The National Preceptor, Sun Fuping, lowered his voice, revealing, "At the moment of despair in the Panlong Wilderness, when the Grand Wind Army faced inevitable defeat, Zhong Shengguang conducted a divine blood sacrifice."
He Lingshan couldn't help but exclaim, "A divine sacrifice!"
Nian Songyu gestured for silence with a finger to his lips, whispering, "Keep it down, discussing such matters could lead to execution."
He Chunjian's expression turned grave as he too lowered his voice, "Such a sacrifice, of course, must be kept secret."
In Dazhuan, conducting a divine sacrifice is strictly forbidden, embedded within the core laws with severe penalties, including execution or the extermination of one's family, irrespective of rank.
He Lingshan remembered well; his family was decimated under the accusation of performing a divine sacrifice, a painful thorn in his and his family's side.
However, this prohibition does not extend to the worship of nature spirits or household deities, as these practices are deeply ingrained in people's lives.
The ban specifically targets the private worship of distinct deities, deemed as "evil gods" or "demonic deities" by official doctrine, like the "Tongming Zhenjun" that led to the downfall of He Lingshan's ancestors.
The key to identifying a forbidden divine sacrifice lies in the use of living or human sacrifices. Casual prayers or offerings of food do not fall under the scrutiny of the law.
"Which deity did Zhong Shengguang worship?" He Chunjian inquired.
"Mi Tian," Sun Fuping explained, indicating the lack of a formal title in the original document, which merely mentioned a profound worship for relief from the heavens.
Zhong Shengguang's desperate act of blood sacrifice, using his own daughter as the offering, shocked everyone in the room.
"What did this deity grant in return?" was the next question.
"The deity was greatly pleased, bestowing a gift so powerful that it could decimate enemies effortlessly," Sun Fuping stated, though the exact nature of this divine gift remained a mystery due to the deteriorated state of the original documents.
The discussion turned to a recent discovery by the Grand Marshal, an ancient letter written by Zhong Shengguang's personal guard that shed light on this historical puzzle.
"The divine gift from Mi Tian, referred to as 'Da Fang' by Zhong Shengguang, was actually a nest of mind-controlling worms," Sun Fuping revealed, a revelation that prompted further discussion on the true nature and name of these worms, known as the "Three Corpse Worms."
These worms, capable of inducing madness and violence without resistance from blood aura or national destiny, offered a plausible explanation for the Grand Wind Army's continued resistance against overwhelming odds.
The arrival of Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu in Heishui City, bearing the task of retrieving the "Da Fang Pot" from the Panlong Desert, presented a dire yet hopeful mission to turn the tide of war, despite the perilous timing and the desert's unforgiving nature.
He Lingshan's dismay at the thought of venturing into the Panlong Desert at such a dangerous time highlighted the gravity of their quest and the desperate measures being undertaken to preserve the Dazhuan Dynasty's fate.