87: Chapter 82 Prostrating with Five Body Parts and Presenting Three Sacrifices, Disrespecting the Heaven but Respecting Ghosts and Deities!
[Seeking First Subscription!]_4 87: Chapter 82 Prostrating with Five Body Parts and Presenting Three Sacrifices, Disrespecting the Heaven but Respecting Ghosts and Deities!
[Seeking First Subscription!]_4 The group ascended the stairs, their footsteps chaotic, and they could still hear the nervous breathing.
“Don’t go up any further, exit through the fire door on the right, then follow the corridor a bit more, and you’ll be at the northwest corner of the hall!”
Coach Zhang reminded them.
Xia Hongyao pushed the door open, and outside was a corridor enveloped in roiling mist.
Everyone proceeded with caution, continuing forward for about forty meters when Coach Zhang anxiously swallowed and reminded Lin Baici, “No…
something’s not right, we’ve walked so far, we should have reached the hall by now!”
The group stopped and looked around.
Suddenly, a sharp, eerie, and high-pitched voice sounded.
“Prostrate with all limbs and offer three sacrifices, to respect not the heavens but the ghosts and gods!”
This voice stretched its tones, rhythmically rising and falling, as if a Great Wizard of a primitive tribe was sacrificing living beings to pray to the gods for protection.
Qiao little sister trembled, her legs giving way as warm liquid ran down her thighs.
Lv Yingxi cursed, “Nobody make a sound!”
This prayer was eerie, ethereal, and carried a breath that sent chills without being cold.
After it echoed thrice, with a loud bang, a large burst of flame ignited.
The dim yellow light rapidly spread out, dispelling the surrounding darkness and mist.
Everyone cried out in panic.
At their two o’clock direction, about twenty meters away, there was a small wooden platform, one meter high, piled with firewood that was burning.
The bang they had just heard came from the lighting of this bonfire.
Around this small platform, there were twelve wooden posts as thick as telegraph poles arranged in a circle.
Each post was about one and a half meters tall, evenly spaced, and connected with dark red hemp rope.
The ropes, as thick as wrists, had white animal bones, fangs, beautiful Stone Tools, and about a dozen decaying, blood-dripping heads hanging from them.
Flies landed on them, buzzing noisily.
But the most common item hanging there was a kind of shell the size of an adult’s palm.
Judging by its shape and patterns, it resembled a turtle shell.
[An ancient tribal altar, used to pray, bless, and curse.
After all, when human efforts reach their limits, who doesn’t wish to cling to the leg of a godly father.]
Lin Baici observed the altar and the wood posts encircling it, each carved with a variety of patterns, like the cave paintings of an ancient tribe, utterly abstract.
A clay basin was placed above each post, in which a small bonfire was also lit.
There was no wind, yet the fires flickered like dancing ghostly shadows.
Coach Zhang was dumbfounded, his scalp tingling.
This place was too unsettling.
The others didn’t feel any better, finding it quite terrifying, as if they were participating in some dreadful, evil ceremony, and they were the sacrifices.
“Let’s get out of here quickly, ok?”
Qiao little sister urged, her voice quivering with the urge to cry.
Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao exchanged glances, realizing they had encountered Taboo things.
“What are you all dazing about for?
Boss Fu Jinlin was scared for his life; he turned and started to run but after about a dozen steps, he suddenly stopped, “What…
The group immediately looked in the direction he indicated.
Lv Yingxi inhaled sharply, feeling a shiver run down her spine.
As the dark mist was dispersed by the dim yellow light, they saw five bizarrely shaped mummies standing about thirty meters away.
The corpses had dried and shriveled up from dehydration, their skin and what little muscle they had left tightly clinging to their bones.
They were dressed in short skirts made from animal hides, with necklaces of ghastly white animal teeth around their necks, and their heads adorned with the colorful tail feathers of some kind of bird.
Each of them had a turtle shell embedded in their forehead, and their bodies, faces, and even their pupils were painted with mysterious patterns forming a design, possibly a tribal totem or some sort of ceremonial regalia.
They were all posed in a peculiar way, as if performing a dance used for a ritual.
they’re dead, right?”
Qiao little sister covered her mouth with her hand, worried that shouting might awaken these dried corpses.
If these were alive, wouldn’t that scare people to death?
“There are more over there!”
The young man with the ear piercing felt his scalp crawl.
It wasn’t just here, all around the altar, there were dozens of these tribal mummies, easily over sixty or seventy.
The bonfire on the altar suddenly crackled, sparks flying off, and the flames flickered, as if there was a face above them with only eyes and a mouth.
“Kneel with all five bodies and offer the three sacrifices, respect not the heavens but the ghosts and gods!”
“I, the god, ask thee, art thou seeking divination?”
The crowd looked around in fear; who was speaking?
They glanced at each other, none daring to respond, not even daring to move, and many eyes turned towards Lin Baici.
The message was clear: you are the God Hunter, you answer.
Less than ten seconds had passed before everyone ceased to struggle with the question. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on N()velFire.net
Hanging from the hemp ropes on the twelve wooden stakes around the altar, over a dozen human heads suddenly opened their eyes and turned in unison, staring intently at a girl.
The crowd recoiled in fright, and Zhou Ya even tripped over her own feet, landing with a thud.
The unfortunate soul being stared at by the heads was the girl in the tennis skirt, whom the young man with the stud in his left ear had called Qiao little sister.
Qiao Ning trembled with fear, looking to Tang Zhiqian for help.
“Don’t be scared; let’s first see what’s going on.”
Tang Zhiqian comforted her.
“To ascend to the heavens, to descend to the abyss, countless spirits are clever, but none as truly reliable as thy devout belief!
“Now is the auspicious time, one may proceed with divination!”
This voice was initially deep, ethereal, and mystical until it hastened notoriously when saying ‘Step forward,’ the urgency clear.
Boss Fu Jinlin was utterly confounded.
In fact, nobody really understood.
[A group of Nine-Holes Fish, the meaning of these three sentences is that, though you can fly in the sky and swim in the deep pool, inventing all kinds of ingenious strategies, it is not as useful as your sincere trust in ghosts and gods!]
[This is the perfect time to do divination, so hurry to the front of the altar and use divination to solve your troubles!]
Zhou Ya understood the meaning of the ancient text and immediately translated it for everyone.
“Qiao little sister, you listen to ‘it’ first, go and do the divination!”
could something go wrong?”
Qiao Ning didn’t want to go; why did it have to pick her, of all people?
“This is rule contamination; it’s more dangerous if you don’t go!”
Xia Hongyao provided her knowledge: “There are two ways for us to survive right now: One, find the Taboo things straightaway and seal it; Two, follow its rules and complete the Taboo game!”
“You’re also a God Hunter?”
Lv Yingxi was astonished.
Xia Hongyao observed the altar, searching hard for clues.
Qiao Ning approached the altar, trembling.
The fragments of tortoiseshell tied to the wooden stakes with hemp ropes suddenly quivered, then one fell and flew into the bonfire.
The tortoiseshell burned, crackling and popping like firecrackers on New Year’s Eve.
Qiao Ning shivered, looking towards Tang Zhiqian.
Tang Zhiqian was also at a loss, turning his head to look at Lin Baici.
The divination took only a short time, about ten seconds or so.
Then the bonfire exploded with a bang, sparks scattering like will-o’-the-wisps.
“Thou art in peril of beheading today!”
Clearly, this was not a good omen, and Qiao Ning’s face turned pale in an instant: “Tang brother!”
“Don’t be afraid; ‘it’ is just trying to scare you!”
Tang Zhiqian reassured Qiao Ning.
“Tang brother, let’s hurry and lea…”
Qiao Ning’s words were cut short as her head suddenly tilted to the side with a snap, like an overripe persimmon, falling from her neck.
Her head hit the ground and rolled a few times.