Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 187 - 184: Diverting Disaster Eastward, Overcoming Trickery with Trickery

Chapter 187: Chapter 184: Diverting Disaster Eastward, Overcoming Trickery with Trickery

Preserve the divine principles and annihilate human desires!

In the eyes of philosophers and Fanatics, "divine principles" are not only abstract mystical principles but also tangible norms, teachings, and hierarchy that exists in reality.

They believed that people, driven by desires, often go against these divine principles.

Therefore, to uphold the divine principles, it was essential to suppress human desires.

However, this suppression often went too far.

The normal desires of people for survival, to escape hunger and cold, or to form families were seen by them as evil "human desires."

All were brutally suppressed under "divine principles."

The respected used reason to blame the lowly, the elder to blame the young, and the noble to blame the humble, though mistaken, it was deemed appropriate; when the lowly, young, or humble argued back using reason, though appropriate, it was deemed rebellious.

To put it simply, if a person was of low status, young, or of lower rank, then they were not entitled to have their own voice, thoughts, or demands and could only choose to obey.

It was paramount to strictly ensure the hierarchy was maintained, and not a single step outside the established norms and laws was permissible!

However, this Confucian school, though extremely unfriendly towards individuals of lower status, was highly favored by the rulers.

The so-called "paternal government" title was a remnant poison of this trend of thought, and also a severe malady.

As time progressed, this theory became increasingly extreme.

During the Great Yan Dynasty, it eventually activated into a "Weird" known as the "Fanatic," firmly defending the distorted "Daoism."

"Because the culture, legends, and folk customs vary from place to place in Red County Shenzhou, the ’Weird’ roaming the lands are also different.

For example, the one that could make people ’wealthy’, the ’Joyful Deity,’ only operated in Junzhou.

While the ’Fanatics’ only roamed in Yu State and Dai State."

This was solely because these two states were regarded as holy lands of Confucianism during the Hundred Schools of Thought era.

Therefore, the states were filled with many scholars and had a flourishing literary environment, but rigid and outdated Confucians, Fanatics, and Daoism scholars were also innumerable.

In its view, the massacre of the Prime Minister’s household that formerly stood at the peak of the ruling class probably appeared as a major event that disrupted the social hierarchy.

It happened to attract the Fanatic specifically guarding Daoism."

Hearing Qiu Shaobai swiftly explain this "Weird’,"

Wang Yuan felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.

In his eyes, the "Fanatic," a feudal remnant sediment that had settled over a millennium, seemed like a painted zombie leaping out of a grave, utterly disagreeable no matter how he looked.

A violent clash of ideologies!

Especially when he saw the fleeting flash of "murdering one’s clan and heads of the family, great rebellion..." on the face of the "Fanatic," Wang Yuan’s heart could not help but skip a beat.

Someone like him, who had killed his entire clan for revenge, would probably need his bones ground to dust and scattered for redemption in the eyes of the "Fanatic."

Because according to the established norms and laws, like Wang Yunhu, the head of the clan intending to kill him, Wang Yuan must allow himself to be killed without resistance, not even kneeling improperly.

Until the writing swiftly changed to: "Undermining the established order, lawlessness, must be executed!"

Only then did Wang Yuan remember, he had changed his ’skin’; it’s not Wang Qianshan’s pot to carry.

Even though the "Fanatic" faintly sensed something unusual within its domain of control, it ultimately couldn’t pin this charge on him.

Yet the hidden truth that Wang Qianshan was behind the extermination of the Xue family was entirely exposed.

As his thoughts raced, the invisible Nightmare Suppressing Power rapidly spread towards him.

In the "Unsightly Observation" view, it transformed consecutively into the iron whips, iron rulers, and iron shackles defending Daoism, rust-covered and blood-stained, all inscribed with morality and ethics...

Most fell towards Wang Yuan, branded as "utterly evil," while a smaller portion targeted Bai Mo, who, as a woman, should not be "showing her face," and Qiu Shaobai, being an official, was not attacked at all.

However, before the attack could reach him,

A small figure had already quietly appeared behind the ’Fanatic.’"

Suddenly, the shadow of a majestic mountain, the East Mountain Taishan, located in Dai State, rose above his head.

The "Earth Official’s" Innate Divine Ability "East Mountain True Form."

In an instant, the might of the mountain possessed his body.

The Ghost Baby stepped forward and threw a punch at the "Fanatic," and though it was a small child-like fist, it unleashed a terrifying destructive power similar to a heavy cannon.

Amid the thunderous rolling, the air was suddenly pierced, creating a large hole.

The violent air currents tore everything within a thirty-foot radius, grass, trees, buildings, into fluttering fragments.

And among those also turned into fragments was the upper body of the "Fanatic."

The Ghost Baby stretched out its little hand and rummaged through its chest, but only pulled out a human skin inscribed with writings.

"Deceit Skin, weighing two and a quarter taels."

Then, holding the piece of "Deceit Skin," it stepped back and returned to the "Five Senses Altar City."

The iron whips, iron rulers, iron shackles... naturally vanished into thin air.

However, Wang Yuan’s face didn’t show happiness, instead, he was full of astonishment:

"Old Bai, how could this Fanatic be so weak?"

Qiu Shaobai replied with a heavy tone:

"This is because you’re unaware of the Precept Taboo of the Fanatic; we’re in big trouble now...."

As a well-known regional Weird, the Imperial Dragon Guard had long summarized the Fanatic’s patterns of killing.

Taboos:

"First, do not commit actions that violate propriety, hierarchy, or moral teachings in its presence. If you’re caught, you’ll be immediately killed by ’heavenly principles.’

If you’ve committed such acts within the last decade, depending on the severity, different amounts of Essence Qi will be extracted from you, and the best outcome is living out the rest of your life as a consumptive ghost."

"Second, assimilation. If you are a Philosopher or Fanatic in the common sense, agreeing with and practicing their ideologies,

then when encountering this ’Weird’, you could be assimilated into one of its avatars, wandering in a certain area to protect Daoism.

The longer it drags on, the more avatars the Fanatic has, and the stronger it becomes."

"Third, method of execution (upon encountering under the command of Imperial Dragon Guard, must be killed at all costs).

One must find its original body and have a noble of high status personally deal with it, using propriety to fight propriety, to truly kill it.

Otherwise, it will merely transfer its concept from one avatar to another, never truly dying.

Note: The Fanatic has become a part of the rules, even if eradicated, it will reappear after several years.

But with each death, its power is somewhat diminished.

The last execution was in the sixth year of Jianming, estimating the current strength of the Fanatic’s original body to be between a Red Seal Mage and a Yellow Seal Mage.

Identified by the four words on its face: ’Convince with Virtue.’"

"So what you easily killed was just one of the Fanatic’s avatars.

Although Shanyang City was the first to alert us, its original body is probably ravaging elsewhere, simultaneously transforming many corrupt Confucians and Philosophers into its henchmen.

We must find its original body; not just Shanyang City but even Dengzhou Prefecture and perhaps the surrounding areas of Dongchang Mansion, Wuding Prefecture, and Yizhou Prefecture might face a significant disaster.

Unfortunately, Prince Jing has just gone out to sea to clear up pirates, leaving us momentarily without a noble of high status to cooperate.

This noble must at least be a Prince, Princess, or a significant official of a state.

If not, we would only have to seek help from the state.

Apart from Prince Jing, there are still several Vassal Kings in Yu State."

...

Ninghai State, a chaotic stony beach by the sea.

A graceful figure in red fluttered in, her steps mysteriously staggering, nearly tripping over the rocks.

"Pant... pant... even though the Fox Elder who had reached the True Qi Realm and killed countless nobles in his lifetime had already died, why won’t you weird beings let me go?

Am I supposed to die just for dancing and showing some leg?

All my life, I’ve never even known what a man tastes like!"

The Fox Demon Xing’er’s chest heaved dramatically as she had been running for who knows how long, her whole body drenched in sweat, making her bright red thin dance dress cling wetly to her creamy fragrant skin.

Behind her, several Fanatics dressed in paper clothes were in relentless pursuit.

All over their bodies were written the ’Women’s Precepts,’ and on their faces, ’Entertaining with beauty, shamelessly.’

Only one among them had ’Convince with Virtue’ written on the face.

A rage from a common man could splatter blood three feet wide; assassins from the Killing Temple often took actions bright as a rainbow piercing the sun and naturally deserved to die in the eyes of the Fanatic.

After the relocation, the Imperial Dragon Guard couldn’t find them for a while but were easily located by the Fanatic.

After a chaotic scramble, they fled in groups.

All the Fox Demons with Xing’er, regardless of their cultivation levels, were successively killed, leaving only her, the ’newcomer’ with the smallest ’crime.’

However, she was on the brink of being executed too.

Just then, her beautiful blue eyes suddenly sparkled.

"Perfect! Today really is the market day; I am saved!"

Suddenly, a thick fog enveloped the chaotic stony beach ahead, and immediately an ancient archway appeared — it was— "Cloud Tower Ghost Market!"

The Fox Demon Xing’er’s strategy of ’fighting peculiarity with peculiarity’ for escape was undoubtedly flawless.

But if Wang Yuan were here, he probably would have only... one complaint to make that he wouldn’t know whether to express or not.