With his old temperament—all hearty drinking and feasting on meat—
If he didn’t charge into the county with a blade and hack the man to pieces, he, Wei Changjiao, would take Duan Chenzhou’s name!
However...
’Blessings and curses are two sides of the same coin.’
’Thankfully, I’ve matured. My temper has calmed considerably.’
’Otherwise, I would have fallen right into that bastard Duan’s trap of showing weakness to the enemy!’
Wei Changjiao couldn’t help but feel a pang of reflection.
’Even Wang Hongzu was secretly eliminated by that bastard Duan...’
’He hadn’t even become a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster yet by riding the coattails of that Dharma Guardian General who is about to manifest in Anning!’
’If I’d just blindly charged over for revenge, wouldn’t I have been swatted down like a fly?’
At this thought,
Wei Changjiao counted on his fingers, watching as the cold tidal waves rolled in one after another. He gazed toward the distant Earth Dragon Cave, and after calming himself, he spoke again, his voice grim.
"Soon. Very soon."
"In half a month, the Four Departure and Four Extinction Days will end. On New Year’s Eve, the Abyss Ruins Qi from the Earth Dragon Cave will leak once more."
"The three 999-year-old Great Demons of the Earth Dragon Cave—the Long-armed Ancient Ape King, the Red-striped King Python, and the Thunder Roaring Leopard Lord—all refined their Horizontal Bones and gained Spiritual Wisdom long ago. They are in no way inferior to us."
"The methods Anning County and Jiangyin Prefecture use to investigate the Abyss Ruins, a part of the Outer Dao Celestial Universe, are far, far inferior to those of these Demons and Spirit Monsters, who are born of heaven and earth!"
"At that time, the people from the Eighteen Mountain Towns and Hunting Manors will all be gathering inside the county to visit temple fairs, worship their ancestors, and see their relatives. The air will be festive, the streets decorated with lanterns. It’s when their guard will be at its lowest."
"Just imagine."
Wei Changjiao spread his arms wide, the great waves roaring in his ears, and his tone turned sinister.
"A thousand Demons from the Earth Dragon Cave stampeding straight into the county seat, unleashing a great slaughter!"
"Moreover, if Abyss Ruins Qi enters their bodies, it is a thing of great evil for the Human Race; they risk being corrupted by it."
"Without the protection of Divine Beings or Immortal Techniques, their degenerate natures—greed, anger, delusion, and malice—can be drawn out, and they will transform into Demons. They will wear human skin and feed on humans to sustain themselves."
"But for the Demons, it’s like a Martial Artist refining Celestial Materials or claiming an Earth Treasure. Not only is it harmless, it’s the perfect medicine for breaking through the threshold of their Great Limit!"
"When the time comes, it will be no problem at all for three thousand-year-old Demons—each comparable to a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster and truly ranked among Great Demons—to sweep through a tiny county like Anning."
"And at that moment, with my Central Yellow General also manifesting its divine presence..."
"Duan Chenzhou? He’d better pray he hasn’t left yet!"
"Otherwise, he’ll be the first sacrifice!"
"As for that Ji Xiu, that so-called Eighteen Road Chief..."
"You three can simply block his path and beat him to a pulp, turning his first happy New Year into a funeral. Isn’t that a far more reliable plan than you storming the county seat on some dark and stormy night?"
Wei Changjiao’s voice was rousing and passionate, making Zhang Liechen and Xu Xin clench their fists until their knuckles cracked. But in the end... they managed to suppress the restless Heart Fire that had been stoked within them.
Yang Daohan shot to his feet, his brow dark and gloomy.
"I fled Anning County in the dead of night some time ago, and I’ve been prepared ever since. Just as Big Brother said, a few more days make no difference."
"A New Year’s reunion?"
"Perfect. We’ll give him the gift of having his entire family slaughtered!"
The Dragon Head of the Tiger and Leopard Hall wore a ferocious expression, his body overflowing with Gang Qi!
Just as Wei Changjiao, filled with grand ambition, was stoking the fury of his three companions and preparing to raise the curtain on a grand play titled ’On the Four Departure and Four Extinction Days, Anning Shall Fall’...
Suddenly,
from inside the nearby Central Yellow Temple, the General’s statue opened its eyes, releasing an aura that instantly shocked Wei Changjiao, the Great General Altar Master.
"This aura... The General of Summoning Spirits and Manifesting Saints has manifested!?"
He rushed inside without a moment’s delay. Seeing the Believers in their Central Yellow Attendant Robes prostrating piously on both sides, he hurriedly looked up.
And there he saw it...
The extraordinarily mighty Venerable Deity on the altar, shimmering with a dazzling golden light... had opened its eyes.
And then, it gazed in the direction of Anning!
...
「Anning, the Fire Kiln.」
As Ji Xiu rode his deer back from West Street, everyone he passed respectfully called out "General Leader," from the Guests of the manors to the members of the Wind and Cloud Association...
When they saw him, they showed him even more respect and reverence than they did for men like Lu Chengfeng, who held the third-highest rank.
The reason for this was his astonishingly rapid rise through the ranks.
From Groom to Guest, from Guest to Hall Master, and now to General Leader.
Even the County Magistrate, a man from a great family in the Prefecture City, had not hesitated to lower his own lofty status to befriend him!
How could such a living legend, one who had risen from the very bottom, not inspire awe in those who shared a similar background!?
Who was to say?
Perhaps they, who were nobodies today, might one day become a famous Boss or a powerful hero renowned throughout the entire county!
As he stepped into his small, blue-brick courtyard.
Ji Xiu paused, a wave of nostalgia washing over him.
’This was the first ’new home’ I moved to after my fortunes turned.’
’But in the end, I was still living under someone else’s roof, relying on the family at Lu Manor. Whether it was Lu Chengfeng, Lu Hongyu, or Lu Yu, I received no small amount of help from them.’
’But now...’
’Things are different.’
Even without the Wind and Cloud Association.
He, Ji Xiu, had expertly maneuvered all the powers in the county seat to his side, and had won over the Mountain Towns and Hunting Manors outside the county!
By his own strength alone, his position had become pivotal. And now, he had even taken down the sign of the Tiger and Leopard Hall, once the greatest power on the bustling West Street, and replaced it with a single character: "Ji"!
’I just have to get through today, then I can take my sister, Ji Wei, and we can move.’
’From now on, the Ji Family will no longer live under another’s roof. We will live in our own grand mansion, be the masters of our own home, and establish our own rules!’
The moment he stepped through the main gate.
Ji Xiu pushed open the door to the side room and saw Ji Wei dozing off, her head drooping as she leaned against Lin Ruxue, who was sitting on the bed.