True Lord Taiyi Wants to Make a Move? Nezha's Treasure
The flame of the Tung Oil Lamp flickered in the draft, and the Earth Wall of the Garrison Duty Room were covered with years of soot stains.
Zhao Sanmazi was clutching a half-rolled, moldy Military Report. His beard was stained with the black blood of the dog demon, suggesting that he had been causing trouble for the imprisoned dog demon in private.
Zhao Sanmazi put one foot on the bench. "Damn it! The caravan from Western Qi said that a group of Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon sprang up from the banks of the Wei River and turned thirty miles of rice paddies into wasteland!"
Qian the Cripple squatted by the brazier, roasting millet cakes. His missing front tooth let in a whistling sound as he said, "Eastern Lu is even stranger! My cousin was transporting salt last month and passed through Jiang Family Fort. He said he kept hearing a baby crying in the middle of the night. When he followed the sound, all he found was a gnawed skeleton..."
The crumbs fell into the charcoal fire, sending up plumes of smoke with a fishy smell that made one's eyes sting.
Wang Sanpao huddled by the doorframe, rubbing his hands. "My second uncle came back from Southern Capital and said that entire Fishing Village villages in Yunmeng Marsh have disappeared! All that's left on the shore are fish scales, bigger than a palm!" He suddenly lowered his voice, "Someone saw... saw dragon claws reaching out from the water!"
"Shut up!" Zhao Sanmazi slammed the Military Report on the table. "If there really were dragons, General Li would have led us to slay them long ago!"
Fang Yu paused slightly as he wiped the spear.
For the Dragon Clan and the Undersea Demon Tribe, coming to Chentang Pass is as easy as pressing an elevator button. If these people knew they would soon be fighting against the Dragon Clan and the Undersea Demon Tribe, they probably wouldn't be laughing now.
As everyone was talking, Liu You walked in.
"Chaoge decrees that all passes be subject to an additional 30% iron levy to forge Demon Suppressing Halberd. Also, a fleet of ships carrying iron levies will pass through here tomorrow."
"Huh? More ironware?" Wang Sanpao frowned.
"What good is the Demon-Suppressing Halberd!" Qian the Cripple Demon Suppressing Halberd ripped open his shirt, revealing a centipede-like scar on his chest. "If this thing were useful, I wouldn't be injured like this. I don't know which scoundrel came up with this stupid idea! Demon Suppressing Halberd? What's the point of having a halberd handle!"
Liu You sighed, "The refugees who fled from Chaoge last month said that there are more monsters than people within 500 li of the Royal Domain! Those charlatans at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau are just swaying the gods all day long, but they're utterly useless!"
"To hell with charlatans or monsters!" Zhao Sanmazi relit the oil lamp. "The ironware fleet is passing through Chentang Pass tomorrow, so Laozi better keep your eyes peeled!"
After saying that, he looked at Fang Yu and said, "Brother Fang, you've done a good job catching the dog demon, so you should rest for now!"
"Um."
"Disperse, disperse!" Zhao Sanmazi kicked aside a bench. "At midnight, patrol the wheat fields in the western suburbs. Wang Sanpao, you lead the charge!"
At dawn, the sea fog, like a paper towel soaked in Vaseline, heavily covered the Chentang Pass Wharf.
The masts of twenty Red Horse Boat pierced the fog, their sides creaking under the weight of the Pig Iron, as if they were about to burst open and spit out their holds full of iron halberds into the sea.
The guards' shouts sounded muffled in the damp air, like mournful cries coming from behind a coffin lid.
"Wang Sanpao! Are you a tortoise? Slow as a bat! Hurry up!" Zhao Sanmazi kicked the cargo box, shaking off a few drops of salty dew.
The green recruit staggered as he shouldered two iron halberds, their bluish-gray tips gleaming darkly like corpse spots in the morning light.
Fang Yu walked across the springboard with his head down, his Sharingan swirling slightly in the shadow of his straw hat, a sense of unease creeping over him.
The sea breeze carried the smell of rotting fish, mixed with the metallic odor of rust.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Zhao Sanmazi's scabbard slapped against a new recruit's back, splashing water everywhere. "If we're late with this batch of Demon Suppressing Halberd, those bastards in Chaoge will turn our heads into chamber pots!"
Just as the sun rose above the Sea Gazing Platform at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared in the eastern sky.
The clouds, which were originally like cotton wool, began to twist and swirl, as if an invisible giant hand was stirring the sky.
Wang Sanpao squatted under the mast, munching on a pancake. Crumbs fell into the sea, creating ripples. "These clouds look like they've been splashed with ink..."
Before the words were finished, a piercing crow's cry exploded from the cloud vortex!
A black tide of tens of thousands of crows cascaded down, their wings scraping against each other like a thousand blunt knives scraping an iron pot, making one's teeth ache.
Fang Yu's Observation Haki suddenly stung – a black-robed figure stood in the center of the cloud vortex, his Crow Feather Cloak billowing like Soul-Summoning Banner, his crimson-gold vertical pupils piercing through half a mile of sea, sending chills down one's spine!
This thing is
"Listen up, you ants of Chentang Pass!" The Crow Demon King's voice, like rusty chains dragging across the deck, declared, "You have three days to hand over my nephew, or else..."
Zhao Sanmazi drew his sword and leaped onto the bow of the boat, pointing the tip at Hei Yun and shouting, "Otherwise, you'll Grandma! Laozi..."
Suddenly, the flock of crows swooped down and rushed towards the fleet like a rainstorm!
Fang Yu watched as the crows snatched up the Demon Suppressing Halberd not far away, and the beasts' beaks and claws even drew sparks from the Pig Iron.
The guards hastily released their arrows, but the arrows struck the crow's feathers as if they were piercing iron armor, clattering and falling into the sea.
"Form the Turtle Shell Formation!" Zhao Sanmazi's roar was torn apart by the cawing of crows. The guards huddled behind their Iron-Bound Wooden Shield, listening to the teeth-grinding gnawing sounds coming from above.
These beasts are actually pecking at the iron!
Wang Sanpao huddled in a corner of the cabin, a stain of urine spreading across his crotch. "They... they're eating iron!"
Fang Yu seized the opportunity to reach the back of the mast, his Sharingan spinning rapidly.
The scales on the Crow Demon King's neck were clearly visible under his Dojutsu, and an old, centipede-shaped wound ran across his Adam's apple, its edges scorched.
Fang Yu was about to take a closer look, the demonic eyes suddenly turned to him, its oppressive aura like a collapsing mountain. "You little pawn, you have sharp eyes."
Fang Yu remained unmoved, letting the Crow Demon King stare at him with malicious eyes. He had left a V50 Flying Thunder God Mark in the barrier of Chentang Pass. If the other party wanted to make a move, he could easily escape with a Flying Thunder God, and even the Demon Wang Ye would not be able to catch him.
The crows swarmed like a dark cloud, and the sound of their beaks and claws gnawing at the iron halberds was like thousands of steel needles scraping against their skulls.
"Launch Rocket! Pour kerosene!" Zhao Sanmazi's roar was drowned out by the cawing of crows.
The guards frantically tried to light torches, only to discover that these beasts knew how to wet their feathers by skimming the surface of the sea during their dives! They couldn't ignite them at all.
Just as the twenty ships of ironware were about to be completely looted, a cluster of pink auspicious clouds suddenly appeared on the horizon!
A round, plump flying pig was perched on the cloud, and a fat Daoist priest with his chest and belly exposed sat crookedly on its back, his wine gourd jingling at his waist.
The real man let out a drunken burp in mid-air, and the wine gourd tied to the pig's tail crashed into the flagpole with a "bang," spilling the fine wine all over Zhao Sanmazi's head.
"Laozi it!" The old soldier wiped his face, tasting the sweetness of the Peach of Immortality wine on his tongue. "This... this is immortal wine?"
"Oh dear!" Taiyi Zhenren landed on the dock in a Sichuan accent, sweeping away a flock of crow feathers with his whisk. "So lively? Did you know I was coming and put on this welcoming show?"
The flying pig landed on the dock with a "humph," its large belly crushing three bundles of cables.
Taiyi Zhenren tumbled down, his Daoist robe still caught in the gap between the pig's trotters. "Don't panic! Don't panic! This humble Daoist will now perform a 'Descending Immortal' for you." Before he finished speaking, he fell into the pickling fish barrel with a "plop," his two short legs kicking wildly in the air.
"Immortal Master! Immortal Master, save me!" Wang Sanpao rushed over and grabbed Taiyi Zhenren's trouser leg. "Help me!"
"Stop talking nonsense!" Taiyi Zhenren pulled his head out of the fish bucket, a salted fish hanging from his hair. "Your welcoming ceremony at Chentang Pass is quite unique, huh? Crows and salted fish, huh?"
Zhao Sanmazi Xiang Tian: "Those are demonic crows plundering ironware! Immortal Master, hurry!"
"A demonic crow?" Taiyi Zhenren squinted at it. "Are you blind? It's clearly a dark cloud! Look at its shape—"
He drew circles on the deck with fish blood on his hands, saying, "This is a dragon's head, and that's a pig's butt. It's definitely auspicious clouds!"
The guards were collectively petrified, wanting to curse but not daring to, feeling that even an immortal could be so unreliable when drunk.
"Master! It's true! Those crows are harmful monsters! They've taken all the iron!"
Taiyi Zhenren then sobered up a bit, "Oh, I see."
As he spoke, he suddenly became interested, "Make way, make way! This humble Daoist priest will show you his special skills!"
Taiyi Zhenren staggered as he made hand seals, his breath from the alcohol forming a crooked Bagua formation. "Heaven and Earth are boundless, Qiankun borrows the power!"
The magic circle exploded into a cloud of pink smoke with a "poof," from which more than a dozen palm-sized rabbits jumped out and danced a folk dance around the guards.
Wang Sanpao's knife clattered to the ground. "Immortal Master, what kind of magic is this?"
"Oops! I made the wrong hand seal!" Taiyi Zhenren chuckled, scratching his belly. "This is the 'Jade Rabbit Welcoming Guests Formation' that I created last month. What do you think? It's quite nice!"
After this delay, the crows had long since disappeared.
Zhao Sanmazi desperately clutched the last half of the iron halberd. "Immortal Master! Chaoge is going to punish us, Chentang Pass!"
"Chaoge?" Taiyi Zhenren suddenly became serious. "Are you going to forge Demon Suppressing Halberd? Forge a halberd from Pig Iron? Have the high-ranking officials of Chaoge had their heads slammed in a door? This thing is too dull even for chopping wood! How can it suppress demons?"
Zhao Sanmazi cried out, "But no matter what, we have to take the blame! We're all doomed!"
Seeing the expressions on the soldiers' faces, Taiyi Zhenren felt a little embarrassed.
"Oh dear! We let the monster escape! Drinking has led to trouble! Drinking has led to trouble!"
Taiyi Zhenren plopped down on the edge of the fish pickling barrel, the greasy hem of his Daoist robe soaking in the foul-smelling brine.
He let out a loud burp, startling the seabirds on the dock's wooden posts into flight, but his finger suddenly jabbed at Fang Yu in the crowd like a sword. "Why do you have this smell on you, kid?"
Fang Yu's pupils suddenly contracted!
Under the influence of his Asgardian Magic bloodline, he could clearly feel the Immortal Power condensed at the fingertips of the Taiyi Zhenren!
That wasn't a drunkard's antics, but a Soul Probing Spell!
Fang Yu's Earth Grudge Fear Tentacles instantly straightened, and Armament Haki surged beneath his skin like Black Mist. If Taiyi Zhenren made any further moves, he would have to use Divine Protection Barrier Flying Thunder God Technique to escape.
"Immortal Master! The hangover soup you requested!" Just then, Wang Sanpao rushed over with a ceramic bowl, splashing the soup onto Taiyi Zhenren's robe, sending up a plume of sour white smoke.
The experienced man's fingers fell with a "thud".
"Belch--!"
A hiccup, louder than thunder, exploded.
Taiyi Zhenren suddenly covered his mouth, staggered, and fell into Zhao Sanmazi's arms, his breath reeking of alcohol and the spiciness of pickled garlic. "I misjudged!" His eyes glazed with drunkenness, he grabbed Fang Yu's leather armor to wipe his mouth. "You young man... you look like the Beggar's Chicken I burned last year."
The guards let out suppressed laughter.
Out of the corner of his Fang Yu caught a glimpse of the demon- Demon Revealing Mirror slipping from Taiyi Zhenren's sleeve!
When the mirror swept across the hem of her clothes, what was clearly reflected was a phantom image shrouded in Black Mist.
But when the light shines on his face, he appears harmless.
Seeing that Taiyi Zhenren had been helped to the other side, Fang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
This was the first time he had felt the immense pressure from an immortal.
Although this version of Taiyi Immortal looks rather silly and carefree, as the beloved disciple of Primeval Lord of Heaven, he possesses a multitude of magical treasures. Even if Fang Yu were to casually take out just two or three of them, he might not be able to handle them.
The Universe Ring, the Heaven Mixing Silk, the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, the Fire-Tipped Spear, the Gold Brick, the Golden Brick Wind Fire Wheels, the Yin Yang Twin Swords, the Leopard Skin Bag, the Talisman Secret Manual and Secret Techniques, the Eight Trigrams Dragon Whiskers, and so on.
This guy's physical strength is even capable of withstanding Heavenly Tribulation; his power is unfathomable.
Fang Yu didn't want to run into someone of that caliber right now.
The twenty Red Horse Boat of Chaoge, like fish bones gnawed by a giant beast, drifted crookedly at the Chentang Pass dock.
The ship's sides were riddled with holes, and the edges of each hole were stained with the corrosive Crow Demon Venom.
The guards slumped on the flooded deck, watching the Iron Filings floating on the sea reflect an eerie phosphorescence in the setting sun, like thousands of will-o'-the-wisps wandering on the water.
"It's all over, it's all over!" Zhao Sanmazi punched the gunwale, unaware that wood chips had pierced his knuckles.
Wang Sanpao suddenly lunged at the cabin like a madman and pulled a palm-sized piece of iron from the floodwater.
"There are more! There are still some in the water!"
Zhao Sanmazi's eyes drooped, and he complained helplessly, "Is this enough to make up for our heads?"
"Oh dear! Don't be so pessimistic!" Taiyi Zhenren suddenly stood up. "That monster wants to steal the iron, what great things can you mortals do?"
Liu You coughed twice. "Immortal, you may not know this, but in Chaoge, they never care about the process, only the result. The result is that the ironware was robbed when it passed through Chentang Pass. We are all to blame. Losing our heads is a small matter, but we are afraid that our families will be implicated!"
Taiyi Zhenren frowned. "It's just some iron. Is it really that serious?"
With snot hanging from his mouth, Zhao Sanmazi exclaimed, "Immortal Master! Look at me, a dignified eight-foot man, reduced to this state of disgrace. How could it be fake?"
Taiyi Zhenren looked towards the Xiang Tian, "Alright! Enough talk! This old Daoist will go catch that crow right now! Wait here!"
As he spoke, he flew away.
Seeing Taiyi Zhenren leave, Fang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't want to stay by Taiyi Zhenren's side anymore.
In this light, the people from the Jade Void Palace might also be able to see through my disguise.
"We can't stay in the immortal camp for the time being. Are we going to join that tyrannical King Zhou?"
The thought of King Zhou's depravity made Fang Yu want to spit.
However, it also depends on Daji's specific appearance.
He had seen situations where a single film or television work could completely reverse the opinions of netizens.
What about transmigrating into King Zhou and first beheading Su Daji? Then, upon seeing Daji's willow-leaf eyebrows, cherry lips, soft breasts, and alluring eyes...
Screw your world!
Laozi is going to do something to ensure the prosperity of the Shang Dynasty!
That being said...
News of the missing iron quickly reached Chentang Pass.
As soon as the Fish Market opened, the fishy smell was diluted by an even more pungent sense of panic.
Aunt Liu, who sells steamed buns, banged her rolling pin on the cutting board with a deafening roar. "Have you heard? Monsters have stolen Chaoge's ironware. Chaoge will probably punish Chentang Pass."
Widow Hu, who ran the fish stall next door, swung her scaler, sparks flying from the blade on the flagstones. "She suddenly lowered her voice," she said, "If you ask me," she added, "General Li should have rebelled against his mother!"
"Are you courting death!" The charcoal seller's wife covered her mouth, and charcoal ash left two black marks on Widow Hu's face. "Didn't you see the new notice posted at the city gate? Anyone who dares to criticize the government will be beheaded!"
Near the Fishing Port Pier, several elderly fishermen huddled among piles of tattered nets, twisting hemp ropes.
Old Man Wang tapped his Tobacco Pipe against the side of the boat. "My eldest son is a slave at the Halberd Forging Workshop in Chaoge. Last month, he sent someone to deliver a message saying that those Demon Suppressing Halberd are mixed with Human Bone Powder!"
"Pah! You're kidding me!" Crippled Li spat out a mouthful of fish scraps. "If it could really suppress demons, why couldn't it even stop a flock of crows? If you ask me, this ironware is the work of those bastards in Chaoge! I wonder what its purpose is, and whose pockets it's lining?"
At the foot of the garrison wall, a dozen or so refugees were gathered around half a bowl of dishwater.
An old man with a Ji Province accent clutched a piece of millet cake crumb. "Our village has three hundred people. Just to avoid paying two cartloads of iron, the Chaoge Tiger Ben Army slaughtered us to the point that only these people are left." He tore open his clothes, revealing a charred "prisoner" character branded on his chest.
"Be content!" The woman from Bing Province hugged her sleeping child. "My husband was blacksmithing in Yunmeng Marsh. The government said he was hoarding iron slag and hung him on the city gate to dry for three days." She suddenly laughed hysterically. "Guess what happened in the end? My husband defecated and urinated on the city gate, affecting the city's appearance. He was given two lashes and then released."
The cloth banner of the Old Teahouse in the south of the city fluttered loudly in the sea breeze. The old man, who also served as a storyteller, slammed his Storyteller's Clapper onto the Turtle Shell Divination Plate: "To tell you about the disaster at Chentang Pass, the root cause lies ten years ago! Back then, Grand Tutor Wen the rebellion in Beihai."
"Flatten my ass!" Master Wang, the Blacksmith Shop, smashed his teacup. "That's called raising bandits to enhance his own power! Do you know why Chaoge increases its iron levies every year? The swords, spears, and arrows used by the Northern Sea Demon Tribe are all stamped with the seal of Chaoge Workshop!"
Manager Zhou of the Silk and Satin Shop Shopkeeper Zhou stroked his goatee and said, "If you ask me, General Li should learn from the Marquis of the West! What did Ji Chang do? He reduced taxes and implemented benevolent policies."
"Shh—!" The teahouse owner suddenly splashed a basin of stale tea. "There are soldiers at the street corner!"
The crowd scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only the storyteller chanting to the empty seats. "This hexagram shows ' Trapped by Water,' Chentang Pass is likely to suffer a severe blow!"
The morning mist at dawn carried a salty, fishy smell, and dark red bloodstains were visible on the bluestone slabs in front of the Li Jing's Mansion —the bloodstains were from Zhao Sanmazi kneeling too hastily, causing his knees to bleed.
More than twenty guards knelt in a row, their hair wet and plastered to their shoulders, looking like a group of defeated crickets.
"You deserve to die!" Zhao Sanmazi suddenly roared, slamming his forehead heavily against the stone slab.
The impact sent a gust of wind through the air, making the Copper Bell bells under the eaves jingle wildly. Drops of blood rolled down his nose and into his bushy beard. "That crow should have gnawed on his head! It would have saved his whole family from being implicated!"
Fang Yu stood three steps to the right rear of the kneeling formation, his armor and clothes neatly arranged and conspicuous. Yesterday was his day off, and the matter of the lost ironware had nothing to do with him.
Li Jing's Dark Iron Combat Boots rolled over the moss and stopped in front of a pool of still-damp blood.
The general's eyes were dark with the weariness of overwork, and morning dew clung to his stubble. "I have said it before, the demon king's plundering is not something you can stop."
"You are a high-ranking official in Chaoge." Zhao Sanmazi was about to kowtow again when Li Jing raised his boot and pressed it against his chin.
The old soldier's thick beard brushed against the gold scales on the general's boot soles, spittle mixed with blood splattering onto the Coiled Dragon Pattern: "That iron-delivery guy fled to the East Sea this morning! He said he'd file a complaint with the emperor."
Li Jing suddenly bent down, his Dark Iron Bracer fastening to Zhao Sanmazi's shoulder armor. "Listen! Now that I wear this helmet, even if the sky falls, my iron shoulders will bear the consequences!"
Seeing that no one reacted, Li Jing frowned and glared.
"Are you all deaf?" Li Jing's voice boomed like thunder, causing dust to fall from the lintel. "Go back and wash your armor! If the Demon King comes again, we'll have plenty of battles to fight!"
Zhao Sanmazi was about to argue when he saw the general press his thumb on the sword's edge. The old soldier kowtowed heavily, leaving a bloody crescent mark on his forehead on the stone slab. He was then supported by his comrades and staggered away.
Fang Yu turned to leave, but suddenly felt a gaze pierce his back.
Looking back, he saw Li Jing looking at him.
"You were looking for me?"
Li Jing nodded. "Let's talk inside my residence."
Fang Yu followed Li Jing into the mansion and stepped into the spacious hall.
Li Jing sat down in the main seat, gesturing for Fang Yu to sit beside him. Then, his gaze was fixed on Fang Yu as he asked, "When that dog demon was captured, did it mention any powerful forces behind it? I heard it boast that its father was the Dog Demon King and its sworn brother was the Crow Immortal Lord. Is that true?"
Fang Yu's expression hardened, and he quickly nodded and said, "General, you are wise. That beast did say that, threatening to massacre Chentang Pass within three days if it is not released."
Upon hearing this, Li Jing couldn't help but sigh, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes. "My veteran soldiers only thought about how Chaoge would blame them if they made a mistake, but they never expected the monsters' revenge to come so quickly."
After saying this, he quickly issued an order, "Hold the outer perimeter of Chentang Pass at all costs and strengthen defenses to prevent an attack by the demon race!"
Then, Li Jing turned his gaze to Fang Yu and instructed him privately, "Fang Yu, I order you to take care of the dog demon. You are responsible for everything concerning the dog demon, including its food, shelter, and security. There can be no mistakes. Do you understand?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Yu replied, "General, rest assured, I will do my utmost."
After watching Li Jing leave, Fang Yu was about to turn around when a flash of red light appeared in the corner of his eye.
He subconsciously turned his head to look, only to find that Nezha had silently run over at some point.
Demon Orb having dark circles under his Nezha, which made him look like he hadn't slept well, the cleverness in his eyes was still undeniable.
"Hey bro!" Nezha greeted him casually. "I heard you're going to keep an eye on that dog demon? Need my help?"
Fang Yu, intrigued, raised an eyebrow and asked, "How can you help me?"
Nezha chuckled, pulled out a silk bundle from his robes, and proudly introduced it, "Look closely! This is the Heaven Mixing Silk that Master Fatty gave me. This thing is really powerful. It can be used to bind monsters, and it's sure to catch them every time!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Yu's eyelids twitched involuntarily, and he asked with a surprised expression, "You really want me to use it?"
Nezha waved his hand dismissively, puffing out his chest. "What's the big deal! You're my little brother, it's only right for an older brother to help his younger brother! Here, you'll definitely need it!"
Fang Yu carefully took the Heaven Mixing Silk. It was soft to the touch, yet it seemed to contain endless power, and a rich aura of immortality wafted over him.
He couldn't help but swallow hard, secretly delighted. With the help of the Heaven Mixing Silk), he felt much safer. "Thank you, Brother Zha!"
"Thank me for thanking me! Don't be so polite!" Nezha struck his classic pose, hands tucked into his pants. "Laozi hate those monsters causing trouble in Chentang Pass. If it weren't for this barrier sealing me off, I would have wiped out all their nests within a hundred miles long!"
At this point, Fang Yu raised an eyebrow!
Let Nezha go out and clear out all the monsters, then it will be much safer for me to wander around outside.
Hey! That's one way to do it!
(Thanks to Master of Heaven, Celestial Treasure Venerable Tianzun for the 1782 Qidian Coin! Thank you! Thanks(ω))