National Fate: Eight Yin Generals Guard China from Their Sleeping Coffins

Chapter 37: Eight People Sitting Around, Recounting the Past of Their Sect

The wind and sand howl across the Northwest desert.

In the fire, the dry willow branches crackled and popped as they burned.

Ji Yuan poked at the broken wooden stick in the charcoal fire a couple of times.

Mars rises.

"The desert winds and sands are bone-chilling."

Ji Yuan looked at Guan Shan and said calmly, "Senior brother has been over there for twenty years, and his sword is still so gleaming."

Guan Shan tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, then reached out to wipe the wine stains from his chin.

"Sharpening the sword in the wind and sand, forging the iron to temper the heart. There are many ancient battlefields in the Northwest, and the evil aura overflows. So I set up a blacksmith shop in the windy spot, and every day I swing the hammer dozens of times to cut off some of the leaking evil spirits. I've been doing this for twenty years, and I can't stop."

Ma Ling pulled up the wide sleeves of her Taoist robe with one hand.

"In the deep mountains and dense forests of the southwest, the sun is rarely seen throughout the year."

Ma Ling's voice was gentle. "Young people from the village go out to work, and those who die there need to be brought back to their ancestral home. I take on the job of transporting corpses, and on the way, I also help to suppress the centuries-old miasma in the forest. I'm so used to walking at night that my eyesight is actually a bit blurry when I see living people."

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on the sand, repeatedly rubbing the hemp rope on his knees with both hands.

"The water towns of Jiangnan are crisscrossed by a dense network of rivers and canals."

Jiang Chen raised his head, his voice dry and hoarse. "The dark river beneath the water hides a lot of filth. Drowned people can't just stay at the bottom forever. I dive down to retrieve corpses and drag up those evil spirits that I can't suppress. In twenty years, I've gone through seven ropes, and finally, I've managed to clear the bottom of the river."

Ji Yuan's lips curled up slightly after hearing this.

"Nanjing has many old stories. Kings, generals, and commoners alike, all of them are now buried together in the ground."

Ji Yuan pulled a handkerchief from her bosom and covered her mouth, coughing lightly twice. "I make paper figures in the old book alley and burn them for the dead to settle their grudges. But after burning so many paper figures, I've gotten some yin energy, which has caused me to develop a cough."

The old beggar scratched his messy hair and chuckled.

"Deep in the mountains of Southwest China, there are many poisonous insects. I begged for food all the way, swallowing those poisonous insects that had grown powerful. When begging, you don't have to be picky about food."

The blind old man plucked the strings, producing a short, muffled sound.

"In the water towns of the southeast, wandering ghosts cannot understand human language. So I play tunes for them, and after they've listened, they can continue their journey without delay."

Chen Xiao sat to the side.

The five-year-old girl's eyes were red and swollen with tears.

He stretched out his hands and hugged Chen Xiao's legs tightly.

"Master said."

Chen Xiao sobbed, tears streaming down his face, falling onto the dry yellow sand. "You are all the backbone of China."

Ma Ling lowered her head and reached out to ruffle Chen Xiao's hair.

"Master also said..."

Ma Ling looked directly at her senior brothers and sisters and said, "If the sky falls, we'll hold it up."

Eight people sat around the fire.

No complaining, no grumbling.

Twenty years have passed, clearly explained in just a few words.

Each of them guarded their own territory, protecting China from calamities unseen by ordinary people.

The firelight illuminated their rough faces.

At this moment, above the blue planet, a massive data stream is interacting wildly.

Unbeknownst to the eight individuals, their conversation was being simultaneously projected onto three billion screens worldwide via a broadcast screen suspended high in the sky.

The sandstorm was so strong that the audio of the broadcast was mixed with a piercing howling sound, making the sound unclear.

The United States, the Pentagon's underground operations center.

The president stood in front of the large screen, his eyes bloodshot.

He pointed to the eight people sitting around in the picture.

"They're talking!"

The president roared, "They're exchanging tactics! Get me the audio right now! I need to know what they're planning!"

The technical director's hands flew across the keyboard.

The audio waveform on the screen is shaking violently.

"Mr. President, the ambient noise is too high, audio noise reduction has failed, and no valid sound cues can be extracted."

General Smith shoved the technical director aside and picked up the encrypted phone.

"Recruit the CIA's top lip-reading expert! Quickly!"

Three minutes later, five lip-reading experts wearing gold-rimmed glasses joined the video conference.

They stared intently at the opening and closing of the lips of the eight people on the screen.

The translated text was displayed synchronously on the scrolling bar of the large screen.

[Northwest... blacksmithing... slaying evil spirits... twenty years.]

[Corpse transport...corpse miasma...]

Senior brother... that's what Master taught us...

The guardians of the village...the backbone of China.

General Smith stared at the fragmented words, his breath catching in his throat.

"etc."

The president's pupils contracted as he pointed to the two words on the screen, "Senior Brother? Master?"

The meeting room was deathly silent.

All the senior officers felt a chill run down their spines.

A lip-reading expert wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling.

"Mr. President, based on the logical connections of lip reading analysis, these eight Chinese people who displayed godlike power were not a hastily assembled team. They... are disciples taught by the same master."

"impossible!"

The president slammed his fist on the table, sending his coffee cup crashing to the floor and shattering. "How could one person possibly raise eight monsters like this?!"

General Smith slumped in his chair, his face filled with dejection.

Not just the United States.

The command centers of Gaul, Great Britain, Japan, and South Korea all deciphered this dialogue through their respective channels.

The news simply couldn't be suppressed.

An informant within the intelligence agency leaked this lip-reading recording to the dark web.

In just ten minutes, the content was broadcast live to a global public broadcaster.

The global internet exploded immediately.

[My God! What am I seeing! They're calling each other "senior brother"? They're from the same sect!]

[Are the blind old man, the sick scholar, and the fisherman all part of the same organization? And do they have a master behind them?]

[Twenty years! They were dispatched twenty years ago to protect various parts of China! What an epic strategic deployment!]

[Who is that master?! He trained eight monsters all by himself. If this person were to step forward, the system would probably crash!]

[I take back what I said earlier about China being lucky. This isn't luck at all; it's a case of overwhelming force. It's like gods playing a game with mortals.]

What are America's gene-enhancing drugs compared to this? This is an entire sect going on an expedition!

[Chinese netizens, how many powerful figures are hidden in your country? How much longer are you going to keep this from the world?!]

【..........】

Inside the exclusive live stream room for Huaxia.

Domestic netizens were also stunned by this bombshell news.

What was initially thought to be a random selection of eight extraordinary individuals turned out to be a grand drama planned for twenty years to protect the nation.

More than 3 billion Chinese people were moved to tears, and then the barrage of comments exploded.

Holy crap! I got goosebumps all over! My fellow disciples!

[Everyone stand up! Kneel before the old immortals! Kneel before the patriarch!]

[Chen Xiao's words, "the backbone of China," brought tears to my eyes on the subway, even though I'm a 1.9-meter-tall man. For twenty years, they've remained unsung heroes, truly carrying the burden for us.]

[Those foreign devils must be dumbfounded! You think we're just eight random guys? We're a paradise on earth!]

[We desperately need information about the patriarch! Can the government investigate where this powerful figure is?]

No need to investigate! Our ancestral master is surely still watching over us from the shadows. With such a foundation, China will surely prevail!

【..........】

Yanjing, a strategic command center 100 meters underground.

Zhou Yaoguo looked at the screen full of comments, tears welling up in his eyes.

"They kept quiet for twenty years."

Zhou Yaoguo straightened his back and solemnly saluted the screen.

"China is fortunate to have such a national hero."

Minister Chen returned the salute and turned to look at Staff Officer Li.

"Completely block all in-depth searches within the country regarding the backgrounds of these eight individuals."

"Do not disturb their sect. This is a top state secret; no one is allowed to spy on it."

"yes!"