Chapter 156

Wa Mu carried the deeply snoring Wa Xiao Xi away.

By the way, she also took the shamaness, saying she was her family's first granddaughter, and she wanted to have fun with her for a few days.

For a few days……

Wu Tie couldn't understand his mother's little thought, but as long as she was happy, that was fine.

After a long talk, Wu Tie figured out his parents' past, understood the strange and headache-inducing rules of the Wa clan, and also clarified Wu Jin's current situation.

Everything, there is hope.

With hope, there are endless possibilities.

Wu Tie felt a warm glow inside, a sense of being well‑settled and solid that made him feel comfortable. Perhaps it was because his cultivation had succeeded and his energy was too vigorous, or perhaps it was because the long talk just now had overexcited him.

He couldn't sleep, didn't want to sleep, and didn't even want to cultivate.

Wu Tie lit the fireplace in the living room; the carefully selected smokeless coal chunks glowed red, illuminating the large floor before the fireplace, and the warm heat dispelled the lingering chill left in the room after the False Sun went out.

The Gong Sun family kept good wine in the cellar, and Wu Tie had the two stone dwarves pick out several jars of the oldest vintage to bring up.

"Mo Zhang Wang, you have a story, I have good wine… you say, we'll listen." Wu Tie summoned his traveling companions; except for Lao Bai, who had slipped off somewhere unknown, everyone else gathered around the fireplace, holding large metal cups, looking expectantly at Mo Zhang Wang.

Though his strength was low, he could awaken innate divine abilities, proving that Mo Zhang Wang's bloodline was extraordinary.

Being able to draw thousands of pursuers and spend many years being hunted shows that Mo Zhang Wang's identity is certainly storied.

In the tranquil, peaceful night of Wa Valley, with the fireplace crackling warmly, drinking fine wine and listening to tales of distant strange lands, in this damned world it is truly an indescribable pleasure.

Not to mention, during the day Wu Tie had just won a large sum of money in the arena.

Look at the seven or eight large bangles on Wu Tie's left and right wrists—inside them resources and wealth pile up like mountains. Everyone's mood is good; listening to Mo Zhang Wang tell stories is also excellent.

Mo Zhang Wang's mood was a bit weary, his complexion somewhat dim.

He took in everything that had happened today. The mother‑son bond between Wa Mu and Wu Tie made him envious, which reminded him of his own past, worsening his already low spirits.

Sitting by the fireplace, leaning his shoulder against it, holding a glass of pale‑yellow liquor, Mo Zhang Wang took a sip, then grabbed a large spider leg from the tray the stone dwarves had brought and shoved it into his mouth.

He lifted his head, stared at the dim living‑room ceiling adorned with gold‑leaf patterns, drifted off for a moment, and Mo Zhang Wang sighed.

"My name is Ge Mo Luo… but I haven't used that name in ages. I am Mo Zhang Wang, and that's all I am." Mo Zhang Wang spoke in a low voice, his ten fingers wriggling, elongating strangely to seven or eight feet.

His fingers, in an extremely eerie manner as if boneless, wound around his own body two or three times, then slowly returned to normal.

"Those little rascals say I'm as supple as the legendary ocean octopus, and I know a few little tricks and sleights… so in the drifting troupe I earned the nickname Mo Zhang Wang. I like that name because it was given to me by those little devils."

Mo Zhang Wang related his story slowly and leisurely.

Long ago, in the Three Linked Region, within a Great Three Linked Region far larger than the Great Dragon Region, after prolonged wars, countless exchanges of interests and intrigues, upon countless altars piled with bones and blood, a unified great power emerged.

The Great Peacock Dynasty, an extremely powerful force, initially ruled over the Three Linked Region and five neighboring great regions, with a populace numbering in the hundreds of millions, and furthermore, having inherited an ancient legacy, it possessed a foundation that could be called terrifying.

The dynasty's massive military was at its peak; every generation of monarchs harbored the ambition to expand territory, or rather, they possessed vast ambitions matching the dynasty's strength, so the Great Peacock Dynasty continually launched wars against the surrounding great regions.

At its zenith, the Great Peacock Dynasty's direct administration spanned over thirty great regions, with countless neighboring forces bowing in submission.

Those thirty great regions encompassed countless large and small grottoes, innumerable mine tunnels, endless deep and perilous secret realms, innumerable citizens, innumerable slaves, and moreover millions of elite warriors……

This was already the limit of what the Great Peacock Dynasty could control.

Vast territory, huge domain, the long distances between great regions, the geographic isolation from winding deep passages, occasional natural disasters altering transport routes, and the immeasurable great dangers lurking in strange lands on all sides, plus the terrifying monster tribes in the wild lands beyond the dynasty's borders……

All this brought the Great Peacock Dynasty to the peak of its extremity, leaving it unable to expand outward any further.

Thus the Great Peacock Dynasty's dominion was fixed, its strong royal authority set, and thereafter its successive rulers, facing no external challenges and no risks, generation after generation…… enjoyed the vast lands and the endless populace that brought a life of extreme extravagance.

All kinds of unimaginable decadent lifestyles became the norm in the Great Peacock Dynasty.

The dynasty's heirs no longer needed great talent or strength, nor extraordinary wisdom or enlightened decisions; they only needed to flatter and curry favor with the previous monarch……

The most favored was the next monarch of the dynasty.

Thus, within just a few generations—perhaps due to a bloodline curse, or perhaps other reasons—in short, after only a few generations the Great Peacock Dynasty had become utterly corrupt and decadent……

Even things like wine pools and meat forests cannot describe the decadence of the Great Peacock Dynasty's royal family.

"You cannot imagine that decadence." Mo Zhang Wang calmly looked at Wu Tie and the others: "Take one example: in Three Linked City there is a famous beauty, A Ya Li, who bore different children for my grandfather, my father, my two older brothers, and a nephew……"

He shrugged, narrowed his eyes, and spoke with an eerie expression: "Look, I am quite handsome; among the cursed royal descendants, my face should rank among the best."

After gulping a big mouthful of wine, Mo Zhang Wang looked at Wu Tie, showing no emotional fluctuation, and said: "So it's not my fault, but A Ya Li's—after a banquet I got drunk, she and her maidservants put me onto her bed……"

Wu Tie opened his mouth wide.

Shi Fei opened his mouth wide.

Lu Ji widened his eyes.

Yan Han Lu unconsciously rubbed the hilt of his waist‑worn dagger with both hands, as if ready at any moment to draw his blade and slay Mo Zhang Wang.

Only Tie Da Jian calmly took a big gulp of wine, muttering indistinctly: "Such things aren't surprising… in this damned world, the stronger and more stable a great region, the more those great families…… become decadent."

"I once asked my master, and he said… this is a dark world with no future, no hope… once external survival pressure disappears, the darkness in every soul will spread unchecked."

"Darkness in the soul inevitably brings a depraved body and a corrupt world… therefore the disciples of the Six Ways Palace must treat their spirit and body strictly. We must not fall; there must be light in our hearts."

Tie Da Jian suddenly seemed to have his throat choked by the wine, and he burst into violent coughing: "But, but……"

But now it seems that some disciples of the Six Ways Palace have also fallen.

Wu Tie glanced at Tie Da Jian and silently filled in his heart the words Tie Da Jian had left unsaid.

"You wouldn't believe it, but when I was twelve I was seduced and got my first woman, then a second, third, fourth……" Mo Zhang Wang drank his wine, unhurriedly continuing to recount his past.

"At first, those women actively crawled into my bed… because I was the father king's most beloved son… and the sole reason I was favored……"

Mo Zhang Wang shook his head and gave a bitter laugh: "Because I can play… I know how to play… and I am most like the father king."

"Later, when the women who willingly offered themselves grew tiresome, I began actively seeking women……" Mo Zhang Wang said calmly: "Old or young, married or not, tall or short, fat or thin—any kind of woman I fancied, I could obtain."

"Back then I was like a lust‑crazed beast; anyway, doing that made my body feel lively, so I just kept doing it day after day……"

"I don't need to learn anything, because I don't have to learn anything… everything, someone helps me think and do."

"I also don't need to cultivate, because what use is power to me? Even a Fate Pool Realm expert, those elders of the great clans…… would have to kneel at my feet and kiss them… I could behead them with a single word."

"All I need is to eat my fill, drink my fill, play my fill, enjoy my fill…… that's enough."

"Then what?" Wu Tie stared at Mo Zhang Wang: "Done playing?"

"Well, we're done playing." Mo Zhang Wang spread his hands, his left hand holding a wine cup, while Lu Ji swiftly filled his cup: "We've played it to the end…… We thought the Great Peacock Dynasty's rule was unshakable, but only one night…… just one night……"

"All the great clans joined forces in rebellion, nearly all the dynasty's generals led their soldiers to rebel, and countless civilians, countless slaves……" Mo Zhang Wang widened his eyes, his pupils flashing with a strange light: "Ha, when I saw the ferocious looks on those civilians' and slaves' faces…… I suddenly understood what 'deserved punishment' means……"

"Still, even a rotten royal family will have a few die-hard hardliners." Mo Zhang Wang gave a bitter smile: "As the most favored prince, the father king had a group of loyal guards escort me to flee the Three Linked Realms……"

"Run, run, run……" Mo Zhang Wang gulped down another large cup of wine, and Lu Ji refilled his large cup.

"Flight, pursuit, death, bloodshed…… the Great Peacock Dynasty was utterly destroyed, replaced by the Three Linked City-States; the royal clan was completely wiped out, replaced by the Twelve Ministerial Families of the Supreme Executive Council of the Three Linked City-States……"

Mo Zhang Wang muttered softly: "Actually…… I'm probably a good-for-nothing, right? I have a clear understanding of that."

"I understand I'm a good-for-nothing, and the father king also told me not to hope I could rebuild the Great Peacock Dynasty—that's beyond me…… He only asks that I survive, have a few more children, so the bloodline of the Great Peacock King of the Great Peacock Dynasty can continue……"

"So, my demands aren't high; I only ask to be able to survive……"

"So, while fleeing and being hunted, my loyal but foolish guards all died…… Some died, and I can't even remember their names…… They didn't even leave me a word before dying in my place……"

"Later on, I was seriously wounded, and that bunch of rascals from the Wandering Theater Troupe saved me." Mo Zhang Wang murmured lowly: "My last guard beside me also died for me…… I didn't know where to go, so I followed the troupe east and west; I think this life isn't bad……"

"Later…… I thought the troupe leader was pretty good; I wanted to have children with her, and then let our offspring continue leading the troupe……"

Mo Zhang Wang's eye sockets turned red.

Beneath his skin, rings of varying colors kept flashing, and he suddenly began to sob……

"I haven't had the chance to tell her I like her…… I also don't dare say it out loud, after all, I'm a good-for-nothing, while she…… is far better than me……"

"As a good-for-nothing, I can't even give those rascals enough food…… To fill their stomachs for one meal, I can only resort to the lowly trick of eating without paying and getting beaten up……"

"But what can a good-for-nothing do?"

Mo Zhang Wang finally couldn't hold back, and two streams of tears flowed down.

He just kept crying, holding his huge wine cup and sipping it mouthful by mouthful: "I've already…… given up everything; I only want to be a happy good-for-nothing, living carefree…… No matter how bad the troupe is…… I just want to be a good-for-nothing, living like a worm in the mud……"

"Why…… can't it be……?"

Yan Hanlu quietly glanced at Mo Zhang Wang, lifted his wine cup and drained it in one gulp, then rose and left the living room.

Shi Fei gently patted his ample belly, waves of flesh rolling across his body, and he murmured lowly: "This…… uh, I don't even know what to say…… Your family's affairs are truly…… the first time I've heard of something like this, uh……"

Shi Fei shook his head, turned to look at Wu Tie: "But, Wu Tie, those dolls are always innocent, right? The rascals of the Three Linked City-States couldn't possibly kill dolls, you say, isn't that the reasoning?"

Wu Tie raised his wine cup and drained it in one gulp.

With a "thud", the living room's door was burst open violently, and a blood-soaked old white wolf stumbled in.