288: The Devil Reappears (asking for monthly ticket)

Boom!

The night was as dark as ink, and the tranquil Yunding Mountain stretched windingly, like a landscape painting drawn by the heavens and earth.

Suddenly, a drumbeat, like a silver vase shattering.

Shook the mountains!

At the foot of Ninth Mountain, on the training ground, with this sound, the warhorses, trained under the soldiers' feet, neighed and snorted, exhaling heavy white mist from their nostrils, pawing at the ground, and began to grow restless.

These newly recruited soldiers were somewhat puzzled by the restlessness of the warhorses underfoot, causing a stir and commotion.

“What’s going on?” Some people adjusted their heavy helmets.

“It sounds like drums.”

As the words fell, another drumbeat arrived.

Then, the third, the fourth, becoming more and more urgent.

The warhorses underfoot became even more agitated.

In front, Liu Qing and Cloud Skyborn, the three Piaoji Generals, had their expressions condense, their eyes gleaming with essence light three feet away.

Drumming, that meant going to war.

As thoughts stirred in their minds, on the mountain, three figures, holding red command flags, with the wind whistling, galloped down the mountain.

“By order of the Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General!”

“The Qian family has rebelled, colluding with demons.”

“Immediately apprehend everyone in the Qian family.”

“All who resist will be killed without mercy!”

“Depart!”

“Depart!”

“……”

The three messengers rode their fast horses, weaving through the dense military formation, single-handedly holding the fiery red flags, fluttering in the wind, shouting orders.

This announcement startled the more than four thousand new recruits.

What’s happening!

They hadn't even figured out the ways of Ninth Mountain, and they were already being ordered to execute military orders.

The Qian family rebelled, are they talking about the Qian family from the Four Sects and Eight Families? Colluding with demons?

And some among them clearly knew that the Qian family wasn't colluding with demons, but rather was about to be purged, and their hearts immediately tightened.

“Hee-haw!”

With a long neigh from a warhorse, its hooves raised high, the three Piaoji Generals instantly drew their sabers.

“Depart!”

With a single command.

The warhorses neighed, their hooves, following the urgent drumbeats, surged forth like a river whose floodgates had opened, unstoppable, transforming into an iron-clad torrent, rushing out of Yunding Mountain.

Those faces, some young, some nervous, some excited, with the momentum of this iron-clad torrent, unknowingly, their brows and eyes gradually became stern and murderous.

And as the drumbeats sounded on Yunding Mountain, and the newly recruited soldiers, who had just been brought for inspection, departed from the mountain.

In the Xuntian Great Hall, messengers, one by one, holding tiger tally documents, rushed out of the hall, then rode horses with flying flags, soaring in all directions.

These messengers were preparing to deliver orders to the Liu Family, Murong Family, Xia Family, Yun Family…

Roughly thirty or so Families.

At the foot of the mountain, the sons of these Families had already departed with Ninth Mountain, so these fathers should also exert some effort.

After these messengers had all left the hall, Chen Yuan’s figure stepped out right behind them, followed closely by two Recorders a step behind, while Daoist Li from Fulong Temple followed half a step to his side.

Chen Yuan looked up at the messengers, flags flying and horses galloping, his ears twitched, and from below the mountain, the rumbling of iron hooves echoed. He gently shook his empty sleeves, then raised a hand and waved it.

Immediately, the Kuntian Flying Sleeve flew out, rising into the air, expanding against the wind like a giant cloth bag, and sucked towards the mid-slope of Yunding Mountain.

The whooshing wind caused the forests and buildings below to vibrate, but the power within it was well controlled, causing no damage. Only, in the separate courtyards below, doors slammed open one after another.

Gasps and angry shouts suddenly erupted.

Some emitted bright spiritual light, while others transformed into streaks of light, attempting to shoot away.

But one after another, the streaks of light ultimately could not escape being pulled back by the enormous suction. Then, they experienced the suffocating sensation of being pulled and kneaded into a ball, before finally being enveloped by something, and their vision went black.

Seven or eight breaths later, the flying sleeve retracted. Chen Yuan dusted his sleeve, then lowered his hand, his face slightly turned back.

“Gao Yu, General Fan Chou, go notify the Four Cities Garrison to seal the entrances and exits.”

“Additionally, to be safe, activate all the Restrictions on Yunding Mountain!”

After speaking, he straightened his face, his eyes narrowed, and his voice stretched out,

“Perhaps, tonight, we can net some bigger fish and let our brothers have some meat to eat.”

His actions during these past few days, while guarding Jinguancheng, were nothing more than a nine-character strategy.

Recruit some, fight some, kill some.

Jinguancheng was too large. Even if he could temporarily suppress it by force, what about afterward? He could forcefully send these people to guard the passes outside the border, resisting demons, but some people inside might unexpectedly backstab him, causing trouble.

Thus, these past few days’ actions came about.

Unite all forces that can be united, then kill a group of disobedient fellows. This way, Jinguancheng can be initially controlled, and then, it depends on the performance of the remaining people.

As for the resources of those Families that were killed, they can be entirely entrusted to Ninth Mountain for safekeeping!

Ninth Mountain needed to expand rapidly and develop its strength to establish its foundation. Chen Yuan had long thought about where the resources would come from.

The Qian family was forced to jump, and even invited the Han Shan Sect’s Old Monster Wu Zang.

Who knows how many other Families participated.

“Yes, Sir!”

The two Recorders responded solemnly, cupped their fists, and then departed as ordered.

At this moment, with over four thousand new recruits from Ninth Mountain departing, orders being sent to over thirty large and small Families, and the mobilization of the Four Cities Garrison, golden light flickered in Chen Yuan’s pupils as he softly said:

“Daoist Li, it’s our turn to make an appearance!”

“Let’s go!”

Chen Yuan lifted his feet, a gust of wind arose, and he plunged straight into the night.

Li Guanyi, the Daoist half a step behind him, could only sigh, flick his horsetail whisk, and soar into the sky.

Southwest of Jinguancheng, it was midnight. The night was halfway through, and apart from a few limited areas with scattered lights, the rest of the city was in deep slumber.

In a simple courtyard in a certain alley, a Family of four lived. The courtyard was strewn with tiles, wooden boards, and other miscellaneous items.

The son of this Family had just taken a new wife, and since the house was old and had several damaged spots, they were preparing to repair it. Today, they had just removed the tiles from a few damaged areas and simply covered them with thatch.

At this moment, in a room of the tiled house, it was pitch black, and faint noises could be heard. The newlywed couple, still awake in the middle of the night, were contemplating the joys of human relations.

“No, husband, it’s so late, and Mother and Father are still next door!” The girl’s shy voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.

“Father and Mother are already asleep by now. I specifically waited until this time, just for one time!” A hurried, anxious male voice sounded.

Then, rustling sounds emerged, like clothes being pulled.

Just then, the shy girl’s voice turned puzzled,

“Husband,”

“Why is the bed moving?”

“It’s not the bed moving, it’s you, my wife, moving, isn’t it?”

“Oh, you dead man, it’s real.” The woman covered her chest, twisted her husband, and sat up from the bed, her face looking somewhat surprised.

The shaking grew stronger and stronger. The unrepaired roof was shaking, thatch rustled down from above, and even the windows rattled.

The man quickly noticed it too, thinking it was an earthquake. He immediately flipped out of bed, his face somewhat panicked,

“Wife, quick, it’s an earthquake, let’s get out.”

Saying that, he stretched out his hands, intending to quickly embrace his wife and pull her out.

Unexpectedly, suddenly, the roof above collapsed, and a figure fell down.

It landed right in the man’s arms, then was violently thrown onto the bed.

The man cried out in pain, his body hunched, while the figure in his arms instinctively wrapped its hands around the man’s neck.

Under the moonlight, a burly man with a scraggly beard and thick, long eyebrows stared with wide ox-eyes at this scene, then cursed and quickly released his hands.

“Damn it, I missed a step!”

Saying that, he leaped up and disappeared directly through the hole in the roof where he had just fallen.

The young couple looked up in surprise, only to see figures flashing across the three-foot-square hole above.

They were all powerful individuals who came and went from high places!

The young couple quickly ran out. Upon exiting, they saw that under the enormous, disc-like moon in the sky, figures on the rooftops outside flickered and leaped, heading straight for the Southwest.

In the sky, streaks of spiritual light, like a vast river of stars, flashed across the giant moon, heading in the same direction.

And the young couple finally heard the shaking clearly: it was the urgent sound of horse hooves, clattering, clattering.

Following the direction of the horse hooves, a hundred meters away, lights in house after house flickered on, startled, and spread rapidly.

Their gaze extended to the end, in the direction where the horses were galloping. There was a group of low mountains, the highest peak only about two hundred zhang tall. This mountain was called Five Treasures Mountain, and it was the base of the Qian family, one of the Four Sects and Eight Families.

At this moment, in a secret hall of the Qian family on Five Treasures Mountain, the lamplight flickered.

Inside the hall, more than twenty figures were dimly lit by the firelight.

However, only eight people were seated.

Among them, four figures sat at the top, their Qi as profound as an ocean.

Among them, there was indeed Old Monster You from Han Shan Sect. Sitting next to him was an Old Monster with red eyebrows and red hair, who was the Wang Family Old Monster, also from the Four Sects and Eight Families. He was quite famous in the Shu Land Jianghu before, and it was said that he had disappeared ten years ago, reportedly having gone to the Central Plains. He also suddenly reappeared at this time, having already achieved a Breakthrough to the Martial Treasury upon his return.

Across from these two Martial Treasuries from Jinguancheng, there was a person in a black robe, with a withered, thin figure, whose appearance could not be clearly seen, exuding an eerie Aura all over his body.

Old Monster You of Han Shan Sect and the Old Immortal from the Wang Family occasionally cast their gazes upon this person. This person exuded a chilling and strange Aura that made the two old monsters feel uncomfortable.

The other person opposite looked much more normal, dressed in a brocade robe, with black hair, wearing a lotus crown, but with a silver mask on his head. Behind his seat stood a woman, dressed in a red feathered robe, adorned with several beautiful tail feathers on her back, also wearing a mask.

According to the Qian family head, these two were powerful individuals from the Central Plains, outside of Shu Land!

Both were Martial Treasuries!

As for the other four seated individuals, they were the heads of the other four Families.

Participating in this “Anti-Chen Movement!”

The topmost seat was occupied by Qian Sanjin, the Qian family head.

At this moment, the atmosphere inside this secret hall was quite peculiar, with both fervor and tension.

“Qian family head, you said that the Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General has a Qi Luck Spiritual Root?” The black-robed, emaciated Martial Treasury spoke, his voice hoarse and raspy like a duck’s quack, and his accent was not from the Shu Land.

“That’s right!” Qian Sanjin nodded, confirming.

“How do you know?”

“Senior, please forgive me, but this Qian is not at liberty to say, but this Qian naturally would not dare to deceive Seniors and the others.” Qian Sanjin bowed his hands, with a smile.

“Hmph, you’d better not be lying, otherwise, if you offend my esteemed one, the entire Qian family will be in danger,” a cold and sharp female voice rang out.

The voice came from the woman standing behind the silver-masked Martial Treasury, her voice sharp and full of malice.

As soon as these words were uttered, the Qian family head, who was seated at the head, and the several Qian family Heavenly Gate experts behind him, all changed their expressions, looking somewhat displeased.

What heavy resentment.

“Vermilion Bird!”

“Do not be rude.”