Chen Bugu stood in the stone prison, looking at Kefuke, who was slumped on the ground, his expression complex.
He waited all day, but he didn't wait for "himself" to be thrown into this stone prison.
At first, Chen Bugu was still thinking that perhaps this was the day before he entered the secret realm, but the Muka people who passed by chatted amongst themselves about the sacrifice early the next morning.
Chen Bugu's illusion was shattered; this was the day he arrived in the secret realm.
However, what was different was that this time, "himself" did not appear again; only Kefuke was slumped on the ground alone in the stone prison.
Chen Bugu had already figured it out: Kefuke was the name of the Long-haired Treant in front of him, the name of the former Muka King, and not the name of the Muka person he was impersonating.
Although he didn't know why the Long-haired Treant called him "Kefuke," Chen Bugu clearly remembered that no one else had called him by the name "Kefuke" except for the Long-haired Treant himself.
Furthermore, Han Badou had previously said that after Kefuke was terrified during his battle with the "God," the Muka people who followed him were utterly disappointed, turning to sell their souls to demons in exchange for power, and subsequently all died at the hands of the God.
However, the fake "Kefuke" that Chen Bugu had previously impersonated was, according to the Long-haired Treant, a Muka person who had exchanged power with demons, which clearly contradicted each other.
Han Badou had also previously asked him how he had grown legs and become a Muka person who betrayed the God.
Given Han Badou's ability to gather information, asking such a question seemed to imply he had long been certain that Chen Bugu should not have legs.
Additionally, Chen Bugu also recalled a detail.
When he drew his bow at the "God," the "God" had once said this sentence.
"Kefuke, I have given you one chance. Now answer me: kneel or die!"
Recalling it now, this sentence was not directed at Chen Bugu at all at the time, but rather at the real Kefuke behind him.
That's right, that guy had survived once before the "God."
Once he accepted that the Long-haired Treant was "Kefuke," all past events seemed to corroborate each other.
Night fell, and the forest quickly darkened.
In the Muka Tribe, fist-sized Sun Jade seemed to be everywhere, their light effectively dispelling the darkness.
Chen Bugu had already walked out of the stone prison; this time, the stone bars could no longer stop him, his body like a ghost floating over the ground, no longer subject to any physical obstruction.
After leaving the stone prison, Chen Bugu for the first time carefully observed this tribe.
The Muka Tribe was enormous, covering at least a hundred acres.
Their architectural style was simple but not crude; each wooden house was meticulously designed, with mortise and tenon-like architectural structures widely used in their daily lives, and the skulls and feathers of different magical beasts also served as house decorations.
A stream flowed through the center of the tribe.
Beside the stream, a large waterwheel, ten meters high, slowly turned under the force of the water.
Countless Sun Jade were casually thrown into the streambed, making the entire stream crystal clear and radiant even at night, like a flowing river of stars.
Whether at this moment or previously in the Initial Forest, Chen Bugu had never seen the starry sky, and he hadn't expected this stream to give him such a dreamy sense of the cosmos.
Several Muka people, just over two meters tall, were playing by the river; according to Kefuke, those were the Muka Tribe's underage children.
Chen Bugu looked at those few young Muka people playing in the water and found it hard to connect them with the young Muka warrior who had Ignited himself without a word during the day.
At this moment, if it weren't for seeing the roots of those young Muka people deeply embedded in the ground, Chen Bugu would not have recalled those insane self-detonating behaviors, and he almost thought this was a beautiful tribe that had never been ruled by the "God."
Chen Bugu walked for a long time again, and he personally saw the sacrificial platform that others had constantly mentioned.
That wooden platform was tall and majestic, ten meters high; even with the Muka people's height, they had to look up to see it.
In the center of the sacrificial platform, Chen Bugu saw a massive totem pole, carved with a towering ancient tree reaching into the clouds, and above the tree's crown, a Muka Tribe person stood within a symbol resembling the sun.
Chen Bugu realized that it was the God standing high above the Muka Tribe people's heads, enveloped in the golden sun.
The sacrificial platform beneath his feet was covered in green bloodstains, indicating that many Muka Tribe people had died there.
Perhaps it should be said that the Muka Tribe people who had abandoned the God died there.
Chen Bugu didn't know why, but his heart felt heavy, perhaps it was helplessness... the feeling of powerlessness in the face of the "God" oppressed him.
The powerlessness that the so-called former Muka King felt before the "God's" absolute power, Chen Bugu felt it completely and utterly at this moment.
Thinking of this, Chen Bugu no longer had the mood to continue wandering.
To be honest, he was a bit tired; even after death, he had to feel the despair of facing the "God," which was so disgusting.
Although things had developed to this point where he even doubted whether he was truly dead, no matter how hard he tried, no one could hear him speak, and he truly was like a ghost, aimlessly drifting everywhere.
It was late at night, and all the Muka Tribe people had returned to their homes to rest; Chen Bugu also decided to return to the stone prison that originally belonged to him.
Without Chen Bugu's persuasion, he wanted to know if Kefuke, who had been scared witless by the "God," would truly become a willing sacrifice this time.
However, when Chen Bugu returned to the stone prison, he was somewhat surprised.
He saw Kefuke standing in front of the door, his branch-like hands transforming into hundreds of strands, which then wove illusions onto the Qianxin Ball Lock, and hundreds of parts on the Qianxin Ball Lock were sequentially pulled out one by one.
In the blink of an eye, Kefuke had unlocked the Qianxin Ball Lock; he casually tossed the ball lock aside and calmly pushed open the stone door.
"Creak~"
The sound of the stone door turning and rubbing, as if traveling through time, echoed once again in the silent deep night, only this time it wasn't as harsh.
Chen Bugu watched Kefuke calmly walk out of the stone prison, then head straight towards the sacrificial platform.
He ascended the sacrificial platform, placed his hands on the platform, and the branches and leaves on his head grew densely, emitting a verdant glow.
Chen Bugu saw countless green light points drifting from the forest and countless blue light points rising from the stream.
They gathered in Kefuke's hands, then, along with his body, injected into the ground.
A green halo, centered around Kefuke, rapidly spread from the sacrificial platform, sweeping across the entire tribe in an instant.
Kefuke clapped his hands and stood up.
He looked left and right, then smiled and raised his right leg, kicking the massive totem pole.
"Boom!"
To Chen Bugu's astonished gaze, the massive totem pole broke from its base and collapsed with a crash!