Chapter 3903: Start Of The Ritual

Lin Mu quietly set the mystery aside and his attention shifted toward the gathered prisoners. Nearly a hundred of them still stood silently before the effigy. Not a single person spoke and not a single person fidgeted.

The eerie silence continued to persist.

Then... Movement finally appeared as one of the prisoners stepped forward.

Lin Mu immediately focused upon him.

The man looked incredibly old. Whether he truly possessed such an advanced age or had merely been worn down by the Mad Demon Depths remained impossible to tell. One of his eyes was completely missing as only a sunken socket remained.

The skin surrounding it had long since scarred over into a tangled mass of pale flesh. His remaining eye appeared clouded with age. Even from this distance, Lin Mu could tell the man’s vision had greatly deteriorated.

His right arm ended just below the elbow while the missing portion had healed years ago. His left arm still remained attached. Though calling it functional seemed generous. The muscles had withered until little more than skin covered the bone.

Every movement appeared slow and painful. Meanwhile his left leg had disappeared entirely. And replacing it was a crude peg fashioned from several long bones tightly bound together with strips of old cloth.

Every step produced a dull clicking sound against the stone.

Lin Mu quietly frowned.

The other prisoners hardly looked healthy themselves as most carried old scars, several limped and many appeared painfully thin. Even among such miserable people, this old man looked the worst.

Yet the others naturally made way for him as a mix of emotions could be seen on their faces.

Whether it was respect, fear, trust or even habit, it was unknown. Whatever the reason, his position among them appeared unquestioned. Lin Mu’s thoughts briefly returned to the stone tablets.

’I wonder if the writer is among them.’ His eyes slowly swept across the gathered prisoners.

Dozens of unfamiliar faces stared toward the effigy.

Some looked terrified, some appeared completely expressionless and a handful quietly trembled. Unfortunately... He possessed no way of identifying the diary’s author. The entries contained no descriptions or names.

The old man slowly approached the effigy as his bone peg scraped softly against the stone. Eventually he reached the front and then without hesitation, he knelt. His forehead lowered until it nearly touched the ground.

The prisoners behind him followed as every single person knelt in perfect unison.

The old man’s hoarse voice echoed throughout the cavern.

"Just like those before us, and those that will come after us, we have once more come to pay our tributes." The words lingered within the silence.

A heartbeat later... The remaining prisoners repeated them together.

"Just like those before us, and those that will come after us, we have once more come to pay our tributes."

Nearly a hundred voices merged into one and the sound rolled across the underground chamber before gradually fading. The old man lowered his head further and his forehead struck the stone once.

THUD

A formal kowtow.

He slowly straightened before raising his remaining hand. Its withered fingers pointed toward the gathered prisoners.

"First the newcomers." A ripple immediately spread through the crowd.

Several prisoners reluctantly stepped forward and Lin Mu counted seven. Every one of them looked uneasy and their movements lacked the strange resignation carried by the older prisoners.

One young man actually took a step backward while another woman shook her head repeatedly.

"I don’t..." Before she could finish speaking...

THUD!

Someone behind her kicked the back of her knee and she stumbled forward. Two more prisoners received similar treatment as the veterans showed no sympathy whatsoever. Within moments, all seven newcomers stood before the effigy.

Their expressions revealed obvious fear.

One continuously glanced toward the surrounding tunnels while another kept clenching and unclenching his fists. None appeared to understand what awaited them. The old man observed them quietly.

Then he spoke. "Repeat after me."

Several newcomers swallowed nervously while a middle aged man closed his eyes.

Apparently, he already knew what would happen.

The old man slowly recited the next sentence. "Take little from us now, so that we can give you more later."

The seven newcomers hesitated as several breaths passed. One of the older prisoners behind them struck another man’s shoulder. "Speak."

The frightened prisoners finally obeyed and their uneven voices echoed through the chamber.

"Take little from us now, so that we can give you more later."

The old man nodded and he slowly reached toward his tangled gray hair. For a moment, Lin Mu wondered what he intended. Then, the old man withdrew a long sharpened bone. It had been hidden within his hair the entire time.

The tip had been carefully polished until it resembled a primitive needle.

Then without warning, the old man stepped toward the nearest newcomer and the sharpened bone jabbed downward. The young prisoner screamed while Lin Mu narrowed his eyes.

SHICK!

The bone had pierced the scalp, but only the flesh. It stopped before reaching the skull itself. A shallow cut stretched several centimeters across the man’s head and Blood immediately welled upward.

The old man calmly moved to the next prisoner and one after the other, each newcomer received the same wound. Their cries echoed painfully throughout the cavern while some instinctively reached toward their heads.

The older prisoners immediately slapped their hands away. "Do not touch it."

One growled as Blood slowly flowed through each prisoner’s hair. Dark red streams trickled down their foreheads, across their cheeks and then onto their necks. The newcomers trembled violently.

Several looked ready to flee, but none dared move.

Lin Mu silently watched everything unfold. His body remained perfectly still, and his thoughts rapidly analyzed the ritual. The words themselves carried no power and the bone appeared ordinary.

There were no runes or formations inscribed on them. The wounds on the prisoners also remained superficial. Even the effigy itself felt completely lifeless. He had continuously observed it with his Immortal Sense a couple times.

But there was nothing strange about it other than the appearance.

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