Chapter 163: Magic Battle Of “change” And “usurpation”
Wangheng Sect blocked the mountains and rivers of Zhenzhou in the North, attempting to confine the Evil Moon’s “evil power” to Zhenzhou, locking it in Lelang City.
From space, this is a cover spanning hundreds of kilometers, like an iron curtain locking down Lelang City, while outside Lelang City, the rebel army in Lao City is gathering, simultaneously sending cavalry to conspire north and south.
In Lao City, the main building of the City Lord’s mansion was smashed down by battering rams, the “Wu” character flag fell, and the banner of acting on heaven’s behalf was raised. The Wu Family Army’s special commissioner here was shot dead. As for the treasury of the City Lord, those accounts established and archived by Wu Xiao Que since the Wu Family took over were inexplicably burned.
However, aside from this, after the rebellion, the rebel army did not rush to siege cities and seize strongholds, but instead stirred things up with letters to various noble families and merchants native to Zhenzhou.
The content in both sides’ letters was mostly like this: “You good, I good,” “Plague bad,” “Wu Hanluan tyrannical taxation bad,” “Wu Hanluan cultivating evil arts,” “Everyone has common goals.”
Thus, both sides reached a consensus of mutual misunderstanding.
The rebel army planned like this: hold Lao City themselves, while places across Zhenzhou rebel simultaneously.
Meanwhile, the many families of Zhenzhou activated a millennium of wisdom: “Wait and see, take a side after things clarify.” As long as Wu Hanluan failed to take Lao City, each household would bide their time.
In such a time of mortal world chaos, Wangheng Sect’s outer sect disciples were naturally moving about everywhere, actively contacting all parties who could “add fuel to the fire” in this rebellion.
These disciples shook bells and waved banners, visiting under the pretext of praying for family blessings and warding off disasters, and were treated as honored guests by the noble families of Chong Land!
But due to the wars and afflictions of the past few years, these noble families’ hospitality could no longer offer gold and Precious Jade as before, only fresh fruit.
The families of Zhenzhou enshrined these Immortal Sect disciples as honored guests, yet were unwilling to exert effort for the Righteous Path right now!
…When it involves their own interests, the Immortal Family is very proactive…
On a mountain ridge upstream of Chong Shui, the outstanding figure among Wangheng Sect’s third generation disciples, Xia Sihong, was using “scrying technique” to watch Wu Hanluan gathering massive troops in Lelang City and charging toward Lao City. The “rebel army” in the city was like a sandcastle facing a tsunami alone.
These third generation disciples, actively entering the world, seeking merit, and sect merit points, found such a sparsely populated spot, set up a spirit array to isolate mountain herb gatherers, and it wasn’t easy to gather again.
A certain place that was once an elegant site for flowing wine games, now figures arrived riding the wind, becoming a “gathering of wind and clouds.”
Xia Sihong narrated to the other arriving Righteous Path disciples: “The evil demons’ might is overwhelming, the rebel army may not prevail, we must lend them a hand.”
Another disciple: “Senior Brother, in army clashes, killing intent is like a furnace, we cannot approach, how can this be done?”
At this time, a Daoist priest beside Xia Sihong stepped forward.
Chang Hao: “Everyone listen to me. The reason the Wu Family villains are rampant now is because their auspicious qi is not yet exhausted. I have a Dou Transfer Feng Shui technique that can make evil qi backlash against the Wu Family ancestral land’s blessing.”
A sect disciple said: “This magic is probably a heterodox path.”
Xia Sihong: “Against evil demons and outer paths, don’t fuss over so many rules, if it’s useful, use it.”
…Perspective to the battlefield…
From Lao City to Lelang City, the area in between was already indefensible. Back then Wu Hengyu charged all the way, striking straight at the heart, helping the Wu Family take Chong Land.
Now Wu Hanluan led six thousand troops out of the city, only unlike before when Wu Hengyu handled field battles and Wu Fei handled camp construction.
After Wu Hanluan rode his mount out of the city, he looked left and right, feeling utterly alone.
On this campaign, Wu Hanluan not only lacked chatty family by his side. There were also vassals from all routes who came with gifts to pay respects.
In the army, Wu Xiao Que handled scraping the land, merchants profited following Xiao Que, thus the great army received aid from many. But now, after leaving the city, not even a messenger.
Wu Hanluan’s army now all carried fire blisters, walking on the roads with no bird calls around, vegetation all withered yellow, so this appearance deterred anyone from approaching.
Wu Hanluan looked at the dusty road ahead, vaguely sensing that his decades of battlefield career would end here?
He silently felt the pain from the fire blisters. He patted the head of the Winged Tiger under his saddle: If I lose, you quickly return to the Southern Border.
Now is Tian You Calendar year 2, month 3, day 18.
…Perspective to the South…
Xia Sihong brought Chang Hao to the mountain ridge outside Tianchi City.
Inside Tianchi City, Yao San Niang, who was bringing the child home to visit relatives, inexplicably glanced toward the mountains outside the city, revealing a playful smile.
Yao San Niang asked Jia Mude who came along: “Daoist, did you see it?”
Jia Mude frowned at the clouds gathering in the distance, traces left by cultivators sword controlling (just like contrails in the 21st century).
Yao San Niang said leisurely: “Someone wants to mess with my family’s earth vein feng shui.”
Nearby, Wu Qing dressed like a maidservant: “Madam, is it true? Who is so bold.”
After years of immersion, Wu Qing already saw herself as Wu Family people.
Jia Mude took Yao San Niang’s words very seriously, already pinching calculations, even taking out a gourd, retrieving a concentration pill to aid his calculations. Yin Yang two energies blazed red on his forehead, clearly overheated.
Yao San Niang walked to the courtyard, stepped lightly on the floor. With her lotus steps, the floor ahead undulated like rubber clay, showing Lingnan’s mountains and rivers layout, and feng shui vertical lines.
Yao San Niang pointed a finger, a group of paper figures flew out, landing on it.
The paper figures transformed into labels marking mountains.
San Niang’s finger pointed in the void, multiple vein-like lines north-south through the map, ancestral graves of Lingnan families scattered, like grasshoppers on a string.
Mountains and rivers auspicious qi would spread along these bloodline-like lines, for example the Wu Family’s current ancestral grave at one point, extending north to Chong Land, south to Southern Border.
On this map, it can also be seen that the Wu Family in Lingnan and other great households are interconnected, mutually influencing.
Yao San Niang pointed emphatically at three lines, all nodes where Wu Family’s current auspicious qi veins extend north, that is, dragon veins.
Yao San Niang: “Now someone wants to sever my family’s veins, and use evil to pollute my family.”
Wu Qing immediately stated her attitude: Absolutely not. Yao San Niang showed her waist token, then called over the group of young brothers-in-law led by Wu Zhantie who came from Southern Border on official business.
The people Yao San Niang called were nobles exiled to Southern Border by Wu Fei, but over these years, after completing local lord duties in Southern Border, they successfully connected to the voice in Wu Fei’s system left for the border group, more loyal and reliable to the current sect system.
Three hours later, this group of Wu Family soldiers and generals arrived in the courtyard. And sat according to position ranks.
Wu Zhantie, upon hearing the situation, immediately stated: “This absolutely won’t do, sister-in-law rest assured, as long as you order, I’ll find these people.”
Yao San Niang just said: “Select a hundred or so, ambush in these eight directions, your killing intent is too heavy, each needs to hang a string of bodhi seeds.” Yao San Niang drew a circle on the map with her finger.
Wu Zhantie agreed: “Understood.”
After Yao San Niang finished arrangements, she opened the Lotus Lamp, then placed it carefully in her room to guard. As long as the Lotus Lamp is lit, the future eye cannot see here.
Gazing at the blue moon in the sky, Yao San Niang knew “Myriad Changes” wanted to use the entire Wu Family force as sacrifice, to enshrine “Qing Bao Tian Zun”; thus the Wu Family Army would gradually become the key to activating the plan. But Yao San Niang tampered with it.
The Wu Family now cannot be used as sacrifice. Yao San Niang’s reason was sufficient: if introducing “Qing Bao Tian Zun” power into Wu Family, it would inevitably clash directly with the Core of the Earth Vermilion Bird power. Tian Zun’s power would be held back. Yao San Niang silently thought: “I’m also doing this for Tian Zun’s good.”
And now, Wangheng Sect walking the treacherous path fell into Yao San Niang’s eyes.
Nearby Wu Lu looked at the lit Lotus Lamp and asked: “Mother, why does it seem like there’s an eye in this lamp flame.”
Yao San Niang tapped the child’s forehead: “Go memorize your books.”
…Plan against plan…
On the 19th, Xia Sihong and the group landed on the mountaintop. After these few set out command flags, they raised heads, using sky star phases and terrain links to hold a Yao Calculation ritual.
Chang Hao crawled on the ground, fiddling with rocks, circling steps, finally determined a spot and said: “Right here, drive in the ‘earth vein nail,’ and the Wu Family’s feng shui veins will scatter.”
However, someone nearby said: “We still shouldn’t go so far, just deal with Wu Hanluan alone.”
Chang Hao upon hearing, it wasn’t impossible, then pointed to a nearby spot, holding a bone: “This is a resentful person’s skull from Chong Land, as long as driven in here, it will make Wu Hanluan reap what he sows.”
Chang Hao inserted the bone into a mountain rock, the bone suddenly went in, while someone nearby called: “Senior Brother, how did you do that?!”
Xia Sihong’s eyes flashed blue light, he directly inserted the “earth vein nail,” and loudly said: “Wu Family sins too heavy, already beyond redemption!”
Xia Sihong’s sudden thought was this: his actions already provoked Wu Family, better to go all the way instead of half-measures. Let Wu Family auspicious qi completely dissipate, save trouble from Wu Family people rising again later for Wangheng Sect.
However, the moment he inserted into the vein, the mountains shook.
Below, the ambushing Wu Zhantie and others heard Yao San Niang’s instruction: once earth vein moves, start erupting.
Just as Xia Sihong’s group of cultivators felt they had “weighed bones and secured mountains and rivers,” could gracefully depart, suddenly killing intent surged from all directions.
With Wu Zhantie’s shout: “What are you doing?!” these cultivators were like thieves caught at night. In this realm, thieves at night hearing dog barks suffer soul shocks, twitching in fright, severe cases sudden heart attack death.
And these cultivators also suffered edict sanctions intangibly. Previously they rode wind here, now whole body magic power stagnated.
Torches raised, scene lit up. After good fellows surged up, they raised flying swords trying to resist in a corner, but chopped down by broadswords, released spirit beasts nailed to ground by crossbow bolts.
These Immortal Family disciples faced this overwhelming rage, their otherworldly aura melting like summer snow.
Immortal Family needs to avoid mortal world, because mortal world has many rules, these Human Realm rules lock Immortal Family’s magic power.
Especially “grave robbing,” strictly forbidden under Da Yao Imperial Way laws. Imperial Way edicts can suppress military strategists when mountains and rivers perfected, Immortal Family cannot escape.
Wu Zhantie saw mountains shaking, knew they had acted, while nearby Chang Hao after a beating, directly confessed.
Chang Hao begged crying, spineless: “Everything is Wangheng Sect, they wanted to destroy your Wu Family feng shui! I was just dragged along!”
…You were Immortal Sect, why act like thieves…
A quarter hour later, Jia Mude rode nine vehicles landing on the mountaintop, Wu Zhantie respectfully to this master: “Please take a look.”
Jia Mude looked at the shaking mountains and falling stones, nodded: “Broke a small gap, no big issue, just patch it.”
Wu Zhantie: “No big issue, what kind of issue?”
Jia Mude: “Your family has too much killing karma, some may have tribulations.”
Wu Zhantie gritted teeth. This damned Wangheng Sect, usually sanctimonious, actually doing such despicable things?! Clearly he thought his own killing karma too much, might suffer heavy.
Jia Mude then said: “I have a method to make Wangheng Sect suffer karmic backlash.”
Wu Zhantie sharply turned head, then respectfully bowed: “Daoist, please speak.”
…Dust to dust, earth to earth…
Two hours later, below Wu Family ancestral grave, a carefully selected yin land. This spot exactly under where Wu Family ancestor’s feet were buried. On the same straight line a lotus pond, symbolizing ancestor ascending to heaven on lotus.
Now Wu Family people dug pits ahead of lotus pond, each deep enough for one person, depth nine feet.
Xia Sihong and others bound, put into pits, bodies struggled wriggling like worms.
Jia Mude to Wu Zhantie: “Note, heads toward North, along this line, karma will fall to Wangheng Sect.”
Several hundred Wu Family young men very serious, towels over shoulders, spit on hands, filled pits nicely, as for those cultivators, mouths sewn with thread, eyes sealed with hot wax.
Driving “living piles”!
As former Da Yao royalty, Jia Mude mastered a series of witchcraft and sorcery secret texts, including a vicious dharma gate, burying practitioners in specific spots to curse immortal realm sects. Historically this made multiple ancient sect disciples perish in heart demon Great Tribulation.
Of course, say Jia Mude this is heterodox path? Too underestimating his heritage, this is orthodox ancient witchcraft inheritance, from “Cheng” Dynasty.
In “Cheng” Dynasty, annual sacrifices buried war captives alive under altars, burials used live human sacrifices.
Specifically, live sacrifice burial pits guarded the deity position in arched form. That is, the position now “stepped on” by Wu Family ancestral grave. Buried here, the sacrificed one’s dao cultivation extracted to repay karmic debt.
Xia Sihong and others entered pits, thus disappeared amid shovelfuls of earth and bell shakes.
Pits filled, several hundred Wu Family disciples in mourning clothes stepped over. Laid stone slabs, as a mountain road, settling everything.
As these cultivators perished, in Tianchi City mansion, Yao San Niang who lit the lamp nodded slightly. In her activated Map of Mountains and Rivers, Evil Moon’s gaze on Wu Family turned to blue lines falling on spiritual mountains and great rivers of Wangheng Sect, Shaoyang Sect, Qingxiao Sect and over a dozen major factions.
Yao San Gu now lit the lamp, these sects’ spiritual veins also erupted in karmic fire.
Thousands of miles away, Wangheng Sect cultivators self-righteously “manipulating” shoreside beings unaware a small flame under their spiritual mountain, still tiny but clinging to spiritual vein, spreading slowly like ignited alcohol, where spreading, mountain rocks softened like candles under flame, about one incense stick later a person-sized melt cave burned out. Such “melt caves” growing with flame expansion, like termites hollowing giant trees.
These Immortal Families around Chong Land arranging grand arrays with colorful clouds and mists still focused on battlefield, unaware what their dispatched outer sect disciples provoked.
Perhaps months later, their sect’s chore hall would post a task token to investigate these outer sect disciples’ collective disappearance.
…Karma, involved, must repay…
March 20, Lao City battlefield. Wu Hanluan’s six thousand army climbing city walls, “rebel army” on walls throwing stones, but solved like chopping melons by battle-hardened elites.
After walls fully taken, only a few garrison resisting in a corner.
Wu Hanluan looked at the city about to be breached. Then rode Winged Tiger up the wall, Bai Cunxi cornered at battlement shouted at approaching Wu Hanluan: “You manure bucket brute, even taking this city, your fate is exhausted!”
Wu Hanluan seeing this, nameless fire rose, so walked to wall breach, had guards make way.
Bai Cunxi’s side already pinned by group of spears, against wall corner, unable to move.
Spearman made way, Bai Cunxi smiled seeing Wu Hanluan arrive, Wu Hanluan paused slightly.
Then he saw Bai Cunxi shift foot hiding a brick tile. As Bai Cunxi raised hand, fire talisman ignited something under brick tile, Wu Hanluan startled: “Bad!”
That was Wangheng Sect’s special “Thunder Shaker.”
With a boom explosion, all blasted off walls by shockwave, Wu Hanluan pierced through heart by fragments.
Of course, Evil Moon blessed him decades, not wanting him dead completely now, body broken but with green light from underground pouring in, body began swelling.
Wu Hanluan terrified inwardly: “No!”
Wu Hanluan tried suppressing Golden Dou power influx, but a kindly voice told him: “You will die, accept this power to live.”
However as Wu Hanluan felt green moonlight warmer, lively songs clearer atop it, suddenly phoenix cry shrieked in his mind.
Wu Hanluan came to, gazing sky Vermilion Bird star phase, body irrecoverably ruined but suddenly relieved. In red glow, he burned to smoke, part black smoke into Evil Moon, part scattered into Zhenzhou earth.
Wu Hanluan died, but everything not ended, like overturned manure bucket, endless corrosion surged from earth, huge green sinkhole slowly swallowing all.
