Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapter 541: The Storm Is Brewing

Are you sure he's dead?

A single sentence from the Rabbit caused both the Monkey and Lin Beixuan to fall into deep thought.

"What do you mean by that? When I saw him die, Wei Yang took his body away. How could that be wrong?"

Shenhou frowned, his gaze sweeping over Lin Beixuan.

His eyes seemed to blaze with flames, burning through the fog that obscured his view.

Then, he saw the powerfully beating heart inside Lin Beixuan's chest cavity, as if it were supporting the earth and in harmony with the earth's energy.

He knew this was Lu Chenjiang's heart.

But that doesn't mean anything.

Although this heart contains a trace of Lu Chenjiang's spiritual energy, it is not the other party, and there is absolutely no possibility of reviving Lu Chenjiang through this heart.

“You’re right, he did die back then, but some people can always survive in another way,” Rabbit said calmly.

Lin Beixuan listened to the conversation between the two without interrupting, simply listening silently and analyzing the meaning behind their words.

His conclusion was that Lu Chenjiang was currently somewhere between dead and alive, living in a different way in some sense.

Lin Beixuan was still unclear about what this 'certain meaning' meant, but what reassured him was that the heart inside him would not have any negative effects on him because of Lu Chenjiang.

"Alright, none of this matters to me anymore." Shenhou let out a long sigh, his expression indifferent.

"You have always been skilled in divination, so you must have known our purpose for coming here beforehand. What have you thought about it?"

Rabbit shook its head: "Sorry, now is not the time for me to leave."

Shenhou nodded upon hearing this, said no more, and waved to Lin Beixuan: "We can go now."

Lin Beixuan cupped his hands in greeting to the Rabbit, then turned and left with the Monkey.

He didn't say anything when he met Mao Tu this time, but in fact he had already achieved his goal.

This trip was not only to help Yin Hu meet this immortal lord, but also to gauge the other party's attitude.

After all, he will inevitably be an enemy of the previous dynasties in the future, and the Rabbit is located within the territory of the previous dynasties. If the Rabbit leans towards the previous dynasties, the two sides may very well clash.

From what he understands at this stage, the Rabbit seems to be the most indifferent to worldly affairs among the twelve zodiac gods, and the only person who is on good terms with it is the Dragon.

It seems the opponent is helping Chenlong play a very big game.

Outside the temple, the wind and snow howled, and the night's chilling wind emitted a ghostly shriek that instilled fear in ordinary people.

Lin Beixuan walked out of the Guanghan Temple, followed by Granny Shang who came out to see him off.

After a brief farewell, Lin Beixuan led the eaves beast in front of the temple away.

Grandma Shang watched Lin Beixuan's figure gradually disappear into the wind and snow, then looked up at Han Tian and sighed softly.

"What a troubled time!"

……

In the 437th year of the Tianjing era, the Northern Expeditionary Army repelled the invasion of the Northern Barbarians, killing tens of thousands of barbarian enemies and recovering all the land north of Jiamen Pass. Everyone in the court was overjoyed and raised their cups to celebrate this great victory.

However, the people in the high hall were only immersed in the joy of victory, and did not see the current situation of Longzhou being plundered and killed by the northern barbarians.

Snowstorm raged, and those who had miraculously survived the iron heel of the enemy all perished in the cold winter night.

The land north of Jiamen Pass, which had been recovered, has once again descended into chaos.

This time, however, the chaos did not originate from outside the northern border, but from within.

Rumors circulated among the common people that the credit for the great victory over the barbarian army did not belong to the Northern Expeditionary Army, but to only one person: the Northern Underworld Lord who brought hope to the people of Luozhou.

Luozhou suffered persecution from starving ghosts for many years, with corpses everywhere and white bones scattered all over the ground.

The imperial court did not intervene. Later, the Northern Underworld Lord rose to power, incorporated the scattered Zhenxi Army, revitalized his forces, and finally wiped out the starving ghosts, allowing the people of Luozhou to resume their lives.

Upon learning that Longzhou was suffering from the barbarian invasion, the enemy came alone and forced the barbarians to retreat to Tonggu Pass. They then engaged in a decisive battle with the barbarian ancestor, causing strange phenomena in the heavens and earth, with the aurora breaking at dawn and a huge gash being torn open in the sky by a terrifying force.

Although the two sides only managed a draw in the end, Huang Zu saw that the situation was hopeless and returned to the northern frontier. The morale of the barbarian army was shattered, and they also lost the idea of ​​continuing to march south.

The Northern Expeditionary Army merely followed behind the Northern Underworld Lord, picking up scraps along the way, which allowed them to recapture cities effortlessly.

As a result, the Northern Expeditionary Army generals took credit for themselves. To prevent the news from spreading, they also killed a large number of soldiers who had been guarding Zhenbeiguan. Nearly a thousand soldiers who had blocked the barbarian army all the way from Zhenbeiguan to Jiamenguan died and were buried in a mass grave, where they were eaten by wild dogs.

Many heroes did not die at the hands of the enemy, but instead perished in traps set by their own comrades who wanted to steal credit.

This rumor, which was originally only circulating on a small scale in Longzhou, somehow gradually spread to other prefectures and cities, and its popularity has been growing.

south.

Initiated by the Evil Spirit Lord, the scale of the raids on other forces grew larger and larger, forcing countless people to get involved.

King Yang Li of Liangzhou amassed a powerful army, disobeyed the imperial court's orders, and openly rebelled against Emperor Lixi. Together with Liangzhou, they first repelled the attack of the evil spirit army, and then used this as an excuse to criticize the tyrannical emperor, causing chaos in the land and alienating the people.

After saying this, they joined forces with Mu'an Prefecture, using the pretext of the Qing Dynasty and the people's livelihood to recruit soldiers and launch a military campaign against the Qing.

In a short time, many people responded.

In the same month, Yang Tai, the King of Bingzhou, harbored rebellious intentions and joined forces with the Yun Kingdom on the border to kill Zhang Yi at the border and let the Yun Kingdom's troops enter the pass.

In order to expand his power, Yang Tai consulted with the envoy of Yun Kingdom and decided to prioritize the annexation of Luo Prefecture so that more troops from Yun Kingdom could pass through Luo Prefecture and enter the country.

However, when they heard the rumor that the Lord of the Northern Underworld had driven back the barbarian army single-handedly on his way to Longzhou, Yang Tai and the envoy from Yun Kingdom were greatly shocked and temporarily shelved their idea of ​​annexing Luozhou.

The following month, the goddess Zigu led her army to invade Luozhou, where they confronted the Northern Underworld Army on the border.

The general of the mortal gods attempted to defeat the Beiming army with his divine power, but was instead killed by the Beiming army's military might. The Beiming general, Wu Huo, hung the mortal god's head in front of the city, further escalating the conflict between Changluo and the two states.

……

"boom!!!"

Yang Guang swung his hand and overturned the cups and goblets on the table in front of him to the ground, glaring angrily at the assembled court officials below.

He slowly stood up from behind the desk, his gloomy gaze sweeping around, his tone filled with murderous intent.

"Haven't I killed enough yet? They've started again!"

Yang Guang walked step by step to Huo Jun below and slapped him on the shoulder with both hands.

"General Huo, I trusted you completely, and this is the answer you give me?"

"This humble general admits his guilt!" Huo Jun frowned deeply.

"Acknowledge your guilt?" Yang Guang sneered, pulling his hand away from Huo Jun's shoulder. "If everyone who does something wrong just says 'acknowledge your guilt,' then what am I supposed to do with you?"

"Or do you think I'm powerless right now and I wouldn't dare do anything to you?"

"This humble general dares not!" Yang Guang stared into Huo Jun's eyes, a cold glint flashing in them.

"You can't even do the most basic thing like eradicating the weeds at the root. How can a dignified immortal be so useless?"

Huo Jun clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip.

"It was my oversight. I never expected that the man was actually a common prince who could come back to life after his head was cut off!"

“The common people… these scum, it seems like they’re everywhere in the mortal world these days,” Yang Guang said through gritted teeth.

His gaze swept over the crowd, and a terrifying aura emanated from him, making everyone feel as if they were a humanoid dragon beast, pressing down on them so much that they could hardly breathe.

"Even among the crowd standing here now, they might be among them."

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent. No one dared to stand up at that moment, because whatever they said might be met with suspicion.

Among the crowd, a young man in a scholar's robe lowered his eyes, his expression neither sad nor happy, and he did not show any unease despite Yang Guang's words.

His name was Wei Yuan, the only remaining secular prince officially placed in the courts of successive dynasties.

His companions, who had preceded him, were all brought out by Yang Guangquan, and in front of all the civil and military officials, their souls were extracted one by one and refined into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Wei Yuan survived not because he was particularly good at hiding his true identity, but because he did nothing and lived entirely like an ordinary person.

In the present world, he is a graduate student of classical Chinese. After becoming a secular prince, he joined the government and accepted its arrangements to become an undercover agent among officials of various dynasties, responsible for transmitting information about events that occurred in the court back to the present world every day.

It was precisely because of his monotonous life, which involved staying at these two points and not contacting his companions, that he was able to survive the previous large-scale search.

"Serving as an official in each dynasty would indeed fulfill my dream of traveling back in time to serve as an official, but why am I a traitor?"

He was cautious every day, even afraid to sleep too soundly, lest he inadvertently expose himself and end up like those other people.

Wei Yuan sighed inwardly, but his face remained expressionless.

Just then, someone called out to him.

"Wei Yuan, Wei Yuan..."

Wei Yuan looked up at the person beside him and saw that it was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who was in charge of managing the national treasury money of all dynasties.

The two stood close to each other in the court, essentially sitting at the same table, so they had a good relationship.

"His Majesty is calling you," the Vice Minister of Revenue said in a low voice, giving him a meaningful look.

Wei Yuan then came to his senses, and with a practiced and upright posture, he slowly walked out, his posture upright and deliberate, as if he had been an official for decades.

Yang Guang stared at Wei Yuan from head to toe and said calmly, "Wei Yuan, I'll leave the matter of dealing with the rumors to you. I hope we won't hear about this anymore in three days."

Wei Yuan bowed and accepted the order: "Yes!"

After the court session, Wei Yuan, as usual, first went to his work station to handle some government affairs, then handed over the matters entrusted to him by the emperor to his subordinates, and then went to visit several familiar ministers, drinking until midnight before staggering home.

This is his daily routine.

However, when he got home and closed the door, his previously unsteady, drunken state immediately sobered up.

"Although ancient wines had a low alcohol content, they should not be underestimated!"

Wei Yuan took off his outer garment, and his nominal wife from previous dynasties immediately came over and took it from him.

"Stop dawdling and tell me what happened today so I can report it."

That's right, his wife was also a laywoman.

One of them was responsible for gathering intelligence from the imperial court, while the other was responsible for relaying intelligence back to the real world from behind the scenes.

The two had been working together in this mode for a long time and were now quite proficient at it.

Therefore, Wei Yuan recounted in detail what had happened in the court, and specifically mentioned Emperor Lixi's anger.

The woman nodded upon hearing this, indicating that she had noted it down. She then went into the master bedroom, intending to light the incense to exorcise the spirit and return to the mortal world to report the matter.

However, at that moment, a fireball like a meteor suddenly crashed into Wei Yuan's house, and a terrifying fire instantly spread out.

Because Wei Yuan was taking a bath in the side room, he was not seriously injured. However, the woman in the master bedroom was not spared, as the center of the fireball struck right in the direction of the master bedroom.

Wei Yuan squinted, first putting on his clothes, then walking into the secret passage inside the house without looking back.

Upon entering the secret passage, he immediately took the pre-prepared Fetal Breathing Pill and Invisibility Pill, thus entering a state of suspended animation and invisibility.

The very next second after he finished doing all this, a figure fell from the sky and crashed to the ground with a thud.

"Huo Jun! Has the Emperor finally discovered me?!"

Then he saw Huo Jun emerge from the ruins carrying a half-dead person, who was another commoner disguised as his wife.

"He got away!"

Huo Jun surveyed the ruins before him, but sensed no sign of life. He then spoke coldly.

"He can't have gone very far, chase after him!"

Two men in black beside him nodded after hearing this, and then immediately disappeared from the spot.

Huo Jun held Wei Yuan's wife and examined her for a while before using his divine power to force her to wake up from her severe injuries.

He wouldn't let the other person die at this moment, otherwise who knows where they might be resurrected later.

The woman slowly opened her eyes, and upon seeing the person in front of her, she was immediately terrified. She gritted her teeth and prepared to commit suicide.

However, before she could make a move, Huo Jun's terrifying divine power took control of her body and mind.

Where did Wei Yuan escape to?

“He is a very cautious person. I only have information exchanges with him every day, and I don’t know where he might be hiding.”

"How many strongholds of you secular princes are there near the capital?"

……

The woman, controlled by the immortal, had no way to resist and couldn't even control her own consciousness.

After revealing the locations of several other secular princes, Huo Jun handed the woman over to the others and disappeared from the spot.

Unexpectedly, Yang Guang ordered the immortal Huo Jun to lead a massive purge of the secular princes in the capital at night.

That night, whether they were official princes or princes from other factions, all were targeted by Huo Jun. Most of them were arrested, and only a few cautious individuals like Wei Yuan escaped.

From then on, the matter of the secular prince was officially brought to the forefront in the secular world. Whether in secluded mansions or in the bustling streets, all secular people knew that in addition to their own world, there was a group of strange people from other worlds.

These people are able to come back to life and possess extremely strange methods.

Emperor Lixi, Yang Guang, used this move to put the secular prince in the spotlight, thereby suppressing the commotion caused by Lin Beixuan in Longzhou.

(End of this chapter)