Ge Xian sighed as he looked up at the three clay statues.
At that moment, their outer shells were crumbling away, and three distinct kinds of demonic qi—each cold and rank—billowed out.
The Evil Cultivators immediately began driving the townspeople out of the temple. Anyone who resisted was slapped again and again until, within a few breaths, a pile of bruised and battered townsfolk came tumbling out of the so-called Three Goddess Temple.
The peddlers and itinerant merchants had already vanished at the first opportunity.
Looking back, Ge Xian heard Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou's raucous laughter ring out again:
"Hahaha... A red-crowned pheasant, a Bamboo Leaf Green Snake, and a White-haired Old Cat—how dare you call yourselves gods?"
"These ignorant fools may acknowledge you, but does the Imperial Court?"
As the Two Ghosts jeered and the sounds of fighting suddenly erupted, the Three Goddess Temple collapsed in an instant.
Amid flying clouds of dust, three oddly shaped monsters emerged.
Ge Xian and the peddlers took a closer look. Just as Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou had said, there was a red-crowned pheasant more than ten feet tall, a Bamboo Leaf Green Snake suspended in midair, and an extraordinarily old she-cat demon, balding in patches and left with only a little white fur.
Of the three monsters, the sharp-eyed Pheasant Spirit was the leader.
She strode forward with her head held high and sharply rebutted the Two Ghosts:
"The Imperial Court? Hmph. The court can barely protect itself these days. What difference does it make whether it acknowledges us or not?"
"Back when the Dayuan Dynasty was flourishing, unregistered monsters like us wouldn't even dare show our faces. As for the officials and Immortal Gods who were on the registers and had received titles, they still minded how they ate, at least in public. One could just about call these frail humans the masters of this world, since they breed so well."
"Now that the world has fallen into chaos, it comes down to what each side can do. The stronger ones can take more and eat their fill."
"Compared to those greedy officials behind you, who have started tearing off their false masks, we Three Goddesses understand the principle of Draining the Pond to Catch Fish. We aren't greedy, which is why the people of this town serve us so devoutly."
"Travelers, itinerant merchants, and martial wanderers have been scarce lately. They were even planning to sacrifice some of the town's idlers instead."
"You've come looking for trouble with us. Have you asked whether they're willing?"
As soon as the Pheasant Spirit finished speaking, the Two Ghosts and the other cultivators looked around.
Hundreds of sturdy townsfolk were closing in under the town chief's leadership, armed with sickles, hoes, rakes, and dung forks. They encouraged one another as they approached.
Then, joining in the commotion, they shouted:
"Get out! Get out of Nantai Town!"
"That's right! We sincerely serve the three goddesses. They not only drive away evil spirits for us, they also cast spells to bring us good weather and bountiful harvests. Do you think we wouldn't know whether they're monsters?"
"The laws of Qiantang County don't apply to Nantai Town."
"Stop acting like a dog chasing a rat and meddling in other people's business. Get out, or don't blame us for showing no mercy!"
"Hmph, you greedy, corrupt officials from Qiantang know perfectly well what things have been like these past few years. Without the three goddesses' protection, Nantai Town would have withered away long ago. Now that we've finally found peace, you show up here pretending to be righteous? Get out!"
"You even put together some so-called Propaganda Team, trying to trick us into going to Qiantang. You think we haven't heard of that Thigh-cutting Magistrate?"
Ge Xian was watching the commotion when he heard that last line and nearly snorted with laughter.
With their masters insulted, the Two Ghosts flew into a rage. They ordered the Evil Cultivators not to act, telling them only to keep an eye on the foolish townsfolk. Then, grinning savagely, they both manifested their Evil Ghost Dharma Images and pounced on the three monsters.
A battle of spells, watched by at least a thousand people, began at once.
And within a few dozen breaths, it was over.
There had not been the slightest suspense. The Three Goddesses were defeated and killed.
Hundreds of sturdy townsfolk from Nantai Town, subdued by the Evil Cultivators, and the rest of the townspeople stared dumbfounded at the ruins of the temple: at the astonishing ghoul-like forms of Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou, and at the three goddesses' bones beneath their feet, slowly turning to ash.
After draining their spoils, the Two Ghosts spat and sneered:
"Ptooey!"
"Three stupid monsters. They got a taste for eating people and thought they could roam free in the mortal world, pass themselves off as Immortal Gods. They should take a look at what they are. They probably don't even know where the Myriad Laws Sect's gates are. What a pipe dream."
After cursing them out, the Two Ghosts turned to the townspeople of Nantai Town.
Now that the pretense had fallen away, they could not be bothered to keep up appearances. They spoke with sinister smiles:
"You foolish people put your faith in these low-class wild gods and heretical rites, and caused the deaths of many innocents."
"Once you return to Qiantang, your food and money rewards will be cut in half."
"You have one hour to pack your belongings. We'll go recruit the people of Anle Town ten miles away, then return to Qiantang County together."
"Of course, if you're dissatisfied, you can use this time to find some other monsters to protect you. Let's see if they can."
With everything settled, the Two Ghosts left a few Evil Cultivators to watch over the town, then led their team toward the next place.
Anle Town was considerably larger than Nantai Town, with a population of more than five thousand. It was a major grain-producing town.
But its circumstances were very different from Nantai Town's.
When the Propaganda Team and its guards arrived, the townspeople cheered and leaped for joy, as though welcoming a royal army. Before the team could even announce its promised benefits and rewards, the townsfolk began complaining about the upheaval in their town. They said someone had rebelled, was oppressing the people, and had even declared himself emperor, bestowed official titles, and taken a hundred consorts.
At first, everyone assumed that a new rebel army had truly appeared in Anle Town.
But soon, they all witnessed one absurd sight after another: the entire town had been turned into a pauper's version of Dadu. It was heavily guarded, with soldiers patrolling everywhere. The emperor even made processions, received his officials, and discussed state affairs. Then he frolicked amid wine ponds and forests of meat with the many consorts of his harem.
The absurdity lay in this: aside from the women who had clearly been abducted, the emperor, officials, guards, and everyone else were all... rat demons.
They were not especially powerful rat demons, merely creatures whose intelligence had been forcibly awakened so they could manage a few gestures.
Of course, that did not include the bizarre rat demon currently seated high atop the so-called Star Picking Platform, enjoying himself with dozens of human consorts in his arms.
It had a rat's head and a human body, and stood more than twenty feet tall. Red light gleamed in its eyes, and its two buckteeth flashed with ferocity. Its demonic body looked snow-white as jade at first glance, but a closer look revealed swollen, rotting flesh. It wore a yellow robe sewn with patches and a hastily made Cast Iron Crown, mottled with rust, on its head.
Ghastly Green Demonic Qi visibly poured from its body. It stank horribly and carried a potent plague poison. Anyone who came too close would contract all manner of diseases and drop dead within ten breaths.
For some reason, the human consorts were spared this fate, but they were hardly better off. Their bodies were rotting, their faces covered in sores, and hair sprouted from their skin sacs. A closer look showed they were all dazed and vacant, barely human in appearance.
As for the fine wine and dishes on the banquet platform, they were plainly human blood, hearts, livers, and the like.
Seeing all this, everyone understood why the people of Anle Town had complained.
What did unrestrained greed look like?
This was it.
But what truly surprised Ge Xian and the other peddlers came afterward.
The Two Ghoul Generals and the Evil Cultivators all seemed to know the Rat Demon Emperor.
As soon as they entered Anle Town, the rat demon sent one strange rat after another to invite them to a banquet on the Star Picking Platform.
Unfortunately, none of the cultivators would do it the courtesy.
Once there, they did not drink a single cup. Instead, they all cursed it out:
"White Jade Daoist, what happened to you? Have you lost your mind and decided to get yourself killed?"
"You wretched White Jade Rat! You're only a Strange Rat who attained the Dao. You never had a Dao Path to speak of. The Imperial Court allowed you to hold the position of Son God here and even built you a Son God Temple. And you repay them by seizing the town for yourself? You've even got the gall to declare yourself emperor and take consorts!"
"A rat demon calling himself emperor? What rank do you think you are?"
"You've turned a perfectly fine great town into a den of filth. All the townspeople should come with us to Qiantang and seek true peace."
From these shouted insults, Ge Xian immediately pieced together what had happened.
The debauched, wicked, revolting Rat Demon Emperor on the platform had originally been the Anle Son of God, enshrined by the Dayuan Dynasty. Compared to the Three Goddesses from earlier, this Daoist had been a legitimate local Immortal God.
Yet now, whether this was its true nature or the result of some mutation, it had been exploiting and squeezing the townspeople far more brutally than the wild gods and heretical rites—the Pheasant Spirit and the Bamboo Leaf Green Snake.
The Two Ghoul Generals and the other Evil Cultivators' insults left the Rat Demon Emperor stunned at first. Then its expression changed.
Apparently furious, it trembled all over and slapped the table again and again.
Pointing at the Two Ghoul Generals and the Evil Cultivators, it cursed:
"How dare you!"
"I invited you scoundrels here to eat and drink together for old times' sake, and now you've got the nerve to act so arrogantly!"
"You say I should be grateful? I've diligently governed Anle Town for years, increasing its population from a little over eight hundred to several thousand. All the credit and hard work are mine... Now that things have changed, we cultivators no longer need to hide or restrain ourselves. You're telling me I'm not allowed to enjoy myself for once?"
"Besides, the Myriad Laws Sacred Cult used to suppress our Vicious Habits for us. Now nobody cares about such things. Even if I wanted to keep up the appearance of a kindly Son God, I couldn't."
"So I might as well rebel and get a taste of being emperor."
"Don't think I don't know how devious you scoundrels are. You saw the situation change, saw every corner of the Mortal World start reaping its harvest, and realized these Two-Legged Beasts were worth hoarding. So you came to snatch them up, hoping to sell them for a good price later."
"Hmph! I won't let a pack of scoundrels like you get your way. Guards! Seize them! Strip off their skin sacs, scrape away their flesh, cut out their hearts and livers, and bring them to me as a drinking snack!"
Ge Xian did not know what the rat demon had been like back when it was a respectable Immortal God.
But its present appearance and its brazen, unbridled tone were exactly those of a petty country emperor.
At its "Imperial Decree," the officials and soldiers all shed their clothes and armor, revealing rat demons with bulging muscles, rotting bodies, and filthy, foul-smelling fur. Then they charged the Two Ghoul Generals and the Evil Cultivators.
Ge Xian reacted quickest. As he retreated, he rapidly pieced together the hidden truths in the Rat Demon Emperor's words.
They were secrets only in the eyes of ordinary people.
In his view, the cultivators who had been on the Dao Path for a long time all seemed to have known about them already.
"So that's how it is!"
"When the Dayuan Dynasty was flourishing, humanity's fortune was strong too. Even though creatures like Lu Hualong and the rat demons, who held official posts or the titles of Immortal Gods, were all Demon Cultivators, they at least showed some restraint and kept up a façade of prosperity."
"Once chaos descended, the Dayuan Dynasty could no longer maintain the balance or suppress the Vicious Habits of these Demon Cultivators. That's when everything fell apart, humanity suffered a great calamity, and every province and county was harvested."
"If nothing unexpected happens, humanity's population will be cut in half, then cut in half again over the next decade or so, until nine out of ten households are empty."
"Powerful monsters like Lu Hualong must have foreseen this, so they've started keeping humans with pure blood and flesh in captivity, hoarding them for later?"
With every conclusion he reached, Ge Xian's expression grew darker.
He now fully understood what sort of world this was, and realized just how difficult a Cultivation Path he had chosen.
Before he could even absorb all this, the situation in the field changed again.
No one knew whether the rat demon called the White Jade Daoist had let its Vicious Habits rot its brain, but it truly seemed to think it was an emperor commanding a mighty army.
It did not act itself, instead sending a bunch of low-class rat demons to hunt down the Two Ghoul Generals and the clearly well-resourced Evil Cultivators.
The outcome was obvious. They were slaughtered to the last.
Seeing the ground beneath the Star Picking Platform run red with blood and the rat corpses pile up, it hurriedly came to its senses.
Without even uttering a threat, it unleashed a powerful technique.
A shrill rat squeal rang out. The ground beneath Anle Town shook violently, and then a strange sight erupted.
One "Bottomless Pit" after another appeared, swallowing houses and townspeople. Then, from inside the pits, floods of rats poured forth. Strange rats nearly as large as cats sprang out, seized the townspeople, and dragged them down into the pits.
The Rat Demon Emperor took the Hundred Human Consorts and retreated into the largest cavern.
Before entering, the scoundrel finally worked up the courage to let out a sharp laugh:
"I know you scoundrels all have people backing you. If I kill you, it'll only bring more trouble later, so I'll spare myself the effort."
"If you won't let me be emperor aboveground, then I'll be emperor underground."
"If you've got the guts, follow me."
With that last line, the rat demon vanished with the Hundred Human Consorts.
The terrifying rat tide surging in every direction dragged away nearly three-quarters of Anle Town's population.
It all happened too quickly. Zhang Buzu, Zhao Wuyou, and the Evil Cultivators had no time to react.
Now they were all furious.
"These tunnels were dug by the rat monsters the White Jade Daoist spawned. They aren't real Bottomless Pits, so there's no need to worry."
"We'll go in and rescue the townspeople. Otherwise, our superior will punish us."
"I heard that among the White Jade Old Thief's Vicious Habits is one called Hoarding Treasures. It also keeps rat tides, so it must have piled up quite a few valuables in its lair. My brother and I will take charge. Once we kill the White Jade Old Daoist, we'll split the treasure evenly and won't take a bit more. How about it?"
"Agreed!"
"Kill!"
Treasure was the most tempting bait. Almost without hesitation, the Evil Cultivators followed the Two Ghosts into the cavern. Even the Wang Family Eldest Daughter-in-law, who had earlier refused to deal with the rat monsters, went with them.
After they entered, none of the fleeing peddlers and itinerant merchants noticed.
When a Young Peddler heard the words "hoarding treasures," his eyes lit up. Then, while running away, he deliberately stumbled. By sheer coincidence, he tumbled into one of the caverns and disappeared underground with the rat tide.
Before you continue