Chapter 161: Chapter 160: Drifting in Turbulent Times, Light of the Human Path

“The sky is dim, the earth is heavy, the sun and moon have no light. In desolate villages and wild graves, white bones appear, old crows fly in fright as ghosts laugh, people are in disorder, unable to foresee their fate. A jug of old wine is enough for this remnants of life…”

On a rugged mountain road, a line of ox carts creaked as they moved forward. The driver warily watched the dense and deep forests around them, his eyes full of terror.

Beside him, an old man and a young man were riding on horseback.

The young man gripped his sharp sword tightly, observing the surroundings, while the old man was holding a jug of wine, drinking and humming some garbled Daoist tunes.

“Master, please stop drinking!”

The young swordsman was somewhat annoyed, “We’re escorting grain to the Li Family’s Workshop. If something goes wrong, how will we make a living!”

The old man chuckled,

“What are you afraid of, boy? Since I chose this path, there will be no trouble. Moreover, with the chaos across the land, each area is fortifying for self-protection, and business in the future couldn’t be better.”

The young swordsman snorted,

“It’s only temporary. I hear Princess Li Qing has already reestablished the court in Anqing State, and True Man Zhang along with some of the National Guardians just killed the Locust Demon in Qingzhou Town.”

At the mention of Zhang Kui, the young man’s eyes filled with admiration, “Once True Man Zhang eliminates the locust plague, Central State will surely be restored to peace.”

“Tch!”

The old man looked at the young man with a half-smiling expression,

“In these chaotic times, powerful figures rise up everywhere, each harboring their own schemes and hiding malicious intents. How many of them would care about that little girl? The Qian Dynasty has become a thing of the past; to avoid war is already a blessing for humanity.”

The young man was still unconvinced,

“True Man Zhang and the National Guardians are still here; they will surely turn the tide!”

The old man’s eyebrows raised,

“After dealing with the locust plague, there are still evil spirits wreaking havoc. Even if the evil spirits are quelled, there’s still the ghost realm of human hearts. Even if True Man Zhang had infinite powers, he couldn’t save it.”

“Do you know what a time of chaos truly is?”

The old man took a sip of wine, his cloudy eyes gazing at the distant, blood-red sunset, and sighed:

“Everyone only seeks to survive, yet no one is in control of their own fate, like duckweed, drifting with the current…”

As he spoke, he suddenly widened his eyes and fell silent. In front of them, a woman with tattered clothing and bluish skin, running on all fours like a beast, eyes glowing with eerie green light, came into view.

“Corpse Demon!”

The young man noticed as well, cried out in alarm, and leaped forward, drawing his long sword to stand in front of everyone.

The woman had skin torn and bones exposed, evidently long dead, but in chaotic times, strange things occurred, and even improperly handled corpses would rise to make trouble.

The old man hurriedly took out a yellow talisman from his clothing and, after chanting a few words, flung it out with a swoosh.

The talisman burned midair, flashed with a golden light, and pierced through the leaping Corpse Demon.

Thud, the Corpse Demon fell to the ground and moved no more.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, laughed and said:

“Good thing we have our Sacred Artifact to protect us. Even someone as half-baked as me can use this Evil Suppression General Talisman. My disciple, when we return, light a candle for General Yin Bai.”

The young man nodded, his eyes full of admiration,

“I heard that General Yin Bai, though physically disabled, was a man of indomitable spirit. If not for a wisp of his soul traveling a thousand miles to inform, humanity would truly be finished. He truly is a role model for us…”

Bang!

The old man gave the young man a sharp flick on the forehead,

“Always dreaming of being a hero, haven’t you seen heroes die faster than anyone else? I’m counting on you to take care of me in my old age, you blockhead!”

The young man covered his head, full of defiance.

The old man saw this and said no more, only sighed lightly, “Let’s hurry, if we can’t reach the Li Family’s Workshop before dark, you won’t even get the chance to be a coward…”

……

Shazhou, Great Gobi.

The sun blazed in the sky, with dust flying everywhere.

Shockingly, in this desolate and uninhabited land, locusts were jumping and hopping everywhere, gnawing on low shrubs and mosses, many having already grown wings and flying around.

On the exposed barren mountains, Elder Huayan sighed:

“These variant locusts spawned by the Locust Demon are truly formidable, flourishing even in such a barren place.”

Looking at the few people beside him, including Zhang Kui, each of them was weather-beaten, their clothes wrinkled and covered in dust.

After the upheaval in Haojing City, nearly a million people were displaced, corpses littered the field. Even though young Princess Li Qing raised the banner of the court to gather the victims, are these the only consequences?

The Qian Court was utterly collapsed, though officials who escaped attempted to restore order and reclaim control, few places were willing to obey.

It was still Helian Boxiong who ordered grain to be transported from Lai State, emptying his family’s resources to let these people survive on thin porridge.

Zhang Kui wanted to assist, but after the awakening and departure of the Divine Corpse, the Astronomical Bureau became nominal, leaving the world of demons and monsters without concerns, truly causing tumultuous times.

The forbidden lands of evil spirits had no incidents, as the Mid-Autumn approached, the Underworld was their target, but the common demons and ghosts no longer hid, blocking roads and making river passages unsafe. Transporting grain from Jiangzhou north was a treacherous journey.

Even when they were dispelling locusts in various regions, they could only travel over mountains and camp in the wild, leaving no semblance of the majesty of the National Guardian True Man.

There’s no helping it; everyone knew, if they didn’t quickly resolve the locust plague, more people would likely die.

After eliminating the locust infestation in Qingzhou, the remaining places had forbidden lands haunted by evil spirits. Zhang Kui pondered for a while and decided to start with Shazhou.

First was its proximity to Qingzhou, and second, although the area was vast and sparsely populated, the land was dry, making locusts more rampant. Once they take flight, the entire Central State would suffer.

Thinking of this, Zhang Kui took a deep breath,

“Fellow Daoists, let us begin.”

No altar, the flying sword carved a formation on the stone.

No magic platform, the National Guardian personally felled trees.

It was still locusts swarming like a hung-over Nether River.

It was still the sun and moon without light, blood-colored Karmic Fire surging to the sky.

The only difference was that the “Divine Court Bell” appeared more divine, golden light radiated in harmony with the Karmic Fire, and its chime echoed across the fields in all directions.

Perhaps the only consolation was, in these chaotic times, though the roads were obstructed and regions were self-concerned, the people of Central State were more devout in their worship of the “Divine Court Bell.”

Zhang Kui saw this, pondered for a long time, then appointed Yin Bai as the Evil Suppression General, crafting a golden body through incense fire wish power, and granted him the Evil-breaking Talisman.

Though this talisman was of average power, with the additional title of Evil Suppression General Yin and reinforced by incense fire divine power, even a half-baked practitioner could use it, effectively killing ordinary minor ghosts and evil spirits.

Of course, he only issued the Evil-breaking Talisman.

First, time was pressing, and the Talisman Skill was only at the first level, with only the exorcism method of the Evil-breaking Talisman devised.

Second, as a new deity, Yin Bai’s foundation was unstable. Even if the Talisman Skill was instantly upgraded to full level, a complete talisman system couldn’t be established for use.

Not to mention that even if it was Tai Shi, those high-level talismans used would likely drain one dry.

But ultimately, a sliver of hope emerged.

Judging from the incense feedback from various places, the single Evil-breaking Talisman alone had saved countless lives.

Since then, Zhang Kui’s determination to establish a human Divine Court grew firmer.

As that old man said, even with his immense powers, how much could he address?

He increasingly felt that humanity’s path over the millennium might be mistaken.

Humanity may have many mediocre ones and few exceptionally gifted, unable to contend against evil spirits.

But, they can multiply!

The Ancient Divine Path governed the heavens and earth, treating humanity like lambs. Zhang Kui certainly wouldn’t act like this, nor was he interested in being an ancestor.

Previous poor experiences told him, platform was key, unity is strength.

He wanted to build a divine platform.

An individual’s power is limited, but gathering the collective power of billions, uniting human faith, perhaps could ignite a torch to illuminate this dark world.

Of course, he kept these thoughts to himself, dared not share with anyone, and could only progress gradually like a stealthy ant moving house.

After all, this world was rampant with evil spirits, strewn with forbidden lands, and as the black-robed scholar said, with the Heavenly Dao chaotic, it was a time for all races to compete. Would they allow humanity to rise?

Perhaps one day, when he could courageously confront the forbidden lands, this plan could finally be revealed to the world.

But the spark has ignited, the light awaits…

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