The Land of Ancestors had changed greatly.
Due to the significant development in productivity, the number of criminals had also greatly decreased.
Currently, the number of criminals was not large, and they were generally housed in appropriate prisons.
However, the appearance of so many prison carts in this place was undoubtedly surprising.
"So many prison carts, are they holding serious criminals?"
Hagoromo frowned, his gaze fixed forward as he fell into thought: "But why here?"
This place was where the Divine Tree resided.
It was one of the holy lands of the Land of Ancestors, and theoretically, no ordinary person could enter.
Even the high-ranking nobles needed to go through numerous applications to enter this place; it was not an easy matter, let alone for these prisoners.
The Hagoromo Brothers exchanged glances, both feeling that something was amiss.
However, they had many years of tacit understanding, so a mere glance was enough for them to follow closely in perfect sync.
They continued forward, reaching the core of the holy land.
Then they discovered that within that holy land, there was also a large complex of temples.
Inside the temples, several mysterious statues were enshrined, emanating a vast Chakra aura.
"The prisoners have arrived."
Upon reaching the temple, the samurai responsible for escorting the prisoners spoke coldly: "Send these sacrifices up."
As he spoke, the sacrifices before him were brought down one by one.
Upon arriving at this place, these prisoners seemed to have already realized their impending fate, and fear appeared on their faces.
"Help! Don't kill me!"
"Let me go! Please..."
They looked at the samurai in front of them, their faces filled with pleading.
Looking closely, these people did not seem very old; many were young men, and some were even teenagers.
"Brother..."
Hagomoro looked at the scene before him, a hint of unbearable pity in his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to watch what was about to happen.
Hagoromo shook his head: "These are all criminals."
"They are being executed; this is their deserved punishment, there's nothing more to say."
Those transported by prison carts were generally serious offenders.
Since these people had broken the law, whatever treatment they received was deserved.
Even the Hagoromo Brothers only felt a slight twinge of pity.
They said nothing more and simply watched.
But soon, the scene before them left them astonished.
They saw the leading samurai extend his hand and form a hand seal.
With his movement, a surge of Chakra was drawn out, and then the Divine Tree before them changed.
From the Divine Tree, a vine extended, coiling around several prisoners in front of it.
In an instant, amidst cries of agony, these prisoners all turned into dried corpses, their entire bodies' life force completely sucked dry, reduced to mere husks.
"How could this be..."
At this moment, the Hagoromo Brothers, who had been observing in secret, all stood up.
They looked at the scene before them, their faces showing profound astonishment.
Before witnessing this, they had anticipated the scene, and whether the prisoners were beheaded or executed in other ways, they wouldn't have been too surprised.
But to have their lives sucked dry by the Divine Tree, to perish in such a manner—this method was far too terrifying.
This far exceeded their previous expectations and thoughts.
"How could this be?"
Hagoromo's face was astonished, filled with disbelief: "Isn't the Divine Tree a divine object? Why would it..."
The Divine Tree was a divine object of the Land of Ancestors; this was a concept instilled in them since childhood.
In the past, they had always believed this to be true.
But now, the Divine Tree's actions completely overturned their beliefs.
Could something that extracts and takes away human life still be considered a divine object?
This thought flashed through their minds, and questions began to emerge.
Seeing that the samurai in front was about to continue the sacrifice, they didn't hesitate and rushed forward.
"Who's there?"
The leading samurai was very vigilant; almost the instant the Hagoromo Brothers attacked, he sensed their arrival and instinctively began to counterattack.
But the moment he saw the Hagoromo Brothers, his face immediately showed astonishment, and he lost all thought of resistance: "Lord Hagoromo?"
A samurai capable of leading a team into the core area of the Divine Tree was naturally a trusted subordinate of Minamikawa Yuu, one of his most trusted individuals.
Such a person naturally recognized the Hagoromo Brothers, and thus immediately lost the will to resist, standing obediently in place.
"What are you doing?"
Hagoromo stepped forward first and questioned: "These people are citizens of the Land of Ancestors. What did they do wrong to be sacrificed to the Divine Tree?"
"These are criminals,"
The samurai said, "They all bear great sins, so they were judged and brought here."
"It is their immense honor to be sacrificed to the Divine Tree."
"What about these children?"
Hagoromo questioned, "Even underage children are criminals who committed serious crimes?"
He pointed to a prison cart nearby.
Inside that prison cart were two children, clearly around ten years old.
If other criminals being judged and sacrificed to the Divine Tree was considered deserved, then these two children clearly should not be.
"They did not commit crimes themselves, but were implicated by others."
The samurai glanced at them, then said: "Their former families committed serious crimes, and thus the entire family was condemned as sacrifices."
As he finished speaking, as if afraid the Hagoromo Brothers wouldn't believe him, he actively picked up a scroll and handed it to Hagoromo.
The Hagoromo Brothers took the scroll, and then immediately frowned.
What the samurai in front of them said was indeed true.
The unification of the Land of Ancestors had not been long; truly, it had only been about twenty years.
During these one or two decades, there had been no shortage of rebellions.
There was no other way.
No matter how prosperous an era, there would always be dissenters.
Moreover, the unification of the Land of Ancestors was not achieved peacefully, but through swords and blades.
The nobles and daimyo families of other countries, as well as the losers in power struggles, were all potential dissidents.
In the past few decades, these people had also repeatedly stirred up rebellions, causing many incidents.
And Minamikawa Yuu's punishment for these families was simple.
Directly condemning their entire families to death row, all becoming sacrifices for the Divine Tree.
Therefore, theoretically, there was no problem with this matter.
Even underage children were still descendants of rebels, and thus also on death row.
The Hagoromo Brothers knew this.
However, facing the gazes of the two children before them, they ultimately couldn't bear it.
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