Chapter 297

Chapter 297: An Honored Guest Visits, Why Not Come Out and Talk
Star Reaching Mountain got its name because its peak was so high it seemed you could pluck the stars with your hand.

Right now, under the cover of night, the sky full of stars looked like waves under the sun, sparkling with countless points of light.

Even though a heavy stone weighed on Wei Ying and the others’ hearts, when they saw such a beautiful view, their minds still wavered and their eyes shone.

Hua Tu watched their fascinated faces and let out a soft snort.

His gaze moved around and finally settled on Yu Zhao, who was sitting with her eyes closed, resting and regulating her breathing.

Yu Zhao felt his stare, lifted her eyelids, and gave him a calm look.

He quickly turned his head away, looking guilty.

Yu Zhao was long used to Hua Tu’s jumpy nature. She closed her eyes again and went on meditating.

After a while, Hua Tu could not fight his own instinct. His eyes kept sneaking toward Yu Zhao.

Afraid she would catch him again, he did not dare look for long. His gaze would touch her and then dart away at once.

His mood was very complicated, just like the feeling Yu Zhao herself gave him.

Back when he had first met Yu Zhao in the Dragon Pool Mountains, he had already been drawn to the unique air around her and had felt a strong curiosity about her.

Later facts proved that he had not been wrong. Yu Zhao really was not the same kind of being as him.

She was a cultivator, and one of the few Heaven’s Chosen among cultivators.

Hua Tu had thought Yu Zhao would be proud and aloof, like snow on a mountaintop or the moon in the clouds, seeming close yet actually far beyond reach.

But the truth had completely surprised him. The cold and quiet Yu Zhao not only won over that group of troublesome fox cubs, she also stepped forward in a crisis and used herself as bait to trade back the stolen youngling.

You could say that Yu Zhao was the most “different inside and out” person Hua Tu had ever met.

Exactly because she was so complex and full of contradictions, Hua Tu only wanted more to understand Yu Zhao’s heart and figure out which side of her was the real one.

While Hua Tu still had the energy to think about such things, Wei Ying and the others only felt mentally and physically exhausted.

On one hand, they wanted to see the kidnapped children as soon as possible. On the other hand, they felt deep fear toward the evil group called the Heaven’s Retribution Cult.

The two tangled emotions made them feel like they were being roasted back and forth on an iron plate. The torment was hard to bear.

Finally, when the stars faded and the sun rose in the east, the dead-silent Star Reaching Mountain suddenly came back to life. The missing sounds of wind and insects returned all at once.

Wei Ying and the others knew danger was coming. They were so tense they did not even dare breathe too loudly. Their hands pressed on their own storage spaces, ready to pull out magical artifacts at any moment.

After almost half an hour, the sound of heavy things being moved suddenly came from far away. Then came voices, and footsteps that grew clearer and clearer as they came closer.

“Hurry, line them up in their set positions. Ritual boys on the left, ritual girls on the right. You absolutely cannot mix up the order!”

“You lot, move your hands and feet faster. Do not delay the Lord Envoy’s sacrifice ceremony!”

“The Saintess goes on the center pillar. Tie her tight. Do not let her break free in the middle of the offering!”

“……”

A group of people hurried up to the altar. Under the commands of two Golden Core cultivators, the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators took sleeping ritual boys and ritual girls out of the baskets they carried and tied them one by one to the jade pillars along the edge of the altar.

Hua Tu poked the frowning Yu Zhao with a finger and whispered, “Is the one in the center the person you came to find?”

Yu Zhao nodded silently.

She had never seen Han Xinlan before, but judging from the young woman’s face, it was almost certainly her.

As expected, the Ancestor of the Tu Clan had brought her here.

“The ninety-eight ritual boys and ritual girls and the Saintess are all here. Should we act now?”

Hua Tu was still thinking about whether the most popular story in South Wind City had released a new chapter. He did not want to stay in this awful place even a bit longer.

“Wait a little longer.”

Yu Zhao was not just here to save people. Her plan was to wipe out the Heaven’s Retribution Cult in one go so they could not hurt any more children.

On the other side, Wei Ying and the others were also debating whether to reveal themselves to rescue the victims.

All six of them were Golden Core cultivators and elite disciples of their sect. It would not be hard at all for them to deal with the evil cultivators on the altar.

But the key problem was that any sound from their fight would surely draw other enemies.

If there really was a Nascent Soul old fiend sitting in command on Star Reaching Mountain, the commotion they caused would bring that person over, and they would become turtles trapped in a jar, with no way to escape death.

But if they stayed still, once the time of the sacrifice came, the young children would be turned into innocent offerings. Then their talk of saving people would become empty words.

“Honored guests have come to visit. Why not come out and have a talk?”

Before the voice even finished, Wei Ying and the others, who had been hiding in a restriction ward, were forced out of the space by an invisible power and exposed in the open.

The dozen or so cultivators on the altar all stopped what they were doing. They clasped their fists and bowed toward the center of the altar.

When Wei Ying saw the three people who had suddenly appeared in the center of the altar, it felt like a hole had opened in her chest. Cold wind howled through and filled her with icy dread.

They had guessed wrong, and badly wrong.

There was not just one Nascent Soul old fiend on Star Reaching Mountain.

There were three.

The one in the lead had an ordinary face, but his eyes were as deep and unfathomable as the sea. Just the way his gaze opened and closed made him even more frightening than the elders of her sect.

The other two were a little weaker in presence, but their thick auras still showed that their strength could not be taken lightly.

Wei Ying knew that something had gone terribly wrong. She clenched her teeth and forced herself not to show any fear.

“Honored guests, your sudden visit has caught us unprepared. If our welcome is lacking, please forgive us.” Tian Pu Zi showed a deep, unreadable smile, then turned his head to speak to the Ancestor of the Tu Clan on his right. “This is the first time our Heaven’s Retribution Cult holds a sacrifice. We must let our guests feel our sincerity.”

“I understand.”

The Ancestor of the Tu Clan bowed his head and answered respectfully. Then he turned to Wei Ying and the others and made a welcoming gesture: “Everyone, the sacrifice is about to begin. Please follow me to take your seats and watch.”

“Senior Sister, what should we do?”

Junior Sister Ning, Junior Brother Sha, and the others stood frozen on the spot, completely at a loss, and asked Wei Ying.

Wei Ying actually had no idea either.

But she was sure of one thing: Tian Pu Zi had definitely not invited them to watch out of kindness.

“Since we have already been exposed, we might as well agree first and see what they are really planning.”

If you stick your neck out, it is a knife. If you shrink your neck back, it is still a knife. It was better to be decisive.

After speaking, Wei Ying took the first step forward.

Junior Sister Ning and the others had no choice but to follow.

Under the Ancestor of the Tu Clan’s guidance, the six of them walked to the front of the altar and stopped.

Then the Ancestor of the Tu Clan took out tables and chairs to match their number from his storage space. After he set them up neatly, he invited Wei Ying and the others to sit.

Once they had all taken their seats, Tian Pu Zi suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha, today is bound to be a good day. Wonderful, wonderful!”

His laughter was like the switch to some strange mechanism. The Ancestor of the Tu Clan and the others all laughed along with him, and it was clear that their laughter came from the heart, not from any forced act.

When the laughter reached Hua Tu’s ears, his face darkened. The casual lightness in his eyes had long been replaced by deep worry.

These people were even harder to deal with than he had thought.