Chapter 321: Performing Rituals

Chapter 321: The Ritual

Then, as if a pot had suddenly burst into boil, all the people attending morning classes turned their heads in unison, quickly scattering in all directions.

“What’s going on? Did they discover something?” Li Huowang felt his heart skip a beat. Whatever was happening, things were changing—speed was increasing.

Not only did what they were doing resemble that of Qingfeng Monastery, even the arrangement of objects looked like a Taoist temple. Li Huowang weaved through the crawling people, searching for the infant.

As he searched, Li Huowang suddenly halted. In this dark and damp underground space, sound was the fastest way to determine direction. He pulled the cotton from his ears.

In an instant, the sounds of water lapping, the crawling of people, dripping from stalactites, and various chaotic, piercing noises flooded into his ears.

Li Huowang closed his eyes, straining to distinguish something amid the chaos. Gradually, he heard voices. “Uncle...?”

“This voice…” Just as Li Huowang tried to follow it, a sudden cry rang out beside him.

“Found it!” Li Huowang’s eyes snapped open, and he rushed toward the source of the sound.

After passing through various caverns and low-lying pools of water, Li Huowang finally found the infant in a cave glowing with light.

Some elderly people with disheveled hair and crutches were tremblingly tending to children whose foreheads bore red dots made with cinnabar.

The old woman with white hair from before was also there. She held a baby girl in her arms, her expression now devoid of joy, replaced by fear and unease.

There were about twenty or thirty children, and in a corner lay several cradles emitting a foul stench. What lay inside was obvious enough.

Under the urging of the monk, Li Huowang slowly revealed himself, lowering his voice to speak to the elders: “Don’t panic. Things will get chaotic inside the cave. Stay here quietly. I’ll come back for you later.”

The elders raised their heads upon seeing Li Huowang, and some of their dull eyes gradually lit up.

An elder who seemed at least a hundred years old trembled as he lifted his cane, shouting hoarsely, “Son! My son, water son! Come quickly! Someone has sneaked in!”

His words triggered a chain reaction—most of the elders began shouting.

“Whoosh!” As the menacing figure of Li Huowang charged forward, sword raised, three gray-haired heads flew into the air.

Yet killing them now would be useless, for the people had already been warned.

A few breaths later, black glutinous rice, accompanied by smoke, was hurled from outside the cave toward Li Huowang.

As Li Huowang quickly dodged, the rice passed right through him and struck an old woman.

With a scream, her flesh melted rapidly, and soon she became a white, smoking skeleton.

“Go!” Li Huowang raised his long sword, slicing off his own fingernails with his left hand, which then spun out of the cave.

As the people screamed in agony, Li Huowang quickly shifted his body, hiding his color beneath the earth, entering a state of invisibility.

Soon after, people in black robes crawled in through the cave entrance on all fours, seemingly searching for Li Huowang but unable to find him.

At that moment, some of the surviving elders struggled to rise, warning the people: “My dear sons! That person has vanished underground. He might know earth-shattering techniques. Be careful!”

A wave of murderous intent surged through Li Huowang’s heart. He had never hated anyone more than these old wretches, even more so than the people-spiders.

Upon hearing the elders’ warnings, one of the people-spiders used his long, dirty fingernails to pinch two withered yellow leaves, placing them before his eyes covered in hair and sweeping them across.

A ghastly howl escaped his mouth, and all the people-spiders rushed forward, carrying black dust, copper-green bells, and dark red peach wood swords.

“Nanling na zhen guang ji ji she!!” The copper coins on Li Huowang’s sword, dragged by red cords, swiftly separated, striking like a whip against the people-spiders.

In an instant, in the narrow, dark cave, blades and swords flashed chaotically.

When caught between two people-spiders, one of them attempted to sneak behind Li Huowang with a wooden umbrella made of purple talismans.

Li Huowang’s ears twitched, and he turned sharply, facing it. In the next moment, a black tentacle pushed aside his bronze mask, covering the face of the people-spiders, tearing off half of its face.

Li Huowang quickly drew a long spike with barbs, thrusting it down into the palm. Then, he yanked it hard, pulling out white bone marrow.

“Get lost!!” With a low shout, the two people-spiders staggered backward, clutching their left hands.

At that moment, the copper coins tied with red cords wrapped around several people-spiders' necks.

Li Huowang gave a strong tug on his sword, and heads rolled.

As Li Huowang continued to harm himself, the number of people-spiders dwindled rapidly. They were no match for him.

Seeing they couldn’t win, the people-spiders took new action.

An incense burner shaped like an old man's head was placed on the ground, three pale candles arranged in a line. The black-haired leader who had led the morning class rose from the ground.

He first swallowed several wriggling pills, then stepped in a divine stance, wielding a peach wood sword adorned with black talismans, beginning the ritual.

His chanting was not human speech—it was muffled and unclear, yet oddly rhythmic and melodious.

A twisted, blind-mouthed monster, grotesquely formed, performed rituals just like a human. It was terrifying beyond measure.

But even more terrifying was that Li Huowang didn’t know what kind of ritual it was, but he knew for certain that it must not be allowed to continue.

He kicked the ground hard with both feet, charging toward the people-spiders, drawing his Purple Ear Sword again and slashing his left hand fiercely.

Two fingers were severed, spinning through the air toward the people-spiders.

“Clang clang,” his fingers were blocked by other people-spiders.

Seeing Li Huowang, the ritualist rolled over and threw two black flags to his left and right, then plunged his black-smoking peach wood sword into the ground.

Black mist from the sword instantly flowed into the earth, forming a strange symbol made of mysterious characters, spreading rapidly around Li Huowang.