Free Web NovelChapter 315: Chapter 44: Sacrifice
Outside Bin Pass, a high platform had been built into the mountainside, facing north toward Shangjing City.
On the platform sat a massive incense table. Before it stood the golden statues of the past Emperors of the Xia Dynasty. A faint, green halo shimmered on the statues’ surfaces—the effect of a Divine Technique.
It all seemed so peaceful, except for the sticky layer of blood coating the surface of the white jade platform. Before the incense burner, a head priest in a pale yellow robe chanted a prayer, his expression a mix of piety and a hint of madness.
Before the sacrificial altar, two Captains in full armor held down a pair of Fox Demons. They resembled Hu Qianqian in appearance, though their fur was somewhat matted and pale red. Pinned to the ground, their eyes were lifeless and ashen. It seemed their minds had been controlled to prevent them from soiling themselves in terror during the imminent live sacrifice.
In their minds, the scene before them was perhaps still a beautiful one, for their furry ears twitched nonstop and their tails wagged back and forth.
The common folk passing through Bin Pass split into two groups. One group knelt with immense piety around the high platform, murmuring the prayer along with the head priest. The others kept their distance, watching with cold indifference.
As the halos on the Emperors’ golden statues grew more intense, the prayers of the head priest and the surrounding crowd grew louder and more fervent.
In the Inspiration Realm visible to Wang Ping, an invisible, golden thread descended from the distant horizon to connect with the golden statues of the Emperors. Within it, an indifferent consciousness seemed to sweep over everything in the vicinity.
Just then, with a flash of their blades, the Captains sliced off the Fox Demons’ heads. Blood sprayed all over them, but the Captains paid it no mind, not even thinking to use Spiritual Qi to stanch the flow. The fresh blood followed the old, stained tracks on the platform’s surface, spreading in all directions before trickling over the edge and into the blood troughs below.
The golden statues of the Emperors seemed drawn to the blood, or perhaps to the piety of the commoners and soldiers. They emitted streams of golden light that shot into the bodies of the faithful. Some of the more fanatical believers immediately prostrated themselves on the ground in worship.
’Their thoughts have become very strange. Before the sacrifice, their emotions were peaceful and stable. Now, one moment they’re full of extreme goodwill, the next, extreme malice. A few of them even look like mass murderers, but they’re just ordinary people from nearby.’
Yu Lian communicated to Wang Ping in his Spirit Sea, ’Their minds have been polluted. This region is beyond saving. Only destruction and rebirth might offer a sliver of hope.’
Her thoughts were laced with palpable hostility as she spoke. This was likely because she was close with Hu Qianqian; seeing members of the Demon Race, so much like her friend, callously used in a live sacrifice naturally filled her with animosity and hatred.
Wang Ping simply watched with cold detachment. He observed the spirituality in the Inspiration Realm, now on the verge of collapse. He saw the golden halos ravenously devouring the Power of Faith, siphoning away the region’s very destiny in the process.
「A short time later.」
The sacrificial ceremony ended, and the two Captains carried the bloody heads and corpses through a private channel into the pass.
Wang Ping also walked over to get in line for the inspection.
The line was long, as everyone had been watching the spectacle. While waiting, Wang Ping saw several young men in pale yellow robes explaining the benefits of the ritual to some visitors who had not participated.
Half an hour later, Wang Ping cleared the inspection. Entering the pass required a payment of one tael of silver. However, since Wang Ping was still a member of the Daoist Scripture Hall, he only had to pay twenty percent of the commoner’s fee.
Upon entering the pass, the first thing he saw was the massive queue of people waiting to exit. It consisted mainly of merchants, so there was a throng of mules and horses. Their combined stench was nauseating, yet none of the passersby—be they local residents, traveling vendors, or even nobles—seemed the least bit uncomfortable.
Past the long line was a small town built between the cliffs on either side. Most of its inhabitants were military families, and the town also housed a barracks.
The towering cliffs on both sides blocked out much of the sunlight, leaving the town, which should have been dry, feeling slightly damp.
Even more unbearable was the heavy, rotten, bloody stench hanging over the town. It emanated from the ’offerings’ at the town’s edge. Many willows had been planted on the outskirts, and on their branches hung the heads and bodies from the recent sacrifice.
This had gone on for years, and some of the corpses and heads had been reduced to skeletons, turning the willow grove into a bone field. Most of the remains were human. The two Fox Demons from the sacrifice now hung from a willow tree not far from the road, still slowly dripping blood.
’The spirituality is stable. No pollution, no plagues,’ Yu Lian said softly.
Wang Ping slowly shifted his gaze to a military banner planted in the center of the willow grove. It was connected to a Sacrificial Array underground, which had completely absorbed the spirituality, flesh, and blood of the corpses. The energy it had gathered over hundreds of years was already comparable to a single Magic cast by a Third Realm Cultivator.
Ordinarily, the underground Sacrificial Array also served as a power source for the pass’s other essential arrays.
’That’s a Sacrificial Array from a Taiyin Evil Cultivator, and it has traces of ’Day One’ as well. How ironic. We’re out here hunting down Taiyin Evil Cultivators and ’Day One,’ yet here is one of their Sacrificial Arrays, operating right out in the open.’
A traveling Taoist standing next to Wang Ping, also clad in a blue Daoist robe, muttered under his breath. He was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, likely one who, like Wang Ping, trained at a Daoist Temple in the south and was now traveling north for the first time.
He wasn’t speaking to Wang Ping directly. After saying his piece, he started walking toward the town ahead.
Wang Ping didn’t linger either and proceeded toward the town at a steady pace. Most of the buildings were made of stacked stone. To the left of each courtyard gate were markings, likely to distinguish the soldiers of different military units.
Toward the north side of town, the small residential courtyards gave way to various brothels and taverns, the sound of laughter constantly spilling out from within.
Wang Ping couldn’t help but glance toward the sky. In the Inspiration Realm, clinging to the cliff faces near this area, were several twisted Spiritual Creatures. They were gleefully absorbing the spirituality that people radiated from their desires.
’Are you just going to ignore them?’ Yu Lian asked.
’Why should I?’ Wang Ping retorted.
As they spoke, Wang Ping walked out of the town. Ahead lay the end of the narrow pass. To the average cultivator, this road might seem a defiled place, but to most, it was a place of survival. The faces of the merchants who frequented it were filled with anticipation, and the passing commoners looked content.
Of course, that was only if you ignored the enslaved underclass.
After he exited the narrow path, the late autumn sun finally seemed to break through the clouds, its warmth spreading over him.
CRACK!
Ahead, an ordinary man whipped his serf. He was using the man as a beast of burden, forcing him to pull a two-wheeled cart laden with grain.
