Chapter 927: Chapter 463: Iridescent Beltfish

After the battle, Xia Nan carefully studied the altar left by the Sha Hua Fishmen on the beach.

The altar was similarly crude, with materials scavenged from who-knows-where among the rocks and coral, yet the intricate carvings and overall construction were almost identical to the one he found in the hollow on Cliff Island.

This confirmed Xia Nan’s suspicions.

The Sha Hua Fishmen were conducting the same sacrificial ceremony he had seen before.

Xia Nan was unsure what this ritual could potentially bring to the fishmen. Was it to summon those powerful shark beasts, or merely out of faith?

But regardless, the fact that they used humans as sacrifices had already become a reality.

Those villagers’ bodies, too tragic to look directly at, now lay silently in the pit, growing cold and putrid.

"It’s a bit strange."

Rubbing the carvings on the altar’s surface with her fingertip, Hai Yin’s face showed a thoughtful expression.

"These runes are indeed the structure of a summoning-type spell ritual, but in many places, there are very noticeable changes."

"You could say it’s an improvement... but not really, it’s more like several spell structures being blended together."

"It’s hard to distinguish."

Though not a formally trained mage from an academy, and only tangentially considered a spellcaster due to her Druid profession, Hai Yin undoubtedly had the most knowledge of the occult among the group present.

She was currently studying the fishmen’s stone altar alongside Xia Nan.

"Is this sacrificial ceremony a Sha Hua Fishmen tradition?"

Having recently arrived at Suo Yu Bay and being unfamiliar with the culture of the Sha Hua Fishmen, Xia Nan asked the two people beside him.

"Definitely not." Nearby, with one foot on the corpse of an elite fishman, Lorin, a cigarette trailing smoke in her right hand, shook her head decisively.

"Sha Hua Fishmen are considered one of the more aggressive ocean races, seeing humans as enemies. If they encounter us, it’s unlikely they would show mercy, they would eradicate us completely."

"This is all out of racial hatred, and while they may snatch some useful things as well, using human corpses as sacrificial offerings... at least in all these years, I’ve never heard of it."

Having experienced two similar occurrences at different times and places, Xia Nan was almost certain that the sacrificial rituals he witnessed were not impulsive actions of individual Sha Hua Fishmen.

It must be for some purpose yet undiscovered.

So... what exactly were these fishmen up to?

In some ways, whatever scheme they were brewing, it didn’t concern Xia Nan.

If the sky falls, the taller ones will hold it up. As for him, he was just an ordinary adventurer barely above the subsistence line and his Level 3 professional level placed him at the low end of the world’s transcendent pyramid.

If anything truly significant were to happen, the high level professionals in Suo Yu Bay would naturally handle it. There was no need for him to worry.

Moreover, unless something unexpected happened, by the end of the "Moon Tide Banquet" in a couple of months, he would return inland.

Even if the fishmen created an uproar, Xia Nan did not think they could overcome the geographical and physiological barriers to affect him across two provinces.

However, he had to admit that since arriving at Suo Yu Bay, he had only left the port for two tasks and encountered fishmen-set altars both times.

This made Xia Nan feel somewhat concerned.

"Perhaps it’s a task assigned by the god they worship?"

In this world, although gods seemed like chess players outside the board, high in their divine country, they each had distinct personalities and preferences, their own ideas and desires, and maintained fairly close contact with their followers below.

In a nicer way, you could say they have "human traits."

The unusual behavior of the Sha Hua Fishmen was hard not to suspect of disturbances from their upper echelons or even changes in their divine beliefs. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"It’s not impossible."

Lorin nodded slightly, her eyes unfocused, as if recalling something.

"If you put it that way, during the days I was resting at the tavern, I did hear some mentions of the Sha Hua Fishmen."

"Usually, they wouldn’t pop up so frequently."

The god that the Sha Hua Fishmen worship goes by the name "Sekola," nicknamed "Giant Shark," "Deep Sea Summoner."

This deity presides over domains involving Plundering, Tyranny, and Hunting.

In Xia Nan’s knowledge base, there was information about this god’s personality and behaviors.

In short, an extreme and brutal racist.

This deity perceives other ocean creatures as foes to be purged and encourages the Sha Hua Fishmen to plunder and slaughter everywhere to demonstrate its strength and ideology.

Much like the holy emblem of this deity, it is akin to a horrifying shark lurking beneath the water’s surface, scanning the ocean for prey with greedy, brutal eyes.

If it really is this deity whimsically ordering fishmen to demonstrate their devotion through rituals, using other races’ bodies as sacrifices... it could be reasonable.

With limited clues, just standing around chatting would not yield any useful conclusions.

After tidying up the battlefield a bit, they buried the pit holding villagers’ bodies, giving these unfortunate civilians a more dignified end than being left in the wild, and then returned the way they came.