The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 674 Recovery
The blind monk's words were unclear, and the sounds were like the chaotic sounds from hell.

In the past ten days, Zhao Lujiao and his Eighth Corps landed on Tsushima Island and slaughtered all the Japanese soldiers and civilians.

Strong men were killed, women and children were abducted to Busan, and those who resisted were forced to jump off a cliff.

I don’t know whether this massacre was tacitly approved by the emperor.

Tsushima Island has become hell.

And this is just the beginning.

The blind monk stood up shakily.

"The time has come, the hour has come—it has come! Now we must make contact!"

The guard pulled the blind monk out.

"Yamedie! Yamedie!"

"let me go……"

That harsh voice was obviously not a human tone.

"I can't stop the giant god... The time has come, I must... I must... bhfg-ngyy fhtlhlh! You will sink to the bottom of the sea! You..."

Fang Shiming's face changed drastically, and he shouted in panic:

"Kill him! Now!"

The guard raised his sword and slashed it down.

Blood mist splattered, the evil monk's head and body were separated, and his bald head rolled twice on the tatami.

His drowsy eyes suddenly opened and stared towards the Tsushima Strait.

Deng Changxiong gritted his teeth and said, "This fellow must be one of the evil monk Hui Ran's gang. Killing him with one sword would be too easy for him!"

Before he finished speaking, there were bursts of loud noises outside, as if tens of millions of war horses were galloping across the Tsushima Strait.

Everyone exclaimed.

Even the soldiers of the Second Corps, who strictly followed military discipline, were in turmoil.

Realizing that something was wrong, everyone looked at each other and immediately went out.

The bodies of the murdered women were neatly arranged at the door. Most of them were from Qi, and there were also some Korean women.

Fang Shiming counted them hastily, more than fifty people. Thinking of what the blind monk had just said, he felt scared and wanted to count again. A hazy light rose in the northern sky.

Tens of thousands of soldiers stationed at the foot of the mountain looked up.

The strange light flashed along a strange route, just like the stars twisting and moving in vain in the starry sky, making people feel inexplicably anxious and uneasy.

Deng Changxiong took out his telescope and searched carefully towards the bright light. Under the turbulent sea, something was faintly moving...
Deng Changxiong was shocked and handed the telescope to Qi Jin. Qi Jin's body was trembling slightly and his breathing was rapid.

The two officers looked at each other and said in unison:
"Something terrible is happening. Go and get the Emperor!"

~~~
At the foot of Mount Zhebuchi, the retired emperor was discussing countermeasures with Taoist priests including Zhang Zhenren.

"When I was five years old, I met a strange man in Wudang Mountain, who taught me the Qimen Dunjia Heavenly Book."

"The Yin Fu Jing says, 'When the heavens send forth murderous intent, the stars shift and their positions change; when the earth sends forth murderous intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land; when humans send forth murderous intent, heaven and earth reverse; when heaven and man unite, the foundations of all change are established.' These three murderous intents are the source of desire. Fame, wealth, and women obscure my hearing and vision. For thirty years, I failed to grasp the secret of the Three Flowers gathering at the top of my head. Only recently have I suddenly realized it."

Master Zhang was overjoyed and asked, "What heavenly book is this?"

"The Second Volume of Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi."

The Taoists were surprised: "Could it be the remaining manuscript of Master Lu?"

"Exactly."

"Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi" written by Lu Dongbin is a Taoist treasure classic. It is said that whoever obtains the second volume can change unpredictably and transcend the mortal world.

Zhang Yixing murmured, "It has more meaning than the dead wood and ashes, less of the earth's springtime. This has fallen into the underworld. People only thought that there was only one copy of 'Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi', and the rest were fabricated. I never thought that Lü Dongbin actually had a second half. Your Majesty is truly destined to be the man of destiny!"

"Do you want to know what the next volume contains?"

The Taoists' eyes lit up.

Liu Zhaosun smiled and said, "The first volume of this book is about inner alchemy and the art of recuperation. The remaining volume contains content about penetrating the inner depths, silently circulating the void essence, summoning gods and controlling ghosts. It is not a technique for becoming an immortal."

The path for the retired emperor to become an immortal is tortuous and difficult, but summoning gods and ghosts, slaying demons and monsters should not be difficult.

Upon hearing this, the Taoists were overjoyed and stood up.

After everyone left, Master Zhang said:

"I've heard that some of the volcanic monks are immortal. They extract their essence from young girls, usually those with unstable minds, to replenish their yin and yang. They also sacrifice some girls to sea monsters. In return, the monks can gain immortality..."

"You mean the Ancient Evil God?"

A sense of uneasiness welled up in the retired emperor's heart.

Zhang Yihang continued:

"Fishing boats often sink around Tsushima Island, and the surviving fishermen say giant octopuses surface on full-moon nights. I heard all this from my master, who was originally a monk here."

The emperor frowned.

"When swarms of krakens appear, volcanoes rise from the seabed,"

Zhang Yixing skillfully opened the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and turned to the middle page.

"Your Majesty, please read this. The Dongshan Jing in the Classic of Mountains and Seas records that 17,000 miles from Kunlun, there is a vast ocean. There is a fish called Heluo, which has ten bodies on one head and sounds like a barking dog..."

Master Zhang took out another ancient book.

"Records of the Grand Historian: The Basic Annals of Qin Shi Huang" records: "Alchemist Xu Shi and others went to the sea to seek a magical elixir. After several years of unsuccessful search and much effort, they feared punishment... The First Emperor dreamt of a battle with a sea god, who looked like a human. ... He ordered those who went to the sea to bring tools for catching giant fish, while he himself waited with a crossbow to shoot at the giant fish... He saw a giant fish and killed one."

"Why did the First Emperor suddenly die after killing the giant fish? Did the Qin State mobilize its troops just to kill the mermaids?"

The emperor stared at the giant octopus-like creature in the illustration and felt his scalp tingling.

"Are you saying that Ying Zheng came to the East China Sea to kill the sea monster?"

"Your Majesty is wise."

Liu Zhaosun became excited at the thought that he was going to do the same thing as Qin Shihuang.

"Has anyone got its body?"

"Your Majesty, you make the mistake we all make—thinking it's like us. It's invisible and formless."

"Can't see?"

"Yes, just like wind and lightning. They are silent and invisible, and can only be seen in their world. This is clearly stated in the Classic of Mountains and Seas."

Master Zhang continued, saying that the author of Dream of Wu Yue did not want to write down everything the Taoist said, because many of the things he said would make the book's rigorous record seem to lose authenticity.

But after listening to him, I have to admit that there is a kind of crazy logic in it.

The following can only use the simplest and most straightforward language to describe the seemingly absurd content recorded by Taoist Zhang: the world where the mermaids (let's call them that) lived was around the Sea of Japan about 12000-20000 years ago.

At that time, there were two races coexisting in this sea area, one of which was the ancestor of the Japanese pirates, and the other was what Zhang Yixing called "the netherworld described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas."

The Netherworld sometimes manifests, their natural state being a powerful "vortex."

The Netherworld, or some kind of interstellar creature, is able to amputate without causing death, and uses this as a warning to humans who resist them.

They could also cause their human slaves to grow cancerous tentacles as a punishment for the Japanese pirates.

The emperor suddenly remembered that when he landed, he saw a cliff carving on Tsushima Island. It showed a person with tentacles growing out of his two eye sockets.

What happened next was ridiculous.

As time passed, the Netherworld was continuously weakened and gradually lost its vitality.

Their slaves became the current Japanese people, so cruelty runs in their blood.

The power of the underworld still exists, but it has retreated underground and to the bottom of the sea, continuing to accumulate strength in the rocks and reefs.

Whenever the regimes in East Asia converge, it becomes active, surfaces and destroys humanity.

It appeared before and after the First Emperor unified the six kingdoms;
When Wang Mang implemented new laws to bring glory to China, it brought a meteorite shower.

Now, the retired emperor is on the verge of conquering Japan and pacifying the world. This power has been awakened again...

~~~~~
Civilization and culture have cycles.

The Faustian West, with all its grand dreams of scientific progress, is heading towards a state of barbarism.

This barbarism will engulf it as surely as the Goths, Vandals, Scythians, and Huns engulfed the mighty Roman Empire and later Byzantium.

While the time travelers have exhausted all their efforts in trying to establish an immortal empire on the land of China, in Tsushima Island, in Kyushu, and in an unknown temple in Japan, a group of disheveled, flesh-eating demon monks are trying to establish another "civilization" and try to establish some kind of connection with the evil god that has been sleeping for thousands of years...
If no countermeasures are taken, the Great Qi Empire will be damaged or even destroyed by them, and the achievements made by the Emperor and his successors will sink to the bottom of the sea, just like the Mayan civilization in South America, or the cities on Easter Island that remain, and be completely forgotten.

The emperor nodded to Zhang and his group.

"I will kill all enemies, no matter who they are or where they come from."

The retired emperor bathed and fasted, then put on Taoist robes, went barefoot and with his hair loose, and ascended the altar.

After the viewing direction is determined, burn incense in the furnace, pour water into the bowl, look up to the sky and recite the Six Ding and Six Jia talismans to exorcise evil spirits.

"The essence of Yangming, the divine power hidden in the heart, restrains the evil spirits, hides the human form, a spiritual talisman, worships the devil without a trace, dare to disobey, the heavenly soldiers go up, command!"

"Evil spirits from the demon stars, spirits from the ancient caves, all look up and listen together, there are six Jias above and six Dings below, harassment is the calendar, thunder is the result, the Supreme One has given an order, ordering me to carry it out!"

·····
After being busy for more than half an hour, the emperor felt thirsty and decided to take a nap. Before he knew it, he fell into a dream...
In a low passage and tunnel leading directly underground, the body was gradually cut by the hard rock.

As the tunnel went deeper, an indescribable pressure from above pressed down on the emperor's whole body.

Liu Zhaosun vaguely felt that the waves were rolling far above his head.

However, the tunnel under my feet was dry and extremely hard to step on.

The touch was very similar to the golden bricks of the imperial palace that he had broken by banging his head against the ground in the Forbidden City in Beijing in the 47th year of the Wanli reign.

Liu Zhaosun felt that the tunnel extended endlessly under the ocean, as if it could lead to another world.

The tunnel was deep and dark, and the ground beneath my feet glowed a strange purple-green color.

In his dream, he told himself that the green light was reflected by cosmic rays from distant outer space shining through thick rock layers.

The tunnel's semicircular ceiling glowed with an eerie orange-blue light.

An eerie light illuminates the carved murals on the tunnel walls.

An unprecedented ocean scene appeared before the emperor.

It was a picture of an entire alien life composed of ocean and sea creatures that could not be described in words.

If the author must help Liu Zhaosun to record the horrific scenes he saw.

It is a magical masterpiece that combines the Dunhuang flying murals, Japanese Ukiyo-e, Van Gogh's masterpieces and alien selfies.

I believe that any normal person who comes down from the ground and stares at the stone murals in front of them for even a few seconds will fall into an abyss of fear and confusion.

Unconsciously, Liu Zhaosun's body gradually floated up, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

After floating for an unknown amount of time, he could finally see the creatures in the tunnel. Those creatures rose and fell with the emperor, drifting forward in the same rhythm.

Worms? Octopuses? Or maybe clams?
The largest one was a head taller than the emperor, with limbs as dense as centipede's, as transparent as fly's legs, and flapping constantly.

They surrounded the emperor, making a rustling sound like nails scratching against glass.

These creatures have no eyes, and their heads consist of a round mouth with sharp teeth, like shark teeth.

The fangs rubbed against each other as they rushed towards the emperor.

The Emperor was furious. He clenched his six fingers into a fist and rushed forward. He extended four fingers and chanted the Northern Emperor's Secret:
"Those who are about to fight, all line up in front and kill!"

A winged worm rushed to the front and broke into two pieces and sank to the bottom of the water.

The worms hovering around seemed to be summoned by something and dispersed.

Liu Zhaosun continued to drift forward.

At the end of the tunnel,

A worm as big as a hill covered several people, and its wriggling limbs covered their faces. Liu Zhaosun's vision was blocked and he could not see clearly.

The terrible buzzing sound made by the worms was like millions of nails scratching on the glass, which made Liu Zhaosun feel creepy.

He flew into a rage again, crossed his hands, pointed his index finger forward, and chanted the Golden Light Divine Art:

"The Mysterious Sect of Heaven and Earth, the root of all mysteries, cultivate countless calamities to prove my supernatural powers! Guardians of the Three Realms, welcomed by the Five Emperors. Ghosts and demons are terrified, spirits and monsters lose their form, kill!

The worm was shattered into pieces by the lightning strike, and a violent explosion echoed throughout the tunnel.

When I woke up, I saw the sky was clear and the sea was calm.

The generals exclaimed, "Our emperor has the ability to seize the fortune of heaven and earth, and the unpredictable skills of ghosts and gods!"

The retired emperor then ordered the army to cross the sea and attack Kyushu.

~~~
At the beginning of the midnight hour, accompanied by a loud rumbling sound, a walnut-shaped volcanic island slowly rose in the Tsushima Strait.

Tens of thousands of soldiers from the First and Second Corps witnessed the formation of Gonggong Island with their own eyes.

The island is estimated to be a hundred feet high and is still growing slowly.

The Sixth Corps' flagship, the Weiyuan, was transporting provisions south of Tsushima Island. The turbulence at sea caught the sailors' attention. Meng Jinbao witnessed plumes of smoke covering the entire sea, while volcanic ash rained down on the warship's bow. Fortunately, the fleet was still far enough from Gonggong Island to avoid any damage.

"Gonggong Island" is named after the ancient Chinese giant god.

Gonggong, also known as Gonggongshi, Kanghui, and Kongren, is said to be a water god in ancient mythology. He was a descendant of the Yan Emperor and the son of Zhurong. He angrily crashed into Mount Buzhou, disrupting the order of heaven and representing the end of the world.

(End of this chapter)