Chapter 519 Mountain Offering Ceremony

"Decrees, executions…"

"Twilight as the boundary, separating yin and yang. The living and the wicked, each go their own way…"

Hu Ma held the mace, seemingly frozen in place. For a long time, its weight almost overwhelmed him, despite his years of cultivation. Yet, he felt the weight on the mace constantly increasing.

Before this, he didn't know the origin of this mace, only that it was a family heirloom. It was only at this moment, when he lifted it, that he felt the surging baleful aura contained within.

Inside, there were even some ancient and immense things, pointing directly to the deepest secrets and logic of this world.

The karma on this mace was much greater than he had imagined, even more than what a prestigious family like the Zhen Sui Hu family, one of the ten surnames, should possess. Furthermore, many things seemed impatient, vying to burden his shoulders as soon as he lifted the mace.

From the moment he lifted the mace, certain deeper aspects of this world had begun to be affected, layers of karma intertwined.

In a remote village, Zhang A'gu, as usual, helped with the funeral arrangements for an elderly man in the village. She declined the post-funeral feast and returned home to feed the listless chickens in her yard.

She was pondering why the chickens she had brought back from Ming Prefecture were becoming increasingly lethargic and not laying eggs when she suddenly heard faint noises from inside the house.

She quickly put down the winnowing basket and went into the house, where she was immediately startled. The token she had brought back from Ming Prefecture and placed on the table was gently shaking, and the three incense sticks in front of it had burned down to the bottom.

She hurriedly lit three more incense sticks and chanted a mantra to the token for a long time before it stabilized. However, she was already thoughtful, "Perhaps, I need to make another trip to Ming Prefecture?"

Next to Qing Stone Town, because this family hadn't had any new "little skins" (children) for a long time, Seventh Granny was still the head of her family. They were gathered in their nest, happily eating and drinking, teasing the gold and silver dolls raised at their side.

Seventh Granny, who always had a good appetite, suddenly paused while gnawing on a chicken bone, shrugged her shoulders, and felt uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Granny?"

Little Sanzi and Little Si, who only knew how to eat and sleep, felt something was wrong and asked with squinted eyes.

Seventh Granny was stunned for a moment, feeling that something was wrong, but it didn't seem like anything was wrong. She simply shook her head and said, "Nothing, nothing, continue eating chicken and drinking wine."

However, the two gold and silver dolls she was raising, which were spiritual treasures, seemed to sense something. They trembled and hugged each other, shouting, "Seventh Granny, there's official power…"

"..."

Farther away, a square-faced, bearded man hiding in a tomb was cultivating diligently in front of a Dharma altar. After meditating silently for a long time, he suddenly had a premonition and opened his eyes. He was greatly shocked by what he saw.

The oil lamp on the altar was as small as a fly's eye. He quickly reached out to protect it, frantically trying to add oil, "I'm just borrowing something to cross a bridge, why is the reaction so big?"

Unexpectedly, the oil lamp suddenly flared up, burning his eyebrows. He jumped up with a scream, his face pale, his voice trembling, "That's not right, why did you give me so much all at once?"

"I'm just borrowing something from your house, and you want to transfer the house to me?"

"I'm a thief, not your son…"

"..."

"..."

"Senior, the Hu family heirloom is already in my hands…"

The changes happening in various places were beyond Hu Ma's current concern. He simply gritted his teeth, and after confirming the ownership of the mace, suddenly gathered all his strength, loosened his grip, and slowly returned the mace to the stone box.

It seemed that only then did his somewhat stiff body slightly improve. Every bone in his body felt as if it had been broken and reconnected. Since entering the palace, he rarely felt such severe physical fatigue.

"No rush, no rush…"

He looked at the iron mace in the box, and couldn't help but whisper, "I only took the mace, it's not time to ascend to the hall yet, no need to rush to give me everything…"

After recovering for a while, he took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and looked around. Even though he had only held the mace for a short time, he vaguely felt like he had been reborn.

After a long time, he steadied himself, first bowed slightly to the box, and then turned around.

At this moment, subtle changes occurred within him. Turning around, he could clearly see the Mountain Lord's face, gentle and refined, otherworldly. The Mountain Lord was not an ordinary person, but now, he could see him as clearly as he could see an ordinary mortal.

Perhaps, holding this mace would grant him unimaginable power. He even felt that perhaps with this mace, the Mountain Lord…

"Even if it's only in your mind, couldn't you be a little more respectful towards me?"

Mountain Lord Senior frowned slightly as he faced Hu Ma, who was holding the mace and turning around. He slowly retreated a little, not out of vigilance, but as if it were easier to assess Hu Ma from that distance. He sighed softly, then said:

"The Zhen Sui Ji Jin Mace (Evil Suppression Golden Mace)…"

"Forged from seventy-two parts bronze, eighty-one parts mountain iron, and the materials gathered from three hundred and seventy prefectures under heaven… Although I have long awaited the moment you would pick it up, now that I have truly seen it, I also feel a little sentimental…"

"And you?"

He said with emotion, then suddenly looked at Hu Ma seriously, "If this object does not appear in the world, it is fine, but once it does, it is destined to make all directions tremble. Now that you have taken this mace, you are…"

"...preparing to strike the first blow on whose head?"

"..."

Faced with this question, even Hu Ma was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but look outside.

The current Ming Prefecture was already showing faint signs of chaos: the Hu family's collateral branches, the man-eating Mandated General, and the Tong Yin Meng family, who were hiding in the shadows with ambitious designs…

But countless figures flashed through his mind, and Hu Ma hesitated to answer. It was not until a huge idea arose in his heart that he slowly looked up at the Mountain Lord and said in a low voice, "The Evil Suppression Golden Mace has appeared in the world, so how to strike the first blow is indeed very important…"

"Perhaps it should strike the most ruthless, perhaps it should strike the most accurate…"

"..."

The Mountain Lord listened to his words, couldn't help but become curious, looked at him, and said, "Then how do you plan to strike?"

Hu Ma took a low breath, and a smile appeared on his face, "I think the first blow should be the loudest."

"So, I also need to see whose head is hard enough!"

Listening to his words, the Mountain Lord suddenly laughed, as if he had already seen something interesting. His laughter was full of anticipation.

"..."

"..."

"What? They're collecting official taxes?"

"What is 'official tax'?"

"Tax is like rent. If you farm the landlord's land, shouldn't you pay him rent?"

"But we've already paid the landlord rent, why do we have to pay tax again?"

"If the landlord doesn't pay, then you have to pay?"

"..."

At the same time that Hu Ma entered the Village of the Childless and obtained the Evil Suppression Golden Mace, even causing subtle influences in the depths of the unknown, changes were quietly taking place in Ming Prefecture.

Tax officials from the Prefecture, who had disappeared for many years, began to appear in the villages, fields, and in front of the landlord's granaries. They clasped their fists, spoke politely, and held account books and abacuses in their hands, but their attitude was very firm: they were determined to collect taxes.

Because of the sudden tax collection, many disputes arose. Soon, the yamen runners from Ming Prefecture City also appeared, and the village chiefs were named and summoned. Strong young men from various places were selected to receive grain from the Prefecture and collect grain from the people.

It was as if the Ming Prefecture Yamen, which had disappeared for nearly twenty years and was almost forgotten, had come to life overnight and revealed its unattainable figure.

In addition to the Prefecture officials who entered the villages and fields, even some Prefecture adults who rarely left Ming Prefecture City and were difficult to see, as well as a group of officials in charge of criminal and political affairs and extremely influential noblemen, appeared in front of Old Yin Mountain.

They set up incense tables in front of Old Yin Mountain, placed sacrifices of three animals and six domestic creatures as offerings, burned incense and made offerings, and held up plaques to pray to the gods, "Heaven and Earth bear witness, granting imperial orders, collecting taxes and levies, administering criminal law and governance. Now we inform the ghosts and gods, wishing our dynasty prosperity and good weather…"

On the surface, it was a sacrifice to the gods, but it was more like a declaration of power and responsibility.

It was the right of the prefecture lord of the yang realm to exercise his power, and even the prefecture lord of the yin realm could not interfere without authorization.

However, this matter had not happened in Ming Prefecture for twenty years, so even the people who were praying were worried. The members of the Truth Sect who came to observe were even more wide-eyed, holding their breath and watching.

After the sacrifice, there was silence for a long time.

Although this grand ceremony was unprecedented, and all the Prefecture officials were sincere, they waited for a long time, but saw only the incense on the incense table burning quietly, without any abnormality.

No one touched the offerings on the incense table, and even after a long time, flies landed on them.

"They're not accepting our sacrifice?"

The person who burned incense and made offerings waited for a long time, seeing no movement, was already uneasy and didn't know what to do.

Some people couldn't suppress their worries and looked at the Mandated General wearing a big red robe, wanting to advise him, but hesitated.

The Mandated General hesitated slightly, turned around and looked at a sedan chair behind him, surrounded by attendants, with curtains hanging down. But the sedan chair was still silent, but in this intangible silence, it seemed that one could sense that someone in the sedan chair was a little impatient.

So, he frowned, and simply got up from the ground, patted the dirt on his knees, and then slowly walked to the incense table.

He took a fruit from the offering table, wiped it on his clothes, and ate it, saying coldly, "Whether they accept the sacrifice or not, the etiquette has been fulfilled, so why should we be polite to them?"

"Go down to the countryside tomorrow. My people will accompany you!"

(End of this chapter)