Heart of the Castle

Chapter 884 Bloody Ceremony, Soul Forging Divine Fire

The territory of the desert country Abraham is vast, but most of the land is very barren Gobi and desert, which cannot accommodate a large number of residents for a long time.So during the reign of the Great Imam Usama, Abraham did not have a city in the usual sense.The entire country is composed of countless large and small tribes and unpredictable settlements, and almost every month, small tribes are massacred and looted by brother tribes who also believe in Allah, and occasionally there are civil strife and rebellion among large and unscrupulous tribes , followed by various results, or the tribal leader succeeded in suppressing the civil strife, or the new leader trampled on the bones of his predecessor and stepped onto the throne, or split into several weaker tribes.

However, all of this became a thing of the past after the Great Imam Ermufasa, known as the "King of Tattoos", took the throne. Appear.Every tribal leader who obeys orders will get his own towns, pastures, cultivated land, and man-made lakes filled with clean water-for the desert residents, this is simply a miracle from Allah Mingyan.

Of course, there are also some tribal leaders who expressed opposition either because of their strength or because they were conservative in tradition.Refusing to accept a settled life, they tore down the towns assigned to their tribe, slaughtered the livestock and soldiers guarding the towns, and took the spoils with them to continue their wandering ways.

These tribal leaders received a cruel revenge that was a hundred times more terrifying than they could imagine. When night fell on the Great Desert of Abraham, cold daggers came unexpectedly along with the shadows in the night, and warm blood was seen by everyone. The blood gushed out from the terrible wound on the neck. The tribal leader who was toasting to congratulate the victory just now fell headlong on the steaming roast whole lamb in front of him. The golden cup rolled to the ground, blood and wine mixed together, and soon Soaked the ground inside the tent.

In just a few days, the four voices of opposition in the territory of Abraham were all ended by brutal and terrifying means. More than 20 tribes that expressed their clear opposition to the settlement policy were slaughtered. The old and the weak, women and children, eventually turned into piles of corpses.Those tribal leaders received special preferential treatment. The corpses with their throats cut were pierced through their abdomens with wooden stakes and stood at the top of the pile of corpses, with castrated dead dogs hanging on both sides.

According to the tradition of Abraham, the souls of such dead people are extremely dirty, and they cannot go to the perfect heaven of the flame of Allah. Unless there is an intolerable hatred, such cruel and vicious revenge rarely occurs.The death of these tribal leaders even angered the priests of the Mingyan who would not easily participate in secular affairs. However, on the way to the Golden Tent led by the chief priest of Karda of the Mingyan Temple, a dozen high-ranking priests, The ruthless dagger in the darkness also fell on these devout believers of the Flame God.

Priest Karda was found among a dozen brutally tortured corpses. He was not dead, but had been flayed alive, and his spirit had fallen into an irreparable frenzy.In the deranged and rambling narration of the chief priest of Karda, people learned about the ruthless determination of the "Tattoo King" Ermufasa the Great Imam, and the terrifying power to carry out this determination.

Since then, the wind direction of Abraham has changed drastically. The tradition of wandering has been completely replaced by urbanized settlements, and the chiefs of large and small tribes have also become nobles with their own territories, except that no titles are awarded. , almost no different from the Kingdom of Arthur or any other human kingdom.This kind of life made many elderly tribal elders dissatisfied, but the vast majority of Abrahams were happy to see the results, and began to enjoy the gift of clear water and green grass in the lake.

There is only one thing that is different from the past, that is, the priests who worshiped Mingyan Allah have changed. Those Mingyan priests who once had a high status in the tribe were all recalled by the Mingyan Temple. Strange, and all of them came from the Golden Tent, belonging to the cronies of the "Tattoo King" Ermufasa Great Imam.

There are many people who have seen this, but very few people have raised it openly. The dagger pierced in the dark night is enough to cool the blood of most people and calm their passion, while a few voices can't arouse any response at all. It just disappeared silently in a corner that is out of people's attention.

The climate of the Abraham Desert has always been harsh and ruthless. When the wind and sand hit, it is not surprising that a few people who are usually restless are missing. Behaviors are rarely seen.

The small town of Horuzi—or the settlement of Horuzi—is located in the heart of the Kingdom of Abraham, not far from the site of the Great Imam's Golden Tent.The Horuqi tribe used to be one of the tribes closest to the Imam, and it was also the first tribe to respond to the settlement policy of the "Tattooed Face King" Ermu Fasa Imam, so although the Horuqi tribe was not very powerful, it was Enjoyed the preferential treatment that many powerful tribes could not enjoy.

When the low horn sounded over the settlement, it meant that a temporary prayer ceremony was about to begin. The residents here were quite used to it. They all put down their work or entertainment, walked out of their tents, and headed towards the settlement. The red crescent banner in the center bows down.As the bright flame priest in robes appeared under the banner, all the residents chanted praises, crossed their hands on their heads, and then bowed deeply, their foreheads lightly touching the gravel ground.

Khaled, the leader of the Heluqi tribe, followed the Mingyan priest out of the tent. Obviously, the expression of this tribe leader was a little dazed, and his face was even paler. The whole person seemed to be trapped in a nightmare where he could not wake up.

Just now, the priest of Mingyan conveyed to him the oracle from Allah Mingyan that the Horuqi tribe must contribute a quarter of the blood and lives of the common people to Allah Mingyan in exchange for the greatness that Allah Mingyan sent down. miracle.

In other words, what will be held is not an ordinary prayer ceremony, but a bloody ceremony.

In the history of the Kingdom of Abraham, there are only a handful of times that Allah Mingyan issued blood sacrifice oracles through sacrifices, and such a huge sacrifice is even more unique.The leader of Khaled did not have any objections to this, but he knew that the Bright Flame Priest in front of him would never accept any form of doubt, and held the power of life and death.

After a brief and intense ideological struggle, the leader of Khaled lowered his head and agreed to contribute a quarter of the lives of the Horuzi tribe's civilians in order to honor the glory of Allah Mingyan and demonstrate the devout belief of the Horuzi tribe.He followed Mingyan Priest to a wooden high platform next to the Red Crescent flag, facing the howling north wind full of gravel, facing the thousands of civilians kneeling below the high platform, he raised his hands high.

"Praise the great Mingyan Allah!" The voice of the Mingyan priest was strong and powerful, completely suppressing the wind, and echoing over the settlement, "Allah is great, Allah is Almighty, guide us before we go astray. You build The miraculous settlement is my shelter in the harsh desert; you have given me the grace of the clear water lake, so that we can live and work in peace and contentment, and will never be attacked by the cruel wind and sand..."

"Allah is great, Allah is omnipotent!" Countless voices chanted at the same time, converging into bursts of earth-shattering waves, roaring from every settlement, echoing over the desert of Abraham, "Praise the great Lord of the flame! "

A group of guardian warriors holding unsheathed scimitars appeared under the high platform. There were a large number of them, their steps were steady, and they wore ominous black robes.Seeing the appearance of these people, the leader of Khalid couldn't help but smacked his lips a few times, with an expression of anger and unwillingness on his face.For a moment, he seemed to want to desperately prevent the tragedy from happening in front of him, even if he was killed by the Mingyan Priest, but in the end he still didn't have the courage to face death, and turned all his voices into a barely audible sigh , and then bent down deeply, blocking his eyes with his wide sleeves.

The chanting of the Mingyan priest became louder and louder, and his body shook, as if he had fallen into some kind of fanatical emotion, and the same was true for the people who were praying under the high platform. They were singing loudly, praising the kindness and greatness of Allah Mingyan, Every pair of eyes was ignited with fanatical flames, and they didn't even notice the black-robed guardian warriors who had already dispersed among the crowd.

"...We are willing to sing praises to you with our lives and glorify you with blood, Allah the Flame, the great Supreme God, please accept our devout offering, please accept it!"

The chanting of the Mingyan priest was almost crazy. Following his frenzied gestures, the black-robed apostle warrior bent down and started a bloody harvest with the scimitar in his hand. Plant crops that are ripe enough to be harvested.

No screams, no moans, no struggles.The people immersed in the frenzy didn't know that disaster was imminent. Under the deliberate guidance of the Mingyan priest, they devoted their whole body and mind to the hymns praising Mingyan Allah.Only at the moment when the cold blade cut the throat, the indescribable pain allowed the victim's consciousness to return to the body, but it was too late, and they had lost any chance, whether it was to save their own lives or wake up the stills. Unaware companions.

There are more than [-] people of the Heluqi tribe. After hundreds of people were sacrificed, the square in the center of the settlement was already stained red with blood. The smell of blood was so strong that even the most fanatical believers would Something feels wrong.Immediately, they stopped their frenzied singing, and the next moment, miserable and panicked shouts replaced the original solemn and solemn Hymn of Bright Flame.

Priest Mingyan also stopped singing, but did not let go of his raised hands. "Allah Mingyan is satisfied with your consecration!" He shouted in a majestic voice, with a terrible smile that only fanatics can show on his face. "Your blood glorifies the radiance of Allah the Flame, and your souls enjoy eternal bliss in Paradise of Goodness!"

The leader of Khalid exhaled lightly, straightened his body, and still did not dare to look down the stage, but his face had recovered.From the mouth of Mingyan Sacrifice, he heard the sign that the bloody festival had ended. Although one-fifth of the tribe's people were lying in a pool of blood, it was still a price worth paying compared to his own life. .

The next step is how to appease the people who have lost their loved ones.This is very troublesome, but the leader of Khaled has already prepared himself mentally. It is nothing more than a combination of soft and hard methods. With the cooperation of Mingyan Sacrifice, it must not be too much...

The leader of Khaled suddenly felt something poke his ribs, it didn't hurt very much, but a cold feeling flowed into his body.As he continued to think about how to control the anger and sadness of the tribal people, he reached out and touched his ribs.

He touched a hard, moist and slightly curved object, which was covered with sticky and slippery liquid. His fingers continued to move forward, and the eyes of the leader of Khalid suddenly dilated with fear. He realized that the fingers touched The thing that arrived was the handle of a dagger, and the blade, who didn't know how long it was, had been buried in his body!
"No...I'll be fine...the dagger shouldn't have hurt any internal organs...or any major blood vessels, otherwise I would have died long ago, it's fine, the Bright Flame Priest is by my side, he will pull out the dagger for me, And use magic to heal the wound... I'm fine..."

A hand stretched out from the side, pushed away the limp fingers of Khaled's leader, then grabbed the handle of the dagger and pulled it out.The leader of Khalid felt the strength of his whole body flow out of his body immediately with the blood. A strong nausea made him open his mouth and vomit a piece of bright red.

"Allah save me..." He fell to the ground, wanting to pray, but the gushing blood blocked his throat, "I did not try to stop the bloody ritual, Allah, I have always been loyal to the Golden Tent, I..."

"Master Khalid, Allah Mingyan will be satisfied with your dedication." Priest Mingyan bent down, his expression seemed gentle like a saint, and his tone was softer, making the leader of Khalid feel that the pain is gradually moving away from him. "Now...give your all."

The dagger fell again, and this time the coldness spread from the throat, piercing the bone marrow, but it was not as good as the icy wind whistling in the heart of the leader of Khalid. "Allah... Bloody Ritual... No, no, you want... to slaughter Horuqi..." With a weak moan accompanied by blood bubbles emerging from his throat, the eyes of the leader of Khalid opened wider and wider, The corners of the eyes were cracked, and traces of blood red soaked everything under the eyes.

"It's not just Horuqi, Lord Khalid." The priest of Mingyan said in a voice as soft as silk, "All the believers of Abraham must contribute everything to Allah Mingyan, blood, life, and even soul!" With this paragraph Speaking ominously, the priest of Mingyan actually raised his dagger and pointed it at his chest. "Great God, let me, the humble one, dedicate everything to you!"

The dagger fell, and the steel blade pierced through the robe, skin and muscle, and inserted into the heart along the sternum gap, as precise as a surgical operation.The fanatical smile of the Bright Flame Priest froze on his face, and what remained in the eyes of the dying leader Khalid had changed from a mixture of anger, puzzlement and questioning to pure fear.

(End of this chapter)