He Chunhua looked down and saw that, beneath the Heavenly Lightning Array, a new web of glowing runes had appeared.

Unlike the Heavenly Lightning Array, every line in this new array was a vivid, bloody red.

Most striking of all, this array was not particularly complex, but it was undeniably ancient, full of old runes that had not been used in ages.

Situ Han noticed it too. He saw Commandery Administrator He staring wide-eyed at the array, pupils contracted to pinpoints, utterly shocked.

He grew anxious as well. “W-what’s going on?”

“It’s the Blood Sacrifice Array,” He Chunhua ground out between clenched teeth. “Sun Fuping wants to use us as offerings!”

* * *

No one noticed that just after Sun Fuping produced the ivory carving, a bird monster swooped down from the sky and landed right in front of He Lingchuan, sending up a cloud of dust that startled e...