Upon hearing that the price of closing the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace was the loss of hundreds of lives, Miao Xiaoxian knelt on the ground in anguish, slapping herself hard across the face: "I was wrong! I was really wrong! I just didn't want everyone to continue living in this suffering, but I didn't mean to kill so many people!"
"You don't need to blame yourself for this. You just did something that every member of the village wanted to do but couldn't."
The clan chief shook his head: "As long as the Temple of the Ferocious God is not destroyed, the people of the village will never have peace! Just as you said, for the people of the village who live in a cage, death may not be a bad thing! If we don't die today, our descendants will still suffer the same pain in the future!"
Actually, at last year's tribal assembly, I considered making this suggestion to the chiefs of other tribes, but I couldn't bring myself to say it! Although this approach would benefit future generations, it's too cruel! After all, not all villagers feel they are living in a cage! They still have families, unfulfilled dreams, and attachments to this world…
However, this kind of suffering must be borne by one generation. Today, we must endure all the hardships we are meant to suffer, so that future generations will have a sweeter life!
As the clan chief was speaking, a roar suddenly came from below the steps.
Looking out, a sea of green waves surged through the passageway in the distance.
It was a dense swarm of monsters!
At that moment, I finally understood why the people of Ping'an Village were so cautious about this place.
At first, I thought there were only thirty or fifty monsters here at most.
But now it seems there must be at least several hundred, and that's just the number I've seen.
These monsters were capable of fighting against regular armies, so how could their numbers be small?
Although the corpses of Ping'an Village were not afraid of death, their physical strength was not on the same level as these monsters. They were able to resist these monsters with their numerical advantage, but that was all they could do.
As the monster horde surged in, the thirty-odd undead below were instantly swallowed up and torn into pieces scattered all over the ground.
"Ring ring ring!"
Upon seeing this, the four elders behind the clan leader quickened their pace and shook the copper bells in their hands. The Gu worms inside the preserved corpse received the signal and controlled the corpse to run away wildly.
Seeing the monster horde approaching, the clan chief turned his gaze to me: "As the culprits who opened the Temple of the Evil God, I shouldn't have let you leave here alive. But we guard the Temple of the Evil God to protect all living beings, and we don't want to commit any more killings on this day. Take her away! Remember, you must get her out of here safely!"
I wanted to say something to the clan chief, but when the words reached my lips, I felt that any words would be inadequate. I simply held Miao Xiaoxian's arm and said, "Don't worry, clan chief, I will definitely get her out of here safely!"
"I'm not leaving! I want to stay!"
Miao Xiaoxian struggled in my hands for a moment: "Today's disaster is because of me, I cannot abandon my people!"
"This is not a place for you to fool around! Today's blood sacrifice is only for those over forty years old to participate in; this is a clan rule!"
The clan chief coldly uttered a sentence, then looked at me: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and take him away!"
I glanced at the retreating corpses below the platform, then used brute force to pull Miao Xiaoxian up: "Let's go!"
Miao Xiaoxian was, after all, a young girl, and much weaker than me. I quickly dragged her out.
"Let me go!"
Miao Xiaoxian kicked and punched me like a madwoman, yelling, "Grandpa, I'm not leaving!"
"Little Fairy!"
The clan leader turned around and looked at Miao Xiaoxian: "You just said that I have never cared for you from childhood to adulthood, but I want to tell you now that I have always been paying attention to everything about you! The reason why Uncle Qi took you in back then was because I made the arrangements behind the scenes."
When Miao Xiaoxian heard the clan leader say this, she was stunned and even forgot to struggle.
“In this world, what elder wouldn’t love their child? But we are a village people, and in this place, emotions will only become our worries and burdens.”
The clan chief stretched out his palm and patted Miao Xiaoxian's head from a distance: "I'm telling you this not to make up for my own guilt, but because I don't want you to feel like an abandoned child!"
Little Fairy, today the Temple of the Evil God has fallen, and the clan's mission is over. You can now live a normal life! But remember this: the outside world is indeed more prosperous than Peaceful Village, but in some ways, Peaceful Village might be the true paradise!
"grandfather!"
Upon hearing the clan leader's explanation, Miao Xiaoxian completely broke down and lunged at him like a madwoman.
When the clan chief saw Miao Xiaoxian's appearance, he closed his eyes slightly, then looked at me with a firm gaze: "Boy, take her away!"
Take care!
I nodded emphatically to the clan leader, then delivered a karate chop to the back of Miao Xiaoxian's neck, knocking her unconscious. I then stuffed the breath-holding Gu she had given me into her mouth to prevent her from waking up, before hoisting her onto my shoulder and striding forward.
I hadn't run far outside when I saw the corridor brightly lit at the end, with dozens of men holding torches lined up on both sides, and several old men holding copper bells directing the mummified corpses forward.
A burly man saw me and reached for a long knife beside him: "Stop! Who are you?"
I saw the crowd ahead and quickly raised the clan leader's jade pendant: "We're on the same side! I have the clan leader's token here! I've come in to rescue people!"
Hearing my response, the burly man walked over, glanced at the jade pendant in my hand, and nodded: "You can leave now. The Temple of the Ferocious God is about to collapse. Leave here as quickly as possible, or you won't be able to get out!"
After the burly man finished speaking to me, he shouted into the corridor behind him, "There are two young men here, make way for them!"
Upon hearing this, the people behind us immediately stepped to the sides, making way for us.
Under the firelight, dozens of people formed a diverse array of figures.
The men and women here are all over forty years old. The way they look at me and Miao Xiaoxian is numb, bewildered, envious, jealous, and also gratified.
As the clan chief said, even though life in Ping'an Village was dull and boring, not everyone was willing to give up their lives.
However, these villagers, who have been instilled with the idea that clan rules are above all else from childhood, have no choice but to sacrifice themselves, whether willingly or unwillingly.
The passage that the people of Ping'an Village were traveling through was different from the one we had taken before. After passing through an archway, there was a straight corridor outside with no branches on either side. It must have been an additional passage built by the ancestors of Ping'an Village on the basis of the original tomb passage.
As you ascend along this passage, the number of living people dwindles. Only a few elderly men drive the undead underground to block the monsters from emerging, buying precious time to destroy the Temple of the Evil God.
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