Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 316 - 28 Failed Sacrifice_1

Chapter 316: Chapter 28 Failed Sacrifice_1

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"Look at this diagram." Vivian pointed at the paper in her hand and said: "The large circle represents the range of the Sacrifice Array. The interior details belong to the magic array, which you don’t need to understand if you can’t. But look at the radiating lines that I thinly drew with a dashed line around the outside. These do not belong to the magic array. At first, I didn’t understand what these diverging energy emissions were. But after some careful investigation, I determined that these high-density energy concentrations resulted from a failed sacrifice, which could not be consumed and led to a recoil of energy that formed this region."

"So, a failed sacrifice could cause this effect?" Catherine asked doubtfully, staring at the array on the paper: "What happened exactly?"

"Failed sacrifices are rare." Vivian explained: "People perform sacrifices to their worshipped deity, essentially delivering high-density, faith-enhanced energy to the deity, which then reciprocates divine grace as a reward. This is a successful sacrifice. However, the methods of sacrifice often vary: most churches use the power of faith strengthened by sacred items; a small number of churches use the souls of animals as a source of high-intensity energy, because the energy generated when a soul is destroyed is strong and can bring considerable benefits to their deity through faith enhancement. Some people, without using animals, directly use intelligent beings as sacrificial offerings, as the energy produced when the soul of such a being is destroyed is the strongest. Those who do so are considered cultists, and deities who accept such offerings are labeled as evil gods by other deities."

"I know how sacrifices are performed." Catherine said discontentedly: "The point is, the reactions from failed sacrifices are not like this, right?"

"That’s why I emphasized the method of sacrifice." Vivian’s gaze scanned over the faces of the three ladies: "Since you have never performed a sacrifice, you don’t understand the difference. In theory, no matter how a sacrifice is performed, it shouldn’t fail. The only reason for failure is that the deity is dissatisfied, extremely unsatisfied with the power of the sacrifice, and thus punishment is brought down. This is what a typical failed sacrifice is. But there is another type of failure: if the sacrifice of an intelligent being’s soul happens, and the deity to be sacrificed to refuses to accept this gift, then this energy becomes directionless, ultimately leading to a rebound of mana."

"The thing is, the believers are not fools." Catherine retorted: "After a deity refuses their offering once, would they be foolish enough to try the same method of sacrifice a second time? And a third time after the second refusal? Can there really be such foolish cultists in this world?"

"That’s why we need to inspect the other scenes." Vivian said: "If the same results are found at the other sites, it could only mean one thing."

"Does it mean there really are such foolish people in the world?" Indulgence suddenly chimed in with a question.

"Hey, I’m being serious." Vivian said irritably in response to Indulgence’s jest: "Let’s go. Lead us to the next scene."

The second site wasn’t far from their location. After navigating a little path densely laden with traps for less than five minutes and climbing over a low wall, they arrived at the next scene. The second scene was outdoors, and even though the incident occurred roughly thirty days ago, the body had decomposed less than the first one due to the cold exposure. The victim was a lean man in his twenties, characteristic of people from the darker alleyways. He was likely another innocent victim kidnapped and brought back. The second victim was more tragic than the first. His limbs were cut off, his abdomen opened up, and all his organs were removed from within, but they weren’t disconnected from the body, enabling short-term sustenance of the victim’s life. In other words, the victim was mutilated by having his limbs and organs removed while alive, watching himself ripped apart on his way to death.

"These people must be twisted in the mind." Despite their seasoned experiences, Passion and Indulgence couldn’t help but frown when they saw the horrific scene: "Why would they treat the offerings this way?"

"Don’t you know?" Vivian asked back: "The more a soul suffers, the greater the energy generated when it’s destroyed. Therefore, sacrifices made to evil gods often involve torturing the offerings to death."

"How do you know this so clearly?" Catherine asked worriedly: "You wouldn’t be considering trying it yourself, would you?"

"Come on, cut it out." Vivian rolled her eyes at Catherine: "The Starlight Library has a very detailed explanation. Once, when I was helping Lina with other research, I happened to learn this knowledge. I thought it might come in handy some day, and it’s not a bad thing to know more. It turned out to be useful now, right? Let’s go, we’ve finished examining this site. As expected, it was another failure. Let’s move to the next one."

The third site was more distant. After wandering around the deserted central area for more than ten minutes, the four of them finally arrived. The third site was also outdoors, and this time the victim was a woman in her thirties. She had damage to her eyes and ears, her tongue was cut off, and her body appeared to be without any wounds. However, when Catherine touched the body, she realized that most of the bones had been crushed to dust, it was just not visible from the outside.

"It seems that we can basically confirm it now." Even Vivian looked somewhat upset: "Every single one of their sacrifices was a failure."

"It’s definitely a joke to say they’re all idiots." Indulgence asked: "But why would they continue to perform the sacrifice in the same way even after the deity has refused?"

"There is only one explanation," Vivian said, holding up a finger solemnly, "The deity they worship has either perished or fallen into a deep sleep."

The three of them all remained silent, staring straight at Vivian, quietly waiting for her to continue explaining.

"Whether in the First, Second, or Third Epoch, there have been deities that have fallen," Vivian explained. "When people speak of the fall of a deity, a small number of them actually die, but another part refers to deities who have been gravely injured and have fallen into a long slumber, no longer responding to the calls of their believers. This is very dangerous for a deity because not responding to their believers for a long time can lead to a loss of faith. The more faith lost, the slower the recovery of strength and the slower the deity wakes up. If the faith continues to dissipate, the deity could die completely in their slumber."

"So what they’ve done..." Catherine asked.

"They’re not fools. Of course, they have a way to determine whether their deity is dead or sleeping," continued Vivian. "If the deity is dead, no amount of sacrifice would be useful, and they wouldn’t engage in such futile actions. But if the deity is only asleep, then the energy stimulation from the sacrifices could potentially wake it up. Of course, there’s only a small possibility, which is why they continue to hold sacrifices, as it’s a means to awaken their deity, and they don’t give up even if they fail."

"I see," Passion and Indulgence both nodded. "This explanation makes sense. In other words, the traitor is actually a hidden follower of this deity and has colluded with others to carry out such actions."

"It’s very possible," Vivian responded, nodding. "But it’s too early to conclude."

"But there’s still a problem," noted Indulgence. "Knowing their motive isn’t enough; we still can’t find them."

"You’re mistaken," Vivian said, a smug smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. "We’ve already found them."

"Huh?" Indulgence was in disbelief. What the two Legendary Rank thieves couldn’t accomplish after months of searching, Vivian and Catherine accomplished in a matter of hours. "Did I hear you wrong? You’ve already found them?"

"To be precise, we’ve already found a trace," Vivian laughed, her hands on her hips. "These fools have suffered because they lacked knowledge. Otherwise, finding them wouldn’t be that easy. From the moment their sacrifice failed, they were doomed not to escape from me."

"Does it have something to do with their failed sacrifice?" Indulgence asked. "Can you elaborate?"

"If you were the victim," Vivian began, pointing at the body on the ground. "If you were tortured to death without reason and your soul was torn into pieces to become fertilizer after death, wouldn’t you be filled with resentment?"

"Of course," replied Indulgence without hesitation. "I would curse them forever."

"That’s the kind of resentment we’re looking for," Vivian snapped her fingers, her eyes twinkling. "This kind of resentment can amplify the energy scattered when a soul bursts. Similarly, once the sacrifice fails, the magic backlash will affect the ones who initiated the spell. Even though they might have gained ample experience from multiple sacrifices to counteract this backlash, they can’t prevent the resentment imbued in the energy from contaminating them. This resentment is our best clue to finding them."

"Resentment?" Passion, usually expressionless, now seemed doubtful and clueless. "It can’t be sensed, can it?"

"Indeed, nobody can sense this resentment," Vivian nodded. "Intelligent life has inherent disadvantages in this aspect and has difficulty sensing such things. However, animals like cats and dogs can; even though they may lack intelligence, their wild instincts allow them to feel this resentment. Just like how they avoid or show disgust towards someone who has killed countless people."

"So we need to find some cats and dogs?" Indulgence asked, puzzled. "Is this really reliable?"

"Of course we’re not talking about cats and dogs," Vivian said with a mysterious smile. "There’s something else far more sensitive to this resentment than small animals. People tainted with resentment will be as conspicuous as a lighthouse to them."

"So, what is that?" Indulgence was annoyed by Vivian’s attempt at being cryptic. "Stop tantalizing our curiosity."

"Ah," Catherine understood Vivian’s meanings. She placed a hand on her chest and sighed. "She’s talking about our little sister, Annie. Has she awakened from her sleep and come to help?" (My novel "Yarra’s Adventure Journal" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform! There’s also a 100% draw prize for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+"" at the top right corner to "Add a friend", search for the public account "qdread" to follow, hurry up!) (To be continued. If you like this work, I welcome you to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)