“What's happening?”
“An earthquake?”
“Help!”
The little demons cried out in alarm, scattering in every direction.
Tao Tuantuan's expression changed, and she immediately shouted: “Don't run around wildly! Over there, hide inside the Jianmu Hall!”
She pointed to a relatively intact building on the east side of the square; it was a wooden hall, old and dilapidated, but its main structure was still sturdy.
Hearing her voice, the little demons seemed to find their backbone and rushed towards the Jianmu Hall.
Yang Dingding also grew anxious, hoisted the cloth sack onto his shoulder, and shouted at the little demons: “Quick, quick, quick! Everyone inside! Don't push, one by one!”
As he shouted, he used his body to block the panicking little demons, pushing them towards the Jianmu Hall.
The cracks grew wider and deeper.
Wisps of eerie blue light surged from the cracks, illuminating the entire underground space.
The eerie light was very cold, carrying a bone-chilling chill. Wherever it passed, the glowing moss instantly withered, turning grayish-white.
Chen Zhou stared at the light, his brows deeply furrowed. Tao Tuantuan quickly walked to his side, her expression solemn: “It seems it's time for the heaven worship ritual.”
Chen Zhou looked at her: “Heaven worship ritual?”
Tao Tuantuan nodded: “Once every hundred years, the gods of Central Province send people to collect sacrifices.”
“But the last heaven worship ritual was only fifty years ago; it shouldn't be this soon.”
As she spoke, she glanced back at the little demons hiding in the stone hall, her eyes complex.
Yang Dingding ran over, still carrying the cloth sack and panting heavily: “Tuantuan, hurry inside! I'll hold them off here!”
Tao Tuantuan shook her head: “It's too late.”
She looked at Chen Zhou, saying earnestly: “My lord, please hide for now. Come out after the heaven worship ritual is over.”
“The heaven worship ritual only takes sacrifices and harms no one else. As long as you don't intervene, they won't trouble you.”
Chen Zhou chuckled: “Do you think this lord needs to hide?”
Tao Tuantuan was stunned. She wanted to say more, but the ground began to tremble violently again.
Boom—
A massive crack split open in the center of the square, and eerie blue light erupted, shooting towards the sky.
Within the light, two enormous phantom figures could vaguely be seen, slowly climbing up from deep underground.
All the little demons hiding in the stone hall held their breath, trembling and huddled together, not daring to make a sound.
But Chen Zhou noticed that over a dozen little demons who had hidden in the Jianmu Hall rushed out again, running towards them. The little rabbit and the little gecko were among them.
They ran, panting, and only stopped when they were close, gasping for air.
Then they hugged each other, trembling all over, their teeth chattering, but they didn't take another step forward.
Chen Zhou frowned, “Why aren't you hiding?”
The little rabbit looked up, glanced at him, then quickly lowered its head and whispered: “My lord, we... we are the sacrifices.”
The little gecko echoed: “Yes, we are the sacrifices this time.”
He said, his voice trembling, yet he tried to sound calm: “It's alright, we are all volunteers.”
The little rabbit nodded, nodding vigorously: “Yes, volunteers!”
He let go of the little gecko, puffed out his chest, and tried to appear a little braver: “I'm already over a hundred years old and third-stage. I've lived long enough; the younger demons should live.”
The little gecko also puffed out his chest: “Me too! I'm one hundred and twenty years old, older than him!”
The little rabbit glared at him: “Bullshit! You're clearly only ninety-eight!”
The little gecko also glared at him: “You're the one talking bullshit! I turned a hundred last year!”
They glared at each other, neither giving way, but their clasped hands were still trembling.
Chen Zhou looked at them and suddenly asked: “What kind of sacrifices?”
The two little demons froze, exchanged glances, unsure how to answer.
Tao Tuantuan looked at the dozen or so little demons with a complex expression and said softly: “My lord, this is a rule that has existed in Tianchi Province since ancient times.”
“The gods of Central Province, once every hundred years, force the various outer provinces to offer sacrifices, providing flesh and blood.”
“I only heard from my ancestors that they are immensely powerful and irresistible. If sacrifices are not offered on time, heavenly disasters will descend, plagues will rage, and the people will suffer greatly.”
She paused, then continued.
“Back when the True Lord of Purity and Filth was in power, the heaven worship ritual was presided over by Duke Wu.”
“Duke Wu was benevolent and unwilling to use living people as sacrifices, so he devised a method.”
Chen Zhou asked: “What method?”
Tao Tuantuan said: “Using the corpses of the Mingchan Clan.”
“The Mingchan Clan possesses a characteristic: their corpses do not decay for a thousand years after death and contain spiritual essence.”
“Duke Wu thought that by using the corpses of his clan members instead of living beings, they might be able to fool them.”
“But Duke Wen did not approve of this approach.”
“Duke Wen said, 'What sense does it make for the warriors of Tianchi Province, who died protecting their kin on the battlefield, to be dug up after death and sent as sacrifices to these so-called gods?'”
“He didn't want the deceased to find no peace.”
Yang Dingding added from the side: “Duke Wen was also from the Peach Clan, naturally able to bear Peaches of Immortality containing vitality.”
“Although a Peach of Immortality was very important to them, each one a condensation of a hundred years of cultivation, what did that matter compared to the lives of their clan members?”
“So Duke Wen organized his clan members to each donate a Peach of Immortality every hundred years, to be offered as a substitute sacrifice.”
As he spoke, his eyes reddened slightly.
“I saw it when I was little. Back then, there were tens of thousands of people in the Peach Clan. One peach per person every hundred years meant tens of thousands of Peaches of Immortality.”
“Although the entire clan was severely weakened after each ritual and needed decades to recover, everyone was willing.”
“Because Duke Wen was there, and the Peaches of Immortality were there, it brought peace to the entire Tianchi Province.”
Tao Tuantuan listened without much expression, then said calmly: “Later, the True Lord of Purity and Filth and the Three Dukes all died, and we hid underground.”
“We thought we could escape the calamity, but Wan Xiu still found us.”
“He didn't exterminate us, merely demanded that we continue the heaven worship ritual.”
She lowered her head, looking at her hands: “It's just that now, I am the only one left of the Peach Clan.”
“I've tried my best, but every hundred years I can only bear about ten Peaches of Immortality, which is far from enough.”
“So we can only make up the numbers with these dried mushrooms and select some volunteer little demons to serve as sacrifices.”
The little rabbit nodded vigorously: “Yes, volunteers!”
The other little demons also nodded. Though frightened, their eyes showed determination.
Tao Tuantuan looked up, her gaze calm as she met Chen Zhou's eyes.
“My lord, would you like to come and observe?”
As she spoke, Tao Tuantuan waved her hands, and a wooden platform rose in the center of the open space.
The wooden platform was large, ten zhang square and three zhang high, perfectly square, with intricate annual rings etched on its surface.
The annual rings glowed faintly, and eerie blue light flowed across the wooden platform as if it were alive.
Around the wooden platform stood seven stone pillars.
Each stone pillar was carved with different patterns. Some resembled Jiao, some resembled raccoon dogs, some resembled foxes, and there were also tigers, leopards, and so on.
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