Chapter 17: Golden Seal X Demon God

  The iron whip pointed at the gate, and the cold and stern atmosphere stimulated him, as if he were on the battlefield of Fēng Shén (封神) when he was a personal soldier of Chen Qi. The god of death threatened him at any time, and all he could do was swing his sword, chopping and killing, just like that one time when he beheaded the evil cultivator with one knife.

  The left thumb lightly plucked, the long knife at the waist was ejected from the scabbard, and the right hand flashed a lightning-like stroke, with a flash of knife light suddenly flashing.

  Zuo Shan Hu's figure, which had been charging forward rapidly, suddenly froze. A streak of blood appeared on his left eyebrow and extended all the way to his right ribcage. The two iron whips in his hands halted in mid-air, with the one on the right almost touching Tie Jian's eyebrow, but he was unable to move any further due to the tiny distance between them.

  Time seems to have frozen at this moment, and just for this moment.

  Zuo Shān Hǔ's body fell to both sides along the bloodline, with fresh blood splashing everywhere. Tiě Juàn took a step forward and swung his knife horizontally with his right hand.

  "Five households, uh...!"

  The sword light flashed twice again, and the two mountain bandits were still immersed in the shock of Situ Mountain Tiger's sudden death. They did not expect Tie Jian to take advantage of the victory and launch a surprise attack. The two men were actually not far from Situ Mountain Tiger's position, and Tie Jian's pace was not particularly swift, but he was very cunning. He took only two steps and inserted himself between the two men, sweeping his sword horizontally and cutting them off at the waist. The action was so simple and the method so cruel that even Tie Jian himself did not expect it.

  Until three mountain bandits splattered him with blood, he finally raised his head and completely reacted, "Hurry up, go to the county town to report the news!"

  Without wiping away the hot blood on his body, he shouted loudly, calling back all three people in the carriage who had already fallen into a state of terror.

  Oh, yes...

  The three of them came to their senses at the same time, looking at Tie Jian with a mixture of fear and reverence in their eyes, not daring to say another word. They followed Tie Jian as he rushed towards Dongling County.

  "Kill me, Wozhu people still want to run, really don't know life and death!"

  Before the four of them had run ten zhang away, a cold laugh came from not far off. A black whip-like shadow emerged from the forest, like a spiritual snake, and wrapped itself around Tie Jian's neck.

  "Oh no!!"

  The whip's shadow was like a spirit snake spitting letter, in the blink of an eye it had rolled to the front of Tie Jian's face, and coiled around his neck. Tie Jian's expression changed greatly, he who was running at full speed didn't have any way to dodge this black soft whip. In fact, until the soft whip coiled around his neck, only then did he discover that by now, he had no choice but to be helpless.

  "Was he going to die here?!" A thought arose in his mind, just as he was about to give up hope, a flash of sword light suddenly appeared before his eyes.

  "You think you can move my apprentice? You're not even qualified!!"

  It's true!!!

  The black soft whip was struck by the sword light, and there was no flexibility in between. It fell down like a dead snake, while the sword light swung again and shot into the woods where the soft whip appeared.

  "Huh? Eh!!!"

  A dull hum suddenly came from among the trees, followed by a rustling of clothes and a whirring sound that gradually faded away.

  "Run faster!"

  Ming Jian raised his left hand, and a flash of sword light flickered through the forest. A long blue steel sword suddenly flew into his hand. He sheathed the sword and looked up at Tie Jian, "What's going on?!"

  "Something's wrong with the water supply!"

  When the sword came, Tie Kun finally felt at ease. Although this master had lost an arm and claimed that he had already lost 95% of his skills, judging from the previous sword, the remaining bit was enough to deal with the mountain bandits in Wotiger Village. He then calmed down and told Zhou Wangji everything he had seen.

  "Can't believe such a thing happened!"

  Ming Jian was also startled by the commotion on the other side of the Zhang River, feeling uneasy in his heart, so he came out to take a look. Who would have thought that not long after entering Niujiaozi Mountain, he saw Tie Jian and three companions from Che Ma Xing? He only then realized that something big might be happening. Now hearing Tie Jian's words, he slightly put his mind at ease, looking at Tie Jian with approval, "So it was you who led them to Niujiaozi Mountain!"

  "Yes, Master, I saw that the water was surging greatly, but it's impossible to submerge the entire mountain, so I led them to run into the mountains. The horse carriage also made a great effort!"

  "Hmm, like that, you and they return to the county town, report to County Lord, I go ahead and take a look, in case those mountain bandits come up with some other evil plan!"

  "Good!"

  Tie Jun didn't dare to delay, and the three of them rushed towards Dongling County again with their horses. This time, they didn't encounter any obstacles, and after about an hour, they arrived at the foot of Dongling County and opened the city gate, reporting the situation to the county magistrate.

  The county magistrate of Dongling was greatly shocked and initially had some doubts. It wasn't until Tie Jian explained that the sword had gone to receive the refugees from Zhouwang Village that he half-believed it. He then put on his clothes, woke up a few guards, and ordered them to investigate the situation. Tie Jian didn't trust them, so he followed along as well. The three remaining partners at the carriage station returned to prepare for their journey. After half an hour, several more robust porters from the carriage station passed through the Niujiao Mountain Pass and entered Dongling County. Only then did the county magistrate fully believe it and immediately sprang into action. He ordered people to clean up the abandoned school field in the west of the city to accommodate the refugees from Zhouwang Village. In front of the school field, two large pots were set up to cook porridge. Since there weren't too many people, only about a hundred or so, it wouldn't waste too much food. At Tie Jian's suggestion, another pot was set up in the county seat, and many medicinal herbs for treating fever were purchased from the Wanghe Medicine Shop and added to the pot.

  When everything was almost settled, it was already late in the morning, and the sun had reached its peak. A report came from outside the city that the people gathered by King Zhou had entered the county town through the east gate.

  This night's journey was exhausting, and being drenched in the rain didn't help. Many people were already listless and had fainted, but fortunately, Iron Gall had foreseen this and had invited several doctors to be present, which managed to bring the situation under control.

  "Master, what's going on?!"

  Ming Jian did not return with the refugees, but instead stayed behind to ensure their safety. It wasn't until they were all settled that Tie Jian saw Ming Jian hurrying back from outside the city, his face pale and several wounds on his body. He was even a bit unsteady on his feet. Without thinking, he rushed forward and supported him with one hand, "Master, what's wrong?!"

  "It was nothing, just a slight collision with the demon god in the river!" Ming Jian said. In this short period of time, Ming Jian's complexion turned even paler.

  "Hurry and help me back, the toxic gas is now somewhat difficult to control!"

  Tie Jun didn't dare to slack off, and helped him back home. As soon as they arrived, Ming Jian fell to the ground, starting to meditate to force out the poison. At first, his breathing was calm, but gradually, a sound like rushing waves came from his body.

  The gurgling sound of the rushing water grew louder and louder, with waves of gray gas forming around his body along with the sound, emitting a strong smell of blood.

  Tie Jun knew that the toxins in his body were being forced out, and he hastily retreated two steps. After a while, the sound of the tide was sometimes loud and sometimes small. Ming Jian's complexion gradually eased, and the gray toxic gas around him condensed into one entity under his qigong control. Finally, it turned into a thumb-sized poison bead, which was grasped in Ming Jian's hand.

  "What a troublesome poison! Luckily it took effect quickly, otherwise I would have really fallen this time!!"

  Playing with the grayish-black poison bead, Ming Jian let out a breath and said to Tie Jun, "This time, you did well, saving so many people, it's also a great merit!"

  "I just did what I should have done, after all, I am the county lieutenant of Dongling, and Zhouwangji is also a subordinate territory of Dongling County!"

  "Not bad, this is what you should do!" Ming Jian stood up, "As a county lieutenant, an official appointed by the imperial court, one needs to have sufficient courage and responsibility. It seems I didn't misjudge you!!"

  "Master, what exactly happened with the Zhang River? There was no wind and no rain, so how did it suddenly flood like this? And what's going on with that demon god you mentioned earlier?"

  Although it had already been confirmed from what Mingjian said what happened, he still asked Yang through Mingjian to confirm again.

  "A powerful demon god has appeared in the waters of Zhang, and it seems he is going to occupy the waters. This is going to be a big trouble!!"

  It's indeed a demon god!!

  Tie Jun sighed silently in his heart and completely sank down.

  So-called evil spirits are those who occupy a mountain or a place, obtain the golden seal of the local god, and proclaim themselves as gods.

  Just like Xie Jiucheng, the City God of Dengzhou, he was a demon god. He first defeated Chen Jiu and took away his golden seal, then spent thousands of years defeating the surrounding counties one by one, finally taking the golden seal of the City God and becoming the legitimate City God of Dengzhou Prefecture, enjoying the incense offerings from the people of Dengzhou Prefecture for over a thousand years. Mortals never suspected anything, or even if they did, they wouldn't care about these ghostly affairs as long as Xie Jiucheng's actions conformed to the rules of a City God and he did what he was supposed to do.

  The Zhang River is also ordinary.

  According to the divine treaty of that year, the most basic one was that the earth had its land, the mountain had its mountain god, the river had its river lord, and the water had its water god. However, as time passed by, 18,000 years have passed, many places' mountain gods, water gods, and land gods have all appeared to be vacant. Furthermore, with geographical changes, the seas have transformed into mulberry fields, and between heaven and earth, it is no longer the same as it was 10,000 years ago.

  A river ten thousand years ago, now it may have become a field. A field ten thousand years ago, now it may have become a mountain peak. A mountain peak ten thousand years ago, who knows if it has already lain at the bottom of which ocean?

  This is also the reason for the collapse of the ancient Shang Dynasty's system of gods.

  Yin spirits are unable to have a significant impact on the Yang realm, no matter how strong their divine powers may be. Perhaps they can change the direction of a river's flow or move a mountain from one place to another, but this kind of magical power and skill cannot be used casually. Every time it is used, not only does it consume a large amount of incense fire energy, but in most cases, the moved mountains and rivers must also be put back in their original places. Just like when Sun Wukong was trapped under several large mountains on Lotus Mountain during his journey to the West, didn't those mountain spirits eventually put the mountains back in their original positions?