The plaza was quite vast, but the opposite side did not extend beyond the bamboo forest; our gaze could travel across the square to the lush, verdant bamboo grove beyond.

And in the distance, we could faintly discern what appeared to be an altar-like structure in the center of the plaza.

The altar stood about the height of two men, small in area.

What struck us as most peculiar was that several figures seemed to be lying upon it.

The three of us exchanged glances, all sharing the impulse to go up and investigate.

Evidently, the motionless figures meant they were dead, and this altar was, in fact, a sacrificial altar for living offerings.

Stepping onto the heavy flagstones of the plaza, a knot of tension tightened in our chests, for sacrifices intended for live offering were usually disposed of in excruciatingly cruel ways—whether by slitting throats to bleed them dry or by flaying the flesh from the bone. Anything presented to the heavens or the gods had, without fail, been meticulously prepared.

As we gradually approached the altar, we saw six statues, each as tall as a man, positioned around it. They were all stern-faced Lei Yun Seng (Thunder Cloud Monks), each grasping a long saber.

These six Lei Yun Seng statues faced in different directions, radiating an aura of fierce malevolence that made one deeply uneasy.

The altar they encircled was hexagonal, with stairways ascending each of its six sides.

We passed the statues and climbed the two dozen or so steps, finally seeing the figures lying upon the altar.

Seeing them, I was inwardly startled, for these individuals used for the sacrifice were all children under the age of eight, and uniformly, they were girls.

Before their deaths, these girls had been dressed in beautifully colored kimono, though now they were already decayed and faded.

I counted; there were a total of six small girl corpses lying there, all reduced to withered bones.

Yet, even though the flesh had long since rotted away, the hair of these little girls remained relatively intact, spiraling and spreading across the ground, mingling with the dried leaves and soil