Chapter 126: The Descent of the Blood-Year God

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“My lord, have you discovered something?”

“Hmm. I spotted traces left behind by that demon.”

Upon hearing this, Du Feng hurriedly followed Shang Lu’s gaze and looked once more toward the little shrine, which was plainly abandoned and had been for many years.

But it was too far away, and the light was too dim. No matter how long he stared, he could not detect anything unusual.

Only after following Shang Lu to the shrine itself did he finally notice something by the light of the moon.

The little shrine appeared to have been abandoned for years. Even the statue and memorial tablet were battered and ruined. Yet neither inside nor outside the shrine was there a trace of cobwebs or dust.

Clearly, someone swept the place carefully every day.

There were even fresh offerings of blood-fed meat inside, along with incense that had not yet burned out.

Du Feng assumed that these traces were what had convinced Shang Lu that this was the shrine where the people of Luo Family Village held their divine feasts.

In truth, however, Shang Lu was not looking at any of those traces. He was looking at a pool of black vapor clinging to the headless statue. It resembled sludge and gave off a faint aura of chaos.

During this period, Shang Lu had learned quite a bit from the shaman. He knew that this sludge-like black vapor was residual energy left behind by a demon.

It meant that, recently, a demon had possessed this headless statue—and had done so more than once.

The Blood-Year God was different from the rat demon they had encountered in the county town.

It was not hiding inside this ownerless shrine. It merely descended here at a specific time, then used the so-called divine feast to lure in and control people from the surrounding villages.

“In other words, the Blood-Year God won’t come here until the third quarter of the Rat Hour?”

After hearing Shang Lu’s analysis, Du Feng let out a long sigh of relief.

At last, he understood why Shang Lu had dared to bring them so close to the shrine without fear of being discovered.

The Blood-Year God had not arrived yet.

Du Feng still gripped the hilt of his saber tightly, but he was no longer as tense as before.

He even boldly suggested, “My lord, should we do something while the Blood-Year God hasn’t arrived? For example, sprinkle some virgin’s urine around the shrine, or splash it with black-dog blood?”

Liu Zhi grabbed him at once. “Wouldn’t that be alerting the enemy? Besides, where would we find virgin’s urine or black-dog blood out here in the wilderness?”

Du Feng thrust out his chest and raised his head proudly. “I’m a virgin! A virgin of more than twenty years! My urine is absolutely brimming with yang energy!”

Liu Zhi was dumbfounded. Why was he proud of that? And what kind of virgin was he, anyway? If he had truly preserved his primal essence for more than twenty years, how could that rat demon have possessed him back then?

“Liu Zhi is right. Those things would alert the enemy, but we do need to make some preparations.”

After thinking for a moment, Shang Lu took the three remaining paper effigies from his robes and hid them separately: one on the roof of the ruined shrine, one beneath the incense burner, and one in the earth outside the shrine entrance.

“My lord, you know how to command paper effigies?”

Du Feng could not help asking. Liu Zhi, too, wore an expression of curiosity.

“I learned a few tricks from the shaman during this period,” Shang Lu replied vaguely.

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Du Feng and Liu Zhi believed him. They nodded and asked no further questions.

After hiding the paper effigies, the three men led their horses away from the shrine.

Du Feng and Liu Zhi both glanced back, but neither saw Sanniang behind them, dressed in red wedding clothes and bridal ornaments, helping erase the traces they had left behind.

It was precisely because Sanniang was there that Shang Lu had dared bring Du Feng and Liu Zhi close to investigate and hide the paper effigies.

Otherwise, the traces and auras they had left around the shrine would very likely have been detected by the demons and ghosts.

Demons and ghosts were far more sensitive than humans to auras and danger.

Before long, Shang Lu and the other two led their horses down the earthen hill and slipped into a nearby grove, hiding themselves behind the trees.

Shang Lu adjusted the Nuo masks tucked inside his robes so that he could take them out immediately if necessary.

Feng Boyuan had given him these masks a few days earlier, after his injuries had healed.

With them, Shang Lu would not be afraid even if reinforcements failed to arrive in time.

The hour of the Rat soon arrived.

The world lay in utter silence. Even the insects had stopped chirping.

Suddenly, the quiet of the little earthen hill was broken.

“They’re here.”

Shang Lu was the first to sense it.

After his warning, Liu Zhi and Du Feng waited a while longer before finally seeing points of fire appear in the distant darkness.

The flames soon drew near, merging into several winding fire dragons.

They were people carrying torches.

Liu Zhi poked his head out and whispered, “The people from the nearby villages have all come. The commotion stirred up by the Blood-Year God is truly immense!”

Before long, the hilltop was packed with people.

Countless torches illuminated the earthen hill. At a glance, it looked as though the entire place had been set ablaze.

The elders of several villages stepped out from their respective groups and came to the area around the little shrine. Throwing back their heads, they sang loudly in a shrill, strange melody:

“Invite the god~”

“Invite the god~”

The villagers surrounding the hill dropped flat on the ground in unison and shouted along with the elders.

Their “addiction” erupted all at once. Every one of them sank into a diseased state of excitement.

Mucus, tears, saliva, and more poured from them uncontrollably.

They were completely unaware of it. They merely knocked their heads frantically against the ground until their foreheads split and blood streamed down their faces, without feeling the slightest pain.

The village elders danced around the shrine, performing an invitation ritual, while muttering incomprehensible words.

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Watching this, Shang Lu found the scene absurd and grotesque.

The invitation dance performed by the village elders was especially disturbing. Their movements were stiff and bizarre, evoking the chilling sight of people dancing wildly atop graves in the dead of night.

Yet absurd as it was, bizarre as it was, it worked.

After completing a circuit of the shrine, the village elders suddenly drew sharp knives from their sleeves and plunged them into their own chests in perfect unison.

Streams of blood burst from the wounds and splashed across the ruined shrine.

Not one of the elders who had stabbed themselves showed the slightest trace of pain. Instead, their faces revealed a strange exhilaration and satisfaction.

This act of self-mutilation had actually brought them pleasure.

Their cries grew higher and more frenzied, as though they were not summoning a god but coupling with one, ascending toward a spiritual climax.

At that moment, Shang Lu saw a streak of blood-red light rushing through the distant darkness and plunging into the ruined shrine.

The villagers surrounding the hill noticed nothing.

“It’s here!” Shang Lu whispered.

Du Feng and Liu Zhi, who had been waiting in battle formation, immediately seized their saddles. They were ready to mount and charge at the first command from Shang Lu.

Just then, they saw a beam of golden light shoot out from the ruined shrine.

The golden light gathered above the hill and transformed into a divine statue formed entirely of radiance. Its oppressive presence was so powerful that no one dared look directly at it.

The village elders completely ignored the knives buried in their chests. They crawled onto the ground like the surrounding villagers and sank into a state of bizarre fanaticism, frantically kowtowing and begging the Blood-Year God to bestow its divine feast.

The Blood-Year God did not disappoint them. With a sweep of its golden hand, an array of delicacies flew forth.

Their appearance was enticing, and their aroma was irresistible.

The villagers kneeling around the hill instantly transformed into vicious dogs fighting over scraps, madly scrambling for the divine feast bestowed by the Blood-Year God.

For a time, husbands and wives, fathers and sons, even attacked one another.

Unlike the crazed villagers, Shang Lu, Du Feng, and Liu Zhi remained hidden in the grove and witnessed everything clearly. All they felt was revulsion.

Because they were not on the hill and had not been affected by the Blood-Year God, their senses had not been distorted.

Thus, they saw the true nature of the divine feast.

It was no delicacy at all.

It was nothing more than piles of rotting flesh crawling with maggots!

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