Yefutidaolu

Chapter 394 Aristocratic Family Group
All around were corpses.

There were noble young men dressed in gorgeous clothes and wearing fragments of magical artifacts, but there were more soldiers and low-ranking officers in broken Demon Suppression Division uniforms!
Their corpses were mostly mutilated, as if torn apart by a tremendous force or pierced by some kind of sharp mouthparts, blending into the desolate environment around them, presenting a gray and withered deathly gray.

But even more numerous than the corpses of the Demon Suppression Division soldiers were... another kind of bizarre remains!
Those were the remains of cicadas of all sizes and shapes!

Some are only the size of a palm, with patterns on their shells resembling tree rings; these are ten-year cicadas.

Some are as strong as calves, with thick shells that gleam with a metallic sheen; these are century-old cicadas.

There were even several enormous cicada corpses, as large as small houses, with countless mysterious and indescribable patterns engraved on their shells, as if recording the changes of time. Without a doubt, these were thousand-year-old cicadas.

These monsters, from the depths of the Autumn Killing Land, had their severed limbs and broken bodies covering the area, mixed with the corpses of human cultivators. Their dark green blood and grayish-white bodily fluids had long since dried and hardened, leaving the ground a mess.

In addition to the chilling atmosphere of autumn, the air was also filled with a strong stench of blood and insects.

This is a scene of utter devastation from a battlefield! Clearly, a massive battle of unprecedented scale had taken place here not long ago.

As Zou Shu watched all this, his fists clenched involuntarily, his nails almost digging into his palms.

He knows what's going on.

This is the plan of those big shots.

The mastermind was none other than the leader of the Cangzhou aristocratic families, the unfathomable patriarch of the Shui family!

That person, who looks like a handsome sixteen-year-old boy, is actually a tenth-realm Qi cultivator who is nearly a thousand years old!
Li Jun's sudden rise to power, sweeping across the outer city of Cangzhou with the might of a Qilin and a Jiaolong, seriously challenged the authority of the local aristocratic families and disrupted the Shui family patriarch's original plan to deal with the infiltration of Li Zoufang's forces.

As the leader of the local faction in Cangzhou, the patriarch of the Shui family would never sit idly by and watch an uncontrollable "peasant" ride roughshod over him, nor would he tolerate Li Zoufang easily suppressing the local aristocratic families.

So he devised an extremely bold and dangerous plan—he wanted to take control of the true master of this ancient battlefield, the three-thousand-year-old cicada that had been sleeping for a long time and whose strength was terrifying, and he also wanted to go deep into the Yellow Springs!

As long as one masters this terrifying monster, which is comparable to or even surpasses a tenth-realm cultivator, and the power of the Yellow Springs, one will have the means to confront the Qilin auspicious beast beside Li Jun and Li Zoufang.

At that time, the patriarch of the Shui family will personally take action to suppress and kill that ninth-realm dragon. Li Jun's power will naturally collapse, and the situation in Cangzhou will return to the control of the aristocratic families!

The fierce battles fought by these members of the Demon Suppression Division, along with the young masters from noble families who were conscripted, were to clear away the obstacles such as the "Ten-Year Cicada," "Hundred-Year Cicada," and "Thousand-Year Cicada" on the outskirts, creating conditions for the Shui family patriarch to finally deal with the "Three-Thousand-Year Cicada" and descend to the Yellow Springs.

Now that the obstacles have been mostly cleared, the people of the Demon Suppression Division have been driven underground and are working day and night to build that mysterious formation, risking being corrupted and killed by the yellow clouds.

It is said that this formation can capture, or at least restrict, the three-thousand-year-old cicada.

Countless soldiers of the Demon Suppression Division were sacrificed to exchange for the right of the aristocratic families to regain control of Cangzhou... Thinking of this, Zou Shu felt a surge of resentment in his chest, and the turbid yellow in his eyes seemed to deepen even further.

He closed his eyes wearily, leaned against the cold rock, and listened to the suppressed coughs and gasps of his brothers beside him.

Two hours later... after a brief respite, what awaited them was still the dark, deadly underground toil.

Back then, when I fought desperately against the Zuo family alongside Takashi, wasn't it all to resist these people?

Unfortunately, the Zuo family is dead, but the Shui family... has changed its ways and become what it is now.

The Shui family... drove their Demon Suppression Division members to their deaths one after another, to use their lives to pave the way to control the "Three Thousand Year Cicada".

How ironic!
In the past, he fought alongside Gao Jian, stirring up a bloody storm in Cangzhou and risking his life to fight against the Zuo family. What was it all for?
Isn't it all about breaking the rules that these powerful families treat human life like dirt and oppress people at will? Isn't it all about fighting for a way to survive for people like him who come from humble backgrounds?

They succeeded. The mountain that had been pressing down on Cangzhou, the Zuo family, was completely overthrown and razed to the ground by Gao Jian's swift and decisive actions.

At that time, Zou Shu naively believed that the sky over Cangzhou was truly about to brighten.

The remaining powerful clans, especially the Shui family, have always been perceived as detached from worldly affairs and practicing non-interference.

While the Zuo family was arrogant and domineering, the Shui family almost never interfered in specific affairs, nor were there any reports of them oppressing the good and kind. They simply quietly guarded their own little plot of land, nurturing their children, like true hermits of the pure stream.

Therefore, after the Zuo family was destroyed, Zou Shu and many others believed that under the leadership of the Shui family, a "moderate" faction, Cangzhou would usher in true peace and development.

However, reality slapped him hard in the face!

After the downfall of the Zuo family, the Shui family not only did not continue their previous aloof attitude, but instead took "active" action at an astonishing speed!

Stepping from behind the scenes to the forefront, their ruthless methods and far-reaching schemes are even more impressive than those of the Zuo family back then!

At first, Zou Shu and many others were confused and puzzled. But as the Shui family gradually took control of the government, transferred the head of the Demon Suppression Division, forcibly conscripted the Demon Suppression Division's forces into the ancient battlefield, and now even drove them to carry out this suicidal mission like cannon fodder... Zou Shu wasn't stupid, and he gradually understood.

It turns out that the Zuo family and the Shui family were never true enemies!
No matter how arrogant the Zuo family was in the past, how they confronted the Shui family head-on, and seemed to be vying for the top position in Cangzhou... it was very likely just a power struggle and division of roles within their "family group"!
The reason why the Shui family could calmly and arrogantly practice "laissez-faire" governance and maintain their aloof reputation was precisely because the Zuo family, like a "black glove," handled all the dirty and tiring work for them and bore all the infamy! One played the good cop and the other the bad cop, together maintaining the absolute rule of the aristocratic families over Cangzhou.

The Zuo family's willingness to play the villainous role was certainly not without its own ulterior motives. They were undoubtedly secretly accumulating power, plotting to one day truly replace the Shui family and become the sole overlord of Cangzhou.

But no matter how they fight, their fundamental interests are aligned—to maintain the overall rule of the aristocratic group. All the turmoil is merely internal strife.

The Shui family may have played a role in the destruction of the Zuo family, and may even have secretly promoted Gao Jian's actions. However, it was by no means for justice, but more likely to maintain the "order" of the aristocratic group, or simply to get rid of a disobedient "little brother" who tried to challenge their authority, and at the same time take this opportunity to rightfully take over all the resources and power left by the Zuo family!

Now that the Zuo family, who did all the dirty work, is gone, the Shui family can no longer maintain their facade of detachment. In order to deal with Li Jun, this sudden external challenge, and in order to completely digest the Zuo family's legacy, they have no choice but to personally step in, tear off all pretenses, and reveal the sharpest and coldest side of their powerful family claws!
"The Shijia Group... the Shijia Group..." Zou Shu silently pondered these four words, feeling a chill run down his spine. It turned out they had always been a tightly knit community of interests, intertwined and inseparable.

The so-called struggle is nothing more than an internal reshuffling. And for outsiders like him, no matter how much they struggle, it seems they can never truly escape this cage.

Now, the Demon Suppression Division—which should have been a sharp sword protecting the region and slaying demons—has become a puppet and tool for the Shui family to realize their selfish desires under the guise of the government's authority!

Unfortunately... he was powerless to resist.

He was merely a lowly fourth-level captain. After the highly skilled and prestigious Lord Sima of the Demon Suppression Division was tricked and transferred away by the Shui family, the entire Demon Suppression Division of Cangzhou was leaderless. According to the laws of the Divine Dynasty, they had to obey orders from the "government".

The Cangzhou government is now completely controlled by the Shui family. Disobeying orders? That's defying military command, a capital offense. The Shui family is just looking for an excuse to get rid of those who disobey.

What else could he do but grit his teeth and endure the deadly pressure from Huang Yun and the aristocratic families, barely clinging to life?

He was thinking about these things, relaxing his body.

The two-hour rest period seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

From the entrance to the passage below, impatient voices of scions of noble families could already be heard urging them on.

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Gao Jian walked across the plains of the ancient battlefield.

On ordinary days, the main tasks of the Demon Suppression Division, besides clearing out the ever-growing undead, are to guard some of the Yellow Springs' manifestation points, set up formations, and prevent the Yellow Springs' death energy from leaking out further and eroding the mortal world.

In the past, although this job was extremely stressful, it was able to maintain a precarious balance thanks to the Demon Suppression Division and the arrays reinforced over the generations.

But now it seems that the balance has been broken.

The fact that it could gather all the powerful figures from the prominent families of Cangzhou, and possibly even alarm the higher-ups in the capital, shows that the unusual activity in Huangquan is no small matter.

Gao Jian concealed his aura, his figure becoming increasingly elusive, like a ghost blending into the environment, and quickly stealthily moved towards the core of the ancient battlefield, the direction where the aura of the Yellow Springs was strongest.

He needed to see for himself what kind of unexpected event had forced these powerful families, who usually schemed against each other, to temporarily put aside their grudges and gather here.

The deeper they went, the more eerie the environment became. A black, viscous liquid began to seep from the cracks in the ground, emanating a chilling aura of death.

The withered trees were covered with grayish-white, spiderweb-like fluffy substances, which were highly concentrated yin energy.

A thin, grayish-yellow mist began to appear in the air, obscuring sight and perception. The mist was filled with dizzying negative emotions and hallucinations.

The sound of rushing water grew clearer and clearer.

Takami climbed up a huge, low hill made up of countless weapon fragments and bones, and looked down.

Across a vast, low-lying area lay a horrifying sight!
A wide river, its waters a deep, murky yellowish-brown, meanders across the land! The water is so viscous that it seems to flow not with water, but with endless sorrow, pain, and death.

Countless blurry, distorted shadows floated on the river, emitting silent wails. On both sides of the river, the mud was black, devoid of any signs of life, only jagged rocks and more skeletons washed up by the current.

This is the Yellow Springs!
One of its tributaries has completely broken through the previous seal and is now rampantly exposed to the world!

“This is really…” Gao Jian exclaimed.

We have to speed up.

Thinking of this, Gao Jian quickened his pace and hurried through.

The thick, chilling autumn air and the occasional yellow clouds seeping from cracks in the ground posed no obstacle to him.

His goal was clear: he headed straight for the entrance to the underground cave he remembered—the huge void that Zou Shu had taken him to before, formed by the long-term erosion of the earth's surface by the Yellow Springs.

That is the nest of the cicada.

The cicadas use the enormous hollow at the source of the Yellow Springs as their nest.

Gao Jian ignored the wandering undead along the way. These things couldn't even get close to him; they were naturally repelled and purified by his boundless, scorching blood energy.

Soon, the terrain ahead began to change. Huge pits and cracks gradually appeared on the flat wasteland, and the aura of the underworld in the air became increasingly intense, even forming a pale yellow mist that was visible to the naked eye and floated like a thin veil.

At that moment, Gao Jian slowed down.

He saw the battlefield.

A battlefield ruin that has just witnessed a fierce battle.

The ground was littered with broken insect shells—dark green slime and shattered limbs were splattered everywhere.

Mixed among them were numerous human corpses, mostly dressed in the uniforms of the Demon Suppression Bureau, with a few noble scions in rich but tattered attire. Traces of battle were everywhere: the torn earth, the charred craters from the spells, and the lingering energy fluctuations all testified to the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Gao Jian's gaze swept over the corpses of the Demon Suppression Division soldiers, his brow furrowing slightly. He recognized the armor as the standard uniform of the Demon Suppression Division.

As expected, the Shui family and other aristocratic families clashed with the native monsters of the ancient battlefield here, and it seems that the Demon Suppression Division paid a considerable price.

He continued forward, the battlefield ruins stretching towards a massive, gaping entrance to a crypt, like the maw of a monster. The closer he got to the crypt, the denser the traces of battle became, and the more corpses appeared. Several enormous, hut-sized, ancient cicada carcasses began to emerge, their shells covered in terrifying cracks and charred marks.

Clearly, the allied forces of the powerful families had to fight hard to barely clear out these "guards" from the perimeter of the underground cave.

Gao Jian's figure flashed, disappearing silently into the shadows like a ghost, watching a group of figures moving slowly and laboriously into the depths below.

They were all wounded, their breaths weak, and their faces were sallow with extreme exhaustion and illness; the whites of their eyes were more or less tinged with an ominous yellow. They tried their best to hold their breath, but in this environment filled with yellow clouds, they could not help but inhale the deadly aura of death.

The leader was urging the people behind him in a low voice, while keeping a watchful eye on the bottomless darkness below.

Insightful understanding.

That's Zou Shu!

(End of this chapter)