Chapter 24: The Demon Buddha's Sacrifice

  Yang Hao and his group rested for a moment before continuing to follow their master deeper into the island, but in their hearts they were recalling the thrilling experience they had just gone through and the things their master had said earlier. Although they had recovered their spirits and physical strength in such a short period of time, if they had been trapped in that formation for a little longer, what would have happened? Everyone might have died, and all your extraordinary cultivation and martial arts skills would have been useless, and you would have suffered greatly in the formation as well.

  "Be careful everyone..." Uncle Yang said as he led the way up the stairs, with Yang Hao and the others following behind. Only after they came up did they realize that this was not a single building, but rather a complex of buildings, all in the style of traditional Tang Dynasty wooden structures. At first glance from below, it seemed like just one house. But as Yang Hao and the others climbed up, they found themselves standing on high ground in a square courtyard, with the surrounding buildings all beneath their feet. Yet somehow, there only seemed to be one path forward. It was unclear what connections existed between these various buildings.

  "Locust Tree?"

  "The pagoda tree itself is yin and can gather yin energy around it. Ordinary people would never plant a pagoda tree at their door, otherwise, they would reject the yang energy from outside and contain the yin energy inside, which would lead to problems."

  As Old Man Yang spoke, he slowly pushed open the first large gate, and everything inside came into view. Six giant wooden pillars, each with a diameter of two people's arm span, stood tall on either side, with the horizontal beams exposed on top. In the center of the main hall was a stone carving standing on a red canvas, which at first glance seemed to be some kind of Buddha, similar to China's Thousand-Handed Guanyin, but different in that this statue was male, with a ferocious expression, and instead of having a thousand eyes of the law, it had various weapons and human organs. Its legs were crossed in a squatting position, like the stance of a "fighting cock" from childhood memories.

  A group of people stood on the ground, facing the stone statue, dancing to the beat of drums in a strange dance. The leader wore a black mask, muttering something under his breath, but it was unclear what he was saying. Yang Hao and the others watched with rapt attention as Old Man Yang, with his rich experience, gave them a silencing gesture. He then added in a low voice:

  "Don't disturb the ritual... we'll pass by from the side." A row of people lined up along the edge of the wall, preparing to circle around behind the group. Just as they were approaching the stone statue, the lead priest suddenly raised his wooden staff and pointed it at Yang Hao with a loud "Hah!" At the same time, all the participants in the ritual stopped their dance steps and cast gloomy gazes in this direction.

  "What are you looking at? You little Japanese, asking for a beating..." Yu Deng bellowed, and was about to charge over when Yi Yang Shu grabbed hold of him.

  "Wait, let's see what they're up to first..." Yiyang Shu found that, apart from the leader, the others didn't seem like Japanese people in terms of their clothing, but rather looked like Chinese fishermen. So he pulled back Yudeng to avoid harming innocent people.

  The leader of the ritual, wearing a ghost mask and sumo-like loincloth, shouted loudly after stopping at the lantern's call. He let out a few more strange cries, suddenly turned his head sharply, revealing a fierce glint in his eyes, and muttered ominously: "Metsu, annihilate them." The other minor ritual performers rushed over, wailing and crying out strangely.

  Yi Yang Bo leaned in and whispered something to Yang Hao's ear, then he saw him charge into the crowd with a whirlwind kick, knocking down a bunch of people, and with his left hand, he grabbed one of the thugs and brought him back to the group. It turned out that Master wanted to see what these "Chinese fishermen" were really made of.

  "Alas... these people have long been dead... make your move..." Yi Yang Shu probed the aura of this guy, closed his eyes and said slowly.

  Everyone heard the master's words, Yang Hao rushed to the great sacrificer, his hands glowing with golden light, leaping into the air, and striking the great sacrificer's forehead with both fists. The great sacrificer used his staff to support himself upwards. With a loud crash, he actually withstood Yang Hao's punch. Thinking they were just some mobsters, Yang Hao thought that a few punches and kicks would settle it, but unexpectedly the great sacrificer had some skill, so he took a deep breath, increased his strength, and counterattacked...

  Yu Dang charged into the crowd with his twin blades, the white and yellow lights of which crisscrossed to sever countless hands, feet, and heads. Yu Zhuo lazily held onto the TRG-21 sniper rifle, occasionally pulling the trigger. Hu Tou and Ji Feng stood still, watching the changes in the scene. Yi Yang Shu was searching for a way out.

  Not long after, the Uighurs were chopped up in a pitiful state, not one of them had an intact corpse. "Bang..." Yang Hao's hook punch with a yellow glow directly hit the high priest's chin, this high priest flew out, crashed into the wall, and slid down slowly like a rice cake, no longer making any movement.

  "Master, there is a door here... Ah? Can't open it?" Yu Zhuo shouted from behind the stone statue.

  "Let me try?" Yang Hao walked over and used all his strength to push the door a few times, but it didn't budge at all. Yu Deng and Yu Zhuo tried one after another, but neither of them could open it.

  "Let me try..." The tiger walked over, its two front paws grasping the ground, and with a push of its hind legs against the door... "Creak..." The door slowly opened.

  "Haha... looks like Tiger Head is still the most powerful after all," Yang Hao said with a stroke of Tiger Head's head, just as everyone was about to leave, a strange voice came from behind them. "Ka ka ka... heh... heh... hahaha..." Yang Hao turned his head around and saw that red ghosts were slowly floating out from among the scattered corpses.

  "Hmph... Another Red Soul Ghost... You all leave first, I'll take care of this." Yang Hao said disdainfully as he looked at the ghosts.

  "I'll stay and help you"

  "Ah... no need, you guys go ahead, I'll be right there, these few small fries are enough for me to handle alone." Yang Hao confidently rejected the help of Hu Tou and his senior brothers. Everyone knew that Yang Hao had made significant progress during this period, and they also understood his strength, so they didn't say anything else and left one after another. Just as Yu Deng, Yu Zhuo, Hu Tou, and Duan Feng walked out of the gate, a loud rumbling sound was heard, and an unknown force caused the gate to be tightly closed again. Then, the high priest who had fallen in the corner of the wall stood up with a sinister smile on his face.

  "Despicable..." Yang Hao said as he was about to step forward, when suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. Yang Hao turned around to see that it was his master. His master hadn't left after all, and with this, Yang Hao felt much more at ease. "Ahao, you take care of these few Red Soul Ghosts, I'll handle the Grand Sacrifice," Yiyang Shu said as he strode forward towards the Grand Sacrifice.

  Yang Hao was thinking in his heart, the strength of this Da Jisi is not even comparable to a single Red Soul Ghost, why does Master want to do this? Is it to test my strength?

  No more thinking, Yang Hao showed his claws and rushed into the group of Red Soul Ghosts. The current Red Soul Ghosts were like toys in Yang Hao's hands, unable to keep up with his speed, and didn't even have room to counterattack. After a few moves, the group of Red Soul Ghosts was knocked to the ground. Yang Hao turned back very satisfied, just about to give his master a victorious gesture, when he suddenly discovered that the high priest and his master were standing opposite each other, neither making a move. Just as doubt arose in his mind, he saw the high priest standing still, looking at his master, then turning back to look at Yang Hao, letting out a loud cry to the heavens.

  From his eyes, endless anger and hatred can be seen. He seems to have given up resisting, the staff in his hand is thrown to the ground, his closed mouth is constantly moving, as if chewing on something. Before long, dark red blood seeped out from the corner of his mouth...

  "Die by biting one's tongue????” Yang Hao suddenly thought of this phrase in his mind, and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. What kind of hatred was this? This vengeful spirit seemed to be seeing him and his master for the first time... Was it necessary to hate to this extent??? Just as Yang Hao was wondering, he heard the vengeful spirit's sobbing voice, its body constantly convulsing. In the end, it fell to the ground. Could it be resolved without even making a move??? Just as Yang Hao was about to speak, a black ghost suddenly emerged from the vengeful spirit's corpse and flew into the stone statue of the Thousand-Handed Buddha. Instantly, the room seemed to experience an earthquake, with stones falling from the ceiling. The red spirits lying on the ground also transformed into countless red lights that flew into the body of the Thousand-Handed Buddha... It moved......