821 Encounter (1/2)
”In the Divine Dao of the vast Spiritual Realm, there are two Emperors. One is the Celestial Thearch, and the other is Excellency Mount Mang.
”And in the Immortal Dao, there are at least three Zenith Heavens!”
…
Fang Yuan left Songxia County and revealed his original appearance. Walking casually with a book basket on his back, he looked like a student on a carefree journey.
White smoke rose from kitchen chimneys, and candles were lit up in villages.
After walking in the mountains for a while, he came across a fair. This place was more crowded than Songxia County, but for some unknown reason, everyone was expressionless and lifeless.
In front of an open-air tavern beside the street, the old man who owned it stopped Fang Yuan. Revealing his sparse and yellow teeth, he asked, ”Young man, where are you going?”
”The capital of Ye!”
Fang Yuan sat down in the tavern and glanced around.
There were few customers, so it was understandable that the old man tried to look for more on the street. The seats for customers were in the front of the tavern, and the kitchen was at the back. White steam rose from the boiling water in the kitchen.
”The capital of Ye is a good place. You'll reach it after going over another mountain.”
The old man said with an affected smile, ”But it's not safe nowadays… Refugees wreak havoc, drought has ruined vast expanses of land, and starved people eat children… Following the royal preceptor's suggestion, the king has killed seven supervisory officials. He's also capturing young children for making pills. Are you really going to the capital despite the turmoil there?”
”Uncle, why do I feel that you don't sound like an ordinary person?” said Fang Yuan with hidden meaning.
”Hehe… I simply learned a bit from all kinds of guests!” said the old man with a reserved smile. ”Moreover, the mountain in front is dangerous too. A giant demon has recently occupied the mountain, and it likes eating humans!”
Bloop! Bloop!
Meanwhile, something like a human hand floated onto the surface of the boiling water.
”How about it? Would you like to rest here tonight and have some dumplings?” His smile became even stranger. ”The dumplings here are famous for their great taste.”
”Is the stuffing made of human flesh?” Fang Yuan smiled subtly.
”You got it right. It's precisely made of human flesh!”
A green glow flashed across the old man's eyes, and his appearance suddenly became ferocious.
The youth walking on the street, the aunt selling clothes, the butcher slicing meat, and all the others in the surroundings paused and turned around, their eyes also emitting green light.
The entire fair began to look unreal in the thick fog.
Numerous figures crowded around Fang Yuan, their expressions indifferent and their legs disappearing in the fog.
”Servant Ghosts?!”
Fang Yuan seemed to have expected it and sighed.
Ferocious tigers not only ate humans, but they were even better at confining souls. To survive, these souls captured by the tigers had to assist them, and that was how the phrase 'the servants of the tiger' came about.
But right now, there were at least five hundred Servant Ghosts in the fair, which was terrible.
Whoosh whoosh!
The illusion of the fair completely disappeared in a breeze, but the number of Servant Ghosts kept increasing. They suddenly gathered and surrounded Fang Yuan.
”The demon that eats humans is actually your master, right?”
Fang Yuan looked around, but only saw a bleak mountain wilderness. He could not help laughing. ”How dare mere ghosts appear before me? Are you courting death? Or are you courting death?”
He shouted lightly—a powerful and impressive aura suddenly rose and expanded around him.
Many Servant Ghosts shrieked in pain and hurriedly backed away, their figures about to melt.
Righteous Qi rendered the ghosts powerless!
Fang Yuan was not a Confucian scholar, but the three thousand Great Daos eventually all led to the same destination. Moreover, having been a teacher for decades, he could effortlessly simulate Confucian techniques.
Confucian scholars in this world refined a mouthful of righteous Qi. Even if they could not fight at all, legend had it that once they achieved great success in cultivation, their shouts were like the rage of the heavens and could scare ghosts and spirits away.
There was once a Confucian scholar whose shout killed half of the heretic cultivators in a city.
Of course, Fang Yuan was not at such a realm, but it was a piece of cake to kill hundreds of Servant Ghosts with a shout.
”Ah!”
Shrieks rang out everywhere.
The old man in front of Fang Yuan was stunned as he saw a plume of white Qi rising from Fang Yuan's body.
The Qi current was harmless to ordinary people. But to them, it was like the sun, melting their flesh and blood into dark smoke and dissipating their entire bodies.
In the blink of an eye, the souls of more than thirty Servant Ghosts vanished from the world.
Such an unforeseen event immediately attracted the attention of their master, who had been manipulating them behind the scenes.
Aw! Aw!
Clouds curled in strong gusts, and a tiger's roar was heard throughout the forest.
A frightening sound swept across the area, negating the righteous Qi and protecting some of the Servant Ghosts.
A giant silhouette quickly approached during the shocking, furious roar.
”It's indeed a tiger!”
Fang Yuan gazed at the demon approaching him and swept it with the Heavenly Eye Seer Spell, but his expression was a bit strange.
As expected, it was a giant tiger with feline eyes and a white forehead. It was the size of a mountain, and its domineering aura implied its identity as the ruler of the forest.