Runjiao, military camp outside the city.
Xu Zhuhao was angrily directing troops and dispatching generals.
"Governor, calm down!"
"In Zhu Jinyu's army, there are Ghost King and many talented people, only Xue Xianren will be our aid, it is very likely that we will not be able to match them!"
"There are also strong men under the command of Xuchong, Governor, you can write a letter, send it to Jinling and ask the commander to send troops to assist us in battle."
"If you deploy troops to attack Guangling directly, with the Ghost King from Zhu Jin's forces stepping in, we would be utterly defeated!"
A host of generals, assistant generals, secondary generals, and the like, all urged against it.
With fury in his eyes, Xu Zhuhao glared at the officers. He shouted angrily, "My elder brother was murdered at night and his body has not been found. As his younger brother, how can I bear the humiliation and live on without avenging my brother? You need not say anything else. Today, even if I die, I will avenge my elder brother's deep blood grievances!"
As the will of the generals, assistant generals, secondary generals, and the like was already decided, they knew that no more persuasion would be effective. They could only sigh and look very sad and helpless, after all, they knew the strength of Zhu Jin's forces. Going to attack them so suddenly would likely result in their death.
However, military orders cannot be violated, the generals can only go with a death wish to help Xu Zhuhao to attack Guangling.
Xu Zhuhao naturally knew what the hearts of the generals were thinking.
In fact, he did not want to attack Guangling.
But as the second son of Xu Wen and the only adopted child, he was promoted to Runzhou Governor, now he had no choice but to do so.
As an adopted son, Xu Zhuhao paid great attention to the relationship between brothers in his daily life, after all, he was living under another's roof.
Now, his elder brother, Xu Zhiyun, the eldest son of Xu Wen, was murdered at night.
And it was still near the city of Guangling, where he was stationed as Governor of Runzhou.
If he did nothing, wouldn't Xu Wen suspect him?
Does he want to continue living in the Xu family in the future?
Therefore, Xu Zhuhao must avenge his elder brother Xu Zhiyun's death.
Even knowing that Zhu Jin has the Ghost King and many extraordinary talents aiding him, making it highly possible that he will not be able to stand against them, he must still venture towards the tiger's mountain.
This is a matter that concerns his future destiny!
Although he knew he had to avenge the death, Xu Zhuhao was actually very nervous in his heart.
Because he was very aware that Xue Wenjie was no match for the Ghost King.
Even more so, the Ghost King has many Ghost Commanders, Ghost Generals, and Ghost Troops under his command.
In addition, Zhu Jin's forces were not just the Ghost King.
There were also some "Immortals" with extremely high cultivation.
Xu Zhuhao's forces only have Xue Wenjie, how could they possibly be an opponent?
At that moment, the generals were sorrowful beyond words.
As Xu Zhuhao was feeling restless in his heart.
Suddenly, an envoy rushed in with a triumphant expression, exclaiming excitedly, "Second Master, we have a chance to capture Zhu Jin! Hahaha! Finally, there is a chance!"
He was too excited, he didn't even call Xu Zhuhao's official position, but directly called him "second master" as usual.
The generals all looked at the messenger, puzzled as to why he was so excited.
Xu Zhuhao also seemed very puzzled, furrowing his brow and asking the messenger, "What's going on that you're acting like this?"
The messenger quickly composed himself and respectfully replied, "Governor, earlier you sent me to invite Xue Xianren to assist in the battle against Guangling. I went to Xue Xianren's mansion. Unexpectedly, while we were discussing, Chen Xianren announced that he would personally intervene and repay the favors of gratitude that Governor and Xue Xianren have shown him."
What?
Chen Xianren woke up, and he is willing to personally intervene?
Xu Zhuhao was also excited when he heard this news.
Over the past two years, he hadn't heard Xue Wenjie boasting about Chen Yun's achievements in slaying demons and monsters enough.
He knew that this Chen Xianren had once been in Sichuan and defeated numerous evil cultivators and killed many Ghost Commanders and their subordinates.
It was said that 18 years ago, this Chen Xianren had been in Lingshi to kill the demon king, eight demon kings, ten demon generals and three thousand demons. He was indeed famous.
Now, this Chen Xianren with boundless cultivation and great mystical powers is willing to come out of retirement to help Xu Zhuhao achieve his goals?
How could he not be excited?
Xu Zhuhao quickly said, "Where is Chen Xianren? Quickly lead me to him, and I will thank him heartily."
The messenger hurriedly replied, "Chen Xianren and Xue Xianren have gone to Guangling. He has ordered you to bring the troops there quickly, and we will meet outside Guangling City."
Xu Zhuhao dared not let Chen Xianren wait for long, so he quickly ordered, "Listen up, my troops! Gather 3,000 mounted soldiers and prepare to go on the offensive. We will rush to Guangling to meet battle!"
"Yes!"
"Understood!"
A host of soldiers answered in unison.
Although they responded quickly, they were all very puzzled and did not understand what kind of divine power the Chen Xianren possessed that made Xu Zhuhao and the messenger show such a joyful expression.
The soldiers did know that there was an additional immortal aiding the cause.
But they still didn't think they could beat Zhu Jin.
Because Zhu Jin's forces were too strong.
Each one of them still appeared to be quite pessimistic.
...
Guangling, Zhu Jin's mansion.
Zhu Jin was staring at the dried corpse of Xu Zhiyun with a fierce look, still feeling angry inside.
Two years ago, the sentry guard Li Qiu and the officer Ma Qian seized Yang Longyuan, and under the pretext of loyal service, he gathered grain soldiers to attack Xu Zhiyun. They camped outside Tianxing Gate.
At that time, Xu Zhiyun almost perished. Lucky for Zhu Jin, who was returning to the capital from Runzhou and led his troops to defeat the rebellious soldiers, capturing and beheading Li Qiu and Ma Qian, thus saving Xu Zhiyun. Zhu Jin felt he owed him a great debt of gratitude.
During his term of government, Xu Zhiyun was arrogant and unrestrained, not only insulting the generals but also often disrespecting Yang Longyuan, without observing the proper etiquette of a ruler. In his early years, he had studied military strategies from Zhu Jin and received excellent instruction from him. Later, when he requested to obtain famous horses from Zhu Jin but was refused, he even sent several assassins to attempt to kill Zhu Jin.
Zhu Jin killed all the assassins and buried them in the backyard, but he kept it a secret.
Later, Zhu Jin sent one of his concubines to greet Xu Zhiyun, only to be nearly forcibly occupied by Xu Zhiyun.
He became increasingly resentful and repeatedly tried to persuade Yang Longyuan to seek an opportunity to kill the Xu family, including Xu Zhiyun and his father, in order to eliminate a national threat.
Not long ago, Xu Zhiyun was afraid of Zhu Jin's too high status in the imperial court. Therefore, he established a Jinghua Military Headquarters in Suizhou and dispatched Zhu Jin as a Nodeuke.
Zhu Jin was even more resentful and decided to avenge the death of Xu Zhiyun.
The night before, Xu Zhiyun held a banquet in his home to bid farewell to Zhu Jin.
The next morning, Zhu Jin went to Xu Zhiyun's place to take leave, only to find that Xu Zhiyun was still sleeping from the previous night's drunkenness. He thus returned home using the excuse "cannot endure the hunger in the morning."
After Xu Zhiyun sobered up, he said that he would visit Zhu Jin for a return call that evening.
That evening, Xu Zhiyun came to Zhu Jin's mansion.
Zhu Jin held a banquet to entertain Xu Zhiyun, during which he let his favorite concubine frequently urge him to drink. He also promised to give him the famous horse he had previously requested.
Xu Zhiyun was very pleased.
Afterwards, Zhu Jin invited Xu Zhiyun into the inner room and called out his wife, Tao Xian, to meet him.
As Xu Zhiyun was greeting Tao Xian, Zhu Jin struck him from behind with a tablet, knocking him to the ground. Soldiers who had been lying in wait rushed out and killed him immediately.
Although Xu Zhiyun had hundreds of attendants outside, they were all unaware of his murder.
After killing Xu Zhiyun at night, Zhu Jin immediately secretly moved troops to take control of Guangling and prepared to engage in a decisive battle with Xu Wen.
"I have saved this scoundrel's life, and yet he has insulted me in so many ways. He truly deserves to die a dishonorable death!"
Zhu Jin was filled with anger and resentment, but his gaze fell on the rows of extraordinary people sitting below him.
The leader, with black qi enveloping his entire body, was Wei Shu, the Ghost King of the Slender West Lake.
This Ghost King was a person from the time of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty. He originally had the potential to become an immortal. However, due to his excessive desire for killing, he died and fell into the underworld, where he became a Ghost King, dominating a region. Under his command were two major Ghost Commanders, five Ghost Generals, and eight thousand Ghost Troops, making his power formidable.
It's a pity that even the most powerful ghost king is still a wandering ghost, and if known by righteous people, they would certainly rout him.
Wei Shu of course wanted to become a legitimate deity. Therefore, during the turmoil in the world, he took refuge under Zhu Jin, hoping to assist him in achieving his goals and then have his name inscribed in the official diagram of divine ranks, obtaining an official position in heaven. If that failed, he would still have a job at the underworld.
The other two rows also included some evil cultists and heretics.
The evil cultists were led by the Leopard Demon King.
The Leopard Demon King was a transformed golden leopard, comparable to the early stage of a high-level magician, and under his command were more than a hundred wolf spirits and wild dog spirits.
The heretics were led by Wu Kejiu, an acquaintance of Chen Yun's. He led a group of cultivators, including Long Nianguo, Ding Xu, Gao Cheng, and Zhang Ling.
Wu Kejiu, Long Nianguo, and Ding Xu, among others, had emerged from the Moon Lake Cave of the heavenly realm in their early years. They parted ways with Chen Yun and, using the collected essence of the heavens and earth, devoted themselves to practicing diligently. As a result, all of their strength saw significant growth.
For instance, Wu Kejiu is now an upper-grade magician at the latter stage.
Long Nianguo, Ding Xu, and Gao Cheng, among others, have also advanced to the early stage of an upper-grade magician.
Even those with weaker cultivation, such as Zhang Ling and Sun Yan, had reached the mid-stage of a medium-grade magician.
They, like the Ghost King Wei Shu and the Leopard Demon King, all had similar thoughts in mind—they were thinking of making a name for themselves in the divine war, in hopes of obtaining a divine position or a post in the underworld.
After all, according to their cultivation potential, achieving immortality was almost hopeless. They could only hope to transcend in this way.
"Your Excellencies, the immortals," Zhu Jin said with great courtesy, bowing his hands, "I have heard that Xu Zhuhao has led his troops from Runzhou to attack Guangling. There is a strange person and a cultivator in his ranks with great supernatural powers and boundless cultivation. I fear that we mere mortals may not be able to withstand them. By then, I will need your presence."
Ghost King Wei Shu lightly waved his hand, "You can rest assured, Zhu Subordinate. No matter what strange person there may be in Xu Zhuhao's army, I will personally deal with them."
The Leopard Demon King also expressed his opinion, saying, "No matter who comes, I will make sure to grind them into dust."
The other two "decision-makers" have also made their statements.
As the leader of the heretics, Wu Kejiu certainly couldn't remain silent.
He smiled and said, "Subordinate Zhu, please rest assured. With the presence of my numerous brothers and sisters here, even if the Lord of Heaven comes today, I will certainly help you subdue..."
He did not finish his sentence.
Suddenly, a resounding voice shook the earth and heaven.
"The venerable Daoist of the Zenyang Cave and the Daoist Transmission Observation of the Zhongnan Mountain, Chen Piao, a disciple under the True Yang Sage, has heard that there are demons and demons rampant in the city of Guangling tonight. Therefore, I have come to subdue them. The ghost king Wei Shu and Leopard demon king Bao Xin, get out quickly to face your death!"
The sound was so magnificent and imposing that as it surged forth, the ground of Zhu Jin's mansion seemed to tremble violently.
If it were any other day, Zhu Jin would have been terrified.
But he now had the assistance of Ghost King Wei Shu, Leopard Demon King, and Wu Kejiu, among other evil cultists and heretics.
He did not feel any fear at all; instead, he even seemed to have an air of anticipation.
Zhu Jin looked at the crowd beneath him, his voice filled with emotion, "Your Excellencies, great sages, it is now time for you to show your might..."
As he spoke, he saw that the faces of Ghost King Wei Shu, Leopard Demon King, and Wu Kejiu had turned green!
Especially the Leopard Demon King, who was a regional demon king with hundreds of little demons under his command. At this moment, upon hearing the newcomer's self-introduction, he was so scared that he was drenched in sweat!
Wu Kejiu's face changed drastically, seemingly never having expected to see Chen Yun here.
Ghost King Wei Shu did not show as much emotion as the Leopard Demon King and Wu Kejiu. However, when he heard the voice, his heart still pounded violently, his hands shook involuntarily, and his eyes were filled with fear!
Who doesn't know the fame of Chen Piao?
This person is the one who once killed the senior disciple of Yinshan School, Yin Wuyi, and killed Li State's ghost commander and four ghost generals, over ten thousand ghost soldiers, and later extinguished the demon king, eight demon commanders, ten demon generals, and three thousand minor demons in Dengzhou!
He is indeed a famous immortal with an outstanding reputation, known throughout the South and North of the Great River and the Five Lakes and Four Seas!
That is because they know the reputation of Chen Piao.
The Ghost King Wei Shu, the Leopard Demon King, and other evil cultists, upon hearing that the newcomer was him, were immediately terrified and lost their wits.
Even the Leopard Demon King had a thought to flee for his life at the first moment, fearing he might be captured and killed by Chen Piao.
What should we do?
What should we do?
Ghost King Wei Shu and the other evil cultists were at a loss for what to do. They were all anxious in their hearts, thinking of ways to avoid battle.
Yes, they were all ruined by the famous Chen Piao!
(The end of this chapter)
