——Inside Zhaoyang City——
The Lord stood on the tower and looked down at the whole city.
The water on the ground was up to the surface of his shoes. Most importantly, many houses were crumbling in the wind and rain, and he felt worried when he looked at them.
Except for the rich who are willing to build houses with blue bricks and large tiles, many ordinary people still live in mud brick houses. These houses have experienced heavy rains, snowstorms, and exposure to the sun in the past year. Now that they are soaked in water, he is worried that they will not be able to withstand it.
He turned around, with worry and a hint of request on his face, "Madam, it has rained enough now, can we start praying for sunshine?"
When it doesn’t rain, it’s natural to pray for rain; when it rains too much, it’s natural to pray for sunshine.
This is a sacrificial ceremony that has been passed down for a long time. Not to mention that it is not uncommon in years of disaster, it is also common in years of good weather.
Sometimes, in order to prevent the construction of bridges, city gates and other fortifications from being interrupted, the government will also hold a prayer ceremony for clear weather.
Most of the time, it is carried out during the spring plowing and autumn harvest seasons. During the rainy season, a prayer ceremony is held to pray for the rain to stop and the sky to clear up, so as to protect farming.
Nowadays, when there is heavy rain, it is considered a waterlogging disaster, so it is only natural to hold a ceremony to pray for clear weather.
A slight smile appeared on the corner of Mrs. Lianhua's mouth, like the white lotus blooming slowly in the lake, looking extremely gentle.
The master couldn't help but feel itchy in his heart when he saw it, but he still remembered not to offend the master.
"Sir, of course it is possible, but when praying for rain, human blood was used. Now if you want to pray for sunshine, you also need human blood. The two are connected, and it can be regarded as a wish to God."
"Yes, yes, yes." The Lord nodded, "What Madam said is very reasonable. You must fulfill your wish."
When people go to temples to pray for the Buddha's blessings, they still need to fulfill their wishes.
"However," Mrs. Lianhua changed her subject, and her gentle voice said chilling words, "the number of people to be sacrificed must be increased."
"This?" The Lord was a little hesitant. He prayed for rain a few days ago, but only half of the sacrificers were still alive. Now if we do it again, we still need to add more people? There are not many people left in this city.
But these houses are about to be destroyed, and we cannot replace all the people who live in mud-brick houses with better houses. Moreover, temporary relief is not as good as fundamentally solving the problem.
He gritted his teeth and could only nod, "In my opinion, Madam, how much should I add?"
Mrs. Lotus fiddled with the red round beads in her hand, with a rope tied to the other end, swinging back and forth. She lowered her eyes, covered her eyes, and calmly uttered three words, "Double each."
The prefect was stunned on the spot, which meant that the three together needed nearly 400 people. But there were only nine hundred people left in their city. Do you want to give half?
Is it possible to brave the heavy rain to arrest all the refugees outside the city?
"We can arrest all the refugees, but this baby..."
"Now is Qingqing. The more yang energy, the better. Infants and children are not needed. Just replace it with a man over 15 years old."
The Lord Magistrate took a deep breath, but looking into Madam Lianhua's dark eyes, he could not disobey and subconsciously said, "Yes."
On the third day of the heavy rain, the people gathered in front of the high altar again, but by this time, the number of people in the audience had been reduced by nearly half.
The missing half of the people changed from spectators to players, and to people making sacrifices on the stage.
A few days ago, the priest praying for rain was still lying in bed and resting.
Their faces were pale, they had no medicine, no meat, and not even a bowl of dry rice. How could they be considered recuperating? I lay down for several days and couldn't even get up.
This time, the gap was too big, so the Lord directly ordered the officials to arrest all the refugees outside the city, and forcibly took away the people who met the requirements in the city to serve as sacrifices.
The people's trust in the Sixteenth Altar has reached its peak, and even if they are afraid, they dare not disobey it.
The water in the well is overflowing again, and the corners of the wall are cracked and crumbling. Now they just hope that the rain will light up again, and they are willing to pay a little blood.
Everyone knelt down, faced the green dragon, and shouted loudly, "May the rain stop and the sky be clear, and may the weather be smooth in the coming year..."
The heavy rain hit Mrs. Lianhua's face, and the stinging sensation made her more awake.
She closed her eyes and said silently, "I hope I will never be a human again in the next life."
The people were kneeling in the rain to pray. Suddenly, there was an earth-shattering rumbling sound.
The guard standing on the high building looked in the direction of the rumbling sound, his face changed drastically, he waved his hand downwards and shouted, "The flood is coming! Run!"
But the sound of heavy rain and rumbling drowned out his voice, and no one heard his cry. Just watching him dancing, I thought he was dancing along with the sacrificial ceremony.
"Rumble--"
The sound got closer and closer, and everyone realized something was wrong and ran away quickly. But it's too late.
The flood instantly destroyed the city.
"Ahhhh——"
"Help, help -"
Some people were swept away instantly, some grabbed the driftwood and floated on the water, and some ran desperately to the tower.
But the city tower had also experienced hundreds of years of damage, and it collapsed when it was washed away by floods. Along with the guards upstairs, no one was spared.
Some people hurriedly remembered that they wanted the masters from the sixteen altars to open an altar to pray for God's mercy again.
"Master! Where is the master?"
They couldn't see any trace of the masters, and their faces turned pale.
The altar collapsed, and the masters of the sixteen altars were the first to be washed away...
