Chapter 34#
Stumbling yet resolute, she walked forward step by step, as sticky blood slowly spread across the steps like a beautiful, intricate, and exquisite scroll.#
Dejectedly, Yu Lin lay on the bed with his head resting in his hands, his mind wandering. His fingertips dangled weakly, suspended in midair, before he let out a soft sigh, drooping his eyelids in silence.
After slowly repeating Jun Ti’s words to Immortal Lord Chong Wu, he grew even more sorrowful.
“Yu Lin.”
“Hmm?” Yu Lin looked up blankly, gazing at Immortal Lord Chong Wu before him.
Immortal Lord Chong Wu reached out, gently tilting his chin up, and used a finger to lightly wipe away the faint trace of tears that had pooled in the corner of his eyes at some unknown point.
“Everyone has their own destiny. Don’t cry anymore.”
Yu Lin had not realized he had shed tears unconsciously while lost in thought. Facing a face identical to his Shizun’s, he awkwardly turned his head away and changed the subject. “…How do you plan to send Pei Sha away?”
Immortal Lord Chong Wu paused, retracting his hand as if nothing had happened. “I will simply tell him… that the High Priest asked me to pass on a message, requesting him to supervise the procurement of celebration goods on the day of the sacrifice. With the King and the High Priest presiding over the ritual, nothing could possibly go wrong.”
Sure enough, Prince Pei Sha suspected nothing and readily agreed.
He said joyfully, “Did the High Priest really say that?” Then he muttered to himself, “It seems the ritual is absolutely guaranteed to succeed…”
Seeing him so excited, Immortal Lord Chong Wu asked helplessly, “Are you going or not?”
“I’ll go!”
Prince Pei Sha agreed readily, without even asking why the procurement couldn’t be done in advance instead of on the very day of the sacrifice. Immortal Lord Chong Wu silently swallowed the prepared explanation he had ready.
……
“Lord High Priest.” The maidservant led Jun Ti to the High Priest and then withdrew.
Jun Ti paused for a long while before taking a step forward.
Two people in the room were conversing, but they abruptly stopped when they saw her enter.
The King, sitting in the main seat with an indifferent expression, had already been waiting for her for a long time. He beckoned to Jun Ti, “Come here.”
Jun Ti lowered her eyebrows, bowing her head and walking up to him, pretending to be obedient.
The King let out a soft chuckle, clamping her chin and carefully examining her face. “Are you truly this obedient…”
“The traps I set in the mountains were destroyed. Do you know of this?”
A trace of ruthlessness appeared on the King’s face. Now, with even a slight emotional flicker, he looked as if he wanted to kill and drink blood.
But he had not been like this in the past. He used to always wear a smiling face—otherwise, he could not have raised a child as innocent as Pei Sha.
Jun Ti shook her head slightly. “…I do not know.”
The High Priest chuckled softly from the side, his purple eyes watching her with great amusement, as if questioning her words.
The King’s grip on her chin tightened, and he said viciously, “There are only four days left. You had better not play any tricks.”
A wave of sharp pain came from her chin, the bone emitting a creaking sound. She was pinched so hard it throbbed, and the emotions she had suppressed over these past days finally reached their absolute limit.
Jun Ti endured the pain and looked up, her eyes flashing with a fierce coldness, as she asked word by word, “The High Priest’s clan only has these few people left. Do you dare to kill. them. all?”
The Kingdom of Qinan had always cared most about the will of heaven and revered the High Priests. No matter how much the King leaned toward heretical paths, he should have still harbored some reverence deep in his bones.
Yet she did not know that the King had already been poisoned to such an extent.
The King gave her a hollow laugh, his tone deep and sinister, like a snake crawling out of hell. “I even dare to claim the lifespan of heaven itself… why would I fear a few of your measly lives?”
Jun Ti gnashed her teeth and violently retreated, breaking free from his grasp. Turning her head, she spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. “You will get your retribution!”
The King replied unhurriedly, “Instead of cursing me with retribution, you had better worry about yourself first.”
Jun Ti trembled with rage, clenching her fists tightly as if she wanted to swallow him alive, but she was powerless. Ultimately, her strength failed her, and she closed her eyes.
The King shifted his gaze from her face and squinted at the High Priest.
“Lock her up.”
Time flew like a white horse passing a crevice, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the sacrifice arrived.
On that day, a gloomy gale was howling. Jun Ti kept her eyebrows and eyes lowered, expressionless, her long hair fluttering in the wind.
Nearly a hundred stone steps led up to the sacrificial altar, towering into the clouds. The high altar was paved with neat stone bricks, faintly reflecting the sunlight.
On both sides of the entrance stood two rows of guards, keeping watch without looking aside. Though there were rumors about the sacrificial ritual among the public, it was conducted in secret, and no specific details were disclosed to outsiders.
Immortal Lord Chong Wu seeing that the hour had arrived, glanced at the King and the High Priest on his left. He stepped forward and took the silk scroll inscribed with the sacrificial text from the High Priest’s hands.
The handwriting on the silk was elegant—it must have been Jun Ti’s handiwork.
The traditional offerings had already been prepared and placed at the center of the altar beforehand. Jun Ti only needed to hold the silk scroll with the sacrificial text, chanting it as she walked, and finally cast it into the sacrificial altar.
Yet while it sounded simple, the steps of the altar were covered in tiny silver thorns. Each small silver needle was clearly visible under the sunlight.
Though it was supposed to be a sacrifice to pray for blessings, it was inexplicably bloody and unbearable to look at.
Immortal Lord Chong Wu called out softly, “Jun Ti.”
Only then did Jun Ti pull herself out of her memories. She turned her head and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
She looked at the silver thorns before her without changing her expression. Casting herself into the sacrificial altar meant being consumed by a raging fire; that ought to be many times more painful than this…
The hour had arrived, and from somewhere, the chime of a bell rang out.
“Bong—!”
To the echoing chime of the bell, Jun Ti hesitated for a moment, then lifted her foot and stepped forward.
The silver thorns were bone-chillingly cold, their icy sharpness piercing straight through the soles of her feet. Jun Ti bit her lip hard to keep from crying out in pain. Before long, her lips were bitten raw and bloody.
Stumbling yet resolute, she walked forward step by step, as sticky blood slowly spread across the steps like a beautiful, intricate, and exquisite scroll.
She closed her eyes and began to softly chant the complex sacrificial text.
Her tone was low, lending even the text a touch of mysterious solemnity. But she was in extreme pain, and the words of the chant faltered from her lips.
Jun Ti’s brow was tightly knit as she forced her swaying body to maintain its forward momentum. Sweat soaked through her sacrificial robes, making her look thoroughly disheveled.
Yu Lin stood nearby, his body slightly stiff, turning his head away, unable to bear the sight.
“Jun Ti!”
Just then, someone from afar forcefully broke through the guards’ defense line and came running toward the sacrificial altar.
Prince Pei Sha was drenched in cold sweat, his voice carrying an irrepressible panic. “Jun Ti… Jun Ti, what are you doing up there?! Come down quickly!”
The King frowned and stepped forward. “What is this clamor! Do you have no manners!”
Pei Sha seemed to grab onto a saving straw, repeating incoherently, “Royal Father… why is she up there? Let her down, it’s too dangerous…”
The King narrowed his eyes at the oblivious Pei Sha, released his hand, and took a step back. “Once the sacrifice begins, there is no reason to stop it.”
Pei Sha’s eyes widened at his father’s reaction.
The sacrifice has begun…?
Pei Sha stiffly turned his gaze toward the cold altar, murmuring in a daze, “The one to be sacrificed… is her?!”
Only now did he realize everything in hindsight. Looking at his beloved who was on the verge of collapsing on the steps, he gritted his teeth, clenching his fists so hard they turned white, and then—
He suddenly pushed past the people in front of him and lunged toward the altar!
Those nearby were caught off guard by his sudden movement and failed to stop him in time, letting Pei Sha dash to the edge of the steps in a few bounds.
Without hesitation, he raised his foot, appearing ready to climb the steps to reach her.
But the moment he took his first step, he was restrained by someone behind him.
Pei Sha’s shoulders were firmly pinned by Immortal Lord Chong Wu, keeping him rooted to the spot. Looking at the blood-stained ground and the terrifying silver thorns, his voice trembled as he cried out repeatedly, “Jun Ti…”
“Pei Sha.”
Enduring the pain, Jun Ti turned around to face Pei Sha.
She had walked a bit too far and could not touch his cheeks, so she could only use her fingers to trace his features in the air.
She slowly revealed a smile, just like when they first met. “When the seas are calm and the rivers run clear, you said you would take me to see the world outside.”
“I will take you… I will take you! Please, come down!” Prince Pei Sha promised frantically, looking at her with hope.
But Jun Ti did not answer. She turned away.
She seemed to have suddenly let go of something, and even her body relaxed. Her footsteps grew lighter and firmer as she walked toward the altar.
“Jun Ti!!” Seeing her absolute resolve, Prince Pei Sha struggled violently, gnashing his teeth and roaring at Immortal Lord Chong Wu, “Let me go! Let me go!!”
Immortal Lord Chong Wu held him tightly and retrieved a jade pendant from his sleeve, placing it in his hand.
The cool, smooth jade pendant made Prince Pei Sha freeze unconsciously.
He stiffly lifted his hand, which could barely move due to the restraint, and peered at the appearance of the jade pendant from an awkward angle.
Immortal Lord Chong Wu added in a timely manner, “She has already suffered so much. Do you want to let all her efforts go to waste?”
Tears hung at the corners of Prince Pei Sha’s eyes. He stared blankly at the stumbling figure on the altar, murmuring, “…Is this her wish?”
After a long while, his hand, which was gripping the jade pendant tightly, slumped down.
Jun Ti did not hesitate, leaving only a serene silhouette as she gradually walked toward the horizon.
After an unknown period of time, a sudden rumble of thunder boomed in the sky! The bright sunlight was gradually covered by patches of dark clouds, followed by the patter of a light drizzle.
“It’s raining… it’s raining!”
“It worked! It worked!”
Despite the pitch-black sky, they looked as if they had seen divine rain, ecstatic beyond measure.
The continuous rain pelted the ground, entirely absorbed by the parched earth. The rainwater washed the blood-stained silver thorns on the steps clean, and the ever-fading blood was carried by the rain down to Prince Pei Sha’s feet.
Seeing this, Prince Pei Sha felt no joy whatsoever. He fell to the ground, his eyes hollow as he scooped up a handful of bloody water, staring at his reflection mirrored within.
The bloody water grew scarcer, dripping away completely through the gaps in his fingers.
His eyes gradually turned red, and he murmured softly, “Without her, what meaning do calm seas and clear rivers even have for me…”
He had promised to take her out to see the world, but now, even her physical form had turned entirely to ashes.
“Rumble!”
Immediately after, a strange phenomenon arose in the sky. Countless bolts of lightning surged within, and dark clouds coiled together like venomous serpents flicking their tongues.
“Ugh!”
The High Priest covered his face with trembling hands. The blue eyes beneath his palms suddenly cracked open, revealing a hazy, intense pool of purple underneath.
“Drip, drop.”
Blood continuously seeped from the gaps of his fingers. His purple eyes shattered like crystals, tiny shards falling to the ground like gemstones.
With a frenzied expression, he grabbed the King’s sleeve. “Save me… save me!”
The King’s pupils contracted. His gaze toward him was a mixture of disbelief and disgust as he violently yanked his sleeve back and retreated!
But it was already too late.
An electrical current surged from the fingertips that had touched the High Priest, spreading rapidly up his arm. In an instant, the King’s body went numb, trembling uncontrollably.
He instinctively looked up at the sky. The sky flashed faintly, as if provoking him.
The King’s body suddenly went limp, and he fell to his knees. “It wasn’t me… it wasn’t me!”
“You shouldn’t hurt me, it’s all his fault, you shouldn’t hurt me…”
His finger pointed rigidly in the direction of the High Priest, his eyes filled with endless terror.
He saw that the High Priest’s body was cracking continuously, already a bloody mess. He let out a couple of hoarse, dry chuckles, staring viciously at the King. “Neither of us can escape…”
【Author’s Note】
Chong Wu: “Are you going?”
Pei Sha: “Going going going going going going going going!”
Chong Wu: Oh no, I didn’t expect him to really be a complete fool.
35