639: Chapter 629 Senichi (4)

The bell rang only once before falling silent.

However, the oppressive force weighing down on everyone's heads did not dissipate.

In the Chishan Tribe settlement, people were kneeling all over the ground.

As the wind blew over the settlement wall, nothing could be heard except the sound of flickering flames.

Only two people remained standing.

Qin Yun.

And Chi Li in that dilapidated house.

Elder Ji slowly stood up from the ground. He glanced at the cyan-gold Life Pattern slowly fading on Qin Yun's wrist, then looked at the young man holding a broken dagger inside the house, his eyes becoming extremely profound.

"The Sacrificial Mountain... has opened early."

His voice was hoarse, as if the words were being squeezed from his throat.

This sentence was like a stone thrown into stagnant water.

Ah Lie, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly looked up. He stared intently at Qin Yun in the courtyard and then glanced at Chi Li in the house, the anger in his eyes almost burning out.

"It's him!"

"He touched Chi Li!"

"Ever since this outsider arrived, the Sacrificial Mountain has never been peaceful!"

When fear is repressed to the extreme, it becomes anger.

Another tribal elder also began to shout, his voice trembling.

"And Chi Li! He truly is ominous!"

"Every time the Sacrificial Mountain has an unusual movement, it has to do with him!"

"The Superior One, please calm your anger; it must be these two who disturbed the Sacrificial Mountain!"

The sound of discussion quickly spread throughout the entire settlement.

"Sacrifice them!"

"Offer them to the Sacrificial Mountain to appease the anger of The Superior One!"

"Yes! Sacrifice them!"

Several young tribesmen, their eyes red, actually drew their blades and rushed toward the courtyard.

They weren't crazy.

They were afraid.

They were so afraid that they just wanted to find an excuse to shift that unknown fear hanging over their heads onto someone else.

Ah Lie did not stop them; he gripped his sword hilt tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, as if tacitly consenting.

Sang He wanted to say something, but was held back tightly by those around him.

Seeing that those blades were about to strike at Qin Yun.

"Enough!"

The black wooden staff in Elder Ji's hand slammed heavily onto the ground.

A fine crack split the black stone floor.

The young men charging at the front were knocked back several steps by an invisible force, landing on their bottoms.

The entire scene went silent.

Elder Ji swept his gaze across the crowd, his eyes turning cold for the first time.

"Stupid!"

"Do you think sacrificing two people will make the Sacrificial Mountain peaceful?"

"This is the bell ringing for the start of the sacrificial ceremony, not a warning of punishment!"

He raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the Nine Mountains.

"Since the mountain has awakened, then we go."

"All juniors with the highest purity of Life Pattern, follow me into the mountain!"

He did not give the crowd another chance to argue and began calling names one by one.

"Ah Lie."

"Sang Ji."

"Wu Mu."

...

Those whose names were called were all the most outstanding young people in the settlement.

Their faces turned pale, but not one dared to disobey.

This caused the boiling accusations to gradually cool down, turning into another, deeper kind of fear.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

It felt like a pre-arranged procedure.

After calling the last name, Elder Ji turned around, his gaze falling upon Qin Yun and Chi Li.

At this moment, everyone held their breath.

Elder Ji's voice fell clearly into everyone's ears.

"And Chi Li."

"As well as this... visiting guest from afar."

The settlement was silent.

Bringing Chi Li up the mountain was understandable to many, as he was inherently related to the previous incident.

But bringing an outsider who had just arrived was something that had never happened before.

Qin Yun looked at Elder Ji.

From the other's eyes, he saw no displaced anger, nor did he see any probing.

He only saw a calm that was almost resolute.

It was like placing a very large bet.

Qin Yun did not expose this, simply saying indifferently: "Very well."

He wanted to see what was hidden inside this Sacrificial Mountain that could cause such a strong reaction from the azure pagoda.

...

When the team set off, there were no horns and no send-offs.

The women and children in the settlement stood by the roadside, watching their husbands, sons, and brothers walk one by one into the morning mist.

Some were crying but dared not make a sound, merely covering their mouths as tears fell uncontrollably.

Some wrapped roasted beast meat jerky in oil paper and shoved it into the arms of those in the procession.

"Eat on the road."

"You must come back."

The young men who were called took the items and nodded heavily, but dared not turn back to look again.

This was not going hunting.

Nor was it going on a pilgrimage.

This was more like a path of life and death from which there was no return.

Qin Yun walked at the end of the procession, with the silent Chi Li by his side.

He did not look at those sorrowful faces, nor did he feel the oppressive atmosphere.

His mind was entirely focused on the cyan-gold Life Pattern on his wrist.

With his Heart Heavy Pupils and Dao techniques operating simultaneously, he was deconstructing the composition of this Life Pattern layer by layer.

The closer he got to the Nine Mountains, the more he could feel that this Life Pattern was like an invisible thread, being gently tugged by something inside the mountain.

It was not bestowing power upon him.

It was more like it was pulling him, making him walk toward it voluntarily.

After walking for who knows how long, the procession stopped.

Ahead, the nine giant mountains finally revealed their full appearance.

They were not standing side by side, but leaning against each other at an eerie angle.

The mountain surfaces were covered in red-gold gullies, like the dried-up blood vessels of some giant beast.

The outlines of the peaks, looming in the mist, did not look like natural formations at all.

A-Ye swallowed a mouthful of saliva and whispered to Sang Ji beside him.

"Why do I feel like these nine mountains look more like nine heads leaning together?"

Sang Ji's face turned pale, and he dared not respond.

Elder Ji stopped at the foot of the mountain and was whispering with several tribal elders.

Qin Yun did not go over.

He walked aside alone and looked up at the nine peaks.

Just at this moment.

Hum.

The Life Patterns of everyone in the procession lit up at the same instant, without warning.

Red-gold light emerged from everyone's foreheads and wrists, illuminating the entire valley.

"What's going on?"

"My Life Pattern is burning!"

"Mine too!"

The young people were in a flurry; they had never experienced such a situation.

Among all the lights, the most blinding one was not Elder Ji, nor was it Ah Lie.

It was Chi Li.

The Life Pattern on his forehead, which had already been so dim it was about to vanish, was now erupting with unprecedented brightness.

The light was so bright that there was even a tendency for it to detach from his body and be sucked into the mountain.

Chi Li let out a muffled groan, knelt on one knee, and pressed his hand firmly against his forehead, as if resisting something.

"It's Chi Li!"

Ah Lie took a step back in terror and pointed at him, shouting.

"It must be him again who angered The Superior One!"

"He is a source of disaster!"

This time, even Sang He's expression changed.

The scene before them had exceeded everyone's understanding.

Chi Li seemed to have truly become that ominous person who would bring disaster.

But just when everyone was staring at Chi Li, only Qin Yun looked up.

His Heart Heavy Pupils pierced through that blinding red-gold light.

He saw the truth.

What was glowing was not the people.

It was the mountains.

At this moment, the nine giant mountains emitted light from within.

It was like some sleeping giant creature shifting slightly.

Qin Yun also noticed that when everyone was exclaiming, the look that flashed across Elder Ji's face was not fear.

It was a kind of "as expected" determination.

He seemed to have known it would be like this all along.

The light lasted only for a few short breaths before abruptly receding.

The valley returned to darkness.

Everyone's Life Patterns dimmed.

But the scene from that instant had already been branded into the bottom of everyone's hearts.

Qin Yun stood in place, not speaking.

He simply looked at the nine peaks that had fallen back into silence, his eyes very deep.

In that instant, the Nine Mountains seemed to have taken a look at them.