Just as I expected, Fengge really is the rebel leader—but she isn't rebelling against the Queen.
Within the ice armor beneath the tree, Wu Wang remained seated, all sorts of mutterings filling his heart.
This Ji Mo had actually thought up a scheme to drug the wine and take the antidote beforehand. Before this, he had truly...
Overestimated him.
Wu Wang examined himself inwardly, looking at the bellyful of Shennong Brand Detoxification Pills, Hua Chun Pills, Soul Protection Pills, Calming Pills, and Deworming Pills wrapped in magic power and still undissolved. His smile was somewhat bitter.
Wasn't this a waste of resources?
Although Senior Shennong Shi had given him plenty of pills, they were all nonrenewable resources. Every pill used meant one less remaining.
Forget it, forget it.
What malicious thoughts could Brother Ji possibly have? He merely did not want a minor Core Formation Realm cultivator like him to take part in the story that followed.
If Brother Ji bared his heart and spilled his guts, telling him every plan just because he had saved him a few times...
Then Brother Ji's account could be considered officially ruined. The Ji Family might as well start raising someone else.
Wu Wang was not angry in the slightest over Ji Mo's little scheme.
What did make Wu Wang somewhat wary was the look in Fengge's eyes when she tucked in the Queen's blankets just now.
This Fengge... was definitely hiding something.
"Quick! Secure His Majesty's bedchamber!"
"Set up the Protective Array!"
Several women cried out sharply. Urgent footsteps soon sounded from every direction as two squads of imperial guards surrounded the bedchamber completely.
Wu Wang was in no hurry. He sat there and pondered quietly; escaping would naturally not be a problem.
The reason he had been able to determine so early on that Fengge was the one stirring up trouble in Women's Country was actually based on many clues.
For one, when he had been attacked at the Imperial Preceptor's residence, Fengge had never appeared afterward. Yet the Grand General's residence was not far from the Imperial Preceptor's residence—only a leap away for Fengge.
Judging by the personality Fengge had displayed before, she was unlikely to have missed such excitement.
Then there was the question of why Senior Shennong Shi had sent him to appear before Fengge. That alone was already a kind of hint.
Wu Wang had already learned that Fengge, as the Grand General of Women's Country, held a very high status and commanded all military power. If she wanted to rebel and become Queen herself, she would not need support from the Human Domain at all.
The rebels' target was not the Queen, yet Fengge had sought aid from the Human Domain...
The answer was already obvious.
What Fengge wanted to overthrow, and what the Human Domain wanted to support, was the Mythological Order of this place.
Yet Wu Wang still had several doubts in his heart that remained unresolved.
Inside the ice armor, Wu Wang looked toward the secret chamber where the Queen kept her private hoard. He remembered several tattered Parchment Scrolls there, inscribed with symbols whose marks had nearly faded away.
Before gathering sufficient intelligence, it was better not to make rash judgments lightly.
That would be far too improper.
He closed his eyes, and his Spiritual Consciousness slowly spread like flowing water;
As though a drop of water had fallen upon a tranquil surface, sending faint ripples outward, the figures of more than a hundred imperial guards around the bedchamber were already reflected in Wu Wang's mind.
Wu Wang displayed the average patience of the Northern Plains Hunters.
He waited quietly, catching the instant when the patrolling guards on every rooftop shifted their gazes away from him.
It was here!
Wu Wang suddenly opened his eyes. The floor beneath him silently turned to fragments, and his body simply "leaked" downward.
—This place had originally been an open courtyard. When the Queen converted it into a bedchamber, she had laid a layer of Wooden Planks over the ground, leaving rather large gaps.
He casually slapped the hollow ice armor with a soft palm strike, creating a false ice man within it, then erected an ice pillar below to prevent the place from collapsing.
Afterward, Wu Wang quietly darted beneath the layer of Wooden Planks and slipped into the blind spot of the guards above.
After fussing about for a while, he finally sneaked into the Queen's treasure vault.
Wu Wang kept his Spiritual Consciousness spread out, listening in all directions and watching every side as he swiftly searched among the treasures for vessels of information.
Parchment Scrolls, Stone Slabs, and the wall concealed behind a cloth draped over a wooden rack.
From afar, Wu Wang stirred a trace of his aura and lifted the dust-covered cloth. Sure enough, several paintings lay beneath it.
But at this moment, Wu Wang's expression grew increasingly grave...
"What is this?"
The Weeping Goddess, little figures kneeling in prayer, divine radiance constantly fading away;
A terrifying Fierce Beast, crying figures being pushed forward, girls turning to ash and vanishing;
But upon closer inspection, beneath both the Fierce Beast and the goddess was the same circular disk. An Astrological Arrangement was outlined upon it, as though the Fierce Beast had replaced the goddess's position.
Thinking back to when he had discussed the mythology of this place with the Imperial Preceptor, and to the sentence the Imperial Preceptor had spoken with a sigh:
The gods of the Northern Plains dwell within starlight, and there are even day sacrifices who may serve at the gods' side.
Had the god who created this place left this kingdom?
Leaving behind only a Fierce Beast as its Guardian Beast—and did that Fierce Beast require sacrifices to protect the kingdom?
Wu Wang folded his arms and stood before the mural, thinking quietly.
He found none of the clamor outside lively. Instead, he found it noisy and irritating.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Figures swiftly moved through the palace complex. They wore golden and silver armor, their expressions astonishingly identical and filled with determination.
Within the royal palace, beneath the grand array shining with golden light, hundreds upon thousands of figures gathered toward the northwestern corner.
More and more figures rushed in from outside the array, each one brimming with vigor, carrying blades or spears, all among the first-rate experts of Women's Country.
Because the Royal Palace Grand Array had suddenly activated, a small disturbance arose in the capital. Yet most citizens were merely curious and bewildered, gazing toward the royal palace.
Batch after batch of elite troops marched onto the streets, while rows of torches lit up along the city walls in every direction.
The royal capital had been beneath a night of dazzling starlight, but dark clouds suddenly blanketed the sky.
Unease spread through the women's hearts, though none knew what exactly had happened.
At the northwestern corner of the royal palace, two flashes of blade light swept past. A massive Stone Tablet exploded with a boom, revealing behind it a round opening thirty feet across, as well as a passageway slanting down into the depths, seemingly without end.
Ji Mo wore a cyan daoist robe and stood atop a Lotus Platform. He gripped a treasured sword, while a War Drum glowing red, a Small Hammer wrapped in tiny arcs of lightning, and several other Immortal Treasures radiating powerful fluctuations floated around him.
Ling Xiaolan stood in the air with her sword on her back, dressed in an immaculate white gown untouched by dust. Her gaze was fixed upon the round opening before her.
Fengge landed before the opening with a blade in hand, and a large group of Women's Country experts immediately gathered behind her.
She looked at the entrance, her face somewhat pale.
The Grand General took half a step forward. Suddenly, her eyes widened, her teeth clenched tight, and a trace of blood-red light flickered over her armor.
She had been only twelve when she left this place.
Her memories from before the age of twelve would forever be that gloomy Underground Palace, herself, and countless nameless companions...
Hey, if we pray every day, can the gods really hear us?
They probably can. They say that once we grow as tall as the priests, we can go outside.
Outside... what is it like outside?
This had been the conversation they repeated most often in their daily lives.
"Everyone!"
Fengge raised her long saber high and called out steadily. She turned, placing her back to the round opening, and looked at the figures before her.
They were watching Fengge as well.
Fengge's voice was extremely low:
"What is about to be revealed before you is the darkest and most unbearable side of this kingdom.
Once we take this step, there will be no possibility of turning back."
Behind Fengge, flames ignited in the eyes of the military officers holding weapons. As Fengge stepped forward, they immediately surged after her.
"Do we kill everyone inside?"
Ling Xiaolan's voice suddenly rang out.
Fengge turned her head and said softly, "The people of this kingdom are not at fault. The fault lies with the Fierce Beast, and with those of us who rely on its power. I ask the immortal maiden to act and merely subdue the priests and guards within."
"Very well."
Ling Xiaolan gently closed her eyes and formed a Lotus Seal with her fingers. When she opened her eyes again, her body had already transformed into a streak of white rainbow and flown into the opening.
From afar, a few shouts came from within, but the voices quickly fell silent.
Ji Mo said calmly, "The Human Domain will naturally not stand by and ignore this matter. Today, we shall surely help General Feng slay the Fierce Beast and free Women's Country from its shadow."
"Thank you."
Fengge murmured the words, then moved like the wind, charging into the round opening before her with her long saber in hand.
The generals behind her followed like shadows. Figure after figure filed inside without the slightest hesitation, even though they knew there would surely be deaths and injuries in today's battle.
Facing the Fierce Beast left behind by a god, how could there be no bitter battle?
But they could not be afraid now;
They absolutely could not fear this!
Within the long passageway, footsteps sounded like rushing water. Ahead, the space gradually widened, and robed priests wrapped in immortal light appeared on the ground, unconscious.
Clearly, the experts from the Human Domain who had come to assist had easily subdued them.
Fengge made a gesture, and several people broke away from the advancing group to bind these priests again.
The deeper they entered the round opening, the more figures they found restrained by immortal light.
Ling Xiaolan had attacked with all her strength at the Leaping God Realm. The guards and priests here had not the slightest chance to resist, thus avoiding the bloody battle that would otherwise have occurred.
Bows and arrows lay scattered beside the guards clad in armor;
Fruit, meat, and vegetables were scattered around the frightened palace maids.
Eternal lamps hung throughout the passageway, and many glowing ores had been arranged there as well. The ground was level and spotless.
Branches began appearing throughout the underground passage, but every fork was clearly marked—some led to kitchens, while others led toward places marked with beds.
After charging ahead for an unknown distance, they arrived at a brightly lit circular underground hall. The hall was divided into more than ten levels from bottom to top, with twelve openings on each level. Long corridors stretched before the openings, like terraced fields.
Fengge halted and raised her left fist high. The figures behind her swiftly stopped and looked in every direction.
Ling Xiaolan floated in the center of the circular hall. Her eyes were closed and her brows furrowed as she took out a jade flute and began to play softly.
Without a word, Fengge lowered her head and walked to a bronze gong at the corner of the hall. She picked up the wooden mallet beside it and struck the gong with force.
Clang!
Clang!
The sound of the gong rang through the great hall and spread in every direction.
Soft yet dense footsteps came from the openings one after another, and the military officers raised their heads to look around.
First, a little girl in loose white clothes poked her head out from high above, then swiftly ran toward the corner of the corridor before the opening;
Afterward, little girls in loose white garments poured out from openings all around. They orderly walked to their assigned places, their lifeless eyes examining the figures below. Yet they soon knelt and sat, pressed their palms together, and began singing songs of prayer.
Fengge stood before the bronze gong, unable to move for a long while.
The flute music gradually ceased. Ling Xiaolan's face was cold as frost as she stared at these figures, only to discover that most were children. Every age group had a fixed place for prayer, and the oldest group was only fourteen or fifteen.
There were six or seven hundred of them in total.
"They have no names."
Fengge's figure sank into the shadows as she said calmly:
"Do you want to know the meaning of their existence? Follow me."
As she spoke, Fengge rose and leaped to an unoccupied opening, walking into the darkness.
Though the memory was already very distant, Fengge remembered that day. She had walked a great distance down a passageway, following that strange snoring sound until she reached its end...
That unpleasant snoring sounded again.
The passageway seemed endless, making everyone instinctively hold their breath.
At last, they reached an enormous Stone Gate, wisps of black smoke seeping from its cracks.
Ling Xiaolan slashed her sword through the air. More than a dozen crisscrossing cracks lit up across the Stone Gate, brilliant light shining from within before it collapsed with a roar.
Black smoke came billowing toward them. Ji Mo grasped the Small Hammer floating beside him, and a shockwave rippled forward, dispersing the countless strands of black smoke in an instant.
This was an incomparably magnificent great hall.
A terrifying Fierce Beast dozens of feet tall sat in the center of the hall. It had a twisted human face, a bloated ox body, four legs, and one thick, powerful arm.
It stretched out its hand, picked up an unconscious white-clad girl, and gently inhaled at her nose. The figure swiftly turned into smoke and dust, slipping from the Fierce Beast's massive hand.
The Fierce Beast stretched out its hand with some dissatisfaction, searching for more, yet it could not find another sacrifice. Several priests on a distant high platform trembled all over, but continued kneeling and praying.
White-clad girls... white clothes...
What are you doing here?! Are you looking to die?!
A rebuke suddenly came from behind. Fengge, watching the same scene through a crack in the stone, still remembered how her twelve-year-old self had been so frightened that she forgot to cry out, then was lifted up by a powerful hand...
"General Fengge?!"
The priests on the high platform discovered the intruders. An elderly priestess cried out tremblingly, "Y-you... what do you want to do? This is disrespect toward the gods! It will bring calamity!"
"Get out," Fengge said flatly, though her eyes were already filled with bloodshot veins.
The priests fled down from the high platform without looking back. They ran into a corner nearby, not daring to utter half a word.
With several soft hums, Fengge pointed her long saber at the Fierce Beast.
"This is the Guardian Beast that protects us!
The price of its protection is that we must trade human lives for it, and generation after generation of rulers chose to conceal this secret!"
Fengge drew in a deep breath. Two flames burned in her eyes, and her voice rose, becoming gritted and venomous.
"I am one of the sacrifices who walked out of this place!
Using the Spirit Nurturing Pool Secret, the priests bred batch after batch of infants. They gave them no names, gave them no right to become citizens of Women's Country, and waited until their souls matured at fifteen before offering those souls to the Fierce Beast!
Those children we saw—did they deserve to die from the moment they were born into this world?
If they were not given names, did that mean they were not our people?
We have risen today to save the children inside and slay this Fierce Beast!"
Fengge suddenly raised her head and flung her long saber aside. She held out her hand, and a long spear condensed within her palm. Bolts of lightning coiled around its shaft as her voice echoed back and forth through the hall:
"From this day forward, the future of Women's Country will be grasped by the people of Women's Country ourselves!
Tonight, we defy the goddess's will. Tonight, with the blades and swords in our hands, we will free this kingdom from the shadow of that Fierce Beast!"
Fengge, First General Before the Throne, rebelled against God today!"
The Fierce Beast raised a hand and scratched its forehead, its bloodshot eyes fixed on the tiny figures before it.
A lotus blossomed, and sword light swept horizontally for a hundred zhang.
Ling Xiaolan had already appeared above the Fierce Beast's head. Ji Mo formed seals with both hands, and several Immortal Treasures around him blazed with light...
At the heart of the royal palace, at the Spirit Nurturing Pool—the foundation of the Women's Country.
Wu Wang sat quietly by the pool, gazing at the enormous mural painted on its bottom. A trace of hesitation crossed his eyes, but in the end, he still sighed softly.
"Who are you?!"
Several shouts came from the doors of the Spirit Nurturing Hall, and more than a dozen guards immediately rushed in.
Wu Wang aimed his left hand at them and gently clenched his fist. The dozen or so guards were instantly trapped in solid ice, but the ice did not press tightly against their chests, and gaps were left by their nostrils.
Wu Wang stood, wings spreading behind him, and said calmly:
"I am... perhaps someone who can help you."
Time was tight, the task was heavy, and there were still many arrangements to make.
The predicament facing the Women's Country was even thornier than the Star God's Blessing that had descended without warning.
Next chapter, 6 PM!
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