Four Taoist priests arrived, all of them with distinguished appearances, clad in purple robes and wearing Taoist crowns, carrying wooden swords.
Their robes were uniformly embroidered with the eight characters, "Tian Yi Zheng Dao, Wu Shuang" (天一正道，无双).
They appeared imposing and full of righteous spirit.
Zhang Tianguang, as if grasping a lifeline, excitedly bowed repeatedly, "The Taoist masters have finally arrived. We have suffered greatly."
The leading Taoist was very young, his expression proud, "Our Tian Yi Dao rarely descends the mountain. Mayor Zhang, you have great influence. We rushed here as soon as we received the news."
"It's really Tian Yi Dao!"
"We are saved!"
"It's the masters from Tian Yi Guan, the strongest in the Taoist sect!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, having long forgotten Qin Yexuan's words.
Zhang Tianguang exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with the Taoist group, then pointed at Qin Yexuan and whispered something.
The leading Taoist raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? Who does he think he is, daring to point fingers at people of the Taoist sect?"
Zhang Tianguang plastered a smile on his face, "I was just very curious. Before the banquet, he said..."
"Said what?!" the Taoist asked coldly. "Mayor Zhang, don't hesitate, speak clearly."
"He said that the entire Chaoge incident was orchestrated by the Taoist sect in collusion with demons..." Zhang Tianguang's voice trembled, "Of course, I don't believe his words, I just want to ask the esteemed masters of the Taoist sect to quickly deal with this black mist and let us innocent people leave here."
Qin Yexuan sneered, "Leave? The people of the Taoist sect have come here to prepare for a hundred-person human sacrifice. Zhang Tianguang, count how many people are here. When this banquet began, how many invitations were sent out?"
Zhang Tianguang was taken aback. Li Tianxing frowned, "Sir, many invitations were sent out, and some people got in through connections..."
Qin Yexuan said coldly, "I'm talking about the first batch of people who received invitations, the ones with numbers. You can check now. I can guarantee that there were exactly one hundred people, fifty men and fifty women."
Mobile phones and the like were not working now, but Zhang Tianguang's secretary carried relevant documents with her.
The secretary quickly took out a document from her briefcase, "Here, this is the list of attendees compiled by the security department. Those marked with numbers are the VIP guests with invitations."
Zhang Tianguang rubbed his eyes, "Lighter, shine a light on it for me with a lighter!"
The secretary trembled as she produced a lighter, almost dropping it. Several guests quickly lit their own lighters.
In the faint light, Zhang Tianguang quickly scanned the list of attendees.
VIP Guest Number One, Zhang Tianguang...
Below were numbers 2, 3, all the way to the fourth page.
"One hundred people, numbered, that's 100 people."
The secretary's teeth chattered, "Mayor, no need to look further. I, I can confirm that student Qin is telling the truth. Fifty men, fifty women. Are we, are we all sacrifices?"
Zhang Tianguang felt dizzy and his vision blurred. No matter how stubborn he was or how prejudiced against Qin Yexuan, he now felt a massive conspiracy unfolding, and its mastermind was the Taoist sect!
Zhang Tianguang took a deep breath and held up the document, looking at the Taoist priests opposite him, "How do you explain this?" Su Dan Novel Network
The Taoist priests opposite him all began to laugh.
That gloomy laughter was so terrifying in the firelight.
More people from Tian Yi Dao entered from outside, more and more.
They also carried in wooden boxes.
As over a hundred wooden boxes were piled in the hall, Zhang Tianguang roared, "Give me an explanation!"
The leading Taoist turned his head, smiling eerily, "Did the few people who went out just now all die in the black mist?"
Zhang Tianguang slowly retreated, "Yes, some of them were among the numbered individuals. You, you need a complete one hundred living people, don't you?"
The Taoist chuckled, "You're finally starting to wake up."
Behind him, another Taoist whispered, "Senior Brother Qingyang, a total of seven have died... five men, two women."
"That's quite a few!"
The leading Qingyangzi turned his gaze towards Qin Yexuan's group, counting with his fingers, "Very good, the people over there can barely make up the numbers."
Such arrogance and presumptuousness, directly including Qin Yexuan and his group in the human sacrifice.
Zhang Tianguang was going mad. Gathering with the other wealthy individuals in the hall, they began to tremble and search for defensive weapons.
The banquet hall descended into chaos. Some wielded fruit knives, some grabbed stools, and others picked up pot lids.
Zhang Tianguang found a steel skewer used for roasting meat, his eyes turning red, "Shameless Taoist sect, we'll fight you today."
Hahahaha...
The Taoist sect members watched them as if they were watching a joke.
Qingyangzi laughed heartily, "You? How ridiculous. You mortals are no different from pigs to be slaughtered in our eyes. And you still want to fight?"
Amidst the laughter, Qingyangzi shook his head and gestured, "Open the sacrifice boxes!"
The wooden boxes piled up like coffins sprang open one by one.
Everyone was startled, but they couldn't help but look.
From the closest box, an eyeball sprang out.
Ah!
Someone screamed. The eyeball seemed to come alive, bouncing in place, its speed increasing. Finally, it shot directly into the eye of a guest.
The guest clutched his left eye, jumped up, and let out a gurgling cry.
After a brief cry, the afflicted guest's body suddenly stiffened, and then, like a zombie, he hopped into the wooden box that had contained the eyeball.
The first wooden box snapped shut and locked automatically.
Then the second, the third...
In an instant, dozens of boxes vibrated together.
Various strange human organs flew out, seemingly like offerings left from human sacrifices thousands of years ago.
Zhang Tianguang swung his steel rod, his secretary already grabbed by a blackened, strange hand. The hand instantly latched onto the secretary's left arm, then yanked him into the air.
Before the secretary could even scream, he fell into a wooden box.
The remaining people, like headless flies in extreme fear, finally rushed towards Qin Yexuan's group.
"Master, Master, save us!"
Zhang Tianguang felt a sharp pain in his back. A piece of his shoulder blade had pierced his back. He lay on the ground, crawling towards Qin Yexuan, "Master Qin, Master Qin, I was wrong, I was wrong. Please, help us, hhh..."
Qin Yexuan gently touched the ground with his torch, drawing a slow arc. The arc burned with a faint golden flame, protecting him and the disciples behind him.
Looking at the terrified crowd, he was exceedingly indifferent, "Even if I saved you, I couldn't save your minds. I gave all of you multiple chances earlier, but amusingly, not a single one of you was willing to come to my side until now."
Qin Yexuan smiled, his smile filled with coldness, "Those who bring their own doom cannot live. Pitiable people have their detestable qualities. Accept your fate."
Qingyangzi watched with amusement, "This guy is quite interesting. Barely out of his teens, and he talks so much. Don't rush, don't rush, it will be your turn soon."