63: Chapter 63 Forbidden Blessing, Leading to the Abyss
"Let's go, two distinguished guests."
The old man didn't care about Chen Feng and Wu Jian's reaction.
He turned around and slowly walked up the stone steps leading to the mountain peak.
The "people" wearing Kariginu around them made way one after another, watching the two with extremely eerie gazes.
Those gazes were like looking at two lambs about to be slaughtered for sacrifice.
"What should we do?"
Wu Jian's face was pale, and he subconsciously wanted to retreat, only to find that the path back had been blocked by those figures.
Moreover, that death train had also completely disappeared.
They were now like two prisoners trapped on a lonely island, with no way to escape.
"Follow him."
Chen Feng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the unease in his heart.
"Since the Buddha let us come, we have no reason to shrink back."
At this point, he could only choose to trust Lin Chuan.
Inside the Rebirth Temple.
Through Chen Feng's perspective, Lin Chuan carefully observed the old man and the figures dressed as Onmyoji around them.
On the panel deep within his consciousness, notification messages were constantly popping up:
[High-risk taboo kin detected!]
[Target 1: Celestial Standing Venerable Divine Attendant Kin — Inverted and Twisted Thing (Old Man)!]
[Terror Level: S-Rank First Order taboo!]
[Target 2: Celestial Standing Venerable Kin — Ordinary Kin (A-Rank)!]
[Terror Level: A-Rank!!]
[...]
"S-Rank First Order..."
Lin Chuan's heart chilled slightly.
Just an old man leading the way was actually an S-rank Taboo?
And those figures around them were actually all eerie existences of A-Rank or higher!!
"Chen Feng, Wu Jian, follow him."
Lin Chuan's voice sounded in their minds.
"See what they actually want to do."
"Don't worry, I am always here!"
"Yes!"
With Lin Chuan's promise, the two felt slightly more at ease and followed the old man with grit, walking towards the shrine at the mountain peak.
The further up they went, the more eerie the surrounding scenery became.
On the originally deathly silent streets, many pedestrians appeared at some unknown point.
They wore all kinds of clothes, from modern suits to ancient garments.
They were walking, talking, and trading on the streets.
Lights were lit in the shops by the roadside, and sounds of hawking could be heard.
This place... was like a bustling and prosperous market.
If not for that mass of constantly wriggling pink flesh in the sky and the nauseating smell of blood in the air.
Chen Feng would even have thought he had returned to the days before the Terror Resurgence's end.
"This... are they all... living people?"
Looking at this scene, Wu Jian's eyes were filled with confusion and fear.
"No."
Chen Feng shook his head, his gaze cold, interrupting Wu Jian's unrealistic fantasy.
"These people... are definitely not living."
He could feel that these seemingly normal "people" didn't have a trace of Life Qi in their bodies.
They were like a group of puppets on strings, acting out their lives before death on this street below the shrine.
"Hehe..."
As if hearing their quiet conversation, the old man walking in front suddenly stopped and turned his head, a half-smile appearing on his wrinkled face.
"You two, in the Lord's kingdom, the boundary between life and death does not exist."
"As long as you believe in my Lord, you can obtain eternal life..."
"Eternal?"
Chen Feng sneered in his heart but didn't speak.
The old man, as if seeing through his heart, muttered to himself again:
"Once you see my Lord's true face, you will understand the true meaning of all this."
After saying that, he continued forward.
As he walked, he said in a raspy voice:
"Before meeting my Lord, I have three rules to tell you."
"This concerns whether you can obtain the Blessing, and it also concerns your safety..."
Hearing this, Chen Feng and Wu Jian became even more alert.
When mentioning the "rules," the old man's speaking speed was very slow, as if he were intentionally dragging out his tone:
"Rule one: During the Blessing process, you must be devout! No matter what you see or hear, you are not allowed to make any sound, let alone perform any disrespectful acts!"
"Rule two: To receive the Blessing, you must take out an item from your person and offer it to the Great Dominator! This item must be what you cherish most!"
"Rule three: You must complete the Blessing ritual! Those who quit halfway... will suffer heavenly punishment!!"
After hearing these three rules, both of their faces became very unsightly.
Especially the second one.
Take out what they cherished most?
For most people, the thing they cherished most was nothing other than their own lives!
"What if... we don't have anything we cherish?"
Wu Jian tentatively asked the old man.
"None?"
The old man stopped, looked back at him, and a pink ghostly light flickered in his eyes.
"Then offer your Soul... to my Lord."
Hearing this, Wu Jian trembled all over, so scared he didn't dare speak again.
"In addition..."
The old man seemed to remember something and added another sentence.
"If your karmic luck is deep enough..."
"You might even have the chance to serve by the side of the 'Great Dominator'."
"That will be... supreme glory."
"Of course, even if your karmic luck is ordinary, you can still become a kin of my Lord, the Celestial Standing Venerable, just like me..."
As he spoke, a morbid fanaticism and pride appeared on his face.
Chen Feng sneered in his heart.
Become a kin?
That was becoming a complete and utter monster!
However, he didn't say much, just continued to silently follow the old man.
Half an hour later.
They finally arrived in front of the shrine at the mountain peak.
This was an extremely magnificent and ancient shrine.
A giant Torii stood tall amidst the clouds, as if connecting heaven and earth.
In the center of the shrine was a massive altar.
That altar was also the so-called... Blessing Platform!
"We have arrived."
The old man stopped before the altar and knelt down respectfully, then urged Chen Feng and Wu Jian:
"Please, two distinguished guests... ascend the platform."
Chen Feng looked up.
He saw that above the altar, that mass of pink flesh was wriggling violently.
Countless pink raindrops were falling from the flesh.
The raindrops didn't land on the ground but floated in mid-air, emitting a hazy halo.
In every drop of rain, there was extreme disorder and Chaos.
"Is this... Rule Blood?"
Chen Feng's heart chilled.
He could feel that if an ordinary living person were contaminated by this rain, they would probably be assimilated into a part of the flesh mass in an instant.
Even a Ghost Controller, relying on the power of eerie rules, wouldn't be able to withstand those raindrops for long!
"Buzz!!"
Just then.
An invisible barrier suddenly appeared around the two.
That was Lin Chuan's rule power!
With the protection of this barrier, those pink raindrops couldn't get close at all.
With Lin Chuan's protection, the two looked at each other, took a deep breath, and decided to step onto the altar first.
But the moment they stepped onto the altar.
Rumble!!!
The pink flesh mass in the sky suddenly vibrated violently.
As if sensing something, it began to expand and contract frantically.