Chapter 280: Blessings
Liu Changsheng smiled and said, “A nest of wolves, good, good, then as you wish.”
With that, he took over Yun Shuo and Yun Tui, held the two children in his arms, then let out a low shout.
“Come out.”
Immediately, a group of Taoist priests escorted six women draped in black gauze from outside the hall into the Divine Dragon Hall. The six women removed their black gauze, revealing their naked upper bodies, gathered around the fire pit, then prostrated themselves on the ground.
E Ji first looked at the women’s full chests. When they raised their buttocks high and prostrated their upper bodies on the ground, she looked again at their plump buttocks. When she looked at Liu Changsheng holding the babies, her expression became strange.
These women’s figures were so good, clearly the kind only experienced women possessed. Her husband had always told her stories of the ancestral land, many of which were about bald donkeys and Taoist priests fighting over head priestesses. So, upon seeing those priestesses without tops, she immediately recalled the disgusting stories her husband had told during boring times.
The Taoist priests all sat cross-legged behind those priestesses. E Ji found this arrangement really quite disgusting. The Taoist priests were staggered one by one, making it convenient for each to see a priestess’s buttocks.
Thinking of this, E Ji worriedly glanced at her son placed in Liu Changsheng’s arms.
“Sacrifice, with fire first, praise light, laud warmth…”
Liu Changsheng’s voice became strange. The first few words were still clear, but midway it became mumbled. By the last few words, it turned into undulating scales of chanting, impossible to discern what he was reciting.
1 The five hundred candle flames in the fire pit had already formed a dense circle, surrounding the ancestral fire in the center. The ancestral fire seemed very excited too, its color constantly changing—one moment blue, one moment pure cyan, one moment golden yellow, one moment fiery red—and the flame’s size also varied with Liu Changsheng’s chanting.
1 Just as Liu Changsheng chanted to a high pitch, the Taoist priests began emitting mixed tones from their noses. Those six priestesses also started shaking their buttocks, shaking more and more intensely.
1 “Ah—” One priestess cried out. E Ji and Zhang Min, originally sitting on cushions, involuntarily prostrated their upper bodies on the ground too, their buttocks raised high in the same shameful way as the priestesses.
1 “Ahhh—” The priestess’s sound continued, the “ah” drawn out long, seemingly endless.
1 Liu Changsheng lowered his arms. E Ji, lying on the ground, rolled her eyes and saw her own son and Zhang Min’s son floating in the air, unsupported below.
1 Liu Changsheng, dressed in black divine official attire, waved his wide robe sleeves like a butterfly dancing wildly throughout the Divine Dragon Hall. However, his footwork was extremely fast, his body even leaving afterimages. The afterimages formed like a black line linking all the Taoist priests in the main hall.
1 When Liu Changsheng returned to the center again, he made a grasping motion with his hand. Those six prostrated priestesses were yanked back violently as if by their hair, their heads jerking backward.
1 “Ah—” The six priestesses chanted together, their voices carrying a momentum like tearing silk and piercing clouds. The ancestral fire in the fire pit suddenly split into six, draping over the six priestesses.
1 Seeing this, the Taoist priests’ mouths recited magic incantations even faster, reaching a peak that turned into booming sounds throughout the Divine Dragon Hall, bombarding relentlessly in people’s brains.
1 Outside the Divine Dragon Hall, wind had risen at some point, making the ancient trees creak, their thick trunks seeming unable to bear the strain, ready to topple at any moment.
2 The bright moonlight shining into the Divine Dragon Hall vanished in that instant, leaving the ancestral fire and five hundred candle flames as the only light sources in the vast empty main hall.
2 “Wah.” Yun Shuo woke up and cried loudly in midair. Immediately, Yun Tui began crying too, waving his little arms and legs in midair as if searching for protection.
2 E Ji couldn’t bear this and wanted to rush over, but it felt like a mountain was pressing on her body. Not only could she not stand, even moving was a luxury. She gritted her teeth and twisted her buttocks—good, her legs could inch forward.
2 Seeing her son cry even more miserably, E Ji grew anxious. At over a meter high, if her son fell, he’d definitely be injured. So, she pushed with her knees, inching forward like a maggot toward her son’s position. She wanted to crawl under him so that if he fell, he’d land only on her back.
2 “Dong dong dong.” One priestess took the waist drum from her lower back and struck it once. As the drum sound rang out, thunder cracked outside the window. The drum sounded three times, and thunder exploded three times outside, the closest right above the Divine Dragon Hall.
2 E Ji was drenched in sweat; inching forward felt like it was costing her life. Veins bulged on her neck, faint blue lines appeared on her fair forehead, and her heart nearly leaped from her mouth. Still, she struggled to shake her buttocks, her knees inching forward half an inch at a time.
2 “Hua la la.” Another priestess broke free. Her wrists, ankles, and waist were hung with bells. As she twisted her waist, the bells rang hua la la. Simultaneously, the gate was blown open by gale, raindrops flying into the Dragon God Hall. But entering this sweltering furnace-like Divine Dragon Hall, they instantly turned into a warm wind and mist.
2 Liu Changsheng’s footsteps carried a certain rhythm, each step forming its own pattern. If Yun Ce were here now, he would recognize that Liu Changsheng’s every step landed on the eight positions of the bagua.
2 “Cha, cha, cha.” One priestess freed her hands and took a pair of nacals from her lower back. She rubbed them lightly, then struck three times gently in time with Liu Changsheng’s steps.
2 “Ka cha cha.” A golden lightning bolt emerged from the dense clouds, stretched rapidly, and struck the roof of the Divine Dragon Hall at its end, bursting into countless sparks. The Divine Dragon Hall hummed, seeming to suddenly expand then shrink sharply for an instant.
3 E Ji had no time for these miracles. She actually regretted handing her son to Liu Changsheng. Even if he gained some benefits, it wasn’t worth the risk of falling from midair now. So, she kept twisting her buttocks and knees to crawl forward, even with her face pressed to the ground.
3 Another priestess staggered to her feet, still head tilted back, eyes rolled white. She spread her legs, lifted her left leg with her left hand, then stomped down fiercely. The Divine Dragon Hall shook immediately, the ancestral fire swaying with it. The priestess lifted her right leg with her right hand and stomped fiercely again; the Divine Dragon Hall sank sharply then bounced back quickly.
3 Liu Changsheng ran even faster. The group of Taoist priests lay flat on their backs, mouths chanting ula ula ula—what magic incantation, heaven knows.
3 E Ji finally couldn’t crawl anymore. Sweat slid from her face to the floor, instantly forming a small puddle. She glanced sideways at her son and saw the two boys wrapped in a mass of black clouds. Tiny lightning bolts constantly formed in the clouds, exploding nonstop, making the children’s cries even more piercing.
3 E Ji wanted to open her mouth to curse Liu Changsheng, but it was like glued shut—no sound came out. Just as E Ji was about to cry herself, another priestess slowly stood, shaking her hips. When she took out a flute and played, the melodious flute sound immediately stopped the children’s crying.
3 And that small dark cloud began to rain. The rain was light and sparse; before it hit the ground, it evaporated away.
3 In E Ji’s anticipation, the sixth priestess also stood. This priestess had a bit more shame than the other five; her bare upper body was at least wrapped in a colorful ribbon.
3 She didn’t play any instrument or stomp the ground ringing like that priestess. She began to dance under the ancestral fire’s envelopment. Her body was extremely flexible. Amid the drum sounds, bell rings, nacal clashes, flute sounds, and stomping thuds on the ground, her dance started slow, then quickened with the music’s tempo, becoming intense. E Ji felt every piece of flesh on this woman was dancing.
3 Liu Changsheng now looked utterly exhausted. His movements slowed, even his sleeves seemed too weak to wave. The Taoist priests also appeared extremely fatigued; aside from their mouths still twitching constantly, they too sweated profusely.
3 E Ji saw clearly: as the last priestess’s ribbons fluttered, the cloud wrapping Yun Shuo and Yun Tui rapidly changed from black to white. During the whitening, flowers constantly drifted down from the white cloud.
4 Outside the Divine Dragon Hall, the world resembled the scene before doomsday: dark clouds roiling, lightning flashing, gale winds, heavy rain pouring, the ground trembling now and then.
4 The originally round and plump burning ancestral fire now twisted its waist like a twist, dancing along with the music played by the priestesses.
4 E Ji was horrified to see the white cloud turn into a soft mat with two chubby babies lying on it. A small red sun slowly rose between them. Their four little hands involuntarily reached for that small sun, but no matter how hard the two children tried, their fingertips were just an inch short.
4 Seeing her son unharmed, E Ji’s last bit of strength vanished. With a splat, her entire body pressed tightly to the ground.
4 As that small red sun rose from above the two children’s heads to beside their little feet, the white cloud turned into mist and slowly dissipated.
4 E Ji felt her neck could move now. Turning her head, she saw Zhang Min’s face less than two inches away. On the side of her nose, E Ji saw a small pustule and couldn’t help wanting to laugh, but held it in.
4 The small sun’s last ray faded in the Divine Dragon Hall. Liu Changsheng flapped his two wide sleeves, stirring up gusts of gale in the Divine Dragon Hall.
4 The ancestral fire returned to its round plump shape. The six priestesses, exhausted, knelt on their knees on the ground, sweat gathering on their chins and finally flowing down like a stream.
