I'm bad, but players love me

However, even though the two men were one taller and one shorter, the old man was still on top, looking down at Yun Shuo from above, and oppressing him, but he couldn't help but have an illusion in his heart.

He actually felt as if Yun Shuo was looking down at him.

Those black and white eyes were full of undisguised disdain and contempt, as if he was looking at a fool, or a fool who didn't believe his own stupidity.

At this moment, the old man's face was still as calm as the surface of a lake, and he was even in the mood to slowly stroke his beard, looking unassuming and otherworldly.

But in fact, he had already been uneasy because of Yun Shuo's sharp gaze. The fingertips holding the crutch turned white and his legs trembled slightly.

If he hadn't been holding on to his crutches, he would have collapsed right now.

He was very lucky and had lived a long time, so naturally he had witnessed divine power.

But no one knows when it started, but the land of Sus Township seems to be shrouded in an invisible curse, and no one favored by God has appeared in several generations.

No matter how the villagers watered their faith with the blood of heretics, and no matter how they used cruel means to demonstrate their piety to the gods, the almighty gods never showed them a trace of mercy.

Over the years, they followed the ancient teachings more and more strictly, striving for perfection in every detail, but the gods still turned a blind eye to them.

People can only pray more devoutly, waiting day after day for the gods to favor them again one day.

After waiting day after day and year after year, the old man is now old and frail, and it has been many years since he last saw divine power.

Now, the radiance of divine power was only a vague outline, looming in his mind.

It would definitely be impossible to ask him to admit all of a sudden that Yun Shuo is the one favored by God.

But he didn't dare to say it with certainty, because he knew in his heart that although the power of the God of Wind was indeed green, the color was not uniform, and the depth of each one was different.

Some people's divine powers may be shallower, while others may be deeper.

As for a divine power as black as Yun Shuo's, he had indeed never seen it, nor had he heard that the Wind God's divine power could be this color. However, this did not mean that he could easily conclude that Yun Shuo was not a divinely favored one.

Therefore, facing this young man who was still arrogant and self-righteous even though he was tied up, it was really difficult for him to come to a clear conclusion.

After all, people with divine powers are basically nobles, and at worst they are retainers of nobles. This is basic common sense. How could a powerful person be washed here by the current in such an embarrassing way, with such serious injuries on his body?

The most important thing is that although the cloth on Yun Shuo's body is neat and made of a single piece of cloth without any messy patches, it is indeed not a good material.

But Yun Shuo's attitude made him unsure of the situation.

Everyone's eyes were still fixed on every subtle movement of the old man.

In the past, the old man would enjoy the feeling of being the center of attention, but now, so many pairs of eyes staring at him only made him feel like thorns were piercing his bones, and he wanted to run away immediately.

It is at this awkward moment that time, which always ran very fast in the past, begins to learn to walk slowly.

The old man could even clearly feel the fine beads of sweat on his forehead. They slid down silently, but stirred ripples in his heart.

He was afraid that this subtle sign would be noticed by others, so he hurriedly raised his trembling hand and casually and hastily wiped the sweat from his face.

He tried to remain calm and laughed, "This sun is really scorching. I'm old and useless, and I'm sweating all over. Hey, someone, bring me that thing."

After saying that, a considerate person quickly brought a chair over.

The old man hurriedly used his crutch to support himself and sat down, fearing that if he was a second late, someone would discover that he was guilty.

With the chair supporting his hunched back, the old man's tense nerves couldn't help but relax a little.

He gathered himself, and only then was he able to muster his energy again. He asked the figure bound tightly by ropes, "Then tell me, why did you end up in the river, seriously injured? Since you possess divine powers, which noble's retainer are you?"

Yun Shuo was tied up and unable to move. He was already injured and was exhausted from standing until now.

He reluctantly shook his wrist and said, "Since you've already acknowledged that I'm the Wind God's Favored One, then we're all family. At least loosen these ropes for a bit."

Although the old man did not mention anything in his words, he did not admit that Yun Shuo was a person favored by God.

However, it was precisely because he did not dare to make a final conclusion and deliberately did not mention it that gave Yun Shuo the opportunity to insist that "he is the one favored by the God of Wind."

The old man paused slightly, a hint of hesitation flashed across his brows, but he finally nodded slightly and signaled someone to loosen Yun Shuo's ropes a few times.

Although these ropes were not enough to allow Yun Shuo to move freely, they could at least free him from that twisted and uncomfortable posture.

Although Yun Shuo was still tied with ropes, he was in a casual posture, without any sense of being a prisoner. He simply sat comfortably beside the wooden stake and began to move his wrists, which were bound stiffly.

As he moved, he spoke bluntly, "You should know from the way I look at you that I can't be a retainer of any noble, let alone one of those pampered nobles."

The old man frowned even deeper when he heard this. "So, your divine power is..."

Logically speaking, once someone is chosen and blessed by the gods and becomes a favored one, almost instantly, the subordinates that the nobles had arranged long ago will come like a tide, competing to extend olive branches and recruit the person into their ranks.

Assuming that this person is truly favored by the God of Wind, how could he not become a retainer?

Yun Shuo seemed to have finally touched upon a topic that interested him. A playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said leisurely, "Because I didn't go through the normal channels to become a God-favored One."

Before the old man could figure out the deeper meaning of this sentence, Yun Shuo's face suddenly appeared before him.

Yun Shuo stared at the other person intently, which made the old man feel uneasy.

But the gazes of the crowd were still forcing him, so no matter how frightened the old man was, he could only suppress it in his heart, trying to stay calm and look at Yun Shuo.

To be fair, Yun Shuo's face is undoubtedly handsome and extraordinarily handsome, in line with the aesthetic tastes of most people in this world.

However, at this moment, the old man could not muster any admiration for this handsome face.

On the contrary, an indescribable fear surged in his heart, and his body trembled involuntarily - and this was only because Yun Shuo suddenly smiled after staring at him for a while.

Yun Shuo's smile was extremely strange. The corners of his mouth seemed to be pulled to the sides by an invisible force, becoming bigger and deeper, as if he was a madman out of control, wishing he could tear the corners of his mouth apart.

But the upper half of his face seemed to be separated from the lower half. His eyes, clearly black and white, did not have a trace of light, as if they were just two glass beads embedded in them.

He smiled happily, but his eyes were cold.

Although the old man was afraid, he had an indescribable desire for the other channel leading to the "God's Favored One".

No, it would be better to say that everyone present had an immense desire for it, and everyone was waiting for Yun Shuo's next words.

The old man asked with a slightly trembling voice, "So, you... which channel did you take?"

"Blood sacrifice! Only blood sacrifice can prove one's loyalty!"

The old man sighed in disappointment upon hearing this, waving his hands repeatedly and saying, "This is all in vain. We in Susi Township have sent countless people through the 'mountain of swords', but still not a single one has become a divinely favored one."

"Are they all outsiders?" Yun Shuo asked directly.

"Of course." The old man perked up again upon hearing this. A strange light flashed in his eyes, as if burning with an unknown pride. He even straightened his hunched body and said slowly, "Any outsider who dares to set foot on our land will never return alive."

Yun Shuo turned a deaf ear and continued, "Using the flesh and blood of outsiders, you still want to achieve your own path to divine favor? Ridiculous! Ridiculous!"

He shook his head nervously and sighed, "How can other people's flesh and blood be worthy of our supreme god?"

"What?" The old man seemed to have understood something, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the wound on Yun Shuo's abdomen, which could not be caused by something unknown.

At this time, the divine power had not yet completely repaired the big hole in Yun Shuo's stomach. The old man could even see the internal organs moving with his breathing through the vague black layer.

"If you are unwilling to offer even your flesh and blood to the gods, how can you expect the gods to bless you?" After Yun Shuo said this, he covered his mouth in an attempt to hide his guilt and laughed foolishly.

This smile caused the movements of the abdominal organs to become more intense. The old man felt a chill run down his spine and could only stammer, "With your own flesh and blood?"

Chapter 3: Cutting the Flesh

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Yun Shuo's expression suddenly calmed down, as if his previous crazy look was just an illusion of the old man. He became as arrogant as before, but obviously more like a normal person.

But precisely because of this, the old man felt that Yun Shuo was abnormal. After all, ordinary people would not have such big mood swings and such rapid mood changes.

"Use your own flesh and blood." Yun Shuo repeated it affirmatively, then leaned forward again, staring at the old man with wide eyes without blinking, and asked frivolously, "Why? You don't dare?"

He was serious! The old man was startled and swallowed subconsciously, "I...you..."

Under Yun Shuo's gaze, his wrinkled face gradually turned red, his mouth opened and closed but he couldn't utter a word, only his two tufts of beard kept trembling in the air.

"Hmph!" Yun Shuo leaned back against the wooden stake and tugged at the rope around him with boredom. "You don't even have this little bit of self-awareness, and you still dream of becoming a god-favored one? You're just daydreaming!"

He smiled and tilted his head, looking at the old man's greedy and hesitant expression with disdain. With a hint of amusement in his voice, he spoke again: "Could it be that... you still want to use the flesh and blood of livestock like cattle and sheep to appease the gods?"

"We don't! There has never been a single day in the history of Susi Township when we have not followed the teachings! It is even more impossible for us to have the intention of perfunctorily obeying the gods!" The old man explained hurriedly with a trembling voice.

His pair of withered eyes were wide open, revealing too much white in them, which made people feel a little hypocritical and ridiculous.

Unconsciously, the rhythm of the conversation was once again firmly controlled by Yun Shuo.

At this moment, Yun Shuo looked more like a true believer. He was many times more devout than those who considered themselves to be orthodox believers of the God of Wind.

Even though he was just sitting casually on the ground, his solemn and dignified expression made him seem as if he was kneeling in a temple.

Yun Shuo sneered, "Huh? Never before? You actually dared to offer such a lowly creature as a two-legged sheep to the supremely noble gods? This is simply blasphemy against the gods!"

His eyes revealed a deep disdain, as if he was very dissatisfied with those cliché offerings.

The old man was choked by these words and couldn't recover for a long time.

Those heretics are filthy and need to be purified, but their "purification" is, to a certain extent, another way of dedicating them to God.

His already hunched body looked even more dispirited at this moment. He seemed to have been drained of all his energy and strength. He had no choice but to sit slumped in the chair.

Yun Shuo looked up at the old man, his deep gaze penetrating his body as he looked at the group of people behind him whose hands were covered in blood, but who were still shamelessly begging for the gods' blessings.

Regardless of gender, age or status, their faces revealed a creepy uniform greed and hypocrisy.

This ignorance spread through them like a plague, taking root and sprouting in the deepest part of their flesh. Its branches turned into murderous weapons, mercilessly strangling one innocent life after another.

"Not a single outsider has walked out of here alive." This short sentence implies so many unknown tragedies, so many broken families and wailing.

This group of people have lost even the most basic conscience for their so-called "beliefs."

Seeing how they bullied the weak and feared the strong, the nobles certainly didn't dare to kill them, nor could they. So, the unarmed and defenseless civilians became their targets for wanton slaughter.

Most of those who can travel here as "outsiders" are those who cannot make a living in their hometown and have to leave their hometown in order to have enough food and clothing. If they think more about it, they can save some money after living frugally and send it back to their hometown.

They thought they could find a glimmer of hope here, but unexpectedly, this place became the end of their lives.

A cold light flashed in Yun Shuo's eyes.

It is easy to ask these people to kill others, but it is very difficult to ask them to kill themselves.

After all, the knife didn't cut me, so who knows how painful it is.

One of the doctrines of the "Old Religion" of the Kingdom of Wind is "not to leave one's hometown", so all "foreigners" must convert to the "New Religion" before they can go to other places.

Even though these "outsiders" are natives of the Kingdom of Wind and believe in the God of Wind, they will be punished by "walking on a mountain of knives", "going into a sea of ​​fire" and "plunging into a deep river" simply because their sects are different from those of the Sus Township.

They said that everything was for the gods, but when Yun Shuo said that as long as they offered flesh and blood, they would be blessed by the gods, these people fell silent.

What the hell is this! Yun Shuo spat in his heart.

Using a piece of meat to buy a lifetime of wealth and prosperity was a very lucrative deal, no matter how you looked at it.

But when it is one's own flesh that is being cut, and when the price to pay is a part of oneself, who can easily use their own flesh and blood as a bargaining chip in exchange for an unknown future?

The medical conditions in the Wind Country were not bad, but that was only for the powerful and wealthy. For ordinary people, cutting off a piece of flesh was undoubtedly a gamble with their lives.

If you win the bet and gain divine power, everyone will be happy. You and your loved ones will be freed from the shackles of poverty and enter a glorious palace, where wealth and glory will be just around the corner.

But if he unfortunately loses the bet and fails to obtain divine power, then death will be the only way forward for him.

This is not offering one's own flesh and blood, this is clearly offering one's own life!

Everyone focused their attention on Yun Shuo's abdomen, where the wound was hideous and shocking.

Even with divine nourishment, its healing was still incredibly slow, as if every inch of its skin was stubbornly resisting the erosion of the outside world. Through the wounds that hadn't yet fully healed, one could even vaguely see the scarlet organs within.

Can they really afford such a tragic price? Everyone silently asked themselves.

After a long moment, a yellow-haired woman slowly emerged from the crowd and whispered, "If we want to offer sacrifices, how much meat do we need? And can this method guarantee that we will gain divine power?"

"Just untie the rope and I'll show you how." Yun Shuo ignored her question and put forward his own request first.

The old man's face tensed when he heard this, and he hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "Don't..."

There is no doubt that no matter whether Yun Shuo is good or bad, he is first and foremost a complete madman.

As latecomers, people like us did not dare to easily cut off our own flesh to offer to the gods. So under what circumstances did this "pioneer" take the initiative to cut off his flesh to offer to the gods?

Was it because he was exceptionally devout, or was it simply because the young man was mentally unstable?

But the blond woman didn't care about all this. She was still young, and youth naturally brought vigor and vitality. Who hadn't dreamed of getting rich overnight when they were young and frivolous?

And now, the opportunity to realize the dream is right in front of you. If you succeed, you will reach the sky in one step.

The huge benefits had blinded her eyes, so she untied Yun Shuo without hesitation and kindly helped him up.

Yun Shuo never expected that this person would be so easy to talk to and let him go so readily.

Fortunately, he had tested it before and confirmed that he could control the divine power. Otherwise, he would feel a little insecure now, and the scene might be exposed halfway, and he would not be able to continue singing.

The yellow-haired woman saw Yun Shuo stand up but didn't say anything for a long time. Anxiety surged in her heart like a tide, and she couldn't help but urge him, "Hurry up and tell me! I promised to let you go!"