Chapter 2606: Stone Cup, Blood Wine, Severed Fingers (3)
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
He shook his head and said miserably, “Hallmaster Dao, I have only one request…”
“Speak.”
“In Jade Capital City, I have three hundred and sixty-two wives. I have wronged them. Please help me dismiss them and provide compensation…” Du Liang closed his eyes, “evenly distributed.”
Jin Feng went ballistic at those words.
“For heaven’s sake!”
“It’s at this juncture, and you’re worried about your mistresses in front of Hallmaster Dao?”
“What have you seen? Speak!”
Huang Zhao hurriedly pulled his companion away, offering an apologetic look to Hallmaster Dao.
Dao Qiongcang remained composed.
He hadn’t forgotten the rigorous standards by which he selected the white- and red-clothed people.
Among them were individuals who might be lascivious, hot-tempered, or have their own quirks.
Yet, in matters of importance, they did not fall short.
The reason why Du Liang refused to speak was not because his wives were more important than the people and events he had witnessed, but because it was as Dao Qiongcang suspected…
He dared not speak!
Rather, he couldn’t speak!
“Do you trust him, or do you trust me?” Dao Qiongcang asked in a declarative tone.
Du Liang struggled to contain his emotions, his lone pupil trembling violently. “Hallmaster Dao, please… stop asking…”
“Do you trust him, or do you trust me?”
“Hallmaster Dao!”
“The night is about to fade, and the light is nearing,” Dao Qiongcang solemnly declared, reciting the oath of the white-clothed people, “and I will seek vengeance for you.”
Du Liang’s face was streaked with tears, his pupils quivering, as he reached out tremblingly and said, “Then, give me… a wooden table.”
A wooden table?
Jin Feng and Huang Zhao were dumbfounded.
Jin Ren, standing aside as an outsider, was equally baffled.
Why did he suddenly mention a “wooden table”?
Was it the same “wooden table” he understood?
Dao Qiongcang’s expression changed slightly. From his spatial ring, he retrieved a finely crafted tea table of red sandalwood.
Just as Du Liang was about to touch this tea table, Dao Qiongcang flipped his hand again, and the table vanished.
He commanded his Holy Power, swiftly crafting a simple wooden table from the forest—hewn, mortised, and tenoned—and placing it before Du Liang.
Jin Ren felt a chill inexplicably.
Initially dismissive, Dao Qiongcang’s solemn treatment of the “wooden table” sent s.h.i.+vers down his spine.
Jin Feng and Huang Zhao were puzzled but remained silent, observing silently.
Du Liang gratefully glanced at Hallmaster Dao, tearing off the blood-soaked hem of his robe and placing it on the wooden table.
At this moment, everyone could see that even his thighs were rotting.
“He said it like this to me…”
As Du Liang spoke, he scooped up a handful of yellow soil from the ground, patting it firmly onto the blood-stained cloth on the table, centering it precisely.
The mixture of fresh blood and soil was unsettling.
More chilling still was the fact that Du Liang had lost several fingers; of his hands’ original ten, only six remained, with two on the left and four on the right, dangling softly from his skin.
From the ground, he picked three stones of roughly the same size, about the size of chicken eggs, and placed them in front of the mound of soil.
“He said, ‘Arrange them well, evenly s.p.a.ced, for life begins equal, and rules must be strict…’”
Jin Feng felt uneasy, s.h.i.+vering involuntarily.
“He said, ‘Hallmaster Dao, use your imagination and envision these as three wine cups. Blood is the wine in the cups, brewed from beautiful dreams…’”
Huang Zhao’s pupils dilated, abruptly looking behind him, though no one was there to chill the air.
“He said, ‘Hallmaster Dao, strike the snake at seven inches, and kill a man until he ceased to breathe. If you spare my life, I shall offer you three incenses…’”
Jin Ren suddenly remembered what this was about!
He was in the ruins of Ran Ming, and at this moment, he wanted nothing to do with the connections lingering in the Divine Puppet. He didn’t want to witness what would unfold next, afraid it might taint his eyes.
But he was trapped in Dao Qiongcang’s Great Confinement Technique.
His spiritual senses couldn’t be severed at will!
A trace of red flashed in Dao Qiongcang’s eyes. Acting swiftly, he threw a heavy punch, aiming to smash the altar before him into pieces.
“Du Liang, what are you doing? Stop!”
Realizing something amiss, Jin Feng raised his spear and struck abruptly.
Bang!
An explosion.
The air ruptured.
Too close! Dao Qiongcang only managed to dodge to the side, avoiding a fatal blow…
Divine Sinan moved in response, but the Greater Teleportation Technique wasn’t truly instantaneous. He was violently thrust into the air by Jin Feng’s brutal strike, soaring high.
At that moment, Dao Qiongcang gasped in pain.
He woke up!
“Anomaly! Anomaly! Anomaly!”
The voice in his mind was crystal clear, but Dao Qiongcang wasn’t sure if it had been playing from the start or had just begun.
Examining himself, he found his clothes filthy, his head drooping, sweating profusely from his armpits, body odorous, displeased—signs of Five Decays of Heaven and Man!
Dao Qiongcang dared not delay any longer. Divine Sinan spun in mid-air, conjuring two beams of light that aimed at Du Liang and Jin Feng.
“Great Killing Technique!”
A pause.
As if suddenly remembering something, Dao Qiongcang swiftly swung Divine Sinan once more.
With a swish, another Great Killing Technique shot toward the horrified Huang Zhao.
“Jin Feng, have you gone mad?!”
Huang Zhao was shocked by Jin Feng’s audacity. Upon realizing the gravity of the situation, he acted quickly, lunging towards the altar to make amends for the lost sheep.
Blood streamed from his eyes, flowing into his mouth, and he hastily formed a seal with his hands:
“With my blood, nourish all things!”
Hum!
Layers of earthy-yellow halo enveloped and protected what his eyes saw as Hallmaster Dao—but in reality, it was the altar!
“Sizzle.”
The Great Killing Technique, in an instant, shattered Jin Feng, who was in a daze after drawing his spear, reducing him to dust and leaving no trace of his remains.
However, the remaining blow was blocked by Huang Zhao, who was renowned for his defensive prowess.
Those two rays of starlight, condensed with Holy Power, were aimed straight at the altar.
Huang Zhao’s interception had one beam wildly consuming him, while the other, slightly off in its Path Principles, shot toward Du Liang’s head at an angle.
Without delay, Du Liang remained completely unresponsive as his head was instantly pulverized into dust, the force of the attack even obliterating the blood that spurted from the impact.
Headless, Du Liang continued his movements!
Using the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, he successively broke the middle, ring, and little fingers of his right hand.
“Snap!”
He heavily planted these three bleeding fingers into the mound of yellow earth on the altar, as if offering three incenses.
Dao Qiongcang got gooseb.u.mps all over his body!
Too slow!
By the time Holy Power had worn down Huang Zhao’s defense, it would take mere breaths, and during this time, who knew what bizarre action Du Liang might take?!
“Great Visualization Technique!”
Dao Qiongcang gestured with his hands, and beneath Huang Zhao, a projection of the Dead Sea appeared.
The spiritual source surging around him immediately dissipated, his entire being turning into a bloodied figure, prostrating before the altar, utterly lifeless.
It was a perfect kneeling posture!
His head was against the ground!
As if Huang Zhao were the offering, voluntarily sacrificing himself!
Similarly lifeless, without a head, Du Liang could still move as if commanding the dead.
He lifted the altar and searched for a while, unable to find direction due to his missing head. Finally, he set it down heavily in the direction of Sacred Mountain Gui Zhe in Jade Capital City.
Dao Qiongcang drew a sharp breath, sweat bristling on his arms.
Previously, he had set an intricate trap, deftly executing Five Decays of Heaven and Man. Now, Five Decays of Heaven and Man replicated his actions, leaving no time for reaction as he forcefully completed the sacrifice!
At this moment, the Great Visualization Technique manifested the Dead Sea, nullifying Dao Qiongcang’s Great Killing Technique.
Whether to shatter the altar or change its direction, he first needed to deactivate the Great Visualization Technique.
With these matters settled, the time consumed was almost negligible, for it was so brief—no more than the effort of a single thought.
But that was under normal circ.u.mstances!
Now, as Dao Qiongcang prepared to act again…
“Woo!”
A chilling wind from the Nine Heavens echoed.
“Don’t…”
“Have mercy on me…”
“Hallmaster Dao, save me… No, don’t save…”
On the horizon, dark clouds gathered ominously, splitting open into dozens of spatial cracks. The remnants of the white-clothed figures plummeted into fragmented spatial fragments, their mournful cries echoing through the heavens, their pleas continuous, evoking deep sympathy.
Dao Qiongcang closed his eyes heavily.
He could undoubtedly see that this was the work of someone else!
Reason told him that the lives of the white-clothed people could be disregarded; his own life was paramount.
Seated upright in the Saint Hall atop Sacred Mountain Gui Zhe, Dao Qiongcang received another command to intervene…
With a wave of his sleeve, Dao Qiongcang’s expression was devoid of sorrow or joy:
“Innocents cast into reincarnation, I will receive your obeisance!”
Woo—
The lingering spirits bent slightly low, offering their respects, bowing humbly and reverently.
The altar took shape, stone cups of blood wine, and severed fingers as incense.
A faint, eerie wind drifted from afar, echoing across Qingyuan Mountain, filled with strangeness and darkness, frightening the beasts into a panicked flight:
“One cup douses the person in oil, causing sleeves to become damp.”
“Two cups fry the bones of the body, leading to a gloomy and short life.”
“Three cups boil the soul, simmering the swirling dirty spirits.”
“Libating three cups of wine, the sovereign is veiled by the stench of three corpses.”
Snap!
The wooden table shattered the stone cups and bloodied fingers burned to ashes.
A streak of crimson light soared from Qingyuan Mountain, seeming to aim for the nameless, distant Saint Mountain.