Chapter 581: The Price of Memory

"this--"

Yi Xing was speechless for a moment.

He recalled it, and fear grew in his heart.

indeed so.

Those who promised him this, as well as the literature, have always just said in various forms that "no blood sacrifice is required", but never promised or required a sacrifice.

...He has never been able to notice such a word game!

Perhaps it was because those who said nothing had any weight as a "commitment" or had no knowledge at all, all said "no sacrifice is needed", which gradually strengthened his misunderstanding...

But the more important reason is that the statement they heard can easily be interpreted as "there will be no sacrificial ceremony"!

For example, when they were learning about the duties of the Underworld Miko in class at home, the teacher taught them this way: Originally, before and after reaching adulthood, the Underworld Miko must be prepared to sacrifice her life in a sacrificial ceremony to strengthen the seal. But in the past hundred years, the Yida family has adopted more advanced magic circles to strengthen the seal of the Gate of Underworld, and the witches of Underworld no longer need blood sacrifices.

Just by hearing this, anyone would think that the Underworld Miko is no longer a victim, right? !

The eldest lady failed to understand the real meaning.

The same goes for righteous deeds.

Moreover, I didn’t even think about it in the direction of my wrong understanding!

And this is exactly what the Yida family hopes to achieve...

"Miss...do you know the truth?"

Yoshiyuki asked with sore eyes, barely suppressing his tears.

"I don't know." Sister Jiuyi stared at the mirror, looking at Yi Xing who had her back turned to him, with a hint of bitterness and helplessness in her tone: "I hope you can continue to let her be a little fool who lives a happy life, and continue like this. Go on being ignorant. Play games every day, watch animations, and spend the last period of your happy life... When the time comes,"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yi Xing took a deep breath and asked through gritted teeth, "Especially the eldest lady... doesn't she have the right to know?"

"If it were you, would you tell her?"

"Nonsense, of course I can!" Yi Xing was furious when she asked him this, and roared angrily: "Because I have been mentally prepared to be a living sacrifice since I was a child. At least it won't be too painful to sacrifice, right?"

"No, you won't." Shigei looked at the mirror quietly and replied, "What I'm saying now is just angry words."

"Oh, really? Shigei, what kind of condescending attitude do you have?! Do you think you know yourself better than me?!"

"Little transvestite, I know it's hard for you to calm down now, but what I'm telling you is the truth." Imamura Shigei tried to calm him down: "Can you listen to me first and tell me the two reasons for doing this? Then you should be able to Understand that no matter what the considerations are, hiding the news from the Underworld Miko is the best choice."

"..."

Righteous deeds have no words.

And Shiuyi, after waiting for a while, took the initiative to explain.

"The first reason is simple. If you don't know anything, you don't have to live with the pressure of being a sacrifice when you grow up. Although you have to ensure her safety and can't leave the village, you can still spend every day easily. I can enjoy every day as much as possible in my limited life of more than ten years."

"The pressure of sacrifice is very huge. It will crush the mind of a little girl. Even the most enlightened people are like this... It is said that even the enlightened Lady Erika Yoda was the same back then. She was selected as Huangquan. In front of the miko, he was obviously a very cheerful and laughing child. After shouldering his mission, he...

"Before the ritual reform, the previous generations of underworld shrine maidens understood their fate early. They were shrouded in fear and shadow all their lives. They often hid and cried, and even their smiles were hazy... But Erina is living a happy life, isn't she? You stay with her every day, so you should know better than me... You can't bear to let her not even have a beautiful dream, right?" "Children can't lie, so not only do they have to lie to Erina and you, but also Yusuke and the others...are just to prevent them from hiding their emotions and letting the news leak out."

"...Then, it's time to talk about the second reason. The Underworld Miko does not have to die, but she has to pay another price. This is a bit complicated. I want to explain the principle of the new sacrifice method first. You may find it unacceptable, so Please listen to what I have to say before you express your opinion. Okay, little transvestite?”

Yoshiyuki didn't respond as usual.

He still had his back to Shiuyi, so that she could not see his expression.

But Shigei could probably guess his expression.

…That definitely won’t look good. There may even be a hint of murderous intent.

The reactions of previous Maekawa seemed to be similar.

That kind of murderous aura is quite terrifying.

...But only He Hong actually took action.

Maekawa Kazuhiro fell into a rage and almost killed the head of the family who explained the situation. The knife was placed on Grandpa Erina's neck.

...But in the end, he did not take action and put down the weapon on his own.

Kazuhiro understands the Yida family's decision and understands that it was done out of helplessness.

For the safety of the world, the underworld witch must become the one who loses everything.

It's not fair, but it's the least sacrificial approach.

She knew that Yi Xing would understand.

Imamura Shiui explains what the new way of offering sacrifices is.

And why it was necessary to hide it from the Underworld Miko.

Before the reform, the sacrificial method that had been used for thousands of years was to kill the underworld witch in a ceremony, drain her blood, nourish the gate of underworld with the life force in her blood, and bind the witch's soul to the door to complete the seal. to consolidate and provide strength to the first-generation underworld shrine maiden Erika Yida.

After the shrine maiden performs the blood sacrifice, her body will be buried in the ancestral grave of the Yida family.

Because the seal created by Erika passed for too long, the original method of sacrifice gradually became less effective.

This is partly because it took too long for the sealing circle to be created.

On the one hand, it is also because Erika's mind has been partially distorted due to eternal torture.

The underworld witch who was sacrificed must also suffer eternal torture in order to make her feel some relief and satisfaction. Killing the witch directly as before was obviously not enough.

Therefore, the Yida family improved the method of sacrifice and began to bury shrine maidens as human pillars under the gate of the underworld.

The tombs of the recent underworld shrine maidens in the cemetery are all empty.

It's just a cover.

The process of being used as a human pillar by the Huangquan shrine maiden is to first clean the body, and then cast a spell to stop the body's requirements for eating, excretion, breathing, etc., then bind the body, seal the eyes and mouth with gags and blindfolds, and seal in special Container, then fill it with spiritually strengthened resin and seal it.

After the spiritual resin hardens, it can prevent her from being injured or sick, and can cause the effect of sealing demons and depriving the body of the ability to move, preventing the Underworld Miko from trying to commit suicide.

After the human pillar is buried in a specific position under the Gate of the Underworld, the sacrificial ceremony is completed. The underworld shrine maiden who became a sacrifice came into play.