Chapter 28: Loss Of Control
“Let’s go. It should be fine just looking around outside. Besides, the sacrifice is about to start soon.”
Lu Jinzhao put away the complex emotions in her heart, warning herself not to let emotions affect her judgment. No matter what, she needed to survive first, then seek the truth.
In the following time, the village gradually became lively.
The villagers who had previously closed their doors to visitors all came out of their homes, but they were all dressed very plainly, most holding white soul-guiding banners in their hands, which made Wei Ling frown repeatedly.
“This is too ominous.”
Lu Jinzhao was not surprised: “Since living people are used for the sacrifice, they naturally need to let the sacrifice rest in peace.”
The appearance of this thing further confirmed that the two missing people had indeed disappeared as sacrifices.
“The customs in this village are really… But after all, there really is a ghost, so there’s no method…” Wei Ling wanted to say something but then thought of this point, and could only sigh helplessly.
When appearing outside the altar at the time when others were performing the sacrifice, Lu Jinzhao confirmed that the missing ones were indeed only two people.
Zhang Junjie and his companion had somehow mixed into the sacrifice team and were about to enter the altar together.
After confirming that the missing passengers were only two people, Lu Jinzhao’s complexion became even more grave.
This was absolutely not good news for her.
Because it made the situation even closer to what she had imagined.
At this moment, the sky had gradually darkened.
The mountain village was not like the city; even after the sun set, there were plenty of lights for illumination. In the mountain village, if the moon was not bright enough, it was truly pitch black where one could not see their own hand.
Fortunately, it was not yet at that point, and electricity was available here, though it was old yellowish bulbs, supplemented by torches for lighting.
On the not-too-large soil square outside the altar, the village chief responsible for the sacrifice was explaining something. Besides that, no one else made a sound. The entire village was unnaturally quiet, with all villagers looking solemnly at the altar.
In front, the village chief and two middle-aged men holding the items needed for the sacrifice were performing some kind of ritual before entering the altar. The process was quite long, but no accidents occurred.
The sun had completely set, and this village deep in the mountains was thoroughly plunged into quiet darkness.
Lu Jinzhao borrowed a torch from a nearby villager and held it in her hand. Seeing this, Wei Ling said nothing and also borrowed one.
Soon, the ritual reached the most critical moment. The village chief and two members were to send the prepared sacrifice into the altar, then withdraw, tightly close the altar doors, and absolutely no one was allowed to open the door until the next day’s sunlight shone in, at which point the ritual would be considered smoothly completed.
Of course, they all knew in their hearts that the true sacrifice was already inside.
The door to the altar was opened, and Zhang Junjie followed behind the village chief, holding the sacrifice in his hands, and walked in.
“It has begun.”
The scene outside fell completely silent, and several passengers exchanged glances, all becoming serious.
They all knew that from this moment, the true danger of this platform was about to reveal itself.
“Pray for everything to be safe and the sacrifice to go smoothly.” Someone silently recited in their heart.
But no matter how much they hoped for a smooth sacrifice, in the end, only Zhang Junjie and his companion had entered.
Normally, this process should end in about ten minutes, and the crowd waiting outside were almost all silently counting the passage of time in their hearts.
In the first five minutes, everyone’s mindset was still stable, after all, less than ten minutes had passed since they entered.
In the first eight minutes, someone began to feel anxiety, occasionally glancing at their watch to check the time.
By the tenth minute, Lu Jinzhao clearly felt that the companions around her were starting to become restless and uneasy.
“Why haven’t they come out yet?”
“Did something happen?”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean something went wrong yet. It hasn’t exceeded the expected time, right?”
“The villagers aren’t anxious; they must know how long the sacrifice takes.”
Indeed, someone looked at the villagers after hearing this and felt slightly reassured.
The villagers all stood in place, holding soul-guiding banners in their hands, quietly waiting.
As long as the villagers showed no signs of unrest, the time was probably not an issue.
Holding such thoughts, the crowd continued to wait.
But as time passed minute by minute, there was no movement from inside the altar.
No one came out, nor was there any sound.
It was as if the altar had swallowed everything, and the people who entered could not even let out a wail to alert the outside world.
“…Really, is there no problem?”
In the silent square, someone asked softly: “But… it’s almost twenty minutes now!”
It had far exceeded the expected time, but the altar’s door remained open, with no one coming out and no sounds.
Inside the door was pitch blackness.
“I’m afraid… something went wrong.” Lu Jinzhao silently thought to herself.
However, the altar was pitch black inside, making it impossible to see what exactly had gone wrong.
Zhang Junjie was not completely without self-protection ability. According to Wei Ling, Zhang Junjie possessed a supernatural item. Though not very good, it could help him survive a ghost’s attack initially.
Yet he still hadn’t come out.
He might be dead, or he might still be alive but trapped inside.
Either way, it proved that the altar was extremely dangerous. Even with a supernatural item, one could not easily escape.
The worst situation had occurred.
Among the surviving passengers now, the one who most hoped Zhang Junjie and the others could come out was certainly Lu Jinzhao.
As long as they came out alive, it would mean her guess was wrong!
But time was about to reach 25 minutes, and there was still no movement at the door!
“But why aren’t these villagers anxious?”
Someone asked this.
Among those anxious about the sacrifice, it seemed only the six passengers present were.
Clearly, the time limit had exceeded that of a normal sacrifice, yet not a single villager made a sound of unrest.
The passengers also fell silent.
Because they realized something was wrong.
Even if the sacrifice was ever so important, these were just ordinary villagers, not trained soldiers. At this point, how could they still stand so neatly here without a word?
Through the burning torches, Lu Jinzhao saw the face of a villager to the side.
Expressionless, stiff demeanor. Clearly very elderly, yet able to hold the soul-guiding banner motionless for a long time. Under the torchlight, that aged face showed an unnatural bluish hue.
Just like the color of a dead person.
“…No breathing.” The old man’s chest had, at some point, shown no rise or fall.
Unbeknownst to her, she had been standing shoulder to shoulder with a dead person!
Lu Jinzhao’s back ran cold. In an instant, all the strange phenomena since entering the platform flooded her mind. At this moment, she finally confirmed that the truth was exactly as she had guessed!
Her complexion changed abruptly. With no time to give any warnings, she could only shout: “Run!”
Then, without looking back, she held the torch and ran toward the ancestral hall!
Any monthly tickets? (reaching out)
