Chapter 854: The People Turn to Resentment, Heaven Overflowing with Wrath

Chapter 854: The People Turn to Resentment, Heaven Overflowing with Wrath

Transforming the Body into Charms, Surging Backwards to the Heavens.

Amidst the rolling thunder, a figure shattered, flesh and blood dissolving, as if a shadow emerged from a cocoon.

Accompanying the white flags and countless talismans falling from them, they shattered bolt after bolt of thunder, charging straight towards the low-hanging lead clouds in the sky. The lead clouds calmed, then violently contracted and exploded.

A clump of lead clouds suddenly tore apart, scattering in all directions, layer by layer, circle after circle, retreating for tens of thousands of miles, beyond the horizon.

This tens of thousands of miles of land became indescribably gloomy yet hollow, and faintly, it seemed as if a thin layer of mist enveloped all sides, and within the mist, talisman runes appeared and disappeared, as if voices echoed, bouncing back and forth across the sky.

"If heaven won't let me live, I'll die with it..."

"..."

In the Four Prefectures and Seven States, hundreds of thousands of sleeping citizens were startled by this voice, and the citizens showed expressions they had never seen before.

It was as if someone had forcibly opened their minds, pouring in sounds they had never heard before.

"What happened?"

At the same time, as this roar echoed in the dreams of hundreds of thousands of citizens, in Changping King's army, countless others also felt a sudden tightness in their scalps, an unimaginable oppression enveloping their hearts.

They all looked up at the sky, but the lead clouds had dispersed, and they couldn't see anything. Yet, in that emptiness, it seemed as if something startling appeared.

The current Changping King was hosting a banquet for the elders of various noble clans, and after breaking this surplus, they planned to use it as a base to advance towards Bright State, connecting Bright State, Dongping City, and Qing Prefecture, forming a foundation for their conquest of the world.

Amidst their laughter and conversation, they were all extremely confident, but suddenly, a gust of dark wind blew in from outside, causing the dozens of lit candles in the tent to flicker simultaneously, and then they all went out with a puff.

Perfectly synchronized, extremely eerie.

It was as if dozens of invisible ghosts had flown into the tent with the gust of wind and then aimed at the candles, blowing them out together.

The laughter and conversation in the tent suddenly vanished.

In the dark tent, Changping King and the heads of various noble clans stared at each other, all feeling inexplicably anxious.

They felt dizzy, and in their ears, it seemed as if countless people were cursing and accusing them.

"Is someone using a curse?"

Although Changping King was a Hilltop King, he was also from the Jianghu, and he had extensive knowledge. After a moment of shock, he immediately slammed the table and stood up.

He roared, "How dare you! This is an army, and the malevolent energy of the troops can break all laws. Who dares to use a curse in the army?"

In this moment, he even felt it was absurd and laughable, and he immediately wanted to order the troops to capture the audacious person who dared to use a curse, or order his soldiers to train, relying on the army's malevolent energy to make the curse user suffer backlash and die.

But he had countless reasons not to fear the curse user, and the more he shouted, the more he felt a sense of fear and dread.

He tried to widen his eyes, wanting to see everything around him clearly, but the more he looked, the more confused he became.

The advisors and noble elders who had just been drinking and laughing with him, their faces became blurred, and eventually, they transformed into the rough and angry faces of commoners.

They pointed at themselves and cursed.

More and more, more and more.

Countless voices simultaneously drilled into his ears, suppressing his soul and his body.

The more he was suppressed, the more afraid he became, and the voices grew louder and more vehement in their curses.

But gradually, he couldn't even hear his own voice, and the harder he tried, the further his voice moved away from him.

"Changping King..."

Someone in the tent suddenly jumped up, their voice trembling as they shouted.

Others also turned to look, their heads tingling in fear. They saw that as the candlelight went out, Changping King seemed to slam the table and stand up, extending his finger and cursing.

But upon closer inspection, they saw that Changping King's face had already turned iron-blue, his mouth wide open, blood flowing from his five orifices, and he had already died violently.

But his cursing voice still faintly echoed within the tent, as if his soul didn't know he was dead and continued to act strong, cursing vehemently.

"Is someone using a curse to harm people?"

"This is in the middle of the army. Whose curse is so powerful that it directly suppresses the army's malevolent energy and curses the commander to death?"

In an instant, an indescribable panic spread, as this situation exceeded everyone's expectations.

But at this moment, a more violent and powerful wind blew outside the tent, lifting the military tent, and the countless nobles inside suddenly felt as if they had been stripped naked in winter, their bodies chilled.

Threads of dark wind passed through their bodies, as if cold hands touched every bone.

"You..."

A general in the army opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But before he could finish a sentence, he suddenly died violently.

"Ah..."

The other strategists, advisors, generals, and commanders, seeing this, lost control and tried to run, but some just swayed and died.

The man had barely taken a few steps before his body stiffened, and he fell to the ground, his eyes wide open.

The shadow puppet show that had captivated the dreams of the people in the four prefectures and seven states was titled "Prince of Changping's Insanity, Necromancer Chen's Flying Corpse Grain Sacrifice."

So this curse was also initially aimed at the Prince of Changping.

Even though he was just a Hilltop King, and even though the number of Hilltop Kings in the world was dwindling, their heavenly mandate was growing stronger. Even surrounded by thirty thousand elite troops, invulnerable to demons and gods, he still died silently and mysteriously under this curse.

He didn't even have a chance to struggle or utter a word.

The other generals and advisors were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, following the wrong person. The common folk knew of the Prince of Changping, but who knew what he looked like?

Whether it was the generals or advisors who were cursed to death, they had all once shown their faces and were remembered by the people. Since they were high-ranking officials, they were mistaken for the Prince of Changping.

As long as their faces were once remembered, they were now cursed.

"Huala..."

In an instant, chaos erupted within the vast army. The former Prince of Changping had planned to let the surplus troops scatter first, winning without a fight. But unexpectedly, it was he who scattered and fled.

The various leaders and heads, even the ordinary soldiers, all felt the oppressive and eerie atmosphere at this moment, as if invisible black qi was constantly chasing them.

Their hearts grew more fearful, and their courage, once diminished, became uncontrollable, and they might even vanish.

The noble lords who had come to the banquet also couldn't help but tremble, knocking over their tables and crawling on the ground. Some clung to pillars to stand, while others only thought of escape, not knowing where to run but determined to flee.

Some held objects of protection, family heirlooms, or ashes of ancestors, desperately trying to save themselves.

But all around, the dark wind grew stronger, sweeping through the entire camp.

In the hollow night, the sky seemed to hang with countless faint, black lines.

The objects they held for protection shattered as soon as they were brought out, and the ashes they tremblingly took out began to seep through their bags and scatter.

Despite their efforts to protect the ashes, they couldn't stop them from flying away. Those attending the banquet were all from wealthy families, and their ancestors' remains were blessed with incense, yet now they were useless.

The ashes scattered and disappeared.

Finally, someone with courage realized this was an unprecedented disaster and shouted, "Quickly, quickly, summon the Necromancer Chen family's master to save us..."

"..."

"..."

"How could this be?"

At that moment, in the Necromancer Chen family's old mansion, hidden in the mountains and covered in spider webs, a nearly unrecognizable cry echoed through the courtyard.

In the main hall, several thick candles, as thick as a child's arm, lit the four corners, casting a green glow on the figures seated in armchairs and the five iron coffins standing upright in the hall.

The five coffins were rusted, covered in wet mud, as if recently unearthed.

As the Prince of Changping suddenly died in the camp, causing chaos among the troops, the dark wind also blew into this manor.

The air was filled with dense black silk threads, ten or even a hundred times denser than in the camp, accompanied by faint curses echoing in the hall.

The seven Chen family members, the four hall officials, and the living and dead servants all felt uneasy as the dark wind blew. They felt as if something was covering their heads.

This was the effect of a shadow curse.

Ordinary people under a curse might not be initiated into the Dao, but they would feel as if something was covering them, causing discomfort.

The Necromancer Chen family, well-versed in the Dao, understood this feeling, but their first reaction was disbelief. They had never believed that a curse could affect them.

Amidst their shock, everyone's gaze turned to one of the coffins in the hall.

It was one of the five iron coffins, containing a flying corpse, the only awakened one among the five.

Although it wasn't being commanded, the coffin inexplicably trembled, its lid constantly shaking as if something inside was trying to jump out.

The atmosphere grew more oppressive, the dark wind more violent, and the temperature dropped. Suddenly, the coffin lid was pushed aside by a tremendous force, and a decaying corpse sat up.

But at that moment, the dark wind reached its peak, and the corpse's attempt to sit up failed.

It couldn't make a sound, its body trembling incessantly.

Gradually, black liquid oozed from its body, slowly dissolving into a pool of fluid.

"For..."

Watching the corpse in the iron coffin, a man in a black robe sitting on a meditation cushion nearby struggled to suppress something within him and trembled as he spoke, "Why... why is this happening?"

Someone... borrowed a spell to suppress the necromancy, I... I..."

He was a branch hall official of the Necromancer Chen family. In the Jianghu, Necromancer Chen kept a low profile, but his business dealings and foundations were indeed substantial.

As a branch hall official, he was respected wherever he went, even when encountering the descendants of the Ten Surnames, he could stand tall and speak. Moreover, his mastery of necromancy had already reached the level of a semi-immortal.

Those who attain the status of semi-immortal are considered half-divine, and malevolent spirits and demons would avoid them.

But now, after uttering those words, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Once he started, he couldn't stop, and mouthfuls of fresh blood gushed from his mouth, as if he was going to vomit all the blood in his body. Halfway through, he was already dead, but his mouth continued to spew out columns of blood.

He couldn't finish his sentence.

The Necromancer Chen family's spells ignored cause and effect and heavenly retribution, so they used them sparingly, but they were extremely powerful. How could someone simply borrow such a simple spell and destroy the Flying Corpse Incarnation, and even kill themselves in the process?

Unlike the deaths of the soldiers in Prince Changping's army, he didn't directly receive the curse, but because he had once commanded the Flying Corpse Grain Sacrifice, the curse followed him, and he was consumed by its backlash.

The people already knew about the Flying Corpse Grain Sacrifice, and this was the source of all their resentment. So, when the spell was activated, the grain-destroying Flying Corpse Incarnation was directly destroyed, and he, who had commanded it, also suffered the backlash.

When the branch hall official died before their eyes, the Chen family's head didn't even have time to glance at him. As the Flying Corpse melted in the iron coffin, he rushed out of the door.

The four branch hall officials and all the capable people of the Chen family were gathered here, guarding the five Flying Corpse Incarnations, waiting for the reincarnate's expert to come and engage in a spell battle.

But this spell seemed different from what they had expected.

As soon as he rushed out, he looked up at the sky.

At that moment, the head of the Necromancer Chen family suddenly felt a chill throughout his body and quickly retreated back into the hall.

The sky was empty, as if nothing was there, but as he looked up, he felt his eyes deceive him, seeing countless invisible vengeful ghosts descending from the sky like rain, falling upon him.

For a moment, he even saw his surroundings filled with emaciated faces as dry as firewood, surrounding and drowning him, opening their mouths to bite him.

He waved his wide sleeves, retreating into the hall, dispelling the illusions. There were no evil spirits or living beings around him, as if it had all been a momentary optical illusion.

But the places where he was bitten in the illusion still throbbed with pain after it faded.

He lifted his hand and pulled up his sleeve, revealing red, swollen scabies all over his body, some already starting to fester.

He looked up at the sky to trace the origin of the spell, to find the source and suppress it with his own necromancy. But no matter how hard he tried, he never expected that with this glance, the cause and effect he saw would far exceed his imagination.

This spell originated from the Four Prefectures and Seven States, from tens of thousands of surplus people, and by substituting the spell for heaven, it invoked the sorrow of millions of commoners. No matter how hard he tried to trace the source, he couldn't find its origin.

Instead, the head of the Chen family, who had just been exposed to the spell's power, found himself covered in sores.

"What, what happened?"

Inside the hall, with the death of the branch hall official, everyone, regardless of their status, felt a chilling sensation piercing their hearts, and their ears were filled with countless overlapping voices cursing in pain.

Some even saw countless black lines descending from the sky, entangling them, feeling an invisible force crushing them, angrily and frantically searching for their souls...

They had no time to worry about anything else and tried their best to escape these black lines, but it was futile. They could only shiver, using all their strength to hide.

But they were the most capable members of the Chen family, and they had already visited the Forgetfulness Tea Shop, so they could barely escape.

Many other members of the Chen family couldn't escape at all.

"It's bad, it's bad, the madam is gone..."

"Auntie, Auntie..."

An unprecedented silence filled the hall, but outside, cries and wails echoed in waves. This was the Chen family's mansion.

For this spell battle, the Chen family had gathered their best experts at the old mansion, fearing that other clan members might be affected. They had sent them to wait in the village below the mountain, but now, the cries from the village could be heard even inside the mansion.

The pampered madam was preparing a banquet for the men of the family, wanting to welcome them with a warm cup of wine after their victory in the spell battle.

Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name from above, and as she looked up, she rolled her eyes and died.

The chicken on the chopping board, just cleaned, suddenly jumped up, flapping its bare wings, and a curse came from its freshly cut neck. Everyone in the kitchen died as well.

Below the heavens, the people were like those who had fallen into hell. Each person's head seemed to be covered in invisible spider webs. They tried to wipe them away, but the webs wouldn't come off. The harder they rubbed, the more their heads seemed to roll off.

The Chen family, both high and low, were all skilled in necromancy, summoning ghosts and controlling corpses, treating these as common practices.

They rarely encountered strange occurrences because, to them, their very existence was strange. But at this moment, all the strangeness converged.

And the danger was inexplicable, heavy, and incomprehensible.

They knew what these black lines were—they were the cause and effect, the "Incantation" that had found them.

The Chen family was adept at escaping cause and effect, dodging Heavenly Retribution. But Heavenly Retribution was also a kind of Incantation, one used by Heaven itself.

The Chen family could even dodge the Incantation of Heaven, but now they were entangled by this one.

"Malevolent spirits! Malevolent spirits!"

The Chen family's chief administrator knew what was happening in the mountains and was furious, cursing aloud, "They say that calamity doesn't affect one's wife and children, but these malevolent spirits dare to harm the weak and elderly of our family..."

"This is not the way of malevolent spirits..."

In the hall, a woman with a dark and hazy appearance spoke up. She was the chief administrator's second aunt, a Necromancer Chen's main Swordmaster, and the only other person in the Chen family who could still speak.

"What?"

The chief administrator, enraged, turned to look at her.

"This is a proper and upright method..."

The old woman laughed grimly, "But this method is too heavy, too grand. It's so powerful that the entire Necromancer Chen family can't bear it, and now it's affecting our wives, children, and the elderly..."

"The living turn to resentment, and Heaven overflows with wrath..."

"What kind of person could have thought of such a method..."

On her dirty and blurry face, a bitter smile appeared, "It's us they resent. They know that using Flying Corpse Incarnation is like declaring war. Those reincarnated malevolent spirits will come..."

"We were prepared for a Spell Battle, ready with our Five Flying Corpses."

"We even thought, how many capable people could these malevolent spirits have to break through our Five Flying Corpses?"

"But we never expected that they wouldn't break our corpses, nor accept our challenge. Instead, they directly destroy our foundation..."

"..."

"Ah..."

As she spoke, a man in a black robe in the hall, an elder of the Chen family, even the chief administrator had to address as Second Uncle, suddenly collapsed after enduring for so long. Countless black lines instantly pulled out his soul, tearing it to shreds. The chief administrator rushed over and reached out to help, but it was already too late.

"Using Slaughter Calamity to break the Spirit Walker, and then borrowing this Incantation to suppress our Chen family..."

At this moment, the chief administrator felt a sense of helplessness and self-doubt, "Could it be that our level is truly so far behind?"

As they spoke, they noticed the remaining four Iron Coffins trembling, and among the hall, four or five of their own clan members were clearly on the verge of breaking. They hurriedly shouted, "To the Netherworld, quickly, go and fetch the Forgetfulness Soup..."

"It's useless."

The black-robed old woman, also the Chen family's Execution Hall Preceptor, slowly shook her head.

"One of the Eight Sceneries of the Netherworld, the Forgetfulness Tea Shop, is in the hands of our Chen family. It can wash away cause and effect, and without cause and effect, all methods can be avoided."

As the chief administrator spoke, a hint of anger emerged, as if he was about to scold someone, "We Chens are born to resist Incantations. The Ledger of Sins in the Spirit Walker's Netherworld doesn't even have our names on it."

"Could it be that we can't even escape this small Incantation now?"

"We can't escape it. Heaven is already gone..."

The old woman also clenched her teeth, speaking softly, then using all her strength to slowly raise her head and look towards the sky. As she did, blood began to flow from her eyes, and her eyeballs gradually dried out.

A self-mocking smile appeared on her face, and she suddenly shouted, "The Chen family can escape Heavenly Retribution because this Demonic Heaven doesn't reflect our shadows..."

"But they... they use the resentment of millions to break this Heaven..."

"Within this vast area, there is no Heaven, only Incantation, and this Incantation is seeking Necromancer Chen..."

"Do you think they are cursing us?"

"..."

Her hollow, bloodshot eyes suddenly looked at the chief administrator, "No, they are cursing Necromancer Chen directly!"

"All the Chen family, young and old, servants and slaves, distant relatives and old friends, anyone who stands in this world under the name of Necromancer Chen, is hated. They can't escape this Incantation, they will all die under it."

"If you want to escape this Incantation, there's one way. Give up this name and this surname. Burn incense and pray, discard the Chen surname..."

"Otherwise, as long as Necromancer Chen exists, this Incantation won't disappear, and there's nowhere to hide."

"This is no longer a Spell Battle, it's risking one's life. Someone is taking the place of the millions of surplus people in this world, gambling their lives with the Chen family!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end