From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 268 The Twisting Begins
Zhang Anle is twenty years old this year. He had a few drinks with his friends that evening and was walking along a country road with a slight smell of alcohol on him.

He was a poor scholar.

Yes, at least four years ago.

His family originally owned twenty acres of fertile land, and it was precisely because of these twenty acres of fertile land that he was able to afford to send his children to a private school.

Until he was twelve years old, his father died in an accident, leaving only him and his mother in the family.

A woman, coupled with a twelve-year-old child who knew nothing about management, led to the family's gradual decline.

If it weren't for Zhang Julu's reforms and the revival of the imperial examination system, which gave these lower-class scholars a glimmer of hope for advancement, he wouldn't know how he would have persevered.

But even with hope supporting him, his family's life gradually became more difficult.

After failing his first imperial examination, he had already decided to give up studying and find a job in the county to support himself and his mother.

But it was also in that year that Confucianism spread throughout the land. Although he lived in a remote little county, some basic knowledge about Confucianism cultivation was still passed down. He remembered that many people did not believe in it at the time, but he tried it out of a little curiosity, and as a result, he actually gathered his talent, opened his mind, and became a practitioner of Confucianism.

Since then, his life has undergone a complete transformation.

The wealthiest man in town, Master Wang, whom he could only look up to before, married his beloved daughter to him. He also successfully passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, made many friends, and gradually improved his Confucian scholarship over the past four years. Now he has reached the level of a sixth-rank Confucian scholar and is the registrar of the county.

He is physically strong, financially secure, holds a respectable position, and enjoys a fulfilling married life. Sometimes, he even feels that he has little left to pursue in this life. He is already very content with what he has now: spending his free time drinking and chatting with a couple of friends, then going home and having a good night's sleep with his wife.

Although the world seems to be in some turmoil lately, it has little to do with this remote little county called Dongping. Unless there is a real upheaval in the world, war will not reach such a place, so the work in the county is still quite leisurely.

Because his mother was about to celebrate her fortieth birthday, he recently took leave from the county government and moved his whole family to a rural estate in the countryside. It was one of his wife's many dowry possessions; although not large, it was nestled against the mountains and beside a river, with beautiful scenery. He didn't plan on a grand celebration, just intending to invite a few relatives and friends to the estate for a few meals, to chat under the gentle breeze and bright moonlight…

Suddenly, for some reason, his heart trembled, as if he had been stimulated by something. A surge of righteous energy rushed out of his chest. Then, he clearly felt an extremely cold aura collide with his righteous energy. A force pushed him back two steps.

"What's wrong?!"

Even at this point, he still didn't understand what had happened.

Instinctively, he suddenly looked up, his breath caught in his throat, and what came into view made his mind go blank.

What the hell is this?

Three zhang ahead, the mist condensed into an upside-down human figure, its faceless head drooping to its knees, its bluish-black fingernails scraping the soil, and a chilling aura emanating from it.

He retreated hastily, but after only a few steps, he realized something was wrong.

A thin mist had somehow settled around him, and the upside-down figure appeared and disappeared within it, no matter which direction he turned. Then, he felt a chill.

hiss! !

In his panic, he forgot that he possessed a strong sense of righteousness.

With upright and righteous spirit, one cannot be harmed by any evil.
Previously, this was just propaganda, or rather, a saying; no one encountered anything strange or evil. They just felt warm and comfortable during cultivation. But after his experience just now, he seemed to realize something and instinctively began to circulate his righteous energy. Instantly, the chilling aura that permeated the surroundings dissipated, and his vanished courage seemed to return at that moment.

"I don't care who you are, get out of here immediately, or I'll definitely make you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the upside-down figure suddenly raised its hand and pointed in his direction.

The chilling aura rushed towards him, and Zhang Anle's righteous energy suddenly surged, clashing with the cold aura.

Bang!
He stumbled and fell, hitting the back of his head on a knot in the locust tree, which hurt painfully.

But this pain, which wasn't excruciating, finally brought him back to his senses.

Although he had already reached the sixth rank of Confucian scholar and was well-liked by his teachers, in the end, he was just an ordinary scholar who had never encountered any real setbacks in his life, had never fought with anyone, and had never experienced such a strange scene. Therefore, he was somewhat at a loss for what to do.

This is a human instinct.

But when he began to regain his senses, his intelligence once again took over.

No matter what it is, no matter where it comes from, no matter if I've seen it before or not, it's an enemy, even a mortal enemy who wants to kill me. So, since you want to kill me, I naturally won't be polite.

Recalling his teachers' teachings and his sparring with his classmates, he looked at the eerie figure approaching again, raised his hand suddenly, pointed at the other party, and his aura of righteousness surged.

"The wise are not perplexed!" The sage's words transformed into pale gold seal script to protect the body, successfully resisting the renewed impact of the yin energy.

After two unsuccessful attacks, the eerie upside-down humanoid figure changed its tactics. Its bluish-black fingernails suddenly reached out towards him and, in an instant, reached him, piercing the pale golden seal script.

Zhi! ! !
The pale gold seal script quickly faded, and the bluish-black fingernails emitted wisps of smoke and a strong, fishy stench, as if they had been splashed with sulfuric acid.

Only when his fingernail was injured and retracted, and the golden seal script dimmed, did he realize what had happened. He let out a strange cry, took several steps back, raised his hand, and shouted loudly at the upside-down human figure, "Heaven and earth possess righteous energy, which manifests in various forms, surge forth—"

boom! ! !
The righteous energy surrounding him was instantly mobilized, transforming into an irresistible, ferocious wave that surged towards the humanoid figure. The upside-down figure suddenly paused, letting out a sharp, piercing howl within the torrent of righteous energy, black smoke rising from its body. Ultimately, it was submerged, eroded, and dissolved by the torrent, disappearing without a trace.

"Huff, huff, huff..." At this moment, Zhang Anle, who had used his righteous energy to his advantage, felt that all his strength had been drained. He leaned against the old locust tree that had bumped his head, panting heavily. An endless feeling of weakness swept over his body, but his eyes were shining with excitement.

"It works! It really works! Righteous energy truly makes one impervious to all evil! I never imagined that a game I usually play with my classmates would have such power... against this..."

"What exactly is this thing?" In his excitement, his expression gradually turned serious.

The reason was that what he had just encountered was something that had never appeared in this world before, but only existed in some legends. However, he was a scholar, and his reading had given him knowledge and understanding. He knew very well that there were wronged souls in this world, and there were such things in Xiangfan City back then. However, the formation of such things required extremely harsh conditions, and they could not pose any great threat to normal people, much less manifest themselves like this.

Or perhaps, before Confucianism existed, those who encountered such things had already died, which is why there were no records of them?
My mind suddenly became confused.

In Xiangfan City, Zhao Xun, seemingly sensing something, walked to the window, looked at the bright moon outside, and felt the change in the surrounding atmosphere. He smiled slightly.

"The distortion has begun!"

(End of this chapter)