Everything was normal during the first half of the night.
Aside from the smell of burning coal growing stronger, nothing unusual happened. But at three in the morning, during the latter half of the night, things changed.
Jiang Qiao heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from outside the inn.
It sounded somewhat festive.
There was also a strange fanaticism to it.
Why were they beating drums instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?
He first stood by the window and looked outside. The street was empty, and there was nothing to see. The sound wasn't coming from that direction.
He opened the door and walked out of the room.
Jiang Qiao soon reached the ventilation window at the end of the second-floor corridor.
It was right across from him!
From this position, he could clearly see the small square more than a hundred meters away. A group of people in cloaks and masks surrounded a bonfire, clapping to the beat of the drums as they moved counterclockwise in circles.
It looked like they were holding a religious ceremony.
But the entire process was silent.
Apart from the drums, no one spoke, and no one prayed.
The atmosphere was extremely strange.
"There's something in the bonfire." Jiang Qiao stood sideways, hiding himself in the shadows. At this distance, unless the other side had a Superpower User, there was no way they could see him.
After observing carefully,
he quickly spotted several pitted Human bones buried in the pile of wood beneath the bonfire.
Thigh bones.
They looked as though they had been gnawed, with tooth marks still visible.
Gradually,
they began spinning faster and faster, and the drums grew more urgent, as though the ceremony had reached its climax.
Suddenly...
One person in the group took a