Chapter 860: The Great Enemy

The great gate was completely sealed shut.

Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi were heartbroken; Hua Qianqian shed two tears; Ouyang Feng turned pale; Xiao Tianquan frowned.

Gu Changhuai's mind raced, and he hurriedly said, "Hurry, find a way to open the door!"

But after circling the gate several times, none of them could find any way to open it.

This was the inner hall's gate—the gate used for sacrifice. Its opening method was unique; according to the Master's earlier method, it required a sacrificial offering and some strange rituals.

They had no idea how to open it.

Moreover, even if they opened it, after all this delay, Mo Hua might already be…

Gu Changhuai felt a surge of dread, and his remorse and guilt deepened.

Had he known this would happen, he never should have let Mo Hua go in alone—he should have followed him at least.

But everything that had just happened occurred too quickly; exhausted from the bitter battle, he simply hadn't had time to think, and thus became careless.

And that single moment of carelessness had caused a grave mistake.

Now that it was done, regret came too late…

Gu Changhuai said grimly, "First, use the Fishbone Token to get out, gather every available hand nearby, spare no cost, break this gate, and rescue Mo Hua…"

Xia Diansi solemnly nodded, then frowned and asked, "Should we inform the Grand Void Gate?"

Gu Changhuai nodded, but after a moment, his expression hardened, and he shook his head, "Not yet—we can't tell the Grand Void Gate…"

Xia Diansi was puzzled.

Gu Changhuai said grimly, "This is a second-grade prefecture—distant water cannot quench near thirst. If we can rescue Mo Hua, we ourselves are enough. If we cannot, by the time Grand Void Gate's people arrive, Mo Hua will already be…"

The Bone Maze, boundless crimson, the monster Master Wu, countless blood corpses, and deep within the altar—the unknowable, terrifying aura…

By the time Grand Void Gate's people arrive, Mo Hua will surely be beyond salvation.

All of them understood this, and their hearts ached again.

Gu Changhuai sighed, "First, find a way to save him. If we can rescue him, everything can be resolved. If not, we'll have to go to the Grand Void Gate ourselves and beg forgiveness with thorns on our backs…"

Xia Diansi nodded, her heart filled with even deeper remorse.

She thought of how Mo Hua had risked himself for all of them, and at his final moment, realizing all was lost, had directly thrown the Token so that they could escape safely, while he himself…

Xia Diansi's heart pierced as if stabbed by needles.

But the Bone Maze was extraordinarily perilous—how could they turn danger into safety? She simply could not imagine.

…

The Bone Maze.

In a bone-white corridor.

The monstrous Master Wu, his body vast, covered in dragon scales, resembling a yaksha, gripped Mo Hua in one blood-smeared hand and walked step by step toward the maze's depths.

The crimson around them grew thicker.

A scent, one that did not truly exist, yet grew increasingly intense, slowly spread.

Mo Hua, held in Master Wu's grasp, craned his neck, glancing left and right, sniffing the air, then looked up and asked:

"What's happening here? The smell's wrong."

Master Wu's eyelids twitched.

Did this brat even understand his current situation?

He ignored Mo Hua.

Mo Hua asked again: "Are you going to use me as a 'sacrifice'?"

Master Wu sneered, "What do you think?"

Mo Hua silently nodded.

So it was true—just as he'd guessed.

He remembered Master Wu had said before that the Divine Lord's "great enemy" was coming soon, and that they, the group, were the perfect "living sacrifices," a grand gift to the Divine Lord.

"Living sacrifice" meant a sacrifice still alive.

Master Wu probably wouldn't kill him before the sacrifice.

Moreover, earlier, he had set up so many arrays—effectively demonstrating his extraordinary array talent right before Master Wu's eyes.

Strong array talent meant strong spiritual sense.

With such a rich spiritual sense, if he were a servant of the Great Desolation Demon God, he'd want to capture himself and offer himself as a sacrifice to the Demon God.

How could Master Wu possibly resist?

And this altar…

From the current situation, blood had flooded in, the Bone Maze surrounded it, and the Demon God's "altar" had been hidden somewhere by Master Wu—he didn't know where.

He couldn't find it in the short term.

Even if he found it, the altar's surroundings would likely be surrounded by blood saturated with demonic energy, and there might be other dangers and obstacles—he certainly couldn't get through.

If he couldn't do it himself, he needed help.

Master Wu was perfect.

He could not only guide him, but even act as a "beast of burden," personally carrying him there, so he wouldn't have to walk.

This Master Wu was quite useful…

Mo Hua secretly studied Master Wu, then curiously asked, "How did you turn from a man into a monster?"

Master Wu frowned, "I'm not a monster."

"Then a yaksha?"

Master Wu was surprised, "How do you know that?"

Mo Hua said, "I saw you lurking in the Yaksha Hall, and your appearance resembles the yakshas inside."

Mr. Wu snorted, "You've got a bit of wit after all."

Mo Hua asked again: "Then what about these scales of yours? Where did they come from? Are they dragon scales? Why are they dragon scales? Do dragons even exist in this world? How could you have dragon..."

Mr. Wu was truly annoyed, and snapped:

"Shut up!"

"Oh." Mo Hua said indifferently.

After walking a while in silence, Mo Hua felt it was too quiet, and muttered discontentedly:

"You've got quite the temper. When you were captured before, you were all sweet and pleading..."

Mr. Wu's temple throbbed; he roared: "That was temporary restraint—I was biding my time to net all you ignorant fools who dared desecrate the Divine Master, to wash the Divine Master's altar in your blood!"

"So if that's the case," Mo Hua said, "you deliberately killed all the temple guardians, then transformed into a monster... a Yaksha, and ate them all?"

Mr. Wu sneered. "Correct."

Mo Hua recalled how, earlier, when Mr. Wu learned he had "eaten" his companion, his face had turned pale and he'd nearly vomited—and he thought to himself.

This Mr. Wu is also a "theater actor," and he plays his part well...

Then Mo Hua reflected, and had to admit: this Mr. Wu acted better than he did.

That expression—horror at a cruel truth, as if his organs would burst out—he could never have pulled off.

Clearly, his own "acting" needed more practice.

Mo Hua nodded, then asked: "By the way, weren't all these temple guardians your accomplices? You killed them, ate them—doesn't your conscience hurt?"

"What do you know?" Mr. Wu sneered. "To offer loyalty, flesh, even life for the Divine Master—that is their supreme honor."

"To die for the Divine Master is their finest destiny."

Mo Hua silently shook his head.

Done for. His mind's been washed clean.

"By the way," Mo Hua probed again, "you keep saying 'Divine Master, Divine Master'—what exactly is this 'Divine Master' you speak of?"

"Audacious!" Mr. Wu thundered. "How dare you speak the Divine Master's sacred title so casually?"

"Then what should I call him?" Mo Hua asked earnestly.

Mr. Wu opened his mouth, then suddenly fell silent.

He glanced around—at the bone pillars, the bloody mist, and the oppressive, shuddering aura deep within—and finally frowned.

This brat... is suspicious.

Mo Hua quickly suppressed his inner anticipation and said solemnly:

"I'm terrified. So terrified, I'm talking to you just to ease my fear."

Mr. Wu: "..."

Then he suddenly smiled darkly.

Ignorance breeds fearlessness. The more ignorant, the more foolishly bold. There are great terrors in this world—he may not know them yet, but soon he will feel them...

Mr. Wu said nothing more. He gripped Mo Hua tighter and quickened his pace, marching deeper into the labyrinth.

After that, no matter what Mo Hua asked, he remained silent.

Mo Hua could get nothing out of him. Helpless, he looked around—but the more he saw, the more confused he became.

The crimson hue deep within the bone labyrinth had grown far denser than before.

And it was slowly, steadily, thickening further.

It seemed as if something was being "hatched"—yet Mo Hua sensed no strange presence around him...

Thus, walking on, Mr. Wu finally brought Mo Hua to a pool of blood.

The blood in the pool was unnaturally thick.

Mo Hua glanced once and deduced: all the blood from the earlier sea—infused with demonic power—had now been gathered, condensed, and trapped within this single pool.

Mr. Wu halted, frowned: "What's wrong?"

Mo Hua said: "This blood is filthy—it corrodes flesh. If you make me jump in, I'll die before you even get to sacrifice me to the Divine Master."

Mr. Wu sneered. "Don't worry. You're no ordinary offering. If you're not fresh, the Divine Master will blame me."

With that, he seized Mo Hua and leapt down.

"Plop!" The blood splashed.

But the blood was so thick and viscous it barely splattered at all.

As he plunged in, Mo Hua closed his eyes. When he opened them again, all around was crimson—thick, glutinous blood plasma.

And he seemed wrapped in dragon scales, the blood unable to touch him.

Mr. Wu's entire body had transformed into a true blood-sea Yaksha, his whole frame sheathed in scales, dragging Mo Hua toward the deepest part of the pool.

Until they reached the very bottom.

Mo Hua looked up—and there, at last, was the altar he had longed to see.

The altar now lay still at the center of the blood pool.

Around it, the blood slowly compressed and condensed into dozens of blood streams, like veins, pouring into the central sheep-bone statue, feeding it demonic energy.

The outer blood was thick as paste, yet around the altar itself, a vacuum formed.

Mr. Wu brought Mo Hua to the altar's edge, took a bone chain from somewhere, bound him tightly, and tossed him aside.

Then he began reverently placing unknown flesh offerings upon the altar, muttering incantations under his breath.

Mo Hua, tossed aside, stared at the strange blood streams, the sinister altar, the bloody offerings—and for the first time, he truly seemed afraid.

"You're not... really going to sacrifice me, are you?"

Before the Divine Master, one must not speak loudly—disrespect invites his wrath.

He placed the candles, incense, and flesh offerings upon the altar one by one, then turned to face the "main course" of this sacrifice—Mo Hua.

"Originally, I was going to capture all of you and present you all to the Divine Master, but I never expected you to be so troublesome."

"Apart from that fool who succumbed to greed and had his throat bitten through, turned into a blood corpse, none of the other Jin Dan were easy to deal with."

"You brat, you're as sly as a ghost spirit."

"My demon form, impervious to blades and weapons, immune to fire and water, should have slaughtered all around me—but I don't know how you discovered my weak point and wore it down until it was utterly ruined..."

"You broke my blood array. I saw you set that array when you trapped the Xiao family's Gu Diansi."

"Your array skills are extraordinary, and your spiritual sense is undeniably gifted—exquisitely delicious."

"With you alone as a living sacrifice, even if meager, I believe the Divine Master will not blame me."

Mo Hua seemed slightly "nervous," his face stern as he spoke to Lord Wuzhu:

"I advise you not to sacrifice me, or you'll regret it."

Lord Wuzhu smiled: "Since I pledged myself to the Divine Master, devoting my life and soul to him until death, I have never learned how to write the words 'regret.'"

"Enough," Lord Wuzhu lost patience. "I've prepared everything. It's time for you to go. I will present you as proof of my 'loyalty' to the Divine Master."

Before Mo Hua could speak, Lord Wuzhu picked him up and placed him upon the altar.

"Majestic and glorious, the Divine Power reigns above."

"Descendant of the Great Wilderness's blood, worshipper of Your holy name, this believer today offers You a primordial divine vessel, rich with potent spiritual essence..."

"May the Divine Master endure forever, descend upon the earth soon, and bring glory to all mortals..."

Lord Wuzhu recited with utmost devotion.

And at the same time, upon the altar, an ancient and solemn aura indeed drifted.

Something seemed to have awakened, preparing to feast upon its "delicacy."

Mo Hua held his patience, sitting upright without uttering a sound to disturb Lord Wuzhu's prayer.

He feared that if he spoke, interrupted, and Lord Wuzhu mispronounced a word, the ritual would fail—and all his efforts would be wasted.

Mo Hua nodded, then remembered something and asked: "Lord Wuzhu, you said earlier that the Divine Master's 'great enemy' is about to arrive. How do you know?"

Lord Wuzhu sneered, filled with reverence: "Naturally, it is the Divine Master's revelation."

"How was it revealed?" Mo Hua asked again.

Lord Wuzhu opened his mouth to answer, then frowned: "Why are you asking this?"

"Oh," Mo Hua replied honestly, "I forgot to mention... your Divine Master's great enemy seems to be me."

Lord Wuzhu froze. After a moment, he slowly smiled, then burst into loud laughter, looking at the frail Mo Hua, bound by bone chains like a lamb awaiting slaughter, and said coldly:

"Young brother, I had no idea you were such a joker..."

How could someone who could be called a "great enemy" by the exalted and mighty Divine Master possibly look so powerless?

Lord Wuzhu sneered to himself.

But as he laughed, he suddenly stopped. He finally sensed something off.

Throughout this journey, he'd always felt... as if he'd been "arranged for."

Why, despite being so clever, had he remained motionless, as if stunned?

Why...

The altar's aura grew stronger; the blood mist slowly rose, ancient whispers emerging, as if ready to drag every spiritual essence into an unknowable realm.

And at the final moment, that faint unease crystallized into a terrifying omen.

At the very last instant of the ritual, Lord Wuzhu immediately reached out to drag Mo Hua off the altar.

But his hand grasped nothing.

Mo Hua, bound by bone chains, who had been unable to escape all along, now effortlessly evaded his grasp and sat calmly upon the altar, refusing to move.

Lord Wuzhu's face turned pale.

The next instant, whispers arose.

The blood mist surged violently, engulfing the entire altar.

Swallowing and pulling every spiritual essence nearby into another realm of divine thought.

When the two opened their eyes again, the blood pool and the altar remained—but everything around them had changed.

Within the blood pool, countless tormented souls shrieked with grotesque faces.

Upon the altar stood a colossal horned statue, majestic and awe-inspiring, as if a god wielding immense authority.

Now, Mo Hua sat upon the altar.

Lord Wuzhu stood below it.

Originally, upon entering the Divine Master's realm, Lord Wuzhu should have immediately knelt, slain and torn apart the sacrificial spirit, and offered it to the Divine Master.

But now, his spirit trembled.

Before him, seated upon the altar, was a peculiar little child.

His appearance bore some resemblance to Mo Hua, but he was smaller in age and stature, his aura faint, revealing no obvious anomaly.

Yet he was a Lord Wuzhu, long devoted to the divine—he could sense, within the seemingly childish Mo Hua, a chilling presence.

It was an aura... nearly divine!

Lord Wuzhu's heart jolted; he nearly collapsed, teeth clenched as he pointed at Mo Hua: "Who are you?"

"No..." he shook his head, pupils shrinking, "What... are you?"

Lord Wuzhu's expression twisted in horror.

He finally understood.

Indeed, everything had been planned!

This little demon, hidden among men without trace, was the true mastermind—everything he had done, from start to finish, was aimed solely at entering this altar.

His target... was the Divine Master.

He wasn't fooling himself—this brat was none other than the Divine Lord's greatest enemy!

"The Divine Lord's greatest enemy…"

After his terror subsided, Mr. Wu slowly straightened his body, his gaze resolute, and an endless courage surged within him—unwavering loyalty and fanatical faith toward the Divine Lord.

"If you are the Divine Lord's greatest enemy, then I shall sever your head, break your limbs, gouge out your eyes, and rip out your heart… dismember you completely, and offer you as tribute to the Divine Lord, proving my loyalty!"

Mr. Wu's body gradually grew larger.

The demonic god of Dahuang had granted him courage, and also bestowed upon him the divine thought of "expansion."

The yaksha he became had a more robust frame, harder dragon scales, sharper claws and fangs, and his blood qi thickened like Jianghe.

Before Mo Hua could react, Mr. Wu vanished in a flash, his massive fist hurtling toward him in deadly assault.

This punch carried immense momentum, terrifyingly swift.

But Mo Hua merely extended his small hand—and all that momentum ceased instantly.

The punch could not advance an inch further.

Mr. Wu's pupils slowly widened.

Then Mo Hua threw a punch of his own—this one carried Jin Guang; though it appeared excruciatingly slow, its speed was blindingly fast, leaving Mr. Wu no time to react before it slammed into his chest.

The indestructible dragon scales shattered piece by piece.

Cracks spread gradually, extending from his chest to his limbs.

And Mr. Wu's chest had already been blasted into a black hole.

With just one punch, his life force was extinguished…

Mr. Wu understood. His face turned ashen; he slowly knelt on the ground, his voice trembling with immense terror and boundless regret:

"Divine Lord above, I… am guilty…"

"I have committed great sin!"

"I have brought about a crime against heaven. I… summoned… a terrifying enemy…"

The next instant, his head fell to the ground.

Mo Hua simply twisted off his neck.

Thus, Mr. Wu's spirit and soul were utterly obliterated.