Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Soul-cutting and Flower-giving
Ji Chu originally thought that Mingwutang would have to be extremely cautious in carrying out a task worth a thousand points.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she said the words "burning witches to sacrifice to gods", the other party took out a square stone brick from behind him and handed it to her without even looking up.
Ji Chu held a brick in his hand, a little confused:
"Doesn't this mission have any requirements? Like when it's to be completed, how it's considered completed, etc?"
The disciples of Mingwutang smiled when they heard this:
"Do you really think you can accomplish this?"
She didn't say this to look down on Ji Chu, she just thought her question was naive and funny.
The task of "burning the witch sacrifice map" has been pending in Mingwu Hall for many years, and every year there are disciples who ask to try it.
But no matter whether they were envious of the "one thousand points" or curious and wanted to find out more, regardless of their level of cultivation, they all returned empty-handed.
As time went on, everyone knew that this task was impossible to complete, and the temptation of "one thousand points" became increasingly weak, so fewer and fewer disciples tried.
However, even though the number is small, the points are there, and there will always be some young disciples who don't believe in it. They may want to give it a try, either to make a bet with others or because they are desperate.
So many people failed, but the disciples of Mingwutang did not think Ji Chu was anything special and comforted her:
"Just return it when you're done playing, and don't feel burdened if you fail."
Ji Chu: "...Thank you, Senior Sister."
She carried the brick back to the yard.
Xu Ying and Jiang Chengxu had other things to do, but they still found time to help her collect a lot of information related to the "Witch Burning and God Sacrifice Diagram", which was basically the stories of disciples who had challenged it before:
"The mortals in there are really weird. It's impossible to reason with them, and you can't fight them. If you accidentally kill someone, you'll be ejected. It's so pissing me off. I won't try again."
"Barbarians do barbaric things. Let them be destroyed. There is no way to save them."
"How could such a powerful ancient race of gods end up in such a plight? Seeing this almost breaks my heart..."
Ji Chu flipped through the information one by one, and only knew that the core of this mission was related to a race called "Witches" in ancient times.
It is rumored that the "witches" were originally gods, but for unknown reasons they were exiled to the human world by the gods and were cursed to "live a lonely life and not have a good end."
This tribe, similar in appearance to humans, is gifted with the ability to hear divine will and predict good and bad fortune. They have been wandering the human world, helping humans avoid disasters and offering prayers for blessings.
But later, for some reason, it was regarded as an ominous sign by humans and was expelled.
Later, this race disappeared. Some say they hid themselves from the world, others say they were completely wiped out. In short, the world never heard of the "Witch Tribe" again.
Ji Chu looked into the eyes of the brick in front of him.
The stone bricks are quite old, perhaps even older than Ji Chu, and they feel no different from ordinary bricks.
The cracks on the side are not smooth, as if they were broken violently.
The engraving on the reverse is blurry and vaguely resembles a flower.
There is a colorful brick painting on the front, but because the bricks are broken, only part of the pattern can be seen.
Although not as clear as the new painting, it is still obvious that the painting shows a group of people kneeling and praying.
The people in the painting are kneeling in one direction. In front of them is a high platform with a pile of wood on it.
A man was holding a torch and saying something in front of the platform, looking up at the sky with a respectful expression.
I think this brick painting is the so-called "burning witches to worship gods" picture.
Ji Chu suddenly realized that the disciples of Mingwutang only handed her the stone bricks and did not tell her what the task was. She didn't even know when the task started.
She was confused and looked at the bricks back and forth with both hands.
The brick was quite heavy, so Ji Chu put it back on the table.
The sunlight moved through the gaps in the leaves and reached above her head. In the places on the brick painting illuminated by the sunlight, the person holding the torch seemed to be looking out of the painting through the sky.
At a certain moment, Ji Chu felt as if his eyes met those of the person in the painting.
She was subconsciously startled, and the brick painting in front of her suddenly began to twist and deform, and then she was instantly sucked into the brick painting.
*
Ji Chu fell from the sky and fell hard.
Fortunately, she did not fall directly to the ground, but hit the thatched roof of a house. She took the opportunity to roll a few times as a cushion, so she did not die on the spot.
But she was not much better off. She had smashed a big hole in the thatched roof, and grass and dust were flying everywhere. She and the thatched roof that was flying in the sky appeared at the same time, and looked at the strange woman holding a basin of water at the door in surprise.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Ji Chu, covered in straw, tried to explain:
"I can help you fix the roof."
The woman holding the basin was obviously frightened by the person falling from the sky, and most of the water in the basin spilled.
After hearing Ji Chu's words, her expression suddenly became gloomy.
Along with the remaining half basin of water, a cold and ruthless word "get out" hit Ji Chu's face.
Ji Chu suddenly became a dirty, soaked chicken.
Her first reaction was rage, but she soon realized that she was the one who destroyed the other person's house first, so it was normal to be turned down.
So she endured the unhappiness and stood up, raised her hand to wipe the water off her face, and walked out feeling very aggrieved.
The woman in the crimson blue gown holding the empty basin stared at her unfriendly the whole time, until Ji Chu left the room, and then the cold gaze behind her disappeared.
Ji Chu was thinking in his mind.
This person has such a bad attitude, he is most likely the "mortal who cannot reason" mentioned by the seniors.
Maybe every disciple who came in to do the mission would be splashed with water and scolded away. It was not directed at her, but simply because the person in the brick painting had poor quality. There was no need for her to be angry.
Ji Chu nodded and successfully comforted himself.
She walked aimlessly for a while and found that there was no trace of other people except the thatched hut.
Ji Chu quickly picked up some more wood and returned.
The woman was fixing the bracket in front of the house.
The roof has not been repaired yet, but the scattered thatch has been collected.
But she was alone and couldn't move the bracket holding the thatch to the roof, so she looked helpless.
Seeing Ji Chu, her eyes turned hostile again and she raised the knife in her hand:
"What are you doing here again?"
"After all, I was the one who broke your roof, so I wanted to do something to make amends."
Ji Chu put the wood on the ground:
"I couldn't find any thatch like yours, so I picked up some wood. See if you can use it."
The woman held up the knife, not even looking at the wood on the ground, and said:
"No use! Get lost!"
Ji Chu: "Then... I'll help you put the bracket up -"
In response, she was met with a machete swinging towards her.
Ji Chu dodged in time and the machete missed.
"Are you sick?!"
She couldn't help it:
"I didn't mean to do that, and I already said I just wanted to apologize. If you don't want to help, fine, but why resort to knife-surgery?!"
The woman opened her mouth to speak again, but suddenly her face changed. She took out a cloth-sewn human-shaped doll from her arms and threw it to the ground.
The moment the rag doll hit the ground, its facial features grew, and Ji Chu and the woman present were sucked into the doll.
The sky and the surrounding mountains and forests were suddenly covered by the cloth, giving people a vague feeling of stagnation as if the air was blocked and not circulating. One could even see the magnified texture of the coarse cotton cloth.
The machete was placed on her neck, and the other party's voice came from behind:
"Shut up! Or I'll kill you!"
Ji Chu raised his head slightly and adjusted his breathing. He felt that the rag doll was hidden in the pile of wood, and there were many figures walking back and forth outside.
"I didn't find it. Could it be that he ran away?"
"Damn it... there's actually a witch clan hiding in the mountains!"
"She can't get far. Search! We must find her!"
There were chaotic footsteps outside the rag doll, and the two people inside the rag doll stared at the chaotic figures in silence.
After a moment of silence, Ji Chu asked the person behind him:
"Are you from the Wuji tribe?"
The machete on her neck approached, and the other party's voice was clearly wary:
"You are in cahoots with them! You..."
She was halfway through her words when her tone suddenly changed and she leaned close to the back of her neck:
"Why do you have—"
The entire space suddenly shook violently, and the rag doll hidden in the corner was discovered. A hoe came down on the doll's head and neck:
"Yansheng! This is that witch's thing!"
The space supported by the cotton cloth was rapidly compressed, and the texture of the cloth was pressed towards Ji Chu and the others by the sharp and heavy hoe.
The woman behind him panicked and uncontrollably swung the machete in her hand, cutting Ji Chu's throat.
Unique patterns slowly emerged from under Ji Chu's collar, with petals spread out in layers, but covered with cracks, exuding hostility and despair.
The woman behind Ji Chu saw this scene and her eyes were filled with horror.
Ji Chu had no idea what she saw.
When the danger occurred, she clenched her fist, bent her elbow and thrust backwards hard, cleverly breaking free from the opponent's hold.
Then he quickly rolled to the side to avoid the hoe falling from the sky.
The rag doll was chopped into two halves by a hoe, the magic of exorcism was broken, and Ji Chu and the woman appeared together.
Ji Chu subconsciously covered his neck.
Just now, she suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck, like a needle prick, which made it difficult for her to lift her head.
The intense pain was fleeting, but the aftertaste made her frown.
Why does it hurt so much...
She could never remember when she developed this problem, it seemed to have started after her rebirth.
No, if you think about it carefully, it should have started from the time when I was pierced through the heart by a sword in my previous life.
She couldn't help but suspect that this might be the aftereffect of a tragic death in her previous life, which had been reborn with her.
Seeing this, the woman moved her mouth as if she wanted to say something.
The crowd around her interrupted her movements:
"She is the witch from the witch tribe! Yao Chan!"
"She is the one who brought this disaster!"
"Kill her!"
"And this woman, they are in the same group!"
Ji Chu and Yao Chan, who were confused, were captured and tied to a wooden frame.
Only then did she see clearly the second half of the brick painting that had not been painted:
A group of people knelt facing the platform and prayed; one person held up a torch and bowed respectfully to the sky. Then he stood up and read loudly to the crowd:
"The witch clan rebelled against the will of Heaven, incurring divine punishment and causing a severe drought that left no grass growing. I now offer this witch as a sacrifice, begging for rain to fall and bless the world!"
The crowd below the stage knelt and chanted, "Sacrifice the witch, and pray for rain from heaven to bless the world!"
Ji Chu couldn't help but say:
"Nonsense! The Heavenly Dao isn't a pervert, how could it accept such a sacrifice?"
The people in the audience looked up at her with cold eyes, as if they were looking at livestock.
She was startled by the looks of these people.
Yao Chan, who had been silent, said to her:
"It's useless. The human race hates the witches to the core."
Ji Chu looked at her and couldn't help asking:
"Why?"
Yao Chan glanced at her with a strange expression:
"Didn't the person who gave you flowers tell you?"
"What?"
Seeing Ji Chu was confused, Yao Chan sneered:
"You humans are so good at sweet talk that you trick others into willingly giving you flowers by splitting their souls apart, and yet you still manage to feign ignorance with such complacency!"
Her expression turned resentful again:
"Liar! You humans really make me sick!"
Flames rose from under his feet, and the surrounding scene distorted.
Ji Chu was unable to open his eyes due to the smoke, and when his vision blurred, he was thrown out of the stone bricks.
She took a deep breath and told herself that it was normal to fail the first time, and it was definitely not because of what her senior said, "she was too stupid."
Then he raised the brick in front of him again, stared into the eyes of the person in the painting, shook the brick towards the sunlight, and it was successfully sucked in again.
This time she was prepared and did not fall on the roof, but landed steadily in the yard.
Yao Chan, who was holding the basin, was startled by her and looked alert: "Who are you?"
Ji Chu went straight to the point:
"Someone's coming to catch you soon, let's run!"
…
A quarter of an hour later, Ji Chu was tied to the wooden frame again.
While listening to the crowd in the audience shouting "May the sweet dew from heaven bless the world", Ji Chu asked Yao Chan:
"Why don't you believe me?"
Yao Chan: "Liar! You humans are all liars!"
Ji Chu: “…Forget it.”
The flames had already reached the hems of their skirts, and she changed the subject:
"What do you mean someone gave me flowers? Did you see any flowers on me? What kind of flowers were they?"
Yao Chan looked at her as if she was crazy.
The next moment, Ji Chu was ejected from the brick painting again.
After two consecutive failures, although she was not too disappointed, she still felt a little frustrated.
Ji Chu lay on the ground and didn't want to move. He took a comfortable position and entered into a state of meditation.
When Meng Yuci arrived, he saw her "lying on the ground", with her hands crossed on her abdomen, her eyes closed, and a peaceful expression, as if she had been "gone" for a long time.
You don't need to ask to know that he must have failed in the "Burning Witches to Sacrifice to Gods" plot.
Sensing the presence of his consciousness, Ji Chu suddenly turned over and sat up:
"Senior! You're here!"
Her tone was full of anticipation and her eyes were sparkling, giving Meng Yuci the illusion that she had been waiting for him.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
Ji Chu said again.
Meng Yuci was silent for a few breaths and said:
"What is it?"
Ji Chu stood up upon hearing this and motioned him to watch her movements:
"Senior, please look at me."
Because he didn't know where his consciousness was, Ji Chu turned around in place to make sure he could see her body and appearance clearly, and then asked:
"Senior, please take a look. Is there anything on my face?"
The author has something to say:
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Note: The information related to the witch tribe is privately established.
ps: This is the second time the flowers on the heroine's body have appeared. It is a foreshadowing and is related to the senior brother. It is highlighted manually.
(It should be easy to guess, but the heroine is completely unaware, so let's pretend we don't know either [let me see])
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