Chapter 96: Demon Tide – 62K Subscription Appeal

The capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Haogong, and the Taiwei Palace.

"Great King! Great King!!"

The playful banter between men and women stopped instantly, followed by a scolding full of extreme displeasure:

"Beast!! Mixed‑blood!! What are you called!!!"

The reigning Zhou emperor Ji Gongsheng glared angrily at the trembling close attendant crouched before him, drew a precious sword from the sword platform, and struck the attendant's head with it.

With a single blow, the attendant's skull split open at the middle, brain and blood spilling onto the ground.

"Humph." Ji Gongsheng sheathed his sword, pulled the woman behind him forward, and pressed her beneath him.

After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and let out a series of satisfied sighs.

At that moment, footsteps sounded, and a figure entered Ji Gongsheng's chamber, kneeling again.

The smell of blood spread throughout the emperor's bedroom, yet neither Ji Gongsheng, nor the woman beneath him, nor the man kneeling a short distance ahead, cared at all.

"Great King."

The man said softly.

At this point, Ji Gongsheng, a look of enjoyment on his face, opened his eyes and glared unhappily at the man lying on the ground ahead, saying:

"Speak, what is it?"

"A demonic calamity has broken out in Southern Province; a spacecraft was shot down above He Dong Xian in Southern Province, and within the city the Demon‑Subduing Army captured several rogue cultivators attempting to spread the calamity."

"The city's Demon‑Subduing Army requests Haogong to immediately dispatch troops from the Central Plains to station in Southern Province, to suppress the impending riot and prevent the land from being drenched in blood, lest the entire Southern Province turn into a demonic realm."

Having heard the man's report, Ji Gongsheng

"Humph!" Ji Gongsheng snarled, his lower body convulsing a few times; after a tremor that ran from head to toe, he finally looked at the man on the ground:

"They want to rebel? Then let them rebel. The people of Yin Land are already numerous, and they refuse imperial rule; they should have been killed long ago."

"Let them rebel! When the royal army re‑enters Southern Province, we will slaughter those wretches completely!!"

"Furthermore," the Zhou emperor added, "what does the Southern Province calamity have to do with me?"

He waved his hand: "Send me the nation‑shaking chariots and bring me the most beautiful women in the world!"

"All the fine wine of the world shall be drunk by me; all the delicacies of the world shall be enjoyed by me; all the beauties of the world shall be mine!!"

The man on the ground jerked his head up, meeting the gaze of the Zhou emperor before him.

"What?" Ji Gongsheng asked the man, then as if recalling something, added, "Ah right, I remember the Si Tu family of Southern Province; there is said to be a peerless beauty named Si Tu Jin?"

The man lowered his head again, awaiting Ji Gongsheng's command.

"After the spring of next year, bring her to me," Ji Gongsheng said, pushing the woman aside; she immediately knelt greedily, licking the fresh blood on the ground.

"I've feasted on countless stunning demons, but this peerless beauty... heh heh," he laughed, "I haven't yet seen many like her..."

"Yes, Great King."

The man bowed deeply, then rose, arching his back as he retreated out of the palace.

After the man left, Ji Gongsheng turned his head, looking at the woman greedily sipping blood—precisely, a female demon. A scornful glint flashed in his eyes, then he shook his hand.

Immediately, several beautiful female guards, scantily clad and wielding long axes, stepped forward.

"I'm a bit hungry," Ji Gongsheng said, looking at the female demon.

"Yes," the female guards replied respectfully, then moved behind the female demon, seized her, and dragged her away.

The corpse on the ground was quickly attended to, and after a short time the floor was spotless once more.

Haogong is today one of the most prosperous cities in the world, with a population of five million.

Beside it lies the former capital, Fengyi, which has now become the Zhou royal family's ancestral temple and gardens.

The core region of the Zhou people is now called the Central Plains, comprising five provinces, with the capital naturally belonging to none of them.

Thousands of kilometers away, on the Guan Dao of Southern Province, Wang Wu continued on his journey, this time unaccompanied. Yet he had no intention of returning, for he still had someone riding behind him.

"Wu Lang, ah."

Zhu San Niang sat in Wang Wu's arms, feeding him fresh grapes bought in the city. Uh, not those grapes, though both of them love them.

Riding his horse onward, the pace was not fast. He admired the roadside scenery, though there was little to see.

A few people had a fire by the road, roasting an animal on the flames; a second glance would reveal it was a human.

That was the scene to Wang Wu's left, toward Wang Gu Lin.

Wang Wu turned his head and looked to the right.

A man cackled wildly, sprinting across the distant fields on the right, his head turned toward Wang Wu, sending bursts of maniacal laughter his way.

His head was lodged on the spine of a running headless horse, bearing a human skull but a horse's features.

On the back of that headless horse rode a person, a horse's head protruding from the exposed spine; it had a horse's skull but a human's facial features.

This is the world shrouded in darkness—bizarre and twisted.

As the cold winter draws nearer and the days grow deeper, such twisted scenes and eerie creatures will become ever more numerous.

They roam the plains beside the Guan Dao and wander the pitch‑black Wang Gu Lin.

Continuing on horseback, he passed a village. Beyond the thick round‑log wall, a multitude of silhouettes swayed.

"Child, child—"

From among the silhouettes circling the wall came calls thick with longing:

"It's father, child, it's father..."

"Come out and see father for a moment, child, father bought you your favorite picture book, child—"

"Child, child..."

"Child!!!!!!"

At first the calls were gentle and yearning. But as each call went unanswered, the silhouettes' voices grew increasingly rapid, louder, and angrier.

Finally, they turned into a howl that no longer resembled a human cry.

Ghost shadows, human demons, spawn.

The deeper the winter, the more the night's danger exceeds the ordinary.

If it were a few months ago, regardless of which of these things—perhaps except for ghost shadows—if Wang Wu had encountered them then, he would likely have been unable to eat and would have been carried away as a lump of corpse.

"Damn it, the grapes sold at this shop are garbage, ugh!" Passing the roadside village, Wang Wu spat a grape seed toward the direction of those ghost shadows.

In that instant it attracted the attention of the ghost shadows; they all turned around together, their pallid eyes fixed on Wang Wu.

Then the ghost shadows flailed their limbs, moving with bizarrely twisted motions as they ran toward Wang Wu on the Guan Dao.

"Damn it," Wang Wu cursed, "I'll never buy it again."

"But I still think it's pretty good," Zhu San Niang said, having eaten one herself, questioning.

"Sigh." Hearing Zhu San Niang's words, Wang Wu exhaled, then, with affection, kissed Zhu San Niang's cheek: "San Niang, you still haven't lived in a human city; when spring comes next year, I'll definitely bring you to stay in a human town for a while."

"This thing, to me, is trash," Wang Wu said disdainfully, glancing at the grape in Zhu San Niang's hand, "but at least it's edible."

The two monsters, hand‑in‑hand, rode side by side, galloping along the Guan Dao.

On their side, a flock of ghost shadows ran across the plain, marching alongside them. These oddly shaped and grotesque figures waved their arms, letting out roars toward the two monsters on horseback.

But Wang Wu and Zhu San Niang paid no heed; the actions between the two monsters grew increasingly intimate and close. Soon, they became each within the other.

Speaking of which, when a monster reveals its true form it weighs at least several tons, some even over ten tons. Yet after taking a human shape, it has the weight of an ordinary person, which is quite wondrous.

Of course, doing such things while on horseback is also quite strange.

Although Wang Wu's horsemanship is not superb, thanks to a warrior's strong physique and control, he still performed well.

Time passed like that, and after roughly a dozen minutes, Wang Wu's focus, while he was exerting himself, was suddenly drawn to a flood of mournful shouts, screams, maniacal laughter, and towering flames.

He halted, looked toward the source of the sounds, and immediately his pupils dilated.

A burning village, its gates flung open, and within, a scene like a human inferno.

Wang Wu had never imagined such events could occur in a human settlement, because the strength of human civilization in this world had already surpassed his previous imagination.

At first, having not yet encountered human society, he only heard rumors from Zhu San Niang and the others, and occasionally peeked at the Guan Dao. This made Wang Wu think that this world was probably just like the fantastical societies he had read about in those fantasy novels.

An individual wielded a power that could pierce heaven and earth, yet the level of societal development was extremely low.

Until he formally entered He Dong Xian, Wang Wu thought so.

But now he knows he was wrong, and terribly so.

The human civilization of this world is not the typical novel‑style fantasy where an individual is powerful but civilization is underdeveloped.

It is a 'modern society', or even a 'science‑fiction society'.

Because many aspects of it—such as science, technological level, and productivity—

Science does not have to be the kind of 'science' from Wang Wu's hometown; every universe has its own laws, and the exploration of those laws is 'science'.

Science is an orderly knowledge system built on testable explanations and predictions about the forms and organization of objective things; it is knowledge that has been systematized and formalized.

Thus this is a sci‑fi society, because many of its things are beyond the level he could have concocted when he first crossed over from his hometown.

Missiles that reach the fourth cosmic velocity, two‑kilometre‑long warships that can traverse space, and extraterrestrial colonies and cities that have existed for millennia.

This, damn it, is near‑future sci‑fi, folks.

But today, before Wang Wu, this 'ancient person', a scene unfolded that he could not possibly believe:

He saw a human village breached, its streets littered with corpses and severed limbs.

Those 'monsters', no, more accurately, those were still humans.

Only they were people who had become demonic.

They cheered, jubilant, reveling in the blazing village, indulging wildly in slaughter, assault, and…

Feasting.

And the three acts were essentially happening simultaneously.

That frenzy, even Zhu San Niang, who once was a blood‑drinking monster, shook her head at the sight.

Because it wasn't for eating; it was more to satisfy their 'desires'.

Monsters are creatures of strong desire, but their desires generally are limited to reproductive urges.

And such desire would not make them treat anything that can be inserted or stuffed as…

They might use some human corpses to… cough, something akin to the 'men's pleasure cup' back home, but for that purpose.

But at least monsters know to select attractive corpses, unlike the 'people' in the village now, who could be dealt with by just grabbing anything.

Moreover, unless food reserves have been exhausted for emergency use, monsters would never take that mysterious cup they found on an adventure and eat it.

As for female monsters, they obviously cannot seek male corpses, because a man's corpse is useless after death. They generally amuse themselves.

As for cohabiting with a male monster, wild monsters tend to prey on each other; Wang Wu has mentioned before that such a case is extremely rare.

Those 'people', those demonic humans, roar, cheer, scream, their bodies emitting a blissful shiver.

Whether they are the aggressors or the victims.

Carrying out slaughter, assault, and feasting temporarily satisfies their endless void, granting them fleeting ultimate pleasure.

And this pleasure often vanishes in an instant, so their atrocities never cease.

Likewise, being slaughtered, assaulted, or devoured is the same.

Even the kindest person, after demonic transformation, becomes the most terrifying monster.

They're not even livestock, because livestock act merely on instinct, while many livestock also possess reason.

But they do not.

They only have desire, never to be filled, always seeking ways to satisfy it.

Wang Wu had redressed and dismounted. He tugged the crimson reins and led them back to the spherical fortress.

"Wu Lang, will you go help?"

Zi Yuan appeared beside Wang Wu, asking him softly.

Wang Wu said nothing and nodded.

"Then let Zhu San Niang and Wu Er Niang both go help you; Shu Niang and I will stay inside and watch this horse." Zi Yuan watched the mare, which had become restless because of his appearance, and stepped back a short distance.

"Why?" Shu Niang, who also appeared beside Wang Wu, asked with some confusion and displeasure, "Why can't I go too?"

"Because you're not as strong as your two older sisters, nor as resistant." Wang Wu answered Shu Niang on Zi Yuan's behalf: "If you go, you might be affected by those demonic people."

"And Er Niang and San Niang, their strength is greater and their resistance even better." Saying that, Wang Wu kissed Shu Niang's cherry lips, then patted her head and vanished into the fortress.

Outside, Zhu San Niang and Wu Er Niang had at this moment transformed into their true forms, not the half‑human, half‑demon appearance, but their pure true forms.

A gigantic spider, but its head was indistinguishable from a human's, exactly matching Zhu San Niang's human appearance.

Its lower jaw was a spider‑like proboscis, bearing three pairs of crimson eyes.

Its body length was about fifteen meters, height three meters, length eighteen meters.

"Let's go, Er Niang, San Niang." Wang Wu leapt onto Zhu San Niang's back, pointed at the distant blazing village, and said.

"Hmm, Wu Lang."

Zhu San Niang let out a hoarse sound, took her massive steps, and charged toward the village several kilometers away. Following her, Wu Er Niang, also in her true form, let out a roar and galloped toward the distant village.

Their speed was faster than Yan Zhi's, exceeding two hundred kilometers per hour. Yet compared with them, Wang Wu's speed was even greater.

The Extreme Heaven Leap Technique activated, Wang Wu's speed surged, reaching 1,200 km/h, over three hundred meters per second.

In the distance, the ghost shadows had long stopped moving, no longer pursuing Wang Wu's party of transformed monsters. Yet despite their cease, it was clear someone still intended not to let them go.

A prismatic crystal emerged from the forehead, emitting a golden beam; a shot fired at the ghost shadows, causing them to vanish instantly.

Another shot aimed at the village, precisely striking a demon man who was chasing a woman.

Then the woman instantly turned, lunged onto the already dead demon man's body and began to mate. However, before she could move, she was hit by the golden beam and engulfed in golden light.

But that was not the end; within just two seconds, Wang Wu fired more than a dozen Heavenly Demon Cannons in succession, each yielding results, yet compared to the village's chaos, it was a drop in the bucket.

Wang Wu is still only an eighth‑rank cultivator; unleashing those dozen Heavenly Demon Cannons was already his limit.

Two minutes later, having fired only about twenty Heavenly Demon Cannons in total, Wang Wu had already rushed into the village.

With a single slash, a head flew off, the torso split. Wang Wu, like a cannonball, charged at a group of demon men.

They were gathered around a badly broken corpse, fighting each other for its "food."

The "demons" formed from ordinary people were very weak, though they possessed intelligence, could devise schemes, and knew deception.

Even their bodily functions, due to demonic transformation, were far stronger than those of untransformed humans, yet compared with true transcendents, this "advantage" was negligible.

Not to mention, by the local strength standards, Wang Wu had already entered the True Realm.

Wang Wu surged forward, rampaging through the village, nothing could withstand his single slash. Yet even so, he was still just one person and could not sweep every corner.

But that was not his goal; his true aim lay deep within the village, a fort still spewing flames.

There stood the village's final line of defense, gathering the largest number of survivors.

Yet it was also surrounded by a massive number of demon men.

It was a very large village, with a conservative population estimate of perhaps two to three thousand. Strangely, from Wang Wu's current perspective, the number of demon men gathered in the village was likely far greater than that.

But now was not the time to ponder such matters.

Wang Wu surged forward toward the fort.

"Father! Look!!!"

On the fort, a young man clad in full armor peered through a viewing port at the rapidly darting afterimage in the distance, his face showing despair.

One second, five seconds, ten seconds.

"Heavenly Demon Palm!!!"

A roar rang out, and outside the fort, golden light flared instantly, engulfing everything.

Limbs and shredded flesh splattered, yet no bright red gore was seen, only silhouettes bathed in golden light and a foul stench emanating from that golden object.

Sun Zhen plopped onto the ground, his face beneath the helm, once distorted by fear, now bearing the look of a survivor.

He gasped heavily, but before he could sit for a moment, his own father kicked him onto his helmet.

"What are you doing sitting? Get up!!" his father's voice rang in his ears, but Sun Zhen ignored it.

All this happened a few hours ago; recalling it now feels like a dream.

A nightmare.

A sentinel on the village watchtower saw a massive blaze in the distance; he didn't know what it was, but out of professional diligence, he rang the village alarm at the highest alert level.

The village immediately mobilized; the militia donned heavy armor, took up weapons and crossbows, and moved onto the walls to observe the distant situation.

Then, through the Thousand‑Mile Mirror, people saw twisted, frantic faces smeared with blood and flesh.

At that moment, everyone realized the worst had happened:

Demon calamity.

Without hesitation, the village chief immediately organized defense, ordered the evacuation of women and children into the fort, and the militia pushed the ballistae onto the walls, aiming at the flames and opening fire.

Simultaneously, streaks of fire exploded above the village, serving as a distress signal to nearby towns.

Lintong County was the nearest county seat, only a dozen kilometers away.

They had expected that soon, the county garrison would mobilize and head to the village to handle the situation.

But until the village's defenses were breached, they never received aid.

Demonic‑transformed people retain intelligence; the skills they knew before demonic transformation they still can use afterward, and their bodily functions are even tougher than those of untransformed humans.

Clad in heavy armor, fearless of death, aside from bed crossbows, other ranged weapons scarcely inflict effective damage on them.

Unless using powerful crossbows, longbows, heavy bolts at close range, but likewise, the opponents also have them.

They quickly reached the village; under wave after wave of assaults, despite only a few thousand people, the world's productivity meant almost everyone wore heavy armor, coupled with robust bodily functions.

The village was soon breached, so the militia ignited the ballistae they couldn't withdraw before the main gate fell, continuously shrinking the defense line until all retreated into the fort.

Under the retired Southern Province army village chief's command, there were actually few casualties, and most of the village's corpses were, in fact, the monsters' own.

They would attack humans, but when there were no people around, they would naturally turn on their companions. From the weakest companion, to the heavily wounded "companions" who had lost their ability to move.

Those could not really be called "companions"; they did not have much team spirit to speak of.

The demons attacked the village, but were soon lured by traps the villagers had set during their evacuation, resulting in casualties and in turn triggering chaos.

It also bought precious time for the militiamen entering the fort.

(End of this chapter)