Chapter 11 The Truth

Seeing the astonishment in Jiang Cheng's eyes, the Zhennan Marquis's voice trembled slightly, as if he was caught in some terrifying memory. "You simply don't know how terrifying General Guo and the others truly were..."

"I've heard some things. It's written in books and performed in operas, like tearing armor apart with bare hands on the battlefield. His personal guards could fight a hundred men each, and General Guo even single-handedly routed the imperial army..."

Before Jiang Cheng could finish, the Zhennan Marquis interrupted him, shaking his head incessantly, looking very nervous. "Fighting a hundred men, tearing armor with bare hands, it all sounds exaggerated, right? But I'm telling you, it's all true, and... and the reality was even more terrifying than you can imagine!"

"No one, not even the strongest warrior of this era, could do that. But they did it, you know why?" The Zhennan Marquis stared fiercely at Jiang Cheng, his eyes bloodshot. "Because... because they weren't human at all! They were ghosts! The most ferocious ghosts!"

"No, they... they aren't ghosts, how could they be ghosts?"

"Ghosts were hidden in their bodies. As soon as they smelled blood, those ghosts would crawl out of their bodies and turn them into monsters, neither human nor ghost!"

"At that time, they were extremely bloodthirsty, completely different from their original selves. No one could stop them, and they couldn't stop themselves. All obstacles in their path would be torn to shreds..."

Speaking of this, the Zhennan Marquis's mental state was very unstable, which showed just how shocked he was by the scene back then.

At the same time, this description gave Jiang Cheng and the others a sense of familiarity. Slaughter, loss of control, monsters... their guess was slowly becoming reality. General Guo and his men were indeed a group of disciples.

The Door is both a blessing and a curse, making people addicted to the power it grants, until they are completely eroded and reduced to walking corpses.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Cheng pretended to be surprised and said, "It sounds more like General Guo and the others borrowed some forbidden power, but it would come at a heavy price."

Gasping for breath, the Zhennan Marquis nodded. "That's right, the price was their lives, and... and the lives of countless poor people. Too many lives have been lost in order to obtain this power."

The word "obtain" successfully piqued everyone's interest. According to the Zhennan Marquis, General Guo and the others had all obtained the power of the Door in a short period of time and became disciples. And not just a few people, but as many as a hundred. This required a large number of contracts. Jiang Cheng was very curious, where did the Zhennan Marquis get these valuable contracts?

"The Great Joyous Ceremony. They all obtained this ghostly power through a ritual called the Great Joyous Ceremony!" The Zhennan Marquis continued, "The date of the Great Joyous Ceremony is uncertain, but it's always at night, and... and it's a pitch-black night with no moonlight. The location of the ceremony is on Spring God Lake!"

Spring God Lake again!

These three words were deeply engraved in everyone's mind. It seemed that the source of all this weirdness was concentrated there. Fatty suddenly thought of Gao Yanqing who died tragically, and the Beauty Incense crushed under his half corpse.

"I don't know how they determine the date of the ceremony, but I know that on the night of the ceremony, there must be no moon in the sky, and a fog will rise on the lake. At this time, General Guo and the others will begin to board the ship and set sail, heading into the depths of the fog. The big ship will break through the waves, and it will feel like riding the clouds and mist."

"What's in the depths of the fog?"

Tang Qisheng thought of the old fisherman's story that Jiang Cheng brought back. There seemed to be a connection between the two stories. Both involved thick fog and no moon. The day the old fisherman rowed into the depths of Spring God Lake was also calculated by an expert, who even measured their birthdates and times.

Hearing Tang Qisheng's question, the Zhennan Marquis suddenly became silent, then stared at him with an indescribable gaze. Tang Qisheng's heart skipped a beat, wondering if something had gone wrong.

"In the depths of the fog, there is a towering pavilion. It is said to be the Ascension Platform left behind by the immortals after their ascension. People who enter that pavilion will be granted the power of the dragon and elephant, and the supernatural powers of ghosts and gods. The ghosts and gods on General Guo and the others were invited from there."

In the next second, Jiang Cheng's pupils shrank suddenly. This was clearly the Great Joyous Pavilion he had seen in the illusion of West Repose Mountain!

And according to the information provided by Lin Wan'er, the owner of that pavilion was very likely the current chairman of the Night Watch.

Slowly, some scattered clues were gradually pieced together. In the real world that Jiang Cheng was familiar with, the Night Watch was also mass-producing disciples. Thinking carefully, it was very similar to what was happening in this world.

Zhu Jie, on the other hand, seemed more interested in another matter, and asked in a verifying tone, "Will everyone who enters that towering pavilion obtain the power of ghosts and gods?"

"Of course not, only a small portion of them. Most of the people who enter that pavilion are never seen again. It is said that the pavilion has a spirit and needs the flesh and blood of living people to sacrifice." The Zhennan Marquis seemed to have thought of something again, and his face became even more unsightly. "There is one more thing. Before General Guo and the others board the ship, they must first send a boatload of sacrifices in. Only when the ghost pavilion enjoys the sacrifices can this Great Joyous Ceremony be carried out."

"Those sacrifices are people, living people. At first, they used prisoners of war, then death row inmates. When all the people in the prison were used up, they began to secretly抓城里的百姓."

"It's too tragic, really too tragic..." The Zhennan Marquis couldn't help but sigh. "Very few people can survive after the Great Joyous Ceremony. In General Guo's words, these survivors are blessed by ghosts and gods. I have personally seen it. A hundred people boarded the ship, and in the end... in the end, only a few people came back alive. It was these people who formed the most ferocious personal army under General Guo's command. When they faced the imperial army on the battlefield, it was almost a one-sided massacre."

Feeling that the topic was getting a little off track, Jiang Cheng interrupted in a timely manner, "Marquis, let's talk about your wife. I really can't understand how a weak woman could defeat General Guo and the others."

"I was originally a partial general under General Guo, and my wife was also a kind person who worshiped Buddha and hated General Guo's actions very much. If this continued, the entire Luo An City would be slaughtered as sacrifices. So, we secretly contacted other rebel forces, as well as the imperial army as foreign aid. In one Great Joyous Ceremony, we placed a large amount of gunpowder under the bottom of the ship in advance, and detonated it at a critical moment, sending General Guo and his entourage into the bottom of Spring God Lake."

"Speaking of which, I, this Zhennan Marquis, am just a fraud. But my wife... my wife unfortunately died, because it was she who sacrificed her life to detonate the gunpowder."