A mixture of soldiers and professional butchers, more than 2,000 people, received the final order and began to change into special oil-soaked cloth. This complex cloth has a good waterproof effect.
Add on something like a mask, and the transformation of two thousand butchers is complete.
A butcher who originally lived in a town dozens of miles away came out of the wooden shed where he lived, holding a curved and pointed butcher knife.
He swore that he had never seen so many butchers gathered together in his life, each holding a butcher knife in his hand.
Some of the oilcloths were stained and mottled, most of them were real butchers who brought their own clothes, while some were brand new, probably soldiers wearing new oilcloth suits.
In the livestock sheds and cages in the surrounding mountains and fields, an atmosphere of uneasiness gradually filled the air, and the cries of livestock and the roars of wild beasts continued to be heard.
“Roar~~”
A sharp-toothed beast roared in a wooden cage. Although it had little strength due to hunger over the past period of time, it became more and more ferocious.
"Hold it!"
Three or four steel forks with large gaps that looked like the riot forks used by police on Earth were stretched into the gaps in the wooden cage at the same time, pinning the beast down.
“Roar~~~”
A butcher took a long-handled sharp knife, fixed it with an extended stick, and stabbed the beast's left leg's aorta with an expressionless face.
“Roar~~~”
"Hold it down now!!"
“Ah!!!” “Push harder!!!”
As the soldiers exerted their strength, blood was gushing out of the beast's legs. Under the wooden cage, a wooden basin that had been placed there long ago was splattered with blood. Two soldiers pushed the bucket with their hands towards the direction of the splashing blood.
At the same time, other butchers and soldiers all began to target some of the more ferocious or stronger livestock and beasts.
A moment later, all the beasts and livestock were dying, and buckets of animal blood were transported to the top of the mountain one after another.
Although it was a divine sacrifice, no church priests or ministers were present.
Blantai stood on the mountain path with a frown on his face, watching with his father as buckets of steaming blood were sent to the top of the mountain, the howling of wild beasts in his ears.
"It's hard to believe this is a sacrifice to the gods."
Heno's expression did not change.
"A long time ago, there was indeed a custom of performing blood sacrifices on gods, but this time, it may not be the case..."
On the top of the mountain, soldiers carried wooden buckets and poured buckets of blood into the cracks of the large altar carved on the ground.
“Gurgle…Gurgle…”
A sound of bubbles popping out was heard frequently as various blood flowed in.
The so-called "cleansing the altar" means that this wave will first flush the altar with blood, making the altar begin to become "active" to a certain extent.
The altar-washing ceremony lasted until the evening, and nearly ten thousand animals were consumed in total, with the butchers draining their blood using various methods.
The whole mountain was filled with a strong smell of blood.
And Wogfud in the palace was becoming more and more excited.
By the next day, more soldiers were ready. Around 30,000 imperial troops and 60,000 laborers had gathered near the mountain.
As the sun rose in the early morning, the Imperial Emperor Vogfud had already reached the top of the mountain, as did all his ministers and nobles.
The space on the top of the entire mountain naturally cannot be as big as the foot of the mountain, but this mountain itself is a flat-topped mountain, the top of the mountain is not steep, and the space is relatively wide.
The altar in the center was a bloody mess, the result of yesterday's "floor washing".
But surprisingly, although the mountain was filled with stench and smell of blood, there was no strange smell at the altar. Even if the altar was painted with paint, there should be a pungent smell after just one night.
"Vision... This is a vision..."
Vogfude sat on the animal-skin chair and muttered to himself, his heart already filled with great excitement.
The master of ceremonies walked to the carpet in front of the emperor, knelt on one knee and asked loudly.
"Your Majesty, the time is right, can we start?"
Vogoff clenched his fist and unclenched it, then stood up from his chair and mustered up the strength to respond.
"Let's begin and offer the Qinggele Empire's prayers to the gods!"
The master of ceremonies bowed his head and accepted the order. He stood up and walked step by step to a metal instrument shaped like a gong or drum on the wooden platform in front of him, and took a long pole with a metal head and a wooden body from the soldier.
He gathered all his strength, swung the long pole a certain distance, and then hit the gong hard.
"The sacrificial ceremony begins!!!"
"Bang~~~~"
The golden gong sounded.
“Woo~~~~~~~” “Woo~~~~~~” “Woo~~~~~”…
“Boom boom boom…”
The sound of trumpets and drums was deafening, coming from the top of the mountain, the middle of the mountain, and the foot of the mountain; the whole mountain was filled with the sound of gongs and drums.
The wild beasts and livestock that had been tied to wooden poles the night before were all carried to the top of the mountain by the soldiers and laborers.
“Awaken the Spirit!!!”
The emcees shouted at the five corners, and the butchers raised their knives and aimed accurately at the veins of the animals.
All the animals were gathered in the "spiritual ring" around the altar, tightly surrounding the circumference of the altar. Three hundred of them at a time basically filled the entire altar circle.
“Roar…” “Woo…” “Ah…”…
Various animals and beasts wailed as they watched their blood flow into the altar. An aura of fear that ordinary people could not see spread but was quickly absorbed by the altar.
"Next wave! Next wave!"
Before the first round of animals were about to be bled, the next round of 300 animals were immediately carried up and inserted into the gap between the two bleeding groups to start bleeding, while the previous beasts were quickly carried away.
The remaining tens of thousands of animals had to be bled out at least 100 times.
This is a long process and also a terrifying process.
The old soldiers, the generals, the ruthless nobles, the noble royal family, and even the butchers who were used to seeing animals die, all began to shudder.
The only person who remained excited the whole time was the old man sitting on the honorable imperial chair.
Even though there were tens of thousands of dead animals, what was even more bizarre was that so much blood did not overflow from the altar.
The supervisors and even some stonemasons involved in the construction knew that the altar surface was just a carved groove. Although it looked very deep, it was actually only two imperial feet long. (About 1 meter)
The capacity of this gap is actually very limited, and the rest is still stone for people to stand on.
Not to mention this tiny gap, even if it was a one-meter-deep pool the size of an altar, after so many animals bled, there should have been some reaction or even a fullness.
Of course, perhaps the blood leaked through the cracks in the rocks and seeped into the mountain, but as long as everyone is not stupid, they will know that it is definitely the altar itself that is the problem.
There was no smell of blood! Not at all!
And the entire mountaintop began to become more and more depressing, and this depression was spiritual in nature.
Even in the sacrifices initiated by the Bishop of the Church of Light, this feeling never occurs. This is beyond the understanding of mortals.
The last animal was drained of blood, but the "awakening of the spirit" was not over yet.
Amid the astonishment of countless people, figures with black cloth covering their heads were escorted to the top of the mountain.
"These are death row prisoners or prisoners sentenced to heavy penalties selected from prisons in various cities! Let their filthy souls make a contribution to atone for their sins!!!"
The emcees shouted, and then gave the "awaken the spirit" order to the soldiers around them.
The bodies of these prisoners were trembling slightly. After being hit on the legs by the soldiers with long spears, they fell to their knees beside the altar and were then pressed directly on the blood ring on the altar.
Under the black hood, the mouth was sealed, so that the fear could not be vented and he could only cry "wuwuwuwu".
The moment they were pressed on the blood ring, their skin could clearly feel the stickiness and even warmth of the blood.
“Puff…” “Puff…” “Puff…”…
Three hundred strong prisoners had their necks cut and their hoods ruthlessly removed so that they could see their current state, each other, and this huge altar.
The struggle was in vain, as they were held down by the soldiers who were also terrified. They were afraid that if something went wrong they would become substitutes.
"So cruel! So cruel!!!"
Qin Xiaoxia's thought body stood on the wooden gong and drum platform outside the altar, watching the "living sacrifice" below, and then swept his gaze to the excited old emperor not far away.
After all the "awakening of the spirit" rituals were completed, Vogoff had to take deep breaths to adjust his emotions, then he stepped down from the imperial chair step by step and walked towards the altar.
The national sacrifice naturally needs to be opened by His Majesty the Emperor or the Prince on behalf of the Emperor.
After a whole day of bloodletting to awaken the spirit, it is now dusk and the light on the top of the mountain has inevitably dimmed.
The red altar, which had no smell of blood, had begun to emit a faint bloody light.
Everyone watched this scene with bated breath. This kind of altar glowing by itself could only be heard in the "god-level" stories preached by the church, but no one had ever seen it.
But what I see before me... doesn't seem sacred at all...
Vogfude stood on the edge of the altar, his heartbeat reaching a dangerous level.
'Just one step left! Just one step left!!'
After calming down for a few seconds, the old emperor clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and let out a low roar, but the language was not the "sacrificial prayer" prepared by the master of ceremonies in his hand.
"The long river of time flows... the barriers of space melt away... we are a world that thrives in the void... blood carries spirit, souls guide prayers, life and the light of the world are waiting here..."
A tingling feeling suddenly spread throughout the mountain, and many people felt cold hands and feet. At the same time, the blood light on the altar was becoming more and more obvious.
Blantai had a very bad premonition. He looked at his father who was always calm, but found that Heno was pale and his lips were trembling...
'Stop him! Stop him!'
This thought has arisen in the minds of almost many people, but the person in front of them is the imperial priest, and that person is the emperor of the empire!
Just a thought away...
"The realm of the abyss, the infinite starry sky, the realm beyond the void, the sight of looking at all the worlds, in the name of the caller, draw your power to descend..."
Buzz~~~
The red light suddenly became so strong that all of Vogoff's strength and energy were drained away. He fell to the ground with a sharp pain in his head.
Brush~~
A red light with a sticky blood texture shot up into the sky...
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