abnabooks Chapter 128 Altar
Chapter 128 Altar
"Wow, how magnificent!" Excited Xiaoying ran ahead of them, looking up at the grand statue.
That was simply a miracle!
They wandered around the magnificent palace for nearly three hours, and just when they thought nothing could impress them anymore, they saw it.
It was a stone statue of Nuwa, standing sixty or seventy meters tall, silently in mid-air, overlooking the entire land of Wuyuan. The gray mist almost completely obscured her upper body, and people would not have noticed it if they hadn't gotten close.
"Auntie, let's hurry over and take a look." Xiaoying waved to them from the front, the most excited person on the way.
"I know, what's the rush?" Han Kexin replied coldly.
The little girl was completely unaffected by Han Kexin's cold attitude. Instead, she ran over, grabbed Han Kexin's hand, and said with a grin, "Auntie, take out the rhinoceros beetle and let it fly us over there. Let us see what this place looks like from the air."
Her idea was quite good, so the others all supported her. Han Kexin went along with everyone's wishes. They sat on the back of the rhinoceros beetle and flew into the air. When they looked down, all they could see was a dazzling golden light. This ancient palace had more than a dozen palaces, distributed in the four directions of east, west, south, and north. The palaces, gardens, and corridors were arranged in an orderly manner. Only by looking down could one truly appreciate its solemnity and magnificence.
The Nuwa statue is located in a circular area in the very center of the palace. Around the statue, about ten meters away, there are statues of the four divine beasts guarding the four directions. However, these statues are covered with dust and look very dilapidated.
In front of the Nuwa statue is a circular altar with a diameter of three meters and a height of one meter. Some mysterious runes are engraved on the bottom of the altar. Three concentric circles of black stone tablets surround the altar. The altar is made of white jade and has lotus-shaped patterns carved with grooves. The grooves are dark red, and it is unknown whether they were stained red by the blood of sacrificial offerings by the ancient witch tribe.
"Don't you think this pattern looks familiar?" he asked them. For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity when he first saw the dark red pattern on the altar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.
"If what you're saying is true, then it does seem a bit like that. This pattern must have been some kind of magic array from that time," Guo Shiyi said, frowning, confirming his feeling.
No one else spoke; they simply stared intently at the magic circle.
Could it be that only he and Guo Shiyi had seen this magic array? Qin Xiaochuan racked his brains, but he couldn't recall ever seeing any magic array when he was with her.
"In the 'Dark Night' base," Han Kexin suddenly said, "there's a miniature magic circle in Dr. Chang's research lab."
"Yes, that's where I saw it. I was in such a hurry that I didn't observe the magic circle in the research room carefully, but I can confirm that they are the same." Guo Shiyi nodded confidently.
This result truly surprised them. Qin Xiaochuan asked in bewilderment, "How could he have such a magic array there? Could it be that the 'Dark Night' organization had already been to this place beforehand?"
"Now it seems very likely. If that's really the case, the purpose of the 'Dark Night' organization seems to be more complicated than we imagined. Could there be some secret hidden in this magic circle?" Guo Shiyi was also full of surprise.
Qin Xiaochuan glanced at Han Kexin, who remained silent, frowning as she looked down. The rhinoceros beetle's last landing spot was precisely on that magic circle.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!" A large flock of black, demonic-eyed crows suddenly took flight from all around, scattering in all directions.
The magic circle was covered in dust and specks of grayish-white bird droppings, making Xiaoying and Guo Shiyi frown and unable to find a place to stand.
The black stone tablets next to the magic circle are all over two meters tall. Most of the tablets are engraved with various patterns, but they are covered with dust and cobwebs, so the specific content cannot be seen clearly.
Fortunately, the ground here is paved entirely with bluestone slabs and jade, so no plants have sprouted; otherwise, weeds and vines would have already taken over the place.
"It's so dirty here, Uncle Zhou Bin, could you clean them up?" the little girl complained from the side. After getting off the rhinoceros beetle, she stared at the ground with a bitter expression, barely moving.
"Okay," Zhou Bin replied with a smile, making a hand seal with his hands as he spoke.
"Water impact!" Zhou Bin shouted, and a huge stream of water crashed onto the altar, washing away the dust. Han Kexin and Guo Shiyi took pictures of the patterns on the altar, but after studying them carefully, they found nothing.
"Take another look at what's on the stone tablets next to us?" Han Kexin said coldly. As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Bin's skill landed on those black stone tablets again.
When the soil on the stone tablet flowed to the ground with the water, they discovered that the patterns on it recorded some important events. In addition to the patterns, there were also some strange characters carved on the bottom of the stone tablet, which may have been written in ancient times.
"Look, the patterns on these are all related to this magic circle," Guo Shiyi said, pointing to the stone tablet.
Indeed, each stone tablet depicts an altar, with either an ordinary person sitting on it, or a human-headed, snake-bodied witch or some strange animal (likely the demon race Han Kexin mentioned). Beside the altar stand four witches, seemingly activating a magic array on the altar.
"It seems like they were casting a spell on the person on the altar," Guo Shiyi said, pointing to the images one by one as she explained, "After the spell was cast, the person on the altar seemed to change. Not only did two fangs grow from their mouths, but two wings also grew from their backs. Then, it seemed like they were sent out to be exposed to the sun, and then..."
Guo Shiyi's voice suddenly stopped, and the altar became unusually quiet for a moment. Qin Xiaochuan secretly glanced at Han Kexin, whose expression had completely changed. Zhou Bin and Xiao Ying were also shocked.
"This, this could be..." Guo Shiyi said in disbelief, but couldn't finish her sentence. The people behind her remained silent, and the altar was eerily quiet.
"...Vampire?" Guo Shiyi managed to utter these words, and Qin Xiaochuan could hear her heavy breathing after she finished speaking.
This discovery was a bombshell for them. Could the contents of the stone tablet record how the Blood Witch Clan came into being?
This is utterly unbelievable.
"But it's strange, isn't it?" Guo Shiyi said, frowning again.
"What?" Han Kexin asked immediately. Perhaps because the discovery made her too excited, her question was both sudden and cold, sounding like a bucket of ice water being poured over one's head in winter. Guo Shiyi couldn't help but tremble and turned to look at Han Kexin in surprise.
Han Kexin realized her lapse in composure, so she softened her tone and asked, "Did you discover something?"
"Not bad." Guo Shiyi nodded, then pointed to the patterns on the stone tablet and said, "These patterns seem to be recording how vampires are created. But as we all know, vampires are afraid of sunlight. However, after these people became vampires, they were all dragged into the sun, and in the end, none of them survived."
When Guo Shiyi mentioned this, Qin Xiaochuan realized that since entering the Land of Witches, neither Han Kexin, Zhou Bin, nor Xiaoying had worn their specially made UV-protective glasses. What was going on?
"I see. Perhaps they are conducting a test," Han Kexin replied coldly.
"Test what?" Guo Shiyi asked, looking puzzled.
Han Kexin looked up at the brightest area in the sky, but due to the fog in the sky, the sunlight could not penetrate completely.
"Perhaps it was to test these people's ability to withstand sunlight."