Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 369 The Four Seas and Five Mountains, A Joke from the Underworld

call--!
A wind descended from the high sky, like a dragon, like light, like lightning, and transformed into human form before the father and daughter.

If we disregard the truth and only look at its miraculous appearance, it does indeed possess some of the grandeur of a high-ranking deity.

"what?"

After landing, Wang Cheng was surprised to find that some people had not died despite his three consecutive palm strikes.

Everyone else's bodies became one with the soil and gravel, but the one known for his strength, the "Long-Toothed General," managed to escape with his life.

He unleashed his special skill, transforming his entire body into a hard "iron block," and was slammed into the ground by Wang Cheng like a nail.

Although he had suffered severe internal injuries and was on the verge of death, he was not yet dead at this point.

He stared intently at Wang Cheng with his eyes wide open, bloodshot from ruptured veins, and questioned him in Austronesian language while vomiting blood:
"Who are you? How dare you meddle in the affairs of our Holy Cross Church?"

"Once our high-ranking bishops from Goa arrive to provide support, you might come alive, but you won't leave alive!"

Wang Cheng didn't take his words to heart at all, knowing that this native was just talking big and could at most scare the ignorant "rogue cultivators," but how could he scare him?
He also sneered in Austronesian:

"Ah, it's true that the East Bharata Diocese, headquartered in Goa, is very powerful. I've heard that it also has a cardinal in red robes who is equivalent to a second-rank official in charge of it."

But their parish alone governs most of the Eastern Hemisphere. With a limited number of high-ranking individuals spread across such a vast area, how many could they possibly allocate to Southeast Asia? Did they not want any other places?
There's no need to struggle anymore.

You dare to kill us, the people of Dazhao! This time, not only you yourselves, but your entire families and clans will die!

Even if your gods came from the East, they couldn't stop them, I'm telling you."

With a casual glance at this native official, the "Long-Toothed General," the inquirer immediately gathered all the information about him and his tribe.

There are countless indigenous tribes on the Luzon Islands. This particular tribe, which sided with the Franks and aided and abetted their tyranny, was called the "Bangbangya tribe." They were a very powerful group among the plains people.

It should be noted that even in the Great Zhao Dynasty, royal power did not extend to the countryside, and this was even more true in these remote overseas islands.

Despite their long and painstaking efforts, the Franks' sphere of influence was limited to a small part of northern Luzon, ruling over the lands of a few plains people, while remaining largely untouchable by the mountain people hidden deep in the mountains.

This branch of the Bangbangya tribe is the closest to them, the most Westernized, and even their faith has been assimilated.

During the massacres, they willingly acted as henchmen of the colonizers, repeatedly abusing and killing overseas Chinese; their crimes are too numerous to count.

Wang Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"When I was collecting information about Southeast Asia, I learned from the royal library that as early as the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, Southeast Asian countries such as Brunei had already begun to communicate with China."

In China, there was a rank-three "genealogy expert" who made a special trip to Southeast Asia, traveling to most of the islands, studying many Austronesian ethnic groups, and establishing bloodline genealogies for them.

The genealogists are not only knowledgeable about ancient and modern times and have professional genealogy knowledge, but they can also forge family trees and fabricate lineages for people, and they can even really help people find their relatives.

Even in ancient times, tracing one's roots is not difficult. As long as one uses bloodline as a guide and compares the historical materials accumulated by generations of genealogists, one can trace back to the source.

He concluded that the Austronesians originated in southern China.

"If we compare the history books of China with the Western calendar, 3077 BC belongs to the Three Sovereigns period of China, followed by the Five Emperors period."

During the time of the Three Sovereigns in ancient times, the ancestors of the Austronesian peoples lived in the southeastern region of China, which was also the place where these immigrant victims came from: Yuezhou and Minzhou.

Starting from these two places around 3500 BC, they transited through Taiwan and then migrated to the islands of Southeast Asia and the vast ocean.

Austronesian-speaking ancestors assimilated with local ancient groups on Yizhou Island, forming a unique ethnic group, and subsequently migrated out in two separate groups:
One route went west through Luzon into Borneo and the spice islands at sea; the other route went north into the southeastern coast, forming the Baiyue ethnic group.

Genealogists throughout history have long concluded that the Austronesian people and the people of China only separated thousands of years ago, and their bloodline distance is not far.

Now you've actually joined the Franks in slaughtering the people of Dazhao! You ungrateful bastards, you've truly turned your backs on Heaven!

Traitors are more hateful than enemies, no matter the circumstances.

Wang Cheng raised his foot high and stomped down on the head of the [Long-Toothed General]:
Bang!
Since Ye Zhao slapped that old sorcerer to death, he has regained his mobility.

They had already used the "ghostly veil" to cover their daughter's eyes, preventing her from seeing the horrific scene of blood flowing like a river.

He wiped away his blood and tears, and knelt down before Wang Cheng like a golden pillar in a jade palace:
"Ye Zhao, a sixth-rank official of the Earthly Class [Yin Songshi], thanks the senior for saving my father and daughter's lives and sparing my deceased wife from humiliation."

Zhao, in this life I am willing to serve you like an ox or a horse to repay your great kindness!

He only said "destroy their ancestral temples and exterminate their clan" in a fit of anger.

Only after calming down did I realize that I was just a sixth-rank official. Even if a hundred of me were to become slaves, how could I possibly repay the great karmic debt my predecessor had paid?

Moreover, the Divine Path has always relied on strength in numbers, and once one reaches the fifth rank and takes charge of military tokens, they rarely fight alone anymore.

Even a high-ranking, living ghost or deity would be no match for this combined force of several thousand Franks and natives without the assistance of a large number of elite temple soldiers.

Bringing up this matter again would likely only displease this senior.

Wang Cheng reached out and lifted him up, an invisible force helping him to his feet. He said solemnly:

"You don't need to do that. Spreading your power throughout the world and protecting the people of Dazhao is all within my duty."

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhao was taken aback:
"My officer?"

Wang Cheng turned back to face the sea, raised his hand and pointed:
"Look at the sea. That is the imperial fleet's treasure ships for the eighth voyage to the Western Ocean!"
"Someone's come to visit."

Ye Zhao stood on Dalun Mountain by the sea, gazing out at the ocean.

Amidst the howling sea breeze, a large fleet, its dragon flag flying high, was winding its way in from afar. At first, only a black line could be seen on the horizon, then it seemed as if a range of undulating mountains rose from the sea, and finally, the sails, blotting out the sky, flattened and filled the entire ocean.

There was no way to count how many ships came.

"You mean this is the eighth voyage to the Western Ocean?"

Ye Zhao's body trembled with excitement.

Outsiders simply cannot understand the feelings of these people who have left their hometowns.

They didn't want to leave their hometown voluntarily, but if they relied solely on farming in Minzhou, a place with eight parts mountains, one part water, and one part farmland, they really couldn't support so many children.

Generation after generation of people were forced to go to sea simply to survive.

But people are vulnerable when they are far from home. To whom can they complain about the injustices and humiliations they suffer overseas? And who is willing to stand up for them?
In the end, all we can do is swallow our pride and bear it.

Recalling what had happened during this period, Ye Zhao was overcome with grief and burst into tears, clutching his wife's skull.
"Wanhui, did you see that? Someone's come to our house, someone really has come."

Someone is standing up for us; we are no longer outcasts of China, we are no longer outcasts!

Wang Cheng felt extremely uncomfortable.

Merchants without the support of the imperial court are lambs to the slaughter overseas, at the mercy of others.

Many people, even after going overseas, still identify themselves as descendants of Chinese descent, preserve their original culture, and remain devoted to their country.

Unfortunately, without his variable, this story would never have reached a point where both sides were drawn together.

To outsiders they were lambs, but to the imperial power they were no different.
"That's not enough."

If we want to monopolize the violence in Southeast Asia and make every Dazhao person who leaves become a superior person in this sea, so that they can act as tentacles of emerging Chinese capital to seize the wealth of others overseas, our current strength is far from sufficient.

When Zheng He's fleet of seven exquisitely crafted ships sailed to the Western Ocean, all the nations looked at them with utmost clarity.

The Great Zhao has been absent from this sea area for far too long, so long that everyone has forgotten that the Celestial Empire's military might can still kill.

Perhaps, when we only have one Tiangong Treasure Ship, they will say we are a threat to regional security!

But when we have three of our magnificent ships, we will be the guardians of regional peace!
When we have six magnificent ships, we will become the cornerstone of peace and stability in the vast ocean!
When we have ten of these magnificent ships, we will become the primary force in maintaining world peace and stability!

This is the economics of the "Treasure Ship of Heavenly Craftsmanship"!

At this moment, not only Ye Zhao was overwhelmed with emotion, but all the surviving people in the mountains were also moved to tears as they looked at the large fleet at sea.

The residents of Manila naturally saw this fleet as well.

The woman who had followed behind the governor and his wife, nursing their pet dog, was also among them. Now she was holding a baby a few months old, clearly her own child.

Beside her, a little boy of no more than seven or eight years old clung tightly to her clothes, looking up cautiously to ask his mother:
“Mother, Father told us when he was alive that our ancestors followed Zheng Gong on a sea voyage, and were injured and stayed in Manila.”

If there's any chance of seeing a dragon flag, it means someone from my hometown has come.

Now that they're here, can we finally be human again?

Hearing her son's innocent question, a glimmer of light and a hint of hope finally appeared in the woman's eyes, which had been numb.

"Be a human being? Be a human being!"

In the valley, Wang Cheng waited until Ye Zhao had finished crying before saying:

"I am the Imperial Envoy and Commander-in-Chief. You and your daughter should come with me first. After we deal with these culprits, the Franks, we will arrange a place for you."

He snapped his fingers casually.

Snapped!
A heavy shadow appeared beneath their feet, and amidst the rippling water, they prepared to use the Wang boat as a transit point to send the father and daughter to the Danyang for Uncle Zhang to receive.

At the same time, with a wave of his hand, the [Underworld Heavenly Tablet] on the altar fell into Wang Cheng's hand.

A quick glance revealed it to be just an ordinary talisman, but it also contained the seemingly powerful but never-effective method of "delivering the Yin petition and burning the king's proclamation."

"The underworld practitioners believe that the lost underworld will return."
Tsk, this world is full of ghosts and evil spirits. Even if we cultivate to the limit, we are still just a bunch of ghosts and gods. In the end, we are still just evil beings.

If we follow this logic, and really talk about the living world and the dead, I think our world is more like the dead.

Wang Cheng jokingly told himself a dark joke.

He was about to hand the tablet back to Ye Zhao.

Suddenly, he felt a slight chill in his palm, and a wisp of energy from the Yin Si Chao Tian Shu suddenly fell into the coin hole of the [Si Hai Tong Bao].

A feeling similar to when I first used the Trinidad, the vessel used to carry the first piece of trash, to travel through time and crash into the rift in the cursed mountain and sea came over me again.

The last accident unexpectedly provided a ladder for that ledger, allowing both parties to communicate with each other through it.

This time, the ladder seemed to transform into a staircase, enhancing the communication between the two small worlds of money.

At this moment, Wang Cheng seemed to be able to vaguely see that the [Five Mountains Tongbao] on the other side was also a small world with a round heaven and a square earth, and he could also faintly hear the voices coming from the other side.

This was quite unexpected:

"This sorcerer's methods of warding off evil spirits seem completely unrelated to me, so what's going on?!"

At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the unidentified sobbing voice he had just heard in Qian Yan's eyes, which seemed to be exactly the same as Ye Zhao's!
(End of this chapter)