Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost-Chapter 524: The Promisors, Die Due to Thunder_1
Pei Jiang looked somewhat lost. He didn’t understand why everything had turned out this way.
The Court drafted human sacrifices. Three years ago, it was his father. Two years ago, it was his mother. Last year, it was his older brother. This year, it was his turn.
According to the rules in the ’Da Heng Law’, it should not have been his turn. When drafting human sacrifices, the bloodline was supposed to be spared, preventing a family from being wiped out.
But now, he had been seized. It wasn’t just him; all the villagers had been taken, from the oldest to the youngest. Everyone was there; not a single one had been left behind.
"V...Village Chief? Why are you here too?" Only then did Pei Jiang notice their village chief. Normally, village chiefs were exempt from the draft. To see him captured as well was unbelievable.
Seeing Pei Jiang, the village chief turned his somewhat numb face. "A noble in the Capital wants to offer sacrifices to the gods, requiring a million human sacrifices."
Upon hearing this, Pei Jiang’s face stiffened. He never would have imagined their entire village had been taken as sacrifices merely due to a word from some noble in the Capital.
Because of that one statement, a million people became sacrifices for the Demon Gods.
At this moment, Pei Jiang felt a fire burning in his chest. But the fire was stifled; he was trapped in a prison cart, so even the flames felt bound by shackles.
A large number of soldiers stood guard, accompanied by Temple Masters. From Pei Jiang’s position, he could see neither the front nor the rear of the long line of prison carts. The overwhelming number drove him to despair.
Under these circumstances, there was no chance to escape.
He then noticed a young man sitting opposite him. He tried to recall who the man was but had no impression of him. He was probably not from their village.
"You look quite upset?" the young man across from him said. "How about converting to the Dongyue Tianqi Emperor of Life and Benevolence?"
"What god is that?" Pei Jiang asked instinctively. The title was excessively long and sounded strange. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"Don’t worry about what god it is. Do you believe? If you do, I can give you something," the young man teased.
"Huh?" Pei Jiang had absolutely no idea how the situation could take such a bizarre turn, but after processing it, he shook his head. "No, I don’t."
He did not believe in gods, much less one that was about to make them sacrifices. Then, he sneered, "Let your great emperor save you then."
"Well, that could be done, but it doesn’t make much sense," the young man said with a laugh. "My name is Wang Xueshu. What about you?"
"Pei Jiang. Are you some temple master of that god?" Pei Jiang asked.
"Barely, but I’m a bit unorthodox," the young man answered.
Wang Linchi, using the alias Wang Xueshu, had come here to lay the groundwork for the future Hidden Dragon.
"You may not know this, but the Dongyue Tianqi Emperor of Life and Benevolence is a guardian deity of the country. It’s a pity he has nothing left, having been suppressed by the Demon Gods. If you knew history, you would understand how glorious he once was and how much strength he brought to the Heng nation," Wang Linchi continued to extol.
However, Pei Jiang remained unmoved; instead, he felt annoyed.
"So what? Can it prevent all this from happening? A grand sacrifice of a million humans—who can stop it?" Pei Jiang’s mood was terrible; he was scared and angry.
He was scared because he was one of the human sacrifices, and angry because he couldn’t stop any of this. Like his family, he would become food for the Demon Gods.
"Yes, you can stop it," Wang Linchi said calmly.
This nearly made Pei Jiang’s brain freeze. How could he solve this problem?
"The Dongyue Tianqi Emperor of Life and Benevolence presides over life and death, the transition between old and new eras, and holds the divine duty of Stabilizing the Country and Securing the People. So, the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one I was looking for."
"If you are willing to believe in the Holy Emperor, I can teach you the method of slaying gods and destroying Heng," Wang Linchi declared, openly and arrogantly, despite the many people around.
Pei Jiang was terrified, expecting an uproar or to be dragged out by the soldiers and executed on the spot. Instead, he found that everyone around seemed indifferent, as if they hadn’t heard a thing.
Seeing this, he understood that he had indeed met a capable person.
"But what if I don’t want to believe? What will you do then?" Pei Jiang plucked up the courage to speak.
"Well, in that case... I’ll take a step back. As long as you can protect Dai Temple on Mount Tai in the future," Wang Linchi said with a smile.
"If I still don’t..."
"If you’re still unwilling, then I’ll prepare to leave. Remember, you’re not the only suitable person; you just happen to be the closest to me," Wang Linchi interjected.
He could tolerate taking one step back, but not two—that would be the other party pushing their luck. In that case, Wang Linchi would just kill Pei Jiang, seize the Hidden Dragon Destiny—a variant fortune derived from the collective destiny of all beings that surrounded him—and transplant it onto a more suitable candidate. Although doing so would cause irreparable damage to the Hidden Dragon Destiny, it could still be made to work, albeit imperfectly. The only downside would be needing to shift from a ’free-range’ approach to ’domesticated’ cultivation for the Hidden Dragon Destiny. This would require great attention; otherwise, he might accidentally ruin it in the process. Hence, the cost would be much higher.
"Fine, I don’t believe you. But if what you say comes true, I will help you protect Dai Temple’s ancestral court on Mount Tai," Pei Jiang agreed, though still skeptical. He had heard of Mount Tai before; it was reputed to be the supreme mountain under heaven, the Eastern Peak, leader of all mountains, the ancestor of myriad ranges. However, he had never heard of the Dai Temple Ancestral Court.
This was understandable, considering that the Demon Gods and the Court had been blockading the Dai Temple System.
"Deal. But if you violate this agreement in the future, you will be struck dead by five thunders, and your soul will find no peace even after death. How does that sound?" Wang Linchi proposed his terms.
Without hesitation, Pei Jiang agreed. All he had to do was protect Dai Temple’s ancestral court; he figured he could guard it later if need be. He had no clue what Wang Linchi truly intended for him to do; he simply thought Wang Linchi was planning to help him escape.
"Since you’ve consented, let’s begin with the first step: I’ll teach you about talismans," Wang Linchi said.
"Wait, aren’t we escaping first?" Pei Jiang asked, confused. He hadn’t expected Wang Linchi to start so directly. He wasn’t interested in learning about talismans; he just wanted to flee as soon as possible.
"Escape? Why escape? In your eyes, who are these people?" Wang Linchi questioned.
"They’re just people. What else could they be?" Pei Jiang asked, puzzled.
"No. They were once human, but now they are livestock, oppressed by the Demon Gods and the Court. You, however, have the ability to turn them back into humans. You understand what I mean, don’t you?" Wang Linchi hinted.
"You want me to save them, using the talismans you’re teaching me?" Pei Jiang was not a fool; he understood Wang Linchi’s implication instantly.
"Yes. Do you want to do that? If you’re inclined, I can help. Of course, if you say you don’t, and still want to escape alone, I can help you with that too," Wang Linchi said, without a trace of mockery.
However, the fire in Pei Jiang’s heart suddenly blazed, burning away his restraints, transforming into a soaring inferno.
"I want to save them!" Pei Jiang declared firmly. He didn’t want anyone else to become livestock, sacrificed to the Demon Gods.
"Good, good, good! Excellent! I need precisely this kind of person," Wang Linchi was extremely pleased with Pei Jiang’s display of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. He preferred this kind of reckless, hot-blooded Hidden Dragon like Pei Jiang, rather than a calm, adaptable one capable of judging the situation and maneuvering accordingly—the latter type, Wang Linchi feared, might scheme against him.
His ability to control the situation stemmed from nothing more than his superior strength and information advantage. Otherwise, on what basis could he act as the hidden manipulator? By relying solely on schemes and calculations? That would backfire sooner or later. Only by possessing absolute power could he ensure his own security.
"One million human sacrifices..." Li Qinglian felt a shiver run down his spine as he read the announcement, recalling the simulation he had experienced.
Luckily, he had prepared for it this time.
The sacrifice of one million people had indeed succeeded in the previous simulation, but that very event caused the people to lose faith in Great Heng. Consequently, massive uprisings erupted in areas controlled by the Demon Gods.
It’s a shame I can’t meet the future Founding Emperor. He must have met Wang Xueshu by now.
As someone with knowledge of history, Li Qinglian understood that the establishment of the future new dynasty relied heavily on The Way of Magical Talisman, gifted to the Founding Emperor by Wang Xueshu. This could be the reason why Dai Temple was able to persevere on Mount Tai. Though he didn’t know all the specifics, he was privy to some information.
It was his desire to elevate the Heavenly Talisman Daoist to an ’Unparalleled in the world’ standing that had led him to research the entire historical record of the next dynasty. This was how he came to know some of these details.
In reality, the records of this period were not very detailed; on the contrary, they were extremely vague and ambiguous, as if intentionally concealed. He didn’t know the reason for this.
