Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 554 - 148 Lie Zhenzi, Activate! (6K for monthly pass)

Chapter 554: Chapter 148 Lie Zhenzi, Activate! (6K for monthly pass)

"O Great and Omnipresent Lord, traversing between stars and spirits in eternal existence..."

"Thou art the combined incarnation of wisdom and strategy..."

"The beginning of disaster, as well as its end..."

"The everlasting celestial moon and stars, parting the overlapping mist for the lambs..."

"We offer our bodies and hearts, worshiping you sincerely..."

"I implore you, open the gates of the Divine Kingdom, cast your sight upon the mortal realm, and guide the lost lambs from their confusion..."

In the room, the steward of the Heroic Society, leading a group of Believers, was engaging in the essential part of the sacrificial ritual: recitation!

——

"What kind of god is this?"

"I shouldn’t have come across it before, but the phrasing feels familiar, doesn’t it?"

"Where have I heard it?"

Outside the window, Xu Shu, suspended upside-down, watched everything, secretly pondering.

He pondered for a long time without any clue, and even Arthur, who had witnessed the majority of cult sacrifices in his life, had never seen such a set of prayer words.

Xu Shu decisively gave up thinking and continued to spy, silently calculating the time.

At this moment, the steward and other Believers of the "Heroic Society" began to cut their hands with small knives, letting blood flow into the strange Array on the floor, signaling the ritual was nearing its end.

Xu Shu found this nine-tenths, even ten-tenths, incomprehensible.

According to the general rules of "sacrificial rituals," the Magic Artifacts that made up the Array, besides common spiritual tools like human bones and internal organs, required the most critical component—blood from sacrifices.

In other words, they should be using the blood of a kidnapped victim.

Why were these people cutting themselves?

Were they offering themselves as sacrifices?

Had they lost their minds?

"Well, this makes it easier for me; I don’t have to worry about how to get them into the range of the Altar. These guys are coming in on their own and will spare me from harming the unlucky ones they’ve captured!"

Xu Shu’s gaze landed on the prop bag of the Tai Chu Scroll.

Staying alone in an inn, encountering a cult’s sacrifice ritual in the night, what to do?

Well, that’s a no-brainer: rob them, sacrifice them all!

There were so many people here; just the members of the Heroic Society alone would suffice for an Altar.

However, Xu Shu was in a predicament.

He now had three Altars.

One was a blue Altar, obtained as a "boatman" from an experience as a lizard, which wasn’t too pleasant.

The other two Altars, both golden epics, represented the "Yin God" and "Martial Artist."

Which one should he use?

The blue one or the golden one, or the golden one?

Xu Shu was hard-pressed to decide.

After much deliberation, he finally determined to use the golden one.

Two votes to one, the majority won.

While thinking, Xu Shu saw that the sacrificial process inside had completed, and a dark greenish-black cloud, like a rift in space, appeared under the ceiling.

It was like an eye from an unknown being about to open!

"Time’s almost up!" clapped Xu Shu, choosing the [Yin God Altar] first, stealthily squeezing into a corner and starting to infiltrate the soon-to-open "Divine Gate."

"Time’s almost up!" The steward clapped as well, signaling the congregation behind him to stop their worshipping actions.

Then, in a well-mannered fashion, he dusted off the sleeves and knees of his garments and knelt on the ground politely.

After several respectful kowtows, the steward snuck a peek at the "Mystic Green Eye" above with some hesitation.

It seemed to be emanating a golden light today?

He quickly discarded the thought.

All Believers knew the basic rule: "Do not speculate on God," nor "test God."

At over sixty years old, the steward had ranged from forty years before the catastrophe to the subsequent eighteen years, always ascending effortlessly. What was his secret?

Don’t ask what you shouldn’t; don’t think what you shouldn’t!

Today, the steward was also obeying the rules.

After paying homage to the dock, he waved to Boss Cha of the Cao Gang and Little Mudan of the Snake Team, "The will of the Lord is about to descend; you decide which lambs are pure enough to stand inside the Altar. The Lord will assess and judge; He is most fair and will tell us who is truly qualified."

"Those who pass the test will bear the Lord’s mark."

What he said was actually quite clear: those marked are of higher quality, bought for 250,000 each. The rest would be 150,000 each.

The pricing was fair, deceiving neither old nor young.

Little Mudan’s phoenix eyes gave a slight flick, wary as she glanced at the "Mystic Green Eye" that brought an intense fear, and probed, "A mark left behind? Wouldn’t that attract the City Defense Army’s attention? Just to be clear, if the mark leads to them being denied entry into the city, we’re not responsible!"

The steward rubbed his goatee, content and assured, "You can rest easy. We will pay you the full amount once we trade money for goods, not shorting you a dime."

"Alright then."

Having received the promise, Little Mudan didn’t say more.

Xu Shu, manipulating the sacrificial platform, was somewhat surprised.

Were they planning to transport these captives into the city for ’slaughter’?

Pretty bold!

He had always thought that these traffickers targeted the victims’ internal organs and would "prepare the goods" outside the city, transporting them into the safe zone only as parts, hard to detect.

It appears they dared to transport living people into the safe area!