighted in this cruel ceremony.

Perhaps their claimed “pleasing” of ancestors was merely an excuse – using this pretext to vent fury upon enemies or criminals and satisfy their twisted sadistic desires was the true reason for the enduring popularity of the “Living Dead Offering.”

Regardless of whether they genuinely believed in this cruel sacrifice or merely sought to satisfy their dark desires, in the view of the Female Knight Audreylinda, the very existence of such rituals could be considered evil. No matter the reason, employing such sacrifices as punishment could never be deemed just. These rabbit-people who blindly pursued the sacrifice, though still belonging to the neutral alignment, had in a sense become accomplices to evil. While their crimes might not warrant death, they deserved the most profound education and correction from justice!

Moreover, what the Female Knight found most intolerable was one crucial point – the “Living Dead Offering” these rabbit-people anticipated was actually an innocent Little Girl. Following the principle that “saving the innocent” took absolute priority, the frowning Audreylinda simply couldn’t convince herself to stand idly by.

Slap!

Audreylinda slammed her chopsticks on the table, unhesitatingly putting aside her “just revenge” for the moment. She decided to first see how this Little Girl, rumored to be an “Evil Girl,” was faring. If she truly was a persecuted innocent… then neither Audreylinda nor the equally indignant Claire could allow such tragedy to occur.In the heart of the just Female Knight, saving the innocent was always the most important thing when facing any evil—without exception! This was precisely why she had brought her two apprentices to the venue in Red Roy City—wasn’t it to save one or two more injured people?

And now, Audreylinda, as a champion of justice, was about to uphold this belief once again.

———————Break———————

Audreylinda had no trouble finding the dwelling of this “Evil Girl,” because all the houses in the Rabbitfolk Tribe were clustered together, while the “Evil Girl’s” small wooden cabin stood alone on a damp mound.

The closer she got to this secluded, moss-covered mound, the more certain Audreylinda became of her judgment about the “innocent.”

First, the Female Knight could clearly sense that there were no professionals in that house—only a little girl no older than twelve or thirteen. At such a close distance, Audreylinda had full confidence in her perception.

On the other hand, as she walked along, the Female Knight noticed with care that several flowers of different colors were elegantly blooming on the mound. The unsightly ferns commonly seen throughout the Rabbitfolk village had been carefully removed, and the mound had managed to gather over ten varieties of vibrant flowers in this gloomy swamp. Although the beautiful flower beds now showed signs of being trampled, Audreylinda, who also loved flowers, could clearly tell that these blooms were regularly tended to.

“How could someone with the patience to transplant and care for so many flowers in this swamp possibly be evil?”

Gently using her Battle Aura to lift a few trampled blossoms, Audreylinda frowned, then quickened her pace toward the cabin, carefully avoiding the flowers. Behind her, Claire hurried to follow.

The small cabin on the mound had clearly weathered many storms. The wood, eroded by the damp air, had even sprouted a few mushrooms, and the precarious little attic still faintly revealed the craftsmanship of its initial construction. Now, however, the entire structure had become so unstable that it creaked in the wind.

Clearly, the cabin’s owner had the ability to care for flowers but lacked the means to repair such a large wooden house. As a stronger, damp cold wind swept across the mound, the entire cabin “shivered” in the chill. The only things around the cabin not “swaying in the wind” were… two Rabbitfolk guards.

“Halt!”

“Don’t move!”

Seeing two armored humans approaching the cabin, the vigilant Rabbitfolk guards immediately shouted warnings. Before the Female Knight could say a word, they raised their wooden spears and loudly challenged Audreylinda:

“Humans! This is the inner territory of our Short-Tail Tribe—this is no place for you. This cabin holds tomorrow’s important sacrificial offering. To prevent her escape, no one is allowed near!”

“Sacrificial offering? Are you referring to that brutal ‘living sacrifice ritual’? Don’t you feel your conscience twinge when carrying out such an evil ceremony?”Before Audreylinda could speak, Claire standing behind the Female Knight erupted in anger first. On their way over, Audreylinda had explained to Claire what the so-called “Living Dead Sacrifice” actually entailed. Upon learning that such a cruel ritual still existed in the world, Claire, who had been simmering with frustration, grew utterly enraged.

While the “Living Dead Sacrifice” appeared extremely bloody and brutal to ordinary people, to these rabbit-folk, their ritual was a sacred and inviolable faith. Now hearing someone insult this holy ceremony passed down by their ancestors, the two rabbit-folk immediately lost their composure.

The two rabbit-folk guards, not being professional warriors, couldn’t sense the young man’s strength. They only knew their ancestors had been insulted. Thus, the moment Claire’s words landed, after a stunned second, the two furious rabbit-folk guards decisively drew their spears and charged.

“Damn you! How dare you insult our sacred ritual! Our ancestors will punish you!”

“They’re with that Evil Girl! They share the same filthy human bloodline—they’re all sinners who bring disaster!”

(End of Chapter)