On the thirtieth day of the first lunar month, at night, the yin energy is at its heaviest.
Jin Shanyao stood at the crossroads, a place connecting various villages and military camps. The area around her was filled with paper money, offerings, incense, and candles. Apart from the main road, the rest of the space was occupied by civilians and soldiers.
The Jin Shanyao, and Spiritual Power seeped into the ground from the soles of the feet. The world suddenly turned upside down, the night was swallowed by raging flames, and the figures of civilians and soldiers were all submerged in the fierce battle.
To outsiders, Jin Shanyao simply stood quietly in place, without moving an inch.
But in her eyes, it was a different kind of hell: flames soared all around, and the sounds of fighting and wailing exploded in her ears.
The moment she opened her eyes, a large knife suddenly slashed out from the side, piercing straight into the abdomen of the man in front of her.
The man coughed up blood, clutching the long knife piercing his abdomen, and desperately raised a hammer to smash it down on the Japanese pirate's head. Unfortunately, before the hammer could fall, he was kicked away by the pirate.
Jin Shanyao walked alone amidst the illusion of war when suddenly a sharp, piercing sound ripped through the air.
"Grain, please put down my grain..."
The woman was kicked to the ground by the Japanese pirates. At that moment, a boy of about seven or eight years old ran out of the courtyard, holding a kitchen knife and his eyes filled with hatred. "You dare to hit my mother? I'll kill you!"
" Douzi, come back..." With the woman's scream, Douzi's head was chopped in half by the Japanese pirates, blood splattering all over the woman's face and seeping into her eyes.
The woman grabbed a kitchen knife from the ground and charged at the Japanese pirates like a madwoman, but before she could get close, she was stabbed to death from behind by another pirate.
Two lives, which were just moments ago vibrant, vanished in the blink of an eye.
The Jin Shanyao for over a thousand years, and I personally believe that the struggles between animals are all driven by survival instincts. But seeing the corpses lying scattered inside and outside the courtyard, her feet seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch...
This heinous act of massacring the village was not a struggle for power, but a perverse act of taking pleasure in trampling on life...
The Japanese pirates took out a tinderbox and casually threw it into the haystack of that family. The small courtyard was instantly engulfed in flames, with flames shooting into the sky.
Before long, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance.
Holding a red-tasseled spear, Fu Zhenhai charged into the enemy ranks like a god of war, the spear tip piercing the chests and abdomens of Japanese pirates one by one.
Soldiers wielding broadswords engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese pirates. The battle continued until dusk, when the fighting ceased and dawn broke, at which point the enemy was completely annihilated.
While the soldiers were cleaning up the bodies, they found a little boy in the cellar. He was clutching a dagger tightly in his hand, pale-faced and stiff with fear.
Just as Fu Zhenhai was about to approach, the little boy screamed in terror, "I'll kill you all, I'll kill you..."
Fu Zhenhai raised his hand and tapped the little boy on the neck. As the boy fainted, he held him in his arms and asked in a deep voice, "Where is the village head?"
The air was deathly silent. Then, one of the soldiers whispered, "Dead."
Fu Zhenhai, as if he were used to it, handed the child to the soldier, "Send him to the relief camp in the prefectural city... and tell your wife about the situation." The soldier carried the little boy into the house and placed him with the other children.
With a gentle Jin Shanyao fan, a powerful surge of Spiritual Power shot into the sky, then exploded like fireworks, illuminating the entire night sky, and then fell like a gentle rain upon every village, every corner, and every person.
The figures in the phantom suddenly froze, and the spiritual light tightly enveloped the dead souls. The scene of corpses strewn across the field gradually returned to reality, and countless souls were led to the crossroads by this Spiritual Power.
The ghosts gathered in ever-growing numbers... The dark mass of spirits filled the desolate wilderness, causing the sky to suddenly darken as if shrouded in ominous, terrifying clouds.
Then another surge of Spiritual Power emanated from the living person, instantly shattering the barrier between the human and the ghost.
Suddenly, someone called out in a trembling voice, "Father..."
The old man in the ghost slowly turned around, staggered forward two steps, and replied with a sorrowful and incredulous look in his eyes, "Son... son, is that you?? Why did you join the army??"
"Father..." The soldier rushed to the ghost's side and hugged him tightly, but the next moment the man fell heavily to the ground. The old man was anxious to help him up, but he tried several times and still missed.
He stood there, tears streaming down his face, his voice choked with sobs, "My son, your father is dead... Your father will never hold you again..." The old man's tears welled up instantly, his voice stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
At this moment, Gaya approached a group of ghosts and choked out, "Father, Mother, Sister, Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law, I miss you all so much... Your son is useless, your son is too cowardly to rush out and avenge you..."
The woman instinctively reached out to wipe away Gaya's tears, but found nothing. She smiled and said, "My child, don't blame yourself. As long as you're alive, you're the root of our Ma family. Our Ma family hasn't died out; there are still people living in this world."
Gaya cried uncontrollably. Ever since the day the village was massacred, he had been living in self-blame, always thinking that if he had been braver, he might have been able to kill a Japanese pirate. If he couldn't kill him, even stabbing him would have been better, so he wouldn't have to live in the world like a coward.
At the crossroads, the living and the dead mingled together, without fear or taboo... only the tightly bound kinship and camaraderie remained.
Fu Congzhao stood beside Jin Shanyao, his eyes red-rimmed, silently burning paper money. Suddenly, a ghostly soldier ran over, "Young General, have we driven the Japanese pirates away?"
Fu Congzhao paused, suppressing the bitterness in his heart, and choked out with a laugh, "We drove them away... Last time I chopped off the head of a Japanese pirate leader and wore it on my waistband. It was so impressive."
The soldier chuckled. "Good that you drove them away. I haven't told you yet, but in the last battle I killed three Japanese pirates. Based on my accumulated military merits, I could become a centurion."
Fu Congzhao reached out and lightly supported his shoulder. "Centurion... Yang Dabao, I hereby appoint you as centurion."
Yang Dabao gave him a disdainful look. "As if you have that right. Centurions are all appointed by generals, and generals..."
He looked around as he spoke. Seeing Fu Zhenhai and Fu Zhenkou surrounded by a group of ghosts, he hurriedly said, "Young General, I'll go see. Burn me plenty of paper money; I haven't even gotten married yet."
Fu Congzhao smiled through his tears, "Alright, I'll burn a thick stack of betrothal gifts for you."
As he spoke, he kept throwing paper money into the fire, stack after stack...
The time for humans and ghosts to meet gradually shortens until midnight arrives.
The sound of the Jin Shanyao, imbued with Spiritual Power, clearly reached everyone's ears. "Time's up, everyone line up and head to the Underworld."
As she spoke, she formed a hand seal, and Six Paths golden talismans appeared out of thin air before everyone's eyes. These talismans were different from those of the past; the runes shimmered with dazzling golden light, making them exceptionally eye-catching in the darkness.
The moment the golden light of the talisman dissipated, a ghost gate suddenly split open on the flat ground.
The gates of hell slowly opened, revealing a group of ghost messengers standing on the other side, each dressed in the uniforms of the Fu Household Army, their expressions solemn as they gazed down below.
Yang Dabao recognized them at a glance and exclaimed in surprise, " Fu Shiyi, Fu Shiyi... What happened to you?? You were a gatekeeper when you were alive, how come you're still a gatekeeper now that you're dead?"
Fu Shiyi glanced at him indifferently, "Hurry up and come over here, what are you dawdling about for?"
Yang Dabao sighed, carrying the paper money that Fu Congzhao had burned for him, and headed towards Fu Shiyi.
The Ghost One one, reluctantly bidding farewell to their relatives and comrades, and slowly walked into the Underworld.
At the third quarter of midnight, the gates of hell closed, the ritual of deliverance was completed, and all the ghosts who died in the war and were unable to be reincarnated had returned to the Underworld.
The surroundings were so quiet that only sobs could be heard. Fu Zhenhai and Fu Zhenkou walked to Jin Shanyao's side. Behind them stood soldiers and civilians, hundreds of people bowing to her at the same time.
"Thank you so much Master Jin, for your help..."
"Thank you so much Master Jin, for your help..." everyone said in unison, their voices shaking the tree branches.