80. The Blood Sacrifice Ritual Endangers Lives

Xie Wuji muttered under his breath, clearly reluctant, but he had no choice but to act alone for now. And when it came to moving alone, Huang Ruonan, that little fangirl, even wanted to lead the way for the Sword Hero of the East Gate.

The forest at night was pitch-black, danger seeming to lurk at every turn. Yet as Xie Wuji walked through the woods, he felt little fear. The ghosts and monsters might be terrifying, but now that he had reached the Golden Core stage, he told himself there was nothing to fear from such creatures.

He found a tree, climbed up, and dozed for a while to restore his energy. However, as he napped, a gentle breeze drifted by and blew the talisman papers from his pocket.

Xie Wuji didn’t notice what had happened. Soon, though, footsteps woke him. Looking down, he saw eight figures in black robes standing below—robes he immediately recognized as the same kind worn by the three who had ambushed him in the Alchemy Hall.

He thought bitterly to himself that he’d hit the jackpot, stumbling upon people from the Hall of Yama just by taking a nap. Swiftly, he leapt down from the tree and followed the group.

“Tonight, before sunrise, the blood sacrifice will begin. What a fine day…” one of them was saying.

“Haha, and then we’ll get more Blood Pills. They’ll boost our cultivation. Even though the Hall of Ten Thousand Monsters is in charge of us now, as long as our overall strength grows, they won’t be able to hold us back.”

“That’s right, let’s get back first,” another replied.

Their talk of a “blood sacrifice” piqued Xie Wuji’s interest. Refined Blood Pills? And what exactly were Blood Pills?

Ever since he’d begun studying alchemy, he’d grown fascinated by all kinds of pills and medicines.

The eight were dragging a cage, from which the muffled cries of children could be heard. As Xie Wuji drew closer, he saw it was indeed filled with children—about ten or so, all five or six years old, their mouths stuffed with cloth.

Where were they taking them?

He trailed the group quietly until they reached a stone wall. There, they looked around warily.

“All right, no one’s around—let’s go in,” one said.

Another nodded, reached into a crevice, and triggered a mechanism. Instantly, a circular stone door appeared, and they all went inside.

Xie Wuji waited a long time before approaching. To leave a sign for his fellow disciples, he arranged some stones on the ground in a pattern, hoping they would find it. Then, reaching into the crevice, he discovered a handle like a door latch. Grasping and twisting it, he felt the wall tremble faintly.

The stone wall opened into a circular doorway.

Xie Wuji sneered, “So there really is a secret passage. Senior Ji really is as clever as ever!”

With great strides, he entered. Mechanisms whirred, and the door sealed behind him.

It was dark. Torches flickered along the walls, casting just enough light to see the path ahead. Xie Wuji proceeded cautiously, wary of alerting anyone. After all, this was the enemy’s stronghold. The Hall of Yama wasn’t counted among the Ten Great Sects, but their strength was formidable—stronger than the Azure Cloud Sect or Fire Dragon Sect, with no shortage of Golden Core experts.

According to Senior Ji, the Hall’s master was at the Nascent Soul stage.

Xie Wuji didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he understood one thing: if he ran into a Nascent Soul cultivator, he’d be dead for sure.

Sure enough, there were two guards at the entrance. If he emerged from the passage, he would be discovered immediately and had no confidence he could take them both out before one sounded the alarm—alerting the entire Hall.

But Xie Wuji had always enjoyed stealth games—like Ninja Assassin or Jing Ke’s Deed—and always finished with perfect scores.

Recalling those games, he knew now was the time to toss out a distraction. Spiritual stones were common currency among all the sects, so he took a die-sized spirit stone and threw it a short distance away.

The two guards, dressed in black robes and holding spears, looked imposing, but when they saw the spirit stone, greed lit their eyes.

They eyed each other warily.

Xie Wuji frowned. Was one stone not enough? He tossed a walnut-sized spirit stone—worth five ordinary ones and enough to make any outer disciple of the Danxia Sect rich.

Sure enough, the larger stone made the guards’ eyes blaze with excitement.

“That big one’s mine!” one shouted.

“No, the small one’s yours, the big one’s obviously mine—I saw it first!” the other retorted.

They were about to come to blows when Xie Wuji rolled in behind them, grinning slyly. “Sorry, but these are mine!”

With a swift blow to each of their necks, both collapsed unconscious.

Delighted, Xie Wuji glanced inside and confirmed that it truly was a fortress—towering walls, green belts, and stone outbuildings. He took out a sleeping pill, a kind of soporific elixir, and fed one to each guard. They wouldn’t wake for at least three days and nights.

He could have killed them, but instinctively, he still resisted taking lives.

Instead, he dragged them into the greenery, donned their robes, and proceeded cautiously into the distance.

The fortress’s layout was a tangled maze. Were it not for the cries of children in the distance, Xie Wuji might have gotten lost.

Following the sounds, he found a warehouse built of stone, vast—nearly half the size of the Alchemy Hall. Around it, a dozen guards stood watch. There was no way to force his way in.

Just then, carts were being driven into the warehouse. Timing it right, Xie Wuji leapt from his perch in a tree and landed beneath one of the carts, clinging to its axle and pressing himself against the underside.

“How many carts is this?” came a voice from nearby.

“There are ten boys and girls in this one. We should have a hundred and eighty-eight in total now—all snatched from the surrounding villages,” another replied.

“All right, take them in. The Blood Sacrifice ceremony is about to begin. The Lord will personally offer the sacrifice to the Blood God, and the Blood God will boost our cultivation!”

“For the Blood God! For the Lord!” they said, crossing their arms over their chests with fervent devotion.

The cart rolled into the warehouse. Seeing no one around, Xie Wuji tumbled out from beneath it.

He looked up to see several children staring at him from inside a cage. He quickly pressed a finger to his lips for silence, but the children didn’t understand and were about to cry out.

Thinking fast, Xie Wuji made a funny face, which made them burst into giggles instead.

But the laughter drew the attention of the Hall’s disciples.

“What’s going on? Why are the children laughing?” one asked as they approached.

“Who cares? There are always a few simple-minded kids. Just like some in our Hall of Yama—some fools refuse to take Blood Pills, and their cultivation is so weak it’s embarrassing. If they weren’t old disciples, they’d have been thrown out or used for sacrifices themselves.”

“You mean Yu Baosi, right? Haha, he really is a fool. Now that the Hall of Ten Thousand Monsters has given us the Blood Sacrifice method, a quick way to boost our power, how can they not take Blood Pills? Still, have you noticed? Ever since I started taking them, I just want more—I’m getting addicted.”

“That doesn’t matter. Boosting our cultivation is what really counts!”