Prince Jian, Chen Sui, first paced back and forth inside the room. After several rounds of deliberation, a smile appeared on his face.
"This is a good thing! I have already brought all the officials of River Prefecture under my control. If the Five Gods Cult is destroyed, I can seize the opportunity to take hold of the entire riverway.
"River Prefecture is a land of wealth and abundance. It will all belong to me, and I will also be rid of the Five Gods Cult as a restraint."
"If we can destroy True Lord Xuanzhu Huode of the Five Gods Cult as well, that would be even better."
As Prince Jian spoke, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. He was ambitious by nature, and his greed for wealth far surpassed what ordinary people could imagine.
The official who had come to deliver the news stepped forward and said cautiously.
"This subordinate has heard that the immortal hates evil as if it were his mortal enemy and acts according to righteousness. I fear the Gongzhou Sword Immortal may not merely wish to destroy the Five Gods Cult. He may trace matters back to the prince's estate..."
"And then what? Does he dare storm the prince's estate? Even if he is an immortal, does he intend to oppose the Great Zhou Dynasty? To oppose all under heaven?"
"Even immortals have things they fear. So long as one lives in this world, one must abide by its order."
Prince Jian had studied the arts of rulership. He excelled at grasping people's hearts and commanding subordinates, and this was the sort of method he most enjoyed employing.
The officials and generals throughout River Prefecture had all been won over, openly or covertly, one by one through such means. He was immensely proud of this ability and believed he could already see through the hearts of all people in the world.
"Moreover, I am of imperial blood, a prince personally enfeoffed by the Sage."
"Even if the Five Gods Cult has brought calamity upon the common people, what does that have to do with me?"
With a face full of solemn righteousness and a belly full of wolf's heart and dog's lungs.
Three altars of the Five Gods Cult had already fallen. Their remaining main altar had long ceased to show itself easily, clearly intending to abandon these castoffs of the cult.
Besides, faced with such a formidable Sword Immortal, True Lord Xuanzhu Huode likely could not even protect himself.
As for the Gu God, Prince Jian had already brought it under his command through a token and favor left behind by the founding ancestor. This was the secret the Altar Master of the Poison God Altar had sought to conceal.
At this moment, Prince Jian could already see the scene of the Five Gods Cult's accumulated foundation of several decades, nearly a century, being wholly taken over by himself.
"I order you to immediately go to West Market and bring men to..."
At that moment, a brilliant radiance suddenly flared beyond the window, so blinding that no one could open their eyes.
Whether they were the musicians and dancing girls still singing and dancing in the main hall, the guests filling the hall, or the servants and maidservants throughout the estate, all covered their eyes and turned their heads away.
In an instant, everyone in the estate felt as though the sky had lit up.
"Rumble!"
A divine sword descended from the heavens. Its landing point was a garden at the side of Prince Jian's Estate.
It directly shaved flat an artificial hill along with the entire garden, revealing a massive abyssal opening beneath.
Everyone in the estate turned toward it. Prince Jian's expression changed drastically as he shouted for the guards to surround the place.
They saw that the opening led into unfathomable depths, connected to the underground palace caverns where the Five Gods Cult raised the Poison God, Gu God, and Mountain God.
Cages hung one after another from the walls on both sides.
Inside the cages were naked people. As the wind blew down into the cavern, their cries and pleas continuously drifted upward.
And above the cave stood a youth in white.
The others felt a chill when they saw the white-clothed youth, while Prince Jian and the official who had come to report the news went rigid in an instant.
With a lift of his hand, the youth in white sent cage after cage flying upward. Only then did everyone see clearly what lay within.
"What is going on?" A guest in the main hall pointed at the cavern, his hand trembling.
"How can there be such a huge hole underground?" Another young official was utterly shocked.
"And why are so many people imprisoned there?"
From white-haired elders above to young boys and girls below, more than a hundred people had been raised in that dark place where daylight never reached, treated like livestock, pigs, and dogs—kept as reserve feed and sacrificial offerings to nourish the demons beneath the earth.
Some had even had their arms and legs broken. Like flesh worms, they were crammed together with others in the cages, unable even to turn over.
Most of them were displaced refugees and beggar children from Jiangting Commandery. Some had been bought by the Five Gods Cult and the prince's estate as servants and maidservants.
These were only this year's sacrifices. Over the years, who knew how many lives this abyss-like cavern had devoured, how much darkness too ghastly to behold had taken place within it, and how many sins and vile desires had been born from it.
A streak of fire flew over. Donkey Guardian General leaped out of the cavern and landed beside the youth in white.
It had been the one to locate the correct direction and find where the Gu God was.
"It's coming, it's coming! What a huge centipede!" The donkey spoke with exceptional confidence today. It had rendered great merit.
The youth in white stood before the abyss.
Though his back faced them, a killing aura gathered in the heavens and would not disperse.
Even if they could not guess this person's identity, everyone felt that tonight would not remain peaceful.
A blue flash passed, and the Azure Dragon Sword floated in the sky.
A child slowly appeared atop the sword, sitting cross-legged as he looked over everyone present.
Retribution had arrived far faster than they had imagined.
Prince Jian had only just been immersed in songs and dances amid peace and prosperity. In the blink of an eye, life-demanding Yama had arrived.
The Azure Dragon Guardian child wore an angry, upright expression as he shouted, "Those involved in this matter, step forward!"
Under the shock to their minds, those harboring hidden motives unconsciously took a step forward. It was merely a small application of soul power.
Several of them immediately realized what had happened and tried to retreat, but it was already too late.
The Azure Dragon Guardian child moved. Dozens of fine heads flew into the air at once, and blood gushed from their chests, splashing everyone around them.
Then the corpses all toppled toward the abyss.
Only then did those around them recover their senses. One after another, they collapsed to the ground in terror, scrambling backward as screams and cries rang out without cease.
At last, the youth in white turned his gaze toward Prince Jian, who stood among the crowd like the moon surrounded by stars.
But as Kongchenzi turned around and looked over, the surrounding stars scattered away.
Prince Jian was instantly left alone.
He hurriedly looked to either side. His former confidants were either lying dead on the ground with heads separated from bodies, or standing more than eight feet away from him, still backing away.
Prince Jian's face was deathly pale, yet he still retained some confidence.
Or perhaps he knew that escape was impossible.
"I am of imperial blood, Prince Jian personally enfeoffed by the emperor! If you kill me, you will be opposing Great Zhou, opposing the common people of the world!"
"You can kill me, but can you kill Great Zhou's million iron riders? Can you kill the tens of millions of people under heaven?"
Kongchenzi extended a hand. Prince Jian flew backward and was seized by the neck, suspended above the edge of the abyss.
"You cannot kill me! You cannot kill me!"
The more Prince Jian spoke, the shriller his voice became. In the end, he let out a hoarse, broken shriek like a woman.
His feet dangled in the air, kicking frantically like a grasshopper pinched between fingers.
He was taking more breaths out than in.
The Great Zhou prince who had just sat in the hall with the bearing of a coiled dragon and crouching tiger had now been frightened into a limp heap like a rotten shrimp.
For the first time, he understood that the fear a person felt before death could be so intense.
For the first time, he also understood the despair felt in their final moments by those he had regarded as feed for demons.
"Don't... don't... no..." Prince Jian wanted to beg, but no longer had enough breath even to form the words.
Kongchenzi's expressionless face seemed, to Prince Jian at that moment, more terrifying than an asura.
"I wonder whether your imperial blood can make this monster bow its head in submission?"
"Can the Mandate of Heaven withstand Yama coming to claim a life?"
His hand opened, and the man fell straight into the abyss.
As though falling all the way into bottomless netherworld darkness.
As he plunged downward, Prince Jian saw a gigantic dragon-like centipede crawling out along the cavern wall. It was dozens of meters long, and each of its legs pierced the wall like a sharp blade.
Its ferocious head grew ever larger in his vision as a foul, fishy wind struck him in the face.
"Ah!" His scream was cut short halfway through.
Because the centipede opened its mouth and bit down, snapping Prince Jian directly into two halves.
The Gu God of the Five Gods Cult had appeared.
Monday—this salted fish Blowing Wind is rolling around and begging for recommendation votes!
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