Chapter 1328

It was a warm and humid spring, and it had been raining for the past few days. The corpses had been displayed at the city gate for three days, and passersby all had to pinch their noses. Although it was satisfying, if they kept hanging there, they would start to leak fluids and spread disease. Quite a few commoners scrambled for that blood-stained banner, claiming they wanted to keep it as a memento, but it was eventually confiscated by the government runners.

The bandits, hated by everyone to the bone, had no right to a proper burial; the laborers simply threw them into the mass grave outside the city to feed the wild dogs.

The man in the gray hat subsequently went to the mass grave, braving the stench to examine the corpses.

Laymen watch the spectacle, but experts look for the technique. Judging by the bruises on their necks, the bandit chief and seven or eight others had indeed been hanged to death, while the others had been hanged only after death; none of them lacked wounds on their bodies.

Some were caused by blunt weapons, some by sharp ones, and a few had their arms and legs twisted off—it looked like it had been done by hand.

The bandits' opponents were indeed a full unit—well-trained, well-equipped, fierce in combat, and every one of them was a skilled hand.

After the examination, he rode his horse back.

After traveling nearly a hundred li, he hurried to a temple.

This temple was much more imposing and spacious than the small temples of Puyin and Shinan, and the statues inside were even gilded.

As soon as the man in the gray hat entered, the temple keeper came out and closed the doors and windows for him.

Subsequently, the man in the gray hat lit incense and candles, knelt before the statue, and whispered in prayer: "My God, a new force has appeared near Feng County. The bandits of Mount Dai were wiped out, and their corpses were hung for public display..."

Listen closely, and he recounted everything he had seen in Feng County.

The temple was very quiet, with only the low, murmuring voice of the man in the gray hat.

But when he mentioned the "dragon-head relief," with a soft *puff*, the candle flame on the altar moved on its own, and the man in the gray hat hurriedly kowtowed loudly.

When he finished speaking, everything returned to normal. Amidst the swirling smoke, the face of the statue looked exceptionally solemn.

￥￥￥￥￥

Before sunrise, on Tianxin Island in Lingxu City, at the Paiyun Hall.

This was the highest point of the Lingxiao Palace, and also the highest point in all of Lingxu City—except for the Star-Plucking Tower of the Tiangong.

When the Doyun Chief ascended the Paiyun Hall, he happened to encounter flowing clouds and mist passing through the hall, as if he were above the nine heavens.

There were only two eternal lamps and two attendants in the hall.

Directly in front was a massive pillar that five men could barely wrap their arms around, and a winding figure was coiled around it, motionless like a sculpture.

But its breathing was exceptionally long; every time it inhaled, a great wind would blow through the hall, sending white clouds into its mouth; every time it exhaled, thick white mist would seep from its nose and mouth—a spectacular sight.

The entire hall was shrouded in clouds and mist because of this.

This was called "swallowing clouds and spitting mist," a unique divine ability of the Emperor for gathering spiritual energy.

The Doyun Chief stopped his steps.

The scenery here was unique, offering a view over most of the lower Lingxu City and several other floating islands.

Whoever stood here would feel a sense of pride as if they were looking down upon the world.

Of course, the Doyun Chief was long accustomed to such sights; the Tiangong was even higher than Tianxin Island.

After a long while, a low voice came from the pillar, like rolling thunder:

"How does the Chief have time to come to Paiyun Hall?"

"Emperor." The Doyun Chief stepped forward, looking up at the green dragon on the pillar. "I carry a divine decree, here for the Yin Qi."

"Here for Yin Qi again?" The Demon Emperor snorted. "When I went to the Tiangong last time, I already told the Lingxu Saint that the war against the Mou Nation must be gradual and should not be rashly expanded! Yin Qi is insufficient, and we are already trying other ways elsewhere."

These insatiable gods actually said that the Yin Qi contributed by Beijia on the eastern front couldn't compare to the tiny Yuan Nation nearby!

Recently, the Emperor Flowing Pulp had been frequent, and in comparison, the Yin Qi absorbed by the Tianluo Star had decreased. As one rose, the other fell; the gods were very dissatisfied and kept urging Beijia to "take action."

Heh, they couldn't even manage the order of the divine realm themselves, yet they blamed the lower realm for not doing enough. The Demon Emperor was naturally unhappy.

The Doyun Chief asked, "The 'other places' you speak of, do you mean?"

"You know quite well, don't you?" The Demon Emperor said indifferently. "I even sent Qingyang to the Flash Gold Plains!"

"That is precisely the strange thing." The Doyun Chief pressed his palms together. "For the past three or four months, the Flash Gold Plains have remained in endless war, but in several major battles, the Tianluo Star has absorbed almost no Yin Qi."

The Demon Emperor was surprised: "No Yin Qi absorbed? Could there be too many Punishment Dragon Pillars nearby?"

"The Punishment Dragon Pillars can only intercept a small portion of Yin Qi; they cannot stop it on a large scale." The Doyun Chief said in a deep voice. "From the fall of the Bu Nation to the chaotic battles in the central and western Flash Gold Plains, the gods have repeatedly verified that those battles yielded almost nothing."

War means death, and death means Yin Qi, but the Tianluo Star had no corresponding gains.

Where did the Yin Qi go?

The Demon Emperor pondered: "Has this situation happened before?"

"Yes." The Doyun Chief said word by word. "Panlongcheng, the Yuan Nation!"

Once these three words were spoken, both sides fell silent.

The temperature in Paiyun Hall seemed to drop by several degrees suddenly.

"Panlongcheng?" The Demon Emperor chewed on this name that hadn't been mentioned in a long time.

This past was a thorn in the hearts of Beijia and the gods.

"In the final battles to wipe out the Yuan Nation and Panlongcheng, even though the fighting was clearly earth-shattering, the Tianluo Star didn't receive a single bit of Yin Qi." The Doyun Chief said in a deep voice. "History is repeating itself; this is not a good omen."

"Perhaps it's just a coincidence; the wars in Flash Gold were never intense, and the harvest was always small." The so-called "great wars" on the Flash Gold Plains were not worth mentioning in the Demon Emperor's eyes. The secret to the Yin Qi contribution there lay in the endless, countless small conflicts.

If a few battles occasionally failed to yield Yin Qi, the Demon Emperor couldn't be bothered to think about it.

But the gods took it very seriously.

This also reflected from the side that the divine realm's demand for Yin Qi had reached a fever pitch, to the point where they were haggling over meat as small as a mosquito's leg.

Just as the Demon Emperor was calculating in his heart, the Doyun Chief said: "The Miaozhan God insists."

He brought out the decree of the True God, and the Demon Emperor exhaled, making the clouds and mist in the hall even thicker.

"Do the gods think that the lack of Yin Qi in the Flash Gold Plains is related to the Great Fanghu again?"

"It is worth investigating."

The Demon Emperor remained silent.

The stolen lid of the Great Fanghu, the burned-down Star-Plucking Tower, the betrayal of the Tiangong by Chuju, and the huge losses suffered by Lingxu City that night.

Connecting these events together was truly not a pleasant memory.

The most ridiculous thing was that the true culprit had still not been brought to justice.

"There is one more thing." The Doyun Chief added. "According to the prayers of the gods' believers, dragon-head totems have appeared in several places in the Flash Gold Plains, but they only lasted for two or three days before disappearing."

"Dragon-head totems?" The Demon Emperor lowered its giant head; these words finally caught its attention! It was a dragon itself and was particularly sensitive to this term. "What happened there?"

"There were small-scale battles in all of them, a black cavalry appeared, and then dragon-head totems would appear on the walls of the area."

(End of Chapter)