Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 269 The Upheaval in Southeast Asia: The Gates of Heaven are Locked!
Looking at that menacing black shadow rising higher and higher on the sea, and smelling the terrifying, fishy stench emanating from it carried by the sea breeze.

Everyone on the city wall raised their heads in unison, their faces turning slightly pale.

"What kind of monster is this?"

"It looks like a small creature commonly found in the sea called a serpent's tail, but how did this one grow so big?"
Even if this were applied to monsters or the 100,000 strangely shaped sea creatures, it would still be far too exaggerated!

"Look, there's a black pentagram on its middle body. It looks like a shikigami kept by an onmyoji!"

The character “式” means “to serve”. Shikigami can be understood as “serving gods”, which are gods, spirits, and various tangible monsters and lords who serve their masters.

Essentially, they are similar to the [Guardian Spirit General] enlightened by Bai Shuilang and the [Hall Ghost] raised by the Altar Boy.

In fact, Wang Cheng already had quite a few guardian spirit generals under his command, including Wind and Thunder Qi, Wealth and Treasure, White-headed Eagle Aji, and various other cannon gods such as the Divine Might General who had been enlightened.

However, there aren't many who can truly stand alone and be sent out to carry out missions.

As a former Bai Shuilang who was promoted to the rank of Shui Heng Duwei, his first priority should have been to find a powerful "master" like Huang Yuanzhou's godmother, Shenha.

However, his promotion speed was too fast. He rose to the fifth rank like a rocket in just one year, and he didn't meet a suitable master during that time.

After acquiring the [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship], a powerful weapon capable of taking on a hundred enemies single-handedly, his desire to find a "Master" faded.

But Onmyoji are different; half of their power lies in the various shikigami they raise.

If Amakusa Shiro hadn't received the national treasure, "The Art of War," from Kameyama Publishing House, he wouldn't have chosen to divide his forces.

Let the snake-tailed serpent attack Xinghua Prefecture, while I confidently ambush Qi Yuanjing, the man who strikes fear into the hearts of countless Japanese pirates.

Of course, Wang Cheng still doesn't know exactly what happened in Citong Port.

With his eyes fixed on the ugly creature in the sea, writhing with countless tentacles, he activated his "Rare Goods" skill to the fullest extent and gleaned some information about it.

[Rare Item: Shikigami - Basket Snake Tail, a fourth-grade demon item at its limit.]

Master: Amakusa Shiro

Because its head, resembling Medusa's and covered in snakes, was called "the head of the succubus" in Western countries.

There are no monsters within the walls who can advance to the third rank simply by cultivating their life force.

Even if one is born with the strongest physical body, it is impossible to achieve a qualitative change and touch the level of "god". In essence, one is still a mortal being that can be injured, bleed, age, and die.

The only path that can lead to the realm of living ghosts and gods or an equivalent realm is the Path of Gods!

However, this basket snake tail is much larger than other monsters; one of them is equivalent to a whole group.

Demon Tongyi: Infinite Regeneration, a racial talent of the Basket Serpent Tail, possessing powerful regenerative abilities. Even if cut into pieces, each limb can grow back into a complete Basket Serpent Tail.

Demon Tong II: A giant spirit descends to earth and accidentally ingests a spiritual herb and the corpse of a scum immortal from a hole in the wall in the South Seas. His body undergoes a mutation, his intelligence regresses, but his physical strength increases, granting him powerful physical strength commensurate with his size, and he also possesses the talent to control water.

Although they are intellectually inferior, their physical strength is like a natural disaster, and even living ghosts and gods would find it difficult to fight them head-on!
Note: Regardless of whether it is a shikigami, enlightenment, or other control methods, the smarter the target, the greater the burden, and the lower the level of intelligence, the less the burden. It has little to do with physical strength.

Amakusa Shiro recently stumbled upon a great deal in Southeast Asia and has made this mountain of flesh-like shikigami his secret weapon.

He intends to return to Yingzhou and reclaim everything he has lost!
A strong obsession was even deeply imprinted on the soul of this shikigami.

Wang Cheng raised an eyebrow upon seeing this:
"I heard that the major temples of various Buddhist sects in Yingzhou and the major shrines of Shintoism jointly issued an order called 'Bantenren Expulsion Order,' which defined the Holy Cross Church, which has been constantly inducing Kiritan Daimyo to convert, as a cult!"

In particular, they did not allow any high-ranking or upper-third-rank clergy of the Holy Cross Church to remain in Yingzhou, and united to expel a large number of Holy Cross Church priests from the country.

They merely maintained trade routes with the Franks and gave those Chechitan daimyo a chance to repent and turn back from their misguided ways.

Ambitious Amakusa Shiro is not only an Onmyoji, but also a priest of the Holy Cross Church. He is clearly unwilling to stay in Southeast Asia due to the collective boycott in his home country.

After obtaining this shikigami, I plan to first make a name for myself in the suzerain state of Da Zhao, and then sell myself for a good price.

They followed the path of "the law cannot be established without the support of the sovereign," seeking refuge with a prominent figure who did not reject the Church of the Holy Cross, supporting him to become a member of the world, and continuing to compete with Buddhism and Shintoism.

That's quite a clever scheme.

But Wang Cheng soon noticed the suspicious points.

"Southeast Asia again?!"

The five parasitized global warships broke through the mountain and sea curse from the South Seas, and the Japanese pirates from the Chichidan also brought back this basket of snake tails from the South Seas.

It feels like there's some kind of leak somewhere in Southeast Asia, and the activities of that 'celestial realm' outside the wall that can affect the physical body are becoming more and more frequent.

This is all I know; there's likely much more I don't know.

After establishing a relationship with Sister Axiao, he took the initiative to contact his two fathers.

From them, we learned about the situation of the Mountain and Sea Curse and their plan to use "The Influence of Sea Power" to suppress the Great Wall of Curse.

Whenever a dynasty comes to an end and its central authority collapses, the Mountain and Sea Curses and Restrictions also fall into a trough.

Even with the Water Spirits building a wall with their own [spiritual forms], countless evil spirits will still infiltrate through the cracks. Now, the Great Zhao is beset by internal and external troubles, and the curse is showing signs of collapsing again.

The old father-in-law believed that if the original manuscript could be enshrined on this cursed wall, there was hope that it could draw upon the power of the entire world, regardless of race, faith, or nationality, to bless the cursed wall.

This time, the outcome may be very different.

"My book, 'The Influence of Sea Power', has indeed taken hold worldwide, even provoking strong reactions from Western kings. The atmosphere surrounding it has been boiling intensely without any sign of abating."

But I think the speed at which the Mountain and Sea Curse is collapsing and revealing loopholes is probably even faster than the speed at which The Influence of Sea Power is transforming. The first loophole is in Southeast Asia!
Perhaps I should send an envoy or scout ahead to Southeast Asia to see what's happening there.

Eek!
The serpent's tail emitted a piercing cry, interrupting Wang Cheng's thoughts.

"The most urgent thing now is to figure out how to deal with this monster."

Fortunately, Meizhou City, the only city without any living deities of the highest rank, actually has a trump card that the Guishan Academy has not yet discovered.

Behind them, in the city of Meizhou.

"Drink!"

Boom——!
With the talisman "Overlord's Remains" on her hand, Han Shushu swung her hammer down, smashing a ninja who had sneaked into the inner quarters using the "Ninja Art: Painted Skin Disappearance" into pieces.

This signifies that all internal collaborators within the city have been essentially eliminated.

The gates of the prefectural government office were wide open.

A group of yamen runners, constables, and "knife-wielding men" from the outskirts of the yamen, along with a group of civilian officials who had spontaneously joined the fight, also escorted Prefect Xi Shiliang out of the yamen.

They marched in a grand procession up the east gate, which faced the sea.

"Your Excellency the Prefect!"

Wang Cheng and Lu Yunchen, who took over the city's defenses, immediately led their officers and generals to clasp their hands in salute. This was a stark contrast to their previous attitude towards You Zhende, clearly showing genuine respect.

Xi Shiliang was an elderly man nearing fifty, thin and with a gaunt face, wearing an official robe with faded edges from washing.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 26th year of the Shaozhi reign (1168), and was in the same cohort as Zhang Taiyue, who had mysteriously disappeared long ago. He had only started temporarily serving as the prefect of Xinghua a month ago, and was considered an acting prefect who had not yet been officially appointed.

However, after learning that Amakusa Shiro's target might be Meizhou, he did not feign illness or simply resign like some of his colleagues.

Instead, they prepared coffins in advance, vowing to live and die with this city!
To avoid causing panic, even the entire family was not sent away in advance.

The matriarch of the Xi family stated frankly that if the city were to fall, the entire family of women and children would throw themselves into a well to avoid humiliation; it would be nothing more than death.

Seeing the actions of the Xi family, Wang Cheng couldn't help but feel a deep respect and began to believe that the officialdom of the Great Zhao Dynasty was not completely rotten.

"You two may dispense with the formalities."

This is all I have to help you two. Watch as I put it to use.

Xi Shiliang stepped forward to help them up, then took the prefectural seal from the local official [Shaoxing clerk] beside him, raised it high above his head, and stood at the very front of the city wall.

He opened his mouth and said:

"The Japanese pirates are rampant, invading our territory and slaughtering our people! I am ordered to defend our land, and I hate that I cannot eat their flesh or sleep on their skin!"
Though I am old, I still have the will to kill the traitors. I beg my fellow villagers to lend me a hand!

The character “守” has a long history, appearing as early as the period of bronze inscriptions. Its shape resembles a hand tidying up items inside a grand house, symbolizing officials performing their duties in accordance with the law in the government office.

Local administrative officials, such as prefects and governors, all had titles that implied the responsibility of protecting and defending their respective areas.

Even though the official titles were changed during the reign of Emperor Dazhao, the title of the highest-ranking official in Xinghua Prefecture became Prefect, but the essence remained the same.

At this moment, Xi Shiliang, in his capacity as prefect, channeled the [Azure Blood and Crimson Spirit] he had cultivated for many years and forcefully expelled it onto the prefectural seal.

The official seal immediately shone with golden light, and his plea for help from the people rang in the ears of every citizen.

The people in the city had suffered greatly from the raids of the Japanese pirates, and many of their relatives had died at their hands, so they were naturally united in their hatred of the enemy.

Regardless of age or gender, everyone bowed deeply towards the east gate, shouting:

"Kill the Japanese!"

"Kill the Japanese!"

"Kill the Japanese!"

Every time a shout rang out in the city, a wisp of incense and prayer power flew out and disappeared into the official seal.

In an instant, the cry to kill the Japanese pirates resounded through the sky, and the people's will, the spirit of the officials, the spirit of the soldiers, the spirit of the scholars, and the spirit of the incense all flocked to the city.

A golden beam of light shot into the sky.

Xi Shiliang raised his official seal high and shouted:
"Imperial Decree: The Heavenly Gate is Locked!"

(End of this chapter)