Chapter 1 The Silence After Retreat

With a cry of retreat, the surroundings fell silent.

Outside the town, row upon row of yin soldiers, their faces plastered with yellow talismans, stood eerily in the forest, their ghostly fireballs drifting around them. They began to retreat as heavily as they had come.

The person who borrowed the yin soldiers was dead, rendering the borrowing slip meaningless, as the promised price could no longer be exacted.

If it were a living person, there would be many questions to ask and much trouble to deal with, but these yin soldiers simply retreated along the path they had come.

Like a surging tide, drawn back by a mysterious force, they retreated into the deep mountains, into the cracks of the great mountain.

In the next moment, the cracked mountain suddenly closed again, the dust settled, and there was no trace of it ever having been split open. The trees that had been knocked down and trampled along the way stood up again, as if nothing had happened, only the rustling of their crowns remained.

Three thousand yin soldiers, who had arrived with the gates of the underworld wide open, like a whirlwind sweeping the earth, left like a gust of wind, leaving no trace.

It was like a sudden storm that had enveloped everyone, only to dissipate suddenly, like an illusion, with only deep astonishment lingering on the faces of the living, unable to subside for a long time.

Rumble!

In the distant sky, a gale howled, and dark clouds gathered and scattered. It seemed to be a will, angered and alarmed, high above, overlooking the world, trying to find the person who had just offended it, but seeing nothing.

"Grandma, something bad has happened..."

The dignified and imposing Grandma, usually composed, was now flustered, saying repeatedly, "The Old Ancestor is angry. In twenty years, I have never seen him so angry..."

It was naturally dissatisfied and angry, but it had not been able to see what was happening here, nor even feel the existence of this land. Now that Meng's Second Young Master was dead, his spirit and soul extinguished, its eyes on earth were gone.

Just as she was asking, a servant rushed in, reporting loudly, "Young Master Sili's longevity lamp has gone out..."

Its anger, however, had no outlet. The area around Stone Horse Town was completely unaffected, but in a certain place, within a gloomy and spacious mansion, there was a violent tremor, and all the incense sticks burned simultaneously in the pattern of two short and one long.

Hastily lighting the candle and offering it before the altar, the yin wind in the room dissipated a little, but the incense sticks still burned extremely quickly, the ashes unable to hold, constantly falling down, spreading like dust.

"Quickly ask, which unworthy descendant has done something to anger the Old Ancestor?"

The strength of a spirit bearer never lies in the person, but in the spirit.

"Hurry, summon his soul!"

However, after lighting the incense several times, it still wouldn't light. The ancestral hall was filled with yin wind, making people shudder, uneasy and distraught.

"Even when the Bai family's old matriarch returned to the ancestral hall through the main gate three years ago, he wasn't this angry..."

Even those borrowed earlier would be lost here, meaning a part of it would also be killed here.

"..."

"Quick, bring the beauty candle..."

The people in the mansion were immediately alarmed, crowding around the managing Grandma. Seeing this scene, she was scared pale. She hurriedly pushed away the maidservants and knelt on the prayer mat, burning incense and kowtowing.

Their gazes all turned to one point, creating a chilling and terrifying sense of strangeness.

To kill a spirit bearer, the method was very simple: cut off its path. This meant making the entity that had lent its power unable to see its spirit bearer. If it couldn't see it, it could no longer lend its power.

Grandma was taken aback: "What?"

Grandma hurriedly gave instructions, and a servant hastily brought a candle wrapped in black cloth. When opened, it revealed a beautiful young woman, her whole body sealed in wax, her body filled with wax, her head facing up, a wax wick protruding from her mouth.

Therefore, it could do nothing but be angry.

"..."

The servant exclaimed, "We're trying to summon him. Four spirit mediums have set up the altar at the same time, but nothing can be called back..."

The clansmen nearby heard this and became nervous, "Could it be that the Old Ancestor is angry because Young Master Sili has met with misfortune, and he feels sorry for his descendants?"

The managing Grandma took a deep breath. He wasn't her biological son, so she didn't feel heartache. However, upon hearing this, she found it hard to believe. She nodded and said, "It must be so. Quickly find out what happened!"

While instructing the servants to go out, she turned back again and knelt on the prayer mat, burning incense and kowtowing beside the beauty candle, vaguely understanding in her heart: 'The Old Ancestor wouldn't care about the life or death of any descendant. No descendant is important to him.'

'But if the second son born of that lowly concubine dies outside, then things become important. If the Meng family starts to die, it means that this world is about to descend into chaos...'

'...'

Thinking this, she kowtowed four times and suddenly ordered the people behind her, "Quickly, invite the Master up here to discuss matters. This is no longer something that a woman like me can decide!"

At the same time, while the Meng family was in great shock, running back and forth, many more disturbances arose in other places in the world.

What happened in front of Stone Horse Town was just a small matter. The death of anyone would not have much impact on this world. However, the Meng family Old Ancestor's fury was a major event, and that anger alarmed many people.

"Has that old thing woken up?"

"Why is he so angry? Has someone from the Meng family's direct line died?"

"..."

Amidst the speculations, someone asserted, "It has nothing to do with who died. He wouldn't care if more people from the Meng family died. No one in this world can enrage him except for the Hu family, who once struck him with a board when they were in charge of the Zhen Sui Prefecture..."

"...But the Hu family has long lost the ability to provoke him."

"Then what could it be?"

"...Hehe, evil spirits that once crawled out of the deepest part of hell, wreaking havoc in the world. Could it be that after twenty years, those evil spirits are restless again?"

"Go to bed early. Maybe we can hear the Yin Tianzi's (ruler of the underworld) imperial decree in our dreams again?"

"..."

"..."

"Gone?"

"Three thousand yin soldiers, just retreated like that?"

"Who exactly was that shadow standing on the mountain just now, and what was he holding in his hand?"

Outside Stone Horse Town at this time, the Bu Shi Niu (lit. "those who don't eat beef") disciples were also staring blankly at the direction in which the yin soldiers had retreated. They had also vaguely seen the figure who summoned the gods and berated the ghosts, but not everyone could see clearly.

They couldn't even imagine that someone could make three thousand yin soldiers retreat with a single word. Therefore, they could only guess the reason in their hearts, trying to come up with an explanation that seemed reasonable to them.

However, they could only guess, and no one could give an answer. Only a few of the Bu Shi Niu disciples lowered their voices and sighed softly, "No matter what, don't joke around with our sect leader like that again..."

"Lord, we..."

On the opposite side of the Bu Shi Niu disciples, behind Iron Steed Hall Officer, the executives and runners gradually recovered from the suffocation and oppression they had just felt and hurriedly opened their mouths to ask.

However, Iron Steed Hall Officer suddenly reached out to stop them from asking. Immediately, he gently tugged on the reins, and the toad-headed horse under him began to slowly retreat, startling everyone around him.

"Leave?"

"Is this big-headed turtle grandson leaving too?"

"..."

"Hey?"

Even some of the Bu Shi Niu disciples noticed and were taken aback, "Is the big-headed turtle grandson not fighting anymore? He's just leaving like that?"

The other Bu Shi Niu disciples also reacted and turned their heads to look. In addition to their surprise, they suddenly felt a sense of excitement and cheered, "The time for three incense sticks is up. The big-headed turtle grandson has lost..."

"The garrison hall officer suffered a crushing defeat before my Yiqian Sect. Let's see who else dares to challenge our might..."

"..."

Hearing the cheers, Iron Steed Hall Officer, who had already retreated three or four zhang (approx. 3-4 meters) and even turned his horse's head, could no longer endure it. He suddenly turned around and cursed angrily, "You are the big-headed turtle grandson, your generations are big-headed turtle grandsons..."

"Foul language, a bunch of ignorant demons..."

"You people don't cultivate your morality and are lawless. Now you have already stirred up a great disaster without realizing it. When I return, I will set up a banquet and watch how you demons die without a burial place..."

"...Heh, spit!"

"..."

This time, the Bu Shi Niu demon people in front of Stone Horse Town were stunned again. From the time Iron Steed Hall Officer charged towards the town, to the time he fought against the various senior brothers, battling with weapons and breaking through strange arts, he had always remained silent. How could he suddenly start cursing at everyone?

"Really..."

Only the opera troupe leader, Jin Chen'er, had an awkward expression. He glanced at his junior brothers and said, "When we were fighting just now, you could have said something unpleasant, that's called attacking the heart. Why are you still cursing even after he's lost?"

"Look, he's lost his composure, hasn't he?"

"..."

However, amidst their surprised and joyful discussions, Iron Steed Hall Officer actually left as soon as he said he would, riding away on his toad-headed horse. Looking at him from afar, even the dozen or so small black legs under the horse were trembling.

It wasn't just Iron Steed Hall Officer who retreated all the way. The other groups also received the news and withdrew, gathering only twenty li (approx. 10 kilometers) away.

"Lord, Lord, are we really just retreating like this?"

Seeing Iron Steed Hall Officer from afar, the other junior hall officers came forward to ask, "But we never saw the red fireworks, and we never really fought with these demons. We don't even have a scratch on us..."

"Is it not good to report back like this to the lords at home?"

"..."

"Report back? You're still thinking about reporting back?"

Iron Steed Hall Officer finally turned his head and glanced at the place where the yin soldiers had retreated just now, lowering his voice and roaring, "What do you think appeared in the town just now?"

"Heaven and earth reversed, the five elements were inverted, so outsiders couldn't see clearly what they were doing. But only I, relying on the eyes of a year-ender, saw a little from afar..."

"It's an evil spirit!"

"It's the Four Great Evil Spirits joining forces, killing Meng's Second Young Master, and making a fool of the Meng family's Old Ancestor, who communes with the underworld..."

He said in a deep voice, a hint of panic visible on his resolute face, "These demons who have been dormant for twenty years have re-entered the world..."

(End of Chapter)