Chapter 786: Tottering

"The earth dragon has turned over!"

Terrified shouts rang out from the side of Zhengyang Gate Street.

The bluestone road arched and collapsed violently, like waves. The bamboo shed of a tea stall by the road snapped at the waist with a *crack*, and bowls, plates, and cups fell to the ground with a *clatter*. Fortunately, it was night, and they had already closed the stall.

But on the other side, the bricks and stones of the city wall fell with a *rustle*, raising dust.

"Not good!"

Wang Fu said in a lost voice: "Lei Yin has taken action!"

This thought crossed everyone's mind at the same time.

Lei Yin had obtained the Yangzhou Tripod and could directly shake the earth veins, threatening Jin Ling. This was also the reason why everyone was wary and didn't dare to take action easily.

Otherwise, even if it was an Earth Immortal, several orthodox Dharma lineages could take action and behead her.

Could it be that the other party had gone mad and decided to take action directly?

Just when everyone thought that the disaster of heaven collapsing and earth cracking was about to arrive, the rumbling sound from underground stopped abruptly, as if it had been suddenly terminated by an invisible force.

The earth stopped groaning, leaving only the sky full of dust and panicked screams.

"... Stopped?"

Sha Lifei looked around, somewhat unable to believe it.

But after waiting for a while, there were still no aftershocks.

Not only were they stunned.

In various parts of the city, those ghost opera troupe monsters who were originally taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble, drumming up "Silkworm God is furious," and creating panic, were also full of bewilderment and doubt at this moment.

"Catch a live one first and ask!"

Li Yan saw the oddity, and without a word, he leaped out.

His speed was astonishing. Before the sound reached everyone's ears, his figure had already appeared on the roof opposite, stepping on a chain, so fast that only shadows could be seen, accompanied by *peng peng* sounds.

With a few muffled groans, the black-clothed men wearing mask faceplates fell one after another.

"Catch them! Quick!"

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the local Mystic Sect experts also took action immediately.

The Maoshan old Daoist nun of the "Tiger Gate Order" who was subduing the old woman in the east of the city, the Meishan Sect Dharma master who was fighting with the water gate and martial arts monsters, and the Maoshan cultivator who forced back the green-clothed female actor on Zhengyang Gate Street, almost took action at the same time.

They were also scared to death and didn't dare to hold back half a bit, using fierce killing moves and various arts, instantly capturing and subduing the many ghost opera troupe monsters.

The ghost opera troupe had grown crazily in a short time, but it was also mixed with good and bad. Some were monsters from the Jiangnan path, and some were underworld fierce criminals, not enemies of the Jin Ling Mystic Sect.

Two experts, facing the siege, also quickly defeated.

The situation was instantly controlled for the most part.

There was no time to press them back to prison, and the interrogation began directly.

A big-flowered-face monster suppressed by Maoshan talismans was dragged in front of Li Yan and the others. The old Dharma master with white hair and beard beside him shouted sharply: "Speak! Why did the earth dragon turn over early? And why did it stop abruptly?!"

That big-flowered-face had oil paint mixed with sweat on his face, his voice hoarse, sneering: "Kill if you want to kill, where is so much nonsense... ah!"

Halfway through his hard words, he let out a shrill scream.

It was Li Yan who gave a look, and Long Yan directly released the sesame Gu to force a confession.

"Stop, stop! I'll speak..."

There was no need to mention the power of Long Yan's sesame Gu; even men of iron couldn't withstand it. This guy soon started begging for mercy and confessed: "It... it really has nothing to do with me!"

"The order above was indeed to take action early! Saying to take advantage of the dragon-casting ceremony not being completed, use the Yangzhou Tripod to trigger the earth qi, shake the earth veins, and then overturn the river waves to destroy the water fortress, so that the grandmother's army could rush over."

"But... but this movement only shook a few times, and then stopped?!"

"It wasn't supposed to be like this..."

In addition to panic, his eyes were also full of confusion.

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances quickly.

The astonishment and fear on the monster's face did not look like a pretense.

"It seems something has changed..." Li Yan looked into the distance thoughtfully.

The Maoshan old Daoist nun beside him also agreed and said: "They were aware of Lei Yin's plan to take action early, but it was only carried out halfway; something must have gone wrong."

Everyone couldn't guess the reason, so they could only press these monsters back to prison first.

Although Jin Ling City temporarily escaped a catastrophe, the haze covering the city could not be dispelled; instead, it was like an invisible black hand, gripping everyone's throat, making it hard for them to breathe.

The Qinhuai River still flowed, but the oar sounds and lantern shadows were much sparser.

Most of the river houses that were prosperous in the past had their doors and windows tightly closed. Occasionally, bold merchants poked their heads out to look, their faces also full of vigilance and panic.

The footsteps of the patrolling soldiers were heavier than usual, and the sound of armor friction was particularly harsh in the silent streets and alleys. The air was filled with the fishy smell of mud after the rain, mixed with a trace of faint, heart-palpitating sweet rot.

Like a maggot attached to the bone, it spread quietly.

Under the moonlight, the continuous eaves rose and fell.

Deep in a narrow alley, a sheep-horn lantern swayed in the wind.

The dim halo illuminated the mottled plaque of "Zhou's Weaving Household."

Suppressed sobbing seeped through the door cracks. The old weaver Zhou Ada curled up beside the loom, his withered hands stroking the gray-white silkworm silk wrapped around the shuttle.

The silk thread actually wriggled slightly, as if it had life, burrowing into his cracked finger gaps.

In the distance, twenty looms were squeezed into the moldy and damp earth house. Behind each machine sat a weaver with deeply sunken eye sockets. The air was filled with the smell of desperate sweat.

"The dog officials of the Silk Weaving Bureau..."

"The newly added 'fire loss' tax... the medicine money for A'nan..."

"Woo woo~"

In the darkness, sobbing and gnashing of teeth could be heard from time to time.

"Do it!"

"Old man won't live, and that bunch of dog officials shouldn't think of living either!"

The clapper sounded the third watch, and hunched figures flashed out from different door holes, gathering toward the public well in the center of the street like ghosts, throwing silkworm silk into it...

Inside the Chenghuangmiao, the incense was sparse.

The old Daoist Zhang Jingqing looked at the empty main hall and the few young disciples with sallow complexions and shallow Daoist practice, sighing for a long time, his wrinkled face full of worry.

The elites of Long Hu Mountain had been urgently transferred to Ganzhou by the main altar to deal with the aggressive Meishan Dharma Sect. Such a large Jin Ling Chenghuangmiao had now truly become an empty shell.

Facing the increasingly evil aura and the cursed people in the city, he had the responsibility of supervising the netherworld, but no power to drive away evil and cure balefulness.

Not to mention the face of Long Hu Mountain, he couldn't even bear the complaints of the people.

"Master, three more households in Liushu Village in the south of the city have reported, the symptoms are exactly the same as Huai Tree Village..." A young Daoist ran over in a hurry.

His voice carried uncontrollable panic, "The village head said that those people are full of resentment, and privately everyone is spreading that the 'Silkworm God Lady' is punishing them, saying the imperial court is without Dao and forced the people to rebel..."

Zhang Jingqing closed his eyes and sighed helplessly.

How could he not know the root cause?

Harsh taxes and levies were like Mount Tai pressing on the top, and those bookworms in the Silk Weaving Bureau were exploiting them without limit, having long since forced the people into a dead end, leading to the Cocoon Clothing Sect taking advantage of the situation to incite them.

The government's reaction was slow, and this Jin Ling City was already like a huge powder keg.

"Report—!" ===== CHAPTER 787 =====