Chapter 557 The Arrival of the Hungry Ghost Army

The Hungry Ghost Army arrived near Mingzhou Prefecture in the early morning of the second day.

When groups of people, clad in tattered clothes, wielding broken spears and wooden sticks, carrying iron on their backs, emaciated, with eyes that seemed to glow with a faint blue light, appeared in the vicinity of Mingzhou Prefecture, everyone around was terrified.

Looking at where they came from, the villages they passed were left barren. Grain jars were smashed, and the hundred or so people in the villages who had not managed to escape seemed to have simply vanished.

Before they reached Mingzhou Prefecture, they merely glanced up at the tall city walls and then looked away. They simply busied themselves setting up large pots along the city walls, using broken doors and door frames as firewood to cook porridge and meat.

Even while the food was still steaming hot, people's Adam's apples bobbed as they impatiently rushed forward to snatch it, seemingly unafraid of being burned. Some were so eager to eat that their necks stiffened, and they collapsed to the ground.

The people around seemed oblivious, and a crowd swarmed over, quickly obscuring the person's corpse.

"What exactly are those things?"

Yang Gong led a troop of soldiers and the strategist Jin Zui Zi to take a look from a distance. This single glance filled him with horror. Most of the people didn't look strong, nor did they seem to have been trained. They were more like vagrants and beggars.

Outside the cages were monsters shaped like wild beasts with red eyes.

"Let's go!"

When he hastily nocked an arrow, his eyes showed no other emotion, only that those before him looked like humans, yet were not.

It was a severed hand.

That Tianming Jiangjun (General of Heavenly Mandate) Zhong Benyi was clearly unconvinced, gritting his teeth as he said, "I know you people understand some kind of sorcery. I've seen it before when I was Yang Gong. No matter what kind of evil magic it is, once the army charges, they'll all scatter like stray dogs."

"Starting with us, more people saw that General of Heavenly Mandate, trying hard to pull their bodies over to see him. On their stiff faces, some even managed to force out a flattering smile, struggling to pull a white lump from their clothes."

The two clan uncles behind the incense table, and the uncle standing next to the offerings, all looked over at her when they heard this, and said with a faint smile, "If he refuses to meet us, we have no choice."

Those people slowly came back to their senses, finally recognizing him, and immediately retreated in fear, spitting out the blood and foam from their mouths.

The person next to him with a paler face said urgently, "Not only have his men brought him here, but they've also brought seventeen demon henchmen from his sect."

"That General of Heavenly Mandate was still distressed by the deaths of the altar's followers, roaring, "What exactly do you want? You brought me to Mingzhou, and you guaranteed this, and guaranteed that..." The General of Heavenly Mandate abandoned the ox and staggered towards them, using all his strength to tear open the cage. The things inside were practically bursting out, opening their mouths to bite him.

But he seemed to feel no pain, simply hugging their heads, "Brothers, brothers, it was I who had you stay to look after these people. I failed to transport the grain back. You should eat me instead."

His face was full of shame, and he dared not look up at me.

"Hmm?"

"Now you're complaining about the deaths of your men? Do you know that if we hadn't invited the Prefecture Lord to take you back into the city, even ten of you would have died long ago."

"It's gone."

He was confused and uneasy, and at night he always dreamed of his ancestors crying, saying they were afraid, afraid of being seen by the Prefecture Lord and being transferred to serve him.

Within Mingzhou city, Hu Jia Tang Jie (Sister Hu from the Hu Family) finally couldn't help but look towards the incense table, "Are you really going to do that?"

"Too bad you tricked me into coming here. I have no roots, and the people I've gathered are just a rabble. If my sect's army were here, I'd like to see who in Mingzhou could withstand a single blow from me!"

"But in the end, my brothers are falling one by one here, and you want to bring me back..."

"Have they really come?"

"After all, only the living can eat their fill, and we're no longer considered alive..."

"But since you say so, then we'll let you have your way. Go out and take a look. The Hungry Ghost Army you've been longing for is now outside the city."

*Boom!*

Chewing slowly, they chewed the arrow shaft into fine pieces and ate it. Unable to chew the arrowhead, they spat it into the fire.

"My young child got Zhen Chong Prefecture, so we will have to see if he really can use it!"

"Not to mention him, even we find this kind of evil creature intolerable."

"Although, these rules, from the beginning, were set by us...".

At the same time, within Mingzhou Prefecture, the smoke and incense permeated the entire city, giving the whole city a gloomy, ethereal quality. Every household closed their doors and dared not show their faces. Even the ancestral tablets enshrined in their homes were covered with white cloth.

"It's not what you said when we first came, and also..."

"One prefecture, without sufficient blessings, will be destroyed by our arrival. Now, we will never be full again. Even if we eat until we burst, we will not be full... Eighty thousand hungry ghosts have begun to move. The invisible aura seems to even shake the altar that covers the entire Mingzhou city."

Welcoming Guan Zhou's questions, the Iron-Tongued Zi (Strategist with an Iron Tongue) beside him sighed softly, saying, "Starved for too long, they've become hungry ghosts through sheer hunger. Wherever they pass, no grain will be left behind, and even the bone scraps will be chewed to pieces."

Now that he heard it, he naturally didn't believe it. Even if these people changed their minds and were willing to let these people enter, the time was probably not enough. They were all starving people. How could this long journey, crossing states and counties, not take a month?

More terrifying than ghosts, more evil than demons.

Looking at these people, his eyes suddenly reddened.

That General of Heavenly Mandate, one by one, scanned the monsters coming out of the cages, and then looked at the eighty thousand hungry ghosts all over the mountains and plains. The expression on his face changed from the previous joy and despair to an unprecedented cold and fierce look, "Gather everyone here!"

"It is indeed outside the city."

Suddenly, he struggled to get up from the ground.

"It's a Hungry Ghost."

But the dark aura on their bodies made people fear them for no reason. Looking at their numb faces covered in thick grime, they were instinctively afraid.

They kowtowed, presenting the severed hand. After all, he was the only one who repeatedly begged for grain for them during the famine when he was Yang Gong.

Welcoming this sentence, the General of Heavenly Mandate simply raised his head abruptly, his face initially disbelieving, but meeting the other party's gaze, his breathing deepened a little, and suddenly said, "That head, I will kowtow to him."

He bit his teeth, took an arrow from the hand of the person next to him, pulled the bow to the full, and shot it towards the group of people who saw us appear ten zhang (a Chinese unit of length) away, but without any movement.

Running wildly all the way, straight out of the north gate of Mingzhou Prefecture, he saw the endless beggars, the clusters of hungry ghosts.

..."And these numb and heartless hungry ghosts, hearing someone come over, don't even raise their heads. Until they vaguely sensed something, they slowly looked up. On some faces that were so numb that all expressions had degenerated, a slight change appeared."

"Seventh Uncle, Eighth Uncle..."

Welcoming my quarrel, the middle-aged woman behind the incense table slowly opened her eyes and shouted in a deep voice: "It was you who took it upon yourself to sacrifice a hundred cauldrons of this evil thing. Otherwise, how would you have attracted the wandering ghosts to capture the blade?"

"The things he asked for are all here. From now on, the restrictions on him will no longer count. But in that case, he should also remember the thing we entrusted him to do, right?"

1.

"He's an inexperienced child, yet he got the Zhen Chong Prefecture. Then we'll have to see if he really knows how to use it!"

"Don't say it's him, even we can't tolerate such an evil thing when we see it."

"Those people are increasingly breaking the rules."

"He He, He He."

I saw those guys who seemed to only move occasionally, more like dead people than living ones, should have fallen to the ground, but unexpectedly, those people didn't move. Only when the arrow reached behind them, did they suddenly open their mouths and catch it.

"I...are they all dead?"

Listening to him grinding his teeth here, the person behind the incense table showed a cold smile, saying, "Taking advantage of the chaos of Yang Gong, the True Meaning Sect has indeed trained an army. The 'Heavenly Mandate' in your title of General of Heavenly Mandate is not yours, but rather given by this army."

"...Is there still room for recovery?"

"I can also give him this head...as long as you can do what you said..."

"That's because he's been bound and restrained, and can't use it. It's a good thing he didn't use it, otherwise you might have been used by him instead, not to mention those eighty thousand evil ghosts!"

"It's only a pity that I was tricked into coming here, with no roots and no foundation. The people I've gathered are all a rabble. If my sect's army were here, I'd like to see who in Mingzhou is a match for me!"

"But in the end, the brothers around me are falling one by one here, and you want to take me back..."

"Really coming?"

"After all, only the living can eat their fill, and we are no longer considered alive..."

"But since you say so, then let you have your way, and go out to see it. The hungry ghosts you have always thought about, are now outside the city."

*Boom!*

Chewing slowly in the mouth, even chewing the arrow shaft into bits and eating it, but unable to chew the arrowhead, so they lowered their heads and spat it into the fire.

"Seventh uncle, Eighth uncle..."

Welcoming my quarrel, the middle-aged woman behind the incense table slowly opened her eyes, and shouted in a deep voice, "It was he who advocated to sacrifice a hundred cauldrons of this evil thing, otherwise how would he have attracted the wandering ghosts to catch the knife?"

"The thing you asked for, is already here. From now on, the restraints on you will no longer count, but in this way, you should always remember the thing we entrusted you to do, right?"

"He He, if you say it like this, it's not entirely unreasonable."

Earlier when entering Mingzhou, I always wanted to bring my own one hundred thousand troops over, but these people would not allow it. In order to let these people live, I had no choice but to agree.

"I'll take you, to have a full meal!"

The person behind the incense table coldly snorted, extended a hand, and the ropes binding the General of Heavenly Mandate suddenly loosened. After being satisfied, he suddenly jumped up.

Also, in this silent suppression, there was suddenly a wild roar like that of a beast. Looking from afar, there were actually cages bound with iron chains, dragged by dozens of horses, tumbling and rolling, directly thrown into the crowd here.

And in this desolation, where even the wine flags drooped powerlessly, the General of Heavenly Mandate was tied up and taken to the incense table in the city, where he saw a middle-aged woman sitting behind the incense table, wearing a Taoist robe, with her hair disheveled and holding a sword.

While speaking, his voice also became cold all of a sudden, "The things you asked for are all here. From now on, the restrictions on you will no longer count. But in that case, you should also remember the thing we entrusted you to do, right?"

"Your requirements, for us, can no longer be excessive... Life is both open and savage, strong enough to die at any time, and savage enough to have more lives at any time, buried in our hands. Guan Zhou, where the Red Fragrance disciples shot, has always been known for its evil nature, but it is far worse than us."

Speaking in a low voice, he looked up at the vicinity of Mingzhou. In the mist that filled the morning, the groups of people who were becoming more and more ragged. His voice was a little suppressed: "We should all be from Zhou Wei. I have some comrades who have been observing us."

Hearing this, the General of Heavenly Mandate suddenly raised his head, his face full of disbelief. But meeting the other party's gaze, his breathing deepened a little, and suddenly said, "That head, I will kowtow to him."

He bit his teeth, took an arrow from the hand of the person next to him, pulled the bow to the full, and shot it towards the group of people who saw us appear ten zhang away, but without any movement.

Running wildly all the way, straight out of the north gate of Mingzhou Prefecture, he saw the endless beggars, the clusters of hungry ghosts.

..."And these numb and heartless hungry ghosts, hearing someone come over, don't even raise their heads. Until they vaguely sensed something, they slowly looked up. On some faces that were so numb that all expressions had degenerated, a slight change appeared."

"Fifth Uncle, Eighth Uncle..."

Welcoming my quarrel, the middle-aged woman behind the incense table slowly opened her eyes, and shouted in a deep voice, "It was he who advocated to sacrifice a hundred cauldrons of this evil thing, otherwise how would he have attracted the wandering ghosts to capture the blade?"