Yul steadied his mind, dispelling the faint fear in his heart.
Though the fear subsided, thinking of the message delivered by Rael, he couldn't quite relax.
He watched the elderly village chief, paused, and then slowly spoke, "Rael requests that we increase the number of sacrifices..."
"What?!"
People murmured amongst themselves, showing looks of surprise.
The hunched-back old chief furrowed his brows, the wrinkles on his face deepening with worry.
"How could this be," he sighed.
But in the next moment, his expression swiftly constrained as he turned to those gathered and calmly announced, "Let's follow the rules."
"Yes," the others quickly accepted the reality without any objections.
Then they all dispersed to prepare for the selection ceremony.
Yul also followed and left the cave hall.
"Marz," he suddenly called out with a frown to someone not far off.
"Where are you going?!"
Marz paused in his steps, turned back, and said,
