There was a non-stop chanting in his ears, and Li Shuci sat up suddenly, feeling that he had only slept for a while, and he felt that he had slept for a long time, and he couldn't judge the chaos in his brain at all. Her eyelids seemed to be stuck to something, and she opened them with great effort, and her eyes were all misty white. When she looked closely, above her head, all hanging was a dead man in white clothes and white pants!

Li Shuci screamed in uncontrollable fear, and the sharp voice interrupted the rhythmic chanting around her, a trace of clarity crossed her heart, and the dead person who was shaking in front of her eyes immediately stopped, and she subconsciously wrapped her arms around herself and wanted to stand up, but she couldn't prevent her left foot from sinking down and getting stuck on something.

Only then did she notice that the place where she was lying was a dense network of tree roots, like a large net scattered throughout the space. Gazing upwards along the roots of the tree, the large, thick trunk took on an eerie blood-brown color. The bark of the tree resembles a dry scab of blood, emitting a faint aroma. She took a few puffs, and immediately felt a sense of drowsiness, so frightened that she quickly covered her mouth and nose.

Above the trunk of the tree, the huge canopy stretched all the way to the top, and there was not a single leaf on the luxuriant branches, only countless fine and dense branches intertwined, if it weren't for the fact that a stone wall was still empty, Li Shuci would almost think that she was no longer in the underground palace. What kind of tree is this? So weird and huge? Li Shuci is the size of a leaf at most compared to this tree.

It was only then that she could see what the dense white 'hanged man' was. If she wasn't sure she was still in the dungeon, she almost thought she was standing in a mass grave. remembered that he had used paper to scare the yellow merchants, and today can be regarded as retribution.

"Princess, she's awake."

The stone gate slid away from the stone wall with a thud, and Gurya looked at Li Shuci with a strange gaze: "You are really different. ”

"What is this?"

"Presumptuous! This is the sacred tree of my clan! How dare you call it a 'thing'......" An alien girl behind Gurya looked angry, and Gurya raised her hand to stop them. "Now that she's awake, it's okay to tell her, it's going to take a little more time anyway."

Li Shuci looked at them suspiciously, especially Gurya, who had changed her outfit at this time, just like the ancient witch she had seen in the book, but it was different. The other girl behind Gurya looked at her with interest and said, "Princess, it's just a little girl, why bother to spend so much effort to capture her early on, control her in her hands and make her obedient, wouldn't it save a lot of trouble?" ”

Gurya shook her head and said, "Before the time comes, it's useless for her to come, it will only ruin her spirituality, and then where will we find a spiritual eye, you go and bring the others over." ”

Gurya walked up to Li Shuci with an elegant posture and said, "What do you want to know?" ”

Li Shuci wanted to ask, but found that he didn't know where to start, so he had to start with the latest question: "What is the spiritual eye?" ”

"I know all the things you did under my nose, and the reason why I didn't kill you is because you are my 'spiritual eye'." Gurya's long skirt dragged on the uneven branches, forming small waves, "The thousand-year-old sacred tree of my ancient clan is related to the survival of my whole clan. For thousands of years, it has been sacrificed by all souls to ensure that the bloodline of our clan is not extinguished. ”

"What?" Li Shuci didn't understand for a while, Gurya's eyes swept over her face, and she looked at the dense paper piercing people above her head, "If it weren't for the kindness of Gurzhen's grandmother and woman, why would my Gu clan be like this?" ”

Li Shuci followed her gaze to look at those paper figures, and somewhere began to come from a low chant again, this time Li Shuci heard it clearly, the fine rhythm in those chants was a drum beat, the drum beat was not high, but it made people feel impetuous and restless. The branches shook slightly, and the paper figures hanging from the canopy trembled. The paper figures touched one another, shaking more and more violently, and the white paper made a grinding sound. Li Shuci saw the paper figure directly above her, the black and gray leg bones faintly exposed in the white paper trouser tube, her scalp exploded in an instant, this is not a bamboo bone, it is a real human bone!

"All Souls...... Memorial? Li Shuci muttered in disbelief.

"You're smart!" Gurya rarely raised the corners of her lips and smiled, "The sacred tree of my ancient clan has been sacrificed by living spirits for thousands of years to ensure the prosperity of my clan. It's a pity that the memorial a hundred years ago was not completed because of the obstruction of Gurzhen's grandmother! She's a disgrace to the ancient people! Sinners of the ancient race! Gulzhen is the same as her grandmother, what blood? What cruelty? The Ancient Clan will be restored to glory in my hands! ”

"You mean...... These paper figures, no, these people were once sacrificed to this tree? Li Shuci looked at Gu Erya's excited and crazy expression, and he couldn't describe the chaos in his heart at all.

"You're right. The Gu are a tribe with an ancient heritage, and have been pinning their faith on this 'sacred tree' for thousands of years. They believe that this 'blood-drinking' tree will bless them with their strength. However, as the tribe grew stronger, the number of branches increased, and there were fewer people willing to sacrifice their lives for the tribe, and the various branches continued to fight with each other. Eventually, they came to an agreement that every hundred years of sacrifice, the twelve branches would nominate a clan member as a sacrifice. ”

The faint aroma emanating from the blood tree penetrated into Li Shuci's mouth and nose, she knew that this fragrance must be strange, and kept pinching her palms to keep herself awake, but those dense chanting and drum beats still kept drilling into her ears, she knew that she would soon be affected and lose consciousness again, so she concentrated on talking to Princess Gurya, and she could ignore those voices: "I am afraid that these 'sacrifices' that have been promoted are all people who have been abandoned by various tribes." ”

"Just like the powerful families now, there will always be some people who will be victimized." Gurya looked at her and smiled: "However, hidden dangers continue to appear, and gradually, some people began to oppose the blood sacrifice. This sacred tree, which bears the beliefs of this ancient tribe, eventually became the greatest secret of the ancient people. And the Sacred Tree can only accept the blood of those who are the most humble and lowly, abandoned by the family. ”

"So, this underground palace was not built for people at all, but for the purpose of hiding this tree." Li Shuci sneered: "Doesn't the princess think it's ridiculous and cruel to use a living person as a sacrifice for a tree?" ”

"Cruel? They should be glorified in giving their lives to the noble tree of God. Gurya narrowed her eyes, "If it weren't for Gurzhen's obstruction back then, I would have used your emperor as a sacrificial spiritual eye." Pity...... Now his life is about to dry up......"

"Do you really think that you will be able to restore the kingdom after completing the sacrifice of the sacred tree?" Li Shuci was not surprised that after Gurya used Gurzhen to enter the palace, she wanted to attack Emperor Xuwen, but was discovered by Gurzhen and hindered her plot. "That's what you're in the palace for? Did you kill Concubine De? ”

"Gurzhen, like her grandmother, actually abandoned her own people for the sake of a mere man." Gurya's purpose is very clear, to use the most honorable person in Chongnan as a spiritual eye to worship the sacred tree. But Gul really dared to resist her! "In that case, it's better to die."

"Princess, the people have been brought."

Li Shuci was taken aback, and hurriedly turned around to look, only to see a woman of different races dragging a few people in plain clothes in, and the first person was actually ...... "Shen Yuan?" Li Shuci looked at Gurya and found that her expression did not fluctuate at all. Looking back, Shen Yuan's body was stiff and his eyes were blank, allowing the alien woman to push them forward.

Followed by Mu Yun and Lan Xin, the two of them looked ahead with blank eyes, and their snow-white cheeks were as dull as carving. Then there were a few people I didn't know, and then there was a man and a woman Li Shuci who felt familiar but couldn't remember who it was for a while, and then Li Shuqiao, who entered the stone room behind, her arm shook strangely, as if she was about to fall off her shoulder...... The last one was actually the crown princess Liang, her lower abdomen bulged, and she held up a piece of plain clothes.

There were twelve people in total.

Gu Erya's eyes scanned these people one by one, as if she was looking at one item after another, "It's a pity, Yuanshuang and Qiuying are dead, so they can only be replaced by you two girls." ”

"Muyun! Blue Hearts! Li Shuci tried to shout, but the two of them didn't react at all.

"It's useless, none of you can save anyone."

Twelve people were led around the ancient tree and formed a circle, exactly the direction of the twelve hours. The chanting around seemed to have become much louder than before, and Li Shuci was dizzy, and his heart was pounding, almost as fast as the rhyme of the drum. "Why...... Shen Yuan is also among them, isn't she your child? ”

Gurya looked at her condescendingly, a sneer on the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were full of disdain and disdain. The scent of the blood tree became stronger and stronger, and the surrounding scenery slowly blurred, and an inexplicable sense of panic and tension tightly wrapped around her. She felt someone lift her limbs and lift her towards the source of the scent.

Li Shuci kept the last trace of clarity between her thoughts, and used the nail of her little finger to dig into her palm, the stinging pain of her heart did not make her sober, but the fragrance seemed to be stronger. Then she remembered that the trees seemed to be watered with blood, and did not dare to move any more, and when she was put down on the roots, she held her breath and pinched her waist with her other hand, and the stiffness that spread throughout her body seemed to ease down considerably.

The sound of small footsteps in the distance disappeared, and there was the sound of the stone door sliding, Li Shuci didn't know if those people had gone out, and if they stayed here, they would also be affected. She pinched the most painful part of her body a few times, and struggled to crawl in the direction of Mu Yun, but her eyes still couldn't help but want to close......

There was a sudden chuckle in his ears, and Li Shuci struggled to look back. "Li Shuqiao? You! ”