"Ahhhhhh, stop talking!" Xiaomei suddenly let out a shrill scream, startling everyone at the table.
"What are you doing? You're so jumpy!" Xie Bingxia grabbed a chocolate muffin from the table and stuffed it into Xiaomei's mouth. "Be quiet for me."
"Mi-Miss, wha-what they're sa-saying is sa-sacrifice... It's so te-terrifying."
"Finish eating and talk properly."
Xiaomei gulped down the muffin, grabbed the pearl milk tea and sucked it dry. Licking her lips, she said, "They're talking about sacrifice. It's really scary!"
"Right." Prometheus took over. "Generally speaking, ancient rituals are basically related to sacrifice."
Xie Bingxia understood that the further back in time to the era when civilization was not yet well - developed, the more mysterious various sacrificial activities were, and they were often associated with human desires.
"What kind of sacrificial activity is related to the blood moon?"
Prometheus swiped his finger on the phone screen, pulled up some information and showed it to Xie Bingxia while explaining, "According to legend, in ancient Egypt, unmarried virgins were regarded as symbols of purity. Every hundred years, a holy maiden would descend to the world. Even though she was treated like a deity by people, she couldn't resist the passage of time. The holy maiden would grow old year by year."
"It's a natural phenomenon that people grow old. It can't be easily controlled, right?" Xie Bingxia stared at the obscure pictures on the phone screen. Satan chimed in, "There are indeed many aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization that we haven't fully understood yet. We can't jump to conclusions."
Prometheus pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "To prevent the holy maiden from growing old, they initiated the sacrificial activity of the blood moon. It is said that whenever a blood moon appears, time will be in disorder. By harnessing its power, one can regain youth and maintain a young appearance."
"Why were they so obsessed with the youth of the holy maiden?" Xiaomei asked. Satan leaned in towards her mysteriously and said, "The holy maiden is the channel to communicate with a certain god in the sky. Moreover, the holy maiden has to remain a virgin all her life and cannot engage in sexual activities."
"Vir-vir-vir..." Xiaomei blushed like a tomato. Xie Bingxia stepped in between Satan and Xiaomei. "Hey, talk about something serious. Don't flirt with my people."
Satan burst out laughing, gulped down the remaining cola in one go, and said, "We've talked enough. It's time for you to pay the bill, missy."
So far, they had only talked about the origin of the blood moon. Whether it was true or not, where on earth did these people find the information about the blood moon?
"It's not enough." Xie Bingxia shook her head, clearly dissatisfied.
Prometheus was afraid she wouldn't pay, so he said anxiously, "What else do you want to know?"
"What if you're just making it up?"
"We..." Prometheus bit his lower lip and said firmly, "We can reproduce the sacrifice!"
"Shut up!" Satan panicked and covered Prometheus's mouth. "Don't talk nonsense!"
"Tell me about it." Xie Bingxia took his phone, pulled up the QR code, and happily transferred 5,000 yuan. "This is the deposit."
Prometheus's eyes lit up. He pulled Satan's hand away and said excitedly, "We'll help you reproduce it. Let you see it with your own eyes, and then you'll believe we're not talking nonsense."
"According to the ancient books we've verified, the blood moon is summoned. It's not just a natural phenomenon. If the conditions for the sacrifice are met, we might be able to reproduce it."
"No, it's too dangerous!" Satan pulled Prometheus up and wanted to take him away. "We're just researching historical materials. It's not advisable to imitate it rashly."
"One hundred thousand yuan." Xie Bingxia threw out a big temptation. "Whether it succeeds or not, I'll give you one hundred thousand yuan. How about it?"
Prometheus shook off Satan and readily agreed, "I'll do it!"
Satan sighed and sat back down. "Okay, but it'll take time to prepare. We'll contact you when we're ready."
After exchanging contact information with the two of them, Xie Bingxia walked out of the comic coffee shop in high spirits. Xiaomei followed behind and asked, "Miss, are you really going to..."
Xie Bingxia tossed her hair. "Give it a try. What are you afraid of? I won't lose anything."
Maybe they could really summon the blood moon, find out what was going on, and solve her concerns along the way?
But Xiaomei pulled a long face, looking exactly like the expression in the world - famous painting *The Scream*. She also shouted in her heart: Miss is playing with fire! Should I tell the young master?
A few days later, Xie Bingxia received a notice that everything was ready and she was to go to the address given by the two of them.
"A hotel? A room? Don't tell me the sacrifice is going to be held here." Xie Bingxia was extremely skeptical. Satan opened the door for her and said, "Do you like the deep mountains and old forests, missy? This is the new era. We have to pay attention to hygiene."
Xie Bingxia walked in doubtfully and saw an object like an altar placed in the middle of the room. There was a velvet cloth on it, covering something in the shape of a human. There was a carpet with strange patterns drawn in chalk on the floor. Without the lights on and with red candles lit around, the atmosphere was quite well - set.
Satan opened the floor - to - ceiling window of the room. In the night sky outside the window, a silver moon was very prominent.
"We calculated according to the star chart that today is especially suitable for the ceremony."
"Stop talking nonsense. Let's start." Xie Bingxia ordered.
Satan called a few other people. They were all wearing black hooded robes like Satan. It was hard to see their faces clearly because of the hoods.
"They are other members of the ghost - hunting group. They'll help us complete it together." With that, he took out a small knife and walked towards Xie Bingxia.
"What are you doing?"
Prometheus respectfully presented a golden goblet. Satan grabbed Xie Bingxia's wrist and said, "The ceremony requires the blood of a virgin. I'm sorry about this."
Xie Bingxia stopped him. "Wait a minute. My blood can't be used."
Satan's eyes widened in surprise. "How old are you, missy?"
"Twenty - eight... Oh no, eighteen."
"Are you not a virgin anymore?"
"It's none of your business!" Xie Bingxia was impatient. "Whoever is a virgin here can use their blood."
"That won't do! It must be the blood of a virgin girl!" Prometheus was anxious. Satan didn't care and made a cut on Xie Bingxia's finger.
"Sorry, you're the only girl here. Just make do with it."
Xie Bingxia let him take a few drops of blood grudgingly, then quickly retracted her hand and put it in her mouth to suck. Then the group of people gathered around the altar mysteriously and started mumbling.
In the midst of their "incantations", Satan pulled out a human hand from under the velvet cloth on the altar. Was there actually a person hidden under the velvet cloth? He made a cut on it just like he did before, took a few drops of blood and mixed it with the blood in the goblet. Then Satan gently shook the goblet and placed it in front of the altar.
"Okay, the preliminary preparations are completed. Let's all look forward to the arrival of the blood moon." Satan raised his hands. The other people held hands with each other and surrounded Xie Bingxia in the middle.
A moment later, the moon on the floor - to - ceiling window actually miraculously turned blood - red, and the color gradually spread from the edge.
This is impossible! Xie Bingxia was stunned. She stared at the gradually changing blood moon and couldn't take her eyes off it. She frantically felt around on her body, trying to find the signs of change.
There were none. The blood moon had appeared, but she didn't feel any discomfort.
"Next..." Satan grabbed a corner of the velvet cloth and pulled it off with a swish. On the altar, a man in a hotel bathrobe was lying quietly. His limbs were tied with cotton cloth, and he was wearing a mask like that of a pharaoh. He didn't move at all.
"According to the ritual records, when the holy maiden has intercourse with the chosen person, it is when the power of the blood moon reaches its peak." Satan gave Xie Bingxia a push. "This is a man who is also a virgin that we've carefully prepared for you. Go, holy maiden. Let's all witness the power of the blood moon together."