The high rooftops, black stone pillars, the giant drum standing in the courtyard, and the fire basins placed at the four corners. A high table stood with dusty volus on the left and an Order Arrow Pot on the right. In front of the hall stood two rows of Golden Armored Warriors, with a row of black, ominous Choppers on the left, and a rack full of heavy criminal shackles on the right.
As gusts of sinister wind rolled in, Hu Ma’s shadow, already mysterious and enigmatic in the eyes of onlookers, seed to beco even more elusive, as if it had vanished entirely. The next mont, when the crowd looked again, they only saw his shadow appear within the grand hall. He was holding a mace as he approached the incense table and slowly sat behind it. At that very sa instant, the giant drum within the mansion was struck by a Golden Armored Warrior wielding a massive hamr, and a surge of nefarious energy instantly billowed forth.
A fierce and violent sinister wind swept through, blowing against the plaque that hung before the grand hall. It was as if a thick layer of dust was slowly peeling away under the force of the wind, revealing the words on the plaque. They carried a weight that seed etched deep into the very bones—seen by so, yet for others, seemingly only recalled from mory.
"Zhensui Mansion!"
The na echoed. It had appeared!
Even before the Four Great Hall Officials had manifested, a mysterious noble from the direction of Old Yin Mountain, escorted by Golden Armored Warriors carrying a coffin, had already appeared behind the battle formation, causing countless hearts to tremble. Now, as the spectral image of the grand hall materialized on the battlefield, it brought imnse pressure to bear upon the countless yin souls and spirits present.
Instantly, they felt their Divine Souls stir and their knees grow weak. Bewildered, they had the urge to kneel. It wasn’t that anyone within Zhensui Mansion demanded their obeisance; rather, the sheer weight of its authority and the palpable aura of punishnt lingering in the air compelled them. Those who had committed misdeeds felt their insides churn, as if their heads were no longer attached to their necks. As for those who hadn’t... they were few and far between! Thus, their knees, truly disobedient, seed determined to make them kneel.
Yet, just as they began to follow their hearts’ impulse, kneeling towards the ground in waves, a cold voice suddenly emanated from the Zhensui Mansion—whose true nature was hard to discern—resonating in everyone’s minds, declaring,
"Do not kneel!"
That voice ca from within Zhensui Mansion, and though spoken in a normal tone, it carried an unyielding authority.
"The innocent shall neither kneel nor be punished! The guilty, even if you kneel, shall not be spared!"
This pronouncent spread far and wide, instantly seeping into the hearts of the countless soldiers and strange people on the field. For a mont, it shocked even their already weakened knees into straightening up a bit. Their minds struggled to comprehend why, upon seeing this Zhensui Mansion, which had been absent from the world for so long, their simple desire to kowtow and curry favor was t with a prohibition against kneeling. Nevertheless, their bodies reacted instinctively, not daring to disobey.
Among the countless people, many Beef Avoidance Sect Disciples heard these words, and their hearts trembled instantly.
"Oh..."
Could it be that Young Master Hu is one of us?
Similarly, while they were still reeling from shock, unsure how to react, they witnessed the Zhensui Mansion manifest. A vague, blurry figure entered it, sat before the incense table, and uttered only two statents. The first forbade kneeling. For the second, he drew an Order Arrow from the Order Arrow Pot on the incense table without a glance and threw it down into the hall.
Everything was rely an intangible, chaotic illusion, a spectral image—albeit one capable of making thousands of soldiers unable to lift their heads. Yet, illusory as it was, when that Order Arrow was cast into the hall, the sound of it hitting the ground was distinctly audible.
At that very mont, among the Four Great Hall Officials standing behind the military formation, Aunt Zhang gazed at the silhouette of Zhensui Mansion with a mixture of excitent and reverence. Unlike the others who were shocked, her excitent overshadowed her surprise, for she had witnessed it once before. The previous ti Zhensui Mansion had appeared, the Five Evil Gods who had tornted her for so long had t their retribution, their Divine Statue shattered.
However, Aunt Zhang never considered this a personal honor. In her eyes, the Zhensui Mansion, which had vanished for twenty years, opening solely for her was not a joyous occasion. She only hoped that Zhensui Mansion would open its gates not just for her, but for the common people, for all those who had suffered injustice in the world. It was because of this hope in her heart that, despite being accustod to a simple life among the common folk, she had imdiately placed the Token that fell from Zhensui Mansion on her own incense table. She was not oblivious to the heavy, nefarious aura emanating from the Token—so potent that even her chickens had stopped laying eggs. However, she understood that for Zhensui Mansion to operate, people were needed to do its work, and she was willing to bear this responsibility.
Now, seeing Zhensui Mansion truly open before everyone, witnessing that Shopkeeper—that noble personage—actually enter Zhensui Mansion and sit behind the great desk, her initial shock was overwheld by the thrilling excitent of her deepest wish coming true. Just then, as Hu Ma threw down the Token, the Token in her hand trembled in unison.
It was as if, in the unseen realm, ghostly gods were whispering in her ear, instructing her on what to say, what to do, and what responsibilities to assu. This prompted her to steady her trembling legs and slowly step forward. Forcibly suppressing the fear in her heart and striving to replace her local accent with the official dialect, she announced, "The Official Zhou Lord, for trespassing without a warrant, is to be apprehended and brought before Zhensui Mansion for judgnt!"
After all, for her, speaking such formal pronouncents was a struggle, so her voice was not loud. However, enveloped by the majesty of Zhensui Mansion and the surging nefarious energy, her statent carried an undeniable weight. Many present who heard these words felt a chill run down their spines. The Zhensui Mansion opens, and its first act is to apprehend a zhou lord?
But that Official Zhou Lord had not yet been defeated! He had been summoned to Mingzhou, his divine might awe-inspiring. He had only been initially suppressed by the walking ghosts of Mingzhou setting up an altar, which subdued the Mana on their altar. Furthermore, he was pinned down on the battlefield by the mysterious and formidable Yin General, rendering him unable to wield his Mana. Yet, the altar in Mingzhou still stood, and the Official Zhou Lord was perfectly fine—he was no re wandering ghost. How could a single command suffice to capture him?
Even if they had used the word ’invite’ instead of ’apprehend,’ wouldn’t it have sounded a bit more dignified?
But there was no ti for such reflections. As Hu Ma’s Token fell, a swirling, sinister wind erupted from within Zhensui Mansion. The two Golden Armored Warriors at the very front of the ranks standing silently inside the mansion began to shimr with threads of golden light. Then, with heavy footsteps, they marched out of the mansion. The two advanced side-by-side, directly crossing the oppressive battlefield and heading straight for Mingzhou City.
CLANG! The southern gate of Mingzhou City bood open.
When Zhensui Mansion apprehended soone, it was always through the main gate. This was despite the fact that these two Golden Armored Warriors could have seemingly scaled or passed through the city walls with ease. But that would not be proper. Without legitimacy and due process, it was imperative they enter through the main gate.
WHOOSH! The mont these two Golden Armored Warriors entered the city, the pervasive incense smoke that filled the air suddenly dispersed. The oppressive, chilling atmosphere that had blanketed the people of Mingzhou City for days vanished in an instant. In various locations throughout Mingzhou City, six suppression objects simultaneously shattered, cracked, and fell uselessly to the ground. Even the plaque of the Mingzhou governnt office crashed down. Imdiately after, the incense table at the city’s center, laden with offerings of three kinds of sacrificial animals and six types of livestock, was overturned by a fierce gust of wind. The Tokens planted beside it had turned into tattered strips of cloth.
Third Uncle Hu, who was standing before this altar, leaped up with a loud cry. While still in mid-air, he seed to be struck by an imnse force, slamming him heavily onto the ground. His face turned deathly pale, and he violently spewed a mouthful of fresh blood. His pupils were already dilating as he shouted incoherently, "No... You cannot..."
But no one paid him any mind. At that instant, all the people of Mingzhou City, whether asleep or awake, heard those thunder-like footsteps. In a daze, they seed to see two Golden Armored Warriors, each three stories tall, advancing side-by-side to the tallest tower in the city. The Warriors, treading on a sinister wind ford of coalesced nefarious energy, reached out with enormous golden hands towards sothing inside that tower.
There lay the clay statue of the Official Zhou Lord.
"How dare you?!"
Confronted by the vast, sinister wind and nefarious energy sweeping in from outside the city, the other two Hu Family clan uncles on the high tower could not see the forms of the Golden Armored Warriors. This was not because their cultivation was insufficient. On the contrary, it was because they understood Zhensui Mansion too well. They knew they must not see the Golden Armored Warriors; to see them would an their Divine Souls were suppressed, rendering them incapable of resistance. Therefore, in their eyes, it was rely a fierce gust of wind that blew open the city gates and swept up to the tower. Within the wind, they could even hear the clattering of chains and shackles.
Though their hearts trembled with fear, they clenched their teeth and sprang into action. One of them quickly pulled out a red cloth and draped it over the clay statue of the Official Zhou Lord. The other stepped forward, hands raised high, holding a docunt bearing an imperial decree. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "This is a deity personally enfeoffed by the late Emperor, entitled to enjoy the incense and fortune of the realm! Who dares to lay hands on him?"
Clenching their teeth, they were determined to resist. They knew the Official Zhou Lord was different from the Five Evil Gods. While their Mana might be comparable, the Five Evil Gods were the Hu Family’s Protector Gods, whom the Hu Family could expel or kill as they wished. However, the Official Zhou Lord’s status was undeniable. No matter how powerful Zhensui Mansion was, could it truly ignore the Emperor’s appointnt and directly apprehend him without justification? They still hadn’t figured out how that person—Hu Ma—had avoided the suppressive aura of the Heavenly Destiny General, yet now these uncles were openly obstructing the Zhensui Mansion.
But as they made their loud proclamation, from outside the city, within Zhensui Mansion, the figure seated on high suddenly sneered. "Imperial confernt? Royal seals? What are those worth?"
"You exhausted your minds to co up with such a malicious sche to plot against , but unfortunately for you, you were wrong from the very beginning..."
"Today, I shall make you understand what Zhensui Mansion truly represents..."
As he spoke, he abruptly rose to his full height, lifting the Demon Suppression Golden Mace high in his hand.
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