After the cruise ship left, silence returned to the cabin, with only the occasional sobbing of children in fear and the ignorant cries of cats and dogs being heard.

Cang Tai was given a little black cat. He stood quietly behind Bai Liu for a long time before he spoke in a trembling voice, "Bai Liu, can you see Xiao Kui? How is she?"

Bai Liu used the weak light to look at Xiao Kui lying on the bed. Xiao Kui was lying on the bed with her hair disheveled. She was pulling the bandage tied around her wrist and stroking the head of the kitten that was assigned to her. Her voice was hoarse and weak, "Good kitten, so good."

"Xiao Kui is so good."

When Sota heard Xiaokui's voice, he was silent for a while, and looked at the little black cat in his arms with an almost indescribable look, then he loosened his hands tremblingly.

The little black cat raised its head in confusion, looked at the boy who didn't hug it tightly, and meowed softly.

Cang Tai turned his head away cruelly, and closed his eyes with rapid breathing.

…So that’s why these sacrifices get cats.

It is almost every child's dream to have an animal that has the same name as themselves and is extremely close to them.

But it can’t be like this, it’s too... painful.

This frightened him a hundred times more than asking Sota to do hard labor.

When seeing the two kittens named Xiaokui and Shiba Inu died, Sota, who was curled up in bed and dared not say a word, listened to Xiaokui's heart-wrenching screams, trembling, and covered his ears, not daring to listen anymore.

The scream was so miserable that Cang Tai almost thought that it was not the little animal that died, but Xiao Kui herself.

He doesn't want to be the next Xiaokui, so he'd better not develop feelings for these pets that were distributed to him, and it's best to separate them now.

The next wave came over, the cabin was tossed, and everyone was knocked to one side by the waves. The little black cat's claws couldn't hold on to anything, and it was about to slide down the bed, so it cried out in panic.

Souta, who had turned his head away, turned around subconsciously and panicked: "Souta!"

He stretched out his hand, pulled the little black cat into his arms again, and hugged it tightly.

By the time Sota realized what he had done, he stared blankly at the little black cat tightly held in his hands, tears falling involuntarily.

...Why is this happening?

Even though it was only their first meeting, he really couldn't just watch Sota die.

In the dark cabin, many children cried and hugged their pets when the waves hit them, sobbing and calling out their pets' names which were the same as their own.

In the vast ocean, in the painful journey with an uncertain future, these children who are about to become sacrifices to the evil god try to gain some kind of supportive warmth from the soft and friendly little animal, or be domesticated by humans and given love when they meet for the first time.

"You can't let go of the pet they gave you." The child named Bai Liu, who was lying in front of him, spoke in a calm tone, "When you know it has the same name as you, you won't be able to let go."

Sota hugged the little black cat and asked while sobbing, "Why?"

Bai Liu continued calmly, "It is just like you. It is an animal cub used by adults. It was abandoned and sold, drifting alone on the sea. It is also a tool that is about to be tortured to increase pain."

"In many ways, you are all the same, with the same fate."

"You have probably never met a fellow creature so friendly to you in the world. The fellow creatures you have met, or rather, humans, have all been abusing you, otherwise you would not have been sold to this ship. Under these conditions, you have met a [fellow creature] who has been carefully selected and will definitely like you. You also share the same name. It is difficult for you not to transfer your feelings to this animal cub."

Bai Liu turned his head slightly, opened his eyelids and looked at the stunned Sota behind him: "-In other words, the cat in your hand is no longer a cat, but another you, another Sota."

"You can't watch it die, just like you can't watch yourself die."

Cang Tai stared blankly into Bai Liu's dark eyes. He suddenly remembered the rumors, trembled, and opened his mouth hesitantly, as if he wanted to ask something, but finally remained silent.

Bai Liu spoke calmly: "Now you are asking, if people can empathize with another animal in the same predicament, why would I, who live in an orphanage, abuse and kill animals, right?"

After a long time, Cang Tai looked doubtfully at the little white cat curled up in Bai Liu's arms, sleeping soundly with its belly turned upside down, and explained: "Actually, I don't think you did it, but I just can't figure it out. I mean, if there is such a person as you in the rumor, why would he do this?"

Bai Liu was silent for a while, then said, "There is a very important point in empathy assessment, which is empathy."

"First, you need to feel that the other person has the same emotions as you. For example, when you and the black cat in your arms are in the same predicament, you both feel pain, fear, and other emotions. At this time, you will feel that it is the same kind as you, and then you will empathize with it, and then achieve the purpose of transference."

"But if a person experiences different emotions from those of the people around him or even the animals when he or she is experiencing any kind of event, he or she will not be able to empathize with others, and naturally, it is impossible for him or her to transfer emotions."

"If there is no commonality in emotions, he will not feel that he is of the same kind as the people around him. When a person harms something that is not of the same kind, he will not feel pain."

"He is just like us, both grew up in an orphanage." Sota leaned towards Bai Liu and asked in confusion, "Why can't he have the same emotions as us? Is it because his brain is different from ours?"

"I personally don't think so." Bai Liu said in a light tone, "Because many normal people can empathize before they have the ability to exploit others."

"For example, Lord Yusen mentioned earlier, he should be the mayor of Luming County that Xiaokui mentioned. He sounded like a good person before and should have been nice to Xiaokui, but now he has completely lost empathy for Xiaokui and doesn't treat Xiaokui as a living person at all, but as a sacrifice."

Sota was stunned and asked softly: "...Yes, why is it like this?"

"I think it's because of desire." Bai Liu continued to explain in a calm tone, "When a person's desire is too strong, the first thing he feels when he sees any living thing is not a sense of similarity, but a sense of exploitation."

"Extreme desires can make people imagine that they are in a huge social food chain, and that other people are also in the same food chain as them. Then they will only have two kinds of judgments on the people around them: those who can exploit them and those who they can exploit."

"The only ones they can exploit are lowly animals like kittens and puppies, but the one who can exploit them is the supreme God."

"In their world, the strong prey on the weak, the fittest survive, and human nature is evil. People are born to cannibalize their peers below the food chain to increase their assets and value. They naturally think that empathy is a manifestation of weakness because beasts do not empathize with their prey."

Sota weakly asked back: "But we are human beings, not beasts."

Bai Liu paused and said, "If a person stays in the food chain of self-desire for too long, he will degenerate from a human to a beast, or even a monster."

"People who only have desires will eat others."

Sota fell into a creepy daze, and he suddenly repeated Bai Liu's words: "Eating people...?"

From the lower floor came Xiao Kui's two nervous, absent-minded chuckles. She murmured, "Xiao Kui, cat, you are so good."

The wind and waves on the sea finally died down, and the large ship carrying Bai Liu and his group's offerings docked at the port of Luming County on a sunny afternoon.

Yuchuan was standing at the harbor in neat clothes, holding a bamboo cane in his hand, looking down at the sacrifices who were walking down from the cabin in a line with their heads lowered, unsteady steps and weak faces.

The sacrifices are all children under the age of fifteen, just beginning to understand things but still a little ignorant. This is the age most favored for sacrifices in Luming County.

Bai Liu is considered the oldest among them, almost seventeen years old. Normally, there shouldn't be such a large sacrifice because it is difficult to discipline him, but he is small and looks only about fifteen years old, so he was sold here smoothly.

These sacrifices who had experienced the storms all held the little animals in their arms tightly. Some of the children were still very weak, but they didn't care and devoted themselves to the equally weak little animals in their arms.

They repeatedly checked the puppies and kittens' paws and put their faces on their bellies to feel whether they were breathing. As they checked, tears flowed down their cheeks, but they dared not utter a word or ask for help from the people around them. They just lowered their heads and cried silently.

Yuchuan looked at the weeping sacrifices and nodded with satisfaction, then tilted his head and said, "Go and heal their pets and send them back to their boathouse."

Bai Liu looked around with the corner of his eye. He saw that many children, even those who were afraid of Yuchuan because of what happened to Xiaokui before, their eyes lit up because of Yuchuan's order.

A few other children whispered, "Thank you, Mr. Yusen."

Fifteen is the age when the sense of right and wrong is not yet formed. Many children grow up in a cramped and abnormal environment, and their understanding of the world is probably insufficient.

It's really too deceptive.

Yu Chuan relaxed his expression and said, "You kids are all good kids. You love animals, are kind to your relatives and friends, and have rich emotions. I am very satisfied with you."

"I know you were all very scared when you saw me scolding Xiao Kui on the boat, but I must say here that Xiao Kui is a bad kid!"

Yu Chuan's face suddenly darkened. He held his cane and pounded it hard on the ground. "She doesn't like small animals. She failed the sacrificial test several years ago. She also injured her servants and dog and escaped from us. She is a very bad girl!"

"We will naturally not be very friendly to such bad children. I hope you will learn from Xiao Kui and strive to be a good child. We will treat you very well."

All the children turned to look at Xiaokui, who was standing motionless among the offerings. She seemed not to notice that the children's eyes on her became repulsive and wary. She still held the cat and stood there numbly.

Yu Chuan withdrew his gaze from Xiao Kui and looked at the group of sacrificial children who were looking up at him:

"The place where you live is called the Boathouse. It's on a coast not far from here. You can see the sea every day when you wake up. It's a very beautiful place."

"But there's one little thing you need to do before you get to the houseboat."

Yuchuan said: "I need you two to become good friends, and then one of you will be the other's servant, and the other will be the main sacrifice."

His eyes became dark:

"As children who become the true sacrifice, you can enjoy the best of everything in Luming County, including food, clothing, travel, education, and even your pets can enjoy the best treatment. No one will dare to harm them anymore."

"We will select the most prestigious families in Luming County to be your adoptive parents. You are the most noble beings in Luming County, superior to all commoners. If you can successfully provide a round of sacrifice pain in the evil god festival, then you will enjoy all of this forever."

All the children couldn't help but show longing in their eyes.

"But the child who became a servant." Yuchuan's tone became regretful, "He is just a servant."

"——Just like the days you've lived before, you're just servants who can be abandoned at any time."

"If your good friends don't like you or don't need you anymore one day." Yuchuan smiled friendly, "We will send you back."

"But we'll leave your pets here."