Mythology Returns! Starting with Folklore and Strange Tales

Chapter 134 Arrival at Zhengding Prefecture

"What?!"

The prefect, sitting in his rocking chair, was startled and tried to sit up, but instead of getting up, he was pulled down onto the ground with the chair. The maid he had been harassing, ignoring her own pain, quickly helped him up with the others. But as soon as he stood up, she slapped her across the face: "A bunch of clueless idiots! You managed to make the master fall over with so many people around! When you get back, I'll sell you all and replace you with a new batch!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked one of the maids in the chest, knocking her down.

The other maids, ignoring their companion's pale face and blood trickling from her mouth, hurriedly knelt in a circle and kowtowed repeatedly: "Master, we..."

"Get out of the way!"

Half anger, half panic from not knowing what was going on, the prefect's lewd face seemed to be losing its composure. Illusory snake scales grew on both sides of his neck, and sharp teeth were revealed in his roaring mouth. His terrifying appearance made the maids tremble and dare not speak again.

I don't have time to waste on these good-for-nothings.

The prefect glanced briefly at his advisor and hurriedly led the bailiffs who had gotten up toward the main hall of the yamen. But after taking only a few steps, just as they stepped out of the back hall and reached the courtyard that separated the inner and outer areas, several blood-red arrows flew across the courtyard and landed inside the yamen.

"boom!"

At the critical moment, the snake scales on the prefect's face turned solid, and a dark golden light emanated from his bulging chest, blocking the aftershocks of the explosion. However, his clerk and constables beside him did not have such methods.

In the blink of an eye, the terrified constable was riddled with holes by the spray of blood.

The spurting blood exploded in the air, creating sprays of crimson, and the constable collapsed limply after a spasm.

But the prefect, who had no longer concealed his true form, saw the real terror emanating from this dying yamen runner.

The blood mist from the previous explosion did not dissipate. Instead, it took advantage of the force of piercing the constable's body to invade his body. The blood mist flowed freely, and in the process, the fine mist that was originally hidden under the skin and flesh became thicker at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In contrast, the yamen runners quickly withered and became nothing but skin and bones.

The situation on the other side of the dog-headed advisor was much the same, except that it had dragged on for a longer time and he had suffered more pain.

Witnessing the blood-soaked streaks of blood that flew from the skulls of his two subordinates, drained of their flesh, and carried away along the path they had come from, the snakehead prefect's face darkened and became grave: "Such a powerful method of nurturing evil spirits. How long has he been cultivating this technique, and how many lives has he slaughtered?"

"Aside from those Manchus, sir, I haven't heard of any other killings without a known cause. So where did this person come from? And why was my Zhengding Prefecture chosen?"

As the prefect frowned and muttered to himself, he didn't forget to quickly go to the front hall to check on the situation outside the yamen.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The prefect quickly arrived at the main gate of the yamen, but what he saw before him still exceeded his expectations.

In Zhengding Prefecture, about half of the sky was covered by a thin red canopy. A fierce wind... no, it was a rain of arrows. Thousands upon thousands of arrows fell from the sky, seemingly gathering purposefully in several areas where Manchus lived in densely populated areas of Zhengding Prefecture. After the arrows fell, the deafening explosions and faint cries of agony were so piercing.

But none of this compares to the malevolent energy that had drained human bodies and grown fat, which swayed and returned to the sky, stretching the already terrifying sky even larger, and causing the number of arrows falling to become even more terrifying!

At this moment, the prefect's last hope completely vanished. He took out his official seal from his bosom and held it high. With the prefectural authority granted to him by the Later Jin dynasty, he mobilized the earth's energy and the human energy of Zhengding Prefecture to protect and dispel the dense barrage of blood arrows that had been shooting at him since he first appeared.

A murky light, like that of a dried-up waterway, emanated from the official seal in the prefect's hand. Immediately afterwards, dim yellow light shone from all directions within the city of Zhengding, as if an embroiderer were weaving brocade, strands and layers connecting and combining above the city until forming an inverted bowl-shaped light curtain that isolated the entire city of Zhengding from the blood-red sky.

The barrage of blood arrows landed on it, making the light barrier uneven and creating ripples, but in any case, it ultimately blocked the deadly blood arrows.

Seeing this, the prefect breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the sparse crowds on the prefectural road above him, wondering how much longer it could hold out: "I have to inform the Wolf Garrison Commander. Only he has the direct access to the Governor-General's signal tower. Without the help of the prefectural government, Zhengding Prefecture will be breached sooner or later, and then my head will be taken away too. How hateful!"

It's regrettable that he was merely a Han official, not a proper Manchu scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. Otherwise, even if the city fell, he would only have to submit a couple of memorials of apology and have some of his property confiscated to be forgiven. But a Han official...

With a sense of unease in his heart, the prefect hurriedly left the yamen.

Meanwhile, in every corner of Zhengding Prefecture, in every restaurant and shop, unlike the local natives who were celebrating their victory and even weeping, some people, although dressed in standard Later Jin folk clothing, exuded a temperament that was vastly different from that of the Later Jin people.

arrogant.

hatred.

Many even expressed a sense of pity for their misfortune and anger at their lack of resistance.

Here, on the second floor of a restaurant called Xiangheju, next to a broken window, a group of people sat around a table, scanning their surroundings through a screen that was mostly destroyed.

After a long while, I turned my gaze away from the mummified corpses that were lying or sprawled on the ground.

One of the men, who appeared to be a scholar, spoke up: "An entire prefecture was almost captured. Even if it's not recorded in official history, it should be mentioned in unofficial histories, right? But we know so much about the history of the Jin Dynasty, and we've never heard of any large-scale rebellion in northern Jin after the Guangxu Emperor's reign."

"What historical records are you familiar with? Are you sure you've read all those unofficial accounts? As for the official history... the history of the Later Jin dynasty hasn't been compiled yet, has it?"

"Revise? What revision? Would the Later Jin dare to revise their history books? They're already being attacked a lot. If they really did, Japan's status in the modern world would probably be second. Ha, other eras, even if they're only briefly mentioned, at least have a reference point, but the Later Jin..."

"Alright, don't say anything that's detrimental to family reunion."

Just as the group sitting around the table were starting to act inappropriately due to the alcohol, and their conversation was becoming increasingly frightening, one of them quickly spoke up to stop them: "Regardless of whether there are any records or not, let's see what happens next before making a decision!"

"I always felt that this wasn't something a local would do, but if it were for patrolling the road, they might have the capability, but with dashcams watching, who would risk such a vengeful act?"

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