Many people breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the high priest's affirmative answer, fearing that the high priest might refuse to help them at this critical juncture because of what had happened before.
Since the high priest had agreed, their future was now secure.
The thought of never having to fight with others for limbs again brought smiles to their faces, and they shouted, "High Priest, let's begin! You don't look too well, so finish early and go rest."
"Yes, you've sacrificed too much for this City of Destiny, you should go back and rest soon, so let's get started."
They noticed the high priest's weakness; his pale face was completely devoid of color. Considering his previous living conditions, everyone was a little worried that something might happen, fearing that the high priest might accidentally die and their summoning ritual might go wrong.
Faced with the urging of the people, the high priest remained silent. Instead, he slowly raised his head, took a deep breath, faced the sun, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
The summoning process was made up by Zhong Mu. He could only refer to the summoning ritual he saw in the town before coming to this world. In short, everyone should close their eyes and pray to create that atmosphere. Then he would come forward and make up some excuses to deceive these people.
The normal procedure should have been like this, but after everyone closed their eyes and prayed for a short while, a dull thud of a heavy object falling suddenly rang out in the quiet environment.
Zhong Mu immediately opened his eyes and saw that the high priest's weak body had fallen from the summoning platform to the bottom, seemingly lacking the strength to continue until the summoning ritual was over.
The crowd immediately panicked and rushed forward to check on the high priestess's condition, fearing that her actions would affect the process of summoning the god.
Someone cautiously reached out to probe the unresponsive high priest, then instantly turned ashen-faced. "She...she's dead!"
"What? The High Priest suddenly died! What about our summoning process? Can we still summon him?"
"This has only just begun, and the high priest is already dead. We definitely can't summon him."
"How could this happen all of a sudden..."
The speaker immediately stopped talking. They knew better than anyone whether the high priest was a good person or not, and this situation was exactly what they had feared.
"It's alright, the High Priestess can regenerate. Quickly drag her back and lock her up. Once she regenerates, we can perform the summoning ritual again."
"Yes, yes, take her back quickly."
Seeing that the group was about to make a move, Zhong Mu immediately stepped forward to stop them, and said sternly, "Don't move! Do you want to stop the summoning ritual?!"
His expression was so serious that those around him immediately stopped and became cautious.
"But... but the High Priest is dead, can this ritual still proceed?"
"Yeah...the most important summoner is gone, how can we summon her? Let's take her back first."
Zhong Mu waved his hand, "No, the ritual has already gone wrong. If we stop now, you'll never be able to summon a god again. We must force it to continue!"
"Huh? Can it still be forced to continue?" Hearing that there was still hope, everyone immediately perked up and hurriedly listened to Zhong Mu's instructions. "How do we continue?"
Zhong Mu glanced down at the high priestess on the ground, squatted down to check her pulse, and then had Mu He check her again. After confirming that the high priestess was dead, he stood up with a serious expression and looked at all the people.
"There are two indispensable elements in the ritual of summoning the god: one is the offering, which is the flesh and blood in your hands, and the other is an entity closely related to the god, which can only be the high priest."
"Originally, we used the high priest's voice and prayers to resonate with the gods and bring the lost gods back here, but now that the high priest is dead, we have to find another way."
Zhong Mu took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and pulled out his axe. "Only the flesh and blood of the high priest can resonate with the gods and summon them back."
"The High Priest's flesh and blood?" The people around were a little confused and didn't quite understand, but they could only follow the instructions of the person in front of them. The originally smooth ritual had gone wrong, so they had no choice but to be more obedient.
"Just like the offerings in your hands, offering flesh and blood to the gods will make them realize that the high priest is in danger and return." Zhong Mu lowered his head, looked at the high priest on the ground, closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself several times, and then chopped down with an axe in front of everyone, severing one of the high priest's arms.
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, trying his best to remain calm as he faced those people, without revealing a single flaw. He said calmly, "Burn the remaining remains of the High Priest, and then offer prayers with the flesh and blood of the sacrificial offerings and the High Priest's flesh and blood at the exits of the City of Fallen Souls."
The people pondered, following Zhong Mu's train of thought, "The exits from the City of Fallen Life are one towards the City of Twin Life and the other towards the City of Immortality. If we have two blood and flesh offerings, can we just go to the different city gates to pray?"
Zhong Mu nodded, then paused, looking at the people with concern, "Originally, if the High Priest prayed in person, all that was needed was to offer the flesh and blood of the sacrifice. But now that the High Priest is not here, and the prayers have to be offered at different city gates, then you must gather the flesh and blood in your hands and let all the citizens pray together for it to be effective."
"The High Priest's flesh and blood are substantial enough to warrant a prayer alone. So, the next step is for all of you to take your flesh and blood offerings to the gates of Twin Cities and pray together. I will take the High Priest's flesh and blood to the gates of Eternal City to pray. When both sides resonate together, we can summon the gods back."
"Alright, alright! I understand! I'm heading to the entrance of Twin Cities right now!"
"I'm going too! For God's return, we all must go!"
"Go now, we must summon back to consciousness quickly!"
"right!"
A group of people were about to leave in a hurry, but Zhong Mu stopped them first. "Wait, before that, you need to kneel down and burn the remaining flesh of the High Priest before you can go."
"The High Priest's flesh and blood are also an important step in initiating the summoning, and you must also kneel down in devout worship."
The crowd was stunned. They glanced at the high priestess on the ground, who had lost an arm. She lay there, and the dilapidated marks on her body were clearly visible to everyone. They knew exactly where the dark wounds came from.
They hadn't wanted to deal with the high priest any longer, but since this was a necessary step, they had no choice but to comply.
They dismantled the summoning altar, piled up pieces of wood, placed the remaining body of the high priest on it, and set it on fire.
Countless people knelt around the blazing fire, worshipping, though their hearts were not sincere, their actions had done so.
Zhong Mu silently prepared a wooden basket, lined it with a mat, placed the high priest's arm inside, and then put it away.
He took Muhe's hand and glanced at the kneeling crowd.
It was impossible to get these cold-blooded people to open their mouths and confess their sins or apologize to the High Priest, but making them kneel before the High Priest's grave in this way was a way of settling everything the High Priest had done in the City of Fallen Souls.
The high priest of the City of Fallen Life is dead, and his body has been burned.
The ordinary girl in the basket will be reborn outside the City of Fallen Life.