Chapter 281

Like a domino effect, as some people walked up, more and more behind them followed suit.

Slow, deliberate steps, walking along the way.

"Aaaaah!!!"

Suddenly, someone screamed.

"The mirror—the mirror has someone inside!!"

Everyone turned to look at the terrified person facing the mirror, instinctively rolling their eyes—you'd be weird if there wasn't someone staring back at you like that.

But the next moment, all of them froze in shock.

Inside that mirror.

A figure clad in ancient attire stood there, pale-faced, eyes hollow and distant, its features indistinct, yet surrounded by flickering bolts of thunder—yellow, violet, and other hues—as if it had noticed those outside the mirror, its eyes like two deep pools staring straight at them.

Not just those present, but even viewers watching on TV across screens couldn't help trembling, their hair standing on end.

A ghost-god?!

The figure's face was unclear, but its form resembled a ghost—darkness deep within the mirror, alone a pale-faced figure with wide-open eyes staring out, wreathed in thunder, radiating eerie dread yet carrying the weight of divine retribution, like a ghostly deity.

The ghost-god surfaced within the mirror, and on its surface appeared two ancient characters, radiating grandeur, antiquity, and age—as if not written, but naturally existing, forged by the Dao itself.

"?"

Everyone instantly recognized the ancient characters as Chinese script.

At that moment,

One person present, familiar with Chinese culture and mythology—and among them Professor Beishan and other historians and theologians from various nations who understood Chinese culture—blurted out simultaneously.

"Lü Ling!!"

"It's Lü Ling!!"

"Is he Lü Ling?!"

They were stunned—the two characters on the mirror were "Lü Ling."

That means… the ghost-god in the mirror is Lü Ling!

"Lü Ling? Professor Beishan, when you say Lü Ling, you mean like 'Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling'?" Director Takahashi asked, instinctively associating Lü Ling with the phrase "Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling."

Not just him.

As the word "Lü Ling" was spoken by people online, present, and watching on TV, the vast majority instantly thought of the most familiar, most well-known phrase: "Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling."

Indeed, that was the case.

"Yes, exactly—'Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling.'"

Professor Beishan nodded heavily, then pointed at the ghost-god in the screen's mirror:

"And very likely… that is Lü Ling!"

Huh??

Director Takahashi and others were baffled, faces blank with confused disbelief.

"What? That ghost-god is Lü Ling? Wait—are you saying Lü Ling is the name of that person?"

Inside the palace,

Others also wore expressions of confusion.

In response, the person who had shouted "Lü Ling" earlier looked at the crowd, instinctively stepping back from the mirror, and replied:

"The 'Lü Ling' in 'Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling' originally refers to the name of a ghost-god."

Upon hearing this, many were astonished.

Those familiar with Chinese Taoist culture or who had watched some ghost films knew the phrase "Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling."

Because it was one of the most common incantations in Taoism.

Especially in movies featuring Taoist priests exorcising ghosts—they often chanted "Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling" while performing rituals.

But no one knew that "Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling" wasn't just a meaningless chant—that the words "Lü Ling" actually referred to the name of a ghost-god.

At this moment,

The person continued:

"'Ji Ji Ru Lü Ling' can be simply explained as 'urgent matters demand immediate action, like Lü Ling racing to carry out a decree'—even simpler: 'Hurry up, like Lü Ling!'"

"Lü Ling is the name of a ghost—the fastest among the Thunder Department's ghostly servants, according to legend."

As he spoke, the man's eyes widened in terror as he glanced at the Lü Ling in the mirror, his voice trembling:

"This Lü Ling in the mirror… I, I, I suspect it's real—it's truly the legendary Lü Ling."

Everyone was stunned, some bewildered.

Why would Su Daji bother capturing a god and locking it in a mirror as a specimen?

That makes no sense.

The Thunder Department's spirits—though rarely mentioned—were surely divine beings tied to thunder, connected to Chinese mythology.

Su Daji captured a deity with a divine rank from Chinese mythology—why? Not only would she anger the gods of Chinese myth, but why would she do such a pointless thing?

Was she bored out of her mind?

That doesn't seem right.

She's here for revenge—she has no reason to create more enemies.

Just as those present were about to voice this doubt, the man noticed their confusion and spoke first:

"According to Gan Bao's 'In Search of the Supernatural' from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, 'Lü Ling was a human name—a man from the era of King Mu of Zhou who, because he walked so fast, became one of the Thunder Department's ghost-servants after death.'"

"King Mu of Zhou? Are you referring to the fifth ruler of the Zhou Dynasty?" someone beside him swallowed hard.

The man nodded—his meaning was clear.

He confirmed that the King Mu of Zhou he mentioned was indeed the Zhou Dynasty's King Mu.

Hiss~~

In front of the television, countless people at the scene sucked in their breath, nearly draining the air around them, their eyes bulging like copper bells and ox eyes.

The ghosts and gods of the Zhou Dynasty…

Even the densest person understood in an instant, their scalp tingling as if about to explode.

So this wasn't trouble for no reason—it was a grudge long since forged. Wasn't Su Daji's sworn enemy precisely Zhou Wuwang, the founder of the Zhou Dynasty? She was venting her fury for King Zhou.

She had captured the ghosts and gods of the Zhou Dynasty and made them into specimens, venting her fury on behalf of her man.

"My heavens!!"

That person suddenly cried out, staring in terror at the mirror beside the steps where he stood, his face pale with fright.

In this mirror.

There was also a 'person'—a dragon-headed, human-bodied figure, radiating a vast, primordial aura. Just looking at him evoked a sense of ancientness, as if beholding the long passage of time, the rising and falling of tides, the coming of spring and the going of autumn. Whether or not he was powerful, he certainly hailed from an ancient era and had lived for a very long time.

It was like a domino effect. Once this ancient being in the mirror was discovered, countless other mirrors along the path also revealed myriad living beings within them.

Among them were humans, gods, demons, and yao…

All were renowned gods and demons of their respective domains, each with a name and a lineage.

Boom!

Director Takahashi and the others could no longer sit still. They sprang up with a whoosh, their eyes filled with horror.

"Ancient gods and great demons!!"

They didn't know exactly who these gods and demons were, what their specific identities might be, but they had seen them before—and just recently at that!

It was precisely the group of ancient gods and great demons they had seen in Su Daji's life in the Star Palace, the ones who had annihilated the Green Hill Nine-Tailed Fox tribe of the Primeval Era.

Too domineering.

Too brutal.

Too terrifying…

Su Daji had actually captured the ancient gods and great demons who destroyed the Nine-Tailed Fox tribe, made them into something like specimens, and mounted them along this white jade staircase.

Among them were also the gods and demons of the Zhou Dynasty.

Yet without exception, they were all enemies who had opposed her.

She had made all her enemies into 'specimens'.

The world trembled, scalps going numb.

Indeed, one must not provoke a woman. Once she turns fierce, there's nothing she won't do—this was simply too brutal, treating her enemies as decorations. One must understand that every single ancient god or great demon in these mirrors was a renowned deity or demon with a name and lineage.

Yet their fearsome reputations, earned over a lifetime, had now become ornamental displays arranged along a staircase. How wretched—more agonizing than being killed outright.

At this moment.

People deeply felt Su Daji's brutality and terror; she was absolutely a being one must not provoke.

Better to provoke ghosts, gods, and fierce demons than to provoke Su Daji.

……8)