Xiao Kui suddenly realized and continued:

"Since then, the county has held a grand evil god sacrifice every year. Because the evil god in the dream requires pure pain, the county head and the men in the village held a meeting for three days and three nights. In the end, they unanimously decided that only children's pain is the purest, so the sacrifice should be children."

"In the beginning, Luming County was not that rich. The offerings for the evil god festival were not purchased from outside... but were children like me, who were chosen from the village."

Sota was surprised and asked back: "You have a father and a mother, didn't they stop you from being chosen as a sacrifice?"

"It was my father and mother who offered me and my brother as sacrifices." Xiao Kui's voice became choked with sobs, "Because the rule in the county is that whoever offers the sacrifice will be the one who is chosen in the end, and the right to make a wish will belong to that family."

"There are four children in my family. I am the oldest, with a younger sister and two younger brothers. My father offered me and one of my younger brothers as sacrifices, hoping that the evil god would choose at least one of us. In this way, our family can make a wish to the evil god and no longer have to work so hard to go out to sea to fish every day to support the whole family."

"At that time, almost every poor family offered their children as sacrifices. Richer families were unwilling to sacrifice their own offspring, so they would buy children from poor families, train them well, and use them as their own sacrifices."

"Because no one knows who will be chosen by the evil god, some families, if they have extra children, will sell one of their children to the other party as a sacrifice."

"My father sold me to the Kitahara family." Xiao Kui sobbed softly, "I am now called Kitahara Xiao Kui."

Sota sighed sympathetically: "A sacrifice to the evil god? I don't know which is better, being a laborer or a slave."

"Coolie?" Xiao Kui slowly turned her head, her wet hair covering her thin and pale face, and looked at Bai Liu who was leaning on the bed with distracted eyes, "You don't know what it takes to be a sacrifice to the evil god."

"You will be whipped, tortured, and in excruciating pain, unable to live or die."

Sota said in a puzzled tone, "But it's the same with coolies. Once they get there, they start getting beaten and forced to work."

Xiao Kui laughed nervously twice: "But being a sacrifice is not like this at the beginning."

"At first, you will be assigned to a very warm houseboat, a very cute cat and dog, a servant friend who is very kind to you, every meal will be very good, and your parents will come to visit you every day."

"——You can't even tell for a moment whether you are here to be a sacrifice or to be a princess."

Sota asked in confusion: "Isn't this good?"

Just as Xiao Kui was about to speak again, the door of the boathouse was suddenly pushed open. Her shoulders trembled and she stopped talking.

Amidst the wind and rain came a deep, rich voice from a middle-aged man: "It's raining heavily. These newly-purchased pups are in a state of mental instability and lack a sense of security. Give them the cats and dogs first, and let them hold each other through the storm, get to know each other, and build up their relationship."

Another slightly thinner male voice responded, "Yes, Master Yushun."

The dark cabin was illuminated by dim oil lamps held by seven or eight men. These men were holding a long, wide cage covered with black cloth. From the cage came the intermittent, long, trembling cries of young animals:

"Mim-m ...

"Awoo-awoo...Woof!"

A man placed a gas lamp on the side of the bow of Bai Liu, who was dozing with his eyes closed, and reached out his hand, which was covered with old ropes and smelled of fish, and patted him hard.

Bai Liu then pretended to have just woken up and opened his eyes, looking at the animal in the cage held by the man in the dim light.

It was a particularly beautiful cat with long white hair and silver-blue eyes.

The cat looked no more than a few months old, with beautiful appearance, warm and fluffy fur, and a golden bell tied around its neck. Its pupils became round under the dim light. It sat upright in the cage, raising one paw and licking the other paw which was a little muddy with its pink tongue, as if it didn't like not being clean enough before meeting people.

Seeing Bai Liu looking up at it, the cat tilted its head slightly, and its pink nose poked out from the cage. Like a pet cat, it nudged Bai Liu's hands that were tied to the bed railing in an intimate and nonchalant manner, and mimed in a coquettish voice with its long tail.

The man holding the cage laughed strangely when he saw this scene: "This cat is well trained. It is very friendly and likes people."

"I'll let it out later, and it will crawl into your arms. If you can't hold it firmly in the wind and waves, such a cute little cat will fall out of the bed and get dirty."

After saying that, the man opened the cage. Just as he said, the cat rushed into Bai Liu's arms as soon as it got out of the cage, and finally squeezed out a depression that was almost big enough for it and then stuck tightly to Bai Liu's chest.

The kitten squinted its eyes because of the warmth of Bai Liu's body. It made a purring sound in its throat, raised its head and rubbed Bai Liu's chin, meowing, as if it really liked the new owner it had just found.

The man saw the cat crawling into Bai Liu's arms, and with satisfaction he withdrew his gaze, picked up the cage and was about to leave, but then he turned back as if he remembered something and reminded her, "These animals all have the same name as their owners."

"So this cat has the same name as you, Bai Liu."

Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at the little kitten who was curled up in his arms for warmth and was about to fall asleep.

The kitten's eyes were about to close, but it seemed to notice that Bai Liu was looking at it. It meowed and leaned towards Bai Liu, resting its head on Bai Liu's bound wrists. It stretched out with its paws resting on Bai Liu's palms, snorted twice, and licked Bai Liu's nose.

"Don't give it to me--!!" A mournful female voice came from the shop below Bai Liu, interrupting the kitten's attempt to lick Bai Liu's fur, "I don't want this dog!!"

The kitten was frightened by the sound and its eyes widened. It and Bai Liu leaned over to look down.

Xiao Kui struggled desperately on the bed, her eyes red and tears streaming, her voice was sharp and hysterical, mixed with broken sobs: "Don't give this dog to me!!!"

Next to Xiaokui's bed was a small Shiba Inu with round eyes. It was only half the height of a man's calf, orange in color, with ears erected, and looked energetic and alert. It seemed to be frightened by Xiaokui's reaction, but it stood by her legs and did not leave. After hesitating for a moment, it came forward and licked Xiaokui's tears.

Xiao Kui let out a cry of complete collapse, waving her hands unconsciously: "Get lost! Don't lick me! Don't come near me! Go away!"

"I don't want to be in pain anymore! I don't want a dog!"

The little Shiba Inu was hit by Xiaokui's flailing hands. It howled in fear and tried to hide behind the man's feet, but was kicked away coldly by the man. The dog was thrown up by the waves and hit a bed pole directly.

The sound of the puppy's bones breaking could be heard clearly, and it only let out a very short and terrible howl before rolling to the ground. The puppy's head and tail were hit together, and its eyes were wide open as it lay motionless on the ground.

Xiao Kui, who was crying and holding her face, had her pupils dilated for a moment. She turned her head abruptly and looked at the motionless Shiba Inu. The feeling of being licked by the Shiba Inu's tongue remained on her face, and her expression was completely blank.

Tears flowed unconsciously from Xiaokui's wide eyes. She stretched out her trembling hand towards the dead body of the Shiba Inu puppy lying on the ground and muttered to herself: "...Xiaokui."

Seeing this, the man's originally impatient expression relaxed, revealing a little joy, clapping his hands and smiling, "She's crying!"

"I didn't expect you to cry when there were sacrifices on the boat. This is a good start." The man turned to look at the people next to him and waved his hand, saying, "Bring a few more cats and Shiba Inus over."

Soon the cat and the Shiba Inu were brought over.

The man squatted down and spoke softly to Xiaokui, who was lying on the bed in a daze, and said in a gentle and persuasive manner: "Xiaokui doesn't like dogs, right? Then does Xiaokui like cats?"

“No…” Xiao Kui’s tears kept flowing, her pupils had already shrunk, her voice was hoarse and dry, but she still refused, “…I don’t want a dog, nor a cat.”

"...I don't want to see [Xiao Kui] die again just because I became Xiao Kui's friend."

"Really?" The man grabbed a kitten from the cage by its neck with a hint of regret and held it in front of Xiaokui. "Xiaokui, are you going to push them away so cruelly? You are the one who likes small animals the most among all the sacrifices."

"Now that they like you so much, don't you want them to be your friends?"

The kitten had no idea what was happening. It meowed twice, then trembled and stood up to nudge Xiaokui, rubbed Xiaokui affectionately, and then curled up on Xiaokui's shoulder and refused to move.

Xiao Kui slowly clenched her fists, turned her head as far as she could, and pretended to be indifferent: "Even if you kill them in front of me, I won't suffer because of them anymore."

"Then there is nothing we can do." The man shook his head regretfully and whispered in Xiaokui's ear, "Xiaokui should know that animals that cannot make you suffer are of no value on this ship."

He laughed, pinched the kitten's neck and pulled it out of Xiaokui's arms, then put his hands on the neck of the kitten, who was looking at Xiaokui with innocent eyes and meowing obediently. He could wrap his hands around the neck of the kitten with two thin fingers, and then suddenly tightened them.

The kitten's meowing, which originally had a playful and affectionate meaning, turned into a miserable sound. It struggled hard with its four legs and kicked the man's hands, trying to jump off the man's strong hands. But it was a futile struggle as it was not even as big as one of the man's palms.

The kitten's distinct black and white eyes were pinched until they were bloodshot and full of bloodshot. Its voice was pinched until it became shrill and piercing, and then slowly became weak, and its struggling claws dropped.

Xiao Kui gritted her teeth and refused to look back. Finally, when the kitten meowed for the last time, she couldn't help herself and turned around and reached out frantically to grab the kitten: "Give it to me!"

The man let go, and the little cat, which had been squeezed so soft that it was only breathing its last breath, fell into Xiaokui's arms. It rubbed against Xiaokui and meowed hoarsely as if it had been wronged.

Xiao Kui hugged it tightly with tears in her eyes: "Master Yuchuan, I want this little cat, I want this Xiao Kui, please give it to me!"

"I will suffer for it in the future!"

The man stared at Xiao Kui for a while, then suddenly smiled: "Xiao Kui has not been chosen by the evil god for several times, probably because you are not suffering enough."

He slowly reached out his hand from Xiao Kui's arms, and pulled the kitten that was clinging to Xiao Kui's clothes out in front of her almost blank eyes. He gently touched it twice, and then put his hand on the kitten's neck. He whispered:

"Then let it be even more painful, Xiaokui."

The kitten cried miserably, but this time Yuchuan never let go. He clapped his hands, casually threw the kitten's limp body next to Xiaokui, who looked dazed, and turned away.

"Find Xiao Kui a Shiba Inu to keep her company. If she doesn't want to be with him, just kill him and get a cat instead."

"Until she can't cry anymore."