Chapter 192 - 113: Three Demons on Par with ’Qi Cultivation Grandmasters’? So What? It’s All About Factions and Backing

Chapter 192: Chapter 113: Three Demons on Par with ’Qi Cultivation Grandmasters’? So What? It’s All About Factions and Backing

Just like right now!

He watched as the tattered county residents flooded into the Inner Street. Yet, when they looked at the Central Yellow Sect Members in their yellow robes, who shielded them from behind, their eyes filled with heartfelt admiration.

A jolt went through Zhao Jiu’s heart, which then turned to ice. A single thought surfaced in his mind:

’It’s over.’

A Demon invasion of the County was already a catastrophe. It could affect years of tax revenue, income, and so on...

But!

If the Central Yellow Sect were to stir up trouble on top of that, it would just be piling disaster upon disaster!

How did these Central Yellow Remnants manage to spread so far and wide without anyone noticing, even orchestrating such a massive crisis?

There had to be an instigator, or at least someone who was derelict in their duty.

And who would that be?

’Who else could it be but me!’

’No one else could shoulder this blame!’

"Hmph. County Magistrate, watch your words."

"I once held a high position within the Chaotic Heaven Righteous Army in Jiangyin Prefecture, which flew the banner of ’Vigilante Justice’. I did it for the common people."

"Now, in my sect, I am a Tributor to the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General, serving as a Commander under him and presiding over a Grand General Altar. This, too, is for the salvation of the common people!"

"Take tonight, for example, with the Demon invasion of the County."

"If it weren’t for the widespread devastation, why would I, the Altar Master, risk being hunted down by you people and expose myself so rashly!?"

"These people—I led my men to save them. Right now, the Demon Qi on West Street is soaring to the heavens. As far as the eye can see, it blankets the sky. It’s clearly the work of Three Newborn Great Demons, completely disregarding all order!"

"Even if the Prefecture eventually dispatches troops and warships for an encirclement, a Mountain Search, and a temple purge, before that happens... the entire Anning County will be slaughtered by these three Great Demons, each comparable to a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster!"

"For this reason, I have specially invited the holy presence of the ’Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General’! We only need the hundred thousand residents of this County to kowtow in sincere prayer, and we can move the heavens to summon the General’s Dharma Body and strike fear into the Great Demons!"

"County Magistrate, why don’t you look toward West Street? Does that aura seem like I’m bluffing?"

"At this moment of life and death, you still slander my sect as heretical and evil, ignoring the lives of the county’s people... Can you truly sit on your County Magistrate’s seat with a clear conscience!?"

Wei Changjiao’s tone was grim, pressing closer with each word. He then abruptly raised a Daoist Shrine, which enshrined the ’Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General’.

At the same time...

The dozens of Central Yellow Cultists following behind him also raised their Divine Shrines in unison. Faint yellow lights intertwined in midair, actually coalescing into the silhouette of a Divine Being!

When had these terrified refugees ever witnessed such a scene?

Guided by Wei Changjiao’s words, upon seeing the divine manifestation, most of them were immediately ready to fall to their knees and kowtow to save their lives.

Some of the more extreme ones even glared at Zhao Jiu, the Armored County Soldiers, and the Martial Artists with hatred and anger...

They truly seemed to believe that it was the officials’ negligence and indulgence that had led to this whole situation.

Why should they live in constant fear, while these people could slay Demons and protect their own families, friends, and relatives?

’It is not scarcity that is the problem, but inequality!’

As this phrase surfaced in his mind, Zhao Jiu’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

At that moment, he finally understood why the Archives recorded so many incidents of ’Central Yellow uprisings’ and why they were able to stir up such enormous waves.

Never mind that these Divine Beings possessed great power and could delude followers, recruiting bandits, major criminals, and even ’Demons’ tainted by Abyss Ruins Qi who fed on human vitality, as well as other Demons, into their ranks.

Just this ability to bewitch the people, stir up trouble, and put someone on the spot as if holding them morally hostage...

When the calculating move against the unsuspecting, who could withstand such a sudden blow!?

For a moment, as he watched the enraged crowd, the Inner Street Martial Artists, and the County Soldiers holding crossbows, all locked in a standoff with the Central Yellow Sect, he saw them fall into a dilemma because of Wei Changjiao’s speech...

Zhao Jiu gritted his teeth, his heart growing cold.

If it were only this, it might have been manageable.

But Three Newborn Great Demons... comparable to three Qi Cultivation Grandmasters!

Even setting aside all these treacherous schemes.

Annihilating him would be as easy as turning over a palm!

In this entire, vast Anning County, where could he find...

No!

Perhaps, there really was a chance, a turning point!?

He looked toward the West Street Ji Residence.

Lord Zhao the County Magistrate clenched his fists. He seemed to have remembered something, and a sliver of confidence returned to him. He stiffened his neck and gritted his teeth.

"Where did this Evil Deity and Outer Dao come from, deluding the hearts of the people? Are you ignorant of the laws of the Great Xuan!"

"I don’t care what kind of phantom you are! Have you forgotten that the Great Xuan once had a Titled warrior who parted the waves and a Martial Saint who tore down your shrines? We beat your Six Celestial Divine so badly they didn’t dare show their faces!"

"According to the laws of the Great Xuan, colluding with an Outer Deity is a crime punishable by death, with the punishment extending to three generations of your clan!"

"County Soldiers of the garrison, hear my command! Ready your crossbows! Annihilate this Evil Deity! Any who disobey..."

"...will be implicated in the crime!"

A grim, murderous aura billowed out as the brutal words escaped Zhao Jiu’s lips, one by one.

Instantly, this stance of iron-fisted suppression had an effect. The Incense Qi surrounding many of the people was clearly disturbed.

Zhao Jiu forced himself to remain calm.

He saw Wei Changjiao raise an eyebrow, as if mocking him for overestimating his own strength, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Zhao Jiu couldn’t help but grit his teeth.

Right now...

’This is a desperate gamble—like trying to treat a dead horse as if it were still alive.’

Otherwise, if he were to be swayed by this Wei Thief’s deceptions and bow his head today, then tomorrow, unless the Great Xuan suddenly recognized the Central Yellow Sect as the Orthodoxy, then...

He would have lowered his head in front of everyone. As a County Magistrate of the Great Xuan—even if he was only a local Official and not a Prefecture Official—the title of ’God-Traitor’ would be inescapable.

And if he couldn’t stop the inevitable gossip later on...

...not even his old man would be able to protect him!

Seeing that the situation was beyond reconciliation.

Zhao Jiu silently prayed in his heart:

’My good and worthy brother...’

’Don’t you have a good Master, and a good grand-disciple...?’

Thinking of Duan Chenzhou and Fan Nansong, a bitter taste filled Zhao Jiu’s mouth.

’One’s a killing machine, the other’s an Outer Dao practitioner. Neither of them has the personality to stick their neck out for others.’