"In any case, we have to take advantage of this heavenly sacrifice ceremony today to rescue those forty-eight innocent women, and find an opportunity to take down Ziqingke. Otherwise, my aunt will continue to be in a coma like this, and sooner or later something will go wrong. Hua Allure said with a serious face.

"Go, keep up with them. Cang Wunian nodded, and took the lead in chasing in the direction of the carriage.

"You follow first, and I will send Aunt Hui back to the city to find a place to settle down, and I will soon come to meet you. Luo Fan explained, hugged Huigu and disappeared into everyone's eyes.

At first, the carriage had been traveling on the official road, but after less than half an hour, it suddenly changed its course and headed for a forest path that was inaccessible to people, and Luo Fan happened to arrive here at this time.

The group followed the procession of the carriage for about two hours, and finally arrived at a very secret altar that seemed to have only been newly built.

This altar is built against the water and the mountain, with a calm and wide river on one side, and a towering cliff on both sides, and a high altar built in the air more than ten zhang above the water.

On the ground below the altar were a row of drums of various sizes, each of which stood a strong man in a reddish-brown shirt with a cloth scarf on his head, and beside them stood a palace man with a horn.

On the other side of the mountain wall opposite the drum stand are more than a dozen stout stone pillars, on which are carved some strange runes.

"This Ziqingke, shouldn't you want to sink those women into the water and drown them like sacrificing to the river?" Hiding in the dark and looking at the high altar built near the water, the heart of the painting Allure couldn't help but tremble.

"I guess he won't kill them on the spot, after all, the reason for the sacrifice to heaven is to deal with the volcano, and it wouldn't it be more realistic to find a place with water to make a mystery?" Qing Ci replied in a low voice.

"That's ...... too," Hua Chengcheng nodded, and before he could read anything more, he suddenly heard the sound of drums and horns.

At the entrance to the altar, a group of people came in at this time.

The monarch Xiao Ce and the queen Wen Qin walked at the front of the line in full costume, two palace maids followed closely behind them with a canopy, and then about twenty palace maids lined up to follow the monarch and the queen to the altar.

A black light flashed, and Zi Qingke's figure suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Ce and Wen Qin, only to see that he was wearing a dark red robe inside, a dark robe outside, a heavy and complicated silver ornament on his head, and a gorgeous color on his face, which made it impossible for people to see his appearance for a while.

He smiled and arched his hand at the two people in front of him, "Your Majesty and the queen." ”

Xiao Ce waved his hand lightly and said lightly: "The national teacher is exempt from courtesy." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty. ”

"This Ziqing guest is really crazy enough, he sacrificed to the sky today, and he didn't make a big salute when he saw the monarch and the queen. If I were the king, I would have wanted to kill him a long time ago. Seeing Ziqingke's coquettish appearance and disrespectful attitude, An Ruyue muttered very unhappily.

"I don't think the monarch's face seems to be very good, I'm afraid he really thinks so in his heart. Ji Zi'an stared at Xiao Ce's face and said softly.

"Since this Ziqingke is so powerful, why do you have to be a national teacher in this Changyue country, isn't it better to go to the vastness of heaven and earth than to be in the palace?"

"It's because of the size of this heaven and earth, so before his wings are fully full, he can only be his national teacher here. This Changyue country is not big, it is not small, and he can still be admired by thousands of people before he achieves his goal, what's wrong?" Ji Zi'an replied.

When a few people were talking, they heard the Ziqingke say: "Please Your Majesty and the queen clean their hands and burn incense, the auspicious time for the ceremony of sacrificing to the heavens is coming soon." ”

As soon as Ziqing's words fell, two palace maids knelt respectfully in front of Xiao Ce and Wen Qin with a golden basin in their hands.

The two symbolically put their hands into the golden basin and washed them, and then two other palace maids hurriedly put on hand towels. After drying their hands, the two palace maids took the handkerchiefs and retreated, and then two more palace maids stepped forward and handed them some white sandalwood.

Xiao Ce and Wen Qin took three steps forward with the incense pillar in their hands, and then knelt down facing the altar, and all the palace people behind them also hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"One worship, the four seas are in good weather—"

"The people of Erbai live and work in peace and contentment—"

"Three times to my lord to expand the territory-"

With Ziqingke's shouting, Xiao Ce and Wen Qin bowed three times to the altar.

Immediately after the worship, the palace attendants took the incense sticks in their hands and inserted them into the incense burner on the table where the sacrifices were offered.

Xiao Ce got up and asked Zi Qingke, "What should I do next?"

Zi Qingke smiled faintly, waved his hand into the distance, and two gorgeous chairs appeared there, "Your Majesty and the queen will rest on the side, and after the psychic mage dances to channel, it will be the turn of the holy maiden to sacrifice to the sky." ”

Xiao Ce's eyes flashed slightly, nodded expressionlessly, and sat aside with Wen Qin.

After the monarch and the queen sat down, I saw Ziqingke stretch out his hand and snap his fingers in the air, and the "psychic mage" in the mouth of eighteen Ziqingke suddenly fell from the sky.

The eighteen "psychic mages" were all men in shape, wearing a dark cloak on the upper half of their bodies, a pair of maroon satin lantern trousers on the bottom, strange masks on their faces, and various artifacts in their hands—some holding wine glasses, some bells, and some long swords.

Accompanied by the sound of drums and trumpets, the men began to chant words that seemed to be singing unknown and unintelligible ditties.

"These so-called 'psychic mages' turned out to be resentful spirits as well. How many innocent people has this Ziqing guest killed!" Luo Fan stared at the eighteen men in the distance who seemed to be dancing like a group of demons, and couldn't help but look gloomy.

Even if Luo Fan didn't say it, the rest of the people had already seen that these eighteen men were resentful spirits, and if the heavy resentment around them could really be channeled, I am afraid that this human world would have already become the world of the demon race.

In the strange dances and recitations of those resentful spirits, the sky above the entire altar began to gradually become gloomy, and the river below the altar also changed from calm and waveless to turbulent.

At this time, at the other end of the high altar above the river, forty-nine dressed "holy maidens of worship" were walking slowly and orderly from the temporary wooden bridge between the altar and the cliff stone wall towards the altar.

These women all have hollow eyes and slow movements, like unconscious puppets, being manipulated by others.

When the forty-nine women all walked up to the altar in mid-air, they only heard Ziqingke shouting: "Today, for my Changyue country to open up the territory and ensure the prosperity of my Changyue country, I specially sacrifice the heavens, the earth, and the river gods with the bodies of seven hundred and forty-nine holy women, and only ask the gods from all walks of life to give their disciples supreme spiritual power to destroy the eight hot volcanoes that have plagued my dynasty for hundreds of years!"

When Ziqing's words fell, he saw the forty-nine women kneeling down and bowing in unison, and said in unison: "The disciple is willing to sacrifice to the heavens, the earth, and the river gods with his body, and ask all the gods to give me the supreme spiritual power of the great power of the great master, eliminate the Eight Heat Volcanoes, and help my monarch expand the territory......

The sound of the wooden plate echoed on the empty altar repeatedly, but the face of the monarch of Changyue who was sitting next to him became more and more gloomy.

"National Teacher, do you really plan to sacrifice the lives of these women? Didn't you say that it was just a ceremony?" Xiao Ce suppressed his anger and asked Zi Qingke in the distance.

Zi Qingke arched his hand calmly and replied: "How can the gods of heaven and earth be fooled by ordinary people like me? Since it is said that it is to sacrifice to the heavens with the body, then it must be sacrificed. Moreover, these women have long been aware of sacrificing their lives for the country, and His Majesty, his ministers, and even the people of the entire Changyue Kingdom should be proud of them. ”

"You're a careless person!" Xiao Ce shouted in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, you have really wronged the ministers, the ministers did not persecute them themselves, nor did they coerce their parents and friends, the ministers just told them the importance of this sacrifice to the heavens with emotion and reason. These women were monastics, and the destruction of the physical body was just another form of practice for them. Ziqing explained in an orderly manner without changing his face.

"What nonsense!" Xiao Ce slapped the armrest of the seat angrily, but heard the sound of something falling into the water with a "poof".

The crowd followed the prestige, but saw that the "holy maidens of the heavens" on the high place had already lined up, and one by one they were ready to throw themselves into the river from the altar. And the "poof" sound just now is the sound of the person who took the lead has fallen into the water.

"Ziqingke! The widow ordered you to stop!" Xiao Ce pointed to Ziqingke's location from afar, and roared angrily.

"Your Majesty, it is very difficult for you to make your ministers like this! This is the last and most crucial step in today's heavenly sacrifice ceremony. How can there be no sacrifice to the heavens? If my heart is not sincere, the national fortune of my Changyue country will be damaged. Zi Qingke ignored Xiao Ce's attitude at all, put his hands behind his back, and admired the scene of the second woman on the altar throwing herself into the river.

"Are we going to make a move?" Seeing that the second woman had fallen into the water, the painting in the distance was really uncontrollable.

"No, there is a mystery in the river, and the women disappeared as soon as they plunged into the water. This Ziqingke is probably just forcing Xiao Ce to stop the progress of this ceremony, so as to oust him from the throne of the monarch on the grounds of ignoring the Jiangshan Sheji. Qing Ci said in a solemn voice.

"This is obviously reversing black and white, not letting innocent people die is called ignoring the country? Is it Mingjun to watch them die? Isn't this Ziqing guest when the entire Changyue country is blind and stupid?" An Ruyue said hatefully.