He glanced at the seat of honor in the Daxiong Bao Hall and said in a low voice, "In the thirteenth year of Emperor Jiajing's reign, the Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang, having mourned the death of his mother, resumed his duties after three years and returned to Nanjing, only to hear that within Nanjing City, there was a rich merchant named Wang Guan."
Wang Guan was immensely wealthy. His mansion, marked by a crimson gate and embroidered doorways, shone with gold and jade. He had numerous wives and concubines, over a thousand child servants, and maintained close relations with powerful officials and nobility.
It was rumored among the people that Wang Guan kept dozens of young girls as concubines under the guise of taking them as wives, and he held a banquet in his mansion every night, allowing these concubines to spend the night with guests.
Once a concubine became pregnant, Wang Guan would force her to take an abortion drug and take the stillborn fetus to a hidden room within his mansion."
Li Ang, pushing his glasses up, said somberly, "That room was an alchemy chamber."
"Alchemy?" Xing Hechou felt goosebumps all over his skin and growled softly, "You mean..."
"That's right. According to the 'Records of National Tribute,' under the guidance of a magician known as 'Chi Duzi,' Wang Guan turned dead babies into pills that could extend one's lifespan and sold them," he said.
Li Ang continued, "It wasn't just the fetuses aborted by the concubines in the mansion; Wang Guan also ordered people to buy deceased infants from the streets and even bribed midwives who helped with deliveries and abortions to acquire dead babies."
"Having collected sufficient evidence, the outraged Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang bypassed the Shuntian Prefecture, apprehended Wang Guan, and intended to have him beheaded."
"Who would have thought, just when Wang Guan's crimes were confirmed, and the people were rejoicing, the influential figures within Nanjing City went one by one to the residence of the Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang, pleading for Wang Guan."
"It's one thing for these officials to have had personal dealings with Wang Guan on ordinary days. But now, despite the clear evidence, rather than severing ties with Wang Guan, they were appealing on his behalf, risking universal condemnation. The only possible explanation was that these powerful people had been buying the longevity pills made from dead infants from Wang Guan for years."
"The Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang was upright and had popular support. He stood firm against the pressure and ordered the execution of the wicked Wang Guan, who had caused widespread resentment among the people, by death by a thousand cuts. The people were ecstatic."
"Did things end there? No. The Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang, who was praised by everyone, staked his own life to continue digging and uncover the powerful protectors behind Wang Guan."
"Naturally, the resistance was unprecedented. This resistance did not only arise from a tangled web of influential relationships but also came from even higher powers."
"And that was the eleventh Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Shizong Zhu Houzao."
"Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houzao was known as the 'Daojun Emperor.' He was an avid fan of cultivating immortality. Seeking eternal life, he had invited many necromancers and Taoists to his palace to concoct elixirs for him."
"In an attempt to consume dew like an immortal, Zhu Houzao commanded palace maids to collect morning dew from banana leaves before dawn for him to ingest. As a result, many maids collapsed, fell ill, or even died. Moreover, Zhu Houzao followed the nefarious advice of necromancers. According to the 'Red Lead Method,' he collected the menstrual blood of palace maids to consume with powdered drugs."
"To increase the severity of the maids' menstruation, Zhu Houzao forced them to take drugs that induced bleeding. At best, it harmed the maids' bodies; at worst, it caused them to die from hemorrhagic shock."
"In the twenty-first year of Emperor Jiajing's reign, the palace maids, who could no longer bear Zhu Houzao's cruelty, banded together. While Emperor Jiajing was soundly asleep, they strangled him with a yellow silk cloth and jabbed at him with pins and hairpins. This event went down in history as the 'Renyin Palace Coup'."
"The Renyin Palace Coup, which occurred in the twenty-first year of Emperor Jiajing's reign, failed. The time we are now in is the thirteenth year of Emperor Jiajing's reign. This was just before Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang ordered Wang Guan to be executed by lingchi and his mansion's production line of infant-derived elixirs of life to be destroyed."
"Why did Wang Guan, merely a Mountain Demon, have control over the Spirit Gathering Formation, a heritage exclusive to the Taoist Door?"
"Why was Master Taozhi, a man of many evils, able to easily escape from the execution ground of Nanjing City, which was hidden by Taoist masters?"
"Why was it that Master Taozhi, simply by changing to a vest named Wang Guan, could rise again with ease?"
"Because this Mountain Demon had protectors in high places. The longevity elixirs he made from infants went not just to the nobility and officials, but also to Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houzao. It was due to Zhu Houzao's protection and clandestine support that Wang Guan could swagger around with prized treasures and even learn orthodox heritage from the Taoist Door."
Finally dispersing the dense fog that had obscured the truth, Li Ang sighed deeply, "Regrettably, I realized it all too late."
Before his words had settled, the woman known as Hong Niang in the Daxiong Bao Hall screamed in terror, struggled out of Wang Guan's embrace, and staggered away.
"Don't leave."
Wang Guan smiled and extended a hand with a beckoning gesture.
A nameless demonic wind blew in from outside the hall, lifting the curtains of the sedan chair outside the monastery. An ancient-looking bronze cauldron, caught up in the demonic wind, flew out from within the sedan chair, landing in the center of the Daxiong Bao Hall.
Hong Niang was also swept up by the demonic wind, suspended above the cauldron.
"Help, help!"
Hong Niang's long skirt fluttered as she wept and wailed, but the demons inside the hall only laughed more recklessly. Only the group of foxes burdened with family and a couple of insignificant monsters showed pity, turning their faces away, unable to watch her.
"My friends!"
Wang Guan stood up and spoke in a clear voice, "I have obtained a new formula from my predecessors at the Taoist Door. By taking an unborn baby, untainted by worldly pollution, and the blood of a hundred powerful monsters brimming with spiritual power, we can create an elixir called the Hundred Demon Pill."
"Any common person who consumes it can gain a hundred years of power, and even Transformed demons can greatly increase their cultivation."
"Indeed, I was attacked inside the pagoda just now, and the attacker might be hidden among you. However, I am willing to let bygones be bygones and share the Hundred Demon Pill with you all."
With that, he opened the wooden box he was holding. A visible mist of alluring fragrance rose into the air and drifted with the wind. It made the surrounding monsters intoxicated. They felt their demonic power surge within them, almost ready to break through the final barrier in their cultivation.
The Hundred Demon Pill, worthy of its name.
SNAP,
Wang Guan closed the wooden box and said with a smile, "As long as you're willing to donate a drop of fresh blood regularly, I can continuously produce the elixir for our mutual benefit. What do you think?"
The assembled monsters looked at each other and then shouted in unison, "We leave it to Daoist Wang Guan's arrangement!"
"Good!"
Wang Guan laughed heartily and spoke softly to Hong Niang, "My dear, when I bought your freedom from that hellish brothel, you said you'd do anything for me. Now, it's time for your sacrifice."
As he spoke, Wang Guan waved his hand grandly, and a gust of wind poured from his fingers, heading straight for Hong Niang.
This claw was meant to rip Hong Niang open and let the baby fall into the cauldron!
CLANG————
The Bronze Halberd shot out from the corner, quick as lightning and thunder, dispelling the gust of wind with a single strike!
The momentum of the halberd, undiminished, buried itself deep into the red beams of the Daxiong Bao Hall. The monsters looked back to the corner.
"...."
Xing Hechou stood still, maintaining the pose of having thrown the halberd.
"Captain," Wanli Fengdao tapped his head and said with distress, "Just now, you were telling us to stay calm, then calm some more."
"HAHAHA," Xing Hechou laughed and straightened up, clapping his hands with his usual hearty demeanor. "Can't help it, couldn't hold back."
This stalwart man with a square face turned around and said to everyone with sincere apology, "Sorry everyone, I've dragged you all into this."
"Not at all." Hui Bin, the Monk, brought his hands together and smiled gently. "If I do not enter hell, who will? It's nothing more than sacrificing oneself for righteousness."
Liu Wu Dai silently drew his compound longbow and said calmly, "Let's begin."
"HEY, HEY, HEY," Li Ang sighed helplessly, took off his glasses, and put on the Face-Changing Mask. "Your lines are all so cool, it makes it tough for me."
"So," Wang Guan said, floating up, his Taoist robe fluttering fiercely. He looked at the task force, his lips showing a hint of a smile, but his eyes were filled with indifference. "Gentlemen, are you going to be my enemies?"
The patterns on Li Ang's mask kept changing and finally settled on the face of Ultraman.
He tilted his head, his cat's eyes reflecting Wang Guan's youthful face with white hair and benevolent eyes, and said softly, "A foolish monk can still be taught, but a demon, being of a treacherous nature, will inevitably become a disaster."