freenovelworld Chapter 206: Divine Punishment – Treating Everyone Equally
Chapter 206: Divine Punishment – Treating Everyone Equally
"What did the murals look like before?" Fei Xi was not surprised by what Prince Yaro said; on the contrary, she understood.
"I don't remember much, I only remember there were many dead people, all kinds of dead people..."
"How come you don't remember anything? Are you trying to deceive us?" Dongfang Rui asked suspiciously, his brows furrowed.
"I can't remember, I really can't remember! Who among you can remember everything that happened when you were three years old?"
“Prince Yaro, don’t rush, think it over carefully. Your father and many people from the Kingdom of Us are skilled in martial arts, and you also learned martial arts later. If you entered this hall, how did you get out?”
Phyllis's guiding words calmed Prince Yaro's agitated emotions somewhat. He pondered the questions Phyllis had raised for a moment, then recalled with a mixture of doubt and hesitation:
“We hold our annual music and dance festival here. No one else is allowed to enter the temple. Only my father, myself, some priests from the temple, and the chosen goddesses to dance are allowed to enter the temple to pray for blessings.”
"After entering the temple, the high priest sang a prayer song, and we prostrated ourselves on the ground, not allowed to raise our heads. Only after the goddesses finished their blessing dance could my father and I leave."
"You mean you can leave after the goddesses finish their dance?" Boss Qiu raised an eyebrow and interjected directly.
"Indeed, we have always prostrated ourselves at God's feet, and we should pray to God with the deepest reverence and gratitude. As long as we are sincere, God will surely grant us blessings and let us leave with blessings. If you want to leave here, you should sincerely pray to Mother Goddess Norse to send down a miracle."
As Prince Yaro spoke, his posture of prostrating himself on the ground became increasingly devout, and when he spoke of the goddess, his eyes shone as brightly as the stars.
"I beg your ancestors!" A rude guard next to Boss Qiu finally couldn't hold back and cursed loudly.
Although everyone remained silent, their thoughts were exactly the same as those of the guard.
So-called gods are nothing more than things used to fool the common people. These people are either bloodthirsty madmen, powerful officials, or people with first-class knowledge and skills; none of them are ordinary.
No deity can compare to the tangible power of the sword in one's hand.
"You! Ignorant! Arrogant heretic! You will surely be punished by the gods!"
Since he was unable to move anyway, Prince Yaro no longer needed to fear the people around him.
Moreover, he could hardly tolerate his faith being so blasphemed by heretics.
'Oh, Almighty and Merciful Mother Goddess, please send down heavenly fire and burn these heretics!'
Prince Yaro cried out in his heart, but he only dared to do so in his heart. He dared to defy Boss Qiu's guards, but he dared not loudly insult anyone, after all, the woman not far away who was not restrained by the main hall was not someone to be trifled with.
However, in a daze, he seemed to actually see faint blue flames drifting slowly toward them from outside the door.
"God, my foot! If you gods were truly useful, why didn't you come to save you? Only a fool like you, a useless piece of trash, would believe in such nonsense and use it to comfort yourself..."
Seeing that Prince Yaro had no more useful information to offer, the guards began to hurl insults without restraint.
"Ah Da, that's enough!" Boss Qiu finally spoke up to stop the guards after they had finished cursing.
“Princess Shouguang, you must already understand. We cannot find the mechanism in this hall now, but perhaps, as Prince Yaro said, someone needs to perform a blessing dance to restore it to normal.”
"What does Boss Qiu mean?"
Fei Xi looked away from the mural, turned her head, and looked at the fat man who was calling her name.
After Prince Aro said that the mural on the left was different from the one he had seen when he was a child, she began to examine the murals on both sides.
At this moment, she roughly guessed why the fat man had called her. He simply believed that the dancer La Pei was one of his people and wanted to use her as leverage to negotiate with them.
In negotiations, whoever reveals their bottom line first is likely to be at a disadvantage.
Boss Qiu naturally wouldn't state his meaning directly. He didn't respond to Fei Xi, but instead turned to Yu Heng and asked:
"Lord Yu, what are your thoughts?"
"If you, this dancer, are truly of some use, leave her here, and I will let you leave in peace."
Yu Heng spoke with righteous indignation, his thick eyebrows, large eyes, and square face exuding an imposing official air. It was as if his willingness to spare Boss Qiu's life was already an immense favor.
However, Boss Qiu was clearly not satisfied with the other party's attitude. He first sighed, a fawning smile on his face, but his tone was unusually firm as he rejected Yu Heng's words:
“Alas, Lord Yu, this country of Us is full of strangeness. Look at those murals, they are exactly the same as the mirages we have seen at sea. That iron barrel monster must have come out of this square building. I’m afraid the secrets hidden behind this place are not something that ordinary people can easily uncover.”
"Besides, La Pei is my beloved concubine. I spent a lot of money and effort to bring her here safely. If you want to take her away with just a word, sir, that would be far too arrogant."
"Hmph, greed will eventually backfire! Boss Qiu, I advise you to think twice before you act. Is a dancer more important, or your life?"
“My life is important, but this concubine is also my heart and soul. I know that you simply think that once your men find this place, not to mention one dancer, you could have ten or eight more without any problem. At that time, La Pei will naturally be useless, and I am still so tactless as to try to bargain with you.”
Yu Heng remained silent, clearly acknowledging Boss Qiu's words.
"But this main hall is probably not as simple as you think, sir. You just heard what La Pei said; she saw that everyone in the temple was burned to death in the back hall. I'm afraid that those who died in the temple did not leave. If they, along with the princess and my beloved concubine, are unaffected by this main hall, then let alone waiting for reinforcements to arrive, I'm afraid we will all perish here immediately."
"What you're saying is far too alarmist..."
"No, he's right!"
Before Yu Heng could finish speaking, Fei Xi interrupted him.
“This temple is probably not as simple as it appears. I can sense that there are multiple formations here, each one more exquisite than the last, something that our era could not possibly break.”
"A formation? Miss Fei, there's a formation here too? Even you can't break it?" Dongfang Rui suddenly realized that what had immobilized them was a formation!
Having witnessed Fei Xi's exquisite array formations firsthand in Sanhe Town, he knew that Fei Xi's array formation skills were second to none in the world.
Even Miss Lian Fei couldn't understand or break this formation; how terrifying must it be?!
"Yes, I can calculate a bit of the formation's trajectory, but I have no clue what kind of formation it is or how to break it. Perhaps you can only leave here after the goddesses finish their blessing dance at the music and dance festival."
Fei Xi nodded readily in agreement with Dongfang Rui's words. Her expression turned grave as she looked towards the door, her tone suddenly becoming serious:
"Moreover, we don't have much time left. The will-o'-the-wisp that will burn everyone in this temple is already here."
"Ghost??? Will-o'-the-wisp!"
Everyone looked in the direction Fei Xi was pointing. Outside the door, a few wisps of eerie blue flames were floating, looking just like the legendary will-o'-the-wisps!
"Take out all your jewelry, preferably gemstones. I'll set up a formation so these will-o'-the-wisps won't be able to detect us. Sister La Pei, come over here and help!"
Boss Qiu naturally noticed the strange thing outside the door, and the will-o'-the-wisp was the closest to their group.
For some reason, these eerie blue flames are only hovering outside the door and haven't come in yet.
Knowing that Fei Xi was not one to speak carelessly, Boss Qiu naturally did not dare to stop La Pei. Instead, he took the initiative to hand over all the jewelry he was wearing.
"Lape, take all these necklaces, belts, bracelets, and rings from my neck and fingers. Ah Da, tell Lape everything you have!"
Fei Xi stared at the will-o'-the-wisps outside the door, and first placed the jewelry she was wearing in various corners of the main hall according to the Bagua directions.
The will-o'-the-wisps outside the door seemed to sense her movements and slowly began to change as well.
They first cautiously gathered towards the gate, then suddenly scattered, as if tentatively probing, or perhaps afraid of something and dared not come in directly.
Taking the jewelry that La Pei kept handing her, Fei Xi quickly placed it in different positions according to the different properties of the gemstones, while muttering incantations:
"Kan represents water, Gen represents mountain, Dui represents marshland... A curtain of water hangs from the sky, covering the Kan position; thick earth settles in the heart, guarding the Gen position... Rise!"
With a shout of "Rise!", the will-o'-the-wisps outside the door suddenly coalesced into a human-shaped flame, rushing straight towards Prince Yaro, who was closest to the door!