Chapter 1131: Suspicion and Excitement

Jian Changsheng didn't answer immediately.

He gently rubbed the key in his palm, his gaze constantly searching the crowd for something, as if he were somewhat distracted.

"Spade!" Sun Bumian called him again.

Jian Changsheng snapped back to reality. He hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"Tell me... what exactly is the background of that Jiangtian cultist who gave us the keys?"

"The ritual is about to start, are you hoping he'll come to help us?" Sun Bumian shook his head immediately.

"Although I don't know why he gave us the keys, let's assume he's a good person with a conscience... He gave the keys secretly but was still interrogating us on the surface, which means he doesn't dare to act recklessly in public. At the very least, he's still constrained by the other Jiangtian cultists and the High Priests.

So no matter what, he won't be able to help us once the ritual starts. I reckon sending the keys secretly was already the limit of what he could do."

Hearing this, Jian Changsheng stopped mid-sentence.

Sun Bumian keenly captured the strangeness in his eyes. As if realizing something, he spoke with a weird expression:

"Don't tell me you want to say that guy is Heart..."

"Uh... is it impossible?"

"Give me a break! What do you think Heart is, an omnipresent ghost? This is deep in the Gray Realm, the Jiangtian Cult's territory! He's still in the Integration Faction, how could he be a Jiangtian cultist here?" Sun Bumian was speechless.

"You really need to change that habit of yours..."

"What habit?"

"The habit of wanting to tear off someone's face to see if they're Heart of 6 whenever a stranger is nice to you!"

“……”

Jian Changsheng wanted to retort, but the High Priest and the two Cardinals had already stood still in front of the altar.

At the same time, on the edge of the many Jiangtian cultists, a red-robed figure quietly blended in.

These ordinary cultists were scattered at fixed intervals, surrounding the bonfire. Under the illumination of the raging fire, they looked like a red circle of light... Perhaps because the number of people had been reduced by nearly half, the red circle of light around the bonfire looked thin and crude.

Chen Ling stood on the periphery, partly to observe everything on the altar from the perspective of a bystander, and partly to avoid blowing his cover by not knowing the procedure, which would make other Jiangtian cultists notice something strange.

But even though Chen Ling was hidden at the very edge, the moment he appeared, a gaze looked precisely in his direction.

It was Jian Changsheng, who was being used as a sacrifice.

"...What does he want?"

Noticing Jian Changsheng's gaze, Chen Ling could only pretend not to see it and honestly play the role of an ordinary Jiangtian cultist, though several thoughts raced through his mind.

Did he see through his disguise?

No... this guy doesn't have such strong investigative skills; he should just be curious about his identity.

Chen Ling knew Jian Changsheng too well and guessed the other's psychology immediately. And Chen Ling was quite confident in his level of disguise; as long as he wanted to, Jian Changsheng wouldn't be able to see any clues...

"The time has come." Zheng Ye stood in the front row of the ordinary cultists, looked at the position of the stars in the sky, and spoke in a low voice.

“&*#！……*！！”

The High Priest standing in front of the altar suddenly let out a loud roar, giving Chen Ling and the three of Jian Changsheng a big fright.

Immediately after, he picked up a sharp stone from the side of the table, slashed his palm hard, and bright red blood slowly squeezed out before he slammed it onto the surface of the altar!

*Bang—!!*

A dull, loud noise echoed through the village.

*Slurp...*

The moment the High Priest slashed his palm, an extremely sweet fragrance entered Chen Ling's nasal cavity. The instinct carved into his body made him secrete a large amount of saliva, almost dripping from the corner of his mouth...

But Chen Ling's reaction was extremely fast. He immediately suppressed the craving to eat and swallowed all the saliva into his stomach with a gulp.

Chen Ling's little movement was very subtle; none of the surrounding Jiangtian cultists noticed anything unusual...

Except for one person.

Someone locked in front of the stone pile, who had been staring at Chen Ling, saw the action of Chen Ling swallowing his saliva. He was stunned for a moment, then seemed to find it familiar, and frowned in thought...

Then, he opened his mouth in shock, looking at Chen Ling as if he had seen a ghost, his eyes bright as stars!!

Jian Changsheng was visibly excited.

Chen Ling: ...

Seeing this from the corner of his eye, Chen Ling had a bad premonition in his heart...

As the High Priest slashed his palm and slammed it onto the altar, the other two Cardinals followed suit, each slashing a palm and pressing it onto the altar surface. Three pools of blood flowed down the special guide grooves on the altar, eventually converging into the raging bonfire.

*Boom—!!!*

The flames behind Jian Changsheng and the others suddenly exploded, and a deep red color appeared eerily.

The scorching flames danced wildly in the air, and the surging heat waves even began to ignite the corners of Jian Changsheng and the others' clothes. Seeing the flames flickering in front of his eyes, Sun Bumian couldn't help but speak again:

"It's too late, we have to fight them!"

"No! Wait a little longer!" Jian Changsheng stared fixedly at Chen Ling's direction. "Things can't be that simple... there must be a twist!!"

"A twist? Where would a twist come from?" Sun Bumian followed his gaze and saw that ordinary Jiangtian cultist again. He clicked his tongue. "Spade, I think you're obsessed."

"I'm not! I bet!! That guy is 10,000% Heart!! If not, I'll take your last name from now on!!"

“？？？”

Before Sun Bumian could say anything more, the deep red torch behind them had already surged into the sky like a tornado, as if connecting to another space in the void, blowing up all the gravel on the ground.

“#（*&￥）！！”

The High Priest pressed his palm firmly into the center of the altar, maintaining the torch fire that reached the sky. He let out a low roar, and the two Cardinals seemed to receive some kind of order, their eyes looking at Jian Changsheng and the others under the torch simultaneously.

They stepped toward them.

Jian Changsheng and the others realized that the time for the sacrifices to take effect had come. The torch fire containing the Red Star's wish power had already connected to the distant Red Star, and now the Jiangtian cultists needed to transmit the "coordinates" of Earth.

Sun Bumian's expression was extremely gloomy. He exchanged a look with Jiang Xiaohua and Jian Changsheng. The next moment, the stone locks on the three of them were unlocked simultaneously!

*Clang—*

The heavy stone locks fell to the ground with a few dull thuds. Many Jiangtian cultists were slightly stunned to see this.

Just as Sun Bumian was preparing to fight them, the ground beneath the three suddenly collapsed. Amidst the flying dust and smoke, the three fell directly into the ground and disappeared without a trace...

Sun Bumian looked at the deep hole under his feet, his gaze changing from astonishment to pleasant surprise:

"The old senior is worthy of being an old senior; at the critical moment, he is still quite reliable!"