Chapter 259 Assassination
The four people mixed into the procession, going deeper along the winding mountain road.
Every time they passed a stone tablet engraved with strange runes, the villagers ahead would suddenly stop and kneel on the ground in unison, their foreheads pressed tightly against the ground, emitting indistinct chanting sounds.
The four of them imitated their appearance and bent their waists, but never truly knelt down.
Taking advantage of the gaps while leaning over, they quietly exchanged glances.
The postures of these villagers when kneeling were twisted unlike humans; the angle of the curvature of their spines almost folded their bodies in half, and the black patterns on their necks wriggled like living things under the moonlight.
The mountain road became steeper and steeper, and the surrounding trees gradually became deformed. The tree trunks twisted into the shapes of humans struggling in pain, and the branches extended like dry bones.
The air was filled with a decaying sweet and fishy smell; the soil underfoot became sticky and wet, making an uncomfortable squelching sound with every step.
"Look quickly..." Lu Xiaoluo suddenly said in a breathy voice.
Everyone looked up, their breathing stagnating at the same time.
Under the illumination of the blood-colored moonlight, a crooked-neck tree that was incredibly huge stood tall in the distant mountain col.
The tree trunk was as thick as a palace pillar, its surface covered with ferocious knots; from a distance, it looked just like a twisted human face.
The tree crown tilted to one side, as if its neck was bent by an invisible weight. Dry branches were hung full of cloth strips, swaying gently in the night wind.
The most hair-raising part was the tree roots section. Countless white bones were piled there, some new and some old, and some even had incompletely rotted flesh hanging on them.
The tree roots passed through the pile of corpses, stabbing into the eye sockets, mouths, and noses of those skeletons like straws; dark red liquid could be faintly seen flowing within the rootlets.
"That is... the Sacred Tree?" Chen Xingcai's voice trembled somewhat.
Under the blood moon, the twisted branch shadows of the crooked-neck tree extended like ghost claws.
On the high platform in front of the tree stood a middle-aged man wearing a grey-black Daoist robe.
His figure was thin like withered wood, and his neck was strangely tilted to the right, exactly the same as the giant tree behind him.
The hem of the Daoist robe was stained with dark red filth; when it fluttered in the gloomy wind, it emitted a fishy smell that was a mixture of rotten earth and rust.
On that green-grey face, a pair of pure black eyes without pupils was overlooking the gathering crowd of villagers.
"The auspicious hour has arrived."
The Daoist suddenly opened his arms, his voice sounding like tree bark rubbing together. Following his movements, the cuffs of the Daoist robe tore open, revealing two arms covered in bark-like patterns.
The villagers below the stage immediately emitted fanatical whimpers, and the few people in the front row climbed onto the stage impatiently.
"Bestow upon you the Sacred Dew!"
Dozens of dark red roots suddenly burst out from behind the Daoist, like poisonous snakes coming out of their holes, and stabbed fiercely into the open mouths of those villagers.
The roots wriggled and expanded in their windpipes, making hair-raising squelching sounds.
The villagers who were stabbed, however, revealed expressions of extreme pleasure; their eyes rolled up, their limbs convulsed, and the black patterns under their skins converged toward their throats like living things.
"Uh... ah..."
As the roots contracted violently, those black patterns were actually forcibly extracted, flowing back into the Daoist's body along the roots.
The Daoist raised his tilted neck, and countless wriggling bumps bulged under his bark-like skin as he let out a satisfied sigh.
When the roots were pulled out, those few villagers slumped to the ground. The black patterns on their bodies had already disappeared, yet their faces were pale as paper, as if all their energy had been drawn away.
After they kowtowed tremblingly to the Daoist, they staggered and retreated.
A new batch of villagers immediately surged forward frantically.
"This is... the sacrifice?" Chen Xingcai covered her mouth tightly.
In the shadows of the bushes, the three people watched with their hair standing on end. When those "purified" villagers retreated, there were clearly new roots as fine as hair quietly drilling back into the soil from the soles of their feet.
Time passed bit by bit, and the sacrifice slowly approached its end.
The four people mixed at the tail of the procession, watching with cold eyes as wave after wave of villagers went up to "receive the rite."
When the villagers of Cold Stream Village also completed the ritual and retreated with stumbling steps, Han Yu exchanged a sharp look with Jiang Che and Chen Xingcai.
The four quietly shifted to the very back, waiting quietly for an opportunity. These villagers whose black patterns were extracted were already extremely weak; as long as they solved that evil cultivator, they could break the situation in one stroke!
Finally, the last group of villagers walked down the altar swaying.
The four people stepped forward together with the remaining few villagers, lowering their heads and imitating numb expressions.
"Bestow upon you the Sacred..."
Before the Daoist's voice fell, a cold light suddenly appeared in Han Yu's eyes!
"Heaven-Resisting Sword!"
Sword light poured down like the Milky Way, instantly severing all the attacking roots. Black blood and pus splashed everywhere, landing on the altar and making hissing corrosion sounds.
Chen Xingcai and Jiang Che erupted simultaneously, attacking the Daoist's vital points from the left and right!
The Daoist's tilted neck trembled violently, and his pure black eyeballs contracted intensely: "It is actually you guys?!"
His bark-like face twisted into a ferocious expression. "Instead of dragging out an ignoble existence in that graveyard, you dare to deliver yourselves to my door? You are courting death!"
"Boom—"
Countless dark red roots burst out from underground beneath the altar, surging toward the four people like a tide.
Jiang Che formed seals with his hands, and blazing white flames gushed out from his palms: "Great Sun Burning Heaven Mantra!"
The flames collided with the roots, bursting out with a pungent burnt smell.
The Daoist's expression changed abruptly, and his tilted neck twitched unnaturally: "Great Sun Burning Heaven Mantra?!"
His voice suddenly became shrill, followed by a gloomy look on his face: "This really reminds me of some unpleasant memories!"
The edge of Chen Xingcai's sword had reached within three feet of the Daoist, but it was intercepted by a giant net of suddenly interwoven roots.
Painful human faces actually emerged on those roots, emitting shrill screams like crying infants!
The battle situation instantly fell into a stalemate, while around the altar, those originally weak villagers were being entangled again by roots newly drilling out from underground...
The three attacked with a few more moves, but back and forth, they were only severing those roots.
Although the Daoist retreated while fighting, there was not the slightest sense of urgency on his face.
Then—
"Careful!"
Chen Xingcai suddenly shouted sternly, her sword edge turning sharply to block behind Han Yu.
"Clang—"
Amidst the sound of metal clashing, a rusty hatchet was forcibly held back. The one holding the knife was exactly a villager who was incredibly weak just moments ago; at this moment, however, his eyes were crimson red, veins bulged on his neck, and black patterns denser than before re-emerged under his skin!
"These villagers?! How could..."
Chen Xingcai shook her wrist, knocking that villager back several steps, only to see more "weak" villagers staggering to their feet. Their eyes glinted with abnormal blood light as they closed in from all directions.
The Daoist's tilted neck made strange clicking sounds, and the corners of his mouth split open into an exaggerated arc: "It seems you know nothing—"
His withered branch-like fingers hooked gently, and those villagers instantly pounced with accelerated speed like marionettes. "Now is truly the time when these offerings are at their most powerful!"
Han Yu severed the attacking roots with one sword strike, catching a glimpse of a terrifying scene from the corner of his eye: the joints of those villagers were twisted at strange angles.
Some even crawled upside down with their heads facing down, their speed astonishingly fast.
The black patterns under their skin wriggled like living things, forming bark-like armor on the surface of their bodies.
Their fingernails grew explosively into sharp claws, bringing about a foul-smelling wind sound with every scratch.
"After their spirituality was extracted..." The Daoist admired the wretched appearance of the four dodging, his voice triumphant. "The physical body became the purest vessel instead!"
Lu Xiaoluo swung his sword to force back an old woman pouncing over; when the blade slashed across the opponent's arm, it actually splashed out dark green juice instead of fresh blood.
That old woman seemed unaware, tilting her head to continue pouncing and biting, while the severed arm was tightly connected together by countless drilling roots!
Around the altar, more and more villagers climbed up from the ground, surging over like a tide.
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