Hua Chongyang would never believe him, regardless of his answer. Even if he said he was not from the Penglai Sect, and the Nether Sect did not have any quarrel with the Peng Lai Sect, he did not think Hua Chongyang would trust his words since they were merely strangers who had come together. It was only natural that they guarded against each other. For these reasons, he felt it was enough to just give a vague answer.
Hua Chongyang pointed in the opposite direction of the white swordsmen and said, “The people from the Taixu Academy are here as well. It’s quite the lineup.”
“Are you afraid?”
“Why would I be afraid? If we fight, there’s no telling who’s going to emerge victorious,” Hua Chongyang replied.
“It’s good to be confident, but overconfidence can make you conceited.” Lu Zhou saw this kind of excessive self-confidence in Yu Shangrong and Si Wuya as well. Sometimes, their confidence would help them, but it would pull them down as well. Among his disciples, if he had to choose one who was the best at carrying out missions, he would certainly pick his fourth disciple, Mingshi Yin. Up until now, Mingshi Yin had never let him down.
Hua Chongyang replied with a smile, “It’s not overconfidence, it’s self-confidence. Self-confidence stems from strength. Aren’t you confident as well, Senior Lu?”
Lu Zhou did not reply to him even though he wanted to say he was brimming with confidence. He looked at the still-empty wooden platform and knew the main characters had yet to arrive. Feeling bored, he said, “Let’s talk about the person who’s going to be sacrificed.”
“I don’t know much about her, aside from her ability to speak the tongue of beasts and that she’s musically gifted… It’s said that she was seen blowing on a conch as she sat on the shoreline. The sound attracted many vicious beasts from the sea who attacked the fishermen. Naturally, all this is hearsay. I can’t verify them,” Hua Chongyang replied.
Initially, Lu Zhou did not pay much attention to the woman. However, it was hard for him not to notice someone with such a special ability. Her ability was so special that she was being used as a sacrifice.
“Does no one know where she came from?” Lu Zhou asked.
“Nobody knows if she’s an Other Tribesman or if she’s from Great Yan.”
“There are those who can talk to beasts among the Other Tribesmen. That’s nothing special. However, it’s, indeed, rare that she’s able to incite ferocious beasts into action,” Lu Zhou said.
While Lu Zhou and Hua Chongyang conversed, the crowd was growing impatient. Some of them even began to shout due to their impatience.
“What’s taking so long? Bring the demon woman here!”
“Hey! Everyone’s been waiting for ages! The citizens of Jing Province City are watching!”
“The people won’t be able to eat and sleep in peace as long as the demon woman is alive! Hurry up…”
Under the urging of the crowd, a middle-aged man dressed in peculiar clothes stepped forward. He wore a brocade hat, and his face was painted in vibrant colors. His soundwave rolled over the crowd, traveling far since it contained Primal Qi. “Order, order.” Then, he looked at the sun for a moment before he said, “The time has come. Bring forth the demon woman!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the heaven worship platform fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at the path on the left. A slender figure could be seen walking on the path accompanied by two figures. The moment light hit the slender body, the crowd gasped in shock. If they were unaware, they would not have associated the girl they were seeing with the demon woman. Although her clothes were tattered, her black hair was messy, she had patches of dirt on her face, she was barefooted, and her hands were bound by a rope, these did not mask her exquisite beauty at all. Her most eye-catching feature was her pair of big, shiny, ink-black eyes. They seemed almost lost under her long eyelashes. The words ‘Miss Conch’ appeared in many of their minds. Many among the crowd thought of the same term, Miss Conch.
The woman had successfully attracted everyone’s attention; everyone was looking at her at this moment.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of her walking on the wooden platform rang crisply in the air. For a time, this was the only sound that could be heard on the heaven worship platform.
When she finally walked to the center of the platform, the crowd broke into an uproar.
Hua Chongyang and Lu Zhou turned to look.
Lu Zhou had been curious since earlier. He was shocked when he discovered the Eye of Truth did not provide him with any information. ‘What’s the meaning of this?’
Lu Zhou wondered if the system was deliberately making his undercover mission more difficult for him? Based on what he could tell at this moment, the woman had no Primal Qi fluctuation nor did she possess the aura of a cultivator. If that were the case, how did she incite the beasts to attack people?
At the same time, the crowd looked at each other before they shifted their eyes to the girl. Then, they began to shout. “Demon woman!”
The girl seemed even more confused. It was as though she did not understand what was going on. Strangely, as confused as she was, she did not seem surprised, afraid, or nervous. It was clear she was just perplexed. more lost than before.
At this moment, the old male priest on the heaven worship platform looked down and said, “Bring her here.”
“Understood!” The two cultivators sent their energy out to prop the girl up on the wooden platform.
Then the old priest waved his horsetail whisk.
The rope circled thrice around the girl and bound her to the wood.
The scorching sun shone down on the girl. Her disheveled hair, the dirt on her face, her old and tattered clothes, and her fair exposed feet did nothing to obscure her beauty. In fact, it accentuated her lofty, out-of-this-world charm.
“Do you know why she’s being tied up?” Lu Zhou asked.
“I don’t…” Hua Chongyang shook his head.
“Do you think she’s a demon woman?” Lu Zhou asked again.
“She doesn’t look like one.”
“Why not?”
“Gut feeling.” Hua Chongyang remembered his own mission. Naturally, he would not forget why he was here. He asked, “What do you think, Senior Lu?”
“I think she’s the demon woman,” Lu Zhou said.
“Why’s that?”
Lu Zhou placed his hands on his back and slowly said, “She’s not surprised, not flustered, not panicking, not afraid, not cowering… Do you think ordinary girls can maintain their composure like her?”
“She has no Primal Qi fluctuations; how could she command vicious beasts?”
“She’s barely 16. How can you explain the fact that nobody knows where she’s from or even her name?”
Lu Zhou’s words rendered Hua Chongyang speechless.
Upon seeing this, Lu Zhou only smiled and no longer said anything. Hua Chongyang was clearly here for this little girl. There was no need to ask further questions.
The old priest on the heaven worship platform looked at the sun again and said in a clear voice, “The time has come… Let us worship heaven now!”
Dong!
The bell tolled, signifying the ritual had begun.
Most of everyone looked at the old priest.
On the other hand, the people from the Hengqu Branch and the Taixu Academy kept staring at each other, but nobody made the first move. It was as though they were merely here to supervise the ritual.
The old priest loudly said, “I’m Yang Ping of Breeze Mountain. I hereby purify you of your sins in the name of the heavens. You’ll have your ashes forever scattered, you’ll be covered in flames, you’ll sink to the bottom of the ocean. Your soul will be tired, and your will will be tested. Sins cannot tolerate souls, and evil cannot tolerate ugliness. Preaching is useless. Broken bones and a scorched body is the best punishment. Let it burn!” After his long speech, he waved his hand.
Everyone widened their eyes in anticipation of the wood catching fire.
Whoosh!
Embers glowed as a fire started.
At this moment, the girl looked down, clearly puzzled.
Boom!
At this moment, a member of the Taixu Academy sent an energy palm out and scattered the firewood at the base of the cross.
