“A wicked ghost crawling out of hell?”

Hu Ma couldn't help but feel a jolt of surprise. He stared intently at the Mountain Lord, but dared not answer rashly.

“The Twilight Boundary divides yin and yang; gods and demons each follow their own rules."

The Mountain Lord was silent for a long time before whispering, "But are you aware that there exists another kind of evil, a *xiesui*, that disregards the Twilight Boundary, wandering beyond yin and yang? They borrow human bodies, commit monstrous acts. They respect neither Heaven nor Earth, nor the imperial court, nor do they heed laws."

“They hide among humans, only to create havoc and bring chaos to the world. They kill people for blood sacrifices, disregard human life, and even play games in the imperial court, defiling the palace.”

“Sometimes, you make me think you're like them!”

Hu Ma was extremely alarmed, but this time, he forced himself to face the question calmly.

He knew the Mountain Lord could perceive the goodness and evil in people's hearts, but he didn't want to be detected.

He frowned and slowly said, "There are countless *xiesui* in this world, each with their own way of harming people. I've heard about them from Granny and from Old Master Li of the Dongzi family. But what does this have to do with the Emperor's fate?"

The Mountain Lord stared directly at Hu Ma and said in a low voice, "It has nothing to do with the Emperor's fate we're discussing, but it has everything to do with our attitude towards the Emperor."

"These *xiesui* crawl out of the underworld, paint skin and bones, disguise themselves as living people, and hide among humans. If you count the disasters and bloody events that have happened in various places over the past hundred years, you'll find that they almost all have their shadows."

He sighed softly and said, "You can't hear their movements now because they underwent a great cleansing twenty years ago. The Ten Families joined forces to kill or eliminate them, and they have all disappeared."

"But twenty years ago, they acted strangely and perversely, making people tremble at the mere mention of them."

"For example, in the previous dynasty, there was a *xiesui* who even infiltrated the imperial court as a sorcerer, defiling the palace. He truly achieved a position below only one person and above ten thousand, wielding immense power. In the end, he had nowhere else to rise, so he even fabricated an imperial decree and performed a sacrifice of ten thousand people, intending to ascend to immortality."

"Yi Du Guoshi tried to stop him, destroying his blood altar, but angered him. He became furious, even skinning the Emperor and hanging him in the Golden Luan Hall."

“Holy crap!”

Even Hu Ma was shocked by what the Mountain Lord said.

He had heard about the Emperor being skinned long ago and had even made some guesses. Now, hearing that it was actually done by a transmigrator?

This guy climbed so high and even carried out such a large sacrifice of ten thousand people... how many *diguashao* is that equivalent to? Intending to ascend to immortality, but... this doesn't seem like a world for cultivating immortality!

His voice was a little strained as he asked cautiously, "What happened then?"

"This demonic person..."

The Mountain Lord sighed softly and said, "In the end, the Ten Families joined forces to capture this demonic person. They found many evil ghosts, killed a batch, and shattered the bones and souls of this demonic person, so he could never be reborn."

"Because of his rebellious act, this world has become a demon world, a fierce world, unable to suppress evil. Demons and monsters are rampant everywhere, causing chaos in the world."

His voice grew lower and lower, as if there were some things he simply didn't want to talk about.

After a long silence, he sighed softly and said, "Of course, what I'm telling you is not just this."

"It's just that I'm feeling a bit emotional. These people of mysterious origins, who some even say crawled out of hell as ten-life vengeful ghosts, though they act wickedly and lawlessly, sometimes utter strange words that make people unable to figure them out, such as..."

"The imperial court is full of skeletons, real power lies among the people."

"When that demonic person skinned the Emperor, he urinated in the imperial court while saying these words. Then, he faced three thousand armored imperial guards, national protecting Dharma masters, and the extraordinary people sent by the Ten Families alone."

"Heh heh, that battle of magic, with the capital as the altar, betting on the fate of the country, was truly earth-shattering."

"Since there have been ways and extraordinary people, there has never been such a battle of magic."

When Hu Ma heard these words, he could barely suppress the horror in his heart. There was no escaping it. Not only would the Mountain Lord have this idea, but even without hearing the Mountain Lord's account, he could directly confirm it.

This sorcerer must have been a senior transmigrator. How could the idea of real power lying among the people be born in a world dominated by aristocratic families?

Moreover, the Mountain Lord's account really revealed how big these seniors played back then, and even revealed some secrets...

Was it this guy who triggered those great purges?

Damn it, you skinned the Emperor and performed a sacrifice of ten thousand people. If they don't purge you, who else would they purge?

He thought quickly in his heart and realized that this was a rare opportunity to understand what transmigrators looked like in the eyes of existences like the Mountain Lord, so he quickly asked, "But what was this demonic person after?"

"Why would he do such a thankless thing? Could it be that he also wanted to be the Emperor?"

"Emperor..."

The Mountain Lord was silent and said in a low voice, "No one knows what these *xiesui* want. Some say they intend to seize the country, while others say they are a group of lunatics who want to learn all kinds of ways in this world and master the most powerful evil arts."

"Some even say they crawled out of the depths of hell. They do all kinds of things to drag the living world into hell, to let the living taste the flavors of the Ten Courts of Hell..."

"But there are many different theories, and I always feel that someone who can say such things doesn't seem so cruel."

"So, I believe a baseless theory..."

Hu Ma was slightly startled and subconsciously lowered his voice, "What is it?"

The Mountain Lord was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "The group of evil ghosts climbed into the human world, not to fight for the throne or anything else, but to slaughter the Tai Sui and fight for the Mandate of Heaven!"

"Ah?"

Hearing this sentence out of the blue, Hu Ma was stunned, and his voice seemed to change slightly, "Slaughter the Tai Sui? Are you referring to that Tai Sui Master?"

"What is fighting for the Mandate of Heaven?"

Speaking of slaughtering the Tai Sui, isn't a butcher like Second Master slaughtering it every day? Even a blood food gang like Red Lantern Granny would even make slaughtering the Tai Sui their profession. How could this become the goal of transmigrators?

"It's not that simple."

The Mountain Lord sighed and said, "When the Tai Sui Master descends to earth, it nourishes all kinds of evil. Even I can't figure out what it is. People in this world only know how to worship it, not dare to offend it, not dare to investigate it, otherwise they will inexplicably go crazy and die, or become evil spirits."

"But after all, there are those with great courage. Legend has it that the Tai Sui Master accompanies the Mandate of Heaven into the world. If one can find the source of the Tai Sui, one can find the Mandate of Heaven, obtain the blessing of great power, and achieve immortality through dissolving the body."

"Of course, the theory is illusory, but as far as I know, including the *xiesui* who caused chaos in the world before, many of them are indeed trying to find the source of the Tai Sui, and the Ten Families are secretly preventing them."

"As for the specifics..."

He paused slightly and said, "That's something even I can't understand. Perhaps, one day in the future, you will be qualified to see it."

Hearing what the Mountain Lord said, Hu Ma already understood what he wanted to say.

His mind raced, thinking quickly, but he just smiled faintly and said, "Senior, I haven't thought about the problems you mentioned. Whether it's choosing an Emperor or slaughtering the Tai Sui, I haven't even heard of it before."

As he said these words, he met the Mountain Lord's eyes directly, not worried about what he would see, but just smiling and saying, "I don't understand those *xiesui*, but I don't mind admitting some things."

"Compared to the aristocratic nobles, the lords in the court..."

After a slight pause, he met the Mountain Lord's eyes directly and said softly, "I do tend to favor these mud-legged people."

"At least, compared to the aloof aristocratic families, compared to the Plum Blossom Alley who took this opportunity to force me to show myself, compared to the government office that is useless except for collecting taxes and dividing incense, it is these mud-legged people who are more pleasing to my eyes."

After a slight pause, he turned to the Mountain Lord and said, "As for the various *xiesui* you mentioned..."

"Heh heh, I haven't dealt with them yet, but I've seen many man-eating evil ghosts and evil gods."

"It's hard to imagine what surprises they can give me now."

"Could it be that you're worried about the people around us..."

"Oh?"

The Mountain Lord looked at Hu Ma with some surprise, then reacted, shook his head slowly, and smiled, "That won't happen."

"Those *xiesui* have the ability to crawl out of the underworld and possess living people. They can appear anywhere, wearing a human skin and doing harmful things. They need to be careful of them sneaking in, no matter what they do."

The Mountain Lord spoke slowly, and you could even hear a deep sense of dread for those *xiesui*, or rather, evil ghosts, from his slow and deliberate words. Hu Ma couldn't help but wonder if even the Mountain Lord, a being with such profound magic power and transcendence, would be afraid of transmigrators?

But just as he couldn't help but raise this question in his heart, he suddenly heard the Mountain Lord change his tone and sigh softly, "But there is no need to worry about the things related to you, the things related to the Hu family."

"These evil ghosts can appear anywhere, but they won't appear here, they won't appear in matters related to the Hu family and the Town Suppressing Office."

This definitive sentence made Hu Ma's heart suddenly jump. This time, there was no need to hide the shock in his heart. He quickly looked up at the Mountain Lord and asked in surprise, "Why?"

"It seems that your Granny mentioned them to you, but didn't tell you too much."

The Mountain Lord smiled and said, "That purge was led by your Hu family to find them and kill them."

"How would they dare to seek their own death and approach you?"

"Ah?"

Hearing this question, Hu Ma really couldn't control himself, and his expression was extremely surprised.

The Mountain Lord sensed the shock in his heart and couldn't help but find it funny, "Otherwise?"

"What do you think the words 'Town Suppressing Office' suppress?"

Here comes the third update.

End of chapter