Walking to the top of the mountain, looking at the lake and torii in front of him, Rusui couldn't help but sigh.
Unlike other places, Hikari Mountain needed a lot of sacrifices to suppress the Gate of Yellow Spring — — which was normal, after all, people came here all year round to die, which was obviously different from places like the Ice Temple and Diji Divine Village.
Therefore, Hikari Mountain also needed a lot of witches as human pillars. They were divided into different levels according to their spiritual power and then stuffed into different wooden boxes.
Among them, the one with the strongest spiritual power was called the Big Pillar, and the wooden box she was in was also the largest. Although it wasn't as big as three rooms and one living room, it was at least the size of a bedroom.
Next was the Middle Pillar. The Middle Pillar's "housing area" was slightly smaller than the Big Pillar's, but it was still habitable, equivalent to the standard of a train sleeper.
The last one was the Bandits. Strictly speaking, they were at the bottom of the pyramid. They seemed to be the least important, but they needed to be there. The Bandits' box was the smallest, just like the bathroom, only big enough for one person to squeeze in — — of course, they usually broke their limbs and stuffed them in.
Those who became "Bandits" were usually men who failed their secret marriages and witches who lacked spiritual power.
With Bai Ju's spiritual power, she could have become the Big Pillar, but whether it was luck or misfortune, the Big Pillar of Hikari Mountain was still there and didn't disappear. Therefore, Bai Ju was chosen as the 'central pillar' and was sealed away. Because of her strong spiritual power, the pressure on the Middle Pillar wasn't as heavy as the Big Pillar, so Bai Ju became the longest-surviving Middle Pillar.
What's more, after being soaked in the Night Spring, the Big Pillar and the Middle Pillar would fall into a state called "Eternal Flower," which was similar to hibernation. Their bodies would be preserved by the Night Spring, and as long as their spirits could still hold on, their bodies would be fine.
But on the other hand, if their spirits collapsed, their bodies would also melt and disappear along with the Night Spring.
This was also one of the reasons why Rusui comforted Bai Ju. Because, unlike the other souls, Bai Ju could be resurrected. Of course, it might take some effort, but as long as her body was still there, it wasn't difficult to wake her up.
Before coming here, Bai Ju had told Dusk about Hei Ze's reincarnation. After all, she had been sealed as a Central Pillar much earlier than Hei Ze's reincarnation, so she had some understanding of the current Pillar.
According to Bai Ju, Black Swamp's power was enough to suppress Night Spring. But because of the woodcutter's massacre on Mount Sunan, all the witches had died tragically. The mental impact of their tragic deaths had all gathered on Heizawa Fengshi, causing him great pain. Although Heizawa Fengshi was still holding on until now, Bai Ju had no idea how much longer he could hold on.
In other words, she couldn't hold on any longer.
At the top of the mountain, Night Spring was already pitch-black. The stone lanterns on both sides formed a path that led to the torii in the center of the lake. When he reached the lakeside, the pitch-black water of the Night Spring seemed to sense something and began to roll back instinctively. At the same time, a pitch-black woman slowly emerged from the water.
"Falling … falling … I'm going to melt, melt … disappear."
As she spoke, the woman raised her head. Her originally beautiful face had been eroded by the black water beyond recognition. Only her eyes were glowing with a faint blue light.
"Hurry … Come on."
The woman stretched out her hand to Dusk.
"If the pillar disappears … the Night Spring will overflow …"
Dusk looked at the woman in front of him and took her outstretched hand. The next moment, the scene in front of him suddenly changed.
In the center of Night Spring, the woman in white slowly walked towards the wooden box in front of her. She knew her destiny. As a Human Pillar, she would fall into Night Spring forever. That was her mission.
The woman entered the wooden box, soaked herself in Night Spring, and began her mission. But soon, an accident happened.
A massacre swept across the entire Mount Sunan.
The witches were killed and their eyes dug out. Their pain turned into Night Spring and flowed into the woman in white's body. At that moment, the woman in white finally could not hold on anymore. The roaring water of Night Spring gushed out of the wooden box and spread in all directions. The woman in white fell into a bottomless abyss. She slowly sank into the Night Spring. It was a bottomless abyss. She would fall forever, repeating those painful deaths.
Repeating all the deaths forever, those memories will gather on her. The deaths experienced by the witches who were slaughtered, and the repetition of this experience over and over again, has pushed her to the brink of collapse.
"Who … Who's going to catch me …"
The woman in white reached out her hand in despair, but she knew that no one would come to save her.
She was the only one who would completely melt in this darkness ….
However, at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
"You've worked hard."
The next moment, the falling body of the woman in white suddenly stopped. A hand stretched out from above and held the woman's hand. This sudden turn of events left the woman in white rather astonished. She widened her eyes in shock as she stared at the blurry figure in front of her.
Then, a huge force suddenly pulled her out of the water. In the blink of an eye, the woman in white felt like a drowning person being pulled out of the water. She opened her eyes abruptly and saw a girl with black hair and blue eyes looking at her with a smile on her face.
"Hello, Miss Kurosawa. How do you feel?"
"I …"
Kurosawa turned her head and looked around in surprise. All she saw was silence. The dark Night Spring was flowing in the water, and she was being pulled out of a wooden box by the girl.
"What … What's going on …"
"I know you have a lot to say, but now is not the time. But don't worry, with me here, the Night Spring won't overflow."
As she said that, she turned her head and looked behind her.
Over there, she could faintly see the figures of Deep Red and the others.
"Looks like they're here too."
Soon, the group gathered in front of the torii in the middle of the lake. To everyone's surprise, the winners of the Woodcutter Hunting Competition this time were … the Amakura sisters.
Or rather, Cocoon's human radar worked again. While Kurosawa Scarlet and Kurosawa Lian were still trying their luck, Kurosawa Lian had already sensed the position of the Woodcutter with her spiritual power. The two sisters rode the Ghost Bear and rushed over. Then, Amakura Hikari raised her camera and took a shot at the Woodcutter.
Then, there was nothing else.
"That's cheating!"
Kurosawa Scarlet was obviously quite dissatisfied with this. She also had strong spiritual power, but Kurosawa Scarlet's spiritual sense was mainly used for backtracking, unlike Amakura Hikari's human radar, so she was a step slower.
As for Kurosawa Lian, she was just participating in the competition.
"Alright, alright, you're just unlucky … After all, you're all specialized in different things."
Kurosawa comforted Kurosawa Lian with a smile, then turned to Amakura Hikari.
"Where's that guy?"
"He's here."
Hearing Dusk's question, Tau Cangue took out his camera. Then, Dusk stretched out his hand and pointed. Then, a light spot appeared and landed on the ground, turning into a tall and sturdy woodsman. At this moment, he still had a menacing look on his face as he gripped the hatchet tightly in his hand. The moment he appeared, he tried to swing the hatchet at the people around him. But Grizzly only snorted coldly, and the woodcutter collapsed to the ground.
"Sister Kurosawa, what are you going to do with him?"
Tian Canglang couldn't help but ask. During the process of capturing this woodcutter, she and Tian Canglang Po naturally shared each other's memories. She saw how this woodcutter brutally killed those witches and dug out their eyes.
For the two sisters, they naturally wouldn't tolerate such a cruel crime. At this moment, their gazes towards the woodcutter were filled with anger and disgust.
"Hmm … I'm not very good at this kind of punishment. Although it's not bad to send him straight to hell, it's a bit uncomfortable if I can't see him being punished … Fortunately, I have a bunch of torture experts here."
As she spoke, Kurosawa snapped her fingers. Along with her movements, the surface of the water emitted a rumbling sound. Then, a stone platform slowly emerged from the water. Around this stone platform, there were five mechanisms that looked like rotating millstones.
Seeing this, Crimson's expression stiffened, but she did not say anything.
At the same time, as if summoned, dozens of witches with black bodies and veils surged in from all directions. They were all the victims of the woodcutter. Not only were they killed by him, but they also had to suffer the same death over and over again. This had been going on for over a hundred years …. This kind of pain and resentment was naturally not something that would go away easily.
Then, Kurosawa tapped the blade lightly.
"Clink."
With a soft sound, four witches in red and white costumes flew out of the blade. They held a wedge and a stone hammer in their hands and flew to the Woodcutter's side. Then, they held down the woodcutter's limbs and pinned him to the stone platform. The witches aimed the wedges in their hands at the Woodcutter's hands and feet, then swung the stone hammers down with force.
"Clang!!!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
Along with the sound of the stone hammer colliding, the woodcutter instantly cried out in pain. Seeing this scene, everyone felt a little unbearable. Hei Ze Lian also looked at the scene in front of her in astonishment and screamed in a low voice.
"It's the Town Girl?"
"Guardian Girl?"
Hearing Hei Zelian's words, the Dark Swamp Dense Flower looked at her in astonishment.
"What's that?"
"Those are the evil spirits I encountered in the House of Hibernation.... they were originally the executors of a ritual. What they did was to use a wedge to penetrate the hands and feet of the ritual witch and nail her to the ground.... Speaking of which, these evil spirits were indeed subdued by Miss Yan."
Clang!!!
He raised the stone hammer once more and swung it down forcefully. Very soon, the woodcutter's miserable cries rang out once more. And every time he screamed, the black marks on the bodies of the witches around the stone platform would fade a little. The pitch-black resentment was like hair, flowing along the water and seeping into the woodcutter's body.
After that, a black tattoo appeared on the woodcutter's body.
Clang!!!
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
Just like Dazhu suffered the pain of all the people who died on Mount Riyama, now the woodcutter was forced to relive the pain of those witches being killed. The black tattoo tore through his skin and bones, reaching deep into his soul. And the worst of it was that there wouldn't even be a townswoman singing his requiem — after all, he was a man, not a tattooed woman.
After nailing the woodcutter's hands and feet to the stone platform, the Town Ladies returned to Frostmourne. But this wasn't the end. Very quickly, several ropes appeared in the void, binding the woodcutter's limbs and neck. These five ropes were tied to the five millstones by the side of the stone platform. Then, five men in priest robes appeared out of thin air and began to push the millstones.
"This … this is …"
Seeing this, everyone's faces turned pale. Only Tian yawned.
"This will last for a while. Why don't we go there and wait for a while?"
As he spoke, Bi pointed to the shore. Everyone nodded without hesitation and hurriedly turned around to leave. Of course, they knew what would happen to the woodcutter, but they didn't want to witness it with their own eyes.
However, the vengeful spirits of the witches who came to the mountain in the past were different. They silently surrounded the entire stone platform and stared at the woodcutter who was suffering in it.
Painful screams reverberated across the entire lake. Even the girls who walked to the lakeside couldn't help but feel a lingering fear after hearing the screams.
"Sister Yan, isn't it too much to use that against him?"
Crimson Daisy lightly tugged at his sleeve and asked in a low voice. She could be said to be the most familiar with the ritual among them, so she naturally knew what the woodcutter would experience.
"In order to dissipate the resentment of those witches, this is necessary. I think you also saw what that guy did. I think it's not too much to die 180 times for what he did."
"… …."
Hearing this, Crimson was speechless. Just as Bi said, while chasing after the woodcutter, she had also seen what the woodcutter had done with her "Backtrack" ability …. It was indeed cruel and evil, and there was no room for sympathy.
"This is divine punishment. Good will be rewarded, and evil will be punished. We always say so, but we have to do it."
"But … … how long will this last?"
Hearing Crimson's uneasy question, Bi shrugged and turned to the center of the lake, where the woodcutter was currently letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
"That depends on when the resentment of these witches can be dispelled."
Then, she answered.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
