Chapter 977: Chapter 854: In the Year of Jiazi, Great Fortune Under Heaven (Part 4)

In the eyes of those on the Path, this duel was utterly meaningless, so the Zhu Family didn’t even spend long thinking about it before putting away the third drum, opening the great door, and leading Monkey Wine up the mountain where they had lived for generations.

Passing through tier after tier of stockades, they reached the very summit and saw something like a volcano, and inside it was packed, grotesque flesh, constantly squirming, yet impossible to see clearly.

"I am the greatest secret of the Zhu Family..."

The Zhu Family great hall officer who led the way spoke in a voice laden with heavy sorrow: "And also the path you’re looking for."

"This is the source of the Tai Sui Blood and Flesh..."

The Great Master of the Zhu Family said in a low voice: "You guessed right. Besides the three drums, the Zhu Family really does have other abilities."

"We guard this mountain eye, guard the source of the Tai Sui Blood and Flesh. This is the Zhu Family’s greatest backing."

"By guarding this source of flesh and blood, our Zhu Family actually had the chance to take a different road from the other ten surnames, but in the end we still chose to remain in Evil Dog Village, because we fear the Tai Sui. No matter who it was, no matter when, we never dared to probe deeply into this thing..."

"..."

"You don’t dare, I do!"

At the sight of this mass of flesh, Monkey Wine’s face finally showed a look of eager anticipation.

He slowly put down the flute in his hand and said softly, "There’s a chance to return this thing to my little sister!"

Having said this, he didn’t even care whether the Zhu Family was deliberately deceiving him, and was already slowly stretching out his palm, reaching toward that source of flesh and gently stroking it, murmuring, "Now I finally have the chance. Let me see what you are..."

"...thing!"

"..."

The moment his palm covered the flesh, his whole person abruptly vanished, entering into the flesh.

"Father..."

At his side, the Eldest Son of the Zhu Family was dumbfounded, and said cautiously, "This Madman seems to have gone and killed himself..."

"So have we lost, or have we won?"

"..."

"Could anyone lose more miserably than this?"

The Zhu Family Lord was a bit shaken by this sudden turn, unable to figure it out, only shaking his head in a kind of sorrow: "The other families lost too, so it’s not like we’re the only ones disgraced..."

"Only, in this duel, we conceded defeat. I’m afraid the Tusi A Gongs of the South Border Four States and Seventeen Villages won’t listen to us anymore, and will instead hate us to death..."

"Now what we have to guard against is what they might do to us in a fit of rage..."

"..."

Once, at a single word from the Zhu Family, no one dared disobey. Now, to actually face a situation where they might be condemned by the other Tusi A Gongs made this Eldest Son of the Zhu Family feel a kind of unimaginable absurdity. Before he could figure out what kind of situation this would become, a subordinate suddenly came to report:

"Bad news, A Gong, there’s still trouble being stirred up here in the Southern Border..."

"Over thirty thousand troops under the King of Chaos have withdrawn from the mountain and are guarding the various villages, but somehow they’ve angered a mad woman, and now they’re fighting..."

"Now, the gates of the underworld stand wide open, mountain spirits and ancient monsters have gone mad, the forebears of all the tribes have pushed open their coffin lids, and the people of the Four States and Seventeen Villages..."

"...are almost all being slaughtered by her!"

"..."

"..."

Lingshou Prefecture, Dongzi Li Family.

The Li Family Head was keeping watch inside the cave. When Er Guotou cut down all the false gods of the world before Menghu Pass, he already sensed the thing deep in the cave starting to stir, and in that moment of despair, he gently pushed Li Xiangyu out of the cave.

He spread his arms, ready to use his own body to block the thing deep in the cave, but unexpectedly, wafts of fragrant wind drifted in, invisible divine aura filling the cave and blocking the thing inside.

He waited a long time before finally opening his eyes, a little unable to believe it.

"Father, Father..."

Outside the cave, Li Xiangyu was shouting with all her might: "Don’t block it by yourself, I...I’ll help you..."

But when Li Xiangyu rushed into the cave, she was stunned as well. Father and daughter stared at each other, even seeming a bit embarrassed.

"Ha...ha, ha ha..."

After a long time, Mr. Li suddenly burst into loud laughter: "It’s blocked, it’s been blocked..."

"So it turns out it doesn’t have to be us of the Li Family, generation after generation standing here to block it. It turns out that what can hold back these evil things exists among the common folk. It’s laughable, absurd, that for nearly two hundred years no one ever told us a single word..."

There was grievance and bitterness mingled in his laughter, stirring gusts of yin wind all around, as if the ancestors of the Li Family all felt wronged at this moment and started crying along with him.

Of course, that was false. Every one of the Li Family’s forebears had been fed to the thing deep in the cave and no longer existed in this world.

And the Li Family Head, after laughing and crying, finally turned his head to look at Li Xiangyu and waved his hand: "Girl, let’s go out. I’ll go out with you."

"Our family no longer needs to keep watch here. We’ll leave together with everyone else. Our bitter fate is over."

"Girl, you’re blessed!"

"Our Li Family has used seven generations to guard this damned thing, never escaping, and we have done right by Heaven and Earth. We’ve rendered great merit, so all the blessings must fall upon you, girl. It’s your turn to enjoy good fortune!"

"..."

"..."

The not eating beef disciples, from south to north, led the incense and spread it across the land, step by steady step heading straight for Shangjing City. When the incense was carried into the ancestral hall where only the Hu Family remained, it signified returning the gods to the people and restoring divine authority to the world.

And the King of Mingzhou in the Southwest had also broken free. Amid roaring wind and driving snow, he led his elite soldiers and Fierce Generals to sweep across several states in the Southwest, raising the banner of the Ming King and, after thirty years of leading his great army, pointed it back toward Shangjing.

Across the land, from south to north and east to west, the surplus army was rising everywhere, breaking strong foes and gathering in roaring packs.