Chapter 42: Mysterious Mass Hypnosis Ritual in the Wild

"The Divine Path Sect is in chaos."

"Lingxu Peak is isolated and without support, the Peak Master is trapped, and only the disciples remain to hold on bitterly; traces of invaders have been found on the other eight peaks."

Closing the intelligence report passed to him, Shi Anqi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Those fellows from the Disha Sect are even more capable than I imagined."

When those fellows first came knocking, Shi Anqi had always felt they were unreliable, and he had even submitted a memorial to the Emperor advising him not to trust them lightly.

No matter how you put it, the Divine Path Sect is a super sect with a name in the world, while the Disha Sect is merely a first-rate sect that was wiped out hundreds of years ago.

The two are simply incomparable.

But I don't know what price the Disha Sect paid, for they actually managed to persuade His Majesty to facilitate them in the end!

Fortunately, the wise and martial Emperor only promised to remain neutral and did not provide any further convenience.

Worried that there were more secrets to this matter that hadn't been told, Shi Anqi volunteered to come here with three hundred Imperial Guards to oversee the battle.

And the fact that the Disha Sect could reach this point today has far exceeded Shi Anqi's original expectations.

"However, I always feel something is not quite right."

The Disha Sect's actions were beyond expectation, but what surprised him even more was the Divine Path Sect's reaction.

The Divine Path Sect's reaction seems... too indifferent?

They only activated the sect's Great Array, and other than that, they haven't used any other defensive measures.

The matter has been going on for such a long time, so why is there no major reaction at all?

It is one thing that the Supreme Elder, who is a living foundation, hasn't appeared, but why is there no reaction from the Supreme Treasure, the Divine Path Bell?

"Do they think it's unnecessary? Or is it that... they are powerless?"

Shi Anqi's expression was uncertain, flickering in the trembling candlelight.

"Could it really be as they said, that the Divine Path Sect's Sect Leader is in a bad state and unable to take action to control the Supreme Treasure?"

If the Divine Path Sect has truly lost an expert at the Ask Dao Late Stage, then the significance of this to the Beigan Dynasty would be vastly different.

"Could it be that His Majesty is using the Disha Sect's hand to test the true strength of the Divine Path Sect?"

With eyes widened, Shi Anqi felt he might have guessed the truth of the matter.

"Then if that is the case, I understand how I should act."

Being able to rise step by step from an Imperial Guard attendant to the position of leader of the Dark Guard, Shi Anqi relied on his ability to guess the Emperor's thoughts and proactively resolve his worries.

There are some things that the Emperor finds inconvenient to say, but as a subject, one must learn to do them proactively.

And just as Shi Anqi made up his mind, he also received a signal from Ren Yidao.

Looking at the paper crane, Shi Anqi deliberately dawdled for a while, but ultimately decided to go to Luoyue Peak to keep the appointment.

But when he pushed open the door, he saw his niece, who had changed into a night-traveling outfit.

Shi Xue looked at her second uncle and spoke without ceremony:

"I want to go too."

Usually, he could indulge his niece, but at such a dangerous moment, Shi Anqi could not let her have her way, and he frowned:

"Don't make trouble, what use is it for you to go?"

But Shi Xue did not retreat at all, saying firmly:

"I must go. No matter which of these two sects wins or loses, they must guarantee that they will not vent their anger on the common people of Chongzhou City."

Seeing that his niece was serious, Shi Anqi sighed, but still asked unwillingly:

"What qualifications do you have to say this? Is it just because you are a lowly Constable?"

"The Imperial Court has no binding power over these sects."

With willow-leaf eyebrows raised, Shi Xue slammed down a golden seal and glared at her second uncle.

"Just because I am a County Princess of Beigan."

"Do I have the qualifications now!"

*Sigh! *

Rubbing his temples with a headache, Shi Anqi experienced what his parents felt when he was young, and said helplessly:

"... Fine, you can go, but I'll say the ugly words first: if you don't obey orders, you will be dealt with by military law."

He glared at Shi Xue, hoping to make her retreat in the face of difficulty:

"Although your status is special, you can be spared the death penalty, but not the living punishment! When His Majesty followed the army in his youth, he was treated the same way."

Having achieved her goal, Shi Xue did not continue to push hard.

She smiled sweetly, and like a young girl, she pulled on Shi Anqi's arm, swinging it back and forth.

"Oh, I knew Second Uncle was the best!"

First, she acted like a spoiled child.

"Don't worry! I definitely won't go to Aunt to complain this time!"

Then, she threatened.

Using both soft and hard tactics—this is the essential art of the imperial family!

"Go, go, go."

Shaking her off with annoyance, Shi Anqi took Shi Xue to meet up with the prepared Dark Guards and transferred together into the Divine Path Sect.

Following the message to Luoyue Peak, Shi Anqi made a flashy entrance like a god descending from heaven and shouted loudly:

"Brother Ren! I've come to help you... eh?"

When he arrived with Shi Xue and the Imperial Guards, what he saw was not Brother Ren holding on bitterly and waiting desperately for rescue.

But a scene that made his hair stand on end.

"What the hell is this!?"

Even he, a high-ranking official of Beigan, was frightened into taking a step back!

There was no scent of blood on Luoyue Peak, nor was there even half a corpse.

On the moonlit Luoyue Peak, a group of black-clad figures whose faces could not be seen were gathered together, performing some strange ritual.

Yes, a ritual.

This was the only word Shi Anqi could think of after seeing this scene.

The appearance of those black-clad figures was not even the same!

Someone was bound by several strings of Prayer Beads into the shape of a tortoise shell, hanging from a tree and swaying back and forth.

Another person had a thick cross stuck in their throat, with two palms pierced by long nails stretched out to the sides, the whole person posed in the shape of a cross.

There was also someone holding prayer wheels in both hands, spinning rapidly on the ground like a rattling drum.

Still others were by the pool, holding a companion's head, pushing it into the water and pulling it out, then pushing it back in, repeatedly shouting, "Release! Release again!"...

And more people were kowtowing their heads against a Wooden Fish while muttering incantations.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

"Hiss!"

What a scene of a chaotic dance of Demons!

And behind this group of people, dozens of black-clad figures had been stripped down to their shorts and piled together like trash, forming a bizarre mountain of flesh.

The eyes of this group were dim and lusterless, blankly looking up at the moon, their bodies swaying back and forth to an unknown rhythm.

When two people bumped into each other, they would simultaneously let out a strange howl:

"Oh yeah~"

"Oh, oh oh——"

This was not the end of it; this sound seemed to trigger a chain reaction, and the people around them also began to wail, until the entire mountain of people was emitting eerie cries:

"Mm! Ah~"

"Hmph hmph hmph! Ha! Ahhhhhhh!!!"

For some reason, watching this scene, Shi Anqi felt a bone-chilling wind blow across his crotch!

Yikes!

And at the very top of the mountain of flesh, a youth in white stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance, aloof and independent from the world.

Ren Yidao stood with his hands behind his back, looking toward the distance with a calm expression.

Excluding the fact that he was stepping on someone's abdomen and that person had a flushed face, the image was quite immortal.

Shi Anqi:???

Shi Xue:??????

The uncle and niece looked at each other, both feeling as if they hadn't woken up yet.

How about we just leave?

Just as the two were preparing to retreat, Ren Yidao noticed the guests and turned his head to smile:

"Oh? You've come."

Tilting his head, the youth on the mountain of flesh asked curiously:

"Hm? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Is something strange?"

I haven't rested well these past few days, only sleeping five or six hours a day; the recommendation's collection growth performance hasn't been good, and the follow-read count on the 14th dropped too. The successive blows have left me feeling emo and suffering from insomnia, only sleeping four hours.

I got up at seven in the morning to write, so at least I didn't delay yesterday's update.

You can say I'm bad, but you can't say I'm not working hard.

I hope everyone can continue to support me; I will work hard to write out the interesting stories in their entirety.

Love you all——

(End of this chapter)