Not long after, the group arrived at the training ground.
Tang Shun Tian and Tang Zhou stood on the viewing platform of the training ground, with all the Tang family disciples and Mo Chuan’s troops behind them.
Just moments ago, Tang Zhou had brought Tang Shun Tian to pick out all the Tang family members and bring them here, saying he wanted to give a speech.
“Second Uncle, these are the prodigies of our Tang family of this generation! If nothing unexpected happens, they will be the pillars of our Tang family in the next generation!” Tang Shun Tian introduced these seventeen and eighteen-year-old youths with a happy expression.
Tang Shun Tian smiled (although his greasy face made this smile peculiar) and nodded at each of these prodigies, then subtly winked at Mo Chuan: “Alright, commence the operation.”
Mo Chuan nodded, then gently tapped the table three times, and someone brought over a cup of tea.
“Officer Tang, your tea.”
As Mo Chuan approached Tang Shun Tian, he suddenly smashed the teacup onto the ground, then from behind, locked onto Tang Shun Tian’s neck, shouting, “Begin the operation!” and pulled Tang Shun Tian into 〔Imprisonment〕.
Before the Tang family members could react to what was happening, they were subdued one by one by the surrounding soldiers; and the only one who tried to resist, Tang Zhou, was also subdued by Meng Le and Luo Ni working together.
“What are you doing! Are you rebelling? The Tang family has treated you well, why are you…”
“Listen, it’s not too late to surrender now,” Meng Le said to the Tang family members, his knee pressing firmly against Tang Zhou’s waist.
Before the crowd could speak, Luo Ni casually waved her hand, and a large amount of yellow sand and gravel surged from underground, burying the entire training ground.
The soldiers who were still dozing off in the training ground were buried before they could react, and some even lost their breath while still in their dreams.
As the pressure of the sand and stones gradually increased, some areas began to ooze blood.
Tang Zhou’s eyes bulged with rage. He struggled to use his superpower to resist, but Meng Le held a sword to his neck and said, “General Tang, this is not good. We, the Yan Luo Palace, are counting on cooperating with you.”
“Yan Luo Palace?! So it’s you lunatics! Is this how you cooperate? Killing my soldiers? Slaughtering my disciples?”
Tang Zhou, ignoring the faint blood trickling from his neck, stared at Meng Le with bloodshot eyes.
“Hmph, you should feel honored to be able to offer everything you have to Lord Qin Guang.”
However, before Meng Le could finish speaking, a violent surge of spiritual energy blew everyone away. Tang Zhou seized the opportunity to break free from Meng Le and Tang Jing Jing’s restraints and was about to counterattack when a tall, thin figure grabbed him around the waist and then turned into a streak of light, flying out of the dam.
Mo Chuan got up from the ground and said with some dishevelment, “Damn it! Chase them! We can’t let them escape!”
…
As night fell, on the outskirts of Fuling City.
Deputy Officer Zhuang watched the City King emerge from the mountain forest with a blank expression and said, “Don’t forget what Lord Zhuanxu asked you to do.”
“Don’t worry~ However… the bloodline of the people in this village is too thin. I’m afraid I’ll have to find people from a few more villages to fill in…”
The City King extended his claws, casually made a phone call, and said, “Fatty, come to Fuling to pick me up. I’m currently at…”
Meanwhile, Deputy Officer Zhuang looked at the mountain forest behind him. Several malevolent spirits flew out from under his black robe and drifted towards the direction of the mountain forest and the village.
…
At the same time, within a barren mountain in the northern suburbs of Badong City.
Tang Zhou, dragging a heavily injured Tang Shun Tian who was continuously spitting blood, slowly arrived under a withered tree.
Just now, Tang Shun Tian had “broken through” Mo Chuan’s heavy obstruction, forcefully breaking out of Mo Chuan’s domain. In his urgency, he had saved Tang Zhou and endured the pain to use a skill he hadn’t used in a long time, which made Tang Shun Tian’s condition even worse.
In fact, to completely deceive Tang Zhou, Mo Chuan had indeed let Tang Shun Tian take a few hits. However, Tang Shun Tian’s escape was due to a pre-arranged one-time spiritual energy teleportation talisman.
But even so, the plan had gone wrong—the intended landing spot was within Badong City, from where they could notify the Tang family’s headquarters. However, due to insufficient spiritual energy transmitted by the talisman and the deviation in the departure direction, they had only landed in the barren mountains on the outskirts of the city.
“Second Uncle… Second Uncle, can you still speak?”
“Cough… It’s nothing… Xiao Zhou… find a safe place to rest first, and be careful not to disturb the beasts… Uncle, I, need to rest for a bit…”
“Okay, Second Uncle, please wait a moment, I’ll go find one right away.” With that, Tang Zhou stood up, forcibly wiped away the tears from his eyes, and then summoned his superpower weapon to begin searching the surroundings for a place to rest.
Less than half an hour after Tang Zhou left, Tang Shun Tian suddenly sensed not one, but two powerful, evil, yet chaotic spiritual energies appearing near the barren mountain, and they were heading in his direction.
“This is bad… It seems they’re coming this way… Uncle, I must get going…” Saying this, Tang Shun Tian didn’t use his spiritual energy but relied solely on his physical strength and martial skills, leaving the spot without causing the slightest disturbance.
A short while later, the City King with a human face and spider body, the obese Biancheng King, and Deputy Officer Zhuang arrived there.
“City King, what good stuff can there be in such a desolate place with no villages or shops nearby?” Biancheng King’s small eyes rolled among his fat, still occasionally flashing with a sharp glint, as if he was plotting something.
“Hmph, don’t rush. My witchcraft bloodline isn’t pure enough yet, so I can only sense the general location. If I find a village with descendants of the three Witch Kings, I can directly point out the entrance to the ancient ruins to you!”
As he spoke, the City King’s claws repeatedly explored the soil and stones of the barren mountain, as if searching for something.
After the City King had led the two of them to explore for two miles, he suddenly said, “Here, directly below, dig!”
Seeing that neither of them intended to act, Deputy Officer Zhuang reluctantly summoned several malevolent spirits and ordered them to dig with their claws.
…
After Mo Chuan occupied the Badong Dam, he first arranged the prisoners, then instructed Tang Jing Jing and Wang Hu to settle the soldiers and prepare to advance.
Mo Chuan, however, quietly took Luo Ni alone to the barren mountain indicated as the mission destination.
It was indeed a barren mountain—from the foot to the mountainside were moss and cliffs, and the trees were visibly countable. Only the summit had a patch of forest.
“Luo Ni, open a portal to the mountainside, let’s make haste.”
The latter nodded, raised her hand, and sent the two of them to the mountainside.