Chaotic sounds echoed in the cave, with dozens of figures leaning on each other, each holding a torch high and letting the sparks burn their hands.
They wore black robes and their waists were covered with brass metal ornaments, many of which were stained with blood.
The shapes of the jewelry are twisted and deformed monsters, and there are obvious traces of sand polishing on the surface. It has obviously been used for at least several months.
The atmosphere in the cave was terrifyingly depressing.
They looked at each other in silence, their appearances covered by black robes, as if they were deliberately hiding something.
After a while, the leading middle-aged man stood up and walked to the center of the cave holding a torch. The fire suddenly illuminated the area within five meters.
I saw an altar made of piled gravel sitting in the cave, with a thick layer of blood on the surface, giving it a disgusting color.
There are also a large number of animal bones and a few human bones placed around the altar. The bones are extremely twisted and deformed.
Obviously, although the altar was temporarily built, sacrifices often appeared.
The middle-aged man stepped on the ground with his right foot and made a strange tone in his mouth, causing everyone to stand up and make the same movement.
"Huha..."
"Huha..."
They roared like wild beasts and shook their torches vigorously.
Against the backdrop of the firelight, looming patterns appeared on the stone wall, which turned out to be strange and inexplicable monsters.
Monsters seem to be covered with plant roots and are located deep in the earth, absorbing nutrients from the soil and giving birth to twisted things.
The ceremony lasted for several hours, but the altar obviously lacked a statue for worship. It might be the immortal god they believed in, which could not be identified with the naked eye.
After a long time, the cave returned to calm.
They half-knelt on the ground, clasped their hands and continued to recite scriptures. Even hunger and fatigue could not make the man in black robe move even half a step.
The leading middle-aged man was the only one with his eyes open. His expression was slightly sad, and his arms behind his back could not help but tremble slightly.
He stared at the mural blankly until the skinny man next to him asked softly.
"Gaomiaozhu, can the immortal god really respond to our request?"
"Wu Jian."
"Are you doubting me or the Earth Ancestor?"
Gao Miaozhu was like a wild cat whose tail was stepped on. The cowardice in his eyes was gone, and he stared at the opponent sharply.
He knew that the more difficult he was in, the less he could be soft-hearted.
After hiding in the cave for several months, all supplies had been exhausted. All Gao Miaozhu could do was suppress the pain in his body with faith and wait for a turnaround.
Wu Jian couldn't help but open his mouth, but finally chose not to speak, but his eyes still stayed on the mural.
The cave was silent except for the sound of heavy breathing. Gao Miaozhu kept moving around in the cave, his expression becoming more and more anxious.
I don’t know how long it had passed, but there was a sound of metal hitting stone outside the cave, with a frequency of three long and two short for several minutes.
Gao Miaozhu was overjoyed. He quickly came to the entrance of the cave, took out a brass rod from his arms, and responded to the knocking at different frequencies.
The sound outside the cave disappeared immediately, and a figure walked towards Gaomiao Zhu in embarrassment. As soon as he reached the entrance of the cave, he staggered and fell to the ground.
Gao Miaozhu supported the figure, and an unpleasant smell of blood hit his face, which showed that the figure was seriously injured.
"Daozhang Lu, you should have found traces of the immortal bones, right?"
"Well...fortunately I did not disgrace my life."
Daochang Lu's throat was hoarse, blood was constantly flowing from the corners of his mouth, and from time to time he could hear uncontrollable coughs.
All the men in black robes looked at Taoist Master Lu, who stood tremblingly beside the stone wall, and then opened his Taoist robe.
Taoist Master Lu took off his Taoist robe that was already stuck to his skin. The pain made him hoarse and grin.
There were penetrating wounds of various sizes all over his body. Many of the wounds had stopped bleeding, but most of them were still rotting and bleeding.
Judging from the appearance of Lu Daoren, there are very few traces of alienation. There are only fish gill-like organs on the neck, which are almost the same as the mortals before the disaster.
"This immortal bone is placed in the Confucius Temple in Li County. It is really... difficult to obtain. I used my own disciples to offer sacrifices to get some opportunities."
Gaomiao Zhu shuddered. At that time, Taoist Master Lu had taken away more than twenty disciples before leaving, but they all died in the Confucius Temple.
However, as long as you get the immortal bones, all sacrifices are meaningful.
Daochang Lu put his index finger into his mouth, took out the bullet stuck between his teeth, and removed the dirt on the surface with a pinch of his fingers.
There is actually a fingertip bone of the little finger hidden in the projectile. The whole thing is like agar-agar white jade, emitting a faint light in the cave.
The men in black robes took a breath, and they looked at the knuckles with burning eyes.
"Become an immortal and attain the Tao."
"It really is an immortal bone. He has become an immortal. He is about to become an immortal."
Several of them cried with joy, slashed their wrists with sharp brass knives, soaked the altar with blood, and sang praises to the immortal god named Earth Ancestor.
Taoist Master Lu did not hesitate to cut off his little finger and wash the immortal bones with the blood from his fingertips. He could not help but murmur to himself feverishly: "For the coming of the Earth Ancestor, the Earth Ancestor will eventually come."
Gao Miaozhu said equally piously: "Yes, for the coming of Earth Ancestor."
Wu Jian couldn't help but glance at his phalanges, pretending to follow the chanting scriptures, but in fact he was hiding the greed in his eyes.
After the phalanges are clean as new, they are placed on a disc made of brass.
Immediately, Gao Miaozhu took off his Taoist robe, revealing his alienated body with only his chest, and then picked up the brass knife washed with blood.
He gritted his teeth and stabbed into his abdomen, cutting open the flesh and stomach, and took out something from inside.
That bone is also the little finger, which happens to be the last two joints. It is the same as the joints that Daochang Lu found, and belongs to the right hand.
Gao Miaozhu weakly picked up the finger bones and let the bones touch each other.
Only a crisp sound was heard, and the little finger bones fit together to form a complete finger.
They stared in fascination, their eyes filled with unconcealable reverence.
After a few brief moments of calm, the things in the cave suddenly floated into suspension, and an invisible aura of terror emanated from the finger bones.
boom! ! !
Immediately afterwards, all the torches were extinguished in unison, and the finger bones became colorful.
Dreamlike light and shadow radiated from the gaps between the finger bones, and various fungi in the cave grew rapidly, and soon grew to half a meter in size.
The fungus released spores and penetrated into the body of the man in black robe.
The men in black robes showed expressions of enjoyment. Their injuries were recovering rapidly, and Gao Miaozhu and Taoist Lu were no longer weak.
They took off their black robes, and their bodies were only slightly alienated. Under the influence of their finger bones, their skin turned translucent.
The blood mixed with spores flows throughout the body and eventually converges on the heart, causing the heart to undergo unusual changes.
The alienation on the man in black robe gradually faded away due to the relationship between his finger bones.
Only Daozhang Lu, apart from his colorful heart, his kidneys seemed to be shrouded in gray Yin Qi, causing his abdomen to be covered with frost.
After the finger bones glowed for more than half an hour, the cave fell into silence again. Everyone closed their eyes with unfinished thoughts and felt the difference in themselves.
Daochang Lu woke up first.
He opened his eyes and looked around. After seeing everyone's apparently ordinary appearance, his eyes were bloodshot and tears could not stop flowing down.
Daochang Lu couldn't suppress his fear and couldn't help lying on the ground and retching.
It wasn't until the others showed signs of waking up that Taoist Master Lu braced himself up and warned in a cold voice: "Accepting the Earth Ancestor's creation, your body will naturally move closer to the Earth Ancestor. You should all know the rules of Wuzhuang Temple, right?"
Everyone said in unison: "We use our flesh and blood to worship the ancestors of the earth."
They did not choose to open their eyes and skillfully covered their naked bodies, as if their appearance was some kind of indescribable monster in the eyes of others.
While everyone was busy, Wu Jian took advantage of their closed eyes and lack of light source to quietly leave the cave.
Gao Miaozhu woke up after realizing it, picked up the finger bone and swallowed it carefully.
While sitting cross-legged and meditating, Lu Daochang nodded and said, "This section of immortal bone is called Qingming. It was transformed from the dream of the Earth Ancestor. It can obtain the Dream Immortal breath from the Earth Ancestor."
"I see."
"Since Qingming is here, it will be easier for us to get rid of the pursuers."
The gloom on Gao Miaozhu's face has been swept away. In his opinion, after entering the Tao with the help of immortal bones, he is fully capable of protecting himself.
Moreover, the Earth Ancestor's Dream Immortal aura is very suitable for traveling in secret.
According to rumors, the Earth Ancestor once descended to earth and traveled around the world, leaving behind a total of twelve bones. Once obtained, one can accept the Earth Ancestor's inheritance and enter the Taoism.
Gao Miaozhu spent a lot of effort to find the Qingming Immortal Bone.
Only after the immortal bones are completely gathered can the immortal bones be transformed into an immortal body. Then, only the Great Zhoutian that circulates the dream immortal aura can steadily improve one's own cultivation level.
It is said that if you come into contact with the twelve kinds of immortal bones of the Earth Ancestor, you can attain enlightenment and become an immortal.
Unfortunately, the immortal bones are scattered all over the place, and trying to find them is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Lu Daoren's kidneys also have traces of immortality, indicating that he has been in contact with other immortal bones and has gained strength.
"Where is Wu Jian?!!"
Gao Miaozhu asked in a questioning voice, and grabbed the woman next to him with a bright face.
"I...I don't know..."
"It's bad. We must hurry up and leave. Wu Jian may have changed his family and believed in the Three Dao Ancestors."
Daoren Lu immediately packed up his things, but as soon as he finished speaking, he froze in place.
Thick smoke billowed from the corridor of the cave, and it was obvious that the pursuers were already outside, intending to smoke out the rats like them with smoke.
"Do we have any chance of winning?"
Gao Miaozhu asked with a wry smile, but Taoist Lu shook his head in denial.
Daochang Lu grabbed Gao Miaozhu's shoulders and said in a deep voice: "Don't throw away the Qingming Immortal Bones. We will protect you and fight out. Whether you can break out of the siege depends on the blessing of the Earth Ancestor."
Gao Miaozhu did not hesitate, and began to use the Dream Immortal aura unfamiliarly. The other men in black robes followed suit, and a colorful mist enveloped them.
They rushed out of the cave, and if they waited any longer to let the pursuers know the layout of the cave from Wu Jian, there might be no chance at all.
It was dark outside at this time, and hundreds of Taoist soldiers, ready to go, were scattered in the jungle.
Unlike the Taoist priests at Wuzhuang Temple who covered their bodies, they wore light leather armor and held long brass knives in their hands.
However, the Tao soldiers looked extremely deformed, made entirely of beasts and humans, with rotten flesh constantly peeling off as they walked.
The Tao soldiers of the Three Dao Ancestors and the Taoist priests of the Wuzhuang Temple are completely two extremes.
Taoist soldiers are severely alienated, but they think they are normal; Taoist priests are slightly alienated, but they are afraid of seeing the same kind of appearance.
The disasters brought about by Yuanshi Tianzun still change the cognition of all living beings.
The grotesque Taoist soldiers watched indifferently and sealed the path to the entrance of the cave with weapons.
It can be seen that among the Taoist soldiers, the bigger and weirder they are, the ones with the highest status are riding on the back of three horses covered with abscesses.
"Lord Sui, those deceitful Taoist priests from Wuzhuang Temple have all come out of the rat holes!"
The leader of the Dao soldiers was over two meters tall and was made entirely of rancid rotten meat. His simple armor could only protect part of his body, exposing the wriggling large intestine in his abdomen to the air.
Master Sui said in a contemptuous tone: "It's just a remnant of evil spirits. Is there any need to make such a fuss?"
"Look at them, they don't even dare to show their true faces, which shows that they have long lost their human form."
"Ha ha ha ha."
The Taoist soldiers laughed unbridled, not caring about the threat from Wuzhuang Temple, and at the same time, they kept approaching the entrance of the cave.
The Taoist soldiers in the back row took out the barrel-shaped magic weapon, filled it with copper beads, and then blocked the muzzle with dark red ooze.
They aimed their cannon barrels at the Taoist priests at Wuzhuangguan, who looked fearful and were obviously deeply afraid of the magical weapons held by the Taoist soldiers.
Gao Miaozhu narrowed his eyes and squeezed out two words from between his teeth: "Evil spirit."
He noticed that Wu Jian's body was hanging on a tree not far away, which showed that the Taoist soldiers had no intention of letting any Wuzhuangguan Taoist priests go.
"Bold, do you know the Earth Ancestor..."
"put."
Mr. Sui was too lazy to listen to the nonsense of the Wuzhuangguan Taoist priest, and directly ordered the activation of the magic weapon, and the Taoist soldiers immediately started to use their unique magic power.
Bang bang bang...
The gun barrel spurted out scorching flames, and the copper beads battered the Taoist priest's body with holes. Even with the blessing of the Dream Fairy's breath, he was as fragile as a mantis' arm blocking a car in front of the Taoist soldiers.
Most of the Taoist priests present were killed or injured. They tried to rush out under the leadership of Taoist Master Lu, but they quickly retreated into the cave.
Gao Miaozhu lay weakly on the ground, his stomach churning.
"Earth Ancestor, save me!!"
"Dizu, why should we die in this cave?"
"I don't want to die."
In the shadow of death, they began to use self-mutilation to pray to the Earth Ancestor. Outside the cave, the Taoist soldiers laughed wildly and paid no attention to the so-called Earth Ancestor.
Mr. Sui looked at a group of rats crossing the street, turned sideways and warned the guard next to him: "After you get back the evil bones, remember to separate a section and keep them. Evil cultivators will come and die."
"Understood, my lord."
Konoe nodded, but couldn't help but look at Gao Miaozhu and others.
A few days ago, they were a group of ordinary farmers who were forced to die. Driven by the remnants of Wuzhuang Temple, they are now embarking on the path of cultivation.
It's incredible. No wonder some people say that being evil is a shortcut to becoming an immortal.
"Attack with fire and turn them into ashes."
After Mr. Sui gave the order, dry firewood was piled at the entrance of the cave. The flame was quickly ignited, and the thick smoke was poured inside under the influence of the wind direction.
They secretly admired the painful wails of the Wuzhuangguan Taoist priests and discussed how to spend their money in the city after receiving military honors.
Even Mr. Sui didn't realize that the movement in the cave disappeared too quickly.
Immediately afterwards, there was the sound of chanting sutras.
Against the background of the flames, the Taoist priest Wuzhuangguan fell to his knees.
"The Great Sage, the innate spiritual root."
"The Zhenyuan is the innate spiritual root hidden in the day after tomorrow."
"Earth Ancestor!!"
"Earth Ancestor!!!"
(End of chapter)
