Oops, the princess is surrounded by the male protagonists

"The Queen Bee has descended, and all evil has fled!"

Upon receiving the order, Xiao Qiyuan immediately turned around and loudly gestured to the crowd.

All the followers quickly scattered to the surrounding stands, while Bai Yue was invited to the highest stand.

Below, on the open ground, dozens of priests, wearing bee-faced masks and holding bone staffs, began to perform an ancient and solemn sacrificial dance.

The crowd in the stands put their hands on their shoulders and joined in the chanting.

"May the Queen Bee protect us! May the Queen Bee protect us!"

After the sacrificial dance was over, two priests carried the dying Yang Mushan to the bottomless abyss in the center of the cave and threw him down without any mercy.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Qiyuan walked to the edge of the cave, picked up a bull horn and blew it once, then began to sing a loud aria.

"We respectfully request Your Majesty the Bee to descend! Accept the offerings of your subjects! If Your Majesty the Bee is not satisfied with this sacrifice, we will offer up even more robust men!"

"What?! We'll need to sacrifice men from now on?"

"Haven't they always been women? Why change it to men?"

The old priest Xiao Qiyuan's words caused a huge uproar among the Wu people.

The sudden change shocked and even terrified many men, who were accustomed to the tradition of sacrificing women.

However, before those people could say anything more, some of the Su ethnic women in the stands couldn't help but speak up.

"Why is it acceptable to sacrifice to women but not to men?"

"As long as it's for the Queen Bee and for the peace of the tribe, what difference does it make whether one is male or female?"

Many Uyghur women who had been silent before raised their heads and spoke loudly, leaving the Uyghur men speechless and the scene falling into a heavy silence.

"Alas, let this barbaric practice of human sacrifice end here from today onwards!"

On the high platform, Bai Yue muttered something to herself, then suddenly stood up, walked down from the stands, and went straight to the altar at the cave entrance.

She first walked to the edge of the bottomless cave, looked down and gazed at the dark abyss for a moment, then closed her eyes, and clasped her hands together devoutly in front of her chest, as if she were listening intently to the voice of the gods.

The cave was completely silent. All eyes were on Bai Yue. After a moment, she suddenly opened her eyes, raised her hands, and spoke loudly.

"Fellow citizens of the Wu tribe, just now, I received a divine decree personally bestowed by the Queen Bee!"

"oracle?"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly bent down, awaiting the queen bee's instructions.

"The Queen Bee says she is very satisfied with today's offerings! But..."

Bai Yue paused deliberately, emphasizing her words.

"Compared to offering living people as sacrifices, what the Queen Bee desires most is for her people to live in peace and prosperity. Therefore, she hopes that you will offer sacrifices to her with the joy of a bountiful harvest!"

"Using a harvest as a sacrifice? What does that mean?"

Seeing the confused expressions on everyone's faces, Bai Yue knew that words alone would not be enough to convince them.

So she didn't explain further, but instead extended her right hand, just as she had done when she helped those villages before.

On the palm of his hand, a plump, golden grain of wheat appeared out of thin air. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the grain of wheat quickly sprouted, matured, and transformed into a heavy, golden ear of wheat.

Bai Yue bent down and solemnly placed the wheat ears on the ground.

The next moment, with that ear of wheat as the center, more wheat stalks broke through the soil, and soon the entire cave was filled with golden wheat ears.

"Wheat! It really is wheat!"

"My God, these are seeds from God! They are seeds from God!"

Many people subconsciously rubbed their eyes, looking at the golden ears of wheat around them. They carefully stroked the ears to confirm whether it was really true.

Bai Yue bent down and picked a row of the fullest ears of wheat from this "divinely bestowed wheat field," then held it high and announced loudly.

"Everything we have now is the seed that the Queen Bee bestowed upon the Wu people. Every autumn harvest, all you need to do is offer the first ear of wheat you harvest from the field before this Queen Bee altar with utmost reverence!"

"Only in this way can we truly receive the Queen Bee's most sincere blessing, ensuring the eternal peace, health, prosperity, and flourishing of our Wu tribe!"

"Thank you, Queen Bee! Thank you, Queen Bee, for your miraculous intervention!"

"The Queen Bee is merciful! Long live the Queen Bee!"

The people of Wu could no longer contain their excitement. They knelt down and kowtowed devoutly to the ears of wheat in Bai Yue's hands.

Xiao Qiyuan's hunched body trembled violently as he carefully stroked each ear of wheat at his feet. Then he raised his head, looked at Bai Yue, and spoke in a hoarse and trembling voice.

"Holy Maiden, from now on... from now on, is it really possible to stop... from sacrificing living people?"

Bai Yue walked to Xiao Qiyuan's side, leaned down slightly, and whispered in his ear in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"Old priest, you must have been suffering a lot all along, right? Watching those young girls, who were about to die, yet had to be defiled by Yang Mushan before that..."

"That's why you cut off his tongue so decisively just now, right?"

Xiao Qiyuan shuddered and looked up at Bai Yue. His lips trembled, and he could no longer hold back, as two streams of hot tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Yes, I’ve told the leader many times to stop Yang Mushan’s bestial acts, but she always says it’s the Queen Bee’s decree, a necessary ritual to check the chastity of those women. I’m powerless to resist. The only thing I can do is secretly give those poor girls the ‘Heart-Eating Gu’…”

His voice was filled with endless self-blame and pain.

"The Heart-Eating Gu will turn them into living dead, unable to feel any physical pain. I just hope that at least before they go to see the Queen Bee, they can... can live a little more comfortably!"

"So, this is the real reason why Ruoxu said those girls' eyes were empty and lifeless!"

After listening, Bai Yue patted Xiao Qiyuan's trembling shoulder.

"Alright, old priest, it's all in the past. From now on, there will be no more human sacrifices. All you priests need to do is lead everyone and pray for good weather and a bountiful harvest."

"Thank you, Holy Maiden! Thank you for your life-saving grace!"

Xiao Qiyuan wept uncontrollably, bowed deeply to Bai Yue, then turned abruptly to the young priests who stood like puppets, wearing masks, and loudly announced in a voice trembling with excitement.

"Children! Did you hear that?! The Queen Bee's oracle! From this day forward, we will no longer have to sacrifice living people! We will no longer have to watch young lives perish! It's over! It's all over!"

The priests slowly removed the masks that concealed their expressions, revealing faces streaked with tears. Their eyes were no longer numb and empty, but filled with a mixture of ecstasy and disbelief.

"High Priest, are we really no longer going to use human sacrifices?"

Some people still spoke with disbelief.

"Of course, the Queen Bee is a benevolent deity; she prefers these grains to living people!"

As soon as Bai Yue finished speaking, Xiao Qiyuan let out his first suppressed sob, followed by a chorus of weeping.

These priests, forced to perform cruel rituals, finally found redemption and liberation at this moment.

"Thank you, Queen Bee! Thank you, Saintess!"

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, and the priests once again began their most devout sacrificial dance around the white moon. This time, the dance was filled with unprecedented joy, hope, and heartfelt gratitude.