Chapter 1 The Uprising

The Wang family patriarch and others were so enraged that they were practically fuming, "Ungrateful wretches, utterly ungrateful! You have food and clothing, what more could you want?"

Zhao Zhuang said in a deep voice, "We want more than just food and clothing, we want a future. I won't let my children be like us, never able to leave this damned village. Today, even if it costs us our lives, we'll have an answer."

Zhao Zhuang stepped forward, cupping his fist in salute. "We beg the patriarch to grant our wish!"

"We beg the patriarch to grant our wish!" The younger generation of Yulou Village sorcerers bowed, their voices ringing out in unison.

They said, "We beg the patriarch to grant our wish," but the determination in their voices made the atmosphere tense.

Was the reason for the younger generation of Yulou Village's betrayal laughable?

Not at all. The Shoushui Camp lived in the late Qing Dynasty, when being able to eat and dress warmly was the dream of most people. Having enough food and clothing and a few acres of land was considered a prosperous family.

But what about more than a century later? Having enough to eat and wear was no longer the goal of ordinary people. When people were generally pursuing a high quality of life and yearning for international cities, Yulou Village had become a prison. A prison that could drive people mad with despair.

I could understand Zhao Zhuang's rebellion.

When he was young, he also had the passion, the dreams, and the ambitions of youth. Unfortunately, his youth and passion were nailed to a few miles around Yulou Village by the seven ancient trees. When he saw that his children were about to follow in his footsteps, years of grievances and resentment would erupt in double measure.

He wanted to rebel, to slay the ghosts, to let the younger generation of Yulou Village out of this prison.

Whether Zhao Zhuang was right or wrong was none of my concern. What I cared about was the secret of Yulou Village.

The Wang family patriarch looked at me with a ferocious expression for a long time before turning back to Zhao Zhuang and gritting his teeth, "Do you know what we're guarding Yulou Village for?"

Zhao Zhuang didn't speak, but he led his men into formation, ready to draw their swords at the slightest disagreement.

The Wang family patriarch also knew that if he didn't give the villagers an explanation today, the older and younger generations of Yulou Village sorcerers would fight to the death before the water ghost even made a move.

The Wang family patriarch sighed and said, "Do you know why we settled in Yulou Village in the first place, and why we've been at odds with the water ghosts for so many years?"

The Wang family patriarch explained, "It's because there's a secret burial site under the river."

Back then, the Shoushui Camp was ordered to patrol the river when they discovered a Jiaoyu (mythical fish-dragon) that had transformed. They deduced that there must be a secret burial site hidden under the river.

Although the Shoushui Camp belonged to the navy, they often made money by salvaging sunken ships in secret. How could they let go of a large secret burial site? No one expected that when the Shoushui Camp traced the source of the secret burial site, they actually discovered an ownerless underground palace.

An ownerless underground palace meant that people could still be buried there. That place was a feng shui treasure hidden under the river, full of spiritual energy, which could even allow river fish to transform into Jiaoyu. This meant that once they occupied the underground palace and buried their ancestors, someone from the seven families would surely be immediately granted the title of king.

That alone was enough to drive the Shoushui Camp crazy, not to mention that there might be even bigger secrets hidden deep within the underground palace.

In order to obtain this secret burial site, the seven sorcerers of the Shoushui Camp used various excuses to lead troops to guard the area near Yulou Village for three whole years before they figured out the changes in the water currents. It took an entire camp of men a year to gradually open up the territory of Yulou Village on the riverbank.

Yulou Village was like a large net blocking the Jiaoyu's inevitable path in and out, tightly restricting the Jiaoyu's range of activity.

According to the Wang family patriarch's original intention, he wanted to capture the Jiaoyu, control it to find a way in and out of the underground palace, and seize the secret burial site in one fell swoop.

However, after the Shoushui Camp captured a Jiaoyu, they discovered that they had only caught the female, while the male was nowhere to be found.

The Wang family patriarch then came up with a way to defend to the death, keeping the female fish in the village to wait for the male fish to take the bait.

The seven sorcerers and a spiritual fish about to transform into a Jiaoyu began a confrontation that lasted for a hundred years.

The Wang family patriarch stopped after saying half of what he wanted to say, then changed the subject, "Now you know our good intentions, right? As long as we can hold on, the descendants of the seven families will surely be granted titles and become rich and powerful. Isn't that what you want?"

"Hahahaha..." Zhao Zhuang laughed wildly, "Rich and powerful? Titles and ranks? When will that happen? Yulou Village has been fighting with the water ghosts of the underground palace for so many years, have we entered the underground palace yet?"

"Even if we open the underground palace today, and I bury myself in it, when will my son be granted a title? Is feng shui that immediate?"

Zhao Zhuang said with a gloomy expression, "You've been confronting the underground palace for so long without any results, I don't want to wait any longer, we want to go out, we want to go out now, do you understand?"

The younger generation of Yulou Village sorcerers all stood behind Zhao Zhuang.

They shared the same attitude as Zhao Zhuang.

The future described by the Wang family patriarch was illusory, all they wanted was to leave this village and create their own future with their own hands.

Zhao Zhuang said in a somber voice, "Release that fish, or don't blame us for being impolite!"

The Wang family patriarch roared, "You've been bewitched by that demon woman, haven't you?"