Chapter 298

Chapter 298: Should an Unlikable Child Die?
Hua Tu looked at Yu Zhao again.

He saw that Yu Zhao’s face was blank and her eyes were calm, completely different from the worry she had shown before.

He was a little surprised, but his heart quietly settled down as well.

Handling those three might be a bit troublesome, but with him and Yu Zhao here, it would not be a big problem.

The Flower Leopard Beast from the Wild Beast Jungle was just that confident.

At that moment, the altar was finally set up.

Besides the Ritual Boys and Ritual Girls tied to the jade pillars, there were countless Spirit Fruits and sticks of incense placed on the altar.

A dozen or so cultivators were holding ritual Magical Artifacts and stood around the base of the altar in fixed positions.

A Golden Core cultivator stepped forward to ask for instructions.

Tian Pu Zi smiled slightly: “The auspicious time is almost here. Get ready to begin.”

“Yes.”

The Golden Core cultivator accepted the order and backed away. Soon, smoke curled up from the altar, and the sleeping young children started to open their eyes one after another.

Seeing the strange place around them, their tender faces were full of fear.

Right after that, they opened their mouths and wailed out loud, tears and snot rolling down together.

Half-awake Han Xinlan was startled awake by their sharp cries. She instinctively tried to find where the crying came from. When she focused her gaze, her awareness snapped back, and she instantly remembered everything that had happened before she passed out.

Her hateful gaze shot toward the Ancestor of the Tu Clan as she shouted angrily: “Old Man Tu, I am a disciple of Hundred Flowers Valley. If you hurt me, my sect will never let you go!”

The Ancestor of the Tu Clan’s eyes flickered for a moment, but when he thought about the beautiful future Tian Pu Zi had drawn for him, he hardened his resolve and ignored Han Xinlan’s threat.

Hearing Han Xinlan reveal her identity, Wei Ying and the others could not help feeling their hearts tighten.

These people did not even put Hundred Flowers Valley in their eyes. They probably would not give Tai Bai Academy any face either.

And now that they knew who Han Xinlan was, it meant they also knew these people’s biggest leverage.

If these people had even half a brain, they would never let them leave alive.

Wei Ying looked up at Han Xinlan on the altar, full of rage and hatred, and the struggle in her own eyes only grew stronger.

With the crying and shouting as background noise, Tian Pu Zi was not affected at all. Wearing a sorrowful, compassionate smile, he walked up the altar one step at a time.

The Ancestor of the Tu Clan, another Nascent Soul old fiend, and the rest of the cult followers stared at him without blinking, their eyes almost fanatical, listening to him like they were drunk on his words.

When Tian Pu Zi first started speaking, Wei Ying crossed her arms over her chest, clearly resistant as she listened to his Heaven’s Retribution teachings.

But she did not know when her arms slid down to rest on her thighs, then slowly folded together in front of her stomach.

Her junior brothers and junior sisters reacted in almost the same way. The minds of the whole group were quietly changing without anyone noticing.

The huge shift before and after caught Hua Tu’s attention.

He could not hide the urgency in his voice: “Yu Zhao, they are being controlled.”

It was not control of their bodies, but control of their hearts.

Every sentence Tian Pu Zi spoke was actually a layer of mental shackle. Even if his words were illogical, after he repeated them again and again, they would become an invisible chain that made people believe him without question.

Hua Tu was naturally impatient, and seeing their allies switch sides made him even more anxious, like an ant on a hot pan.

Yu Zhao actually smiled.

She had thought Tian Pu Zi had some amazing innate ability. She did not expect it to be similar to her own Illusion Art, using Soul Force to influence people’s state of mind.

His spell had an even more fitting name: Puppet Arts.

The so-called Heaven’s Retribution Cult teachings were nothing but a cover, meant to trick outsiders who knew nothing.

Using “helping them break through” as a lever, he pried open the mental defenses of the Ancestor of the Tu Clan and that Nascent Soul old fiend, turning the two of them into his puppets.

The two of them were completely unaware. They even treated him as the envoy of a god and swore to follow him to the death.

Yu Zhao explained the key points to Hua Tu, but Hua Tu still did not quite understand.

“I listened to his preaching too. Why were his Puppet Arts useless on me?”

Hua Tu had listened for a long time and only felt that Tian Pu Zi was noisy. He had not felt there was anything impressive about him at all. As for that Heaven’s Retribution doctrine, it had sounded even more absurd.

“That is because I was beside you, dissolving his Soul Attack.”

Yu Zhao rolled her eyes at him.

Seeing that he did not believe her, Yu Zhao waved her hand and removed the Defensive Barrier around him.

Hua Tu almost instantly felt the change when the Defensive Barrier disappeared.

The most obvious thing was that he had originally scoffed at Tian Pu Zi’s words, but after hearing his voice now, he could not help paying attention to what he was saying and even started to think about it.

It was like a clueless sheep, quietly walking step by step into the hunter’s trap without noticing.

Realizing what was happening, Hua Tu broke out in a cold sweat and looked to Yu Zhao for help.

Yu Zhao waved her hand and cut off Tian Pu Zi’s voice again. A faint smile hung on her lips: “No need to panic. He will not be laughing for much longer.”

Now that she had figured out Tian Pu Zi’s trick, how could Yu Zhao not send him a big gift in return?

Tian Pu Zi finished his sermon. Next came the most critical part: offering sacrifices to the Heavenly Dao.

The sacrifices were those ninety-eight Ritual Boys and Ritual Girls, as well as the pure and flawless saintess, Han Xinlan.

The first step of the sacrifice was the Bloodletting Prayer.

Tian Pu Zi took a small knife from his sleeve and slowly swept his gaze over the people standing below the altar.

His cult disciples lifted their heads proudly and could not wait to be chosen.

Wei Ying and the other five were struggling, their expressions twisted.

“Since we have such honored guests visiting today, both by reason and by courtesy, this first cut should be given to our far-traveled customers. Let me see… why not give it to the young friend in white in the middle?”

Junior Sister Ning’s face froze.

She was the only one from Tai Bai Academy wearing white.

He wanted her to go up and bleed someone?

She almost shook her head the very next moment to refuse.

Tian Pu Zi beamed at her: “Young friend, there is no need to be shy. This Heaven-Praying Ritual is a great blessing and a chance that others beg for and still cannot obtain. If you do not believe me, ask them.”

Junior Sister Ning stiffly turned her head. As expected, she saw that group glaring at her like hungry tigers staring at prey.

Junior Sister Ning herself did not change her mind. Their reactions only scared her more, and she became even more unwilling to go up on the altar.

Tian Pu Zi’s smile faded a little, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Junior Sister Ning felt a chill sweep over her. In the next instant, her body suddenly stopped listening to her. Against her will, she slowly walked up onto the altar.

Under her horrified gaze, she took the small knife from Tian Pu Zi’s hand and turned to walk toward the little girl closest to her.

The girl looked six or seven years old. She was old enough to remember things and old enough to sense danger.

Seeing Junior Sister Ning come toward her with the knife, her tears fell like beads from a broken string, pouring down her cheeks. The round little face flushed bright red.

Junior Sister Ning watched the girl cry so hard she could hardly breathe. Junior Sister Ning’s heart felt like it had been crushed into pieces. Clear tears overflowed from the corners of her eyes, and her resistance only grew stronger.

“Can’t bear to do it? It is fine. You still have another choice. I think that chubby one looks pretty good.”

Junior Sister Ning’s body turned in the direction of Tian Pu Zi’s words. At a glance, she saw a young boy tied tightly to another jade pillar.

His body was twice as big as the boys beside him, his features squashed out of shape by the extra fat. On top of that, his voice was harsh. He really did look very unlikable.

But should an unlikable child die for that reason?