The Girl on the Fire Altar

"If you've got the guts, let me down!"

The girl's angry voice rang out from the valley.

Li Zhexian turned to look at Jin Ling.

"Did you hear that?"

"I already heard it, so don't go over there."

"Someone's tied up in there. I can't pretend I didn't hear her."

"There are quite a few people inside, and the formation has already been activated."

"Then you go in front."

"You're good at giving orders."

After securing the Azure Lotus Sword, Li Zhexian followed the sound of chains dragging across the ground toward the valley.

The Soul Hunting captain led his people to the side of the road, then held his spear crosswise to block Li Zhexian.

"There are people from the sect guarding the place. We haven't figured out what's going on with the ritual, so we can't make a move yet."

"Didn't you say earlier that they were going to offer a sacrifice?"

"That's just what people around here say."

"A rumor has scared you this badly?"

The captain didn't answer, keeping his spear across his body.

Jin Ling asked, "How much do you know?"

"Every few years, they light a fire. They say it keeps the town safe."

"Who do they use to keep it safe?"

"I don't know."

"Then get out of the way."

Several villagers stood at the entrance to the valley.

An old woman held a wooden basket, and several potatoes from it had rolled to her feet.

A young villager held out his hand, stopping them.

"The elder is conducting a ritual. Outsiders shouldn't ask too many questions."

Li Zhexian looked at the young villager.

"She's in there shouting for someone to let her down. Do you think that means the ritual is going smoothly?"

The young man looked away and didn't answer.

Jin Ling pushed him aside with her hand and walked up the stone steps into the valley.

A brazier stood in the center of the stone platform.

The girl's hands and feet were bound with iron chains, and bloody marks had been rubbed into her wrists.

Seven Soul Masters stood guard around the platform, while villagers kept feeding wood into the brazier.

The formation patterns between the brazier and the platform flickered red on the ground.

The girl cursed at the guards. "You used the safety of the whole town as an excuse to seize me and throw me into the formation. Can you call that peace?"

A bronze badge hung at the lead elder's waist, and he held a short staff in his hand.

"She has a Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, so she attracted Soul Beasts to the outskirts of town. As long as she is sacrificed, the Soul Beasts will naturally leave."

"Will she die?" Li Zhexian asked.

The elder struck the ground with his short staff.

"She was raised by the sect, so of course she should serve it."

"You just said this was for the whole town. Which one does she owe?"

"I don't owe anyone!"

The girl yanked hard on the chains, and the shackles struck the stone platform.

A guard reached out and pressed down on her shoulder.

Li Zhexian turned to Jin Ling.

"How do we break this formation?"

"The brazier is connected to the formation patterns. The formation is drawing out her Soul Power. Get a good look at the guards before making a move."

"I already have. Seven guards, and there are people carrying wood below the platform."

"I was asking about the Soul Masters."

"Then count them yourself."

Jin Ling raised a hand and pointed to either side of the platform.

"There are two more sources of Soul Power over there."

Hearing their conversation, the girl turned and shouted.

"Don't worry about me. Take her and leave!"

"Do you want to leave this place?" Li Zhexian asked.

"It's none of your business."

"If you didn't want to leave, you wouldn't keep cursing these people."

The girl struck the chains with her wrists.

"I can still hold out. Don't make more trouble."

"Will they capture you again?"

"Yes."

"Then I happen to have some experience I can lend you."

"What kind of experience?"

"People often can't catch me."

"You're sick in the head."

The elder swung his short staff.

"Take them down!"

Two Soul Masters came around either side of the platform, moving to surround them.

Jin Ling stepped forward and struck the one in front with her palm, sending him staggering back several steps.

The brazier was knocked over, and burning coals rolled toward the stone steps.

Li Zhexian drew his sword and slashed at the chain beside the girl's foot.

"Don't touch that chain! The formation will backlash!" the girl shouted.

"So you do care about me."

As soon as the Azure Lotus Sword severed the chain, the formation patterns on the ground lit up.

Flames rose from the brazier, and Soul Power burst from the break and struck Li Zhexian.

His shield value had already dropped by several hundred points, and a ball of white light fell at his feet.

He bent down, picked up the ball of white light, and put it in his pocket.

"With only that much force, it can still drop something."

"You've destroyed the sacrificial formation! The whole town will suffer a calamity!" the elder said loudly.

"You use her in exchange for your safety, and you call that keeping the peace?"

The girl looked at Li Zhexian and stopped cursing.

The elder raised his short staff.

"She is a disciple of the sect. The sect naturally has the right to deal with her."

"Where is your sect?"

"You have no right to ask."

"Then I won't ask for now."

Li Zhexian severed another chain.

The formation patterns lit up again, and the force of the backlash struck his shoulder.

A second ball of white light fell to the ground. He didn't pick it up, instead using his sword to pry open the shackle on the girl's foot.

Jin Ling held off two Soul Masters, while catching sight of the short staff in the elder's hand out of the corner of her eye.

A token hung from the bottom of the staff, engraved with the Spirit Hall emblem.

She said nothing about it, merely raising her palm to force back the person in front of her.

Flames appeared at Huo Wu's feet, and the ropes binding her had already burned through.

"I didn't ask you to save me!" she shouted at Li Zhexian.

"I heard you."

"Then why did you keep cutting?"

"You had plenty of strength to curse. I thought you wanted to get down and keep cursing."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Li Zhexian cut through the last length of chain.

The elder swung his short staff at him. Li Zhexian held the Azure Lotus Sword across his body, and the blade collided with the head of the staff.

Huo Wu seized the moment to jump down from the platform. She took a short blade from a guard's waist and stood beside Li Zhexian.

"I never said I wanted to leave, either."

"That makes things easier to deal with."

The elder raised his short staff and pointed it at the two of them.

"Neither of you is leaving this place."

Several impacts sounded from the bottom of the valley, and the ground shook with them. Lumps of charcoal rolled out of the fallen brazier.

Cracks appeared in the stone wall at the valley entrance, and rubble tumbled down the stone steps.

"The sacrifice has begun!" the elder shouted.

A giant beast smashed through the stone wall and squeezed into the valley through the entrance.

The flames in Huo Wu's hand rose along her arm, and a pair of indistinct phoenix wings had appeared behind her.