The people below the altar shouted excitedly: "May Saint Eve bless my southern Xinjiang with good weather and peace!"
After worshiping the saint's soul, it was the turn to select the successor saint. More than a dozen masked women in white stepped onto the altar one after another. They followed the instructions of the elders, dispersed and knelt around the bronze cauldron.
sit on the floor.
At this time, the witch musicians next to the altar beat the human skin drums. The drumbeats started one after another, low and slow at the beginning, and gradually became sharp and fast. At the climax, the drumbeats swept over like a violent storm, hitting the ground hard.
Everyone's heart and eardrums beat loudly, and the blood in the whole body seemed to be on fire!
The women in white danced along with them. Their movements were weird and strange, but their swings and turns were as smooth as flowing water. Their bare feet stepped on the ground, and the silver bells on their ankles swayed with the drum beats, making clear and sweet bell sounds.
This is the sacrificial dance that has been circulated in southern Xinjiang for hundreds of years. Legend has it that dancers can gain the ability to communicate with the gods through this dance, but not everyone can dance this dance, and not everyone can dance this way.
Can dance successfully.
These young women on the altar are all candidates for the saint selected from thousands of people. They are also called the attendants of the saint. In the entire southern Xinjiang, only they are qualified to dance the sacrificial dance. As for them
Whether one of them can be successfully selected as a saint depends on which of them can impress the gods with their dance. This has been a rule of the southern Xinjiang people for thousands of years, and no one can cheat.
Of course, not all of them will be favored by the gods. In the past many years, there have been cases where no one was chosen by the gods. The old people said that this was because the saints who were singled out were not chosen by the gods.
The female candidates were not pure enough, and they were not accepted by the gods, which caused the entire southern Xinjiang to be rejected by the gods. In order to atone for their sins, all the candidates for the saints of that year were thrown into the bronze cauldron and became nourishment for the poisonous insects.
If no one among this batch of saint candidates can successfully obtain the favor of the gods, then there is only a dead end waiting for them.
The young women on the altar stepped on the drums and tried their best to make every movement perfect. They danced beautifully, and others watched it heartily. Everyone was praying silently, hoping that the gods would be merciful and accept it.
They bless everyone in southern Xinjiang.
The drum beat suddenly ended and the song ended. The young women knelt on the ground, their upper bodies pressed tightly against the ground, and their foreheads touched the ground, nervously waiting for the god's decision.
As long as the gods are willing to send messengers, their lives will be saved.
Everyone under the altar stared closely at the bronze tripod, not daring to blink more, holding their breath and waiting for the answer given by the god.
The scene was silent, and the tense atmosphere spread little by little. Expectation and fear hit their hearts at the same time. They longed for the gods to hear their prayers.
In the underground altar, Alang's struggle became weaker and weaker. Gradually, he stopped moving and lay on his back on the water with his eyes closed tightly. He seemed to have passed out again.
After a stick of incense had passed, the corpses of poisonous insects surfaced one after another. These insects were all poisoned to death by the poison of Shenlong Pond.
Guessing that time was almost up, Qule jumped into the pool and dragged the unconscious A Lang ashore. She held A Lang's wrist. Although his pulse was weak, it was still stable and there was no danger to his life. She opened his eyelids again.
, checked his pupils, and carefully checked him from head to toe to make sure that his poison had been resolved. Then he breathed a long sigh of relief.
Alang hadn't woken up yet, and Qule didn't have the strength to torment him now. She was tired and hungry, so she collapsed on the ground to rest.
There was a thick layer of poisonous insect corpses floating on the Shenlong Pond. The poisonous spider was staring at them and drooling. It saw Qule sitting on the ground and didn't move, so it probably had no intention of leaving for the time being. It finally couldn't help but jump into the pool and grabbed the general.
Those poisonous insect corpses were stuffed into the mouth one after another, and they were very happy to eat.
Qu Le was too lazy to care about it. She rested for a while, got up and searched the altar thoroughly inside and out. She found a fire holder from under a stone pillar, took off the torch above the stone pillar, and used the fire holder to light the torch.
, there is a hideous and terrifying black mask hanging next to the torch.
She took off her mask and looked around. Apart from her ugly appearance, there was nothing special about her.
In addition, she also found a set of strange clothes, which looked like a skirt. The color was very dark, with strange ancient totems printed on it, and there were some words on the skirt. But the words were too twisted.
, Qule didn’t recognize them at all.
It just so happened that Qule was soaked all over and felt chilly. Although the clothes looked a little weird, they could at least keep her warm. She finally escaped death, but she didn't want to die in this hellish place again because of a cold.
Alang was still asleep, so she didn't have to worry too much, she just pulled herself out and quickly put on the clothes.
She lowered her head and looked at the clothes she was wearing. Hey, don't tell me, the size is just right, as if they were tailor-made.
These were the only things that could be found in the entire cave, and there was nothing to satisfy her hunger. Qu Le covered her growling stomach and returned to sit down next to A Lang. She glanced at the poisonous spider feasting in the Shenlong Pond, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
It would be great if she could also eat bugs. Bugs are also considered meat and are rich in protein...
Thinking about this, she really thought she could give it a try. Although it was a bit disgusting to think about it, when people are very hungry, they can eat anything as long as they can eat it without dying.
Don't be pretentious in special moments, survival is the most important thing! Qu Le was cruel, reached out to pick up a handful of worms from the pool, skewered them with hairpins, and put them on the torch to roast them.
Adhering to the truth that high temperature can kill bacteria, she stuffed the roasted bugs into her mouth one by one and made a clicking sound when she bit them.
Well, it tastes better than expected, it's crispy and fragrant, and it's not that hard to swallow.
Qule ate one after another, and her stomach was almost half full. She stopped and waited for a while to make sure that she did not have any symptoms of poisoning and diarrhea, and then she felt relieved. She roasted a bunch of worms again, tore them into pieces and fed them to Alang.
Fortunately, Alang's instinct is still there, and he can swallow whatever he feeds.
The two of them went back and forth, and Qule finally felt full. She touched Alang's belly and it seemed that she was almost full.
It feels so happy to be full!
After eating and drinking, Qule began to study the route out. She stared at the map on the parchment book for a long time. She could understand the pictures alone, but it didn't say where the exit was!
This person who drew the picture is really a cheat!
Qu Le curled her lips and looked over the map several times. Finally, she found some clues!
She stood up and walked to the stone pillar engraved with Taotie, reached out and pressed a mechanism. The stone pillar slowly rotated, facing the Shenlong Pond. Then, she walked down to the next stone pillar engraved with chaos, and pressed the mechanism again.
The stone pillar then turned to the Shenlong Pond, followed by Qiongqi, Yaozhu, Xiushe, Xiezhi, Jiuying, Xieqi...
Until the front of each stone pillar turned towards the Shenlong Pond, the ground suddenly shook. This was a sign that the mechanism was activated! Qu Le immediately ran to A Lang, dragged him and threw him off the altar.
Seeing Qu Le running away, the black spider immediately climbed out of the Shenlong Pond and followed Qu Le quickly. When Qu Le stopped, it slid along Qu Le's skirt and crawled onto her body, and finally stopped on her waist.
On his shoulder, he rubbed Qule's neck affectionately, then lay down to rest.
The turbulence of the altar became more and more severe, and soil kept falling from above. Qu Le raised his head and saw that a hole slowly opened above!
This is the exit!
A thick vine stretched out from the entrance of the cave and landed in front of Qule. She was silent for a moment. How could she climb up with this thing? It was such a high distance for her to climb up manually? Even if Emma didn't have stairs, it would be better to give her a ladder.
!Which idiot set the exit location and really wanted people to slap his aunt in the face!
Qu Le complained crazily in her heart. In the end, she still grabbed the vine. There was no other way. The environment forced people to learn to lower their heads appropriately, otherwise they would be easily angered to death.
She carried A Lang on her back. Hanging the mask on her body was too much in the way, but she couldn't bear to throw it away, so she put it on her face. She grabbed the vine with both hands and climbed up little by little. Jay Chou sang a song that really suited the occasion...
I want to climb up step by step and fly forward on the blades at the highest point, yeah!
Ye! You! Sister! Ah!
I'm almost exhausted! If I keep playing like this, I have to build up all my muscles!
Imagining how she looked with muscles all over her body, Qu Le felt that she was really running towards the girly girl and couldn't hold her back. Will she be able to get married in the future?
At this time, all the people in southern Xinjiang were still looking forward to the appearance of the messenger of the gods. They looked devoutly in the direction of the bronze cauldron. Time passed by, but the bronze cauldron never moved at all.
Gradually, people began to feel uneasy.
If the god refuses to signal, it means that he will no longer hold southern Xinjiang. What will all the southern Xinjiang people do in the future? They stared at the bronze tripod in fear, their eyes wide open and did not dare to blink more. The young man kneeling on the ground
The women were so frightened that they could not help but tremble all over and were dripping with cold sweat.
The elders knelt on the ground and looked at each other. What's going on? Why hasn't the bronze tripod moved yet?
Elder Lan, the most prestigious among them, stood up, walked slowly to the side of the bronze tripod, pressed one hand on the tripod, and prayed softly: "Our most respected God, thank you for giving us rain, giving us sunshine, giving us
Faith in life, we are willing to dedicate everything to you and serve you all our lives. We ask you to have mercy on us and show us a kind smile..."
After he finished reciting a long list of prayers and blessings, the bronze cauldron suddenly moved and made a slight sound inside.
Everyone's spirits were lifted. They raised their heads and stretched their necks to look over, staring at every small change in the bronze tripod.
A hand wrapped in cloth stretched out from the bronze cauldron, and then a little girl wearing a sacrificial mask climbed out. She was wearing a sacrificial dress once worn by Saint Eve, and she was carrying an unconscious figure on her body.