Chapter 500: The Little Tyrant of Fengdu
Qin Mu followed the sound and saw a tall, robust man walking over with his clothes draped over him. The man appeared somewhat lazy, his garments loose and carefree, yet the way they hung on him carried a unique charm.
“So it’s the Human Sovereign Qi Kang.”
Chi Xiu Divine Being quickly said, “I am merely following orders. Last time, the Human Sovereign Qin used Netherworld techniques to snatch someone, even alarming the King of Hell. Fengdu was filled with ghostly panic, everyone afraid he would summon them to the Netherworld for eternal damnation. Therefore, the King of Hell wants to apprehend him. It has nothing to do with me.”
Qi Kang Human Sovereign adjusted his draped clothes and smiled, “I know you’re just doing your duty, so I won’t make things difficult for you. I’m taking the Human Sovereign Qin away. Just inform the King of Hell.”
Chi Xiu Divine Being shook his head, “That won’t do. The King of Hell still intends to interrogate him separately later. I cannot let you take him…”
Just then, an aged voice suddenly rang out: “Chi Xiu, I heard my disciple’s disciple’s disciple has been arrested by you?”
Chi Xiu Divine Being’s expression shifted. He saw an old man with white hair approaching—it was Qi Kang Human Sovereign’s master. He quickly explained, “So it’s Yi Shan Human Sovereign. The matter of Human Sovereign Qin is beyond my authority. The King of Hell wants him, to punish him for disturbing Fengdu. I have no say in this. Please don’t blame me, Yi Shan Human Sovereign.”
“What’s the big deal?”
The white-haired old man was short, with a snow-white beard flying out to both sides, his voice booming like a bell. He laughed, “I know you have no say, so I won’t ask you to decide. I’ll make the decision. I’m taking the Human Sovereign Qin away!”
“Impossible!”
Chi Xiu Divine Being grew anxious, saying, “The King of Hell wants to interrogate him personally. Even Yi Shan Human Sovereign cannot make that decision…”
“Chi Xiu, I heard my disciple’s disciple’s disciple’s disciple has been arrested by you?”
Another voice came, and Chi Xiu Divine Being inwardly groaned. He saw a woman in a blue dress carrying a small bamboo basket walking over. He quickly said, “So it’s Lan Po Human Sovereign. This matter…”
“Chi Xiu, I heard my disciple’s disciple’s disciple’s disciple’s disciple has been arrested by you?”
“Chi Xiu, I heard my disciple’s disciple…”
“Chi Xiu!”
…
Around him, more and more people gathered, surrounding Chi Xiu Divine Being. Chi Xiu felt his head about to explode, thinking to himself, “Have I stirred up a hornet’s nest? These Human Sovereigns from the Human Sovereign Hall—are they all wasps? Usually, you can’t even see a ghost of them, but poke one, and the whole swarm flies out!”
He knew he couldn’t handle this. Seeing more and more deceased Human Sovereigns arriving, he had to relent, “Gentlemen, you are all figures of renown. Why must you pressure me? Don’t make this difficult. I’ll hand the Human Sovereign Qin over to you for now, but he cannot leave Fengdu. I must deliver him to the King of Hell…”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry! We won’t make trouble for you!” the crowd clamored.
Qin Mu stared blankly at the scene, stammering, “Chi Xiu Divine Being, you said earlier that I have connections above…”
“Exactly!”
Chi Xiu Divine Being struggled to push his way out of the crowd, fuming, “You Human Sovereigns from the Human Sovereign Hall are all thugs and ruffians of Fengdu, the tyrants of this city! I can’t afford to provoke you! Poke one, and the whole hornet’s nest comes out! I’ll come find you later!”
He squeezed out of the crowd, spread his wings, and flew off into the distance.
Qin Mu looked at the Human Sovereigns around him, at a loss. They were all scrutinizing him with beaming smiles. There were men and women, old and young, tall and short, fat and thin—some impeccably dressed, some fierce and menacing, some robust and strong, some seemingly as weak as a kitten.
Qin Mu searched the crowd but didn’t see the Village Chief. He quickly coughed and bowed to everyone in greeting, “The junior and latecomer Qin Mu, current Human Sovereign, pays respects to all you grandmasters, great-grandmasters, great-great-grandmasters, great-great-great-grandmasters…”
“No need for so many formalities!”
The crowd surged forward, surrounding his small skeleton form. They patted him so hard his bones clattered, nearly falling apart, as they escorted him into the city, laughing, “It’s rare for one of us who’s still alive to come visit us! Today, we must have a good gathering and make some noise!”
“You haven’t burned any paper money for us all these years! If that little brat Su hadn’t also died and come to Fengdu, we’d have thought the Human Sovereign Hall was going extinct!”
“Why haven’t you visited our graves? If you had, we’d know there was a successor. We left some treasures for you in the Human Sovereign Hall.”
…
Too many questions. Qin Mu had to answer honestly, “I’ve never been to the Human Sovereign Hall. The Village Chief never told me where it is…”
Qi Kang Human Sovereign flew into a rage: “That little brat Su handled things like this? He didn’t even take you to the Human Sovereign Hall! That bastard! When he comes back, I’ll give him a good lesson!”
Yi Shan Human Sovereign kicked Qi Kang Human Sovereign hard in the backside, bristling with anger, “How did you teach your disciple? Beating a disciple never makes a good one! It’s because of your teaching that Human Sovereign Qin never visited our graves!”
As soon as Yi Shan Human Sovereign kicked out, his head immediately received a punch from Lan Po Human Sovereign. He quickly covered his head. Lan Po Human Sovereign said indignantly, “Yi Shan, is this how I taught you? How dare you talk about teaching disciples?”
“Lan Po, a girl being so rough—you disgrace my, Kong Xian’s, reputation!”
“Kong Xian, you dare hit my disciple’s disciple? Are you tired of living, boy?”
…
The group of old-timers started fighting right there in the city, in utter chaos. Qin Mu immediately noticed something peculiar: each generation of Human Sovereign would help their disciple’s disciple beat up their own disciple, and the disciple’s disciple would also gang up with their grandmaster to beat their master.
It seemed every disciple wasn’t too fond of their own master.
However, the skills of the past Human Sovereigns were astonishingly powerful. Almost all of them had cultivated to the Dao realm, but strangely, each had their own specialty. What the disciple excelled at was different from the master. Qi Kang Human Sovereign was the Village Chief’s master; the Village Chief was skilled in swordsmanship, hailed as the Sword God, but Qi Kang Human Sovereign specialized in fist techniques and seals.
His seal techniques were fierce and domineering, even more terrifying than the Great Thunderclap Monastery’s fist arts.
Qi Kang Human Sovereign’s master, Yi Shan Human Sovereign, specialized in divine abilities, while Yi Shan’s master, Lan Po Human Sovereign, excelled in spirit weapons. As for Kong Xian Human Sovereign, he was skilled in the divine ability of speaking laws into existence.
This situation suggested they thoroughly disliked their masters, absolutely refusing to follow their path, stubbornly insisting on forging their own way.
Qin Mu blinked, looking around. These brawling Human Sovereigns leveled several streets in just a few breaths, knocked down a few divine temples, and demolished countless houses before they stopped fighting.
The gods and demons in the city were terrified, not daring to make a sound, all stopping their work to watch.
Some had their temples destroyed but said nothing, only showing aggrieved expressions. Many little ghosts came forward to help repair the temples.
“Chi Xiu Divine Being said our Human Sovereign Hall is the tyrant of Fengdu—he wasn’t wrong,” Qin Mu thought to himself. “The past Human Sovereigns demolished several streets without anyone daring to question them. The Village Chief must have been very happy here, able to walk sideways, truly the little tyrant of Fengdu. But where did the Village Chief go?”
Qi Kang Human Sovereign crawled out from under Yi Shan Human Sovereign’s foot, bruised and swollen, wiping away his nosebleed, laughing, “You must go to the Human Sovereign Hall. Every past Human Sovereign left their ultimate techniques there, hoping future generations could break through and forge their own path. And you must visit our graves—on holidays, burn some good things for us.”
Yi Shan chuckled, “You can burn some defeated enemies for us to play with. Fengdu is fine, but there’s nothing fun to do. Ahead is the First Ancestor’s Five Yang Divine Hall—let’s go there!”
“The First Ancestor?” Qin Mu’s heart stirred. The First Ancestor was the first Human Sovereign, a true deity who founded the Human Sovereign Hall lineage, immensely powerful. He very much wanted to meet this ancient sage!
Qin Mu had seen the First Ancestor Human Sovereign’s stone statue in Little Jade Capital. Qing You Mountain Man said the First Ancestor turned to stone in utter despair. He didn’t expect to encounter him here.
Qi Kang said, “The First Ancestor left Fengdu some time ago, saying he had a very important matter to attend to. Your master went to find him and hasn’t returned yet. Your master is very strange—he hasn’t completely expired yet and can leave Fengdu. We’ve completely breathed our last.”
The crowd surged in, startling the two giant beasts guarding the Five Yang Divine Hall. The left beast, with a human face and bird body, quickly said, “Honorable Human Sovereigns, have you come to freeload again at the master’s house? The master’s house is almost eaten clean by you. Why not go to the Second Ancestor’s house?”
“Shut up!”
The past Human Sovereigns shouted in unison: “The Second Ancestor’s house was already eaten clean, and the Third Ancestor’s too! Among all the past Human Sovereigns, only your master still has some property left!”
The human-faced bird-bodied beast quickly shut up, pretending not to see, letting them barge in.
Qin Mu had Dragon Qilin and Taotie wait outside the hall, saying, “Stay here. I’ll talk with the ancestors for a while.”
Dragon Qilin stayed outside, sizing up the two giant beasts, and suddenly asked, “Have you seen the founder of the Heavenly Saint Cult? He looks like a young man, very handsome.”
The human-faced bird-bodied beast was more talkative, saying, “The founder of the Heavenly Saint Cult? You should go to the Heavenly Saint Cult’s lair. The past cult masters live there, but most are demons, fierce and evil, very hard to deal with.”
Dragon Qilin was overjoyed and quickly said, “Would you two brothers kindly point me in the right direction?”
Inside the Five Yang Divine Hall, Qin Mu felt a surge of emotion. These Human Sovereigns were like bandits entering a village, never acting like outsiders. Before they could even sit down, Lan Po Human Sovereign immediately summoned some little ghosts and ordered, “The Human Sovereign Qin from the mortal world has arrived. Hurry and prepare some fine dishes to entertain him!”
One green-skinned little ghost dared to speak up, “Honorable lords, living people cannot eat the food of Fengdu. Look, the Human Sovereign Qin is just a skeleton—he has no flesh, blood, or stomach. He can’t eat anything.”
The Second Ancestor Human Sovereign barked, “Nonsense! Of course, it’s not for him to eat—it’s for us to eat! I am the First Ancestor’s disciple—can’t I eat? Hurry and prepare!”
Many green-skinned little ghosts with fangs and horns fled in panic to prepare the meal. Qin Mu observed those little ghosts, puzzled. They looked similar to the ghost kings of the Qin King Hall, not like creatures from the mortal world. Could they be beings from the Netherworld?
“No one has made offerings to us for years—we’ve nearly starved to death! Take your seats!”
The Second Ancestor struck out a series of hand seals, and instantly, lotuses bloomed from the void within the Five Yang Divine Hall, rising higher and larger, lifting them up.
The little ghosts prepared the food and brought it up. The past Human Sovereigns abandoned all pretense of dignity, wolfing down the food like a storm devouring clouds, finally satisfied.
Qin Mu watched, dumbfounded. These Human Sovereigns acted as if they hadn’t eaten in centuries, with none of the lofty bearing of Human Sovereigns.
The food before him remained untouched because he was just a skeleton, utterly unable to eat.
“If not for the Human Sovereign Qin’s arrival, we wouldn’t have had a full meal. Your master must hold a grudge against me, never visiting our graves, starving me for centuries.”
Qi Kang Human Sovereign sighed, then looked at Qin Mu, saying, “That little brat Su praised you to the skies, saying his disciple is more accomplished than mine. Since you’re here today, let me see how his disciple is more accomplished than mine.”
Qin Mu was caught between laughter and tears: “Qi Kang Grandmaster’s disciple is none other than the Village Chief, isn’t it?”
The other Human Sovereigns also perked up, saying in unison, “Old rules—fight first!”
Qin Mu stood up and bowed to everyone, saying, “Honorable grandmasters and ancestors, this junior is only at the Seven Stars realm. Perhaps we should skip the sparring?”
Qi Kang laughed, “Don’t worry, we won’t bully you. We’ll fight you at the same cultivation level. We won’t hurt you either—we just want to see your cultivation progress and guide your practice.”
Qin Mu showed a troubled expression: “Then it’s better not to fight. I don’t want to bully the honored grandmasters and ancestors. Injuring you wouldn’t be good. To be honest, your techniques and divine abilities are probably outdated…”
The hall fell into dead silence.
“I suddenly want to beat this brat to death…” Yi Shan Human Sovereign muttered under his breath.