Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapter 495 Chapter 505: Drought Demon

"Cheng Hao?"

Lin Beixuan looked at the person standing in front of him, his eyebrows slowly furrowing.

He never imagined that their first meeting would take place in a wounded soldiers' camp.

"Old Lin!"

Cheng Hao was pale and dressed in tattered clothes, with bloodstains under some of the torn garments. He looked like a wounded soldier who had just returned from the battlefield.

Lin Beixuan opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Cheng Hao said directly, "Xuanzhou has been breached by the Goddess Zigu. We don't know where to escape to, so we can only come here!"

"Besides me, there were a few other official members, but they were seriously injured and needed medication."

Lin Beixuan looked Cheng Hao up and down and said, "I think you also need some treatment."

Cheng Hao chuckled and shrugged, exhaling, "I originally just wanted to come and try my luck, but I never expected that the Lord of the Northern Underworld who is in charge of Luo Prefecture would actually be you."

Lin Beixuan pulled Cheng Hao to sit down on an empty chair nearby.

"How did you get in?"

Huangque City is currently fighting against the Evil Spirit Army, and its external control is very strict. It is almost impossible for outsiders to enter. However, Cheng Hao managed to bring a few people in, which made Lin Beixuan a little curious.

“We originally fled not to Luozhou, but to Zhangcun behind it. We happened to meet Rat Lord and his local goddess, and after explaining the situation, we followed them.”

Cheng Hao smiled and said, "At first, that Rat Gentleman was very wary. Even though I said I was your friend, he wasn't going to let us come along. In the end, he only reluctantly agreed after I described your identity in detail."

Lin Beixuan nodded upon hearing this, and did not delve into the matter further.

When he returned to the mortal world before, he asked about Cheng Hao's location. He also arranged for Ma Han to lead the ghost soldiers to Qiling Mansion, hoping to check if Cheng Hao was still in the city.

However, Cheng Hao had already left with the other officials, and Ma Han did not find her during the search of Qiling Mansion, so the matter was dropped.

"Since you have already escaped from Qiling Mansion, why have you ended up like this?" Lin Beixuan couldn't help but ask curiously.

Given the survival skills of the common princes, if they had successfully escaped Qiling Prefecture, they should have been able to leave Xuanzhou easily. Why did things turn out this way? Lin Beixuan was somewhat puzzled.

Cheng Hao shook his head with a wry smile: "Because I went back to Qiling Mansion again."

“My wife is in the city, and I have to bring her out.”

"Several of my teammates were seriously injured because of my mistakes."

When Cheng Hao mentioned his wife, Lin Beixuan almost didn't react for a moment before remembering that Cheng Hao's drought-stricken bride.

Thinking of Cheng Hao's wife, Lin Beixuan couldn't help but marvel at the diversity of the world.

When Cheng Hao was born into the mortal world, she was arranged into a ghost marriage, and the protagonist of that ghost marriage was this drought demon bride who had burned the land to the ground.

When Lin Beixuan heard Cheng Hao say that he had fallen in love with his wife, he thought that Cheng Hao was joking. But he didn't expect that Cheng Hao was serious.

You could have found someone, but it turned out to be an evil spirit.

That's bad enough, but it's a malevolent spirit at the level of a demon.

For a moment, Lin Beixuan didn't know what to say, so he could only ask, "Did you rescue them?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Hao reverted to his true nature, raising his eyebrows as he recounted to Lin Beixuan his experience of returning to Qiling Mansion.

"There was no other way. My wife was bewitched and became a general under the command of the Goddess Zigu. I had to persuade her to come back. So I braved the heavy rain and rushed back to Qiling Mansion overnight to find her."

"My teammates were trying to get in my way, and they were all seriously injured by the evil soldiers under the command of the Goddess Zigu. In the end, it was my wife who intervened and we managed to escape..."

Listening to Cheng Hao recount his glorious deeds, Lin Beixuan couldn't help but give him a thumbs up, sighing inwardly.

This is actually turning a popular internet meme into reality, isn't it?!
Xu Xian was associated with snakes, and Ning Caichen with ghosts, so you set your sights on the drought demon.

No wonder people say that if you use a meme too much, it will eventually become real.

Lin Beixuan guessed that Cheng Hao might not be the only example in the secular world.

The appearance of a secular prince will definitely trigger a large number of such phenomena.

"This is utterly corrupting public morals!"

Lin Beixuan sighed inwardly, then feigned calmness and changed the subject, asking, "How is the situation in Xuanzhou now?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Hao's relaxed smile slowly faded, replaced by a very serious expression.

“Xuanzhou is in a very bad situation. Cities are falling one by one, and our watchmen organization is no match for the power of the Goddess Zigu.”

“Originally, there was a powerful mortal god in Xuanzhou. According to our original plan, as long as we held Qiling Prefecture firmly, Zigu Goddess should not dare to easily attack Xuanzhou under the protection of this powerful mortal god.”

"As a result, I don't know how she persuaded the great folk god of Luozhou, but he left early when we needed him the most."

"In the end, we had no choice but to bite the bullet and block the footsteps of the Goddess Zigu. It was the seniors of the night watchman organization who risked their lives to temporarily protect us useless people."

"Who is the great folk deity of Xuanzhou?" Lin Beixuan asked.

“The Pleiades God!” Cheng Hao said.

"The Pleiades God?" Upon hearing this name, Lin Beixuan subconsciously reached for the Myriad Crows Pot stored in the pouch at his waist.

It seems that his Raven Jar was directly stolen from Pleiades.

"But why would he tolerate Zigu handing over Xuanzhou?"

The power of popular gods comes from incense offerings, which in turn represent believers.

If a secular god has followers all over the world, then his power must be considerable.

Pleiades God's actions were tantamount to abandoning his own incense offerings.

"Could it be that the Pleiades God, like the Kang Star God, has his own ideas and wants to take some special action?"

Besides this reason, Lin Beixuan couldn't think of any other reason that would make a great deity give up the incense offerings of an entire state.

Only greater interests can drive the other party to make such a choice.

Lin Beixuan pondered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm, and continued to ask, "Has any dynasty ever mobilized troops against Xuanzhou?"

"Several dynasties have already abandoned several prefectures in succession. Could it be that they don't intend to keep Xuanzhou either?"

Cheng Hao sighed helplessly, "We're still unclear about the court's movements. We're barely managing to take care of ourselves; how can we have the energy to analyze the court's intentions?" "I've been a night watchman for so long, and I only get a few taels of silver a month, often with my wages delayed. I get up earlier than the roosters and go to bed later than the dogs."

"The dynasties were corrupted too deeply. From top to bottom, they exploited people at every level. People like us who worked at the bottom could not get any benefits at all. Those in power only knew how to fight for power and profit, and did not care about our lives at all, let alone the common people."

"Then why are you officials helping the imperial court?" Lin Beixuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Cheng Hao shook his head: "I don't know about that. We subordinates just do whatever the higher-ups tell us to do."

"Forget about that now, just help me get my wife out of here!"

"???"

"Although I was able to come to see you, my teammates and wife are still in the hands of your Northern Underworld Army."

Cheng Hao sighed and said, "Actually, when you saved me and Shi Fu at the Floating Life Gathering in the real world, I felt that your identity in the mortal world was not simple."

"Seeing you in charge of a state now feels like a lifetime ago."

As she spoke, Cheng Hao stood up anxiously, instinctively reaching out to put her arm around Lin Beixuan's shoulder, but her outstretched hand froze in mid-air before she silently withdrew it.

Lin Beixuan didn't say anything when he saw this, but just smiled and put his arm around Cheng Hao. Their relationship was just like it was in the real world, and it had never changed.

Cheng Hao felt a warmth in her heart, but still reminded him, "You'd better put on that mask. My teammates don't know about my relationship with you. They're all unconscious. When they wake up, I'll say that the Northern Underworld Army from Luozhou saved us."

"No need. In fact, the authorities already know my secular and modern identities."

Cheng Hao was somewhat shocked upon hearing this.

Lin Beixuan smiled and said, "Even you can guess my identity. There are surveillance cameras everywhere in reality. Even if I am careful, there will always be times when I make a mistake. How could the authorities not notice?"

"Then why don't the authorities come to Fusheng Xiaoji to check the water meters?"

Cheng Hao looked puzzled: "Suppose the authorities discovered your identity, they should have taken some action, so why would they let Fusheng Xiaoji continue to operate freely?"

Lin Beixuan said calmly, "When a person becomes powerful enough to change some of the established interests of a country, you may even have the right to kill within a certain scope."

Lin Beixuan's words were calm, but they sounded strangely cold to Cheng Hao, making him shiver involuntarily.

Although he has been in the secular world for some time, his mindset has not completely changed, and he still retains the spirit of serving the country and dedicating himself.

If it were the old Lin Beixuan, he might not have said such things so calmly, but now he has gradually seen through many things.

When a person has enough power, rules and laws will give way to them.

After the two arrived at the room where Cheng Hao's teammates were settled, Lin Beixuan first saw three people lying on the bed, wrapped in bandages like mummies.

Next, he saw a woman in red sitting by the window, elegantly picking up a teacup from the table.

The woman's features were extremely delicate. Her eyebrows were not the traditional willow-leaf eyebrows, but rather slanted slightly upwards like an embroidered sword, adding a touch of heroic spirit to her already beautiful face.

Her bright red robe vaguely resembled a wedding dress, and her long, black hair cascaded down the red fabric, creating a unique and beautiful effect.

“She is my wife, her name is Wang Wanjun,” Cheng Hao introduced as soon as their eyes met.

Then he pointed to Lin Beixuan: "He is my best brother, Lin Beixuan."

"Hello there!"

Lin Beixuan felt a little awkward meeting his brother's wife for the first time and didn't know what to say, so he subconsciously greeted her.

Upon hearing the words "hello," Wang Wanjun first turned her head to look at Cheng Hao, and then extended her hand.

Wang Wanjun's hands were different from the fair and smooth hands of a normal woman; her fingers were sharp, and her nails looked as if they had been stained with blood.

On her palms and the backs of her hands, crimson runes resembled flowing flames, radiating a mysterious and eerie aura.

Seeing this, Cheng Hao stepped forward, pulled Wang Wanjun's hand away, and explained to Lin Beixuan, "Old Lin, Wanjun has fire poison on her hand."

Wang Wanjun looked at Cheng Hao expressionlessly: "You greeted me like this when we came out of the coffin."

Cheng Hao scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat embarrassed: "So I just died on the spot, and from now on you're not allowed to reach out to anyone without my permission."

Wang Wanjun nodded, not quite understanding, and sat back down in the chair by the window, quiet and aloof, barely saying a word.

Lin Beixuan thought for a moment and felt that he should give his brother's wife a small gift since it was the first time they met. So he took a drop of Xuanhuang liquid from the Nine Heavens Xuanhuang Pagoda, put it in a porcelain bottle, and handed it to Cheng Hao.

Cheng Hao took the porcelain bottle with a blank expression, and then heard Lin Beixuan say, "I didn't know what to give as a gift for our first meeting. This can help to improve your foundation. If your wife wants to break through to the level of a demon god in the future, she might need it."

It's something that can help you break through to the Demon God realm!
He's only at the Divine Realm right now, but he never expected to have a treasure that could help him advance to the Demon God realm. It's like he's got a hot potato in his hands.

Cheng Hao was shocked and was about to refuse, but Lin Beixuan glared at her and stopped her.

"Your current strength is not enough to use the Xuanhuang Liquid. I will give it to you once you reach the Divine Invocation Realm."

“I just observed your wife’s aura and found that she should have suffered serious internal injuries. You can use Xuanhuang Liquid to treat her injuries, but doing so may be a bit wasteful, as my current reserves of Xuanhuang Liquid are not much,” Lin Beixuan said calmly.

The Nine Heavens Profound Yellow Tower needs to absorb powerful beings as nourishment in order to condense the Profound Yellow Liquid.

For example, when Lin Beixuan imprisoned the two human gods and the god of wrongful death in the Xuanhuang Tower, these two mortal gods had already turned into Xuanhuang liquid and were stored in the tower.

Thinking back to the vast Xuanhuang liquid that had formed the Xuanhuang aura within the Xuanhuang Pagoda, Lin Beixuan couldn't help but wonder how many powerful figures the Xuanhuang Pagoda had suppressed to condense such a large amount of Xuanhuang liquid.

Now, the Xuanhuang Pagoda has been depleted of power due to its forced alteration of the weather in Luozhou, and even the Xuanhuang Liquid is almost gone.

During the great battle between the Northern Underworld Army and the Evil Spirit Army, Lin Beixuan took out a lot of Xuanhuang Liquid, diluted it in water, and had the Northern Underworld Army drink it.

Lin Beixuan felt a pang of heartache after just sending out another drop.

He now fully understands the meaning of the saying, "You don't know what firewood and rice are like until you're in charge of the household."

Suddenly, a deafening drumbeat came from the direction of the Yellow Sparrow City Gate not far away.

The people in the room simultaneously looked up towards the city gate. Cheng Hao swallowed hard and looked at Lin Beixuan, saying, "Are the Evil Spirit Army attacking? Do you need my help?"

Lin Beixuan shook his head calmly: "The battlefield is too chaotic. With your strength, you'd only be sending yourself to your death. Stay here and recover. I've already spoken to Hu Xian's servant, and he'll bring you medicine later."

After saying that, Lin Beixuan strode out the door, his tall figure gradually disappearing.

Wang Wanjun suddenly looked at Cheng Hao, her voice somewhat stiff: "Your friend is terrifying; she instills a kind of instinctive fear in me."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Hao remained silent for a moment, then smiled and gently patted Wang Wanjun's head.

(End of this chapter)