Chapter 612: Epilogue: They Have Come

They stepped over the incense burner in an orderly manner, then walked around the altar and went down.

As they walked, smoke rose from beneath their feet continuously.

Soon they knelt again around the incense burner.

Inside the incense burner, it was already a bloody mess.

When the ritual bell stopped, everyone simultaneously knelt back in their original places, as if that strange scene had never happened.

But I understood that no matter what kind of ritual that was, the four large incense burners at the center of the altar were crucial; I immediately prepared to rush down and destroy those large incense burners, only to be grabbed by Liu Junyan.

"Xiao Jiu, don't be impulsive, don't forget our purpose for this trip; sacrifice is inevitable, we must stay steady."

At that moment, the four large incense burners suddenly trembled, bursting out dazzling golden light from within, shooting straight to the heavens.

At this moment, Liu Junyan unhesitatingly lifted my waist again, bringing me to rush into the golden light emanating from the four incense burners.

When we barely found ourselves within the golden light, the four large incense burners had already detached from the altar platform, rising little by little.

Liu Junyan and I rose along with them.

I lowered my head to look down and saw the kneeling believers, their bodies twisting uneasily.

As the incense burners rose higher, the golden light bursting from within grew brighter, and the believers' twisting motions became more pronounced.

Until they suddenly tilted their heads back, clutching their own throats with both hands, their eyes red and wide, emitting painful, desperate cries.

They seemed to be using this motion to desperately grip and pull at something, in order to keep what was about to leave their flesh.

Is it their faith?

Or is it their souls?

These people…… are they all surely doomed to die?

Liu Junyan suddenly called out: "Xiao Jiu, look up."

I jerked my head up and actually saw the Nineteen Grotto-Heavens!

I saw the huge stone outside the Three Birth Hall, and the large incense burner in front of it.

At this moment, around the large incense burner and the huge stone, on the four cardinal directions east, west, south, north, each stood a huge incense burner.

The golden light emanating from the lower incense burners shone into the upper ones, continuously pouring incense and merit into them.

Inside those four upper incense burners sat the four women with prominent bellies, about to give birth.

The horrifying part is that the husbands of these four women are now slumped, bloodied, on the edges of the incense burners… on the brink of death, maimed…

Within the Three Birth Hall, an old Daoist with an immortal aura was leading three middle-aged disciples in a rite, as if making offerings or performing salvation.

At last we have waited for this moment.

I finally glanced downward once more.

With that glance, I saw the four incense burners rising from the altar below; their golden light was about to be sucked dry by the four upper incense burners, and they were swiftly falling back down.

Below, a mist rose, gradually obscuring the believers' silhouettes, making them indistinct.

Our ultimate goal is to confront Zhuyou Sanren, to burn the Nineteen Grotto-Heavens with Nirvana fire; it's now at the point of no return, and we can no longer spare a thought for those people below.

Just as my heart turned ice-cold, I gritted my teeth, ready to withdraw my gaze and focus entirely on resisting whatever was about to happen, when I saw two familiar figures rushing in from below.

It was Yu Nian and A Cheng!

Yu Nian rushed straight onto one of the altars, stepped with one foot onto the incense burner that had just fallen, and kept waving her Thousand Soul Banner in her hand, not knowing whether she was collecting souls or suppressing something.

Meanwhile, A Cheng kept moving, walking nonstop around the altar, deploying something as he went… probably setting up a formation.

They have come!

No matter what they are doing now, or what effect they will have, I don't care.

As far as I'm concerned, with them present, I feel at ease.

Within the City God Temple are Yu Nian and A Cheng; outside the temple and throughout Junzhu Mountain are Hui Moqiong, Huang Fan, and our hall brothers; further out at the mountain passes is the Fang Transmission Sect… that's enough.

We can completely entrust our backs to them.

I gathered my spirit, and together with Liu Junyan we landed steadily outside the Three Birth Hall.

The entire Nineteen Grotto-Heavens was enveloped in a sheet of golden light and the scent of incense, as if existing in an independent space.

The incense and merit light shielded everything from the outside world, while also blinding the eyes of many; here, sin can run rampant, only to be erased without trace.

To an outside observer, it seems as if nothing ever happened.

Zhuyou Sanren's merit is boundless; some have erected a stele for him, some built a temple, and some have cast a golden statue in his likeness.

If those people saw the bloody scene around the incense burners inside the Nineteen Grotto-Heavens, I wonder what they would feel.

If they knew that the foundation supporting all this in Zhuyou Sanren's Nineteen Grotto-Heavens stems from their supreme faith, what would they feel then?

At this moment, Zhuyou Sanren sits cross-legged in the Three Birth Hall beneath a peach tree that bears only flowers, no leaves, and blooms extraordinarily splendid; the scarlet threads originally entwined on its branches have all drooped down, wrapping around Zhuyou Sanren's body.

Zhuyou Sanren has white brows and beard, a serene countenance, dressed in a plain Daoist robe; his right hand forms a seal, his horsetail whisk lightly rests on his elbow, and his left hand grips a pure gold-cast Three Pure Bell.

This Three Pure Bell has a handle topped with a 'mountain' shape, resembling a small sword; the bell body is spherical, through which a pure gold-cast clapper can be faintly seen; its surface is engraved with large sheets of talismans and sutras, with a Bagua diagram spreading from the top downward, almost covering the entire bell.

At a glance it is clearly extraordinary.

Zhuyou Sanren's three disciples sit cross-legged in three directions around him, lower in rank, each likewise forming seals with their hands, holding magical implements, their expressions calm.

As if they had not noticed our arrival at all.

How can they be so composed and confident?!

I don't understand.

By this point, I also don't want to figure it out.

I raised my hand and directly summoned Feng Wu, holding the long bow, nocked an arrow onto the string, aimed at Zhuyou Sanren, and shot.

Liu Junyan did not stop me.

The arrow flew forth, and just as it was about to pierce the gate of the Three Birth Hall, Zhuyou Sanren moved his right hand.

The Three Pure Bell in his hand began to turn slowly.

The pure gold copper tongue trembled, giving off a clear, crisp bell sound.

Peach blossom petals fluttered down from the peach tree, blocking my view.

As the arrow feather went through the gate and flew into the peach blossom rain, a clattering chain sound came.

The next moment, I and Liu Junyan both groaned; a fishy‑sweet surge rose from our throats, then was suppressed.

After the petals had all fallen, a Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ suddenly hung in the main hall of Sānshēng Diàn, blocking the forehead of Zhúyōu sàn rén.

The arrow feather I shot struck dead center of the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ, then flew back into my hand…