The youth's face was indeed covered with severe burn scars, just as he had expected. However, under these blood red scars, he could vaguely see three or four small faces.
These faces were only the size of a child's palm and were scattered crookedly across his cheeks and forehead. Because they had been burned by the fire, the facial features of these small faces were fiercely wrinkled, as if they were screaming in pain. These strange shrieking faces squeezed onto his originally normal human face. It was truly more terrifying than any ghost!
The moment he saw this face, Xie Lian felt as if he had fallen into a nightmare. The great fear made his entire body numb, to the point that he didn't even know when he stood up. He also didn't know what kind of expression appeared on his face, but it was definitely very frightening. The young man slowly took off the bandages. He was already anxious, but after seeing Xie Lian's reaction, he also took two steps back. As if he knew that Xie Lian couldn't accept this face, as if to protect himself, he suddenly covered the horrifying face and jumped up from the ground. With a loud shout, he fled into the depths of the forest.
Only then did Xie Lian come back to his senses. "Wait!!!"
He chased while shouting, "Wait! Come back! "
However, it took him a while to react. The youth was familiar with the path in the mountains and was used to hiding in the dark. In a short moment, he disappeared without a trace. No matter how he called out, he refused to come out. There was no one to search with him, and his magic power was exhausted, so he couldn't use his spirit to communicate. He ran through the mountains, but after searching for half an hour, he still couldn't find anything. The cold wind blew, and he became more clear-headed. He knew that running around like a headless fly wasn't a solution. He forced himself to calm down and thought, "Maybe he will go back and take Little Ying's body." He first returned to the front of Ming Guang Temple, but he was startled.
He saw many black-clothed people gathered in the forest behind the temple. Their expressions were solemn as they carefully put down the forty or so corpses that had been hung upside down. In front of the forest, there was a tall figure with his arms crossed, watching. When he turned his head, he saw the elegant and cold face of a youth. It was Fu Yao. It seemed that he had gone back and brought a group of Mysterious Truth Palace officials down to help.
Xie Lian was about to speak when he heard footsteps behind him. Nan Feng had also returned after sending off the villagers. When he saw this, he glanced at Fu Yao and said, "Didn't you run away by yourself?"
These words were not pleasant to hear, and Fu Yao raised his eyebrows in displeasure. Xie Lian didn't want them to quarrel again at this critical juncture, so he said, "I was the one who told him to go back and get reinforcements."
Nanfeng scoffed, "Where are the reinforcements? I thought that at the very least, your general would have to come down personally. "
Fu Yao indifferently said, "When I returned, I heard that Little General Pei had rushed down, so I did not go to find our General. Moreover, even if I went to look for him, he's so busy that he might not have the time to come down. "
To be honest, according to Xie Lian's understanding of Mu Qing, even if he had the time, he wouldn't be willing to come down personally. But he didn't have time to think about it. He said tiredly, "Don't quarrel. Help me find that bandaged youth first."
Nanfeng frowned and said, "Wasn't he with you guarding that girl's corpse just now?"
Xie Lian replied, "I told him to take off the bandage, so I scared him away."
The corner of Fu Yao's mouth curled up. "That can't be. You're not that scary even when you're cross-dressing. "
Xie Lian sighed and said, "It's my fault for being so stunned that I couldn't react. Little Ying lady's death had already greatly stimulated him. He also thought that I was scared by his face and couldn't take the blow, so he ran away. "
Fu Yao wrinkled his nose and said, "He's really ugly to that extent?"
Xie Lian said, "It's not a question of whether he's ugly or not. He … … has a human face plague. "
Hearing those three words, Nanfeng and Fu Yao's movements and expressions instantly froze.
They finally knew why Xie Lian had been stunned just now.
Eight hundred years ago, the imperial city of Xian Le Ancient Country was swept through by a plague, ultimately destroying the country. That kind of plague would cause small lumps to appear on the body of those who were infected. The lumps would grow larger and harder, causing them to feel slight pain. Then, they would discover that the lumps would slowly become uneven. There were three depressions and one bulge, just like … … an eye, a mouth, and a nose. Then, the facial features would become more and more distinct. Finally, it would grow into a shape similar to a human face. And if left unattended, more and more human faces would grow on the body. It was said that some human faces, when they grew to the end, would even open their mouths to speak and even scream.
And the name of this plague was called the Human Face Plague!
Fu Yao's expression changed again and again. He put down his crossed arms and said, "How is that possible?! This kind of thing was extinguished several hundred years ago. It's absolutely impossible for it to appear again. "
Xie Lian only said one sentence, "I didn't see wrong."
Nanfeng and Fu Yao were both unable to refute this. No one could refute Xie Lian's words.
Xie Lian said, "His face still has traces of being burned by fire. It's possible that he wanted to burn off these necrotic faces."
For those who were infected with the Human Face Plague, many people's first reaction would be to use a knife to cut off this terrifying thing or use fire to burn it to death. For this reason, they wouldn't hesitate even if they had to cut off their flesh and break their bones. Nanfeng said in a low voice, "Then I'm afraid he's not an ordinary person. Perhaps he's already lived in this world for several hundred years. Let's not talk about anything else first. Can the plague on his body be contagious? "
Although his head was splitting, Xie Lian still calmed down and thought about this question. He said with certainty, "It can't. The contagious power of the Human Face Plague is extremely strong. If the plague on that youth's body was contagious, then after hiding in Mount Yu Jun for so long, the entire area should have been infected by him. His plague should have already … been cured. It's just that the scars left behind previously can't be removed. "
The three of them didn't dare to be careless. Fu Yao seemed to have quite a high position in the Xuan Zhen Palace Hall. He summoned the Heavenly Officials to search Mount Yu Jun thoroughly. However, no matter what they did, they couldn't find any traces of that youth. It was likely that he had already escaped from Mount Yu Jun and disappeared into the vast sea of people. For now, they could only return to the Heaven Realm and ask Ling Wen Palace Hall to help them search together. Then, they could calmly wait for news. The plague on that youth's body wasn't contagious. Xie Lian was slightly glad about this point. However, when he thought about how terrifying that youth's appearance was, if he was discovered after descending the mountain, he was afraid that he would be treated as a monster and would be hunted down. It was better to find him as soon as possible.
It wasn't good to continue staying on Mount Yu Jun. Xie Lian picked up Little Ying's corpse and walked down the mountain step by step. Because he was a bit absent-minded, that tea sommelier shouted. Only then did he realize that he had almost carried the corpse into Xiang Feng's Little Store. He repeatedly apologized and went out to entrust someone to bury the corpse before returning. After settling everything and sitting down, Xie Lian sighed soundlessly.
One matter had finally come to an end. However, he only felt that these few days after his ascension were more tiring than collecting trash in the human world for a year. Climbing up and down, leaping onto roofs and vaulting over walls, rolling and roaring, disguising and juggling. It was as if all the bones in his body were about to fall apart. There were still many unsolved mysteries and future troubles. He really wanted to hang a sign on his back that said, "Ascension is not as good as collecting trash" and go to the human world to lobby. Fu Yao lifted the hem of his robe and sat down beside him. In the end, he still couldn't help but roll his eyes at him and say, "What are you still wearing these clothes for?"
Seeing him roll his eyes, Xie Lian unexpectedly felt an incomparable sense of intimacy. Only then did he take off the wedding dress that he had worn all the way here. As he wiped off the rouge and makeup on his face, he felt slightly gloomy. "Then wouldn't I be wearing these clothes all the time while talking to Little General Pei? Nan Feng ah, it would have been better if you had reminded me just now. "
Fu Yao said, "Maybe it's because you're obviously very happy wearing it."
After running around for a day, Nan Feng could finally sit down and rest. He said, "There's no need to remind me. It's not like Little General Pei cares what you wear. Even if you dress ten times weirder, he still won't say a word to anyone when he gets back. "
Xie Lian felt that tonight had really been hard on this little Heavenly Official. He poured him a cup of tea, then thought of that Little General Pei's cold and cheerless demeanor. Comparing it to Xuan Ji's crazy state, he said, "This Little General Pei is really calm and collected. He's really able to keep his composure."
Nan Feng drank the tea and said, "Don't look at that Little General Pei's refined and courteous appearance. He's just like his ancestors, not easy to deal with."
Xie Lian was naturally able to see this. Fu Yao actually agreed with this and said, "Pei Su is a new noble that ascended in the last one or two hundred years. However, his momentum is very fierce and he climbed very quickly. When he was appointed by General Pei, he was only twenty years old. Do you know what he did at that time? "
Xie Lian said, "What?"
Fu Yao coldly spat out two words. "Massacre the city."
When Xie Lian heard this, he looked pensive, but he wasn't surprised. In the Heavenly Court, emperors, kings, generals, and ministers walked everywhere. As for the matter of conquering and defending the country, it was said that a general's success was built on the bones of ten thousand people. If one wanted to become an immortal or god, one must first become a hero. Beneath the feet of a hero was a bloody road. Fu Yao concluded, "In the Heavenly Court, there aren't many people who are easy to get along with. You can't trust anyone."
When Xie Lian heard Fu Yao's tone as if he was an experienced person giving advice to future generations, he couldn't help but want to laugh. He guessed that Fu Yao had been bullied in the Heavenly Court before, so he said this because he was deeply touched. However, he also knew that although he had ascended three times, the time he stayed in the Heavenly Realm was as short as a flash in the pan, disappearing in the blink of an eye. In terms of understanding of the immortals and gods, he really couldn't compare to these two little Heavenly Officials. However, Nan Feng seemed to strongly disagree with Fu Yao's words. He said, "Don't be an alarmist. There are good and bad everywhere. There are still many trustworthy Heavenly Officials in the Heavenly Realm."
However, Fu Yao said, "Haha, trustworthy Heavenly Officials, are you talking about your family's General?"
Nan Feng said, "Whether it's my family's General or not, I don't know. In any case, it definitely isn't your family's General."
Faced with this kind of situation, Xie Lian had long since become accustomed to it. In addition, he had something on his mind, so he didn't even have the strength to pull them apart.
After wrapping things up in the North and returning to the Heavenly Realm, he first went to Ling Wen Palace Hall and told them about the bandaged teenager. He then entrusted Ling Wen to cast a net in the human realm to find him. When Ling Wen heard this, her expression became solemn. She agreed and finally said, "Ling Wen Palace Hall will definitely search with all their strength. However, I really didn't expect that this trip to the North would involve so many things. This time, it has really been hard on Your Highness. "
Xie Lian said, "This time, I still need to thank those two little Heavenly Officials who volunteered to go down and help, as well as Ming Guang Palace Hall's Little General Pei. I really don't know how to thank them. "
Ling Wen said, "Since this is a disaster caused by Old Pei's ill-fated relationship, it's naturally up to Little Pei to clean it up. He's used to cleaning things up, so there's no need to thank him. When Your Highness has some free time later, I'll have to trouble you to enter the spiritual communication array. Everyone still needs to gather to discuss this matter. "
Xie Lian also had many unanswered questions. After exiting Ling Wen Palace Hall, he took a detour until he found a small stone bridge. The stone bridge crossed over a gurgling stream. The river water was extremely clear, and one could see clouds and mist flowing under the water. Even through the flowing water and mist, one could see the undulating mountain ranges and large square-shaped cities of the lower realm. In his heart, he thought, "This is a good place." Thus, he sat down at the head of the bridge, silently recited the password, and entered the array.
As soon as he entered, the inside of the spiritual communication array of the Heavenly Court was unexpectedly bustling with activity. Numerous voices flew back and forth inside the array, creating a chaotic scene. The first thing he heard was Feng Xin's cursing. "F * ck! Have you guys chosen which mountain to guard under yet?! That female ghost Xuan Ji is a lunatic. No matter what we ask her, she'll keep clamoring to see General Pei. She's basically not willing to tell us where Green Ghost Qi Rong is! "
Little General Pei then said, "General Xuan Ji's temperament has always been stubborn and intense."
Feng Xin's voice sounded extremely angry. "Little General Pei, has your General Pei returned yet? Hurry up and let her see him. Ask her about Green Ghost Qi Rong's whereabouts, then quickly send her away! "
Feng Xin was the least accustomed to dealing with women. Unexpectedly, he was actually sent to do this interrogation work. Xie Lian couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy. Little General Pei said, "It's useless even if she sees him, she'll go even crazier."
A voice said, "It's the Forest of Hanging Corpses again … Qi Rong's taste has really always been this low, making people unhappy."
"Even their Ghost Realm disdains his low taste. It can be seen that his taste is really very low."
The Heavenly Officials conversed without any gaps. It could be seen that they were all very familiar with each other. As a newcomer who had ascended eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was supposed to silently lie on the ground and not speak. However, after listening for a long time, he still couldn't help but interject. "Everyone, what's going on with the Forest of Hanging Corpses on Mount Yu Jun? Is Green Ghost Qi Rong also nearby? "
Because he didn't often speak inside the spiritual communication array, his voice was unfamiliar. The Heavenly Officials didn't know whether to answer. The first one to answer him was actually Feng Xin. He said, "Green Ghost Qi Rong isn't on Mount Yu Jun. However, that Forest of Hanging Corpses is due to the female ghost Xuan Ji following his request and giving him an offering. "
Xie Lian asked, "Xuan Ji is Green Ghost's subordinate?"
Little General Pei replied, "Precisely. General Xuan Ji has already been dead for several hundred years. Although she had resentment before, she had always been powerless to stir up trouble. It wasn't until a hundred years ago that Green Ghost Qi Rong took a liking to her. He admired her greatly and took her in as his subordinate. Only then did her magic power greatly increase. "
In reality, the meaning behind his words was that the female ghost Xuan Ji causing trouble couldn't be blamed on General Pei, because she originally didn't have that much ability. If someone was to blame, then blame Green Ghost Qi Rong. It was because he had taken in Xuan Ji that she had the ability to come out and harm people. All the Heavenly Officials originally felt that this matter was actually caused by General Pei himself. It was just that they didn't say it out loud, yet Xie Lian was actually able to sense it. In such a manner that was neither light nor heavy, it was just right to remind them. At that moment, they hid their thoughts even more deeply between their words. Xie Lian then asked, "Then has Mount Yu Jun been thoroughly investigated? There should still be a child's spirit. "
This time, Mu Qing's voice emerged, neither cold nor warm. "Child's spirit? What child's spirit? "
Xie Lian thought that it was probably because Fu Yao hadn't told him the details. Perhaps even coming out to help had been hidden from him. He didn't mention Fu Yao to avoid giving him trouble. He said, "When I was on the palanquin, I once heard the laughter of a child who used a nursery rhyme to warn me. At that time, there were two minor military officials from the Martial God Hall beside me, but none of them sensed it. Presumably, this child's magic power is also quite exceptional. "
Mu Qing said, "We didn't find any child's spirits in Mount Yu Jun."
Xie Lian was baffled. Could it be that the child's spirit had specially come to warn him? Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered something he had been thinking about along the way. He asked, "Speaking of which, this time in Mount Yu Jun, I encountered a youth who could control silver butterflies. Does everyone know who this youth is? "
The spirit communication array was originally noisy and busy, but when he said this, it suddenly became silent.
Xie Lian had long since expected this kind of reaction. He waited very patiently. After a while, Ling Wen finally asked, "Your Highness, what did you just say?"
Mu Qing coldly said, "He just said that he encountered Hua Cheng."
Finally knowing the name of the red-clothed youth, Xie Lian's mood was inexplicably good. He smiled and said, "So he's called Hua Cheng? Mn, this name is quite suitable for him. "
Hearing his tone and words, the Heavenly Officials in the spirit communication array were somewhat speechless. After a moment, Ling Wen lightly coughed and said, "This … Your Highness, have you heard of the so-called Four Great Scourges?"
Xie Lian thought, I'm ashamed, I only know of the Four Great Scourges.
The so-called Four Great Scourges were the four stories of the Heavenly Court's Heavenly Officials before they ascended. The Young Monarch poured wine, the Crown Prince pleased the Gods. The General broke his sword, the Princess cut her own throat. Among these, the "Crown Prince pleased the Gods" referred to Xian Le's Crown Prince's shocking martial dao. To be able to rank among the Four Great Scourges wasn't necessarily because the Heavenly Official's magic power was the strongest. It was only because their legends were the most widely spread and people took delight in talking about them. Xie Lian had always been slow to react to this kind of news from the outside world. It could be said that he was ignorant and inexperienced. It was only because he was one of the Four Great Scourges that he had a slight understanding of. These "Four Great Scourges" were probably a new saying that became popular much later on. Xie Lian had never heard of it. Since the word "Scourge" was used, it definitely wasn't anything good. He said, "I'm ashamed, I've never heard of it. May I ask what the Four Great Scourges are? "
Mu Qing coolly said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, has tempered yourself in the mortal realm for several hundred years, yet you're unexpectedly so ill-informed. It really makes one curious. Just what have you been doing down there?"
That was naturally eating, sleeping, performing, and collecting junk. Xie Lian smiled and said, "As a person, there are a lot of things that need to be busy, and they're also very complicated. It's not as easy as being a Heavenly Official. "
Ling Wen said, "Your Highness, please remember these Four Great Scourges. They are 'Black Water Sinks the Boat, Green Lantern Roams the Night. White Clothes Brings Calamity to the World, Blood Rain Explores the Flower. 'They refer to the four Devil Incarnate of the Ghost Realm that both the Upper and Middle Heavens find extremely troublesome. "
People, if they walked upwards, they would become Gods. If they walked downwards, they would become Ghosts.
The various Immortals and Gods established the Heaven Realm as their residence, separating themselves from the mortal realm. they looked down upon the mortal realm from a high vantage point, placing themselves above all living beings. However, the so-called Ghost Realm had yet to be separated from the mortal realm. Demons, ghosts, and monsters shared the same piece of land as humans. Some lurked in the darkness, while others disguised themselves as humans. They mixed in with the crowd and wandered the mortal realm.
Ling Wen continued, "Black Water Sinks the Boat refers to a big water ghost. Although he's already in a hopeless situation, he rarely comes out to cause trouble. He's very low-key, so not many people have seen him.
"Green Lantern Roams the Night refers to our Green Ghost Qi Rong, who has low taste and likes to hang upside down in the forest of corpses. However, he's the only one among the Four Great Scourges who isn't in a hopeless situation. Why is he here? Maybe it's because he's always causing trouble and is very annoying, or maybe it's just because adding him to the four of them is easier to remember, so I won't mention it.
"White Clothes Brings Calamity to the World. Your Highness, the Crown Prince, should be more familiar with this one. He has a name, Bai WuXiang. "
When Xie Lian, who was sitting on the stone bridge, heard this name, he suddenly felt a throbbing pain that spread from his heart to his limbs and bones. The back of his hands faintly trembled, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.
He was naturally familiar with this name.
It's said that when a "Jue" appears, it can bring disaster to a country. And when this Bai WuXiang appeared, the first country he destroyed was the Xian Le Country.
Xie Lian was silent. Ling Wen continued, "However, Bai WuXiang has already been destroyed. I won't mention it. Even if he's still alive, I'm afraid it's not his turn to take the limelight.
"Your Royal Highness, the Silver Butterfly you saw on Mount Yu Jun is also called the Dead Spirit Butterfly. Its master is the last of these four, and also the one that the Heaven Realm doesn't want to provoke the most. "Blood Rain Testing the Flower", Hua Cheng. "
In the Heaven Realm, the ones who were worthy of being called "Great Names" were the Divine Martial Emperor and the Xian Le Crown Prince. Although the meanings of these two were completely opposite, the degree of their thunderous reputation was basically the same. And in the Ghost Realm, if you want to pick a "Great Name" that was on par with them, other than Hua Cheng, there was no second.
If you want to understand a Heavenly Official, go out and walk around on the road, find a temple and enter it. Look at what kind of clothes the Heavenly Official wears, what kind of magic tools they wield, and you'll get a rough idea. If you want to understand more, listen to the myths and legends that were passed down from mouth to mouth. What kind of identity the Heavenly Official had, what kind of things they had done, almost all of it has already been dug out clearly. But it's different for demons and ghosts. What kind of people they were when they were humans, and what they look like now, it's almost all a mystery.
The name Hua Cheng is definitely fake, and his appearance is also definitely fake. Because in the rumors, he was sometimes a temperamental and perverse youth, sometimes a gentle and elegant handsome man, and sometimes a gorgeous female ghost with a venomous heart. There were all kinds of rumors. Regarding his original body, the only thing that was certain was that he wore a red robe, often appeared in bloody rain and foul wind, and that the Silver Butterfly chased after his clothes and sleeves.
As for his origin, there were even more versions. Some people said that he was a deformed child, born without a right eye, so he was bullied and humiliated since he was young, and hated the world. Some people said that he was a young soldier who died in battle for his country, and his soul was unwilling. Some people said that he was an idiot who was in pain because of the death of his beloved, and some people said that he was a monster. The most bizarre version, it was said — just said. It was said that Hua Cheng was actually a Heavenly Official who had ascended. It's just that after he ascended, he jumped down himself and became a ghost. However, this was only a legend that didn't spread very widely. No one knew whether it was true or false, and not many people believed it. But then again, even if it was true, it had to be false. Because in this world, there was actually someone who gave up being a deity and would rather jump down to become a ghost. This was really too embarrassing for the Heavenly Realm. In short, the more people had different opinions, the more confusing it was.
There were many reasons why the various Heavenly Officials were especially afraid of Hua Cheng. For example, his temperament was unpredictable. Sometimes, he was cruel and bloodthirsty, and sometimes, he was strangely kind. Another reason was that he was extremely powerful in the human world, and had many followers.
Yes, people worshiped gods and prayed for blessings to stay away from the invasion of demons and ghosts. That was why the Heavenly Officials had many followers. However, a ghost like Hua Cheng actually had a large number of followers in the human world, almost to the point where he could cover the sky with one hand.
Here, it had to be said. When Hua Cheng first appeared, he did something extremely famous.
He publicly challenged the 35 Heavenly Officials of the Heavenly Court. The content of the challenge was to compete with the Martial God, and discuss the Dao with the Martial God.
Among the 35 Heavenly Officials, 33 of them thought it was extremely funny, but they were also angered by his provocation. They accepted the challenge and prepared to join hands to teach him a lesson.
The first to challenge him was the Martial God.
The Martial God was the strongest god system in the Heavenly Realm. Almost all of them had many followers and powerful magic power. Against a greenhorn little ghost, it could be said that victory was in their grasp. Who knew that after the battle, they would be completely annihilated. Even their Divine Weapons were all smashed to pieces by Hua Cheng's extremely strange curved blade!
After the battle, they found out that Hua Cheng came from Bronze Cauldron Mountain.
Bronze Cauldron Mountain was a volcano, but that was not important. What was important was that there was a city in the mountain called Gu City. Gu City was not a city where everyone raised Gu. The city itself was a large scale Gu poison.
Every hundred years, tens of thousands of ghosts would gather here to fight. In the end, only one ghost would be left, and the Gu would be formed. Although the result was usually that none were left, as long as one came out, it would definitely be a devil incarnate. In the past few hundred years, only two ghosts came out of Gu City. And these two, as expected, became the Ghost Kings that everyone in the human world knew.
Hua Cheng was one of them.
The Martial God was completely defeated, and then it was the Martial God's turn.
He could not win in a fight, but he could at least win in a debate, right?
But coincidentally, he really could not win. That Hua Cheng went to heaven and entered the earth, discussing the past and the present. Sometimes he was refined, sometimes he was vicious, sometimes he was unyielding, sometimes he was incisive, and sometimes he was sophistry. Truly, his teeth were as sharp as steel, and he did not let a single drop of water escape his mouth. Several Martial Gods were scolded by him from heaven to earth, from the past to the present. They were so angry that a waterfall of blood shot up to the sky.
Hua Cheng became famous in one battle.
But if that was all, he was not scary enough. What was scary was that after winning, he asked the thirty-three Heavenly Officials to fulfill their promise.
Before the challenge, both sides made an agreement: if Hua Cheng lost, he would offer up his ashes. If the Heavenly Officials lost, they would all jump down from the Heaven Realm and become mortals. If it was not for his arrogant attitude, the fact that the thirty-three Heavenly Officials were confident that they would not lose, they would not have agreed to fight him in a debate.
But not a single Heavenly Official took the initiative to fulfill their promise. Although breaking a promise was shameful, think about it, there were thirty-three Heavenly Officials who had lost. It was shameful for one person to lose face, but if so many people lost face together, then it was not shameful at all. They could even turn around and laugh at each other. Therefore, they reached a tacit understanding and pretended that nothing had happened. In any case, people were very forgetful. In another fifty years, they might not even remember.
On this point, they had calculated quite well. What they miscalculated was that Hua Cheng was not so easy to deal with.
Don't fulfill? Fine, I'll help.
So he burned down the temples and temples of these thirty-three Heavenly Officials in the mortal world.
This was the nightmare that all the Immortals and Gods were talking about — the red-clothed ghost burning the temples of the thirty-three civil and military officials.
The temples and believers were the Heavenly Officials' greatest source of power. If the temples were gone, where would the believers go to worship? What incense would there be? Their vitality was greatly damaged. It would take at least a hundred years to rebuild the temples, and they might not even be able to recover to their original size. To the Heavenly Officials, this was a disaster even more terrifying than failing to pass the tribulation. Among these Heavenly Officials, the big ones had thousands of temples and the small ones had hundreds. In total, there were over ten thousand of them. Hua Cheng was burned down in one night. No one knew how he did it, but he did it.
It was simply demented.
The Heavenly Officials complained to Jun Wu, but Jun Wu was helpless. There was nothing he could do. At first, the Heavenly Officials were the ones who accepted the challenge and made the promise. Hua Cheng was also very cunning. He only destroyed the temples and didn't hurt anyone. It was equivalent to digging a hole and asking them if they wanted to jump in. So they dug a bigger hole and jumped in. Now, what else could they do?
Originally, the thirty-three Divine Officials wanted to defeat this arrogant little demon in front of the world, so they chose the location of the martial arts competition in the dreams of many of the aristocrats in the mortal world. Their purpose was to show their divine might in front of the great believers. Who knew that the aristocrats would see them being utterly defeated in the battle? So, after they woke up from this dream, many nobles no longer worshiped the Heavenly Officials, but instead worshiped ghosts. These thirty-three Heavenly Officials lost their believers and temples and gradually disappeared. It wasn't until a new generation of Heavenly Officials ascended that a large number of vacancies were filled.
From then on, many Heavenly Officials in the Heavenly Realm trembled in fear at the mention of the name "Hua Cheng". Even the mention of red clothes and silver butterflies made their hair stand on end. Some were afraid of provoking him, and if he was unhappy, he would challenge them first, and then burn down the temple. Some were afraid of provoking him because he had something on them, and they could not move at all. Some were afraid of Hua Cheng's power in the human world, and sometimes some Heavenly Officials had to ask him for help when they needed to do something. After a long time, some of the Heavenly Officials, out of a strange mentality, began to worship him.
So, towards this person, the Heavenly Realm really hated, feared, and respected him.
And among the thirty-five Heavenly Officials, the two Martial Gods who didn't accept the challenge were Xuan Zhen General Mu Qing and Nan Yang General Feng Xin.
The two of them didn't accept the challenge not because they were afraid of Hua Cheng, but because they didn't put him in their eyes at all. They felt that there was no need to pay attention to this kind of challenge, so they didn't accept it. Who knew that it would be a stroke of luck. However, even though they didn't fight, Hua Cheng didn't forget about the two of them. During the several patrols during the Hungry Ghost Festival, the two of them had bumped into each other and fought a few rounds from afar. Both of them had been traumatized by the rampaging Silver Butterflies.