Feast at Hongmen

  The divine position of the mountain god comes with two magical powers, "driving out ghosts" and "gathering spirits". When dealing with monsters, they are useless, but when it comes to collecting those wandering ghosts and wild ghosts, they come in handy.

  If it weren't for those natural spirits and great spirits that have been tempered by the baptism of thousands of years, and are powerful enough to approach the throne of God, ordinary vengeful spirits and ghosts, although they seem extremely terrifying to ordinary people, would indeed not even be considered a small dish in front of a mountain god with full divine status, divine position, and divine duties.

  For many days in a row, Lin Xu had been running around the ancient battlefields and burial grounds in Mount Huo, catching all the vengeful spirits and ghosts he could find and bringing them back to the Mountain God Temple. These ferocious and confused ghosts were dragged into the Rebirth Pool of the temple, where about half of them successfully transformed into ghost soldiers. As for those who failed to transform... it's better not to ask what happened to them, for the sake of the mental health of our audience.

  Anyway, Lin Xu's dark troop formation finally made up two hundred-man teams. Although the combat effectiveness of these new soldiers is questionable, with the Ah Q spirit of having hair not being bald, Lin Xu was still relatively satisfied with this. After all, even if the quality of the soldiers was poor, having some cannon fodder to use was better than not having any at all!

  The entire army's framework was set up, and the rest of the things didn't need Lin Xu to worry about personally. It's impossible for everything to be done in person, that's how Zhuge Liang died from exhaustion.

  Qiang La Zhuang Ding brought over the yinbing ghost soldiers, all of whom were handed over to the two deputy generals for intensified training. Afterwards, they were quickly pushed onto the battlefield, where their combat skills were further honed through real battles. Even though these half-baked yinbing troops won every time by relying on sheer numbers to bully their opponents, they still managed to win a few victories, and gradually cleared out the demonic forces within a radius of several dozen miles around the Shangshen Temple. As a result of the war, the two newly formed hundred-man squads had shrunk back down to just one squad.

  On this day, Lin Xuduan sat on the main hall of the Mountain God Temple, struggling with the documents left behind by his predecessor and previous holders of the position of Huo Mountain God. Lin Xu sought to adapt to this role as soon as possible. This was a matter of life and death that could not be taken lightly, and while it was nice to imagine a comfortable life, it was not something that could be indulged in at present.

  Suddenly, a dark soldier guarding the gate rushed in quickly, knelt on one knee and held up a red hard paper with both hands. The two deputy generals who were attending beside him walked forward, asked the dark soldier a few questions in a low voice, and then presented the hard paper to Lin Xu's face.

  Lin Xu raised his eyes to look at this red-based, gold-powdered paper product, and suddenly felt very familiar. He took it over and carefully examined it, and as expected, on the front of the red paper were written in bold seal script the two characters "Invitation".

  After reading the invitation written in seal script and four-character idioms, Lin Xu was still confused. He humbly asked his two subordinates for guidance, saying:

  "Who sent this invitation? What does it actually mean?"

  At the sound, General Zhang's face turned dark and gloomy, as if water was about to drip from it, and he said:

  "I report to the master, this invitation was sent by that Mr. Huo from Mount Hua through a little demon, it must be ill-intentioned."

  Suddenly, he heard a completely unfamiliar name. Lin Xu was taken aback and thought left and right, confirming that he had never called out to this guy before. He said suspiciously:

  "What's this guy's background?"

  After listening to Lin Xu's question, Wang Liang, who was silent beside him, coughed softly and took over the conversation, saying:

  "Reporting to the master, Huo Shan Jun is a tiger spirit that has been cultivating in Huo Mountain for 600 years. About 100 years ago, it took advantage of the previous master's long absence and our lack of vigilance, and changed its name to this usurping and unloyal one."

  In ancient Chinese society, there were numerous taboos and avoidances, with a wide variety of names and categories. For someone like Lin Xu, who is modern, these would be completely incomprehensible. However, he did know the name "Huo Shan Jun". The reason for this is very simple: "Shan Jun" is an honorific title for mountain spirits, which can only be used after they have been promoted. It's not unusual for a tiger demon to call itself "Shan Jun", as humans would normally use this title to address a tiger demon. However, the fact that it specifically added the character "Huo" before "Shan Jun" gives it a completely different meaning.

  What is called "daring to be brazen"? What is called "unscrupulous and unbridled"? This is it. The tiger demon's intention to seize power, it doesn't hide at all. Lin Xu couldn't help but sigh, this guy can be said to have the heart of Sima Zhao, everyone knows!

  With a heavy heart, Lin Xu's face also turned gloomy and unclear, nodding and saying:

  "Hmm, they actually dared to openly send an invitation, this tiger demon's power must be considerable, right?"

  Upon hearing this, Bi Jiang, who was always good at handling situations, glanced at his old partner Zhang Xin, but didn't say a word. Zhang Xin, on the other hand, had a straightforward personality and always spoke his mind, without considering Lin Xu's feelings, he bluntly said:

  "I'm sure you're aware, sir, that this subordinate has always been ambitious. For many years, we've heard that it's been recruiting troops and buying horses, and it's even won over quite a few demon kings, so its power in Mount Huo is by no means small."

  After listening to Zhang Xin's words, Lin Xu nodded silently and closed his eyes slightly, as if muttering to himself:

  "I understand now, this is the Hongmen Banquet!"

  At the sound, two deputy generals were stunned together, and then Zhang Xin asked in a puzzled tone:

  "......Sir, what feast did you say?"

  Lin Xu looked at his two subordinates with a hint of surprise, wondering why Zhang Xin and Wang Liang didn't understand what he had just said. At this moment, entangled in the audacity of Huo Shanjun, Lin Xu also didn't think much about it and continued to say:

  "Oh, I mean, what a feast! This is no invitation, it's clearly a declaration of war!"

  "Shan Jun, you have openly issued a challenge to the God of Huo Mountain this time. This move is somewhat rash. You and I have been planning for many years, how can we rush into great things in an instant?"

  After finishing, the usually cautious Beidaifu looked at the burly man sitting in the main seat and couldn't help but sigh and shake his head repeatedly. It was clear that he was deeply dissatisfied and regretful about his close ally taking action without prior discussion.

  The crystal-clear stalactite cave wall, like jade and stone, is now even more dazzling under the swaying torchlight, exuding a majestic aura of gold and green.

  Upon hearing Bei Dafu's words, the tiger demon Huo Shanjun, who was sitting in the main seat, burst out laughing. He waved his hand nonchalantly and said:

  "Old Bai! You're perfect in every way, except for your courage! Hahaha..."

  When faced with ridicule from Huo Shan Jun for being timid, Bei Daifu's face showed no emotional fluctuations, and instead looked extremely calm at Huo Shan Jun, saying:

  "It's often said that the poor don't contend with the rich, and the common people don't compete with officials. Since that catastrophic event 300 years ago, our demon clan has managed to rise to power, but the Heavenly Court is still the Heavenly Court after all. Even if they only use a fraction of their strength, it's easy for them to eliminate demons like us. That new mountain god who just arrived hasn't revealed his background yet, and if there's someone powerful backing him up, your reckless actions will surely bring about a disaster of epic proportions."

  At the sound, Mr. Huo Shan raised his hand and stroked the dense, short whiskers on his chin, saying loudly:

  "The battle plan has already been made, now it's too late to talk about this, we can only take things one step at a time."

  Upon hearing this, Bai Dafu closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Then he opened them again, nodded slowly, and said:

  "It's probably for the best this way, but I'm telling you, Mountain Lord, next time you should discuss it with someone before making a decision, don't act impulsively!"

  At this time, Huo Shanjun dryly laughed twice and said:

  "Alright, I know."

  "Humming——"

  In the Mountain God Temple, Lin Xu and Zhang Xin, Wang Liang, three people faced each other, unsure of how to respond to Huo Shan Jun's provocation. Suddenly, a strange buzzing sound came from their ears.

  The sound at first seemed like the frictional noise produced by a rotating millstone, with a low and powerful tone.

  "What's that noise?"

  Lin Xuan was intently studying the invitation in his hand, wondering what made that sinister tiger demon so confident and daring to make such a provocative move. When he heard this strange noise, he remembered asking his subordinates about it earlier, and two of his generals had looked calm, while the white-haired and youthful General Wang Liang smiled and said:

  "Reporting to Your Excellency, this is the underworld passage opening."

  At the sound, Lin Xu couldn't help but dig his ears and followed him with an incredulous expression, asking back:

  "Are we going straight to hell?"

  The two subordinates below heard the superior's question, which was really out of line, and couldn't help but laugh and cry. Zhang Xinhad a fiery temper, but he patiently explained to Lin Xu:

  "As for your question, Lord, the City God Temples, Land God Temples and Mountain God Temples in various places all have the responsibility of gathering new deceased spirits and sending them to the underworld. You wouldn't have forgotten this too, would you?"

  The topic had reached this point, and the expressions on the faces of Zhang and Wang, the two deputy generals, were quite strange. It was not that they were unreasonable to react in such a way, but someone's question was just too stupid.

  Upon seeing this scene, Lin Xu knew he had shown his weakness and scratched his head in annoyance, ending up with an awkward smile. The knowledge that the former Mountain God had instilled in his consciousness was too miscellaneous and was acquired through violent force-feeding, now whenever Lin Xu thought about it, he felt a headache coming on. Of course, he wouldn't go flipping through it for no reason, only when he needed to use some information would he check it out, usually not feeling any trouble, but unfortunately this time his weakness was exposed.

  He stood up with a somewhat embarrassed smile and said:

  "Since we have guests visiting today, you all come with me to welcome them!"

  "Yes, I obey!"

  The mountain temple of Huoshan is not small in size, but the entrance to the underworld passageway is also not far from the main hall. When Lin Xu and his two subordinates arrived at the back courtyard of the mountain temple, they saw that an ancient well in the yard was boiling like a pot. Accompanied by the sound of silver-white water flowers rising like thunder, carrying foam flying high into the air, several feet high, the air was filled with misty steam, as if shrouded in clouds and fog, and the rumbling sound from the well mouth was even more terrifying.

  After a moment, with a flash of white light, a figure that was almost semi-transparent gradually became clear in the air. Seeing this, Lin Xu and two deputy generals hurried forward to greet him.

  This guest from the underworld was wearing a crimson official uniform, with a black gauze hat on his head and a simple jade belt around his waist. Judging from his appearance, he looked like a man in his early thirties, with a pale face and no beard, his eyes shining brightly, indeed looking like a refined and elegant scholar.