At night, the wind was a little strong, and a dilapidated house in the east of the city was blown to a creak, and a few pieces of broken bricks and tiles on the top were also blown down and scattered.

——Here, it is the old Zhang family in Fengyuan City, the only family in the city for hundreds of years, and the first poor family. At home, there are only Zhang Laohan, who is over seventy years old, and his grandson and granddaughter who are still young. The grandson is ten years old and is named Lin Yuan, and the granddaughter has just turned eight years old and is named Lingxi.

The night was a little dark, and inside the house, Zhang Laohan walked in silently from outside the house with the last dish, sat down at the dining table with his head bowed, and said nothing. Because the windows are a little dilapidated, the wind blows in through the cracks, causing the lights to flicker and flicker, and the whole house is flickering and dark. In the dim light, his old face appeared, looking at the table in front of him, he had no appetite, and under the wrinkled corners of his eyes, tears could not stop pouring out, quietly dripping to the ground.

A table of dinner, no one moved, and there was no sound.

The atmosphere was slightly heavy.

After being silent for a moment, Ling Xi's eyes were red and swollen, and she began to cry: "Lin Yuan, I don't want you to go, you said that you would accompany me on your birthday after the sacrifice." ”

Lin Yuan sighed secretly, this girl is still not big or small, but Rao is like this, and she is still her favorite sister. He took out a rather delicate silver bracelet from his arms, gently put it on Lingxi's hand, smiled slightly, and said: "Na, birthday gift, I will miss my brother in the future, so I will take it out and take a look, although it is a little big at the moment, but when Xi'er grows up, it must look good to wear." ”

This was the first time he had given her such a valuable birthday gift, with Lingxi's name vaguely engraved on it.

"I don't want a bracelet, I don't want anything, as long as you stay..."

"Silly girl, my brother will come back in the future, you have to listen to your grandfather at home, and you must not make his old man angry, otherwise I won't be able to spare you when I come back." ”

"Really!?"

Lin Yuan paused, nodded and said, "Really!" After speaking, he secretly smiled bitterly, it is estimated that it will not be long before he will be far away from the world and buried in the sea.

Because tonight is the annual sacrificial ceremony of Fengyuan City.

And he is the sacrifice!

It's just that he doesn't understand why he suddenly wants to sacrifice living creatures this year, but he is still a young man.

Perhaps, all this is because the fortune teller once said that he is a lone star in the sky, which is not tolerated by heaven and earth, and is destined to bring disaster to the people around him.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little sad, looked at his relatives with sad faces, and forced a relieved smile, and said, "Grandpa, you should pay more attention to your body when you are old."

Zhang Laohan gritted his teeth, with tears in his eyes, and said bitterly: "Later, I will go and beg the priest, what do I say, I can't watch them take you away." “

"It's useless, grandpa. Lin Yuan shook his head, Fengyuan City has believed in the sea god for generations, and the fear of the god has been deeply rooted in the bone marrow, deep-rooted, and unshakable. For the will of the god of the sea, it is the life of this small city that has been blessed by the gods for generations.

Zhang Laohan was almost crying, but he couldn't say anything, so he had to be sad alone. Inside the house, it seems to be in deep pain again.

A moment later.

Boom...... Boom...... Boom......

The three bells rang, deafening, spread to every corner of the city, at this time, the lights of Fengyuan City were extinguished, only the altar on the coast was brightly lit, and it was alone in the dark night.

Then, the dilapidated gate outside the courtyard "banged", and it seemed that someone had kicked it open.

"Lin Yuan, the time has come, don't hurry up and go out with me. “

Just listening to the voice, Lin Yuan knew that the person who came was Shi Li, the eldest young master of the Shi family in the city, because this person relied on the wealth of his family, he was arrogant and domineering in the city on weekdays, bullying the weak, and among his peers, he was also extremely hateful.

Hearing the sound outside the house, Zhang Laohan walked out with the two of them, only to see that there were already dozens of big men standing in the courtyard, led by an obese boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old, looking around with contempt, full of impatience.

As soon as Lin Yuan came out, several big men around him stepped forward to surround him, Zhang Laohan saw that his grandson was about to be taken away, and his heart was full of sorrow and pain, so he walked to Shi Li, leaned over and begged, and said, "Young Master Shi, my grandson is only ten years old now, so you will be merciful and let my young grandson go, and the old man is willing to sacrifice on behalf of his grandson." “

Unexpectedly, this stone hat squinted, and actually pushed Zhang Laohan, and said impatiently: "Hmph, how can the will of the sea god make you so blasphemous, besides, you old bones, Lord the sea god does not want to eat your meat." “

Zhang Laohan was pushed by this and fell to the ground, but fortunately, Lin Yuan and Lingxi stepped forward in time to support him, so there was no big problem. But Shi Li's body is fat and powerful, and his rickety body is really a little unbearable.

"Shi Li, you deceive people too much!"

Lin Yuan suddenly became anxious, picked up a broken brick from the ground, and walked in front of the stone hat angrily, making a force to smash.

The stone hat also seemed to be frightened, and hurriedly retreated, hiding behind a big man behind, and shouted: "I can warn you, if you dare to offend me, don't think about your family in the future!"

When Lin Yuan heard this, he was even more annoyed, and immediately said angrily, "You dare to threaten me, Lao Tzu won't live tonight anyway, just pull you as a backstop." So saying, he took a few more steps.

Seeing this, the big man in front of Shi Li glared at Lin Yuan angrily, straightened his chest, and firmly protected him behind him. But Lin Yuan can't control this, he dares to threaten himself with his relatives, forcing him to do anything, it's a big deal to get a fish to death, and as a sacrifice today, they don't dare to hurt themselves.

"Ah Yuan, stop, grandpa is fine. Zhang Laohan shook his hand and called out to Lin Yuan. After that, he got up and begged Shi Li: "Young Master Shi, I am more than seventy years old now, and there are only these two grandchildren under my knees, I really can't bear to watch them leave me, I just ask Young Master Shi to be merciful and let me see the priest, I will go and beg him, I will not embarrass you." ”

Shi Li shook his head and said: "Old man, you are also considered an older generation in Fengyuan City, how can you be a child's play when you know such a big thing as a sacrifice, and no matter whether the priest will not agree to you, even if you promise to let Lin Yuan go, then the Seagod will be angry, and it will be the people of the entire Fengyuan City who will suffer." “

Zhang Laohan said silently that he has lived in Fengyuan City all his life, and he naturally knows these truths, but he is more than seventy years old this year, and there are only these two grandchildren under his knees.

"Grandpa, forgive your grandson for not being filial, and I can't serve you for the rest of my life!"

In the end, Lin Yuan knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Zhang Laohan a few times and then got up and turned around, at that moment, his eyes couldn't help but burst into tears.

Lingxi reluctantly hugged him firmly from behind, but he couldn't bear to look back at each other anymore, so he gritted his teeth, pulled Lingxi's hand away with his heart, and walked towards the courtyard step by step.

Lin Yuan left.

As soon as you step out of the courtyard gate, firecrackers are deafening, gongs and drums are noisy, and tens of thousands of people hold torches aloft and line up in a spark avenue leading to the altar on the coast.

Looking at Lin Yuan's figure gradually moving away, as everyone in the courtyard left, Zhang Laohan sat on the ground, crying sadly, with no god in his eyes, under the sound of gongs and drums in the sky, this courtyard fell into a dead silence, in addition to the sound of the wind, there was also the cry of Lingxi at a loss.

Lin Yuan left, and with everyone accompanying him, he gradually faded out of the field of vision of Zhang Laohan and Lingxi, and walked towards the altar in front of him.

On the altar, the high priest dressed as usual, painted totems, wearing feathers, heard the sound of gongs and drums in the distance, and began to write the ode to the law with a bone battle in his hand, until Lin Yuan's arrival, he stopped the movements in his hand, turned to the statue of the sea god that had stood for hundreds of years, and worshiped with thousands of people in Fengyuan City.

"Omnipotent god of the sea, your pious people once again offer you the most sincere sacrifice of the year, may we prosper for all generations under the light of your god......

In front of the statue, the priest raised his hands and sang for half an hour before he slowly got up, glanced at Lin Yuan below, and spit out two words with an expressionless face: "Sacrifice!"

Boom......

The festival bell rang again, and in front of a sacrificial boat docked on the coast, Lin Yuan finally looked back in the direction of home for the last time, and then took a sad step and stepped up, the vast sea in front of him, endless darkness, there, it seemed to be his final destination.