Chapter 384: The Wrath of the Gods
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Old Master Su’s temples throbbed violently.
A wave of dizziness washed over him, and his body fell stiffly backward.
“Old Master!” Nan Mu Bai, standing behind him, rushed forward in a panic to support him.
The old man’s body remained rigid, his eyes bulging as if they would pop out of their sockets.
His breathing was labored, gasping as though his life was hanging by a thread, his throat producing a rattling sound.
“Close… quick…”
His hair and beard were already white with age, and he had barely managed to hold on after the tragic death of the ancestral patriarch and the inferno that had consumed the Su household.
Now, upon seeing that pitch-black pot of Turtle Herbal Jelly, his entire mindset shattered.
He had spent his entire life devoutly worshipping the old ancestor, but now his bloodshot eyes reflected a collapsing Dao heart.
“Close… quickly…” His gaze fixated on Lu Chao Chao as she scooped up the potful and packed it into a food container.
“Close… the Stone Mirror!” The old master lunged forward, trying to block the mirror from view.
“Why does this food container look so familiar? It resembles the one Old Master brought back before.”
“Yes, just like the one from which we shared the Immortal Herb Ointment…”
“Immortal… Immortal Herb Ointment?” A sudden realization dawned upon one of the clan members, his face frozen in horror.
His gaze fell upon the Stone Mirror, and he took a staggering step back…
“Immortal Herb Ointment!!” He shrieked, vomiting blood as spiritual energy burst out of him, his Dao heart crumbling on the spot.
He clutched his head in madness, his eyes filled with fear and terror. “Ah! Ah! I ate the Immortal Herb Ointment! I ate it!!”
Before the surrounding clan members could react, his frantic wails echoed again.
“Immortal Herb Ointment is just another name for Turtle Herbal Jelly!!”
“Old Master brought back the ancestor!”
“I ate it… I ate the ancestor whom we worshipped every day!! Urgh…”
With that, he shoved his fingers down his throat, retching as he collapsed to the ground, sobbing and vomiting uncontrollably.
The Su clan members stood rooted in place, their minds completely blank.
Ate? Ate what??
Then they saw the old master’s body go weak as he slowly slumped before the Stone Mirror. Within the mirror’s reflection…
The old master, carrying a food container, returned to the estate.
Each clan member received a bowl, one after another, eating heartily and with satisfaction…
“Pffft!”
“It was the old ancestor! We ate the flesh of our old ancestor!!”
“This disciple deserves death! This disciple deserves death! I consumed the ancestor’s flesh! This disciple deserves death…”
The realization struck them like a heavenly punishment. The Su clan disciples convulsed as their faith shattered into nothingness.
The Mystic Turtle Ancestor had existed for a millennium.
It had been the Su clan’s guardian deity, protecting them through generations.
Every newborn in the clan had been carried before the ancestor to receive its blessing.
To serve the ancestor was the highest honor.
It was the pillar of the Su clan.
The very foundation of their faith.
But now…
They had devoured its flesh, shattering their centuries-old belief! Many disciples coughed up blood as the truth crushed their spirits.
Old Master Su nearly fainted from the sheer horror.
Nan Mu Bai’s scalp went numb, an icy chill rushing from his feet to the top of his head.
Lu Chao Chao, how could you dare?!
Lu Chao Chao grimaced at the sight, then grabbed Xie Yu Zhou and tiptoed toward the ancestral altar.
As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, they bolted at full speed.
The Su family worshipped deities, and every separate courtyard had its own altar.
“Oh no, I’m going to be torn to pieces, aren’t I?”
“The Su clan is losing their minds,” Xie Yu Zhou muttered as he ran beside her.
The closer they got to the altar, the clearer the wailing cries became.
“It’s inside the altar!” Xie Yu Zhou whispered, pointing toward the towering structure.
In the center of the Su estate stood a grand, circular sacrificial altar, adorned with offerings. Stairs on both sides led to the top.
Lu Chao Chao flicked a burst of spiritual energy forward, causing the patrolling guards to collapse softly to the ground.
Xie Yu Zhou pressed against the wall, tapping in search of a hidden entrance. “Where’s the secret door? Brother, help me find it…”
Windchaser scratched at the ground with his front paws.
The black-clad youth hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
“I must not interfere in mortal karma.” He watched Lu Chao Chao in silence.
Lu Chao Chao stood in a corner with her eyes tightly shut, listening closely.
The faint cries of children, fragile and full of despair.
The wind rustling through leaves, lifting the dust off the ground.
Though her eyes remained closed, the world whispered its secrets to her ears.
“Follow me.” She opened her large, round eyes.
She began counting the bricks along the left staircase against the wall. Upon reaching the ninth stone, she gently pushed.
Sure enough…
A stone door creaked open.
“It really was here! Ugh, the stench is overwhelming!” Xie Yu Zhou gagged, nearly retching.
Inside the altar, lanterns flickered dimly, but the air was thick with an ominous presence.
The moment Lu Chao Chao and her group stepped inside, the stone door shut heavily behind them.
“Don’t be scared, don’t be scared! I’m the lead lackey, I’ll go first.”
“Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. If the sky collapses, Chao Chao will hold it up…” Xie Yu Zhou gulped and shivered as he moved forward.
Within the altar, a spiral staircase led downward.
Darkness loomed at the bottom, utterly devoid of light, like the gaping maw of a monster waiting to consume them.
The cries of despair emanated from below.
Lu Chao Chao pulled Xie Yu Zhou behind her and raised a Night-Luminescent Pearl to light the path ahead.
Step by step, they descended into the abyss.
The darkness pressed in around them, and even the sound of their own heartbeats seemed amplified.
As their feet touched solid ground, a sticky sensation spread beneath their soles. Xie Yu Zhou crouched down, touched the surface, and brought it to his nose…
A wave of metallic stench nearly knocked him out.
Lu Chao Chao held up the Night-Luminescent Pearl.
His hands were covered in blood.
“Chao Chao!! They… they wouldn’t be conducting live sacrifices, would they?!”
Live sacrifice—an act condemned even among the wicked.
She had already suspected as much when she saw the countless white bones beneath the ancestral hall.
Lu Chao Chao’s face darkened.
Holding up the Night-Luminescent Pearl, she pressed forward cautiously.
Blood. Everywhere. Dried and fresh, thick and layered.
“I wanna go home…”
“I wanna go home… Daddy, Mommy, I wanna go home…”
“Help… Somebody, help us…”
The weak, pitiful cries echoed.
Passing through a narrow tunnel, their vision opened up.
Lanterns lined the walls. Lu Chao Chao looked up…
Dozens of children were bound to wooden frames, their wrists dripping blood onto the ground below.
Blood channels carved into the stone floor formed a monstrous sacrificial formation.
Pools of blood gathered at its core, an eerie and ominous ritual site.
In the corners, countless tiny skeletons piled up—some bodies still fresh, contorted in unnatural angles, their eyes frozen wide with terror.
Their young lives had been extinguished here.
Xie Yu Zhou took one look and burst into tears.
“This is a living hell! Chao Chao, this is a living hell!!” He had never lost control like this before.
The Su clan deserved annihilation.