Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

Chapter 97 uses the "Ghost Festival Strategy" to destroy the Earth God.

In the dreamlike marshland, the child-like Shao Siming held a jade chime, a hint of sorrow flashing across her usually cold face, but then her eyes shifted—

A reflection of the sun.

A reflection of the large moon.

That emotion vanished!

Without a word, she gently tapped the jade ornament.

Boom!

The clear, melodious sound echoed through the empty palace of the God of Fate, as if sighing on her behalf.

She said coldly, "Only a god with feelings can assume the position of Lesser Master of Fate—the emotionless are like the sun and moon, high above—but those with feelings—must possess all seven emotions and six desires, and only humans are born with all seven emotions and six desires—innate gods are born with only one emotion or desire—therefore, if one is tainted by the poison of the seven emotions and six desires, having even one more emotion or desire will bring a calamity; if one survives, one lives; otherwise, one dies—"

"she----"

"The eyes are born with a natural desire to see, and they constantly observe the world."

"Yet, because of his desires, he developed a sense of compassion for the world."

"Difficulty————"

"How could someone as rational as her not know her own death?"

"But why would someone as rational as her fall in love with someone else? As a result, she faced one tribulation after another, ultimately leading her down this path."

"—Zhaoyang Jun."

"Thump!" Suddenly, a sound of someone staggering and fleeing came from outside the Divine Palace of Fate.

The "Young Master of Fate" in the hall slowly shook his head.

A pang of guilt rose in her heart, but it was quickly erased by the brilliance in her eyes. She could only say coldly, "—The Great Master of Fate."

o

"Born with the deepest affection for one's family."

"But how did taboos arise?"

"—Is fate the only thing that cannot be determined?"

Quan Ming returned to the Water Mansion and paid special attention to Yun Zhongjun's assertion that Shao Siming was about to ascend to the sixth level of the Dao Heaven. Especially given Shao Siming's unusual behavior and her scheming against him, he had to be careful.

Is Shao Siming perhaps an even more troublesome enemy than Tu Bo?

He doesn't yet know how to draw a conclusion.

After much deliberation, he decided to first make sure that Tu Bo was on guard against Shao Siming. Once Tu Bo was dealt with, even if Da Siming collapsed, it would not affect him. He could then retrieve the cloud and avoid being corrupted by the seven emotions and six desires.

Of course, he hoped that he could rely on his own will to overcome the tribulations of the seven emotions and six desires.

"herring?"

"—My Lord."

Inside the sleeping quarters, with the left chamber and right hall, Quan Ming had barely entered when Qingyu brought in the meal.

Wasn't this all done by the woman with the power before?

Quan Ming knelt silently at the table, watching Qingyu, whose face was gloomy, whose breath was filled with ink spots, and whose body was shrouded in black ink, as she placed the food on the table.

Then he asked, "Qingyu, when you delivered the letter to Shao Siming that day, did you notice anything different about her?"

The bluefish seemed to be pondering when it heard the sound.

He quickly said, "That day, we arrived at Mengze at night—there seemed to be a difference, hmm—in the past, when Shao Siming was in the Divine Palace, she always used the pregnancy to observe the world through the eyes of a pregnant woman, but that day when I went there, I saw Shao Siming gazing at the starry sky, holding an ancient book in her hand—I haven't read much, but now, recalling it, I only vaguely remember the four words 'Cloud Dream Celestial God.'"

"The Celestial God of Yunmeng?"

Quan Ming sounds familiar.

Just as I was recalling this, I heard Qingyu say, "Qingyu comes from Mengze. There is a legend in Mengze that says that before the State of Chu, the Yunmeng Great Marsh was ruled by the Yunmeng Heavenly God. At that time, the waters of the marsh were vast, and the great river was hidden within it. Later, the State of Chu worked hard and relocated people to the banks of the Yunmeng Great Marsh. After that, the State of Chu became increasingly powerful and, with the help of its ancestor Zhurong, killed the Yunmeng Heavenly God. As a result, the waters of the marsh began to recede, and the great river emerged, dividing the boundary between Yunze and Mengze."

Ah!

Quan Ming let out a soft "hmm" upon hearing this.

Could this strange occurrence in Yunmeng be related to the Heavenly God of Yunmeng?

But why didn't Dao Tianyan inform all the immortals and gods of such important news?

Yun Zhongjun did not speak to him either.

—That's true, he stayed in Zhaoshui, so he didn't need to know about this past event.

"But I think I heard Red Ball mutter something like that."

"Speaking of which, he hasn't explained the matter of that Land of Death to me clearly yet. Let him come over."

Quan Ming has been busy these past few days. After the banquet that day, he only asked his nephew to find the ancient immortals and gods on the broken jade map that Hongqiu had given him. The rest of his time was spent researching the construction of the Zhaoyangjun Shrine and inquiring about the strange events in Yunmeng in preparation for the Daotian Assembly. He did not get to the bottom of Hongqiu's entry into the Daowang Land for a while.

And the kid didn't bother to explain to him.

Now that he has come down from the Dao Tian Gathering, he can take some time to study it properly.

However, that kid needs to suffer a bit to learn his lesson.

On one side, Qingyu, who had received Quanming's order, said "Yes."

Before leaving, he secretly glanced at the barely perceptible teasing look on Quan Ming's face.

A hint of helplessness flashed in her eyes, but she also relaxed a little. Quan Ming had just returned, and his mood was so low that it was really worrying.

Now, only the red ball suffers.

Soon, Qingyu left the bedchamber.

Quan Ming looked at the exquisite dishes on the table but had no appetite. He picked up his wine glass and, while drinking, pondered the current situation and how to take advantage of the situation to gain the upper hand and achieve a crushing victory.

"If the Yong Kingdom attacks, could we use them as a means to achieve our goal?"

"Tu Bo's divine palace is in Youdu, or rather, the entire Youdu. Therefore, it is necessary to destroy Youdu in order to completely annihilate him. As for possession, Mo Shou is probably not capable of that at the moment."

"And—countless souls reside in the Netherworld."

"Once destroyed, it would mean the slaughter of all the dead—a violation of the natural order."

"Dao Tian's anger is secondary; the key issue is that with all the souls of the dead destroyed, it's impossible to condense new species from them. The Chu region will likely find it difficult to nurture life again, and that's the real problem—this goes against humanity."

Quan Ming murmured.

These words can only be heard by myself.

"I remember—"

"On the fifteenth of the seventh month, I offered myself up at the bottom of the Quan River."

"————July 15th————Ghost Festival————Why not follow the example of the Ghost Festival in later generations, open the gates of hell, and let the souls of the dead in the underworld receive sacrifices from the mortals, thus summoning them back————At that time, the underworld will be empty, so there will be no need to destroy it, which will be the best time to strike at the Earth God————"

As long as the Earth God is slain on this day, when the souls of the dead return, it will simply be under a different master—as long as the Netherworld is destroyed, their peace will not be affected.

"But the concept of the Zhongyuan Festival does not yet exist in this world."

"Moreover, no temple is left unoffered, and ordinary Chinese people do not erect tombstones at their graves, nor do they build temples in their homes."

Even if they secretly held private sacrifices, they could only do so behind closed doors, not daring to do it openly—and with the gates tightly shut, there was no temple in the house, and no tombstone on the grave—

"Without the necessary ritual implements, how can one summon the soul?"

"Unless the King of Chu extends courtesy to commoners and allows ordinary citizens to build private temples, it will be difficult!"

"Summoning the spirit requires sacrificial offerings!"

Quan Ming's eyes flickered.

In fact, if one only asks the people of the right, that is, the people of Zhaodi Kingdom today, to hold a family sacrifice on the fifteenth of the seventh month, it is very simple, because the Zhaoyangjun Temple will have been built by then, and the King of Chu has already allowed the sacrifice to him—at that time, he will bring more than 10,000 ghost soldiers, so the sacrifice to him is the sacrifice to one's own deceased family members.

However, the souls of the dead in the Zhaoshui region are already under his control and belong to the Corpse Domain, so there is no need for this action.

However, this move could serve as a clear example, inspiring envy among the people of Chu in other parts of the state, and eventually bringing the King of Chu to his attention.

If the people of Yizhao can do this, why can't they use this argument to gain influence?

At a time when the State of Chu urgently needed to recruit soldiers to compete with the State of Yangyue for control of the Yunmeng Marshland, how could the King of Chu let go of this opportunity to win the hearts of the people and have the whole country submit?

Countless lives were lost in the war.

If the people of Chu could be allowed to hold family rites for their relatives, the entire nation would be even more courageous and fierce!

"It seems we need to plan the Zhaodi sacrifice a few months in advance, so that the people of Chu will know that the people of Zhaodi can take advantage of me to offer sacrifices to the souls of their relatives on the fifteenth of the seventh month."

"Only in this way can we gain the upper hand and force the King of Chu to submit."

"—Well, as for the Ghost Gate—it must be at least a Dao artifact to hold so many souls, and not just any ordinary Dao artifact. I'll ask Lord Yunzhong about this later. I've already arranged to meet him tomorrow, so it won't be too much trouble."