Chapter 252: Death Unfolds at the City Platform
Chapter 252: Death Unfolds at the City Platform
The next morning dawned.
Chen Changsheng arrived outside the City Platform.
“It begins,” he murmured.
The Priest, wearing a Faceless Mask, stepped onto the sacred altar.
“Woo!!”
The sound of horns blew from below the City Platform.
The Priest moved with twisted steps, muttering constantly under his breath, chanting words others couldn’t clearly hear.
“Clang…”
He shook a bronze bell in his hand, the sound echoing up and down the City Platform.
Gou’er was among the crowd, watching this scene unfold.
He looked towards the pinnacle of the City Platform, and a strange impulse to walk up there suddenly sprouted in his heart.
…
However, before the Priest even ascended the City Platform, a storm of bloody conflict erupted not far away.
“Gentlemen.”
“The position of the Divine Child naturally goes to the destined one. But there are only a few places atop that City Platform, heh heh…”
“If everyone else dies, then I am the only destined one!”
People arriving from all directions, those hoping to stand on the City Platform and receive the blessing of Heaven and Earth to become the Divine Child, found themselves plunged into a deadly struggle before they even reached the structure.
“Die!!”
“I am the Divine Child!”
“Hahahaha, kill, kill to your heart’s content!”
The clashing of weapons rang out constantly. Shouts of pain and the din of battle filled the air.
In the shadows, several pairs of eyes watched the unfolding carnage. Someone sipped tea calmly from a cup, utterly indifferent to the slaughter. Others observed the situation, waiting for the right moment to act.
Down at the City Platform, Gou’er seemed to hear the sounds of battle.
He hesitated for a moment, then walked towards a small hill. He looked into the distance.
He saw flashes of swords and sabers amidst the trees, saw blood spraying everywhere.
Gou’er froze. He saw the bamboo grove stained crimson, bodies cut in half. The thick, nauseating smell of blood assaulted his nostrils.
Corpses were piled like a mountain. Someone cut across the waist, others separated from their heads. The eyes of the people still fighting were filled only with greed and killing lust. Their blood-soaked weapons waved ceaselessly. Out of hundreds fighting, half were dead in mere moments.
Gou’er’s arm trembled. “Why?” he whispered. “Why kill?”
Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind him. “They are fighting over a Dry Cake.”
Gou’er jumped, quickly turning around. Relief washed over him when he saw who it was.
Bewildered, he asked, “Fighting over a Dry Cake?”
Chen Changsheng nodded. “There is only one Dry Cake. So many are hungry. In the end, only whoever grabs it gets to fill their belly.”
The position of Divine Child should also be only one.
Although it was said to be chosen by Heaven, if a group stood on the City Platform, the result might be random. But if only one person stood upon it… well, that might be different.
Gou’er stared numbly. “Why fight over this? Is the Divine Child position so attractive? Worth risking your very life?”
Chen Changsheng replied, “Some things can make people forget about life and death. Just watch. The fighting in the woods is almost over.”
In the space of a quarter hour,
only a few dozen remained out of over four hundred.
They stood facing each other, wary and distrustful.
“There are forty-nine positions! There are only thirty-something of us left. It’s enough! Keep fighting, and none of us will get a chance!”
At these words, everyone began to calculate silently.
Gou’er panted, his eyes fixed on the sea of corpses. “So many dead,” he murmured. “So many, many dead…”
He turned to Chen Changsheng. “They won’t keep killing now, will they? They shouldn’t, right?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head slightly. “That’s hard to say.”
The sword-holders slowly started walking towards the City Platform, feigning truce but secretly plotting.
Then, at a certain moment, someone suddenly drew their sword, eyes blazing with killing intent.
“Die!”
Almost at the same instant, the remaining few dozen men attacked each other.
In the blink of an eye, the killing erupted once more.
“Why!?”
Gou’er cried out in baffled despair.
There were positions now! Why keep fighting?!
Chen Changsheng placed a hand on his shoulder. “Human hearts are greedy. Compared to a ‘maybe’, they will always choose a ‘certainty’.”
Gou’er was lost. He covered his ears and closed his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.
“Why…” he mumbled incoherently.
“Why kill? Why build the City Platform? Why have a Divine Child? Why…?”
Confusion washed over him all at once. It struck him now that this City Platform they’d toiled so hard to build was the very thing stirring up such destructive killing in the world.
One figure after another crumpled to the ground.
The path leading to the City Platform was strewn with corpses.
One last man stood, drenched in blood, dragging a barely-attached arm behind him—a chilling sight.
“Cough…”
Despite his injuries, his gaze remained fixed fiercely on the City Platform.
“Divine Child!”
“Hahahaha! I AM the Divine Child!!”
Blood spilled from his mouth as he staggered step by step towards the City Platform.
But the closer he got, the heavier his head felt.
Thump.
He collapsed, not dead yet, still breathing.
His hand clawed desperately at the ground, scraping out a bloody trail as he tried to inch forward.
“I am Divine Child… I am Divine Child…”
“I am…”
His eyes were filled with nothing but greed. Even at this moment, all he saw was the Divine Child position before him.
He dragged himself dozens of paces, leaving thick blood smears behind, and finally died on the Great Dao path before the City Platform.
Gou’er was silent. “…All dead,” he breathed.
Chen Changsheng looked into the distance, shaking his head. “This was just the beginning. This Sacrificial Ceremony won’t end in such a short time.”
Gou’er looked up, stunned.
Not over…
More than just those four hundred had come.
From the woods far off came the sudden rasping sound of countless swords being drawn.
Nearly a thousand death warriors charged forward, emerging silently and taking position amidst the trees.
“Escort the Master to the Sacred Altar!!”
Simultaneously, activity stirred from other directions too. Within a few breaths, countless figures emerged within several miles around the City Platform.
One thousand… two thousand…
Five thousand!
Nearly ten thousand!
Death warriors, soldiers, guards — nearly ten thousand men, each serving their own lord.
This was no longer a fight about simple competition.
This was war!
“Kill!!”
“Kill! Kill! KILL!!”
The overwhelming roar of battle washed over them, far more terrifying and deafening than before.
Chen Changsheng watched impassively, not a single ripple of emotion in his eyes.
Standing below the platform, the laborers were bewildered. They didn’t understand the cause of this new wave of slaughter, and descended into immediate chaos.
Panic erupted below the City Platform. The relentless killing raged outside, figures emerging constantly from woods and valleys.
Blood soaked the earth red. Streams ran crimson, carrying severed arms with the current. The coppery stench of blood was overwhelming.
Gou’er stared blankly at the scenes before him.
“How many… will die?”
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment. “Definitely many more than those who died building the City Platform.”
Gou’er looked at Chen Changsheng. “How… how can this be stopped?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head without answering.
It wouldn’t stop. Not until the last man was dead.