Fallen Demon
The next day, as soon as the sun rose from the eastern mountain, it brought with it a raging fire that burned most of the sky.
Lei Lao's shadow floated above the cliff. He stroked his beard, a rare hint of sadness in his expression: "She finally came out... It really is true. If it's a blessing, there's no disaster. If it's a disaster, there's no way to avoid it."
From the moment the Red Sea began to spread, the Hidden Tide sacrifice officially began.
The sound of drums rang out around the altar. The sound was neat and orderly, like the low hum of a sacred dragon in the abyss, with a majestic awe-inspiring quality. When it was slow, it was like a mountain spring that cleansed people's souls, and when it was fast, it was like a violent storm that came and went in a hurry.
The female disciples of Yinchao who were participating in the sacrifice gathered around the circular altar. Each of them held a silver lotus lantern in their hands. They wore the same aqua-colored clothes and began to chant the ancient sacrificial songs to the beat of drums.
In the altar, Li You was wearing a silver hair ornament and a light blue robe, and was dancing a sacrificial dance in the altar with a solemn expression.
As she danced gracefully, silver lotus buds emerged from the waters around the altar. When the lotus flowers fully opened, sacred golden light emerged from them.
After a while, a layer of golden gauze seemed to float above the water, dreamy and beautiful.
Elder Yinchao sat in the high pavilion of the Silver Lotus Waterside Pavilion, watching the sacrificial ceremony with a smile on his face.
"What an auspicious sign, what an auspicious sign!" Li Ze shouted, looking at Li You who was dancing gracefully on the altar with admiration.
"Li You is truly a rare talent our clan only encounters once in a century. With her here, the revival of our Hidden Tide is just around the corner!" The old man's hair was silver, and his face was etched with the crisscrossing marks of time. He had lived for centuries, almost reaching the age of death, and yet he still saw hope. How could he not be excited?
The other elders sighed and said, "Yes. Ever since that incident, our clan has never been the same."
"It's such a nice day today, why are you saying this, old man!?"
The elder quickly admitted his mistake and said, "Right, right, right. Let's not talk about this today. Let's not talk about this."
The water is shimmering and the colors are sparkling, everything is moving in the right direction.
·
Qingya Lingmu Forest.
"Elder Yuan Jing."
"Have you found out anything?" Yuan Jing looked at the red sea in the sky, feeling anxious.
"Not yet." The Qingya disciple looked troubled. "Elder, there's been a strange black aura lingering around the land where the bodies are buried. We've tried many methods, but we can't completely eliminate it."
The burning of the Qingya Spiritual Tree not only puzzled outsiders, but also puzzled Qingya.
After several investigations, they discovered that all the disciples guarding the spiritual tree had died half an hour before the fire broke out.
Because this incident was so shocking, it had recently caused quite a stir in Qingya. To prevent panic among the people, Qingya did not make it public, but only secretly sent a message to the other four clan leaders.
After internal discussions within Qingya, it was decided that Yuan Jing would lead the disciples to conduct a secret investigation.
Yuan Jing investigated for almost a month and found that the black energy on the dead disciples was like a plague, which would infect anyone who touched it. However, the infected disciples only had the black energy entering their bodies and there were no other abnormalities.
To be on the safe side, Yuan Jing had the dead disciples cremated and buried, while those infected disciples were isolated and strictly forbidden to interact with normal disciples.
Unexpectedly, after so long, the corpse issue still hadn't been completely resolved. Yuan Jing suppressed his uneasiness and decisively ordered, "Guard it strictly. No disciples are allowed to enter. Those who violate this order will be taken directly to the Discipline Hall for questioning."
"yes."
"Are there any abnormalities on the bodies of those infected disciples?"
"Not yet. Elder, it's been a month. Why don't we just release them... The elders in the clan are quite critical of this matter."
Humans are not animals. If they are imprisoned without breaking any rules, they will definitely feel resentful.
Yuan Jing hesitated for a moment, then handed the token to him. "Go down and make the arrangements, but don't let your guard down. Send someone to keep an eye on their every move. If anything unusual happens, send a direct telepathic communication."
"Yes." After saying that, the Qingya disciple withdrew.
Outside the cell where the infected disciple was being held, the person who came in took out a token and said to the disciple guarding the cell, "The elder said, release him."
The disciple guarding the gate saw the token and cast a spell to open the cell door, but no one came out.
The disciple holding the token was a little confused. He walked in and said, "You can come out now."
There was silence in the cell. The disciple took another step forward, but heard a sound of grinding teeth. Before he could react, a black shadow pounced on him, and the long fangs pierced into his neck, followed by a piercing pain.
"ah!"
The disciple guarding the gate heard the screams and rushed in, "What's going on?"
Before they could go in, the people inside swarmed over.
Two more screams were heard, and the lost disciples fled everywhere in Qingya. They bit anyone they saw, and soon the disease spread from one to a hundred, and more and more people were infected.
The crimson flames on the horizon expanded recklessly, gradually turning blood red. The masters of the five tribes finally realized something was wrong, but it was too late.
The sky was torn apart, and black air emerged from the cracks.
A woman soared high in the sky, her voice like thunder, with the might of a dark cloud pressing down on a city, ready to destroy it: "Lei Zhentian, get out of here!"
After receiving instructions from the Supreme Elder of Yinchao, the five tribes quickly realized that something was wrong and acted decisively, driving the unconscious disciples of Qingya to the Luo River at the junction of Yinchao and Panqiu.
At the water's edge, the figures in the black fog above the water gradually became clear. Leading the group was a woman in red. She had a charming appearance, but the smile on her face seemed to be poisoned and extremely sinister.
The two people standing on her left and right were hidden in black robes and covered by thick fog, so it was impossible to tell whether they were men or women.
The Hidden Tide Clan leader, Lize, had a stern expression on his face. He secretly sent a message to the other four clan leaders, "The Supreme Elder has issued a message. We must seal this demon girl back. Otherwise, the Five Spirits Holy Realm will be devastated."
"What? You don't dare to come out?" The woman covered her beautiful lips with her slender fingers, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, as if she was in a good mood. "Lei Zhentian, you old bastard, why don't you get out here and die!"
Feeling the pressure emanating from the woman, the masters of the five clans felt their scalps tingle. The more advanced ones barely managed to steady their breath, avoiding showing any fear. However, the young disciples, fearless and brave, braved the overwhelming pressure and shouted, "Witch! Stop your arrogance!"
That disciple was originally a menial disciple of Panqiu. Because he was appreciated by Elder Panqiu some time ago, he wanted to take this opportunity to show himself and completely get rid of the identity of a menial disciple.
With the first one to speak out, many people followed suit. The disciples of the other five tribes shouted loudly: "Witch, do you think there is no one left in our five tribes? If you have the guts, come down and fight us one by one."
"Witch, are you scared?"
Looking at the cold eyes of the woman, many people broke out in cold sweats. The words had already been spoken, and trying to stop them would only make them look cowardly. It would be better to let these disciples torment her and test the strength of this witch.
The black-robed Left Protector beside the demon girl heard this, his eyes full of contempt, "A bunch of ants, dare to speak so arrogantly!"
If Li Hongcai were still alive, he would definitely recognize that the man in black was the one who killed him that day.
The right guardian narrowed his eyes slightly, "Your Majesty, I will capture that arrogant fellow right away."
The demon girl waved her hand, "No need, I will handle it myself."
The left and right guardians were stunned for a moment, then said respectfully, "Yes."
The next moment, the few who stood out were entangled by the black air around their necks. In the blink of an eye, they were in front of the demon woman.
Several disciples were strangled by the neck, their faces turned purple, and they let out suffocated whimpers.
"Witch! Stop!"
As soon as the man finished speaking, several disciples had their necks broken and fell like kites with broken strings. When they were three or four feet above the ground, the witch's face turned completely cold. She clenched her palms into fists, and in an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere.
"ah--"
The disciples of the five tribes who were close to the ground inevitably had blood clots on their hands. They screamed and their faces turned pale.
The demon woman laughed wildly. Her smile was like a red flower watered with blood, wanton and arrogant. She didn't take the people below seriously at all. "A bunch of cowards."
"You have killed five of my clan's disciples. You will pay with your life today!"
Seeing this, the five tribes knew they could no longer tolerate it and attacked at the same time.
At that moment, five different spiritual powers resonated with the heaven and earth, and a protective magic circle was formed in the sky. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered and thunder rumbled, as if to split the witch into ashes.
The situation was urgent, so few people noticed that the beam of light emitted by Lize, the leader of the Yinchao clan, was obviously much smaller than that of the other four clans.
Logically speaking, the five clan leaders are equally powerful, so the light pillars should be the same.
Facing the doubt, Elder Yinchao said: "...The sacrificial ceremony has not yet ended."
The sacrificial ceremony is related to the revival of Yinchao and even more to the fortunes of the five ethnic groups.
In fact, the other four tribes had also sent people to guard the sacrificial ceremony. After all, this was a matter of mutual benefit and mutual loss. However, only people with the Yinchao bloodline could approach the Yinchao sacrifice, so they could do nothing to help.
But the most important issue now is that a strong holy light will burst out before the end of the sacrificial ceremony, and if you are not careful, it will attract the attention of the witch... In that case, your weakness will be clearly exposed to the enemy!
This is a serious matter and cannot be taken lightly.
Therefore, it was perfectly reasonable for the Yinchao tribe leader to devote his attention to the sacrificial ceremony.
"What a pointless fight!"
As the witch spoke, black energy grew stronger in her hands. Under the horrified gaze of the five tribesmen, many black shadows pounced towards them.
Behind the witch, two guardians controlled the infected disciples of the five tribes to launch a fierce attack on the five tribes.
Those disciples had lost all their rationality and killed anyone they saw. In a short while, blood was all over the ground and screams were heard one after another.
As the number of infected disciples multiplied, the five clan elders had no intention of attacking the woman.
The spirit pillars disappeared one after another, and fear hit everyone's heart like a rainstorm, and the courage to defend to the death collapsed in an instant.
Just like that, the day that should have been a day of rebirth facing the rising sun turned into the beginning of a nightmare.
·
Just the last few steps!
As long as the Nine Steps to Lotus are completed, the sacrificial ceremony will be completed!
Li You danced cautiously, not daring to relax at all.
The drumbeats gradually slowed down, and the sacrificial dance was about to end.
Nine steps, lotus blooms at every step.
step!
Two steps!
With every step Li You took, bathed in holy light, a silver lotus would bloom under his feet, and the holy light of the sacrificial ground would become 10% brighter.
…
Step 8!
ninth……
An unexpected event occurred, and the surrounding holy light disappeared in an instant.
"You don't think you can complete the sacrificial ceremony?"
A sudden voice sounded. Li You was unfamiliar with the voice but not unfamiliar either. It was An Nan!
The female disciples who participated in the sacrifice looked at Anan in horror. They saw her crushing the silver lotus in her hand with her bare hands, and strange black blood kept flowing out of her wrist. While others were looking at her, she stared at Li You in the center of the altar with an unpredictable smile.
Li You fell to the ground and asked in a hoarse voice: "What are you doing? Do you know the consequences of doing this!" She was hit by the backlash, and every muscle and bone was screaming in pain. The simple and gorgeous robe on her body had already been soaked with blood.
The other disciples at the sacrificial site were not much better off. They were nailed to the spot by the black air and could not move.
Anan was dragged onto the altar by the black energy. She knelt on one knee in front of Li You, raised her chin, and spoke in a voice so cold it made people's hearts shudder: "Can't you see? I've already fallen into the devil."
"How is it possible... um..." She felt unbelievable. Those who participated in the sacrificial competition would undergo a test of conscience. Anan was eliminated in the first place because she did not contribute enough spiritual herbs to the sacrifice. How could she, how could she betray the water tribe!
Anan shook her hand away and said condescendingly, "How can a pampered girl like you understand my hardships?"
"The sacrificial ceremony was ruined!"
"How could this happen! Go and see what's going on."
“Who on earth is it!”
"Those monsters are coming!"
"It's her. I knew that both of them, the siblings, were troublemakers."
"Catch her! Don't let her get away!"
Amid the noise, Anan disappeared, leaving behind debris all over the ground.
"You'er? You'er!"
The light around the altar disappeared, the silver lotus withered, and Li Yu hurried up to the world. His eyes fell on Li You, who was lying on the ground covered in blood, and his heart ached.
Li Yu hugged Li You, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, and then he desperately transferred spiritual power to her.
Those who heard the news shouted, "Anan ruined the sacrificial ceremony!"
"We shouldn't have let them live back then. They're the root of all this trouble!"
"She looks like..."
"She must have been possessed by a demon. As the saying goes, 'He who keeps company with vermilion becomes red, and he who keeps company with ink becomes black.' Her brother Li Ling must also be..."
Seeing Li Ling coming, the man stopped abruptly. Everyone looked over, then shut up and stepped aside at the same time.
Those possessed by demons have weak minds and are most easily bewitched by monsters. If Li Ling suddenly goes crazy, they won't even know how they died. It's better to stay away from him.
My sister has fallen into the devil?
And ruined the sacrifice?
Li Ling was a little dazed. That always gentle sister, the sister who had grown up with her...
How is that possible?
Li Ling felt a sharp pain in his sea of consciousness, but it soon returned to normal.
If it was his sister who disrupted the sacrifice, then wanting to harm him...that's impossible, his sister wouldn't harm him, there must be some other hidden story.
He has been without parents since childhood. His sister is his only relative. She is the one who has accompanied him through more than ten years of bullying and oppression, and the one he has always wanted to protect.
How is that possible!
Li Ling's eyes were torn red, he frowned, and took several deep breaths before forcing himself to calm down.
The experiences of more than a decade have taught him that what he hears is not as true as what he sees. If he wants to know the truth, he must verify it himself.
While the people from the Law Enforcement Hall had not arrived yet, Li Ling decisively used a disguise spell on himself, then hid in the chaotic crowd and disappeared.
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