When I regained consciousness, I opened my eyes. The white light in front of me had disappeared and President Gu's old face appeared in front of me.
I was in a daze as I instantly recalled what had happened. The fear in my heart rose again as I felt that President Gu's old face was incomparably intimate. I really wanted to hug and kiss him.
Of course, I didn't do that. I hastily lowered my head to look at my body. There wasn't a beast body that was covered in black fur and muscles, but a normal body that was covered in a black shirt. I heaved a sigh of relief and temporarily threw the fear in my heart to the side. I asked President Gu, "I … What happened to me?"
President Gu's expression was filled with doubt as he shook his head. "You fainted just now and just as I was about to check on you, you suddenly woke up … What happened?
Is there some evil spirit causing trouble in the Spring Sacrifice Hall? "
I hastily shook my head and pretended to be at a loss. "I don't know either. When I stepped into the cave, I felt my head become heavy and I lost consciousness. I don't know anything now."
President Gu's face was filled with doubt as he examined me for a while before asking, "How do you feel now?"
I hastily sat up and nodded. "I should be fine now."
President Gu snorted coldly and didn't say anything else. He shifted his gaze away from me and briefly explained the situation to the surrounding people before continuing to walk forward.
I turned to look at my surroundings and realised that I had fainted not far from the entrance of the cave. Besides the six Celestial Masters from the Metaphysics Association, the others were still on the stairs. It seemed that I hadn't fainted for long.
I crawled up from the ground and did some simple exercises. After I felt that my body was fine, I bent down to carry Zhang Kanwen and continued to walk forward with the Metaphysics Association.
Zhang Kanwen was obviously very concerned about my situation. He frowned and asked me softly, "What happened just now?"
I couldn't tell both President Gu and Zhang Kanwen about the dream-like scene. I kept silent for a while before smiling wryly. "I really don't know. I don't even know when I fainted. I reckon that there's something strange about this place."
Zhang Kanwen seemed to have thought of something and nodded. "There are so many Celestial Masters on this trip. It's impossible for evil spirits to avoid so many Celestial Masters to harm you. I reckon that it's the problem with the Spring Sacrifice Hall … From the sacrificial evil spirit, the merchant's cultivation isn't bad. This is also the Spring Sacrifice Hall where the merchants offer sacrifices to their ancestors. It's normal for there to be some mechanisms. I reckon that you just triggered some mechanism."
"Mechanism?"
I reflexively asked. I was thinking about what he said earlier. 'This Spring Sacrifice Hall is the place where the merchants offer sacrifices to their ancestors?'
In the previous mural, the man who looked exactly like me was obviously the merchant ancestor. If I had any relationship with him, then this Spring Sacrifice Hall would definitely be related to me. In that dream, I must have taken the form of the merchant ancestor. If that was the case, it would make sense. However, there was one thing that I couldn't understand. The appearance of the merchant ancestor in the mural was very normal. However, my appearance in the dream was too frightening. I didn't look like a human, but more like a half-human, half-beast creature.
Moreover, that thing ate humans!
Could it be that the merchant ancestor was a half-human, half-beast cannibal?
Was the mural created by the later generations to beautify his image?
If that was the case, and I was his reincarnation, then it would be a tragedy …
My mind was in a mess. I didn't listen to Zhang Kanwen's explanation about the mechanism, so I just nodded my head to deal with it.
Inside the sacrificial hall, the space behind the first few doors was big enough. However, compared to this grand hall, it was nothing. After walking for a while, we arrived at the center of the grand hall. President Gu was the first one to stop, and the others also stopped.
Because I was preoccupied with other matters, I didn't pay attention to my surroundings. After stopping, I lifted my head to look around. I was stunned.
At this moment, there was a wide path paved with white jade at the feet of President Gu and the others. On both sides of the path, there were two bronze furnaces every ten meters. Further away, there were many thick stone pillars that connected the ground and the walls. There were all sorts of creatures carved on them … Apart from the fact that there weren't any servants standing respectfully beside the bronze furnaces, everything else was exactly the same as what I had seen in my dream.
I was stunned for a few seconds before I recalled where I was in my dream. I quickly followed the white jade path in front of me.
However, the light in the Spring Sacrifice Hall wasn't as abundant as it was in my dream. It wasn't like the other floors of the Spring Sacrifice Hall that emitted fluorescent light. There were only some pearl-like objects embedded on the wall that emitted a faint light. It made people feel as though they were under the night sky.
To ordinary people, this faint light was no different from being in the middle of a pitch-black night. Only cultivators like me could barely see things under this faint light. However, I could only see things that were close by. I couldn't see things that were too far away.
When I was in my dream, the white jade path in front of me didn't feel that it was very big or long. However, it was extremely wide and terrifyingly long. I could only see the end of it. There seemed to be something there, but I couldn't see it clearly even after trying for half a day. I could only give up for now.
Fortunately, President Gu only stopped here for a short while before stepping onto the white jade path and sprinting forward.
He was walking in the direction of where I was in my memory. Hence, I hastened my steps to catch up with him.
After walking for seven to eight minutes, I finally saw a huge statue in front of me.
The statue was about forty to fifty meters tall. One side of it was covered in white clothes. Even under the faint light, it was still very clear. The other side was hidden in the darkness and I could only see the rough outline.
Even though it was just a silhouette, I could recognize at a glance that this statue was the image of myself in the dream.
I could already see the outline of the statue. The other Heavenly Masters, who had higher cultivation than me, could naturally see the statue clearly. President Gu stopped again. This time, he didn't rest for a while before continuing his journey. Instead, he called the others over and pointed at the statue not far away. Everyone started to discuss it.
It was obvious that they were surprised by the strange statue.
I found it strange. The Metaphysical Society, the Witch race, and the Buddhist Association all had the so-called 'key'. It was obvious that they had been here before. Why were they so surprised by the statue?
Could it be that they had only gone to the third door to get the key and had never entered the fourth door?
I turned to ask Nangong for confirmation. He nodded and said, "According to the legends, there are many forbidden curses in the royal tomb. Moreover, the power needed to open the fourth door is too great. Hence, we didn't continue forward when we came here to get the key. If it wasn't for the Metaphysical Society and Ye Yaolan doing us a favor, we wouldn't have been able to gather enough people to open the fourth door."
I lifted my eyes to look at the statue. After I had gotten used to the faint light, the humanoid side of the statue became clearer. The more I looked at it, the more I felt that the humanoid side was built according to my body. It was almost exactly the same as me. However, the others, including Zhang Kanwen and Nangong, didn't notice that. They only looked at the statue in silence.
Not long after, it was clear that President Gu and the others had put the matter of the strange statue aside and informed everyone that the time for the Spring Sacrifice Ceremony was about to arrive. Once the time arrived, the Yin God and evil spirit would definitely appear, and they would gather everyone's strength to strike it down with a single blow.
After a brief arrangement, everyone walked under the huge statue. To be on the safe side, everyone didn't split into small groups this time. Instead, the eighteen Heavenly Masters gathered together. Zhang Kanwen, Nangong, and the little zombie stayed in the safe area between the others and the statue. We quietly waited for the evil sacrificial spirit to arrive.
While we were waiting, Zhang Kanwen told me that according to the records of his sect, there was a bronze bell above the statue of the Shang Ancestor. When the Spring Sacrifice Ceremony officially began, the bronze bell would ring automatically.
As soon as he said that, before I could reply, I heard a clear sound. It sounded like the sound of a bronze bell being struck. However, this sound didn't come from the statue's head as Zhang Kanwen had said. Instead, it seemed to come from inside my body. It was vast and grand, making my entire body shake. My mind instantly became strangely clear, as if I had drunk some sweet dew from a clear spring. It was as if I had been enlightened.
Then, I heard President Gu's voice. "The Spring Sacrifice Ceremony has officially begun. Everyone, get ready."
As I listened to his voice, I felt my heart skip a beat. I took a deep breath and held my breath as I waited in silence.
President Gu had said that the evil spirit would appear at the beginning of the Spring Sacrifice Ceremony. It was obvious that he had done his research beforehand. However, it was strange that after waiting for a few minutes, it seemed that nothing had happened. There was no movement around, and nothing had appeared.
I was puzzled. Did President Gu make a mistake?
With that thought in mind, I turned to ask Zhang Kanwen what was going on. As soon as I turned around, my eyes opened wide.
I didn't know when, but there was another figure next to Nangong, Zhang Kanwen, and the little zombie.
He sat next to me, his entire body wrapped in a black cloak. He had a triangular head that looked like a skull. His entire brain stem and skull were gone. At the very top of his head were his eye sockets. Two large, round eyeballs were floating there, looking at me with a burning gaze...