MOF Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Offering Sacrifices to the Heavens with Embraced Bones at the Rain Flower Platform

“Yes, it seems like that’s what it was called!” Gu Huanzhi nodded quickly. “At the time, I felt that the book was too tattered, so I just flipped through it casually. I vaguely remember it mentioning people separated by Yin and Yang, seeking… seeking some red lotus…”

“Those separated by Yin and Yang, molded with a body of death, a living soul. Take the red lotus as a guide, cast it as the heart. Seek the bones of repentance, connect them as the form, and offering bone to the heavens can complete it.”

Xie Yiling was secretly rejoicing that Gu Huanzhi didn’t question how he knew about the *Record of Strange Contracts*. Hearing Nangong Ci’s reply, he turned around and took the opportunity to throw the question back to him: “Master, how did you know?”

Nangong Ci lowered his eyes and said softly, “Years ago, I visited Senior Gu at the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform and had the honor of reading it.”

Gu Huanzhi’s attention was indeed drawn to Nangong Ci. Hearing this, he was surprised and said, “Fufeng Daozhang, when did you go? Why didn’t they mention it to me?”

Nangong Ci paused and said, “It’s been too long, I don’t quite remember.”

Gu Huanzhi sighed regretfully.

Inside the cauldron, human bones were densely covered with layers of red clothing. When the fire in the cauldron was completely extinguished and the surroundings were dark, the Rain Flower Goddess flicked her fingers slightly, and a group of people appeared out of thin air on the platform.

Unlike the common people, they were all dressed in white and wore white cloths on their heads, as if they were in mourning.

Xie Yiling recognized one of them as the woman who had gone to the temple to make a vow. She had already jumped into the fire and turned to ashes, but now she was created again by the Rain Flower Goddess with a flick of her fingers.

The human bones had turned a ghastly white and no longer resembled a child’s. Instead, they looked more like an adult’s size. Surrounded by the white-clothed people, they were presented to the Rain Flower Goddess.

The golden statue raised its arms and embraced the white bones. Everyone bowed their heads and remained silent.

At this moment, the dark clouds gathered in the mountains broke apart, and the color of the autumn moon fell on the high platform, reflecting the golden statue of the Rain Flower God.

Gu Huanzhi asked, “Is this offering bone to the heavens?”

Xie Yiling didn’t speak, but heard Nangong Ci beside him say, “Using a child as a sacrifice, but the bones that come out are of an adult, which means that what she ultimately wants is an adult. An adult, whether male or female, has a total of two hundred and six bones. The bones of repentance are the bones that gather the most essence in a person’s body, but the specific one varies from person to person.”

Gu Huanzhi said, “In that case, does she have to find at least two hundred and six people with bones of repentance? But this sacrifice is once a year, wouldn’t that take more than two hundred years?”

Xie Yiling said coldly, “She’s not that stupid. In name, it’s a sacrifice once a year, but in private, who knows.”

“Then doesn’t she know how many lives she’s ruined!” Gu Huanzhi was so angry that his breathing became heavier. “She even shamelessly built a temple for herself and receives offerings from others.”

Xie Yiling patted him and said in a low voice, “Look, the bones of repentance are coming out.”

He saw that the human bones, which were still in the arms of the Rain Flower golden statue, had turned into a small, bright piece.

A commoner held a wooden plate in both hands and went up to meet it. The bones of repentance landed steadily on the plate.

Cheers and bright flames rose together at this moment, like some kind of sacrificial dance. Red and white intertwined, like a hundred red carp swimming freely in white water, or like white water imprisoning red carp, unable to be free.

Gu Huanzhi said solemnly, “No matter what the Rain Flower Goddess’s purpose is, achieving her goal by indiscriminately killing innocent people is ultimately an evil deed. As a member of the Immortal Clan, I can’t turn a blind eye and let her continue to do evil.”

Xie Yiling agreed in his heart, but was worried and said, “But her strength should not be underestimated, I’m afraid she can’t be easily subdued.”

Gu Huanzhi couldn’t help but glanced at Nangong Ci’s expression and said, “Isn’t there also Fufeng Daozhang? I think Fufeng Daozhang would never sit idly by in such matters, right?”

Nangong Ci looked back at him and said, “Gu Gongzi has a great sense of righteousness, Fufeng admires him. If I can do my part, I will naturally not refuse.”

Gu Huanzhi immediately felt a bit confident hearing this. Seeing Xie Yiling, his confidence faded a bit, and he hesitated, “But Senior Brother Xie…”

He thought that Xie Yiling was just a mortal and had only become a disciple a few days ago. He probably hadn’t had time to learn any magic, so he couldn’t help but worry.

Xie Yiling felt a little ashamed when the topic turned to him. He patted his chest and bolstered his morale, “Don’t worry, I will definitely not hold you back. The Ning Dan pill that Master gave me should be almost absorbed, why don’t I give it a try.”

After speaking, he imitated Nangong Ci’s movements of casting a spell in a pretentious manner.

Perhaps it was because he had eaten the Ning Dan pill, but this time when he circulated his spiritual power, Xie Yiling felt that there was a power surging wildly in his body. His heart sank slightly, and he tried to control that power.

A familiar spiritual power rushed from the soles of his feet to his arms, straight to the top of his head, and then stirred his internal organs, extremely restless.

However, this restlessness gave Xie Yiling a good sign that his spiritual power might be restored. He couldn’t help but want to see if he could use some spiritual power. He raised his hand, but accidentally used too much force.

A white light burst out from the grass in the mountains, accidentally hitting the commoner who was holding the wooden plate.

The commoner was suddenly struck by a spiritual force. His body was already a puppet, so how could he withstand this heavy blow? Immediately, his body swayed, wobbled left and right, and fell to the ground with a “thump.”

The bones of repentance in the plate also rolled to the side with the force.

Oh no! Xie Yiling cried out in his heart, thinking that the Rain Flower Goddess had discovered their hiding place. He subconsciously prepared to escape, but Nangong Ci stepped forward at this moment.

“Hey, Nan—Master!” Xie Yiling was taken aback, almost forgetting the honorific title. He reached out to stop him, but it was too late. He could only watch the white figure fly straight to the Rain Flower Platform.

Seeing this, Gu Huanzhi no longer hid and followed closely behind.

Xie Yiling simply stood up. He looked down and saw that the little ghost was drooling in his sleep. He said helplessly, “A Si, A Si? A Si!”

Seeing that he couldn’t wake him up, he bent down and pinched A Si’s round face: “Falling asleep when there’s serious business, who taught you that?”

“Ah?” A Si was forcibly dragged out from a table full of delicious food, and his mood was really not good. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Xie Yiling, and he was even more annoyed: “Brother Xie Ci, you owe me locust flower minced meat, golden crushed sesame cake…”

Xie Yiling not only interrupted his dream, but also interrupted his series of protests: “I’ll pay, I’ll pay for everything, but if you sleep again, be careful that the jackals, tigers, and leopards on the mountain will eat you when I leave.”

A Si curled his lips and said, “I’m not afraid.”

In response, Xie Yiling slapped him on the forehead: “Let’s go! Let’s go over and see what’s going on.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” A Si grabbed his two fingers and pursed his lips, “What’s going on with him, that person?”

Xie Yiling slapped his head, almost forgetting about it.

“A Si,” he squatted down and earnestly instructed A Si in front of him, “Nangong Ci doesn’t remember me now, but I have a master-disciple relationship with him now. So, in order not to arouse his suspicion, you must also pretend not to remember me, understand?”

A Si held his head in his hands and said, “It’s so complicated, but I remember.”

“It’s good that you remember!” Xie Yiling picked up the clothes on the back of his neck, “Hurry up and go over to help!”

The commoner who lost the bones of repentance was bowing and searching everywhere on the ground, with cold sweat pouring down his face. While searching, he kept chanting, “Rain Flower Goddess, forgive me, Rain Flower Goddess, forgive me!”

Suddenly, his eyes widened as he watched a slender hand pick up the bones of repentance not far away.

“Give it back to me, give it back to me!” He pounced on it, his body slamming into the sword hilt on the man’s waist, like yellow paper meeting fire, instantly turning to ashes.

Nangong Ci took the bones of repentance, glanced at the ashes on the ground, and then looked up at the golden statue on the platform. “I heard that the Rain Flower Goddess is powerful and boundless, but seeing it today, it is indeed so.”

The golden statue shook, as if annoyed. Nangong Ci’s expression did not change, he just looked at her coldly. Everyone was lying on the ground, like puppets with broken strings.

Suddenly, the golden statue made a crisp cracking sound at a certain point. As layers of gold powder fell off, living human skin was gradually revealed.

Gu Huanzhi, who followed closely behind, said in surprise, “Could this be the Rain Flower Goddess herself?”

After the golden statue broke, out came a graceful and charming young woman with a face like peach blossoms, a red dot on her forehead, and cold, watery eyes, like cold, piercing ice.

“When the great cause of embracing bones is about to be completed, I will kill anyone who stands in my way! Nangong Fufeng, if you insist on interfering with this matter, I will definitely not spare you easily!”

Nangong Ci raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her coldly: “Children are innocent, you indiscriminately kill innocent people, act against your conscience and do evil, we, as cultivators, are responsible for upholding justice, so how can we sit idly by?”

“Hahahaha!” The woman laughed, “Upholding justice? It’s ridiculous! Why should your Immortal Clan define what is right and what is wrong in this world!”

Gu Huanzhi was very unconvinced by this fallacy: “Even a three-year-old child can distinguish between good and bad, why do we need to define right and wrong? Your mind is despicable, so what you see is naturally limited.”

Nangong Ci said, “Hua Jieyu, turn back to the shore.”

Gu Huanzhi’s eyes flashed with surprise, so the two actually knew each other?

Hua Jieyu shouted, “My affairs don’t need your interference, stop pretending to be compassionate, it’s disgusting!”

Gu Huanzhi saw that she was stubborn and said angrily, “You are used to seeing pretentious people, so you think everyone in the world is pretentious, what kind of reasoning is this?”

As soon as he finished speaking, a red silk flew like a swift wind. Gu Huanzhi’s pupils shook, and he hurriedly used Frost Guest to block it. With a “clang,” Frost Guest was knocked to the ground. Seeing that the red silk was about to wrap around Gu Huanzhi’s neck, Nangong Ci raised his hand and swung his sword to cut it.

The red silk fabric was extremely soft and resilient. The sword energy that slashed past the surface slid over it, and the sword was wrapped around it instead.

Seeing this, Gu Huanzhi turned his palm over, and Frost Guest returned to his hand. He raised his sword, and the cold front approached. Hua Jieyu only slightly dodged it, and another red silk shot at him.

The two immediately fought with her.

Hua Jieyu was, after all, a half-way cultivator. She had only practiced Taoism for five or six years at most. Originally, Nangong Ci alone could capture her, not to mention that there was also Gu Huanzhi now.

Seeing that she was outnumbered, she gradually fell into a disadvantage. Hua Jieyu turned around in an instant and raised her hand to shoot out a few flying daggers. There was a sound of iron breaking through the air as they “whooshed” past.

Frost Guest met the flying daggers and slashed them, knocking one of them to the ground.

Gu Huanzhi dodged and said in shock, “Rain Flower Plum Blossom Dagger?!”

The flying dagger was thin and slender, shaped like a plum blossom. The edge also had a cold light shaking, and after seeing blood, it would be like a newly opened red plum.

Nangong Ci reminded, “This dagger is poisonous, be careful.”

Gu Huanzhi quickly retracted his hand halfway and nodded repeatedly, “Okay, okay!”

The surrounding stiff commoners suddenly moved like dead trees meeting spring and regaining life. Gu Huanzhi said, “They’re starting to move!”

Hua Jieyu’s spiritual power was gradually weakening at this time. She smiled coldly and said, “Fufeng Daozhang is really saying it simply. I am already deep in an abyss that cannot be returned, how can I turn back?”

She waved her hand and controlled the puppets to pounce on them like a thousand troops and horses.

Xie Yiling was almost dragged down the mountain by A Si, and then dragged all the way up the Rain Flower Platform.

As soon as he stepped onto the high platform, he was immediately taken aback.

He saw Nangong Ci and Gu Huanzhi surrounded by the group of commoners. He could vaguely see the light of their swords.

Xie Yiling pressed A Si’s head down and hid behind the purple-gray cauldron. He couldn’t see the battle situation clearly, and he was worried that something would happen. After thinking about it, he decided to go over.

Thinking of A Si’s identity, Xie Yiling wiggled his arms: “A Si, do you have any skills?”

Mentioning his skills, A Si raised his neck and put his hands on his hips: “I can eat fifty bowls of rice!”

“It seems that your hungry ghost aura is indeed well-deserved, but we don’t need it now.” Xie Yiling raised his hand and clapped twice, with a bit of admiration, “Besides eating, do you have any other powerful magic?”

“Yes!” A Si nodded and pointed to the group of puppets on the platform, “I can eat them.”

“…” Xie Yiling was silent, “That’s not necessary.”

A Si snorted unconvinced: “I have other skills!” After speaking, he raised his hand and used a cloud of purple mist, which floated to the platform.

Wherever the purple mist passed, the movements of the few people who were fighting fiercely slowed down, their expressions were dazed and stagnant, and the commoners also stopped moving because Hua Jieyu stopped controlling them.