Chapter 878 - 238: Luring the Tiger Away from Its Mountain

Quanrong’s Fire-Bursting Stones, and Ying Shi’s Puppetry Skill.

This already perplexing matter has become even more elusive.

"This matter is of great importance; I feel it’s necessary to inform Master immediately,"

Chang Hao said in a deep voice, appearing even more urgent than myself.

Just as Chang Hao picked up the Eight Trigrams Token from the Ancestral Temple to report the situation to Jiang Ziya,

suddenly, the Eight Trigrams Token lit up prematurely.

Dotted gold light gathered before their eyes into words: Celestial God Sacrifice, something has happened.

Celestial God Sacrifice.

Upon seeing these four words, Chang Hao’s eyes widened suddenly, revealing shock and disbelief.

"How could it be... this can’t be possible..."

"Fourth Senior Brother, what happened? Your expression looks serious."

"More serious than you can imagine," Chang Hao said heavily after a brief lapse in composure.

"The Celestial God Sacrifice is what Xiqi offers to the Celestial God. As you can see, the granary, with its massive production tasks, most things produced within are Celestial God Sacrifices."

"The Ancestral Temple collects and stores these items, and periodically offers them as sacrifices to the Celestial God to earn forgiveness."

"If forgiveness is not obtained, divine punishment will follow. You’ve seen Xiqi’s current plight, so you should understand the consequences of divine punishment."

So, the Celestial God Sacrifice is crucial.

This is a matter that can change a region, the future and lives of countless people; not even a bit of carelessness is allowed.

Such important items should be kept in a very secure place.

Noticing Han Zhan’s confusion, Chang Hao continued, "After the Celestial God Sacrifice is collected by the Ancestral Temple, it’s stored inside."

"The Ancestral Temple?!" Han Zhan blurted out, repeating it once more.

"Yes, I know you are surprised, indeed, when I saw something happened to the Celestial God Sacrifice, I was just as surprised as you."

The Ancestral Temple can be considered the safest place in Xiqi, bar none.

But now, something actually happened to the Celestial God Sacrifice?

Wait a minute.

When the Celestial God Sacrifice incident occurred, both Fourth Senior Brother and I were at the granary, handling the unrest.

And the Ancestral Temple cannot be entered without a specific Array.

Looking at Fourth Senior Brother Chang Hao and the Eight Trigrams Token in his hand, Han Zhan suddenly realized something.

Is it possible that Fourth Senior Brother is not the true mastermind?

From the riots’ beginning to now, Fourth Senior Brother has always been at the granary with me.

Not only that, he also had to control the Star Official and lift the blessings for the people, which left no time for anything else.

"Luring the tiger away from the mountain," Fourth Senior Brother Chang Hao suddenly said in a deep voice at that moment. "This is a plot to lure the tiger away from the mountain!"

"Diverting the Ancestral Temple’s attention to the granary through the riots, then sending us here to handle the granary unrest."

"Then, taking advantage of this gap, going to the Ancestral Temple to destroy the Celestial God Sacrifice!"

"But aren’t there other senior brothers and sisters still in the Ancestral Temple? Besides, Master should also be there." This was Han Zhan’s point of confusion.

"Third Senior Sister Bai Shang’s Telepathy only works when she sees her target. As for Second Senior Brother Lu Tao, he couldn’t have foreseen someone acting in the Ancestral Temple, so he didn’t do a Divination in advance."

Admittedly, Bai Shang and Lu Tao’s path has little to do with combat.

Their main focus is on matters related to communicating with the Celestial God, which is their strength.

"As for First Senior Brother, he is completely absorbed in sword forging, and deep in the Sword Casting Cliff, as long as he stays away from this area, he won’t be disturbed."

Master Jiang Ziya also has his own matters to attend to, and might not have been in the Ancestral Temple when it happened.

Having mentioned so much, these are not the key points.

The real key point is.

Who destroyed the Celestial God Sacrifice, and how did they manage to enter the Ancestral Temple, as if no one was there?!

Thinking of this, Han Zhan raised his head, just meeting Chang Hao’s gaze.

The duo spoke the same word simultaneously:

"Insider!"

...

Returning to the Ancestral Temple.

All the senior brothers and sisters were already gathered in the main hall, and Master Jiang Ziya’s figure appeared shortly after.

"The matter, you should all already know."

"The Celestial God Sacrifice has been completely destroyed, the mastermind chose this timing to act because they knew that in three days, the Sun God would demand a sacrifice from Xiqi."

"I called you here to hear your opinions, and also," Jiang Ziya paused here, "to ask, where you were and what you were doing when it happened."

It’s starting.

Han Zhan slightly bowed his head, detecting the underlying intent in Jiang Ziya’s words.

Both he and Fourth Senior Brother Chang Hao could identify an insider; since Master Jiang Ziya previously inquired about the traitor, he couldn’t be without suspicion.

"I was with Fifth Junior Brother at the granary dealing with the unrest, suspecting this might be the work of our opponents,"

Chang Hao was the first to speak up.

He and Han Zhan could substantiate each other’s stories, and resolving the unrest and lifting the blessings had many Xiqi citizens as witnesses, thus avoiding any false testimony.

Jiang Ziya didn’t speak, nodded, and looked at the others.

Third Senior Sister Bai Shang was the next to speak.

"I was trying to listen to the Divine Heart in preparation for the Sun God’s arrival three days from now,"

Every time a Celestial God descends, the required sacrifices differ, and it is always a considerable test for the Xiqi Ancestral Temple.

Bai Shang’s mastery of Telepathy occasionally allows her to eavesdrop on the Divine Heart, aiding the Ancestral Temple’s preparedness, which is her responsibility.

Second Senior Brother Lu Tao was the third to speak.

"I didn’t leave my room, as earlier today I did a Divination for myself; the Hexagram was ominous, so I refrained from going out."

"Therefore, I stayed in the hut all day, and Master can discern the truth of my words."

First Senior Brother Shen Luo was the last to speak.

He spoke little, even when speaking to Jiang Ziya, his tone was indifferent.

"I was at the Sword Casting Cliff, forging swords."

Feeling that his answer might not be convincing enough, Shen Luo added,

"Today, I carved out an additional three thousand new areas for the Ancestral Temple."

Three thousand.

Hearing this number, Jiang Ziya’s pale eyebrows twitched.

"Didn’t I tell you not to expand any more new underground areas, how did you..."

"Because someone made me feel threatened by a challenge."

Though Shen Luo did not specify, everyone present understood that he could only mean his newly-joined Fifth Junior Brother, Ji Fa.

"I wish to sharpen Skills and Power Gate, doubling my training volume."

Shen Luo’s diligence was evident to all, and so was his strength, which commanded respect from the rest of the Ancestral Temple.

After all five disciples answered, it seemed each had their own tasks or alibis.

This made the Celestial God Sacrifice incident even more shrouded in mystery.

At this moment, Han Zhan suddenly asked:

"Master, what were you doing at that time?"