Chapter 86

At the last possible moment, the pitch-black beast easily leapt over the heads of the crowd and charged onto the altar. Chaos erupted instantly, the solemn ceremony completely disrupted. Terrified, the people below scrambled toward the long stone steps, desperate to flee down the mountain.

But the beast was far too massive. From its vantage point, the panicked people looked like ants in a boiling pot. With a single stomp, it shattered a section of the sturdy stone steps, cutting off any hope of escape for those on the mountainside.

Broken stones clattered and rolled into the clouds, while countless screams and cries echoed across the Divine Mountain.

Lin Yu and Yun Chi remained motionless on the altar, but the devoted followers were scared out of their wits. They scattered in every direction, utterly undignified, terrified of being crushed to pulp under the beast's feet. Some even fled to the edge of the mountainside, staring at the lush trees and misty clouds below, contemplating jumping to escape.

The beast threw its head back and roared toward the mountaintop. Everyone froze in place, too afraid to move. Then the beast charged straight at the two figures standing at the center of the altar!

In that instant, everyone held their breath, pupils shrinking as they watched the beast of unknown origin crash into the altar. The sharp spikes on its back suddenly retracted, and the corpses impaled on them lost their support, flung into the air!

To Lin Yu and Yun Chi, standing at the altar's center, it looked like a swarm of blood-red objects flying toward them. These things rapidly enlarged before their eyes, drawing closer and closer until they filled their entire vision, accompanied by the stench of blood and decay.

Yun Chi instinctively crouched down, ready to cover her head and dodge the storm of gore. The sight was so overwhelming she nearly screamed!

Lin Yu quickly steadied Yun Chi and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Don't move."

Under Yun Chi's terrified gaze, a clatter like rain fell to the ground. The fragments, nearly ground to pieces, landed precisely in the center of the altar, piling up into a small mountain of corpses.

"These are..." Yun Chi stared at the twisted faces one by one, recognizing them as the Xianzun's disciples. She looked back at Lin Yu, but Lin Yu remained expressionless. Yun Chi lowered her voice, "Some of these people I've seen before—they were sent by the Xianzun a month ago to capture sacrifices for the Spring Sacrifice."

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. She hadn't expected the disciples sent to kill the Ghost King and those sent to capture sacrifices to be the same group. "They were the ones?"

The Heaven's Mandate Tower often held various rituals. The disciples raised in the back mountain were sent to carry out the Xianzun's tasks, mostly related to sacrifices, artifacts, and divine miracles. Their most frequent duty was finding sacrifices.

Ordinary people chosen by the Heaven's Mandate Tower were as good as dead, with few escaping.

If it was just a living sacrifice of a dozen or twenty people, the requirements weren't high—only that the sacrifice had to be alive. So if a chosen sacrifice managed to resist and escape, refusing to accept their fate, the Tower wouldn't go to great lengths to chase them down, or they'd kill them on the spot and bring the body back.

Because they needed living people, to be burned alive during the ritual. That was the essence of a living sacrifice—they wouldn't pick a corpse.

But for a grand ritual like the Spring Sacrifice, with over a hundred sacrifices, things were different. More than a hundred living people were dragged to the altar to be offered. With so many, the scene could easily spiral out of control; if anyone resisted, accidents could happen.

So whether they were dead or alive didn't matter. Even if captured alive, they'd all be killed before the ritual.

For the Spring Sacrifice, the disciples of the Tower had an unspoken rule when hunting for sacrifices: if the sacrifice resisted, they could kill them on the spot and bring back the body. If the sacrifice was submissive and accepted their fate, they'd be captured and caged, allowed to live until the ritual began.

Now, the sacrifices bound to wooden frames on the platform, turned into puppets, were precisely those who had refused to die quietly and wouldn't submit—which was why the disciples had killed them.

Lin Yu's eyes rested coldly on the disciples she had killed. When they were killing others, they probably never imagined they'd end up as sacrifices themselves.

"Perfect timing," she said. "They didn't catch enough sacrifices, so let them fill in as offerings to the god they revered most."

Yun Chi was momentarily stunned, then whispered, "They had caught enough..."

Meeting Lin Yu's gaze, Yun Chi immediately shut up. She'd wanted to say they'd actually caught enough, but someone had set the sacrifices free.

"Go calm it down," Lin Yu pointed at the beast, which seemed to be in a furious roar.

Yun Chi pointed at herself. "Me?"

"Go. You're the High Priestess, and so many people are watching," Lin Yu said, waving at the beast. The beast stopped its movements. "It'll listen to you."

Understanding dawned on Yun Chi. She stepped over the scattered remains and approached the beast. As she drew near, the beast sat down docilely facing the crowd. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like the High Priestess had tamed the massive beast with just a lift of her hand.

"This is the fierce beast newly acquired by our Heaven's Mandate Tower, hailing from the Ghost Realm," Lin Yu announced calmly to the crowd. "New to the mortal world, it's a bit ignorant of our customs and unintentionally startled you all. On behalf of the High Priestess, I apologize."

The crowd, who had been scrambling and hiding, emerged from the bushes upon hearing this. Seeing the beast sitting obediently by the altar without moving, even its gaze looking clear, they were amazed. They had never seen anything like this. Now that there was no danger, they stood around observing the massive creature, though no one dared get close, occasionally whispering among themselves.

"Is this how your Heaven's Mandate Tower conducts itself?" A man in a red official robe spoke up, displeased. He'd nearly jumped off the mountain in fright a moment ago, and many had seen it—a complete loss of face for him. "You knew there was a Ghost Realm beast, yet you didn't warn us, just let it run rampant hurting people?!"

Lin Yu kept a composed smile. "It hasn't hurt anyone. It merely came to deliver sacrifices. It's just that everyone here has weak nerves—you got scared at the mere sight of it."

"You—! What nonsense are you talking?! Who's scared of it?!" The man fumed, his beard bristling. "Who are you? I could have the Xianzun throw you out of the Heaven's Mandate Tower with a single word!"

"Of course, go right ahead and tell him," Lin Yu said softly, still smiling. She would love nothing more than to be kicked out of the Tower.

The official's anger seemed to hit cotton, finding no outlet. He pointed at Yun Chi instead. "You're the new High Priestess, right? Now, make this ungrateful disciple of yours get off the stage and out of my sight, or there'll be consequences for both of you."

Yun Chi didn't even turn around, as if she hadn't heard. She lit a torch and walked toward the newly delivered sacrifices, completely ignoring the official.

Lin Yu said, "The ritual isn't over yet. Please take your seats. Our Tower apologizes for the alarm—this is our fault."

"Your mistake calls for an apology, doesn't it?" A voice rose from the crowd. "I've spent plenty of coin for you people. A mere apology is going to brush me off?"

Lin Yu looked at the speaker, a young man who happened to have a wisp of black qi beside him—someone briefly possessed by a ghost officer.

With a single glance, the young man shot back, "Mind your tongue, won't you? We've all spent plenty on the gods. Who else is making a fuss like you? Seeing such a majestic Ghost Realm beast is our good fortune—how many people ever get that chance? Even if you spent ten thousand gold, would you see it? This is the Tower broadening our horizons. What do you know?"

More people with black qi chimed in. "Exactly! If they can tame even a Ghost Realm beast, that just proves the Tower lives up to our expectations!"

"This Ghost Realm beast puts those divine beasts to shame! It didn't even do anything and you were all scared stiff! A bunch of cowards!"

Yun Chi, holding her torch, listened to the bickering and whispered, "Did you arrange these people too? This is the first time I've heard anyone praise the Ghost Realm... Isn't the flattery a little too obvious?"

Lin Yu denied it flatly. "...No."

She had only instructed Di Ting to have people control the atmosphere and keep things in her favor. She hadn't expected these ghost officers to be so lavish in praising their own kind...

But at least the ghost officers had numbers. More and more possessed people joined the verbal assault, and the major donors, unable to win the argument, rolled their eyes in fury. Still, since the ritual wasn't over, they couldn't just leave.

Watching their indignant expressions, Lin Yu felt she'd achieved her goal. These big donors, who spent the most, valued face above all. They could lose anything but their dignity.

When the beast arrived, it had leaped over the believers on the steps. Those below only saw a massive black shape fly overhead; they never even made out what it was. At most, they were startled, ran a few steps, and screamed a bit. Once the beast was gone, they regained their composure—nothing serious had happened.

But near the altar was different. The beast had charged straight for it, broken a section of the stone steps, and roared and threatened these major donors, sending them scattering in panic, hiding everywhere, completely humiliated.

After being terrorized with no outlet for their anger—the priestess spoke rudely, the High Priestess ignored them, and the believers on the steps insulted them—these nobles and officials had never suffered such treatment in their lives.

Being belittled and ignored by those of lower status was the most infuriating thing for them. After this, these major donors would only hold grudges against the Heaven's Mandate Tower.

As resentment grew, they'd blame the Tower, stop coming, and eventually lose all faith in it.

Losing someone's support is far easier than gaining it. To win support, you need to satisfy them, make them trust you, so they'll give something in return. But losing support can happen over a single small mistake that breeds discontent.

The Heaven's Mandate Tower was full of mortals, no gods. They wouldn't show unlimited tolerance to those of equal standing.

Yun Chi, hearing all the arguments below, saw the frightened donors turning red with anger. She chose that moment to interrupt, calling out loudly, "Begin the pyre!"

Flames roared as Yun Chi tossed her torch to the ground. The fire licked at the bodies and quickly engulfed the mountain of corpses.

The official took a deep breath to suppress his anger, letting those around him persuade him to sit back down and watch. But the moment he sat, he glanced toward the blaze and suddenly spotted a face he knew all too well.

The sky was dimming, faces becoming hard to distinguish. Everything blurred, save for the single flickering light of the flames in the darkness.

The fire swayed among the sacrifices, sweeping over each body.

The official frowned and stepped forward a few paces. Just as he was about to reach the altar, Lin Yu blocked his view. "I fear the fire may disturb you, sir. Please step back a few paces."

The official was about to protest again when, at that same moment, the Xianzun, hearing the commotion, returned to the mountainside with the Moon God, appearing before the crowd.

The Xianzun had barely managed to maintain the appearance of a middle-aged man. He followed behind the Moon God, giving a slight nod to the dozen or so believers by the altar as a greeting.

The moment the official saw the Xianzun, something clicked. But by then, the flames had already consumed half the sacrifices. He suddenly shouted at Yun Chi, "Wait! Wait! I know this man! I've seen him before—I know him! Isn't he your Tower's High Priestess? How did he end up as a sacrifice?!"