Beichen Sword Sect's Headmaster's Secret Records

Chapter 351 Sealing the Demon of West Mountain
The second stop is the Demon-Sealing Ground in the Western Hills. We need to check if the stone tablets and ropes sealing the mountain path are intact. We also need to pick leaves from the old locust tree by the roadside to complete the task.

However, the eagle scouts of Lingwu's vassal army were all elites skilled in the Gangquan style. Charging into battle in armor was merely a warm-up, and they didn't need to rest at all. Besides, everyone was in a hurry to snag a prize in the brothel, so they naturally quickened their pace. They marched briskly towards the Western Hills.

Perhaps it was because he had just shown off his skills that he had piqued the interest of these seasoned soldiers, as two of the gossipy ones came over to chat with Huangfu Yi.

"Brother Bai, judging from your accent, you're also a native of Genzhou, so you're one of us."

My name is Guo Aman, and his name is Sun Tiezhu. We're just missing someone who can draw a bow. Interested in teaming up?

"Team up?"

Huangfu Yi could tell that the two people in front of him were not much different in age from himself. Well, they must be almost thirty, but at least they weren't old men like Old Feng.

Guo Aman was bald and scarred, stocky and burly, carrying a bundle of dough turbans on his back, a copper hammer on his shoulder, and a horizontal sword at his waist. He was dressed in a wolfskin coat, looking just like a barbarian. It was him who had just been slapped by the tiger, but dusted himself off and got up completely unharmed.

Sun Tiezhu, on the other hand, was tall with long arms and dark skin. His temples were bulging, and he held a spear that was thirteen feet long. He was covered in full iron armor and weighed about twenty or thirty pounds. He looked like an honest and kind farmer, but he was the one who had silently sneaked around and poked the tiger in the butt earlier.

Huangfu Yi glanced over and saw that Old Feng wasn't paying any attention to this side either, clearly not caring at all, so he asked,

"Aren't we already in a team?"

Guo Aman said,

"Hey, it's not like it's your turn every day anymore. Patrolling the Demon Sealing Land is such a tough job, and we only get to rotate every seven days. Usually, we just let the eagles go out hunting."

The three of us can team up to hunt monsters. We'll be the vanguard, and when the caravan arrives at the end of the month, we'll exchange the money and split it equally.

Huangfu Yi knew immediately that this guy was up to no good.

His words sounded fair, as if everyone faced similar risks, and hunting monsters together would naturally result in an equal share of the spoils. But in reality, he claimed to be a vanguard, yet he could stay hidden with his shield up the entire time. Monsters aren't stupid; why would they specifically target him? On the contrary, the one who drew the bow and shot arrows would definitely be targeted, especially since arrows cost money.
As for Sun Tiezhu, he's no simpleton either. Don't let his honest and unassuming appearance fool you; Huangfu Yi saw clearly that the blood-stained clothes the tiger had taken off were secretly picked up by him in the chaos. Now, are they being divided up?

"Alright, I'm new here, so please take good care of me, Brother Guo and Brother Sun!"

However, Huangfuyi readily agreed, thinking it didn't matter since he would only stay for two days and then leave.

Guo Aman beamed with joy.

"Good brother, you're really straightforward. I can see that you're quite capable at such a young age, and you're also very handsome. You're definitely not someone to be underestimated. When you become successful in the future, you'll have to give us a hand!"

"Brother, you flatter me. Bai Yi is just a country bumpkin who doesn't know any rules. He's afraid of offending anyone, so he'll have to ask you two for advice."

Guo Aman, seeing that this kid was quite savvy, also patted his chest and boasted.
"It's alright. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. I, Guo Manzi, have traveled all over the country and seen all sorts of things!"

Huangfu Yi's eyes lit up.
"Oh? Brother, have you been to the Three Enclosures? Have you seen the capital region? How big are the Twenty-Eight Mansions?"

Guo Aman: "Uh...no."

Huangfu Yi thought for a moment,

"Have you ever been to Yedu? There must be a lot of people there, right?"

Guo Aman: "What's so great about that lousy place..."

Sun Tiezhu grunted.
"You want to go to Yedu?"

Huangfu's righteous way,

"My father seems to have fled from Yedu to the north. If I have the chance, I would naturally like to go back and take a look."

Sun Tiezhu said "Oh" and then shut up.

Guo Aman shook his head and said,

"Brother Bai, it's not that I'm trying to spoil your mood, but ever since the Heavenly King's army marched into Henan, they've been bogged down in a bitter battle in the capital region and have no time to look north. Genzhou is already in complete chaos."

Nominally, everyone obeys the Heavenly King's decree and follows his orders, but in reality, they are all independent warlords, fighting and killing each other. Demons and evil cults are rampant everywhere, and the demons of the demonic sects and cults run rampant, doing whatever they want. It is no longer the world that the celestial palace once ruled.

Our Lingwu Town is on the front line of resisting the demon tide. It seems dangerous, but it's actually not too bad. After all, this wretched place doesn't have any special products besides demons and monsters. Other vassal states won't be stupid enough to stab us in the back.

The annual demonic invasions only occur in autumn and winter, when the weather is freezing cold. Even if a powerful demon were to emerge, one only needs to hold out for a while, and a sword immortal will surely fly down from the heavens to lend a helping hand.

But it's a different story in the south. Those military commanders fought year after year, attacking every year, and waging war every month, killing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, leaving fields strewn with white bones. Yedu had already been slaughtered countless times. What would happen if you went there? There would be no one left.

I think it's better to stay hidden in Lingwu and be safe.

Upon hearing this, Huangfu Yi was speechless. He couldn't believe that Lingwu, a place rife with death, could be considered safe. He then pressed for more information.

"I heard that King Shi Jiao once had hundreds of thousands of troops from the Kan Kingdom, sweeping across the north and charging into the Central Plains. How come he's still stuck in Henan after all these years?"

Seeing that the young man was humbly seeking knowledge and seemed genuinely curious, Guo Aman couldn't help but chuckle.

"You really are from some remote mountain village, haven't you? You've never seen the world. Don't you even know about the bloody battle of Suiyang back then?"

"Suiyang? Where?"

Guo Aman explained,

"Suiyang City is located in the Eastern Kingdom. It is a hub for grain transport and a shield for the southeast. The taxes and grain of the Zhen and Xun vassal states must be transported through this place to Luoyang. Back then, the Heavenly King led 100,000 iron cavalry to conquer the south. He broke through Yingzhou in three days, defeated the hundreds of thousands of Zhenzhou troops, swept across the Central Plains, and his army was heading straight for Suiyang."

They thought they could conquer the Jianghuai region in one battle, and that the entire world would fall to the Shi family. Who would have thought they would suffer a crushing defeat at the gates of Suiyang, only managing to capture the city after a ten-year grueling struggle!

Huangfu Yi was startled upon hearing this.
"W-what? Ten years!? What kind of fortified city is this? Where did these powerful soldiers come from?! How could they possibly hold out for ten years!?"

Guo Aman shook his head and analyzed.
"That was certainly beyond human capability; this time, it was the people of the Demonic Sect who made the move. I heard they set up some kind of Ten Deadly Formations to block the Heavenly King's army. The people of the Demonic Sect also assisted the Immortal Palace, launching a coordinated attack and cutting off supplies from Hebei, which is how they managed to trap the Heavenly King's army in Henan."

Although the Heavenly King's army ultimately prevailed, slaughtering all the soldiers and civilians in the city, razing more than forty cities in the Eastern Kingdom to the ground, and wiping out the Central Plains, the Heavenly King's army also lost its elite troops and its morale was broken. From then on, it went from prosperity to decline, allowing Sanyuan to catch his breath and stabilize the battle line.

From then on, the chaos of the world deepened, with no one able to gain the upper hand. Warlords vied for supremacy, and the fighting continued incessantly; it was anyone's guess how long this conflict would last.

Sun Tiezhu chimed in.
"However, that Lord Zhang, the governor of Suiyang, is truly a remarkable figure. If he hadn't held on so tenaciously, drawing the attention of the world, how could he have provoked the Demonic Sect and the Demonic Cult to join forces and ultimately turn the tide?"
It's a pity that such a talented person was merely a city garrison commander. If he had been one of the Three Dukes back then, would we have faced this calamity of the stone dragon? There are countless heroes in the world, but the Three Dukes failed to utilize them, leading to this disaster for the common people.

“Suiyang…”

Huangfu Yi was momentarily surprised, but still somewhat puzzled.

"But I seem to have heard that the Demonic Sect helped Shi Jiao and had many followers in his army. Why would they suddenly set up an array in Suiyang to block him?"

Guo Aman rolled her eyes.

"Who knows? I'm not a member of the demonic sect."

Huangfu Yi was curious.
"And then what? What's the outcome now? Suiyang only held out for ten years, right? What about the remaining fifty years? How will it turn out then?"

Guo Aman picked his nose.

"Who knows? I heard from a merchant from the south that Shi Jiao went mad after losing the battle in Suiyang. He massacred people everywhere, and when he went crazy, he even killed his own sons and grandsons. He also appointed those evil demons, heretics, monsters and beasts as officials, causing the people to live in misery. Everyone rose up against him."

That guy went mad, and his military leaders were left without a commander. But people still need to eat, right? So they started acting independently, waging wars everywhere, seizing territory, establishing their own independent regimes, and causing unrest throughout the land.

Meanwhile, the Three Kingdoms, in their efforts to quell the rebellion, engaged in relentless warfare, imposing exorbitant taxes that forced the people to flee their homes. Rebellions broke out across the land, plunging the twelve kingdoms into chaos. Mutinies erupted daily, and rebellions were commonplace – a complete mess.

"Alright, you lot, shut up! How much do you earn in a year? You have time to pontificate about other people's lives!"

Old Feng snorted coldly, interrupting their discussion.

"Hey Bai, aren't you supposed to be very capable? Go and see what's going on." Huangfu Yi reacted, carrying his bow and running to the front of the group. Looking into the distance, he saw that the Demon Sealing Land in the West Mountain not far away was faintly emitting bursts of purple light, like fireworks spewing out from the depths of the mountains, which the scouts could see from afar.

"what happened?"

"If I knew what happened, would I be asking you?"

Old Feng glared at him.
"Since you're so powerful, and you even managed to get rid of the Skeleton King, then you can go."

"Reach halfway up the mountain, check if the mountain path is still sealed, and gather a handful of leaves to report back."

"Uh, me going?"

Old Feng chuckled and turned his head to say...
"You asked them who would like to go with you?"

No one answered; even Guo Aman and Sun Tiezhu shrank back and remained silent.

Huangfu Yi sighed inwardly, but he knew that mortals would inevitably be afraid when encountering demons, and going along would be of little use, only resulting in unnecessary deaths. So he nodded.

"Alright, I'll go. Please rest for a moment."

Huangfu Yi immediately set off, heading straight for the western mountain.

The mountain wasn't very high, just a hill, maybe thirty feet high at most. Even an ordinary person could climb it in a quarter of an hour. Huangfu Yi had already crossed the snow-capped peaks of Yinshan, so the Western Mountain was no problem for him. He quickened his pace and reached the mountainside in no time. He immediately saw the stele that Old Feng had mentioned.

It's already been smashed to pieces with a slap.

Huangfu Yi examined the marks on the ground and deduced that the person was probably not very tall, but his skill was quite remarkable. He was capable of splitting mountains and rocks, and had even shattered the stone tablet into pieces, making the inscription illegible. The red rope used to block the road was also lying on the ground, and the locust tree by the roadside that was tied with the rope had been uprooted.

Huangfu Yi frowned for a moment, looking up at the strange light blooming on the mountaintop.

This situation clearly indicates that someone has broken the seal and forced their way into the Demon-Suppressing Land of West Mountain. And judging by the soaring demonic light, the time for the demons to break free of their seal is likely fast approaching. However… perhaps it's still not too late?
After all, there was no blood on the monument, and the rope wasn't broken, was it?

This wasn't Huangfuyi deliberately being argumentative; he simply knew that magical arts were sometimes designed in such an awkward way.

You can certainly rely on your supernatural powers and superior skills to force your way through the trap set by the immortals, but as long as you never break the spell, you will never have passed this test.

Therefore, there might still be a chance for the Demon-Sealing Formation in Xishan to turn things around at this point.

So Huangfu Yi made a quick decision, picked up the red rope with a pebble tied to one end and a branch tied to the other, put it in his pocket, and hurried towards the top of the mountain.

Huangfu Yi wasn't trying to be a hero; he was just not stupid.

It's not like anything bad happened earlier or later, but tonight, one after another, demons broke free from the tribulation and evil spirits were reborn. Isn't this obviously planned?

Didn't that master from the Emei Sect say to my face that eight evil spirits are about to ascend to demonic status and he can't get away from them? He's been firing talisman arrows for an hour now, but they haven't shown themselves yet.

Clearly, the monsters weren't all fools; they knew that with such a powerful deity guarding Lingwu, they would never have a chance to rise again. Therefore, they wanted to take advantage of the old Taoist's confusion tonight to launch a coordinated attack and break free from the seal.

How could Huangfu Yi possibly comply with their wishes?
After all, the immortal said that as long as the rope didn't break, everything would be fine, and Huangfu Yi believed him.

This wasn't because he was confident in himself, but because he was confident in the Emei Sect's ability to suppress three thousand demons.

What's more, my parents died at their hands.

Demons must all die.

A myriad of thoughts rushed through his mind like lightning and bubbles. When he came to his senses, the boy had already reached the top of the mountain.

Climbing to the treetop and peering out, one can immediately see a cave on the mountaintop, with an altar standing at the entrance. The altar is filled with rising Taoist energy, clearly sealing off the cave entrance.

There was a furry monster with sharp claws, a blue face and a big head, red eyes and fangs, and a demonic aura emanating from it, which was digging in the ground with its claws.

They're clearly used to taking shortcuts; they can't get through the main gate, so they're trying to dig a hole in the side.

Huangfu Yi drew his bow and aimed the arrow at the monster's back, calculating the distance. Just as he was about to release the arrow, a thought suddenly struck him.

The size is wrong; this monster is too tall. The marks on the mountain path weren't left by it.

So Huangfu Yi put away his bow, held his breath, and looked down at the tree again...

found it.

Following the shadow cast by the ghost's feet, one could see at the end of the shadow a small flag planted in the ground. The flag was covered with runes and incantations, and the ground was covered with a dense web of talismans and incantations. Although it formed a yin-yang shape when viewed from above, the runes were clearly drawn with blood, a quintessential evil cult technique. The soaring demonic light emanated from within the array of flags!

Within that magic array, not far from Xiaoqi, there was a boy dressed as a Taoist acolyte, sitting cross-legged at the eye of the Tai Chi array, facing Xiaoqi in a yin-yang opposition.

The young Taoist priest was deathly pale, his eyes tightly closed, his hands forming hand seals and chanting incantations, his mouth uttering foul sounds. A wisp of black energy was moving across his forehead, as if parasites were infesting his skin, as if he were casting some kind of magic. Demonic black winds continuously emanated from above his head, causing the small flag to flutter loudly.

No need for further discussion!

Huangfu Yi drew his bow to its fullest extent, raised his hand, and shot an arrow straight towards the sky!

As the Daoist fire ignited, arrows fell like stars! One arrow struck the formation squarely, igniting the small flag!

"Ow—!"

The green-headed demon screamed and collapsed to the ground, its entire body suddenly bursting into flames!
"puff!"

The young Taoist suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze turning bloodshot. He spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, turned his head, and glared at the figure that was already rushing towards him! It was upon him!
"die!"

"Ping!"

"what!"

The knife broke!

Huangfu Yi swung his blade, clearly aiming for the Daoist boy's neck! However, a golden light suddenly exploded, shattering the broken blade into fragments that flew out of his hand!
"Drink!"

Even in the face of death, the young Taoist priest fought with all his might! Suddenly, he made a hand seal, condensed his Qi, let out a furious roar, and thrust out with a finger!
"boom!"

This seemingly ordinary finger strike possessed unparalleled skill and immense power! With a single blow, it struck like iron and gold, piercing through Huangfu Yi's iron armor! It tore through his ribs and pierced his bones! It even punctured a hole in his lung! It sent him staggering back three steps!

"die!"

However, Huangfu Yi wasn't about to let his opponent catch his breath! Without retreating or dodging, he pounced! With a shoulder charge, he sent the young Taoist boy staggering! He pulled out a red rope from his robes and twisted it around the boy's neck! Then he slung the boy over his shoulder! The sixteen powers of his Gangquan Fist were fully unleashed!

"Giggle ahhh!"

Caught off guard, the young Taoist was suddenly grabbed by the neck and hoisted upside down! His feet weren't on the ground, and he couldn't lift himself! He flailed his arms and legs, struggling desperately! With a flurry of blows, he shattered the armor on Huangfu Yi's back and fractured his bones! He was beaten until blood gushed from Huangfu Yi's mouth and nose!

"Die!"

"Gahhh!"

However, the Sixteen Forces Fist was not to be trifled with! The red rope tightened around the boy's neck in an instant, turning into a bloody slit! With a crisp "crack!" a sound rang out, and blood gushed out as his head was ripped off!
Huh! They actually strangled this young Taoist to death on the spot!
"Huh...huh...huh..."

Huangfu Yi's heart pounded wildly, and he collapsed to the ground. He looked at the headless Taoist boy in his hand, the small flag that had burned to ashes at his feet, and the monster that had vanished into thin air.

Then he raised his head and looked at the intact cave entrance. On the altar, the white jade-carved female swordswoman, holding a sword and flying in the sky, was looking at him from afar, as if nodding and smiling. He breathed a sigh of relief, turned over and lay down in the pool of blood, panting heavily.

survived.

(End of this chapter)