There was a horrible tearing noise, like the sound of flesh being ripped open. With a great rumbling, the very rock making up the volcano's walls split sideways, opening up wide. Two slits shattered the rock above this split. Each of these openings pulsed and glowed a piercing blue from within, their edges strangely soft and pulsating, as though made of flesh.
What was this? Qiu Yunru stared at it, aghast. After a few moments, it dawned on him.
Two eyes and mouth--this was the face of the Bloodred Maw taking physical form!
He felt a little sick at the sight. Was the volcano made of flesh? How could rock move so smoothly to form moving lips and frowning eyes? It really was too unsettling...
But there was no time to wallow in disgust right now! The Maw was already speaking again. As it bellowed, rocks fell from its crag of a mouth into the lava below, causing splashes of bright red liquid that resembled fireworks.
This time, its voice wasn't only in Qiu Yunru's head, but aloud:
"CREATURE OF DUST AND BONE! A HUMAN!" The volcano snorted, causing lava to bubble wildly below. "YOU PLUCK THE FRUITS OF MY DOMAIN WITHOUT SACRIFICE. WHY SHOULD I NOT FEED YOU TO MY CHILDREN?"
"Ah..." Qiu Yunru coughed hoarsely. His throat was parched from the heat, making it difficult to speak. However, it wasn't as if he had a choice, was it?! "This one is extremely sorry for the intrusion. I thought you might be sleeping, but I see that I shouldn't have assumed, and should have prepared a proper sacrifice for my lord's...children?"
Had it really said "children"? An absurd image of thousands of tiny volcanoes bathing in the depths of the Bloodred Maw popped into his head, and he frowned. A volcano with children...Ah, well, he shouldn't be too confused. He really shouldn't bother trying to understand an eldritch being!
"MY CHILDREN!" The lava below bubbled furiously. As it frothed and popped, surface burning with fire, something strange began to happen.
One by one, hundreds--was it thousands?--of small puddles of goopy, melted obsidian rose to the surface of the lava. They bobbed up and down, bumping into each other and swimming wildly. It was a bit horrifying--like seeing flies crawling all over an apple.
What was even stranger was the noise that they made: a great whining sound, something like a cat meowing for food. Only, it was a thousand puddles of obsidian whining all together, creating an ominous chorus of high-pitched squeaking noises. If he could have, Qiu Yunru would have stuffed his fingers in his ears. What an annoying sound!
"MY CHILDREN!" The Bloodred Maw repeated, its eyes flashing brightly, like sunlight through ice. "THEY MUST BE FED, AS MUST I. IF YOU HAVE NO OTHER OFFERING, I WILL FEAST ON TWO HUMAN BODIES THIS DAY!"
Qiu Yunru felt his heart go cold. Two human bodies could only mean that, not only would he be consumed--but Liao Li, as well!
"Wait! Haha, wait, wait!" He shouted, letting out a nervous laugh. If he had been able to move, he would have waved his hands back and forth. "I'm sure I have something even better!"
Below, the insistent chorus of whining hushed. What was once the sound of a thousand meows became the shuffling sound of a thousand whispers as those puddles murmured to one another with interest.
Qiu Yunru closed his eyes, feeling beads of sweat roll down his neck. He had never been in a more absurd situation!
Well, excluding transmigrating into a video game, but...this was really just too weird!
"OH? WHAT IS IT YOU POSSESS THAT MIGHT SATE MY HUNGER BETTER THAN FLESH?" The Bloodred Maw boomed. Its voice, though still deafeningly rattling, carried a hint of curiosity. "NO ONE HAS OFFERED ME SOMETHING BETTER IN A THOUSAND YEARS!"
"Ah...." Qiu Yunru swallowed dryly, eyes darting around.
He thought back to what he had read about ancient beings of divinity and demonicism back at the Jade Clouds Sect...