Zhongshan Shenzhu Chi

Chapter 118: The Burst Could End

In the fishing villages near Hongze, more than 99% of the people fled to the city.

Only a few elderly people were unwilling to move. They hadn't left when the East Sea Dragon Clan attacked Yunmeng Marsh, and they wouldn't leave now either.

Three elderly people, leaning on their canes, gathered shakily in front of a courtyard gate.

"Old Wu, are you there?" they called out, banging on the door.

The door opened quickly. Wu Xin's eyes, with their slightly drooping skin and reddened edges, came into view.

"Oh dear, Old Wu, you've just been crying?" one of the more perceptive old men immediately remarked. "If you miss your grandson, then go to the city."

"It's no trouble telling you now that things have come to this. We haven't had any goods to sell for the past six months, and Old Liang has been busy coming to the city to help you find your grandson."

"I've been thinking about it, and from the time your daughter got pregnant until now, she should be thirteen years old."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xin suddenly tightened his grip on the wooden door. After a long while, he raised his hand and used his rough index finger to pull at his eyes.

"The wind is too strong, and sand is getting into my eyes."

"Come in."

Wu Xin stepped aside, turning his back to the three elderly people.

Upon entering, there is a wooden table and several small stools in the courtyard.

On the wooden table were two plates of braised pork, one plate of pickled vegetables, one plate of spinach, and one plate of peanuts.

"Old Wu, you really know how to enjoy yourself! Even in death, you want to die with a full stomach, don't you?" The three old men, leaning on their canes, moved as quickly as they could and sat down around the wooden table.

"Old Wu, didn't you bury three jars of wine underground when your daughter was born?"

"I've already smashed them all." Wu Xin brought out bowls and chopsticks from inside the house and replied coldly after hearing the voice.

"Sigh—" After taking the bowls and chopsticks, the elderly wanted to persuade him again, but when they saw Wu Xin's stern face, they swallowed back the words they wanted to say.

The elderly people fell silent, eating the side dishes on their plates while chatting about the past.

They talked until it got dark.

From the direction of Hongze in the distance, a dark mist swept in, obscuring the sunlight that fell upon them like a dark cloud.

The elderly people who were just lamenting the past collapsed and died after inhaling only a little bit of the mist.

The chopsticks fell limply from Wu Xin's hands.

He struggled to his feet, his head spinning with a dizziness that felt like he'd been thrown into a spinning waterwheel, a dizziness that could kill him, and walked back into the house.

His home was very simple, with little decoration, except for a jar of wine by the bed.

When his daughter was born, he did smash all the wine that had been buried in the ground. But after smashing them all, he inexplicably buried a new jar of wine in the same spot.

At the time, it wasn't clear who it was for; anyway, a jar was buried.

For more than ten years, Wu Xin had never thought about it, yet it had always been on his mind.

"A step too late." With a sigh, the poisonous fog that had enveloped the room was cleared away by the old Taoist priest with a flick of his whisk.

After leaving the city, Mingli headed straight for Hongze.

Unfortunately, when he arrived, the poisonous fog churned on the water's surface like dark clouds. A thunderous roar erupted from the ground, the intense heat inside unbearable even for his sleeves.

It was just the opening match, but Mingli felt as if the earth was collapsing and the sky was splitting apart, an irresistible force of heaven and earth.

Since mediating the fight was no longer an option, he turned to the refugees and began asking them about Wu Xin.

They watched helplessly as the old man was gradually corroded into dust by the poisonous fog.

Master Mingli sighed deeply.

"As the saying goes, the hardest thing for living beings to overcome is obsession. Wu Xin's obsession is the opinion of others, his stubbornness. And our school of 'Shuowang' aims to calculate the laws of the sun and moon's movement on paper, so that the world can observe them—"

"Regardless of size, all paths lead to the same destination."

With a flick of his whisk, Master Mingli put the jar of wine into his sleeve and turned to leave.

Due to the war between Zhongshan and Yunmengze, many people fled.

On his way back to Hongze City, he would save as many people as he could.

*

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Hongze.

The towering black fog completely covered the water inlet.

Occasionally there would be thunderous roars, but the golden color would eventually only become part of the black mist.

As the sunlight fell, the black mist, like oil stains, shimmered with iridescent colors.

"Sulphur Poison, Crimson Poison, Cold Poison, Corrosive Poison, Illusory Poison." Hunxie Qinggua stared intently, analyzing the essence of the black mist bit by bit based on its color.

"The Mysterious Spirit Serpents... I never imagined the Dragon Court would elevate them to a new great demon race—"

"What kind of evil snake? Is it very powerful?" The little fox, sitting on the frog's head, tilted its head and asked upon hearing the voice.

"A race buried deep in the mud, insidious, cunning, and cruel. Whether they have intelligence or not, they are all the same; for their own amusement, they will even abuse and devour their own cubs."

"Ew—" The little fox bared its teeth, its face full of disgust.

It's better to let it die than to make it eat the flesh of its own kind.

"Speaking of which, why aren't you worried about the Golden Ape King?" the frog asked.

"The fact that you're still standing here safely means that the barbarian's life is not in danger." The little fox licked its front paw, its tone showing no sign of tension.

"You're wrong. Whether the Golden Ape King lives or dies, I won't make a move," the frog said, surprising everyone.

The little fox froze abruptly as it licked its front paws.

In an instant, countless similar plots of using someone else to kill someone flashed through her mind.

The East China Sea and Zhongshan fought a bloody battle, damaging the foundations of both sides, while the frog reaped the benefits.

"This is just the opening battle. If I make my move now, what trump cards will we have left when we fight in the Yunmeng Marsh in the future?" the frog explained.

Upon hearing this, the little fox immediately wanted to refute.

Zhongshan is home to more than just the five ferocious beasts—ape, bear, dog, and wolf. Above Sister Lingyi, there is another—

"Are you going to live under Zhu Chi's protection forever?" The frog's pupils, which seemed to be straight lines, looked up and caught a glimpse of the little fox's resentment.

With just a glance, it knew what the fox was thinking.

"Although Zhu Chi is the god of Zhongshan, this world is too big. Even just Yunmeng Marsh is bigger than Zhongshan."

"If you do not strive for progress and only rely on it to survive, then in the great battle to come, you will wither away like fallen leaves before its very eyes."

"That's why it placed those four ferocious beasts under my command and sent them to Yunmeng Marsh for training. That's also why I agreed to let you come along."

"Hmph!" The little fox snorted. "Of course I know these principles, but this is the first battle, the opening battle."

"If the Golden Ape King is killed, I doubt you'll be able to get those opportunists in Yunmeng Marsh to side with you!"

"Have faith in that golden ape. It has walked a painful path, yet it has persevered."

"The essence of the sun intertwines with lightning, twisted into a single force by its fighting spirit. I cannot imagine anything in this world more powerful and fierce than it—"

"Bang!" "Boom!"

Before the words were finished, a thunderous roar erupted from the black mist that shrouded Hongze like dark clouds.

The thunder roared and echoed throughout the heavens and earth, as if the thunderbolts of the heavens were truly striking the human world. The fragments of lightning transformed into countless tiny snakes, igniting the black mist wherever they passed.

Amidst a rain of fire, the Golden Ape King gradually revealed his form.

His body was pitted and covered with sores caused by the poisonous fog. On his forearm, there was a deep wound that revealed the bone.

What it held in its palm was a snake's tail.

"The Mysterious Evil Serpent?" the Golden Ape King said, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

It put the snake tail to its mouth, tore off a piece of flesh, and chewed it with a crunch.

"Is this all the dragons are capable of?"