Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 535 Heir

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhong and Chen Baxian were both taken aback, never expecting that Tao Hongjing would still have independent consciousness.

Then he turned around, stared at Ren Yuan, kowtowed and wept, saying, "Uncle-Master, you have made me wait so long."

"How did you know I would come?" Ren Yuan asked.

"Twenty years ago, after my martial uncle disappeared, I tried every means to find out that you had been sent to the future by Xiao Yan," Tao Hongjing replied, weeping. "I didn't know how to rescue my martial uncle, so I could only wait until he appeared in the future. But I never expected that this wait would last for twenty years..."

"I never imagined that I would be sent to this day, twenty years later, in a single move," Ren Yuan sighed.

"Old Tao, let me ask you something." Chen Baxian had become familiar with Tao Hongjing when they were guarding Xiao Yuyao, and took advantage of a break in their conversation to ask, "How come you weren't affected?"

“This…” Tao Hongjing looked at Ren Yuan.

“Because I passed on the Shangqing Jade Talisman to him before the Northern Expedition.” Ren Yuan said calmly, “This item is the most precious treasure of my Shangqing Sect. It can make people’s primordial spirit clear and free from the harm of internal and external evils. It can even prevent the Three Corpses and Nine Insects, not to mention the brainwashing of demonic sounds.”

"I didn't dare to accept it at first," Tao Hongjing said with a bitter smile. "But my uncle said that he had foreseen his death. If he kept it on his person, Wu Yang would take it away, and he would become a sinner of our sect. So I had no choice but to obey."

"Now you know what top-notch prediction means, right?" Ren Yuan smiled at him and said, "But how dare you address that person by their given name?"

"Because Wuyang has already abandoned this realm." Tao Hongjing sighed softly, "His ideal world-building has completely failed..."

"Oh?" Ren Yuan raised his eyebrows. This result was both reasonable and unexpected.

“We’ve just arrived here, tell us in detail.”

"Yes." Tao Hongjing nodded and began to explain to the three of them from the beginning:

"After my uncle and two senior uncles disappeared, no one in the entire Southern Dynasty dared to oppose Wu Yang. Xiao Yan was even more determined to carry out the divine decree. In three years, he built four thousand Buddhist temples. Adding to the original one thousand, a total of five thousand Buddhist temples were built throughout the entire Liang Dynasty!"

"He then massively ordained ordinary people to become monks, and spent seven years filling five thousand Buddhist temples. So ten years ago, Wu Yang activated the Hua Xu Array in the core areas of Liang, including Yang, Yan, Xu, Jing, and Yongzhou!"

"At first, He was very happy because people no longer did evil, no longer oppressed, no longer deceived, and even stopped arguing. The whole society was peaceful. Daliang seemed to have entered the state described by Lao Tzu as 'its government is sluggish, and its people are simple and honest.'"

"But gradually, people lost their joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness; they became indifferent to everything, uninterested in anything; and for six or seven years, no newborns have been born," Tao Hongjing sighed.
"Of course, change comes little by little. People become more and more indifferent. There is no family affection, no feelings, no desires, and finally no emotions. The entire Liang Dynasty is facing destruction, but no one is in a hurry. Everyone just calmly moves towards the end day by day."

"What about Wu Yang? Didn't He try to solve the problem?" Ren Yuan asked.

"Of course we tried, but all of them failed." Tao Hongjing chuckled and said, "Eight years ago, He ordered Xiao Yan to organize an army of 100,000, wanting to take advantage of the civil war in the Northern Dynasty, when both sides were exhausted, to replicate the miracle of the White Robe Army back then."

"He thought that with his 100,000-strong army, which was fearless and invincible, he could surely sweep through the weakened Northern Dynasty and make a great impression," Tao Hongjing mocked.
"In the end, instead of showing his face, he showed his butt."

"How did His army fail?" Chen Baxian asked.

"Initially, progress was fairly smooth. Although the soldiers lacked initiative, they were still able to act according to instructions under the guidance of the divine oracle," Tao Hongjing replied.

"Moreover, they were fearless, impervious to swords and spears, and immune to fire and water. The Northern Dynasty was also very weak, so naturally they were able to conquer cities and fortresses with ease." "However, the heavens and earth adhere to the principles of yin and yang, and there is always a way to balance things as they change." Tao Hongjing continued, "Just when the government army was advancing triumphantly, the Northern Dynasty found a way to restrain them."

"What method?"

"The Heavenly Slaughter Army," Tao Hongjing replied.

"Erzhu Rong's Heavenly Slaughter Army?" Everyone was naturally familiar with this army.

“That’s right.” Tao Hongjing nodded and said, “The Heavenly Slaughter God is the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao’s calamity of slaughter. He descended to earth to create calamity of slaughter in the human world. The Heavenly Slaughter Army is the embodiment of the concept of ‘slaughter’. No state is useful in the face of ‘slaughter’. When they wield their weapons, they directly apply the essence of ‘slaughter’ to their opponents. No matter what form the enemy takes, they cannot escape the damage.”

"As a result, they wiped us out with a combined force of eight thousand to one hundred thousand..." Tao Hongjing sighed.

"Is the Heavenly Slaughter Army really that powerful?" Chen Baxian stroked his chin.

Yang Zhong also said, "It is indeed a bit tricky, but aren't the White-Robed Army just killing indiscriminately?"

“Back then, your White Robe Army was Uncle Chen’s divine weapon, relying on hard power. Of course, you weren’t afraid of them in a head-on confrontation,” Tao Hongjing said. “But the Dream God Army used an invulnerable state to take advantage of the situation. Once their power was broken, they were completely finished.”

“That’s true.” Chen Baxian nodded: “A bunch of guys with no morale and no sense of mortality, once their invincibility is broken, they’re lambs to the slaughter.”

“However, Erzhu Rong is dead, so the Tianlu Army should have disappeared as well,” Yang Zhong asked.

"Because someone has inherited Erzhu Rong's mantle and become the new Heavenly Slaughter God-King," Tao Hongjing said in a deep voice.

"Hou Jing?" Ren Yuan asked.

“That’s right.” Tao Hongjing nodded.

"How could it be him? There are so many people in the Erzhu family, it shouldn't be his turn, right?" Although Yang Zhong already knew that Hou Jing was now the hegemon of the Southern Dynasty, he still couldn't understand how he had risen to power.

"You could say it's like the snipe and the clam fighting, and the fisherman reaping the benefits; you could also say it's fate," Tao Hongjing explained to Yang Zhong.

"After Erzhu Rong died, the Erzhu family first united to kill Yuan Ziyou, and then they fell into a power struggle, which eventually turned into a bloodbath. As a result, they were defeated by Gao Huan's uprising and were wiped out."

"What? Gao Huan is that amazing?" Yang Zhong was even more shocked.

“Gao Huan was truly a great man,” Tao Hongjing exclaimed. “When the Erzhu family raised an army to attack Yuan Ziyou, Gao Huan did not participate. Instead, he took the opportunity to accept the surrender of the six garrisons, laying the foundation for his later hegemony.”

"How did he acquire the troops of the Six Garrisons?" Yang Zhong couldn't understand. "That's a force powerful enough to dominate the world. How could the Erzhu family just hand it over to him?"

“Idiots, huh?” Tao Hongjing laughed. “After the surrendered soldiers of the Six Garrisons were relocated to Hebei, they still rebelled repeatedly. This gave Erzhu Zhao, who was busy dealing with Yuan Ziyou, a great headache. Once, while drinking, he asked Gao Huan what to do. Gao Huan replied, ‘Your Majesty should select a trusted person to lead them. If there is another rebellion, blame the general. You cannot kill a large number of soldiers every time.’”

(End of this chapter)