Chapter 308: 308
The altar was on top of a platform, overseeing the entire city, four pagodas placed so that they formed a square around it .
Blood was flowing in rivers underneath the altar, and it seemed as if all the blood had dropped from the altar into the river .
The entire altar was red, bordering on black, as it was dyed with the blood of various ages, some marks were fresh, others were ancient .
There were many marks of knives and swords on the altar top, clearly many people had been executed here .
The scent of blood was so intoxicating that even with the soul-calming pill, Xue Wei was feeling restless .
Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi were not doing much better than him . Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi's eyes were red, with their fists clenched tightly as they were trembling .
Xue Wei surveyed their surroundings, but noticing that there was nothing around them apart from the bloody city, he quickly turned around and started leaving .
"There is something in the blood here," he muttered, "some sort of drug . "
Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi nodded their heads, they too could sense it . Although blood usually went to their brains, it was never like this which was invading all their senses and making them lose their rationality like this, urging them to become mindless killing machines .
"There is no one here . I bet they hoped we would lose our sanity and fight each other to death," Xue Wei muttered as he hurried away from the ancient ruins, his movements as fast as he could without activating any movement techniques .
Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi followed suit, and the three of them quickly returned to the safety of the trees, the ancient ruins vanishing in the backgrounds .
"Do you think that perhaps there is some sort of strength boosting effect in the blood?" Bai Tianyi suddenly asked, and Xue Wei was quiet . When it came down to it, he knew a lot less than the sword spirit .
"If there is, this might be the lost city of the Berserkers," he muttered, evidently in doubt .
"Berserkers?" Xue Wei was not comfortable hearing such names . It sounded like they would be quite powerful .
"Berserkers are, like all other races, quite different from humans . They have a hard time cultivating normally, but when they enter bloodlust their strength soars for a short period of time .
"They safeguard their lost city with their lives, this place is fueled by the blood, and is their life source . As long as blood runs in the lost city of the Berserkers, then they will be able to survive, and killing them is near impossible . "
Xue Wei was uncomfortable hearing what Bai Tianyi said . It sounded quite a bit as if he was correct . But if this was truly the lost city of the berserkers, then it was not a good place to be .
"Back to the ship . Right now . " Xue Wei made a decision quickly and together with the others, turned around to rush back to the ship .
The eerie silence in the forest was broken by them as they rushed back to the ship .
On the way, they encountered no one, neither friend nor foe . Everything was empty .
Xue Wei was thinking the entire time, wondering if there was some way to get rid of these villagers .
"You said that they are near impossible to kill when there is blood flowing in their lost city?" Xue Wei suddenly asked, and Bai Tianyi shrugged, "I think so," he said, "it is what the legends say, and legends tend to have a base in reality . "
Xue Wei paused, they had reached the village, and as they looked into the distance a large column of smoke was rising into the air, a column far away, seemingly in the direction of the harbor .
Xue Wei's eyes glistened with malice and worry as he sped up . He even activated Forbidden Rush as he flashed through the village towards the harbor, but what met him was a sight that made the heart in his chest drop .
The ship was burning . It was ablaze with flames all over, licking the wood as if it was a massive bonfire .
"They were here while we were gone," Xue Wei was certain as he spoke . "They must be Berserkers, otherwise it would be impossible to overwhelm both the King and Lin Xiao with the strength of the villagers . "
"What do we do now?" Hei Gou was slightly uncomfortable . If they had been able to handle the King and Lin Xiao, would the three of them be able to do something to them?
"We will return to the lost city," Xue Wei said decisively, "We will ensure that no more blood flows in their city, as long as we get rid of all the blood, then they will be able to be killed . It is also when we will be able to execute them easily . "
"They are likely to return to the city now," Bai Tianyi said while considering their options . "To keep the blood flowing, they need to add more and more blood to the rivers, and this blood is taken from wayward wanderers who accidentally arrive at this island . "
"We will stop their river of blood," Xue Wei said decisively, his eyes were glistening with determination, and neither Bai Tianyi nor Hei Gou tried to talk him out of it .
They both felt it was risky, but having lived up until now, had they not experienced risky situations before?
If they did nothing, then their friends would lose their lives, and that would forever bring pain to them . They would rather fight with all they had to protect their friends and family than to be a coward who hid away from danger .
Since they had made a decision, Xue Wei rushed back to the lost city . He was careful and alert at all times, but they did not come across anyone on the way .
As they were just about to reach the lost city, Xue Wei fished out another three soul-calming pills . He consumed one and gave the other two to his companions, who quickly swallowed them and sat down .
When their minds were as calm and collected as they could be, they moved on towards the lost city, this time not as fast, and not as obviously .
The lost city had previously been completely deserted and silent, but now that they returned they could hear the sound of people chanting, as to what they were chanting, it was hard to make out the words, but there was no interruption in the chants .
While still being within the forest, Xue Wei saw that the sleeping experts were all awake now . They had been bound and placed in a line that was being pushed towards the altar . Even Luoluo was there .
Xue Wei felt his blood boil . Lin Xiao and the King were there as well, but they were not in good shape . Blood was flowing all over their clothes, and open wounds and gashes could be seen in their skin . They were pale, and the five eyes of the King were all glassy .
Hei Gou was uncomfortable seeing them like this, and he was about to charge forward, only to be stopped by Xue Wei . He shook his head without saying anything, and Hei Gou could only gnash his teeth before suppressing his urge to run over and save them .
"They will not execute them now," Bai Tianyi whispered with certainty, and Xue Wei looked at him, silently inquiring why he thought so .
"They used some sort of drug to knock them all out . This drug is in their blood right now . If they were to let the drugged blood into the river, does that not mean that they will drug themselves?"
The question was incredibly logical and reasonable, and Xue Wei nodded his head . Since they depended on the blood, they would not let drugged blood join the river .
Although they had already woken up from their drugged sleep, there was very little chance of their blood being pure already . They would wait at least a day with executing them .
Since this was the case, the sense of urgency slowly evaporated, and Xue Wei began planning what to do .
The river was carved into the ground, there was no way to get beneath it, and he was unsure of how to make all of it spill .
Bai Tianyi was aware of the problem as well, but he had no sudden ideas either .
Hei Gou looked at the river in front of him and observed his surroundings . "Why not lead the river out of the city during the night?" he asked, and both Bai Tianyi and Xue Wei looked at him with great curiosity .
"I mean, we can't let it stay in the lost city, but if we make an extension of the river and the lake, make it flow out of the city and into the ground here in the forest, then they will be incapable of fighting back . "
"there is a lot of blood," Xue Wei muttered as he looked at it, but they had no better idea, and thus they waited for night to fall .
As the darkness blanketed the entire forest and the lost city, Xue Wei, Hei Gou, and Bai Tianyi began moving .
They went to the large lake that was at the end of the city and started digging . They quietly destroyed the tall dam that kept the blood in place and watched as it started to slowly but surely drain into the forest .
More and more blood started running into the forest, and as the soil absorbed it, a tremble ran through the ground .
The hole in the dam was getting larger and larger, more and more blood was being lost, but no one in the city seemed to notice .
Xue Wei was constantly on high alert . He was using his spiritual energy to keep an eye on everything, but no one was guarding the lake of blood, neither were they guarding the rivers, and it allowed for Xue Wei and his two friends to act so presumptuously and slowly but steadily empty their lost city for blood .
The blood was flowing into the forest, and the leaves of the trees started changing their color from green to red . The scent of blood was everywhere in the air, and the intoxicating smell was invading the senses of Xue Wei, Hei Gou, and Bai Tianyi . It was even worse than the first time they had been there, and their nails were dug tightly into their palms, making it so that the pain kept them sane .
Blood was dripping from their palms down on the ground, and when Xue Wei's blood came into contact with the blood of the lost city, a magnificent sight happened .
The blood of the lost city had been red, but the moment it came into contact with Xue Wei's it turned blue .
Before, the blood had been slowly seeping out of the hole they had made in the dam, but now the blood was, as if acting with a consciousness, hurrying out of the river and lake and rushing towards Xue Wei where it gathered underneath him, greedily mixing with the drops of blood that fell from his hand .
Xue Wei looked at Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou, and then he realized what had happened . Bai Tianyi had previously explained to them that all different races came from the union of a mix between beasts and humans .
This race was exactly the same as all other races, and it was obvious that there was happening a mutation to the blood .
Previously a mutation had happened to Hei Gou, but this time it was the Berserker blood which was changing . It was abandoning the Lost City for the sake of absorbing just a drop more blood of Xue Wei, before slowly seeping into the ground below .
The treetops which had slowly turned red from the blood were now changing their colors to blue . The entire forest was changing at a rapid speed .