I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

The sun, an eye.

Even though outside it was daytime, it gave off an abnormally chilling, twisted sense of unease.

Han Zhan thought he was seeing things.

Only when he rubbed his eyes and looked again did he finally confirm it: the sun hanging in the sky really and truly was a wide-open eyeball!

As the eyeball opened, it was also gazing downward, turning constantly.

Suddenly, as if it had noticed something, it snapped its gaze in Han Zhan’s direction.

Blazing, searing light burst forth in an instant, flooding that patch of ground.

But there was nothing there.

”Phew, that was close, I almost got found out.” By now Han Zhan had stuffed the hole completely full of thatch.

Good thing his reflexes had been quick enough, so the sun in the sky hadn’t discovered him.

Still, putting that aside, if the sun outside is that terrifying and the temperature is that high, how is it that just a not‑so‑thick wooden plank is enough to keep you safe?

He’d just seen with his own eyes how scorching the world under the sunlight was—no one could possibly survive there in any normal way.

But in places the sunlight couldn’t reach—like the room Han Zhan was lying in now—he couldn’t feel even a hint of heat, there was even a bit of coolness.

Looks like the secrets of this Fruit World are even more than I thought... Han Zhan shook his head at the thought.

You eat your food one bite at a time.

You deal with things one by one.

There’s no way he could have just arrived in the Fruit World on the very first day and already untangled most of the secrets.

Most important is to keep your mindset steady.

So Han Zhan stopped overthinking, tried his best to empty his mind, and let his spirit drift.

Then slowly, in the relatively dim room, he sank into sleep.

...

”King Zhou is muddle‑headed, favors women, shuns his brothers, drowns in pleasure, and employs treacherous flatterers!”

”Today, I will lead the Alliance of Lords, and together we shall punish him. We must, in a single night, bring down King Zhou, erase Shang, and accomplish our great enterprise!”

After Han Zhan spoke, he raised his hand high above his head.

Below him was a tightly packed sea of heads, surging and swaying.

These people were the assembled lords of every region; they had only one purpose in coming here and acting as they did—to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Shang Dynasty!

”We support you!”

”You have our support!”

”Ji Fa, we believe in you. You’ll definitely be able to lead everyone to the final victory!”

”Ji Fa!”

”Ji Fa!”

The crowd was still shouting, but Han Zhan suddenly noticed that among the Alliance of Lords massed there, two people looked strangely familiar.

He focused his gaze carefully on those two.

The faces of the surrounding people began to blur, while the faces of those two grew clearer.

They were two little boys around seven or eight.

Which lord’s domain was this, that they even sent children this young to march to war? Isn’t that a bit too tragic.

”Ji Fa!”

”Wake up, Ji Fa!”

”Come on, wake up, it’s daytime!”

Only now did Han Zhan abruptly snap awake. The scene around him had already turned back into the thatch bed he was sleeping on; Tong Yi and Tong Er were standing beside him, urging him.

”It’s daytime, time to go out and work.”

”If you slack off and don’t work, you’ll get driven out of here. When that happens, you won’t have anywhere to stay at night!”

Daytime? Han Zhan instinctively raised his head to look outside.

Pitch black, not a trace of light.

Fine. By this world’s logic, day is night and night is day—that actually checks out.

At night, the bizarre sun‑eye hangs high in the sky, patrolling everywhere, scorching everything it sees.

By day, the sun vanishes, and the bottom‑tier folk who live here start moving about.

Seeing that Han Zhan was fully awake, Tong Yi urged him: ”Hurry up, there’s a big event today. If we get there now and take part, you can still get a free breakfast and the Star Official’s blessing!”

”Yeah, yeah, the number of people being screened this time is limited, and only those who are chosen can receive the blessing. But as long as you go now, you’ll at least get a free breakfast!”

”You didn’t get enough to eat yesterday, right? This breakfast will definitely be right up your alley!”

Tong Er chimed in right after.

Listening to them chattering back and forth, this so‑called big event successfully piqued Han Zhan’s interest.

So he nodded, got up, and followed Tong Yi and Tong Er out.

This was his first true outing since coming to the Fruit World.

The terrifying sun‑eye he’d seen hanging high in the heavens before had already vanished.

The whole street felt cool.

Farther out, the city walls were made of tamped earth, solid and massive. At the end of the road behind them stood two huge wooden gates, studded with bronze nails, solemn and imposing.

Looking back at the street, the whole layout was a grid, not just broad main roads but also little alleys branching off like veins.

The buildings flanking the street were mostly wooden structures, and on the house pillars or walls you could see simple, sketched lines everywhere, very similar to what Han Zhan had seen inside the house before.

Han Zhan noticed that besides them, quite a few other people were also stepping out from the alleys, just like they were.

Everyone was carrying candles, walking along the pitch‑dark street. A scene like that inevitably gave off an indescribable eerie feeling.

At least to Han Zhan, it made his hair stand on end.

As the crowd moved forward, the sketched lines on the walls and pillars grew more numerous, shifting from abstract to even more abstract, a mad tangle of strokes that defied understanding.

He finally couldn’t help himself and asked Tong Yi beside him.

Tong Yi gave an ”oh” and explained:

”These are all images of the Celestial Gods we worship, and the subjects kneeling before them.”

”The reason there are more and more of these patterns on the pillars and walls is that we’ve officially entered the temple district for the rituals.”

Prompted by Tong Yi’s reminder, Han Zhan indeed noticed that the architectural style around them had changed again from the streets they’d left.

Whether it was the bronze bells hanging from the eaves, or the stone carvings of dark birds standing on the rooftops—

Not to mention the bell‑and‑drum tower looming in the unlit distance, and the outline of an altar rising like a small mountain.

After less than five more minutes,

they reached the foot of the altar. All kinds of food had already been laid out here—mostly noodles and other flour‑based things, with a small amount of wine and fruit.

Starving for a whole day, Han Zhan didn’t stand on ceremony; he joined Tong Yi and Tong Er and dug in.

Once they’d eaten and drunk their fill, tall figures in black robes and coronets began selecting volunteers who met the criteria, leading them up onto the altar.

Why emphasize that they were tall?

Because these people in black robes marked with hawk patterns were almost three meters in height; compared with normal folk, they really did stand out like cranes among chickens.

These must be the ”Star Officials” they were talking about, right? Han Zhan thought.

Then another question occurred to him.

”Hold on—what’s the theme of this ritual?”

Tong Er scratched his head and said, as if it were only natural: ”Well, human sacrifice, of course.”