Chapter 24: Shamanic Altar (4)

  The one that the old mushroom called "ancestor" was a huge black bear. The belly of this black bear seemed to have been abandoned, and it was just a dry corpse nailed to a big tree. In the hands of this ancestor, one hand grasped a snake tail, and the other hand grasped an eagle claw.

  On either side of Zu were two Shamen in their true forms, the same two Shamen that Qin Zhong and his group had met at the entrance to the Ice Palace. At this moment, the muscles on the bodies of these two Shamen were all real, and the two beasts they held in their hands were truly existent.

  Just as the old mushroom finished his words, the two animals seemed to have already begun to show signs of life, no longer in their initial static state, but rather with a breathing rhythm visible from their nostrils and a slight wriggling movement on their bodies.

  Qin Zhong couldn't help but start to suspect that the old mushroom was using him again, letting him help bring the two raised beasts here, only to take them back for himself. If that were true, it would be disastrous.

  He subconsciously made preparations, putting his weapons in easily accessible positions, his eyes fixed on the two strange beasts held by the two shamans, and occasionally glancing towards the old mushroom.

  The old mushroom tore open the clothes on the dead man's head, and with both hands respectfully placed the dead man's head on the altar, saying: "I now offer my own head as a sacrifice to my revered ancestors, please spare my soul."

  At the same time as Lao Mo's prayer, a strange light cloud appeared on the crown of the thousand-year-old pine tree. When Qin Zhong looked up at the sky, it had already turned into seven colors.

  From a scientific perspective, the color of the sky is likely due to the presence of hot springs in this area. The high temperature of the hot springs causes the air to rise and condense into water vapor when it meets the cool air. Subsequently, under the influence of sunlight, a rainbow-like phenomenon is formed, but here it forms a rainbow-colored layer.

  Outside this atmosphere, what seems to be a super-large canopy is seen. Inside this large canopy, due to the temperature of sunlight, everything that was still motionless here just now has come to life. The devout followers who were curled up on the ground have also begun their worship. The grand and solemn ceremony of kneeling down and kowtowing repeatedly is indeed very formal and pious.

  Na Yingzi knelt on the ground, her eyes slightly closed, praying silently.

  The objects on the altar have regained their original freshness, and here, it seems that all time has been reversed, as if returning to a sacrificial ceremony decades ago, and everyone here seems to have been holding such rituals for three or four hundred years.

  And on the altar, various delicacies such as tiger heads, leopard tails, and bear gallbladders, with their fresh yet lifeless flavor, attracted the attention of those green bats from the cave earlier. A swarm of black clouds flew towards the altar from the entrance of the cave.

  Qin Zhong's body hair suddenly stood on end, and he swiftly dodged to the side of the dark shadow. However, what he didn't expect was that when the bats flew to a certain distance from the crowd, they seemed to have hit something. Some bats crashed with their heads covered in blood, while others fell with broken wings. The miserable cries of the bats facing death spread out everywhere.

  Qin Zhong saw clearly that the fallen bats instantly turned into puddles of pus, and from the pus came a foul odor of rotting corpses, making people who smelled it feel uncomfortable all over their bodies.

  Behind the altar, the two shamans who were being sacrificed suddenly had life force for the first time. The man's robust muscles began to move, and his powerful hands grasped the giant python's head. A flag was inserted into the python's body, and he finally spoke: "Hmph, neither of these two creatures you raised is obedient. If it weren't for Zu using his boundless primitive power, we two would be able to control them with our abilities."

  "I've already grasped their nature." Old Mushroom hastily said.

  Qin Zhong leaned in close to the altar, the smell of fresh blood on it was a bit too strong, although Qin Zhong could tolerate this smell, he couldn't help but feel like it was similar to when his nose bled, and he lightly covered his nose with his hand. He then leaned in close to Old Mushroom and asked: "I'm saying, Old Mushroom, if we take these two things back, they might become national treasures, world treasures, and have very high research value."

  "Spare the chatter, I don't know what you're talking about. All I know is that it wasn't easy for me to get them in the first place. And when I was just about to tame them, those two guys on stage didn't understand anything and took my beasts away, stirring up their untamed wildness again."

  At this moment, the curvaceous woman with a slightly bronzed complexion, Shaman, spoke in her incredibly magnetic voice: "Spare me the nonsense, taking back the two demonic beasts you brought is Ancestor's intention. Initially, it was because they saw your intention to betray the Ancestor that they were taken back."

  Qin Zhong's eyes kept searching for something on the female shaman, he seemed to be unrestrained as he approached her, using his hand to touch the seemingly extraordinary single-horned large bird, feeling that it was very gentle, and taking this opportunity to carefully scan the female shaman's body again.

  But in Guo Dafu's eyes, Qin Zhong's actions seemed to be taking advantage of others. From his perspective, it seemed that Qin Zhong wanted to see every corner and even every hair on the female shaman's body clearly.

  Such a bold move, of course, has dissatisfied the two shamans, and the believers below immediately generated noisy discussions, and some people have already prepared to collect their belongings.

  Guo Dafu burst out laughing and said, "Boss, you can't be serious. That Shaman sister is just an old lady of three or four hundred years old. We're still young."

  "You don't understand anything, is your boss as despicable as you said? I'm looking for something crucial, otherwise we wouldn't have come here in vain." Qin Zhong knew in his heart that he had to find the pair of pearls that Zhu Lao Liu mentioned from these two shamans, but no matter what, he couldn't find them.

  Guo Dafu didn't know what Qin Zhong was thinking about, so he retracted his own thoughts and leaned to one side with a pout.

  That male shaman stared at Qin Zhong with cold eyes: "You're really asking for it, don't you know that's seeking death?"

  "Seeking death? If it weren't for me, how could you bring up something that happened hundreds of years ago and continue with it?" Qin Zhong seemed to be somewhat unreasonable, but what he said was indeed the truth.

  That male shaman saw that Qin Zhong was not to be trifled with, and began to incessantly say that Qin Zhong was a demon sent by the evil god, and should immediately be put to death along with Guo Dafu and the old mushroom.

  The female shaman seemed to have not noticed Qin Zhong's intention to be rude, but was only curiously searching for something. However, in response to Qin Zhong's impoliteness, the female shaman helplessly replied: "We all appreciate your help, but there is one thing, if you don't get down from this platform, we will have to enforce our clan rules."

  It is said that those who know the times are heroes, and Qin Zhong naturally knew what this was about. However, just as Qin Zhong was discussing with the two shamans, the old mushroom had already quietly set up a pocket-like pattern with flags at the bottom, and the five-colored flags seemed to be moving in a certain rhythm under his incantation.

  When they saw the old mushroom's action, the two shamans' faces suddenly turned iron-green, as if something big was about to happen. The male shaman sternly accused Qin Zhong: "Do you know that you have already committed a great calamity? Our tribe is about to suffer a disaster because of your arrival, you two ominous people."

  Qin Zhong had long since run back to the front of the altar, far away from those two shamans. However, that Guo Dafu seemed to be oblivious to everything that was happening in front of him. He leaned in close to the old mushroom and looked at the colorful little flags, seemingly very interested. He used his hand to fiddle with one of the flags and muttered to himself: "What are these broken toys used for? It's really strange, these strange people."

  Just as Guo Dafu was astonished, he suddenly felt a surge of cold air rushing towards him from behind, and at this moment his eyes were wide open, with the double knives in his hand already lifted.