East China Sea dust

Chapter 111

The man looked at the fine gold powder floating on the high platform with satisfaction, and quickly tightened his five fingers holding the staff.

He raised his right hand and gently held the flower note made of gold powder in his palm.

"As you can see."

The old and hoarse voice of the high priest sounded, and the flower paper in his hand floated gently, and his face covered by the mask was blurred: "For this heavenly sacrifice ceremony, the god has chosen the sacrifice he wants."

Even if it is impossible to find out how proud the priest's expression is at this time, he can still get a glimpse of it from his slightly trembling voice.

The high priest's hunched back straightened up due to excitement. He opened his hands wide, raised his staff again, and said loudly to the people who were looking forward to it: "After three days, the ceremony will be completed. From then on, the gods will surely bless you." Yu Wanmin, bless Jinyang with good weather and no more disasters."

The people kneeling under the altar were stunned when they heard the words, and after a while, they burst into enthusiastic cheers.

You must know that in the past few months, Jinyang has been rainy and windy every day, and the subsequent flash floods and tsunamis have destroyed most of the farmland.

If only the boy and other sacrifices were sacrificed to the gods in exchange for peace in the future, who would care whether he was the son of the king or a commoner.

After all, what you want is not your own life.

The high priest raised his arms and shouted, and stopped after a while.The whole person panted heavily like an old bellows, and the black feather cloak on his body trembled.

He stood in the middle of the altar with his hands behind his back, looking at the moving heads below with satisfaction.

The common people knelt down and kowtowed to thank the priest, their skinny cheeks were even stained with blood.

The high priest coughed a few times, clenched the staff with fingers like dead trees, and smashed the tip of the staff to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Waves of mist-like spiritual energy came out in response, and quickly shot towards the clouds and mist layered on the zenith.

In a short while, the clouds and mist on the dome were all dispersed by the spiritual energy, turning into transparent drops of water and falling down.

For a while, the clouds and rain disappeared, and the sky was bright.

Immediately afterwards, someone recovered from the stupefaction and shouted: "Ling... Lingyu, it's Lingyu!"

The enthusiasm in the eyes of the crowd remained undiminished. After hearing the words, they took out rough ceramic bowls of different styles from their bosoms, scrambling to catch the transparent water drops falling from the sky, and then drank them all in one gulp.

As a result, the scene became extremely chaotic, with noisy screams and screams, and what's more, there were fights to catch more drops of rain, and the fights continued.

No one noticed that there was a young man standing alone on the edge of the altar on the high platform, silently staring at all this...

As if a drowning person finally surfaced, Zhang Qinglan pulled his mind out of the boundless chaos until he saw the bronze furnace cauldron that made him hate it so much, and soberly examined everything in front of him.

It was only then that he realized that the scene in front of him was a long and complicated dream specially prepared by Zhang Ningyue.

All things are false, but they are all the more real because they have happened.

The illusion is ruthless, replaying those scenes that should have been forgotten in memory one by one, so harsh that even the deep despair that cannot be looked back will come to mind.

Only in this way can people fall into the mud again and never get out.

Knowing that this is an illusion, the high priest's performance became particularly ridiculous.

Above the dome, the sunlight that finally penetrated through the obstruction has been gradually blocked by the black clouds.

What the people don't know is how many innocent lives will be taken away by the so-called "spiritual rain" they drank one after another.

Zhang Qinglan took a step forward with no expression on her face, and her whole body was instantly empty.Like a paper kite with a broken thread, it fell straight under the altar——

The sound of hunting wind came from my ears, as cold as a knife.

Staring at the bronze cauldron that was getting farther and farther away from her, Zhang Qinglan slowly closed her eyes, letting the sense of weightlessness that overflowed like a tide wrap her body, but still maintained the previous appearance, motionless.

It's just that just when he was about to fall into the crowd, the noisy people around him suddenly disappeared... The world fell silent, so quiet that only his own slow breathing could be heard.

Even with the fall are stagnant.

"Zhang Qinglan." A familiar voice suddenly rang in my ear.

The young man was shocked, and finally couldn't help but slowly opened his eyes.

He found that he was already far away from the altar, and was being embraced by people at this time.

While calling his name, the man did not forget to pat him on the back from time to time as if persuading him, his movements were gentle.

Ao Zhan's embrace was warm and strong. Seeing that he was willing to open his eyes, he quickly planted a light kiss on the young man's forehead with great compassion, and his expression was firm: "The Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony will be held tomorrow...you come with me and leave Jin Positive."

Surrounded by towering ancient trees, the two were hiding in the dense jungle where they first met.

It was late at night, and Ao Zhan just kissed the corner of his lips like that, as if even the last few hours could become long.

Being watched by such scorching eyes, Zhang Qinglan was in a trance for a while.

Even knowing that all of this is just an illusory memory, no matter what you do, you can't change the established ending.

But he still couldn't help stretching out his hand, stroked the black tattoo on Ao Zhan's cheek with his fingertips, restrained all the pain and addiction in the bottom of his eyes, closed his eyes and whispered: "Okay, I'll go with you."

As the ending sound gradually dissipated between the intertwined lips and teeth of the two, Zhang Qinglan stood on tiptoe slightly, offered her soft lips and tongue, and hooked Ao Zhan's neck with both hands, kissing passionately.

He was indeed deceiving Ao Zhan, and he was also deceiving himself...even if it was just a phantom in his memory.

***

After all, it was an illusion created by memories, and the surroundings soon changed again.

In the dark and dreary secret room, Zhang Ningyue wrung out the wet silk handkerchief with both hands, and gently wiped away the fresh blood from the wound on the young man's forehead: "Alan, why don't you understand?"

"The high priest is Taiji's undercover agent who sneaked into Jinyang. He has been in collusion with your guards for a long time."

"If you dare to leave the secret room today, you will die in the hands of the Taiji people without waiting for the ceremony."

The dim yellow fire light danced on the stone wall, Zhang Qinglan's hands were tied behind the stone bench, half of his face was hidden in the mottled light and shadow, making it difficult for people to see his face clearly.

Zhang Ningyue was wearing a snow-white robe, her black hair was messily draped over her shoulders, and most of the corners of her clothes were soaked by rain.

Her expression was flustered and anxious, and she couldn't help but strike a little harder: "Do you know how much effort my sister has wasted to exchange you here."

"Wouldn't it be nice to let that person participate in the ceremony for you?" With a smell of salty sea water on her body, she threw the bloody silk handkerchief on the ground indiscriminately, then cupped the boy's cheeks and murmured: "Ah! Lan is still my sister's good brother, so I don't need to be a sacrifice."

"It's their business that they want to kill each other, so what does it have to do with my baby Alan?"

The boy lowered his head and said indifferently: "...not good."

Now that natural disasters and man-made disasters continue, the emperor has not recovered all the small inland countries. In order to stabilize internal worries, he thought of a so-called "Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony" to make the countries and counties conquered by him like Jinyang to show their submission.

The Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony, on the surface, is to sacrifice livestock and grains, and let the so-called "naturally selected people" bring sacrifices into the sea to pray to the gods for good weather. In fact, they secretly test the attitudes of countries and suppress the rebellious hearts of those who are not fair.

Zhang Qinglan knows that when the situation has developed into the current situation, she is still just a tiny pawn in the midst of power strife, unfortunately affected by it.

Jinyang needs a sacrifice to show his loyalty to the Emperor, his eldest brother needs a sacrifice so that he can easily eradicate dissidents, and the high priest needs a sacrifice even more. After all, the art of witchcraft is on the decline, and the lineage of priests is dying day by day.

After all, he and his eldest brother were originally brothers, and there was no blood feud between them.Even if he was sent to the altar with his own hands, it was just a matter of weak kinship, and it was a matter of reincarnation.

It's just that Zhang Qinglan thought so, but he didn't want to say so. He ruthlessly exposed it and said, "Sister, don't turn black and white."

He tilted his head slightly, staring straight at the fine sweat on Zhang Ningyue's temples: "I was sent to the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony, and it is clear that the elder brother contributed the most..."

"Snapped!"

Zhang Ningyue slapped the young man violently, interrupting the other half of the sentence that he hadn't spoken yet, and said with a smirk: "What is Ah Lan talking about, my sister can't understand."

"Why do you fight like this... like this?" Zhang Ningyue's eyes were red: "Since I was young, I don't know how many brothers and sisters in my family have died. My sister has managed to protect you until now. Why do you have to be with your elder brother?" fight?"

Zhang Qinglan frowned slightly, and said calmly: "It's not that I am fighting with elder brother."

"It's the elder brother who doesn't want to let me go."

"Sister," the boy's voice was very cold: "You are so partial."

After the candle flame was stripped off, the light reflected in the shallow puddle of water on the ground could not stop shaking, and there was only silence in the secret room.

Zhang Qinglan's expression was calm, and it was hard to tell whether the voice was sarcasm or self-deprecating: "What's more, the affairs of the court are life and death. After all, the number of rounds is undecided. No one can say who father will pass on the seat of Duke Yu."

After saying this, Zhang Qinglan cut the rope with the thin blade hidden in his sleeve, and stood up while rubbing his red wrist: "Brother is far-sighted, I know Prepare for a rainy day, little brother, I’m just doing my best to survive.”

"Furthermore," lowering his eyes, the young man gripped the handle of the knife tightly: "Let innocent people suffer for me, how can there be such a reason in the world?"

Zhang Ningyue pretended not to understand, numbly took out the medicine jar from her bosom, and lightly dabbed it on the side of Zhang Qinglan's face with red and swollen palm prints: "Even though my sister told you so much, Ah Lan still insists on going to the festival?"

Zhang Qinglan nodded: "Yes."

"It's okay..." Zhang Ningyue suddenly laughed a little strangely when she heard the words: "Today, the wind and rain are more violent than usual. In order for the ceremony to proceed smoothly, the high priest has already advanced the ceremony by an hour."

"The drug I gave him is enough to let him sleep for half a day... Alan, even if you leave now, it's already too late."