Xu Dao looked at Su Jiu and found that she looked pleasant, and was suddenly startled.
While he was laughing dumbly, he also put on his own dragon mask and exclaimed: "It's so similar!"
Xu Dao stretched out his hand and pinched the fox ears on the other person's head, and then said: "Especially these two ears, the stall owner's craftsmanship is really good."
The stall owner selling masks on the side received Xu Dao's silver and was very happy. He thought Xu Dao was praising his mask, so he hurriedly said: "Of course, he is an old craftsman!"
Xu Dao smiled and shook his head, rubbed Su Jiu's head again, and said, "Let's go. If we don't leave, there will be too many people, and we may not even have a place."
After saying this, he put his hands behind his hands and walked happily among the crowd, with a relaxed posture.
Su Jiu replied: "Yes." She adjusted the mask on her face, trotted to catch up with Xu Dao, and hung beside Xu Dao as a little tail.
Both of them wore masks and mingled among the lively and joyful crowds in different costumes, like two small fish in a school of fish, inconspicuous.
After walking for about half an hour, Xu Dao and Su Jiu approached the Wuxia River. When they were a thousand steps away from the river, they stopped and stopped walking forward.
Because further inside, only people from the Shezhao tribe or those who are practicing Taoism can enter.
Taoist boys from Shezhao were guarding the boundary with soldiers and armor, and the supervision was not serious. As long as the Taoist showed his cultivation, he could go to the riverside and sit on the seats that had been prepared.
Even if you are not a Taoist, a respectable mortal in the mountain city can get in by saying a few good words to the Taoist boy who gave up the imperial edict.
Although Xu Dao and Su Jiu could easily enter, the reason why he came here on foot tonight was to blend in with the crowd of mortals, hide his body, and watch indifferently.
Fortunately, there are tables and chairs a thousand steps away by the river, and some people even temporarily built a high platform for the enjoyment of ordinary people who have spare money but are not qualified to get close.
This all shows that the people of Shezhao are very fond of the annual sacrificial meeting. Even businessmen have experienced it and want to make a fortune.
Xu Dao led Su Jiu, who reached for his head among the crowd, and finally found a high platform with free seats in a slightly remote corner. After spending a high price, he rented a small table on the second floor, which could barely seat two people.
After they settled in, Xu Dao raised his eyes and looked around again, and found that there were already crowds of people behind him. People were bumping into each other. Some people were walking all the way out of the city without even touching the ground with their toes.
If Shezhao hadn't made arrangements in advance, the outside of the city was divided into pieces of land, and they were divided with iron chains. Every few steps, there would be blazing pillars of fire, illuminating the scene clearly.
Otherwise, the scene would have become chaotic and many people would have been trampled to death.
Su Jiu also turned around and looked, muttering: "There are so many people."
Xu Dao nodded and replied: "There are indeed many people, not to mention one hundred thousand, at least seventy thousand."
With so many people gathered together, not to mention Su Jiu, even Xu Dao, he had never seen it with his own eyes before.
Looking up casually, there was a mass of heads everywhere. If the two of them had not climbed up to the high platform, they might have been jostling with people below.
On the high platform, there were wealthy businessmen from other places, as well as local wealthy people from Shezhao. The former looked surprised, even more so than Su Jiu, while the latter proudly pointed towards the river:
"The sacrifice will start later, and there will be fireworks first. These fireworks are wonderful, they can form various shapes in mid-air. Half of the people in the city have left the city, and half of the reason is to watch these fireworks."
Xu Dao listened to the conversation of the people around him, and he became interested, and immediately asked: "What about the majority of the reason?"
When the other party heard this, he burst out laughing and said, "Of course it's because this year is different. This year is a big sacrifice that happens every sixty years. The immortal masters on the mountain will all appear. Maybe there will be immortal fate."
Some people's eyes gleamed and they said eagerly: "Immortal fate? Seriously, seriously."
Immediately afterwards, peanuts, melon seeds, pastries, tea and other food were brought to the high platform. There was a burst of pecking and chatting everywhere, and the excitement became a bit noisy.
Xu Dao looked at the scene in front of him. He was not bored at all, but felt a little relieved. He secretly thought:
"There are so many mortals around. Look at how they look. They are relaxed and relaxed. It shouldn't be a big problem to perform sacrifices..."
However, Xu Dao thought that mortals were mortals after all, and even if something big happened, they would not be able to know about it. Therefore, to be cautious, he still made up a few talismans and handed them to Su Jiu beside him.
Su Jiu took the thing and asked aloud: "This is it?"
"These are several protective spells that have the effect of stabilizing the mind and preventing evil spirits. You use one of them first, and keep the others ready."
Xu Dao explained aloud, and at the same time he focused on himself, running the body protection spell and the heart-purifying spell.
When the little fox girl Su Jiu heard his instructions, she didn't ask too much. She picked up a charm in her hand, put it into her sleeve and used it quietly.
After using the spell, you will have a flash of inspiration and you will stand out from the crowd, just like standing out from the crowd.
In order to be on guard, Xu Dao was naturally prepared early. The moment Su Jiu used the spell, he grabbed the opponent's arm and used his breath-containing jade hook without hesitation of magic power, shrouding both of them.
Inside.
The little fox girl was grabbed by his arm and was stunned for a moment. She even forgot to shake out the ashes of the spell in her sleeves. She heard Xu Dao say again: "Look, it seems like it's about to start."
"Huh?" Su Jiu heard this and quickly raised her head and looked in the direction of Wuxia River, but her eyes were spinning, not knowing what she was thinking.
There was no sound of gongs, drums, or shouts. Xu Dao just saw groups of Shezhao people in different costumes moving by the river. They waved the flags in their hands, as if they were conveying orders, and they seemed to be making sacrifices to the gods.
Actions.
boom!
Just as the crowd watching the ceremony was making muffled noises, a sudden thunder exploded on the ground, shooting out a white light between the sky and the earth, completely suppressing the voices of everyone within a ten-mile radius.
A pair of eyes were raised from the ground, and bright lights flashed in their eyes, as if stars were lighting up.
The white light expanded and shone on the faces of thousands of people, some were confused, some were stunned, some were surprised, some were happy, some were scared... just to name a few.
Xu Dao and Su Jiu also looked up at the pure white fireworks appearing in the sky.
Then there was another rustling sound, and a stream of red, green, bright yellow, and cyan fireworks rose from the ground and the river. They exploded in the air and made a shocking sound, but it was not as powerful as the first one just now.
The stock is so terrifying.
After five or six breaths passed, there were crowds of people along the Wuxia River, but the noises and sounds stopped, there was no chatting or screaming anymore, everyone quietly looked up at the house-sized fireworks in the sky.
There are dish-shaped, bottle-shaped, as well as various shapes such as chariots and horses, fish and insects, plants and flowers, gathered or scattered, and full of brilliance.
Xu Dao withdrew his gaze. He glanced at the people watching the ceremony and found that all of them were holding teacups, peanut kernels, and melon seed shells in their hands. They had forgotten to put them down. Everyone looked stunned and looked straight at the ceiling.
"Master..." Xu Dao grabbed Su Jiu's left hand, and his right hand also grabbed Xu Dao's arm, shaking his sleeves, and said in surprise: "The sky is so bright, so many colors!"
When Xu Dao saw her, he also became stunned, with a chuckle on his face, and let her hold one of his hands. Xu Dao adjusted his sitting posture, picked up a few melon seeds from the side, put them between his teeth, and prepared
Watch the ceremony leisurely.
According to the information collected, the sacrificial meeting lasted for a long time. There were fireworks at the beginning, followed by Nuo dances to drive away epidemics and ghosts, as well as river dragon boats, building boats, and immortal masters coming forward to pray for blessings...
It was just the beginning now, and the night was still long. He could just enjoy this rare feast, feel the fireworks of the world, and soothe his spirit.
But as soon as Xu Dao relaxed, his eyelids jumped up, and he sat up straight again, looking up at the place where the fireworks exploded.
I saw a burst of white smoke on the ceiling, but the smoke did not dissipate. Instead, it stayed in mid-air and condensed into smoke clouds. There were shapes appearing in the middle, vaguely showing the properties of palaces and cities.
A thought popped into Xu Dao's mind: "A mirage?"
The other people around also saw the strange phenomenon that appeared in the air. Every time a firework rose, the shape of the clouds and smoke became clearer, and in the light of the exploding fireworks, it entered everyone's eyes, regardless of their path.
.
Not long after, there were people supporting the elderly and the young on the high platform, and the whole family came here to watch the ceremony. Among them, there was a sharp-eyed child who suddenly shouted:
"Dad, look! There are gods in the sky."
A majestic palace appeared in the smoke and clouds on the Wuxia River. There was light in it, and it turned from dim to bright. The golden light was great, even more so than the light released by the fireworks just now.
The smoke also came out one after another, spreading to the bottom at a speed that was beyond the reach of the naked eye, and the ribbons hung down, covering an area of nearly ten miles in all directions.
And there were gods and men appearing in the palace. They were all tall, as big as pilasters several feet tall. There were seven in number. They were standing on the clouds, looking down.
Xu Dao stared at this scene blankly. He suddenly swallowed his throat and opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
The mirage in the sky is very similar to the iron palace Dragon Palace that Xu Dao saw at the bottom of the lake. However, its pavilions, terraces and pavilions are all complete, and the red and red couplets are carved everywhere. It is majestic and tall, like a heavenly palace.
As for the seven gods on duty in this heavenly palace, although their figures are blurry, one of them has a furry face and a fox head. He is crouched in the shape of a man and is shaking his head. He is very powerful.
Xu Dao was a little familiar with the figure of this "god man". When he recognized it carefully, he found that his figure was very similar to that of Taoist Linghu, the master of the Alchemy Academy in the White Bone Temple. The remaining six were human heads and beasts.
The heads are different, which makes him feel a little strange.
Seeing an acquaintance in the "Heavenly Palace", Xu Dao was instantly frightened. He suppressed his emotions and quickly closed his eyes to clear his mind and keep the spiritual platform quiet.
Soon, he noticed that there was a faint breath surrounding him, and he had inadvertently breathed it into his body.
Fortunately, Xu Dao had prepared body protection spells and heart-purifying spells early in the morning, and his physical body was also strong. As his qi and blood circulated, he spit out all the weird breath in his lungs into his body.
After a few breaths of recovery, Xu Dao slowly opened his eyes, and the voice of the yellow-haired child was still ringing in his ears: "There are gods in the sky!"
The mortals around him also reacted and shouted fanatically: "The Immortal Master is coming out!"
"Gods are gods!"
And Xu Dao raised his eyes to look at the top of the sky, lowered his eyes and said in his heart: "No, those in the sky are not gods, but demons."
He looked up again and found that the surroundings were misty. With the city wall behind him as the edge, there seemed to be a large upside-down bowl in the sky. All the people within ten miles, including sixty or seventy thousand people, including cattle, carriages, and dogs, were all placed in the bowl.
The mirage in mid-air is still there, but the light is dim. The smoke cloud it sits on is gray and dark cloud-like, and the buildings in it are dilapidated and dilapidated, just like the old iron palace Xu Dao saw at the bottom of the lake.
The seven "gods" were standing in the dark clouds. They were huge figures. They were either standing or sitting. Although their appearance was blurry, they all had their heads lowered and scanned the ground with indifferent and ruthless eyes, showing no good intentions.
Among them, the "god" with a hairy face and a fox head is undoubtedly the Taoist priest Linghu in the White Bone Temple.
Xu Dao looked around at the confused people, especially the monks who were closer to the river but were worshiping the seven figures in the sky.
He felt helpless, secretly sighing that he was almost overly cautious and only dared to hang out among mortals, not even daring to approach the riverside. However, he did not expect that as soon as the sacrifice began, this sacrifice would be completely different from those in previous years.
It's so ghostly that nothing good will happen.
Xu Dao stared at the people around him who were still unaware, and he comforted himself in his heart: "There are so many people here right now, six to seventy thousand mortals, more than a thousand casual Taoists, but only seven Taoists. It should be too much to eat.
Can’t finish eating…”
But thinking of this, Xu Dao's heart suddenly sank.
Seven Taoist priests cannot eat so much, but one thing can eat so much!
He glanced at the phantom of the Dragon Palace in mid-air.
In the ruined palace, there is a larger scale-armored thing hidden inside. In comparison, it seems that the seven Taoist priests are only the size of cats and dogs. Fortunately, the scale-armored thing is motionless and there is still no movement.
.
Xu Dao tensed his mind and exhaled suddenly and secretly in his heart.
Although if he had known this earlier, he probably would not have come to join in the excitement, but since he has already come, he might as well continue to join in boldly.
And some of his precautions were not completely useless. If he hadn't been running the body protection spell early in the morning, he wouldn't have been able to escape from the influence of the strange mist immediately.
And if he had not stayed among mortals and was far enough away from the river, he might have fallen into the consciousness of the Taoist priests. Even if he was not exposed on the spot, it would be difficult to run away or do anything later.
Xu Dao suppressed the panic in his heart and looked directly at the looming scale thing in the mirage.
"If I could get the dragon's flesh and blood, wouldn't it just be used to build the foundation of my martial arts!" He felt coveted in his heart.
It's just that Xu Daolian didn't know exactly what She Zhao was going to do right now. He had to suppress the bold idea in his heart and consider his safety first.
Withdrawing his mind, Xu Dao glanced at Su Jiu beside him, and found that although the other person's eyes were in a trance, they were not dull, and it was obvious that the confusion was not deep.
He looked at the thin mist around him and thought to himself: "A mirage... can deceive so many people at once. Is it a mirage?"