Jiang Yuan had no idea where these characters were coming from.
But the flashing blood-red text filled him with panic.
The bright room was filled with swirling smoke, and the bloodstains were starkly visible.
And his parents, with blood gushing from their wrists, wore smiles on their faces.
All of this filled him with even more anxiety and heart palpitations.
"Xiao Yuan?"
His father's voice turned stern as he urged, "What are you waiting for? Light the incense and kneel!"
"The flesh candles and soul incense are almost burned out for your Worship Ceremony today. Hurry up!"
"Have you forgotten what I taught you?"
"Matters of the gods must not be !"
His father's words echoed in Jiang Yuan's mind.
Wait!
Flesh candles?
Soul incense???
Why did these candles and incense have such... strange names?
Could it be that...
At this thought, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but look at the burning flesh candles and soul incense.
The soul incense didn't reveal anything special.
But when he saw the flesh candle, Jiang Yuan's eyes widened in shock. That, that, that was—there was a small piece of nail inside the candle!
A nail!
It must be a nail!!!
Why would there be a small piece of nail inside a candle!
Flesh candle...
Nail...
Could it be, could it be that...
Jiang Yuan thought of a possibility that made him instantly feel cold all over.
His face turned deathly pale.
And the blood-red characters before his eyes began flashing even faster, so fast that they left afterimages, so fast that they seemed to stop flickering altogether.
DO NOT WORSHIP!!!
DO NOT WORSHIP!!!!
DO NOT WORSHIP!!!!!...
DO NOT WORSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The blood-red exclamation marks after the text grew more numerous, eventually filling Jiang Yuan's entire field of vision.
"No!!!"
"Clang!"
Jiang Yuan stumbled backward several steps, accidentally kicking over an iron basin at his feet.
The basin had been on the floor. Since entering, Jiang Yuan's attention had been drawn to the massive statue, and with the thick smoke, he hadn't noticed the basin.
Now that he'd knocked it over, its contents spilled all over the floor.
It was a basin of blood, red as ink.
Fresh, blood-dripping heart, lungs, liver... still fresh.
And a brain, white and stained with blood.
"Damn it! What have you done!!!"
His father's enraged shout rang out. He roughly pushed Jiang Yuan aside, knelt before the scattered blood, organs, and brain, and hurriedly began picking them up and placing them back in the basin.
He turned his head to roar at Jiang Yuan, "Do you know what you've done?!"
"You've spilled your grandfather's sacrifice! You've disappointed his greatest kindness!"
"Your Worship Ceremony will be greatly diminished in effectiveness, and it might even bring divine punishment!"
"Damn it, damn it!"
"I never should have given birth to you! You've offended the gods, you've offended the gods!"
All warmth and kindness had vanished from his father's face.
His expression was ferocious, bearing no resemblance to his usual gentle demeanor.
His eyes seemed to be gradually turning scarlet as he stared fixedly at Jiang Yuan.
'Thump!'
Beside him,
His virtuous mother also gave Jiang Yuan a fierce glare, then suddenly knelt down and forcefully stabbed her right middle finger into her own forehead.
Her middle fingernail was slightly long, and with the force, it directly pierced the skin of her forehead, causing blood to flow.
"Great and omnipotent Merciful Saint!"
"You are kind and merciful."
"Please do not blame him. All his mistakes were unintentional."
"He..."
Jiang Yuan, who had been terrified into silence, finally regained his senses.
At this moment, he understood what these so-called gods and Worship Ceremonies truly were.
Clearly...
They were rituals of demonic cults, worshipping evil gods and demon gods!
In a fit of anger, he slapped his mother's hand away from her forehead and shouted furiously, "You're wrong! You're wrong!"
"This is an evil god!"
"This is a demon god!"
"You've been brainwashed!"
"The god you worship isn't benevolent at all—He's evil!!!"
As soon as he said this!
His father, who had been carefully placing his grandfather's sacrificial organs back into the basin, froze.
His mother, who had been praying to the god for Jiang Yuan's forgiveness, fell silent!
'Shua shua—'
His parents' heads instantly turned to stare at Jiang Yuan.
Their faces were filled with disbelief.
They couldn't believe that such words had come from the son they had raised and doted on since childhood.
Their eyes gradually turned scarlet.
Their faces slowly became ferocious and twisted.
Their gazes were no longer doting or kind.
There was a hint of struggle.
But soon, it was replaced by looks of hatred, disgust, and venom.
"Heretic... You're a heretic!"
His father's voice even began to rise, becoming shrill.
The look in his eyes as he stared at Jiang Yuan seemed ready to tear him apart, to devour him alive, filled with the most extreme hatred.
"Heretic, I'll chop you into pieces, I'll sacrifice you to the gods, and I'll receive the gods' favor! Hahaha, chop you into pieces, I'll chop you into pieces and sacrifice you!"
His father's voice and expression became mad, then manic.
His scarlet eyes indicated that he had completely lost his reason—they were the eyes of a beast. Jiang Yuan's hair stood on end.
Suddenly,
His father grabbed the blood-stained kitchen knife from the offering table. His venomous eyes revealed madness as he stared unblinkingly at Jiang Yuan, stood up, and began walking toward him step by step.
"Ah! My son is a heretic! My son... is a heretic!"
Beside him, his mother's equally manic voice rang out: "Too... wonderful..."
"Ha... haha, my son... is a heretic, this is... wonderful!"
"I'm so... lucky!"
Immediately!
His gentle mother, like a violent beast, pounced toward Jiang Yuan.
Her hands were blood-red, and there were streaks of fresh blood on her face.
Her expression was excited, mad, and agitated!
Everything happened too quickly.
His father, holding a blood-red kitchen knife, walking toward him step by step.
His mother, clawing and screaming with wild joy, pouncing toward him.
Jiang Yuan's mind went blank.
He didn't even have time to think about why this was happening, why his kind father and virtuous mother had suddenly changed so completely.
Survival instinct drove him to turn and run without hesitation!
Having just accidentally kicked over the basin and been roughly pushed aside by his father, he was now closest to the study door.
The fear of death and the terror of the bizarre situation caused a surge of adrenaline, making him faster and more alert than ever before.
As he ran out of the study, he slammed the door shut!
'Bang!'
His mother, who was not strong at all but rather delicate, easily crashed through the thick door. Her expression became even more as she ran toward Jiang Yuan at an even faster speed.
Behind her, his father, his expression venomous, suddenly raised the kitchen knife and slashed at Jiang Yuan from a distance—
A scarlet gas eerily detached itself from the blade, forming a scarlet blade qi that shot straight toward Jiang Yuan.
"Shit!!!"
Jiang Yuan was so terrified that his soul seemed to leave his body. What the hell was this???
Chi energy? Magic? Spells???
But with death approaching, he had no time to think.
Driven by adrenaline, he performed the most agile dodge of his life, narrowly avoiding the strange blade qi.
The blade qi struck the living room sofa straight on. With a 'whoosh' sound, the thick wooden sofa was split open by the strange blade qi, leaving a huge gash.
"Heretic, heretic!"
"All heretics must die!"
"All heretics must die!!!"
"Hahaha, my son is a heretic, my son is a heretic!"
His parents' manic voices continued to ring out. Jiang Yuan could even feel his mother's presence just inches from his back.
Letting out a roar, he summoned a strength he didn't know he had and kicked backward with all his might.
His mother's body was sent flying backward. Jiang Yuan didn't even have time to look back as he ran to the door, unlocked the alloy security door, slipped out, and slammed it shut behind him!
Then he continued to flee for his life!
He had only run a few steps when
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
Loud banging sounds came from behind him, along with the beast-like roars of his parents, who had lost their reason after their prey.
But...
Fortunately, in their loss of reason, they only knew to madly attack the alloy security door without thinking to unlock it.
This bought Jiang Yuan precious time to escape!
There was no way he could take the elevator.
He pushed open the door to the stairwell, grabbed the handrail, and without even taking the time to climb down the stairs, he jumped directly from the landing to the next one below.
He continued this way, jumping and spinning down the emergency stairs as he fled.
Their apartment wasn't very high up—ninth floor in an old residential complex.
In just moments, Jiang Yuan burst out through the first-floor stairwell door. Behind him...
It seemed his parents hadn't chased after him.
Jiang Yuan felt his heart was about to jump out of his throat.
He was confused, shocked, terrified, fearful, horrified...
Everything that had happened tonight had severely shaken his worldview and understanding of this world.
He suddenly felt...
This world...
Seemed...
Completely different from what he had understood it to be!
Call the police!
This thought immediately popped into Jiang Yuan's mind.
However,
The thought had just occurred to him when
Suddenly!!!
'Crash—'
'Crash—'
Two consecutive sounds of shattering glass suddenly came from the ninth floor. Jiang Yuan looked up in horror—
And saw
His father still holding the blood-red kitchen knife.
His mother still wearing her light yellow housecoat.
They had broken through the window on the ninth floor and jumped down toward him!
Even when they were at the level of the second floor, by the light of the community, Jiang Yuan could clearly see their expressions and their eyes.
Jumping from the ninth floor,
There wasn't a trace of fear on their faces.
Their venomous,-filled scarlet eyes were fixed on Jiang Yuan from start to finish, unblinking, unwavering.
'Thump—'
'Thump—'
Two consecutive sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground.
In Jiang Yuan's stunned gaze, his parents fell to the ground, one after the other.
Blood, red as ink, quickly stained the concrete ground where they had fallen.
They were already unrecognizable as human beings.
Their limbs were twisted, their necks were twisted, even their heads were misshapen.
But what remained unchanged was the mad look in their eyes as they stared fixedly at Jiang Yuan.
And...
His father's lips moved slightly, forming two silent words—
"Heretic..."
Then, like his mother,
He fell silent forever.