Gao Wu Da Qin: You don't want your secret to be known, do you?

Chapter 165: A Gathering of Villains, The Curtain Rises

You may try to plant flowers with care, but they may not bloom; you may plant willows without intention, and they may thrive. ☞💔 ☠🌷

Qin Feng publicly revealed the secret passage in Qiaoshan, allowing interaction between the mortal realm and the underworld. Although it was for his own convenience, it caused a huge uproar among the people.

This sparked an "arms race" of filial piety.

Yes, filial piety here is no longer an act of remembrance, but an extremely inhumane and inefficient arms race.

The act of filial piety is a sham; during festivals, people burn paper oxen and horses, paper villas, and paper carriages for their ancestors.

The true essence of filial piety is to send real gold and silver, real swords and guns, mechs and banknotes, and servants and guards to one's ancestors through Qiaoshan.

What? You're saying that souls can't be bought with real gold and silver?

That's not our concern. What we need to concern ourselves with is fulfilling our filial duties and ensuring that our ancestors can see our family's progress from the afterlife, so that our peers won't laugh at us for not knowing how to be filial.

Thus, the act of filial piety evolved from a public service to a competitive, competitive one.

Anything that becomes involutionary will eventually enter a heated, uncontrollable, and frenzied phase.

You send silver to your ancestors, I'll send gold to my ancestors!

You give me a VIP membership card for the brothels of the Great Qin Dynasty, and I'll give you a platinum consumption card for the music and dance halls of the Seven Kingdoms!

You burn a mecha for your ancestors, I'll burn a spaceship for mine!

You burned a son for your ancestors! Fine! I'll burn all seven of my sons and thirteen adopted sons to keep my ancestors company!

Try to outdo me in filial piety? I'll show you what it truly means to be filial to the very end! To reach the pinnacle of filial piety!

Suddenly, countless people began to frantically fulfill their filial duties. Throughout the seven kingdoms, along the main roads, funeral arrangements were everywhere. Funeral experts, who were usually taboo, became highly sought after, stepping onto the scene to do business, telling people what could be sent and what couldn't, whether taxes needed to be declared, how to contact ancestors, how to achieve painless astral projection, and so on. It was truly a case of demand creating supply, and supply creating market!

At such times, any family with a bit of prestige will send important family disciples to visit their ancestors in the underworld.

Just like a phrase that Qin Feng, the president of the foundation, often says.

The world has never lacked filial sons, nor has it ever lacked people who are filial; what it lacks is a path to filial piety.

I have provided everyone with such a path, and everyone will remember me.

What? Qin Feng didn't say that!

That's alright, Chairman Qin is a name that everyone hates, much like a modern-day Lu Xun.

Anyone can bring it up for a bit of fun, after all, the strategists are such a powerful group, whatever they say seems reasonable.

The banks of the Wuding River have never been so lively.

Groups of living people, through sacrificial rituals, passed through the secret realm of Qiaoshan and arrived at the banks of the Wuding River.

Fortunately, the staff at Tiewei Mountain had already cleaned the houses around the river and were ready to receive the many travelers from the mortal world.

For Tieweishan, filial piety is something we've never been interested in. Having guarded the Wuding River for so many years, our hearts are as cold and ruthless as the stones in the river. Life and death grudges are nothing but fleeting clouds...

Wait! You said you'd give me gold?

Actually, it's not that this is impossible, but of course, don't misunderstand, we're not greedy.

To be precise, gold is not just a simple metal. It is a super metal that is born after a supernova explosion, a dazzling brilliance that erupts when two neutron stars collide. Although we are in a soul state, this still cannot affect our yearning for the starry sky above us and our longing for the deep universe!

Come on, my friend, I can feel your filial piety. Giving me money is giving me your trust. Your ancestors will soon be able to meet you. We offer top-notch service with pick-up and drop-off.

"Reporting to the Mountain Lord, the Iron Mountain's national treasury has recently exploded! Our income in the last five days exceeds our income over the past five hundred years!"

"Mountain Lord, you can't imagine how wealthy these visitors from the mortal realm are! A cup of ordinary Yellow Spring water, and they directly gave us pearls and agates of equal value! If this trend continues, the strength of our Iron Enclosure Mountain might soon surpass Kunwu Mountain and rival the City of the Wrongfully Dead!"

"Lord of the Mountain, recently the brothers have even called out all the retired ghost messengers to keep watch. There are just too many people, and almost all of them are rich. If these guests are in a bad mood, they'll throw money in their faces. Compared to when we were fishing on the Wuding River and making a living, it's so much easier to take people sightseeing now!"

Reports came one after another to the mountain lord's ears.

The mountain lord, dressed in a long, flowing black gauze dress and wearing a black veil, couldn't hide her joy beneath her crimson brows.

There was no other reason than that before the mountain lord lay a mountain of gold, silver, and agate treasures as tall as a mountain itself.

Ordinary souls naturally cannot obtain physical items such as gold and silver.

But for the old ghost, these items from the mortal world felt the same in his hands as they did in the hands of the living.

Becoming an old ghost is a natural process; spending thirty to fifty years in the underworld will naturally lead to becoming an old ghost.

Just like the girls in the mortal world, the lord of the underworld is always fond of anything that is shiny and glowing.

As the mountain lord gently wiped the treasures with her jade-like hands, she was filled with excitement, but at the same time, she lamented that she had lived too poorly and shabbily in the past.

If I had any money, I, Tieweishan, wouldn't be here guarding the gates of the underworld!

Your Majesty's legs! Back when the positions were assigned between the city and the mountains, it was because Iron Enclosure Mountain was poor that I was put in this position as a gatekeeper. Today, I, a mere gatekeeper woman, have risen up!

Lord of the City of the Wrongfully Dead!

The master of Kunwu Mountain!

You two bastards who persecuted your great-aunt back then, I'll make you regret it!

And the Three Palaces and the Ten Great Offices—you thirteen bastards who love to watch the show, none of you will escape! I'm going to settle accounts with you one by one!

Even if it means waging a war in the underworld!

I'm going to vent this anger!

Just then, a personal maid in a long silver dress appeared from behind, like a wisp of smoke, and said, "Reporting to the Mountain Lord, there is an emergency."

The mountain lord, having somewhat curbed his fervor, toyed with an emerald ruyi scepter in his jade-like hand, and said dismissively, "What's the matter? Is it that the mountain lord of Kunwu Mountain and the city lord of the City of the Dead are getting restless and want me to allocate some of their visitor traffic?"

"What are you thinking about!"

"The Wuding River falls within the sphere of influence of the Iron Enclosure Mountain!"

"Then all the distinguished guests from the mortal realm who come here must stay here, and they won't get a single penny!"

The maidservant cautiously replied, "Reporting to the Mountain Lord, this matter has nothing to do with Kunwu Mountain or the City of the Wrongfully Dead, but it has to do with Qin Feng."

The mountain lord glanced at the maid, "Qin Feng? Wasn't he fighting with Zhang Zhi'en in the imperial prison? What could possibly happen to him?"

The maid said, "Yesterday, the No. 17 Mansion on the Wuding River received a mysterious tour group from the mortal realm. According to our intelligence personnel, there were sixteen people in total, and each of them had an aura similar to that of a Lord of Hell, just like Qin Feng. It is suspected that the Lords of the Underworld have descended upon the Underworld as a group."

The mountain lord was stunned for a moment. "All sixteen lords of hell have come? Are you sure?"

The maid said, "It's certain. Each of them has the same aura as Qin Feng, an aura that is perfectly integrated with the underworld."

The mountain lord frowned, his slender, fiery eyebrows seeming to ignite, and said anxiously, "As expected, not a single ounce of gold is easy to obtain. I have to go and serve these sixteen grandfathers..."

The maid whispered, "Lord of the Mountain, let's just forget about it!"

The mountain lord glanced at the maid, "What do you mean?"

The maid muttered, "These guys are incredibly rude. The one in the lead, Wang Xu, nicknamed 'Sword Immortal of Wine,' is especially foul-mouthed, cursing and saying that Qin Feng is a jerk, that the first thing he did upon arriving in the Underworld was to seduce the Lord of Iron Enclosure Mountain. He even said that you're Qin Feng's girlfriend and that you're having an affair with him..."

"Bullshit!" The mountain lord was furious, his anger barely contained. "Even the future lord of hell can't speak so recklessly! I'm going to find them and give them a piece of my mind!"

The maid hurriedly chased after him, saying, "Mountain Lord, the more you explain these things, the more confused you become. The more you clarify, the less clear things are. Why bother? Besides, I don't think you'll lose out this time! You possess the soul of a myriad of venerable beings, and Qin Feng the spirit of the Prison Lord. In the words of the Underworld, that's a perfect match, a good union of equals. Why lose these benefits because of the gossip of some fellows!"

"You should know that the reason why these visitors from the mortal world are willing to spend so much money in our Iron Mountain is largely because they believe the rumor that Qin Feng and the Mountain Lord are one family. They think that Iron Mountain and the Foundation have already joined forces and are half of the mortal world's territory, so they are not afraid that we will go back on our word. That's why they are investing so much in us."

"If you were to try to clarify things now, even if you managed to clarify things clearly, just by opening your mouth, you would disrupt the current development, and the Mountain Lord would lose his chance to redeem himself!"

The mountain lord turned back, looking at the slender maid with a hint of pity. "But I don't like men. I like you!"

The maid said, "To be favored by the Mountain Lord is a blessing I could never have asked for in three lifetimes. However, I must maintain my ambiguous relationship with Qin Feng, as this is beneficial to the Mountain Lord."

After pondering for a moment, the mountain lord said, "Make a note of Wang Xu's debts. Once Zhang Zhi'en's lawsuit is over, I'll settle accounts with them all at once!"

The maid nodded obediently.

The mountain lord domineeringly grabbed the maid and headed towards the back hall.

At this very moment, in a secluded courtyard.

"Achoo!"

"Achoo!"

"Who's insulting me!"

A pale-faced, exhausted, and kidney-deficient teenager looked up blankly at the sky, muttering, "I'm already dead, and people are still cursing me. Do they have such a deep grudge?"

Wang Xu was in a very bad mood.

Wang Xu was in Xianyang City, chatting happily with his courtesan sister under the starry sky.

Suddenly, his father found him and said he wanted to fulfill his filial duty to the ancestors.

Wang Xu said, "Just do your filial duty, burn paper money when you should, why are you coming to me?"

The old man recited, "This year, I won't burn paper money, I'll burn you!"

Wang Xu was stunned. He immediately spiraled upwards into the sky. "Dad, are you all crazy? Burning me? Is this how filial piety is done these days? Are you directly restoring the human sacrifices of the Xia Dynasty?"

Such behavior is a step backward in history!

Then Wang Xu's father said to Wang Xu, "The Meng family next door, Meng Tian, ​​burned a younger brother named Meng Yi. Our family can't be worse than theirs. Anyway, you are said to be one of the eighteen lords of hell. Sooner or later you will also go to the underworld. Why not burn one of you?"

Wang Xu was extremely annoyed by his father's explanation. This rumor that I am the Lord of Hell was absolutely baseless! How could you believe it!

This must be an excuse that Qin Feng, that bastard, made up to drag people down with him.

But my father said that the rumor was not spread by Qin Feng, but by Lord Zilu.

Then, despite Wang Xu's strong opposition, his older brother prepared a set of clothes for him, his father arranged for a funeral expert to handle the funeral arrangements, and after a series of ascension procedures, he arrived here.

Arriving here is bad enough, but to make matters worse, I ran into a bunch of bastards.

First up are Zilu and his old friends from Jinghong, along with the other nine finalists besides Qin Feng!

Besides these nine guys, there were six masked men and one thief.

At that moment, Wang Xu felt a whistling wind overhead. Looking up, he saw a magnificent white figure descending from the sky, graceful as a white phoenix, seemingly unable to contain himself.

Bai Feng landed in front of Wang Xu, dressed in a white feathered robe, exuding an indescribable sense of ease and giving Wang Xu a feeling of déjà vu of Qin Feng.

Wang Xu said, "To be honest, your back view is exactly the same as Qin Feng's. I almost couldn't resist attacking you."

"Hehe!" Bai Feng laughed, "Really?"

Wang Xu sniffed. "You're almost two hundred years old, and you dress so flamboyantly every day. Is that really appropriate? Even I, a nineteen-year-old, wouldn't dare to dress so flamboyantly, for fear of getting beaten up! Don't you really care at all?"

"Why care so much!" Bai Feng's voice was gentle and calm. "I'm just going through the motions in the Underworld. Their opinions are none of my business."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xu chuckled. "What do you mean? You want to slack off? Please, I'll slack off first, okay! My persona—a lecherous old man with no ambition and nothing but women on his mind—is perfect for slacking off, but you're the ace of Quicksand. Bro, your persona won't work for slacking off! And nobody will believe you'd slack off!"

Bai Feng said, "Yes, that's why I came here to find you and ask you how to quit and not get involved in this mess."

Wang Xu said helplessly, "If you want me to teach you how to pick up girls, I can pass on my Eighteen Sword Immortal Techniques to you! But if you ask me how to slack off, to be honest, slack off is a talent, it can't be learned! Instead of teaching you how to slack off, I'd rather teach you how to choose sides."

Bai Feng asked, "How do we choose sides?"

Wang Xu turned around and looked at the luxurious villa of Qingming Tianxia behind him. "Don't be fooled by our large numbers. We're all doing our own thing. Some of us are even pursuing more than one scheme."

"Let's first talk about what the higher-ups are telling us now."

"As Lord Zilu said, the higher-ups are celestial beings. They want us to resolve Zhang Zhi'en's case gently and kill him peacefully. They absolutely do not allow this guy to live, because his life would greatly threaten the peace of the underworld."

"After all, a living, seven-generation noble is like a walking nuclear bomb, ready to explode at any moment!"

"The fundamental purpose of the Celestial Beings is this: we must carry out the mission according to the leader's instructions."

"At this point, a disagreement arose: how to resolve Zhang Zhi'en's case smoothly? One opinion was to cooperate with Qin Feng and let him handle it! The other was to tie Qin Feng and Zhang Zhi'en together and eliminate them!"

"The crux of this disagreement lies in our attitudes towards Qin Feng!"

"Without a doubt, all nine experts are inclined to cooperate with Qin Feng, hoping he will dismantle Zhang Zhi'en, this nuclear bomb!"

"Those masked men, without a doubt, wanted to kill Qin Feng and Zhang Zhi'en together! They were Zhou Tianzi's men!"

"So, you know where you're standing now."

Bai Feng looked at Wang Xu and said, "I've always been curious, how are you so sure that Qin Feng can dismantle Zhang Zhi'en, this nuclear bomb?"

Wang Xu pointed to his head, "Intuition! I've spent a lot of time with him, and I feel he can do it, it's that simple! There's no reason."

Bai Feng nodded. "I've been an assassin for many years. In my opinion, killing is just an extension of interests. Zhang's case is the same. Behind it lies the struggle for control of the underworld among the seven kingdoms, the Zhou emperor, the celestial beings, and the various schools of thought."

"Those masked fellows are undoubtedly representatives of the Zhou emperor's interests."

"And we ten people represent the interests of the seven countries."

"Our alliance with the Zhou emperor represents the interests of both Heaven and humanity."

"Only Qin Feng represents the interests of the various schools of thought."

Wang Xu interrupted Bai Feng, "Wrong! You're wrong. Qin Feng never represents the interests of the Hundred Schools of Thought; he only represents his own interests! To extend that further, he only represents the interests of the Foundation! This interest group may include the Hundred Schools of Thought, but it may also include the Qin Dynasty, the Seven Kingdoms, and even the local forces of the Underworld!"

Bai Feng asked, "If it's just one person's interest, does he have any allies?"

Wang Xu thought for a moment, "He might be able to use the native forces of the Underworld, but not many. At most, it would be Iron Enclosure Mountain. It's said that he's already slept with the mountain lord!"

"As for our other allies in the mortal realm, Master will not be able to come this time! The Foundation, the Jiuli Clan, and the Hongmeng Abyss are also unable to come to our aid."

"He probably has no allies."

Bai Feng said, "There is one, the 16th Jinghong Champion! Baili Changqing!"

Wang Xu laughed. "That mentally ill novelist! Didn't his pen break?"

Bai Feng said, "I heard that Qin Feng has been busy looking for a pen for him recently, so he should recover soon."

Wang Xu shook his head. "Impossible. That pen is hard to find. If it were, he wouldn't be staying in a mental hospital."

Bai Feng continued, "Actually, I admire you. You dare to say anything with that mouth of yours, even the dirty jokes about Qin Feng and the Mountain Lord. But people like you have such low moral standards that even if Qin Feng and the Mountain Lord hear it, they won't do anything to you. Unlike me, I have to think for a long time before I say anything, afraid of saying the wrong thing and bringing disaster upon myself."

Wang Xu said smugly, "If you could be as self-disciplined as me, you'd have no trouble becoming someone like me."

Bai Feng asked, "Is it like you, disappearing after soliciting prostitutes?"

Wang Xu said, "Was that prostitution? I was studying the excellent legacy left by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic. Do you even understand the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic? Forget it, why bother getting angry with an outsider like you!"

(End of this chapter)

Please take a moment to share this website on Facebook so we can continue operating.