The path to the sacrificial altar had three steps.
Yao Ranyan followed closely behind Yan Shanyi, ascending with careful steps until she stood atop the wide, circular platform.
Around the edge of the platform, eight lamp pillars were evenly spaced. Each one was carved into the shape of a small beast, its mouth gaping outward, its hollow head waiting, yet no wicks were set inside.
Yan Shanyi stopped at the very center of the platform and turned toward Yao Ranyan.
In that moment, his robes fluttered as if stirred by a sudden cool breeze. His slow turn lifted the silken hem of Yao Ranyan's water-patterned gown, sending ripples across its fabric like waves spreading across a pond.
The ripples shimmered outward, and with a sharp crack, the eight beast-shaped lamps burst into eerie flames.
Yao Ranyan froze for a heartbeat, then instinctively tried to turn toward the crowd.
But Yan Shanyi lifted a hand, smiling as he said, "The True Buddha has acknowledged you."
Her gaze flickered toward the eight pillars. So this fire meant the True Buddha's approval?
Yan Shanyi then turned to face the gathered crowd at her side. The entire assembly held their breath, waiting to see what would unfold next.
He strode forward a few paces, spread his arms wide, and laughed with manic abandon."Evil stirs, the True Buddha descends! Women are weak, yet their yin is sufficient!"
He turned again, lips curved in a smile, eyes as cold as though he were already gazing at a corpse."The spirit of evil shall be poured into a vessel. The sacrifice begins!"
Yao Ranyan's pupils shrank. Something felt terribly wrong.
Was this "favor" Yan Shanyi had asked of her… to sacrifice herself?
"A noble guest offers her body, the True Buddha opens His eyes. Evil retreats, and Yan Fortress shall know peace forevermore!"
An uncanny scene followed. Everyone of Yan Fortress fixed their eyes upon her with reverence, lips curved in blissful smiles, voices rising in eerie unison to chant those words.
The sound crashed against the soul like a maddening bell.
Cultivators with weaker cultivation fell vacant-eyed. Their lips moved, their voices echoed the same chant, their expressions turning devout, their smiles serene.
"This is bad!" Mu Jialing's eyes widened as he finally realized Yan Shanyi's true purpose.
He silently began reciting the Great Sutra of Infinite Life, Purity, and Splendor, his palms pressed tight together, yet in that moment, he found his hands and feet frozen, unable to move even an inch.
A chilling, sinister resonance burrowed through his ears, seeping into his limbs and bones, flooding his sea of consciousness. His inner recitation faltered and, against his will, spilled from his lips, twisting into the same chant as the Yan clansmen.
"A noble guest offers her body, the True Buddha opens His eyes. Evil retreats, and Yan Fortress shall know peace forevermore…"
Mu Jialing's pupils trembled, his forehead slick with cold sweat. It felt as if some nameless force had gripped him by the throat of his very soul, leaving him no room to resist. If Fairy Ranyan had known this was the fate awaiting her atop the platform, would she not have regretted stepping forward?
He wasn't the only one thinking it.
Inside another's sea of consciousness, a tiny spirit scattered clear light. Pei Xianqiao slowly regained her clarity. Her lips parted, mimicking the chant, but her clear gaze never left the altar.
"Yao Ranyan, it isn't that I would stand by and watch you die. Even if I can resist this power, I cannot truly move my body. After so many months apart, who would have thought… you might perish here, without ever seeing Brother Fu again…"
Pei Xianqiao lowered her lashes, hiding the turmoil in her eyes.
Elsewhere, Yu Zhenyan's eyes flashed with ridicule and disdain. She curled her lips in a mocking smile, echoing the crowd's devotion. Yet within her sea of consciousness burned a scarlet light: a tiny fan whirled, scattering fiery brilliance that shielded her from the invading chant.
He Huatao's eyes bulged with lingering fear.
Had it not been for luck, it might have been Sister Xianqiao on that stage, offered up as a sacrifice!Even so, Fairy Yao's fate was a pity. Yan Shanyi's kindness toward her was never true goodwill. It was all for this moment.
Even the half-dazed wandering cultivators understood at the very last moment why the Yan clan had treated Yao Ranyan with such reverence.
Poor fairy indeed.
…
Though the ground beneath the altar remained still, dust rose as if it were trembling.
The instant Yan Shanyi turned back toward her, the eight beast heads spewed out serpentine streams of ghostly flame, coiling to seal the altar in.
Her vision blurred; the crowd below was lost in a haze.
Beneath the platform, something stirred.
Yan Shanyi's gaze shifted, no longer hiding its savagery. His lips tore open, revealing jagged fangs slick with bloody flesh. A forked crimson tongue slid through his teeth as he stared at her with greedy hunger.
"Little girl, there is no kindness without cause, nor hatred without reason. From the first day you stepped into Yan Fortress, I knew it was you who touched the Sword of Wrath!
The Sword of Wrath is an immortal weapon that seals evil. You moved the blade suspended over the creature's head. Now you must suppress its hunger with your own flesh!
Today, I shall make you the vessel to bear this spirit of corruption and save all living beings!"
Rip!
His clothes split apart, revealing his warped body. Coarse black hair sprouted across his chest, green scales crept from his shoulder down his arm, jagged spines burst along his spine, and a serpent's tail coiled around his waist. His visage twisted into something monstrous, with dark worms writhing beneath his skin.
"You… you…
You ate the Fortress Master of Yan?" Yao Ranyan's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.
Yan Shanyi's claws spread wide, his nails sharp as knives. He bared his fangs and roared, "What Fortress Master? There is no Fortress Master! The Fortress Master is me!"
After all that, had she still not understood?
"You are the Fortress Master? Then everything happening in Yan Fortress… it was all your doing?" Yao Ranyan stepped back, her voice trembling.
"Me? I am not capable of such things." His jagged fangs writhed in his mouth, yet his expression shifted to one of devout reverence. He lifted his long neck, gazing up toward the towering divine tree. His voice trembled with humility and awe.
"Only my master possesses such power. He crushed the evil beyond the Crimson Wall, protected us lowly mortals, granted us the hope of immortality, the chance to ascend!
My master is unique in all the world! Yan Fortress cannot exist without him!
Your master… lives within that divine tree?" Yao Ranyan asked.
In a flash, Yan Shanyi whipped his head toward her. His twisted neck cracked with a grotesque sound. "You are not worthy to know of my master!"
His words roared like a storm, whipping her violet robes into a frenzy.
"Fine, then I won't ask about your master. But do you know where Che Lingzhi is?"
"What is this… Che Lingzhi?" Yan Shanyi faltered for a moment.
"Oh, you don't know? Never mind." Yao Ranyan sighed softly.
Fury blazed in his eyes. With a swipe of his claws, cold light flashed as he struck toward her crown."The sacrifice must proceed. You meddled with what should never have been touched. Now pay the price!"
The wind howled past her ears. The altar's ground split open, and black, python-like vines whipped upward, coiling and dragging them down into the depths. The circular platform collapsed into the earth.