Chapter 71 Dragging the Divine Image

At this time, within Gunzhou, the Five Fiends were displaying their ferocious might, almost completely burning away the two figures in black robes. Their iron chains were on the verge of snapping, ready to abandon the incense offerings in the hall and flee to a more hidden place once again.

Anyway, for them, this was just a temple on the surface. There were many places secretly worshipping them, but with a spirit tablet erected, they could make a comeback.

However, they never expected that at this moment, they would suddenly feel a familiar and terrifying aura descending upon the temple entrance. A burst of golden light erupted before their eyes, and a giant hand encased in golden armor reached down, seizing the chain that was about to fly away.

"Whoosh!"

The moment the golden giant hand grasped the chain, the ferocious might and baleful aura of the Five Fiends melted away like ice and snow before molten iron. The flames on the two figures in black robes blazed even brighter, now mixed with strands of golden light. They wielded the iron chains once more, aiming to ensnare the heads of the Five Fiends.

"The Zhenchong Bureau (Demon Suppression Bureau)?"

At this moment, the voice emanating from the Five Fiends was filled with despair and disbelief, almost causing their souls to scatter. They had no power to resist, and suddenly cried out:

"I have already consumed incense offerings in the hall, you cannot treat me this way..."

"..."

But no one responded. The chains, seemingly containing boundless baleful energy, flew straight into the temple. The Five Fiends retreated into the divine statue, and the iron chains unceremoniously looped around the statue's head.

The two figures in black robes outside the temple tugged forcefully on the chains, and with a resounding crash, the entire temple collapsed, as if after an earthquake, turning into rubble.

And amidst the ruins, the base of the Five Fiends' statue cracked, and the entire statue was dragged out of the temple.

"I am a registered temple deity, authorized to enjoy incense offerings, you... you cannot destroy my temple and ruin my golden body..."

The Five Fiends roared incessantly, struggling desperately, alternately cursing and pleading. But the two figures in black robes, burning with flames, paid them no heed. They remained silent, pulling the chains, dragging the Five Fiends through cities and counties, heading straight towards Mingzhou.

Now, from Gunzhou to Mingzhou, countless people in various fields, or ordinary civilians, all shared a dream.

They heard mournful cries for help, and vaguely saw two figures in black robes burning with flames, filled with baleful aura, dragging a black-skinned demon with five heads past their doors with iron chains.

Whether human or ghost, they were terrified and bowed forward, listening to the wailing fade away, feeling dazed and filled with instinctive awe, their minds blank.

"Crackle..."

Within Gunzhou, there were quite a few places, both openly and secretly, that worshipped the Five Fiends. Some had been worshipping them for a long time and had already built statues, while others had just recently acquired incense offerings and secretly enshrined them in their halls, offering blood sacrifices daily to earn some evil wealth.

They knew the Five Fiends were fierce, but they were also effective. It cost a lot of money to invite a stick of their incense for worship...

But at this moment, they all felt a sense of panic and hurriedly ran out to see that the statues they worshipped, or the spirit tablets they had just erected, suddenly cracked, and a cloud of black gas floated out, engulfing their souls and flying out of their homes.

Boundless, square-shaped black gas traveled across states and prefectures, attaching itself to the dragged statue, heading all the way towards Mingzhou.

"Neigh..."

Outside Mingzhou City, a troop of men, hastily gathered overnight from Plum Blossom Lane, the yamen runners, and noble families, raised their spears and drew their swords, opening the city gates and rushing towards the Green Stone Arrays.

They held torches in their hands, wore swords at their waists, and carried the prefectural edict. Wherever they passed, even evil spirits scattered, not daring to stand in their way.

But as they were galloping, suddenly, the horses beneath them panicked, rearing up on their hind legs. They collided with each other, and the riders were thrown off, huddled together, confused and shouting:

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Is something haunting us? Why are the horses suddenly spooked?"

"..."

But before the questions could be asked, they suddenly fell silent, already sensing the indescribable, chilling aura ahead. Waves of yin wind swept in, and it seemed as if their eyes were playing tricks on them, seeing the night ahead shattered into another world.

The official road under their feet turned into a sinister avenue, and rolling yin winds swept up on both sides, raising countless dust particles.

Passing horizontally in front of them, on the road, were two people burning with raging flames, emitting golden light, dragging a black, billowing evil spirit with chains. They slowly passed by.

"That..."

Someone waited until the dragged evil spirit had gone further before turning to look at Old Man Mei, wanting to ask, only to find that their voice had gone hoarse.

Each of them felt restless, as if their souls had been taken away.

"That, that is the temple deity from the hall..."

Old Man Mei, even more so, looked at the dragged evil spirit and recognized something. He was so shocked that his heart almost stopped, and his old face was as white as paper as he muttered to himself, "Even the temple deity has been dragged down, and is going to be..."

Huainan, a wide and deep mansion, in the deepest part, in the dark ancestral hall, were enshrined the ancestral tablets of the Wei family of Huainan, densely packed and layered upon each other.

In front of the tablets, there were yellow strips of paper hanging, each inscribed with the birthdates and names of the Wei family members, including those who married into the family. Those who married out were removed. The night wind blew, causing them to rustle.

But at this moment, among these paper strips, one that was specially hung closer to the ancestral tablets suddenly burned inexplicably. The nearby tablets rattled suddenly, and several of them fell from the shelf at once.

"Oh no, something bad is happening..."

Such aristocratic families had dedicated hall keepers who, upon hearing the commotion, were frightened out of their wits and hurriedly started beating the gong, causing unrest throughout the family.

The Wei family's patriarch threw on his outer robe and rushed over. He was so angered by what he saw that his face turned green. He roared, "That good-for-nothing scoundrel, he's just going back to retrieve his family's ancestral tablets, who has he offended again?"

"Even the ancestors can't stand to look at him, they are scolding us for being unfilial..."

"Go investigate, find out what he has done!"

"..."

The entire Wei mansion was in a state of panic. Servants hurriedly responded, but unexpectedly, the Wei family patriarch suddenly reacted and quickly reached out his hand: "Wait!"

Everyone held their breath and looked at him, only to see him staring fixedly at the trembling ancestral tablet that had fallen to the ground, seemingly shivering. The quick-handed hall keeper had already respectfully picked it up and placed it back on the shelf, even wanting to burn incense to apologize.

Unexpectedly, this time, he didn't place it steadily and it fell again. Several others also trembled as if they were about to fall.

He seemed to have suddenly understood something, and a jolt went through him. He immediately made a decision and lowered his voice, saying, "Don't investigate this matter for now, let's wait for things to settle down and listen to the rumors..."

"Good heavens, does it have to go this far?"

On a secluded ancient road, it was unclear whether it was for humans or ghosts. When the black-robed figures burning with flames dragged the Five Fiends past, some people outside Mingzhou City suddenly felt a sense of foreboding and cautiously glanced over, their expressions gradually changing.

"The Zhenchong Bureau (Demon Suppression Bureau), the Zhenchong Bureau has reopened, has that family finally stopped hiding?"

"..."

Some people who had stayed in the capital, never leaving their homes for decades, only responsible for burning incense in the ancestral hall, also opened their eyes and glanced, slowly shaking their heads, and said with a wry smile to the countless dark figures in the hall, "Grandma Bai, you raised a good grandson."

"He is different from the previous Hu family, saying he will kill and then killing, he doesn't care about the rules at all..."

"..."

"Rules?"

The surroundings were filled with a chilling atmosphere, but a joyful voice with a hint of age rang out: "My grandson just doesn't want to be bullied, after all, our family has suffered enough bullying!"

As for the crowd from various martial arts sects, led by the Red Lantern Society, in front of Qing Shi Town, they had experienced too many things that night.

They hadn't decided whether to retreat or go to help in the battlefield when they suddenly heard the clattering of chains and felt the chilling aura that seemed to be blowing right into their faces. Suddenly opening their eyes, they saw someone dragging a hideous evil spirit past in front of them.

Those who were speaking suddenly shut their mouths, those who were encouraging others fell silent, and the chaotic atmosphere suddenly became eerily quiet, as they stared blankly ahead.

"That is..."

Someone said in a trembling voice, but it seemed to remind everyone, and they hurriedly shut their mouths, falling to their knees or falling directly from their horses, and immediately covered their eyes.

The Right Protector of the Red Lantern Society reacted quickly, quickly taking off the red lantern he was carrying and tearing off his outer robe with one hand to wrap the red lantern inside. Even so, he could still feel it trembling inside his robe.

A glimmer of red light peeked out from the gap in the robe, as if secretly peeking.

Countless sounds were swallowed by something, and the fighting in front and the surrounding sounds of people and horses disappeared. All eyes saw only the two figures in black robes burning with flames, dragging the evil spirit, passing straight in front of them.

They walked towards the deepest part of the night, and following their gaze, the crowd saw a black mansion waiting there, its chilling and murderous intent pressing upon them, shaking their minds.

"Why did they drag the divine image over here?"

On the other side, as countless people stared blankly at the evil spirit being dragged all the way to the eerie and mysterious mansion, Hu Ma was also deeply impressed by the domineering and mysterious nature of the Zhenchong Bureau (Demon Suppression Bureau).

Previously, borrowing the power of the Mountain Lord to capture the blue-robed evil spirit, they had only captured a spiritual entity.

Now, borrowing the keepsake of the Hu family to capture the Five Fiends, they had even moved the divine image from the temple?

Moreover, dragging it all the way, across states and counties, without avoiding anyone at all, but instead letting countless people see it, what was this, a show of force?

This is...

...too domineering, right?

(End of Chapter)