Demon Emperor

Chapter 5 Kill them all

Ruan Hu sensed something was amiss.

Rumors about ghosts in the palace began to circulate, though it's unclear from whom they originated.

The series of incidents in the palace led many people, both inside and outside the court, to believe that it was the work of ghosts and spirits, or that someone had cast a curse on the emperor or the palace.

The group of sorcerers originally kept in the palace, known as the Hell Path, were even more certain that this was the case.

When they spoke of this matter to Ruan Hu, they even described in great detail the appearance of the angry ghost.

"Everything in the world is governed by spirits and gods. If the spirits and gods are angry, they can bring disaster upon people..."

At first, Ruan Hu didn't pay much attention to it.

After all, they looked like nothing more than a group of shamans pretending to be sorcerers, and they were just putting on an act.

Then he discovered.

It seems that there are still quite a few believers of shamans in the imperial court and inside and outside the palace.

They also submitted memorials to the emperor, suggesting that shamans should be invited to exorcise the evil spirits.

Therefore, a grand exorcism ceremony was held in the palace to worship ghosts and gods.

As soon as it got dark, a grand ceremony began in the square in front of the Zichen Palace.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang!"

The palace maids and eunuchs opened and secured all the doors and windows inside and outside the hall, and then hung up palace lanterns.

After Nguyen Hu arrived and took his seat in the palace, everyone returned to their places, and the palace and its surroundings appeared orderly.

A eunuch strode outside and shouted at a group of shamans.

"Please have a sorcerer perform a ritual."

The term "ghost master" was a name used by the court in Xicheng to refer to shamans.

Ordinary shamans would not receive this title; it was considered an official position.

Also.

Those who possess the magical power to communicate with the gods, also known as those who can invite gods to possess them.

Male witches are called Spirit Protectors, and female witches are called Witches.

This only applies to the area around Xijing. In other places, there are all sorts of different names, such as sorceress, chicken master, sun master, turtle man, shaman, and community leader.

While it may sound like shamans categorize them all together, the differences within the shamanic tradition are actually quite significant.

Many different sects have vastly different languages, customs, and beliefs, and there is no question of them sharing a common origin or origin.

I heard that the previous emperor, who was fond of shamans, would often summon these shamans to consult on matters, and even held ceremonies to worship ghosts and gods on several occasions.

However, this was the first time Ruan Hu had met him.

However, the scene looked somewhat strange.

Ruan Hu, the greatest demon, sat behind the curtains inside the palace and ordered the shamans outside to exorcise the evil spirits.

"Woo!"

With a strange cry, the demon master wearing a long-horned mask suddenly plunged a bronze axe into the altar, shattering the tortoise shell on it.

On the altar, a shaman wearing a mask of the twelve divine beasts knelt on the ground.

Below the stage, hundreds of attendant children wearing red scarves shouted in unison, their voices like a tidal wave washing over the roof ornaments of the nine-tiered palace, before they began running around the altar in the square.

The torches they held aloft transformed into flowing crimson dragons, casting a blood-red hue on the peach wood figurines hanging from the eaves.

in the hall.

Despite the constant night winds blowing from all directions, Ruan Hu still watched with great interest.

As the sacrificial ceremony gradually reached its climax.

The demon master began to shout, "With my Qi Ming!"

Then they saw children step forward and fill the vessels on the altar with grains.

Then, the ghost master shouted again.

"Give me my sheep!"

Even if Ruan Hu had never seen it before, he knew that this was the process of offering grains and livestock as a sacrifice.

However, Ruan Hu did not see anyone bring the sheep up.

With a wave of his hand, the black bird bronze lamp on the altar was suddenly lit, and the flames shot up high in a flash.

Beneath the altar, the red-scarved children held torches high.

Under the blazing firelight.

Beneath the black bird bronze lamp, a young girl gradually ascended the stage, her seven-layered jade-adorned sacrificial robe cascading down like clouds.

The young girl dipped her fingertips in rooster blood and wrote swiftly on the yellow silk, each stroke forming a thunder-patterned incantation.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

At midnight, the sound of the night watchman's drum pierced through the thick fog.

On the altar, the shaman wearing the masks of the twelve divine beasts suddenly turned to stand in each of the eight directions, waving banners adorned with emerald feathers, while the sounds of bronze bells and bone flutes intertwined.

The ghost master suddenly removed his mask, revealing a face resembling withered tree bark.

Subsequently.

He pulled out a sharp blade and slit the throat of the figure in front of the Xuan Bird Bronze Lampstand. The way this ghost master killed someone was as simple as killing a chicken.

The human sacrifice seemed to have been trained from a young age. When it was killed, it sat obediently on the ground without any struggle, in a prostrate posture, with its hands forming a lotus shape.

This appearance makes it seem as if he has truly dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the so-called ghosts and gods, which is both chilling and extremely shocking.

In the palace.

Ruan Hu, who had initially thought it was just a simple sacrificial ceremony, was taken aback and frowned.

"Ok?"

He suddenly realized that the sheep and livestock he was referring to were actually like that.

Upon hearing Ruan Hu speak, the eunuch standing nearby immediately stepped forward and spoke.

"His Majesty!"

"The gods have accepted human sacrifices and will surely bless Your Majesty and protect our Great Sheng for thousands of years."

Ruan Hu glanced sideways at the eunuch, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

Judging from the other party's attitude, it must have been more than once or twice that the emperor held such a ceremony.

Ruan Hu raised his hand, and the eunuch immediately stepped forward.

Ruan Hu said, "Bring that ghost master over."

The eunuch glanced outside and said, "Your Majesty, it won't be over for a while yet."

Ruan Hu's eyes suddenly flashed with a cold light, and the eunuch, startled, immediately said, "This old servant will go and invite him right away." Soon, the ghost master arrived in front of Ruan Hu.

Through the thin veil of the curtain, Ruan Hu's voice was calm.

He asked, "I've heard that the Ghost Master is skilled in physiognomy; why don't you take a look at my face today?"

The Ghost Master felt something was strange, after all, he had seen the emperor many times and had even read the emperor's face before.

Why is the emperor asking him to read faces at this very moment?
However, the Ghost Master didn't ask any further questions, but simply obeyed the order and stepped forward.

His voice was hoarse: "This old man obeys your command."

However, the moment the curtain was lifted and the Ghost Master saw Ruan Hu, his pupils dilated to the extreme.

The ghost master froze on the spot for a moment, his mouth agape, fear bursting out in broken characters from his throat.

"what!"

"ah……"

This time, Ruan Hu did not release the tiger shadow within his body.

But this high-ranking shaman who became the court's ghost master seemed to possess something truly extraordinary, and he could indeed discern something from Ruan Hu's appearance.

However, he didn't have time to say the rest of his sentence.

Ruan Hu suddenly drew the Emperor's Sword from his waist.

The sword's edge swept across the lake like green waves, swiftly and lightly slicing open the ghost master's throat.

The blood spread like ripples, splashing onto the red curtain embroidered with grape patterns.

"Uh...uh..."

The Ghost Master didn't cover his throat; instead, he continued to point at Ruan Hu with fear.

As he lay dying, it seemed he still wanted to say something.

Perhaps.

It's a shocking secret.

Unfortunately, as he knelt down and then collapsed, he never revealed the secret.

"what!"

At this moment, someone inside the hall cried out in surprise.

But as Ruan Hu stood up, draped in his dragon robe, and his gaze swept across the hall, everyone immediately fell silent and lowered their heads, not daring to utter a single word.

At this moment, those outside the hall were unaware of what was happening inside.

Ruan Hu stepped forward, past the corpse, and walked to the outside of the tent.

As the eunuch watched the emperor's retreating figure, he truly sensed that the emperor seemed somewhat different this time.

Ruan Hu wiped his sword, then looked at the twelve shamans wearing divine beast masks on the altar and said casually.

"Kill them all!"

Upon hearing this, the eunuch beside him panicked.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't kill him!"

"The ghosts and witches of this hell realm worship the Great Emperor of Fengdu; they must not be killed."

It sounds like this shaman has a powerful force behind him.

However, Ruan Hu noticed that as he gave the order, many of the guards around him remained motionless, their eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

Ruan Hu's amused gaze swept over them one by one, and at that moment, one of the palace guards suddenly moved.

He shouted, "Kill!"

As soon as he made a move, twenty or thirty people rushed out with him, and eventually everyone followed his orders.

Then the guards rushed out of the hall and killed the twelve masked shamans who were participating in the human sacrifice and had not yet had time to react.

Two of them fled in panic. These two shamans seemed to possess some kind of magic, running as fast as cheetahs.

The captain, who had no bow and arrows, threw a long spear and killed him instantly.

The remaining hundreds of attendants were also taken down by guards in armor and awaited their fate.

It only took a moment.

The captain, covered in blood, entered the hall and knelt before Ruan Hu.

Ruan Hu was not afraid of the other party's ferocious appearance or the blood all over his body.

He reached out and placed his hand on the other person's shoulder armor, feeling the viscous blood on his palm.

He asked, "What's your name?"

The captain, holding a blood-stained blade, knelt on the ground and spoke to Ruan Hu with great emotion.

"His Majesty!"

"My name is Yuchi Chongwu!"

"Currently serving as a Palace Commandant."

Ruan Hu looked at the first person to obey his orders and directly attack the Hell Path Shaman.

"I hereby promote you to Palace Attendant General, and from now on you will serve by my side."

Then, Ruan Hu looked at the other lieutenants and a captain who had hesitated after hearing the decree.

And that eunuch who had always been by his side, whose name Ruan Hu did not even know.

He smiled.

But no one in the hall saw him smile; they only felt as if they saw an evil dragon or a ferocious tiger grinning.

In an instant, sweat poured down their foreheads, soaking their clothes.

The eunuch soiled himself, urinating and defecating, and collapsed to the ground, utterly terrified, as if he were already dead.

A person can kill with just a glance.

A single sentence can cause bloodshed throughout the land.

Even though he was in human form, he seemed to be given a kind of inhuman appearance in everyone's eyes.
-
late at night.

Ruan Hu lay on the bed, and the tiger inside him seemed to have sensed something and began to stir.

A short while later, Tiger went out again.

It pierced through the roof beams, leaped onto the roof ridge, and disappeared into the darkness.

When Tiger returned, Ruan Hu opened his eyes and learned a memory, or rather, an ability, of the Ghost Master.

"Changpo·Jianren".

(End of this chapter)