381 The Horn (1/2)

Gu Shenwei stood up. He did not expect to be reunited with the girls under such circumstances.

They were among the young women who were about to be set on fire on the altar, which was close to one kilometer away from him, and were in a state of partial loss of consciousness. The 10 tribal chiefs were encircling the altar and facing outwards, singing about something in unison.

Below the altar stood the nobles, swaying to the same rhythm with increasing vigor.

The prostrate slaves were at the perimeter. They were curled up like porcupines and looked from afar like pieces of stones wearing long robes.

On the altar, the sacrifice was about to begin and both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, along with the other three women, were about to be immolated. Gu Shenwei felt a little helpless, as even a flying bird could not cover one kilometer in an instant. What made matters worse was that he had to fight his way through thousands of people in the crowd, and even if they did nothing, they would still form a formidable barrier between him and the altar.

Gu Shenwei was without support; the 10 conscripted savages he had brought along with him were a few kilometers behind him. He could not summon them in time. The soldiers from the Great Snow Mountain were even further behind him and could not possibly be expected to come to his aid in time.

Gradually, on the altar, the singing from the 10 tribal chiefs grew into a crescendo.

Gu Shenwei had no other option. In this instance, his sword and saber were useless.

He lifted the cowhide horn from the Snow Mountain slung at his side to his lips, took a deep breath, and blew into it.

The first blast from the horn drowned out the singing of the tribal chiefs. It felt as if the low growls of a dragon were traveling toward the altar from afar. They burst forth from the earth itself, shaking the entire world and shooting up to the skies. There was no sign that the growls would stop as they continued reverberating higher and higher upward.

Both the ruling and slave classes of the Land of Fragrance had never heard such a sound before. They were caught in a moment of connection with their gods and could suddenly feel that their eardrums and hearts were under tremendous attack by the noise. To them, even the ground seemed to be trembling and looked as if it would split open any moment to swallow them up.

Gu Shenwei did not have time to consider so many things. He only wished that the sudden blasts from the horn would draw the attention of most of the locals, earning him some precious time to reach the altar before the burning began.

The result was totally unexpected by him.

The blasts, which sounded like the growls of a dragon, smashed away everything in his path. The prostrate slaves were extremely terrified and pressed themselves flat to the ground, grabbing on to every blade of grass or piece of rock they could, as if it would help them withstand the might of the heavens.

The nobles, who had been standing a moment ago, were even more terrified and either squatted down and hugged their heads or knelt and kowtowed. None of them dared to check out where the blasts came from.

Gu Shenwei held the horn in one hand and his saber in the other as he ran down the slope. He stepped over the bodies of the crowd before him and stopped and lifted his head to continue blowing into the horn after every few steps he took. He made the blasts follow the echos, creating a continuous stream of sonic attack.

He did not meet any resistance all the way to the foot of the altar.

Shili Molo was the first to recover from his shock. He pointed to the Dragon King and shouted, ”He's only one man, stop him! Stop him quickly!”

Dozens of nobles stood up upon hearing his exclamation, daring to look in the direction of where the blasts came from.

”One man!” shouted several others.

”Stop him!” more nobles began ordering their slaves as they, however, retreated back to hide. The Five Peaks Saber was glinting in the Dragon King's hand and even more terrifying than the horn blasts.

The slaves on the perimeter of the crowd slowly lifted their heads, but none of them got up.

As slaves, they had no right to get close to the altar, and the honor of attending today's ritual was bestowed only upon the most excellent of them. Most of their class would only be hearing about the altar by word of mouth.

No matter how urgent their masters sounded, none of the slaves dared to break against tradition which has been passed on for many generations.

The Dragon King looked like a nimble stag, leaping past at least eight or nine flight of steps with every step he took. Soon enough, he was about to reach the top of the altar.

Shili Molo panicked. He did not know what the Dragon King intended to do. Before Old Man Mu went for his retreat, he ordered Shili Molo to hold the army from the Great Snowmountain back by any means necessary but had not explained the relationship between the two 'heroines' and the Dragon King.

”People of the ruling class, come! Protect the altar!” implored Shili Molo. He could only seek for their help now.

The nobles felt that it was an appropriate call for help by their leader, but each of them also felt that their personal safety was paramount and that his or her constitution was weaker than everybody else. As such, they remained full of hope that somebody else would step up.

Gu Shenwei stood on the top of the altar and laid his horn down. He was the most surprised out of everyone present; the seemingly impenetrable crowd was even more harmless than the vegetation and rocks in his path on his way to the rescue.

Till now, Shili Molo kept speaking in his native language, but stopped pretending to not know Central Plains Chinese at this moment. He stumbled backward by three steps before managing to say, ”Dragon, Dragon King, you... we did not offend you, so why...”

”Who are these women to be sacrificed to?” Gu Shenwei questioned, moving closer by another step. The other nine tribal chiefs had retreated a step down the platform, leaving Shili Molo alone to face the Dragon King.

The 10 women who were supporting the sacrificial lambs also had retreated along with the other tribal chiefs; they were nobility and it was the first time they were attending to a slave.

The five women who were nearly sent up the pyre to be burnt alive had been shocked out of their daze by the horn blasts, but were still experiencing the effect of the knockout powder they had taken. As such, they were still standing unsteadily.

Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had recognized Gu Shenwei, but both of them did not feel that he was real. Shangguan Ru even grinned like a young child, believing herself to be in her own personal sweet dream.

Shili Molo appeared even more feeble without any supporters around him. ”They, they are meant to be sacrificed to all the deities in the heavens. It's their honor and they're... all willing participants.”

”I'm a deity. Sacrifice them to me.”