Emperor Qiyi came out just to broaden his horizons and gladly accepted the invitation.
The three children were even more enthusiastic.
Yu Yuanzheng also wanted to see what the sacrificial ceremony here was like.
The next day.
When the sun rises, the whole city of Dorcas wakes up in the morning light.
The believers wore plain robes, the women had cinnabar on their foreheads, and the men held ritual implements in their hands. They marched out of the city to participate in the Sanskrit temple sacrificial ceremony.
Shangguan Ziqi stood at the window on the second floor of the inn, looking at the wisps of green smoke rising from the direction of the temple in the distance.
"It seems that Ajay didn't sleep all night." He turned and said to Emperor Qi who was having breakfast.
Emperor Qiyi slowly peeled a boiled egg and said, "That kid is quite capable. He was able to clean up the burned temple overnight and prepare for the sacrifice."
"Do we really want to participate in this sacrifice?" Chunshui whispered beside Yu Yuanzheng.
She still has a shadow in her heart.
Although her voice was soft, Emperor Qiqi heard it clearly.
"Go, why not?" Emperor Qiyi stuffed the egg into his mouth and said vaguely, "This is a good opportunity to understand their culture. Besides, I came out to learn more about foreign cultures, so that I can die without regrets."
Shangguan Ziqi nodded in agreement: "Although we dealt with the incident last night, there must still be Cassim's followers inside the temple. Our attendance at the sacrifice is the strongest support for Ajay. If he encounters any problems, we can still help him."
"Ziqi is right. Yuanzheng, your four maids are indeed frightened. If they don't want to go, don't force them." Emperor Qizhen understood the girls very well.
Yu Yuanzheng nodded, then looked at the four sisters.
The four sisters looked at each other, and then looked at Chunhua.
"Sisters, it is necessary for us to go and witness such a grand event. There will be no danger today, we just need to follow the princess closely." Chunhua made up her mind.
Yu Yuanzheng nodded with a smile.
Good, I wasn’t scared to go out.
When the sun completely jumped out of the horizon, Emperor Qi led his group to the temple square.
The scene before them amazed them. The courtyard that was burned down last night had been cleaned up.
A three-meter-high altar was built in the center of the square, surrounded by nine bronze sacred fire lamps, the flames swaying in the morning breeze.
"Mr. Shangguan!" Ajay, dressed in a golden priest robe, walked out quickly from the hall.
The cinnabar mark on the forehead is very bright.
He clasped his hands together in greeting, his eyes showing fatigue but not excitement, "Thank you for coming."
Shangguan Ziqi returned the greeting, gesturing and pointing at his eyes: "It seems you haven't slept all night."
Ajay gestured with a wry smile: "The high priest passed away suddenly, and the sacrifice cannot be postponed. We can only bite the bullet and go ahead."
Ajay personally led Emperor Qi and his entourage to the best location and settled them there before leaving.
When the time came, with the sound of a deep and large conch horn, the sacrificial ceremony officially began.
Ajay slowly stepped onto the altar holding a jewel-encrusted scepter.
Thousands of believers in the square chanted scriptures in unison, and the sound was like a tide.
"Husband, guess what they are reading?" Yu Yuanzheng asked the chess player beside her curiously.
"I don't know. I don't understand. But it should be a prayer or something like that."
On the altar, Ajay's movements were as smooth as flowing water.
He first sprinkled holy water in all directions, then cut the top of a coconut with a silver knife and poured the juice into the sacrificial fire. The flames suddenly shot up, causing the believers to exclaim.
"I have something important to announce to the servants of the gods. From now on, the gods say that there is no need to use saints for sacrifice. As long as we are sincere enough, there will be no natural disasters." Ajay announced loudly.
"That's great." The announcement caused the believers to cheer.
No family is willing to offer up their beautiful daughter.
Suddenly, the crowd on the east side of the altar started to stir. A monk with a face full of flesh pushed everyone away, pointed at Ajayi and shouted, "You traitor, you colluded with pirates to kill the high priest, and you still have the nerve to preside over the sacrifice."
There was an uproar in the square.
Shangguan Ziqi's eyes flashed, and his hand was already on the hilt of the sword.
Ajay remained calm, holding up his staff and said in a deep voice: "Mahad, you are a temple monk, but you made a noise in public during the sacrificial ceremony. This is a great disrespect to the gods!"
The monk jumped onto the altar with a fierce smile: "Stop pretending! Someone saw you leading pirates to murder the high priest last night."
This person was also a loyal follower of Qasim.
He was not as close to him as Vikas. Because of his impulsive personality, Qasim only sent him to do simpler tasks.
The core members never let him participate.
The believers began to whisper to each other, and the situation was about to get out of hand.
Shangguan Ziqi was about to make a move but was held back by Yu Yuanzheng.
"Just wait and see, don't be impulsive." Yu Yuanzheng advised.
But Ajay suddenly took out a notebook from his robe and waved his hand.
"My fellow believers," Ajay's voice resounded through the square like thunder, "you still don't know the true face of High Priest Qasim."
He unfolded his notebook, which was densely filled with names and numbers. "This is the account book of his followers who were sold to pirates. The pirates then sold them to other places to do hard labor. The pirates came to seek revenge last night because the spoils were not evenly divided."
The monk Mahad's face changed drastically, and he rushed towards Ajay: "You are talking nonsense!"
In the blink of an eye, a small stone flew through the air and hit Mahad's knee accurately. He fell to his knees with a scream and couldn't get up for a short time.
Shangguan Ziqi quickly retracted his hand. The stone was very small, and no one could tell where it came from.
Ajay seized the opportunity and held up the account book and walked around the altar so that the believers in the front row could see it clearly: "Look here, a total of 147 believers have been sold overseas in the past year."
The truth was like a spark thrown into a frying pan, instantly igniting the anger of the believers.
Several senior believers took the account book with trembling hands and checked it.
Tears streamed down their faces: "My son went out to sea to fish and never came back. It turned out that he was... My son, where are you?"
The old man burst into tears.
No one actually cares to find out whether this is the truth or not.
This place is so close to the sea, and there are so many people going out to sea to fish every day, and far more than a hundred people never come back.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Mahad struggled to escape, but was surrounded by the angry crowd.
Several monks grabbed him and took him away.
Ajay shouted at the right moment: "Let us continue the sacrifice, may the gods cleanse all these sins!"
As he waved his scepter, the monks in the temple chanted in unison and the heavy drums sounded again.
The believers returned to their seats one after another, but the anger in their eyes had not subsided.
The ceremony went on very smoothly.
Ajay completed all the complex processes perfectly.
From praying for blessings with the holy fire to inviting out the statue of the deity, and finally to chanting sutras in nude form.
When he tied the red rope representing the blessing of the gods around the wrists of believers, many people even knelt down and kissed the corner of his robe.
"This kid is quite capable." Emperor Qi commented, stroking his beard. "He remained calm in the face of danger and was able to use the opponent's force to defeat him. I guess the account book in his hand is fake, but it can increase the hatred of believers towards pirates."
"He should be. He is a smart man." The old prince nodded in agreement.
The next activity is the parade of the statues of the gods through the streets.
That is to pull the statue of the god enshrined here into the city in a horse-drawn carriage.
After all, the temple is only that big, and many believers are not qualified to come in.
Then wait until you see the statue of the god passing by on the street before worshipping it.
As the sun sets, the sacrificial ceremony that lasted the whole day finally came to an end.
Exhausted, Ajay came to the inn again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
