The villain also has spring 2

Chapter 2064, Section 262: The Lord of Skinning

Chapter 2064, Section 2.62: The Lord of Skinning

"My lord?" The Nine-Tails captain, clearly sensing the danger, immediately asked Wu Chen.

“Let the scimitar do the work.” Wu Chen decided to advance the plot with minimal “interference”: “He is the protagonist of tonight’s operation.”

"Yes, sir." Captain Nine-Tailed immediately transmitted a message to Curved Blade: "They must be plotting something sinister."

"Hmm." The scimitar was reading the related "parallel memories" it had just acquired: "They want to summon the feathered serpent god."

As mentioned earlier, the feathered serpent was a deity widely worshipped in Mesoamerican civilizations. He is generally depicted as a feathered serpent. First appearing in the Olmec civilization, he was later known as Ketsalkoatl by the Aztecs and Kukulcan by the Maya. Legend has it that the feathered serpent abhorred human sacrifice and blood rituals, and at one time held the position of sun god, becoming the supreme deity of the Maya civilization.

Wait a minute… “Aversion to human sacrifice and blood sacrifice rituals,” “once holding the position of sun god.” These records, belonging to the “gentle” characteristics of the Maya, are vastly different from the bloody sacrifice being performed by this group of vampires. Therefore, this ancient structure, which the survivors mistakenly believe to be a “Mayan pyramid,” may actually belong to the Aztec Empire, one of the three great ancient civilizations of the Americas: Maya, Inca, and Aztec!

Generally speaking, the Maya were a jungle civilization, the Inca were a mountain civilization, and the Aztecs were a valley civilization.

Yes, it was precisely because it was built in a valley that it was buried by volcanic ash. Or perhaps, it was destroyed by a mudslide triggered by a major flood.

“Hipettotek.” The scimitar had found the answer: “‘Our Lord the Flayed One.’”

Xīpe Totēc is the "Lord of Skinning" in Aztec mythology, symbolizing rebirth, agriculture, and disease. He is the ruler of either the east or the west, and his image and sacrificial rituals profoundly reflect the Aztec civilization's belief in the cycle of life. Xīpe Totēc is one of the four sons of Ometeotl, the Aztec creator god. As the god of rebirth, he represents the springtime revival of all things, and is also associated with agricultural abundance, plant growth, the spread of disease, and the skills of goldsmiths and silversmiths.

Different mythological versions differ on the direction in which it ruled. One version says it ruled the east, corresponding to the white Tescatlipoca (feathered serpent god); another says it ruled the west, as the red Tescatlipoca, symbolizing war and sacrifice. In the Aztec legend of the "Five Sun Ages," the Hipettotecs participated in the destruction and rebirth of the world. For example, in the third sun age (the four rain ages), the rain god Traloc, out of grief, caused a drought, ultimately destroying the world with a rain of fire, and the survivors transformed into animals.

The image of "skinning" in the Hipettotec tradition is a core symbol of Aztec religion, embodying the cycle of life and the natural cycle: in legend, Hipettotec voluntarily peeled off his own skin to provide food for mankind, symbolizing sacrifice and rebirth; priests wore human skin in rituals, imitating its image, signifying the decay of the old skin and the growth of the new skin, corresponding to the changing of the seasons and the renewal of crops.

To pray for bountiful harvests, the Aztecs regularly performed human sacrifices: the victim's heart was removed, and the skin was peeled off. The priest wore the skin for 20 days to "incarnate" as Hipettotek, distributing food to the people. Other rituals included shooting arrows to draw blood, symbolizing rain, or burning and slitting throats, all aimed at maintaining cosmic balance. Hipettotek's beliefs permeated his calendar and social life: in the 260-day sacred calendar "Tornalbovalli," he presided over the "Cuoteli Day (Eagle Day)," representing the western direction, used for divination.

As the “most severe god,” his worship was an important religious activity in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest, and temple ruins and artistic images (such as human skin sculptures) have become key material evidence for the study of Aztec civilization.

“It’s actually another form of ‘painted skin’,” Wu Chen couldn’t help but chuckle. “So we haven’t really left the world of painted skins yet.” In the Western world, another famous legend associated with “skin-changing creatures” is that of the Druids, who held a dominant position among the ancient British Celts. There is also a lesser-known Navajo Indian legend about a mysterious humanoid creature, often described as a bloodthirsty, four-limbed, and swift mountain demon—the Skinwalker.

In Navajo folklore, skinners were originally shamans or witches who performed healing and rituals. However, when famine, disease, and war struck, shamans would perform the most evil forbidden spells to save their people (though some shamans did so for personal gain), the condition for which was the killing of their beloved family members. Shamans or witches who performed these forbidden spells would thus become evil skinners, forced to feed on the souls of others. Shamans who fell into this state could freely transform into brown bears, hyenas, foxes, owls, or crows. They could even take the appearance of people by consuming their fur or saliva to deceive their friends and family.

The Skinflint possesses an extraordinary physique, and legend says they are faster than lightning and have the ability to steal souls. It is said that if an ordinary person makes eye contact with a Skinflint, it can enter their mind and control everything about them and their body. According to Navajo legend, the Skinflint is an absolutely evil creature. They always try every means to harm passersby, feeding on the souls and fears of their victims. There is only one way to kill a Skinflint—find their name when they were human and shout it out loud; then, retribution for their evil deeds will kill them. Alternatively, when going out, one can cover their body with corn pollen, cedar ash, or juniper berries to avoid being hunted by the Skinflint.

It is evident that skinning and sacrifice have been practiced among the indigenous civilizations of South America. Despite differences in race and civilization, legends related to these practices have existed throughout history. Whether it's painted skin or skin-changing, broadly speaking, from the perspective of the current storyline of Fulong Temple, it is a kind of "mutant ritual."

No?

Wu Chen was just very curious about who the priest was and who the sacrifice was.

Or who is the skinner, and whose skin will they skin?

The answer was quickly revealed.

The severely wounded golden python that had crawled into the interlayered snake pit coiled around the altar, stretching its bleeding head with difficulty above "Death's mistress," the ancient vampire queen Santanico Pandemoni.

Aside from the waitress who fell into the survivor camp along with the embedded stone wall and was drained of blood and turned to stone by Chen Luo, the leader of the mutant snake-man Water Spirit gang, the remaining 13 strippers worked together to pull out the two fangs of the golden python by the root. Just as they had heard in the survivor camp, these were ancient vampire maids whose duties, besides hunting men, included managing the nightclubs. Throughout countless ages, they had been the most capable and loyal female assistants of the ancient vampire queen, Santanico Pandemoni.

When the sacrificial offering, who was slowly taking off his robe and lying on the altar, turned out to be "Death's mistress," the ancient vampire queen Santanico Pandemoni herself, even the well-informed Nine-Tailed Captain was stunned.

"My God..."

Is she going to sacrifice herself?