Minglong

Chapter 256 Heaven and Earth Sacrifice
Around noon, Xie Jinhuan followed the envoy's procession to the Temple of Heaven and Earth outside the city.

The Temple of Heaven and Earth is a temple of the Zhuji sect. It does not enshrine gods from all directions, but rather the Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother. There are no statues or other objects inside; it is just a nine-tiered white stone round platform.

At this time, offerings had already been placed below the Altar of Heaven and Earth, including pigs, cattle, and sheep, and more than a hundred priests dressed in strange costumes and wearing masks of gods and demons were preparing.

On the outer viewing platform were envoys from the Western Regions and the northern deserts. There were a few envoys from small, opportunistic countries. Xie Jinhuan had even met one of them at Empress He's birthday banquet. He had also met the envoy with the braided hair once on his way here and learned that he was Tuoba Zhe, the national advisor of the Shajie Kingdom.

Although the name "Grand Preceptor" sounds quite domineering, Shajie Kingdom is just a small country with a population of less than one million, so Tuoba Zhe is naturally practically invisible among the envoys.

The Great Qian and Northern Zhou were evenly matched, and the observers were positioned in the middle. Meanwhile, Fang Anguo, the Minister of Rites of Northern Zhou, who was accompanying the envoys, was still explaining the ceremony to the foreign envoys:
"This Altar of Heaven and Earth was built after the Human Emperor unified the world. The first Grand Priest was the ancestral sorcerer Zhu Man. Although it has been renovated and rebuilt several times over the next few thousand years, its location and layout have remained unchanged. The place where we are now is the place where the Human Emperor observed the ceremonies in ancient times..."

As the eldest princess, Zhao Ling served as a diplomatic ambassador. Her attire was much more luxurious than usual. She wore a light gold palace dress and a red hairpin. Her face, radiating peace and prosperity, perfectly showcased the demeanor of a princess in a prosperous era.

Since he was only there to go through the motions, Zhao Ling ignored the Northern Zhou officials' nonsense about upholding the great nation's heritage. Standing with Xie Jinhuan, he asked curiously:

"What's wrong with Qingmo?"

Linghu Qingmo also came over, but he did not stand in front of them. Instead, he watched and waited outside the platform with Fiji, Yang Dabiao and other entourage.

Xie Jinhuan felt that it was because on the way here, he and Momo had walked together, and in the cold winter weather, he had kindly helped warm Momo's hands, which had scared her away. When the landlady asked him, he simply said:

"Maybe it's because we're wearing the same color clothes, and we're afraid of being misunderstood if we stand together."

"Ugh……"

Zhao Ling was speechless at her good-for-nothing best friend. After a moment's thought, she decided to give this taciturn girl a little nudge. So she went up to Xie Jinhuan and began to recount the funny things that had happened at the parties these past few days:

"It's a pity you weren't here last night. I called Wang He over for drinks, and Zisu was there too. We had them play a game of 'Flying Flowers', and the loser had to take off a piece of clothing..."

"Um?!"

Xie Jinhuan had only been listening casually, but upon discovering the elaborate presentation, her gaze involuntarily turned towards it:
"Playing this high? Who lost?"

"The two were evenly matched, and in the end they both stripped naked; the scene was spectacular..."

They whispered to each other.

Outside the viewing platform, Linghu Qingmo stood guard with her sword drawn. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her best friend and boyfriend chatting and laughing intimately together. Her gaze turned strange as she looked at them curiously from afar and even tried to listen, but unfortunately, she couldn't hear anything from the distance, so she gave up.

? ?
Zhao Ling was stunned by this sight, thinking to herself—so generous? You don't even fight over whoever tries to steal your man; you probably really want to be the youngest...

Seeing that her best friend wasn't aggressive at all, Zhao Ling had no choice but to give up on trying to provoke her. While they were chatting, the sacrificial ceremony at the Altar of Heaven and Earth was ready. A shaman wearing a firebird mask stood on the Altar of Heaven and Earth and started beating a large drum. The shamans below who were assisting him also began to chant in unison.

"Dong dong dong..."

"Waaaaah~~..."

Xie Jinhuan had witnessed the musical prowess of the Witchcraft Cult in Luoyang and was not surprised to find that his emotions were stirred, resulting in solemnity and even tears welling up in his eyes.

But as the sacrificial ceremony continued, a gentle breeze began to blow through the originally clear sky, and then white mist began to gather above the Altar of Heaven and Earth, faintly creating a mirage.

The mirage is a magnificent palace that resembles a heavenly palace, so large that it seems otherworldly. Inside, auspicious beasts and birds roam freely, and on the central building that soars straight into the sky, the characters "Beiming" can be faintly seen.

Xie Jinhuan looked up at the mirage and felt that this couldn't possibly be a real place, and a question arose in his mind:
"How was this made?"

Ye Hongshang, carrying a small umbrella, stood beside him, observing and casually replied:
"The Witchcraft Cult is the oldest sect in the world, its lineage unbroken to this day. Its greatest strength lies in divine prayer techniques. The individual illusions of the Gu Poison Sect are merely a branch of the Sacrifice Sect's divine prayer techniques. This celestial phenomenon is not a mirage, but an illusion. Using large-scale illusions, it makes the people believe they are seeing the celestial realm; on the battlefield, it can also make both friendly and enemy troops see thousands of heavenly soldiers simultaneously, intimidating the enemy and boosting one's own morale..."

"Oh……"

Xie Jinhuan realized it was an illusion, nodded slightly, and treated it as a magic trick performed by the Zhuji Sect.

However, when the tribal envoys from the northern grasslands saw the legendary 'Northern Underworld Palace,' it was as if they had witnessed the manifestation of the true god they had worshipped for generations. Many of them immediately knelt down and worshipped to show their respect for their ancestors and the Northern Underworld God.

The soldiers and even the minor officials on guard duty mostly believed that there were gods watching over them, and the priests of the ritual sect were, in their eyes, messengers of the gods. They also looked at the magnificent sight in the sky with awe.

Originally, this sacrificial ceremony would last for half an hour, during which the illusions of the Northern Underworld Palace and the Northern Underworld God would appear in the sky, along with various auspicious omens that foretell favorable weather, abundant harvests, and national peace and prosperity.

But halfway through the ritual, a strange change occurred in the sky.

Xie Jinhuan was looking at the mirage in the sky, but as he looked, he noticed that the clouds that were originally floating in the air were gradually being dyed blood red, and a cold wind began to rise around him. The solemn atmosphere of the Temple of Heaven and Earth also turned into a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere.

The mirage quickly shifted from a magnificent palace to a ruin engulfed in flames, and then an illusion of a red-haired banshee appeared above the Altar of Heaven and Earth.

The red-haired demoness had a human face and a snake's body, covered in blood and radiating a terrifying demonic aura, but her face was that of Empress Dowager Guo. She bared her fangs and claws in the sky and let out a sinister laugh.

"Hahaha……"

"?" The scene changed so suddenly that everyone at the Altar of Heaven and Earth was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Ling, who had been observing intently, noticed an evil god suddenly appearing in the sky, resembling Empress Dowager Guo. Suspicious of the Northern Zhou court's intentions, she tilted her head and whispered:
"What does this mean? Are you trying to intimidate us?"

Xie Jinhuan felt that this method of harming the enemy by a hundred while damaging himself by ten thousand was not intimidation, but rather a live broadcast accident.

As he expected, before the many envoys could recover from their confusion, Fang Anguo, the Vice Minister of Rites, rushed forward and shouted anxiously:

"What are you doing?! Put it away now..."

The priests at the Altar of Heaven and Earth clearly sensed that something was wrong, but the chief priest had stopped his incantation and looked around, while the scene in the sky continued.

The envoy from the Shajie Kingdom, Tuoba Zhe, and several other foreign envoys from the grasslands, turned pale with fear and cried out in alarm:
"This is a divine oracle, a revelation from the God of the Northern Underworld..."

"The nation perished because of the Red Demon, and demons descended upon the Zhou lands. This must have angered the Northern God of the Underworld..."

The soldiers and attendants waiting on the perimeter, witnessing this horrifying change, descended into chaos:
"There are monsters..."

"Run away..."

……

With a few people leading the way, the more than one hundred envoys and even the surrounding crowd immediately became chaotic, with horses galloping and people running amok, instantly turning the entire Temple of Heaven into an uproar.

Upon seeing this scene, Xie Jinhuan immediately realized that someone was secretly causing trouble and trying to smear Empress Dowager Guo.

Although it was just a propaganda campaign, the fact that such a serious accident occurred during the imperial court's sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, which was observed by envoys from various countries, meant that the priests and Empress Dowager Guo could not escape blame, and rumors would spread throughout the Northern Zhou.

If handled calmly and the situation is brought under control in time, the situation may not be salvageable, but it will not escalate further.

However, the Northern Zhou's crisis management was completely haphazard. Fang Anguo, the Vice Minister of Rites who led the team, should have remained calm in the face of danger as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Instead, he abandoned many foreign envoys and rushed to the Temple of Heaven to make a ruckus without giving any orders to the accompanying officials, leaving his subordinates completely bewildered.

The Beiming Sect shaman in charge of the sacrifice was unable to conceal the celestial illusion and wanted to find the culprit, but he also had to explain to the Ministry of Rites, leaving him feeling overwhelmed.

Then the entire Temple of Heaven and Earth descended into chaos, and under the influence of certain individuals, it escalated into an irreversible stampede.

Linghu Qingmo, Yang Dabiao, and the others were also wondering about the strange changes in the sky. When they discovered the commotion around them, they immediately led their team to the viewing platform to provide assistance, but they were blocked by the chaotic crowd and could not get through.

Realizing something was wrong, Xie Jinhuan quickly put his arm around Zhao Ling's shoulder and pushed through the panicked crowd:
"Someone is causing trouble in secret. Go back to the convoy first, and I'll go find the person."

Zhao Ling was also a martial artist. After receiving the divine gift of the military supervisor and taking a Vitality Pill, although her strength was not as great as Xie Jinhuan's, she was not a delicate young lady who would break at the slightest touch. At this moment, she did not panic, but simply followed him outside:

"Let it be chaotic. It's Empress Dowager Guo's problem anyway, why are you worrying about it?"

Xie Jinhuan couldn't easily explain that Empress Dowager Guo's affairs were his affairs, so he simply explained:
"This might be the work of the Red Witch Cult, and it's definitely related to what happened in Lishan..."

After exchanging only a few words, Ye Hongshang, who was floating in front of him, locked onto a three-story watchtower on the northeast side of the Temple of Heaven and Earth based on the hidden flow of the celestial illusion:
"The person is hiding inside the watchtower."

Upon seeing this, Xie Jinhuan immediately went to look at the indicated location, only to find that the other party seemed to have been watching his every move from beginning to end!
The instant he turned his head to look, the red-haired banshee who had dyed half the sky crimson vanished into thin air, followed by the ghost's warning:

"Ran."

"Grass……"

Xie Jinhuan knew the opportunity would be fleeting, so he immediately picked up his landlady and sped towards the watchtower, stepping over the heads of the crowd.

Zhao Ling was somewhat puzzled by this, but still grabbed a knife from one of the surrounding soldiers:

"Is he over there?"

"Yes, they wanted to run away..."

Xie Jinhuan sped towards the watchtower, but after only a few feet, he saw a window on the watchtower burst open and a figure leap down and disappear into the countryside. He immediately increased his speed.

But Fang Anguo, the Vice Minister of Rites who had been in a state of utter confusion just moments before, perhaps because his hallucinations had dissipated, now seemed to have regained his senses and began to shout from afar:
"Everyone, don't panic! Quickly return to the viewing platform; all soldiers and even shamans, listen to my command, protect our friendly envoy at all costs, and await the arrival of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices... Your Highness, please come back quickly, it's dangerous over there... Quickly, stop them, don't let anything go wrong..."

The priest in charge of the ceremony, and even the military officer maintaining order, finally heard the correct instructions and found their way. They hurriedly protected the bewildered envoys and chased after Xie Jinhuan and his companion.

"Your Highness, there are bound to be bandits causing trouble here. Your life is of utmost importance; you must not take any risks..."

Xie Jinhuan had just rushed out when he found that people from the Northern Zhou court were blocking his way from all sides to protect him. He was speechless.

But since everyone's reactions to the commands were normal, he couldn't figure out who was secretly controlling the situation. For the time being, he could only bypass the surrounding imperial military officers and chase after the person who had escaped from the watchtower...

(End of this chapter)