Just then, something unexpected happened.

A cold voice came from outside the cage overhead. "Take that human female out. Prepare to offer her to the leader."

The casualness in the voice suggested the humans in the cage were mere objects.

"Elder, should she be put in the Moon Pit?" the guard asked respectfully.

"Mm," the Elder nodded.

The Moon Pit. In the eyes of the Moon Clan, it was an indisputable forbidden zone. Any living thing that entered would never walk out alive, as the Moon Pit would automatically release flames to incinerate all life. Nothing could leave alive. Not even a Daluo Golden Immortal could escape being devoured by the Moon Pit.

For this reason, during significant festivals or sacrificial rites, the Moon Clan would first throw in the 'skins' and then the prey. The 'skins' were the humans or Moon Clan members who had been hung up in the dungeons. Living prey would die amidst agonizing screams in the scorching flames.

When the screams stopped, the prey would be extracted with specialized tools and distributed among the high-ranking members participating in the sacrifice. Aside from the Elders and the leader, ordinary Moon Clan members could only watch the ritual; they had no right to consume the sacrificial offerings.

"Luo Chu!" Qian Song shouted in desperation, knowing full well that death was the most likely fate awaiting him and his wife.

But before he could say more, he and the other desiccated human Martial Artists were taken out and bound together like a bundle of firewood. Luo Chu's hands and feet were also bound, and she was taken away.

Leaving the dungeon, Qian Song, who had long grown accustomed to the darkness, finally saw light. At first, he found it so blinding he had to close his eyes. Once he gradually acclimated, he, Luo Chu, and two other awakened human Martial Artists finally saw the mysterious, incomparable residence of the Crescent Quarter Moon Clan. This was something not even the six Watchmen had accomplished before their deaths.

Although they would soon die.

Snowy mountains, deserts, lakes, and massive circular earthen buildings—everything one could imagine was there. If this weren't on the Moon, one might even believe it was a paradise.

Soon, the group arrived at a plain far from the round earthen buildings, where a massive pit came into view. A dense, innumerable crowd of Moon Clan members had gathered nearby, drawn by the news to watch the spectacle.

Of course, closest to the pit were the eight Elders, including the couple Zheng Yu and Zheng Ding. Also present was a sturdy, middle-aged man with a beard. He was Deng Zhe, leader of the Crescent Quarter Moon Clan and one of the few individuals with the highest status on this planet.

"Begin," he said.

At Leader Deng Zhe's command, a female Elder in a red dress with a seductive look on her face kicked the 'firewood' into the pit.

"Qian Song!"

Seeing her husband not only bundled with dried corpses but also suddenly bursting into flames as he fell, Luo Chu panicked and struggled frantically. This immediately drew pointing fingers and mocking comments from the onlooking Moon Clan members, their faces filled with arrogant smiles.

"Is she a human from another world?"

"The Smoke Moon Pavilion doesn't have any women from Earth yet. It'd be such a waste to just eat her."

"This woman must be delicious. A pity we can't have a share of such a delicacy."

"..."

The coquettish female Elder patted Luo Chu's cheek and giggled. "Did you hear that? Everyone is looking forward to tasting you."

Luo Chu remained silent, two streams of crystalline tears quietly falling from her eyes. This is fine. We'll die together. At least I'll have company on the Netherworld Road. It just means our son will have to be strong on his own from now on.

Without untying her ropes, she was kicked again, sent plunging into the hundred-meter-deep pit. The female Elder closed her eyes, savoring the piercing screams echoing from the Moon Pit.

Luo Chu, too, caught fire.

The flames burned through the ropes. Disregarding the searing pain, she ran frantically toward Qian Song. Unfortunately, Qian Song was already hanging on by a thread; with the lower half of his body burned away, his breath was as faint as a silken thread.

"Luo Chu, I'm sorry..." Qian Song stretched out his withered hand, wanting to caress his lover's cheek before he died, but then he saw his own arm burst into flames. Worried he would burn his wife, he hesitated and finally lowered his hand.

Luo Chu, however, was indifferent to whether she died now or later. She threw herself into Qian Song's embrace and began to sob. "I said I'd take you and our son to the aquarium. Can't we not die? I promised our son..."

Qian Song hugged his wife tightly, muttering, "Chu Chu, I'm sorry. In the next life... in the next life, I'll work like an ox and a horse to make up for what I owe you both."

But I only want this life. In the next life, I'm afraid I won't find you... Luo Chu didn't voice her inner thoughts. Instead, she broke into a teary smile. "Alright. I'll see you in the next life."

Finally, Qian Song's entire body was enveloped in flames, as was Luo Chu's. The two embraced amidst the flames that consumed their clothes.

SNAP.

A wooden token fell to the ground. Carved on it was a simple character: Xu.

Xu Lai?!

Looking at the token, Luo Chu was suddenly reminded of the incident in the study that day, but she could only manage a bitter smile. We're on the Moon. Not even an immortal could help us now, let alone Xu Lai. Ruan Tang, Yaoyao, please take care of my son...

As she thought this, she gradually lost consciousness. The intense pain made her vision go black, and she fainted completely.

She didn't notice, however, that in her unconscious state, driven by the extreme pain, she instinctively grabbed the wooden token on the ground and accidentally...

Crushed it.

* * *

"Watch it. Don't let it get roasted to charcoal again," said Leader Deng Zhe irritably as he propped his head on his arm.

Every time they held a sacrifice in the Moon Pit, the prey ended up charred and inedible. If not for the ancient and inviolable rules, he wouldn't touch a bite.

"Leader, there's no way around it," the seductive female Elder in charge of the sacrifice said helplessly, spreading her hands. "The Moon Pit blocks Divine Sense. Even you and the Moon King can't sense the specifics, let alone me."

Although Deng Zhe understood, his expression remained cold.

"Three hundred years ago, the Supreme Elder of the Upper Crescent Second Moon Clan accidentally fell into the Moon Pit," the white-haired elder, Zheng Yu, said with a sigh. "He was the Moon Clan's second-strongest expert, second only to the King, yet no one dared to rescue him. He was simply burned alive..."

That Supreme Elder had a tremendous reputation. He had once led his people to attack Chang'an City, but unfortunately for him, the city's defender at the time was Xu Yanyang in his prime. After his climactic battle with Xu Yanyang, the Supreme Elder's foundation was wounded, causing his Boundary to plummet. Disheartened, he had gone to the Moon Pit to vent his anger by burning a few humans.

He never anticipated that he would lose his footing and fall in.

Since then, no one except the Sacrificial Elder was allowed within three hundred meters of the Moon Pit.

"Not long ago, the Upper Crescent Second Moon Clan joined forces with the Upper Crescent First Moon Clan. They spent a huge price to bypass Chang'an City and send three of their high-ranking members to Earth, only for all of them to be captured alive," Leader Deng Zhe scoffed. "They've brought complete disgrace upon our Moon Clan!"

"Hahaha! Upper Crescent First, Upper Crescent Second... what a joke!"

"If our clan's elites were to go, they could probably dominate Earth in less than a year!"

"Exactly. The Upper Crescent Moon Clans don't live up to their reputation."

Several Elders roared with laughter. Although the Moon Clan's hierarchy was strict, they were also rivals. They would never pass up an opportunity to mock the Upper Crescent Moon Clans.

Just as the eight Elders and their leader were enjoying their conversation, a figure flew out of the Moon Pit.

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