Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 363 - 360

Chapter 363: 360

Yan State’s territory, Wen’an Prefecture.

Although this place was merely two hundred miles from Yunjing City, it appeared to belong to an entirely different world.

Compared to that capital city, which enjoyed the support of the entire nation and was bustling with prosperity, this place seemed desolate.

In the cracked fields, everywhere one could see young crops that had died before they could mature.

The few remaining leaves on the branches of trees alongside the ridges of the fields were all tinged with hints of scorching yellow.

The rivers had nearly dried up completely, their exposed muddy riverbeds thoroughly ransacked many times over by people.

Even the most inconspicuous grey-white clamshells had been excitedly picked up and then thrown away in disappointment countless times.

Along the roadside, one could occasionally see emaciated corpses, reduced to skin and bones, collapsed on the ground and swarming with mosquitoes.

Some bodies were relatively intact, but most were significantly mutilated.

One could even see, under the broad daylight, numerous green-eyed wild dogs indulging themselves in the soft bellies of corpses.

Even if an occasional passerby approached, these dogs, accustomed to the taste of human flesh, showed no fear at all.

They even watched the passersby with greedy eyes, saliva dripping from their mouths, as though considering where would be the easiest place to bite.

The only thing that could be considered fortunate was that, for the time being, there were no human bite marks on the corpses.

Yes, for the time being.

At dusk.

Wooo wooo wooo...

Along a country lane, a dense and chilling fog suddenly swirled into being.

Within the fog, a procession of several hundred people was advancing at high speed.

Leading the group were dozens of people with Golden Lamp Ceremony, graceful women and strong men holding Command Flags, Clearing Path, White Banner, Staff Drum... responsible for leading the way.

Behind them were precisely three hundred tall figures, like iron towers, with faces masked by ghostly visages—Iron Blood Soldiers.

Together, they escorted a grand carriage drawn by eight majestic black horses.

However, none of these people were touching the ground, their eye sockets swirling with ghastly blue flames. They walked on tips of the dry yellow grass as if flying, quickly covering several miles in an instant.

Even beneath the feet of the eight steeds were ghostly flames.

This was a procession of Yin Soldiers even more grand than a prince’s entourage!

Their aura spread out, terrifying yet majestic like Yama on a journey.

In these troubled times, where various demons and ghosts roamed everywhere, no one foolish enough dared to block their path upon seeing such a display.

Sensing their presence, countless rustling sounds scuttled away at the sight of them, even from several miles away.

Inside the carriage, Wang Yuan, wearing a Jade Crown and dressed in a green brocade robe, paid them no mind.

Cultivation, cultivation, if after all the cultivation, things were still the same as before, with one miserably being chased and having to scuttle about like a rat every day...

Then what was the point of all the cultivation?

Now.

Old Master Wang, after expanding his territory and securing the neighboring Dongchang Mansion and Wuding Prefecture under the authority of the King Yama’s power,

casually collected the Yin Soldiers from both prefectures.

Using almost all the low-grade Flat Peaches in his stockpile, he sent these mixed-quality Yin Soldiers back to their previous Daoist Soldier realms.

At present, he had in his hands a total of 2000 White Tiger Elite Soldiers, 1500 Long Water Soldiers, and 3000 Feather Forest Guards, all trained into Netherworld Ghost Soldiers.

The total military strength soared to 6500 men.

Compared to the thirty-six regiments of Daoist Soldiers of Great Yan, this was the number typically found in two full regiments of Daoist Soldiers under normal circumstances.

After nearly half a year of hard work and accumulation.

Finally, there was a suitable situation to use the one-time Deceit Object—the Talisman of King Jialouluo—that Wang Yuan obtained from Jiang Baimei.

Now he was fully confident.

If Taibai incarnate used that talisman, leveraging the "Sea Accepts All Rivers" power of the Martial Saint to bring together the strength of these Daoist Soldiers, and then executed the Peace Saber Technique,

he would certainly be able to confront any entry-level Martial Saint head-on, to say nothing of the ordinary Inner Scene Realm Green Seal Sages.

Although restricted to only three minutes, it was enough to be invincible at the Inner Scene Realm.

This was why, even knowing the high risks of the journey to Yunjing City, Wang Yuan still accepted the mission with confidence.

"This ’Nine Soldiers’ mission is classified ’top secret’!

To ensure absolute secrecy, except for the Corpse Dissection Immortal, no one is aware of the specific mission details.

My initial task is to lie in wait within a hundred miles of Yunjing City.

Subsequent reinforcement personnel will arrive gradually, after which the next mission details will be announced," Wang Yuan recalled the mission details while also speculating about the intentions of No-Life Dao and the Corpse Dissection Immortal,

looking for an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

After the "Yunhe Bridge Falling Dragon incident" on the second day of February,

whether it was the Desert North beyond the North Border, Dushuo Mountain above the East Sea, or Beimang Mountain, which was the source of the Dragon Vein,

they were all directed by Wang Yuan’s own will and not led by the energy of Tribulation.

Until two days ago, when distributing Divine Positions at "Pengxuan Grotto Heaven," the Tribulation Energy suddenly erupted without warning,

reaching an unprecedented intensity!

This also signified that the impending Calamity would have a wider and more violent effect, likely surpassing the alteration of the Turbid River’s course and the rotting of the entire north.

Subsequently, the Great Fate issued a mission.

Specifically assigning Wang Yuan, who had already achieved Unity of Heaven and Man with the Merit Golden Wheel and was completely immune to the Dragon Qi Prohibition, to rush to Yunjing City and stand by.

Wang Yuan had no reason to refuse.

Aside from the outbreak of "tribulation energy" that necessitated his journey.

He was, in fact, burdened with a second mission.

During this trip to Yunjing, he had to find a way to bring back all the family members of the five battalions of Daoist Soldiers stationed in Dengzhou Prefecture, without exception.

Ever since these "Daoist Soldiers" had defected on the second day of the second lunar month, this issue had become the key to ensuring long-term peace and stability in Dengzhou Prefecture.

Without resolution, this force dared not be used recklessly.

Wang Yuan had naturally been paying close attention to the progress of the rescue.

Regrettably, the scouts sent several times by Zhou Jinghuan and Pei Yulou to the capital had not brought back much valuable information.

They could only speculate that the family members might not be detained in ordinary places.

And so, the matter remained unresolved.

Now that the "calamity" had occurred in the capital, if the rescue were delayed further, there might be consequences no one wished to see.

Wang Yuan, however, didn’t haggle much with the "Great Fate."

Right when the procession of ghost soldiers had just crossed a mountain ridge and was preparing to continue northward.

Wang Yuan suddenly turned his head towards a village that was gradually being enveloped by the night, his ears twitching.

His expression immediately darkened.

"Change course!"

Inside the same cart, several female ghosts dressed in thin, light clothes, who were huddled together playing a card game with leaves, also looked in the direction of the sound.

Their expressions changed as well.

...

To the north side of Gao Manor, on a north-facing slope.

"Each man in the village takes up a shovel, and no one is to fall behind!"

An old man, who appeared to hold a significant status and leaned on a walking stick, was commanding a group of over a hundred men to bury something in a large pit before them.

Swish! Swish! Swish!...

With every shovel of earth that fell, five bodies... their eyes open wide in death and soaked in blood, were gradually being buried.

"The grain was plundered together by all of us, and people were killed by all of us, so the bodies must be buried by all of us too!

Today, after burying Fourth Gao and his family, everyone should also bury this incident in their hearts forever.

If I find out anyone dares to blabber outside, I’ll haul them back and bury them alive in this pit!

Do you hear me?"

"Don’t worry, Chief, now that we have grain, nobody will mess up."

"We’re not being merciless for no reason, it’s all because that family was too wicked, hoarding grain and not sharing with us, their kin!"

"..."

The villagers of Gao Manor who were engaged in this foul deed failed to notice.

The youngest in the pit, who had sustained severe injuries, had not yet completely passed away.

His eyes, gradually losing their light,

watched powerlessly as these men, who used to be his grandfathers, uncles, and even brothers, buried him and his entire family in the earth, bit by bit.

An immense rage burned wildly in his chest, but he was already unable to affect those damned beasts above.

All he could do was roar silently and helplessly:

"Why? Why is this happening?!"

The boy could not understand why he and his family were suffering such a misfortune.

Gao Manor was located in a plain.

Although there had been plenty of rain to the north last year, this area was spared from floods and had a rare bumper harvest.

However, the places in Great Yan that yielded a good harvest were few, and many areas were facing a shortage, causing grain prices to skyrocket like never before with each passing day.

The villagers of Gao Manor who had grain could not resist the temptation and sold their stores at much higher prices than in previous years.

Only Fourth Gao, the boy’s father who had been a bookkeeper in his youth and traveled widely, gaining some insight,

did not sell their grain; instead, he used his savings to buy more from neighboring villages.

More than that, he went door to door advising his clansmen, remarking that greater disasters and famines were likely to come given the climatic trends.

The consecutive years of harvests might not last long.

It would be unwise to be greedy for short-term profit.

But faced with the dream of wealth, no one in Gao Manor, old or young, would listen.

Then...

Fourth Gao’s words turned prophetic. Just after the New Year, a severe drought completely decimated the crops in Gao Manor, and the villagers quickly ran out of grain, with no place to buy more, even with money.

The worst was yet to come—the boy’s family still had... plenty of grain.

And then the nightmare descended.

Their family’s grain was not only taken by their own kin, but during the defense of their food stores, the entire family was hacked to death by the villagers in a rage, using axes, kindling, and even hoes.

Until now.

The boy, still completely unable to grasp the situation, had his eyes fill with blood and tears.

"It was your own mistake, why does it have to be my family that suffers?!"

His outcry was smothered by another shovelful of dirt poured over him.

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