High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1330: Chapter 77 Yagneg

”Yagneg! Yagneg!”

”God says,”

”I swear by my eternal life.”

”All knees shall bow to me.”

”All tongues shall confess to me.”

”The divine radiance illuminates the ancient secrets that remain unspoken.”

”Strengthen our hearts.”

”These secrets are now revealed.”

”And by the command of everlasting life, Yagneg’s decree,”

”guided by the books of Prophets to instruct the nations’ people, so they shall be convinced.”

”Until forever.”

”Yagneg! Yagneg!”①

The crisp and ethereal voices of the little Fish-men echoed inside the fish skin tent, creating a sacred atmosphere. Even someone as unreserved as Sister Korma showed a hint of solemnity under this ambiance.

Zheng Qing, although not extensively versed in religious studies, could easily deduce the deity named ’Yagneg’ that these nomadic Fish-men worshipped, due to his exposure to mysticism.

The Old Fishman’s following words confirmed this.

”Yagneg! Our God!”

It praised in a deep, chanting tone, then resumed a normal voice to introduce to the guests, ”When we wander, He protects us from being chased by Demons, from the annoyances of Wizards, from the teasing of Flood Dragons... But when we pause, He rests in His shrine, clad in a Dragon Skin Cloak.”

”Yagneg! Our God!” The little Fish-men sang in unison.

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but shiver.

Supported by two little Fish-men, the Fishman Elder Priest staggered up, leaning on a bone staff, and approached the long table. Only then did Zheng Qing notice a stone platform about a meter high next to the long table, covered by a large, heavy cloak. From the guests’ perspective, he could only see a foot of stone base peeking out from beneath the cloak.

The Warlock realized within his heart that this probably was the ’shrine’ the Old Fishman had referred to. That cloak must be the Dragon Skin Cloak, and ’Yagneg’ rested beneath it.

The Fishman Priest approached the platform, lifted his worn robe to reveal his skinny, bare knees, which had hardly any flesh left, covered by wrinkled, dark green skin.

The Old Fishman dropped his bone staff, pushed away the little Fish-men supporting him, and knelt laboriously before the platform, bowing his head several times.

Then, he picked up the bone staff and stood up slowly yet firmly.

During this process, the two little Fish-men stood quietly behind him, silent and motionless, like two stone sculptures.

”The sacred Dragon Skin Cloak!” The Elder Priest walked slowly to the side of the platform, caressed the cloak, and sang, ”Guardian of the divine secret! Ward off the profane gaze! Await the arrival of the sacred!”

After singing, he waved his bone staff, lifted the Dragon Skin Cloak, and revealed the stone platform underneath.

What was called a platform was actually a stone armchair — the stone was ash-gray and rough on the surface, its edges faintly covered with yellow-green moss and water erosion patterns. Zheng Qing highly doubted that this chair was hastily constructed by these nomadic Fish-men after they arrived at the Market.

Considering its weight, these Fish-men could not possibly carry it with them wherever they roamed.

And ’sitting’ on the stone chair was the deity ’Yagneg’ of these nomadic Fish-men — to be exact, it was the skull of Yagneg.

The chair held a massive octopus skull, the upper part being a human skull, while the lower part crept with eight octopus tentacles. After the cloak was lifted, those tentacles that had been ”asleep” began to ”awaken,” weakly writhing on the stone platform.

On either side of the stone chair, the armrests ended with a small stone dish.

A shallow layer of golden Jiao oil, looking like solidified beeswax, filled the dishes. The Old Fishman Priest fished out some dry moss from his sleeves and dropped it into the dish.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Blue-black flames abruptly rose in the stone dish, twisting and dancing.

The Old Fishman did not pause, continuously pulling out a variety of things from his sleeves—palm-sized leaves, old grass tied with fish sinew, crushed Turtle Shell, blackened bones, and even two Tarot cards.

Those odds and ends fell into the stone dish, promptly emitting thick plumes of blue-white smoke. The Young Wizards, who had gotten used to the air inside the tent, couldn’t help but cough softly.

”Who wishes to peek into Destiny?”

The Old Fishman turned around to face the Young Wizards, reminding them, ”Peekers do not have to be disciples of Yagneg, but they must be barefoot, bare-kneed, and bare-handed, as a sign of Piety.”

The Witches glanced at each other and stepped back slightly.

Xiao Xiao, however, stepped forward without hesitation, prepared to be the first to brave the unknown.

The Old Fishman nodded slightly, set his bone staff, cloaked in the Dragon Skin Cloak, to the side of the altar table, and then moved forward to lift the heavy octopus skull from the chair, looking at Xiao Xiao:

”Sit down.”

Xiao Xiao closed his notebook and climbed laboriously onto the elevated chair. Once seated, he seemed to sink into a deep pit; Zheng Qing could see him struggling to reach the ground with his toes but unable to do so, which amused the cost student secretly.

Two little Fish-men previously standing behind the Old Fishman stepped forward, each carrying a small bowl up to Xiao Xiao.

One bowl contained brightly colored fish roe, a soft clump wrapped in seaweed and still steaming.

The other held a bowl of milky, viscous liquid that looked rather suspicious.

”Use them,” the Old Fishman ordered.

Xiao Xiao picked up a clump of the fish roe with two fingers, sniffed it, then tilted his head back and swallowed it. Next, he picked up the bowl of ’milk,’ sniffed it for a long time, his face filled with sudden realization and disgust.

”What is this?” Xiao Xiao looked at the Elder Priest for confirmation.

”The essence of Yagneg,” the Fishman Priest replied.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, pinched his nose, and poured the essence of the octopus skull into his mouth: ”...I hope the result won’t be disappointing.”

He muttered indistinctly.

”I wouldn’t try this method of Divination for the life of me,” Sister Korma whispered into Zheng Qing’s ear: ”Now I see why this form of Divination was rejected by the mainstream Wizards... But look at it this way, your Hunter is truly courageous!”

Jiang Yu, with a stern face, stood beside Zheng Qing, covering Poseidon’s eyes with her hands, not letting it look around wildly. This made Little Fox restless, its paws and tail flailing about. But the Witch persisted in covering its eyes.

Zheng Qing didn’t have time to comment on the Doctor’s courage or the Witches’ reactions.

For as soon as Xiao Xiao had swallowed the two ’sacrifices,’ the Old Fishman, with agility starkly different from before, fitted the octopus skull onto the Doctor’s head.

The huge skull completely engulfed Xiao Xiao’s upper body, leaving his entire figure comically reduced to just two legs.

Immediately, the eight tentacles of the octopus skull began to shake violently as if electrocuted, straightening and then going limp before shaking again. The entire process didn’t last long until a contented sigh came from the dark mouth of the octopus skull:

”Ah...”