Chapter 65 - The Devil's Dignity Appears
When Ouyang Ming's corpse was delivered to Xi City, in addition to his sons who went out to welcome the coffin into the city, the one who stood at the front was the principal mother of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Ming's wife and the mother of his eldest son, Ouyang Zhong, Xie's. This woman, whom Ouyang Ming loved the least, could take good care of his affairs and family. Ouyang Ming's least favorite woman, but after his death, he was the most capable of taking good care of his affairs and family.
The night before Ouyang Ming left for Nandu, he explained to a few close friends what he would do and then specially asked his subordinates to prepare wine and food to share a drink with Xie in the garden. Ouyang Ming said to Xie ruefully, "I know that you were not willing to marry me in the first place, and I also know that you and I haven't had much to talk about besides Zhong'er for so many years. But you have been very patient, and you handle the family's big and small things properly. I owe you a word of apology, and I also owe you a word of hard work."
Xie had been with Ouyang Ming for almost twenty years, and even if she hadn't shared the same bed day in and day out, she had always lived under the same roof, and she still knew her husband very well. She wasn't surprised and didn't cry and cry and cry. She just raised the wine cup in her hand, returned the toast to her husband, then drank it all in one go and said, "You and I are husband and wife as one body, one honor and one loss and one loss. The husband's trip is precious; if there is still something that can not be rest assured, account for the concubine. The concubine will certainly allow a husband to share the worry."
"I know you will help me handle everything, whether the entire Ouyang clan or our Chong'er. In this life, I can have a child-like Chong'er; I am really very satisfied. However." Ouyang Ming took his lady's hand; this intimate gesture surprised Xie. "You! Looking soft and weak, you are tough inside, stronger than me. This time, when I go to Nandu to meet Dongfang Chang, it's very likely that I won't be able to return. When the time comes, you should not tell Chong'er the news; he is still fighting the Dingling army in Zong Cheng City, and I don't want to distract him. There is also this last bloodline of the Xiao family. If it also perishes in the battle, I, Ouyang Ming, will be a sinner for the ages. I want to entrust you with the burden of caring for Little Monarch as he grows into adulthood. I still hope that your Ladyship will fulfill me!" After Ouyang Ming finished speaking, he gave Madam Xie a solemn bow, bending his knees.
Xie was so surprised that she couldn't speak for a long time. All she could think of was the possibility that her husband might not be able to return, and all she could think of was that in case there really was a day when she did have to focus on the greater good and couldn't pass the news on to her son, Ouyang Zhong. But she didn't expect that such a significant matter as raising the king of the country would also spread out to her, a woman's family. It seemed that the current Zhongming court, full of civil and military personnel, no longer had a few people they could rely on. With tears in her eyes, Xie knelt and held Ouyang Ming's with both hands before solemnly replying, "Concubine will not dishonor my order." Finally, this middle-aged couple opened the knot of their hearts for many years on such a farewell night, hugging each other tightly and losing their voices.
When Ouyang Ming's hearse carriage arrived at Xi City, Mrs. Xie held back her tears. She led the whole clan, old and young, and the entire court officials to send the Supervisory Minister, the First Grade Sage, and the Patriarch of the Ouyang Family into the hearse, with the tablets going to the clan's ancestral halls for enshrinement. And she, dressed in mourning clothes, unwrapped the will that her husband had left for her before he left. She strongly supported her shaking body and then declared with all her strength to the ministers, generals, and people gathered outside the spiritual hall, "Everyone, I am the main wife of the Supervising Minister's first-ranked Minister Ouyang Ming, the first-ranked enjoined wife Xie Larkhuan, who was originally a woman, living deep in the backyard of the mansion and not asking questions about the world, however, the country is already in the stormy and dangerous times. My husband has already sacrificed his life for his country, and my son is fighting against the foreign enemies. They are all good Erlangs of my Zhongming! They are all true heroes who protect our country and our people! Today, I implore all of you, men and women, young and old, regardless of your status, as long as you are still a subject of Zhongming, for the sake of our families, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, take up the responsibility of defending our country."
The military and civilians of the entire Xi City looked at the fact that the Prime Minister had all sacrificed their lives for the country and then looked at the bloody left ears of the 1,000 warriors who had died in battle; all of them had their blood boiling, and genuine anger was thus ignited. The whole city was highly united, and several neighboring counties and villages also joined in the enthusiasm of fighting against the enemy at all times. In this moment of death, Ouyang Ming's death is heavier than Mount Taishan.
According to Ouyang Ming's previous instructions and orders, when the enemy approaches the city at a critical moment, Xie Lark Ring must bring Little Monarch Xiao Qing back to the secret room of the Imperial City of Zongcheng to escape from the chaos of war. Leave a child of similar age in Xi City as a stand-in and be protected by a few close ministers to aid and protect him in order to confuse the public so that the people of Nandu and Yue Xi City still have that little bit of scruple.
The whole city must defend Xi City. The troops sent out before must be withdrawn. Only one hundred elite soldiers are needed to protect Mrs. Xie and the little king, who quietly sneak into the vertical city. Even Ouyang Zhong and Wei Kongji need to learn about this matter; confidentiality can not be leaked half a bit of the wind.
If any of the enemies intercepts them, they would rather kill themselves for the sake of justice than be captured and humiliated. Mrs. Xie, as well as the young master, all wore poison and daggers with them, ready to martyr themselves at any time.
After the first encounter with Dingling's army, Wei Kongji took Ouyang Zhong, Shan Xiaohu, Fox Xiaxia, and several lieutenants to analyze the battle countermeasures carefully.
Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu still gave the antidote sent by Feng Xijian to the entire city's military and civilian population in an undetectable manner at the right time, so there was no large-scale chaos and disaster caused by consuming the fruits of the demon seed. However, Xiao Feifei produced some unexpected changes because of taking the antidote.
Xiao Feifei, who originally had some residual demonic poison in her body, after eating the fruit of the demon seed, the demonic qi, which had been suppressed with great difficulty before, once again worsened. The whole person started to be hysterical and crazy again. Ouyang Zhong was often not by her side to watch over her because he had to lead his troops to war, so much so that when Xiao Feifei was found, she was already covered in blood, her skin was covered in black mesh marks, and her eyes were filled with an evil aura. She was hiding in the corner of the small courtyard, a kitchen knife for cooking in her hand, slashing at everyone. The blood on her body was that of the old steward who took care of her living and rising. Ouyang Zhong touched the old steward's nostrils but was already out of breath. Ouyang Zhong was chagrined, but he was helpless to be distracted. Fox Xiaxia overpowered Xiao Feifei, grabbed the kitchen knife, and knocked her out with a slap; Shan Xiaohu hurriedly gave her an antidote to the poison.
When Xiao Feifei woke up again, she had regained her consciousness. She remembered how she rejoiced because she was able to help Ouyang Zhong and the people of the whole city were able to solve the problem of eating; she remembered how the old steward taught her how to make lotus root soup and how to peel the rhododendrons and water chestnuts; she remembered that when she was so hot and dry that her veins were about to burst after she had eaten the bowl of lotus root soup, the old steward was going to come to help her go back to the bed and take a rest. Then the old steward turned into a monster in front of her eyes, so she was so scared that she had to attack the chopper in her hand with it. She was so frightened that she had to attack with the kitchen knife in her hand to protect herself.
However, regaining her sanity and clarity, whether she wanted to admit it or not, she had killed the last person close to her who had been genuinely kind to her. It was the first time she had ever killed anyone. She cried tears of remorse, but she could not bring the old steward back from the dead, no matter how much she regretted it. She came out of the room trembling, and when she came face to face, she saw Ouyang Zhong Fox Xiaxia and the others standing in the courtyard with a stony face and the old steward's body covered with a white cloth in the corner of the courtyard.
Ouyang Zhong went forward to stop her and said softly, "I know that this can not blame you, but people can not return from the dead. You do not feel too sad. Tomorrow, I will personally give the old steward a ride and hold a state funeral together with all the brothers who died in battle. You've just been detoxified. Your body needs to be observed again. I'll take care of the rest."
Xiao Fei Fei looked up at Ouyang Zhong; all the grievances and panic surged to her heart; she hugged Ouyang Zhong tightly and wept. Then, with Ouyang Zhong's assistance, she came to the old steward's corpse and flung herself down on her knees. She sadly trembled and gently gripped the old steward's hand; the cold and stiff touch made her sad and scared as if she was overcharged and spread away again. But no matter what, she was still very guilty to the old steward, so she heavily kowtowed three times. For her as the Prideful Sun County Princess, other than her parents and her former monarch uncle Xiao Zhan, she had hardly ever knelt to anyone. This was the first time she had knelt to worship a palace chamberlain who took care of her and had a lowly status, and likewise, someone who loved her like a grandfather.
Just when the old steward's unfortunate death still saddened people, something strange appeared. The white cloth on the old steward's body moved. This startled several people. Could it be that they had seen a ghost? Shan Xiaohu boldly, hurriedly drew away the white cloth. Everyone then sees and understands the original old steward's body, which began to germinate and blossom to grow a tree. With the speed of this fast but incense stick of time, the old steward's body has already disappeared; only this dense tree is growing in the courtyard as if there was originally a tree here.
Xiao Feifei and the other three felt incredulous. Could it be that the demonic poison hadn't been cleared? Or was Xiao Feifei not an average person in the first place? Fox Xiaxia took an arrow step and grabbed Xiao Feifei's hand to take her pulse. Shan Xiaohu also quickly pointed Xiao Feifei's finger at her brow to feel her spiritual sense and primordial spirit. Unfortunately, just with the remaining magic power of Shan Xiaohu and Fox Xiaxia, they could not recognize what was going on with Xiao Feifei, and based on her pulse, she was really just a mortal.
"It's true that no demonic poison exists in the body, but a mortal can have such mana? Even if you and I have full mana, we can't do what she did, right?" Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu communicated their thoughts. Shan Xiaohu shook his head and also expressed that he couldn't understand.
After this incident, Ouyang Zhong decided that he would have to take Xiao Feifei with him wherever he went, whether it was out of care and protection for her or out of the fact that in case she was a little bit different, he could hurry up to deal with it, and in case someone with evil intentions was utilizing Xiao Feifei's exceptional physique, I'm afraid that it would be detrimental to Zongcheng.
Ouyang Zhong's worry was not without reason; simultaneously, stationed in the Dingling advance army camp twenty miles away from Zong Cheng City, Tuoba Xian received a secret report from a crow. This crow was not an ordinary bird but a paper puppet manipulated by demonic magic. When the crow reaches Tuoba Xian's hand, it instantly transforms into a letter: Ouyang Zhong's father has died and can be attacked. Then Tuoba Xian gently tapped the center of the letter paper, and the letter burned into ashes out of thin air.
Alone in his tent, Tuoba Xian was engrossed in polishing a dagger made from a human thigh bone, a pair of daggers that came from the same human thigh bone as the one belonging to his brother, Tuoba Cheng, both from the thigh bone of the same person, the thigh bone of their typical mother, Zhao Qian'er. From the day he was born, Tuoba Xian lost his mother and was brought up by his older brother Tuoba Cheng from a young age, so he had no memory or feelings for his mother at all. But this kind of bloodline affection is very delicate. When he first touched this dagger, the young man inexplicably let out a mournful cry in grief. This pair of daggers is their cousin's uncle from South East Chang, who personally handed them a "meet gift."
Six years ago, when his brother Tuoba Cheng took him alone to a small forest, this place was only ten miles from the North Hope City of Zhongming Kingdom. Here, the two brothers met a masked man who claimed to be their cousin's uncle, their mother's cousin. Brother Tuoba Cheng initially did not want to take care of such an unknown person, so they drew out the waist of the machete to cut to him. However, this strange man easily avoids Tuoba Cheng's moves and then reads a phrase on the change out of several paper crows. Crows toward Tuoba Cheng are chaotic, pecking and scratching; no matter how Tuoba Cheng dodges, blocking is also not helpful, and ultimately was subdued by these crows lying on the ground and unable to move. Only four-year-old Tuoba Xian was scared. Wow, cry, he thought he was going to die with his brother in this place. However, only to see the man gently wave his hand, the crows turned into a ball of fire and instantly burned into ashes. With blood on the corner of his mouth, his brother braced himself and stood up, staring viciously at the man. Unexpectedly, the man's eyes turned red, and only after a long time did he say, "Both of your brothers' eyes are very much like your mother's."
Tuoba Xian had never seen his mother, but his brother Tuoba Cheng had, and after he was surprised, he finally believed that this man knew his mother. At that time, after his mother died, she was quickly discarded by his father like garbage on the grassland, saying that he wanted to pay tribute to the gods. Tuoba Cheng could not stop it, so he had to quietly run out of the camp to look for his mother's body. But after a night of searching, we also did not find; even then, the discarded place did not have any traces of wild animals biting, as if the mother had disappeared out of thin air.
At this time, this strange man told the brothers their mother was brought back to the homeland and properly buried; Tuoba Cheng's heart finally a stone fell to the ground. However, when the man handed them the mother's leg bone dagger, Tuoba Cheng felt that the person before him was more ferocious than his father, such as the devil. What he did not know at the time was that the man had indeed become a parasitic vessel for the devil; both his body and soul had already entered the devil. However, the man still asked them to each have a leg bone dagger; by relying on the dagger, they would be able to obtain divine power from it, and they would also be able to contact their cousin's uncle, who was far away in Nandu at any time.
Ten years ago in Nandu, Dongfang Chang fell down drunk in front of Zhao Qian'er's grave, and in his grief, he even took out the dagger to die and follow his beloved. Just as he stabbed the sword into his heart, a powerful force captured him. He entered an alien space and time that was beyond reality, where there was no sound, light, or color except pitch-black. He shouted in terror and looked for an exit everywhere, but no matter what he did, he couldn't escape, and he couldn't even hear his voice when he shouted. It was as if he had shut down his five senses and was in chaos. He could not see, hear, smell, or perceive anything. He was entirely in a void. When he was in despair, he suddenly heard a familiar voice, Qian'er's voice: "Dongfang Chang!"
Dongfang Chang could vaguely and finally recognize a tall figure standing in front of him. The voice was coming from there, but the figure didn't look like Qian'er. He asked alertly, "Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me? You summoned me." The figure continued to reply in Qian'er's voice.
"I pine for my cousin Zhao Qian'er, but you are not her."
"It's true that I'm not Zhao Qian'er. I'm merely borrowing her body. Before she died, she sacrificed her soul to this honored one, who is the demonic honored one who rules over all darkness and evil. This father can be anyone, any form, any look and voice. If you are not used to looking at this honored one and hearing that it is indeed Qian'er's voice, what do you think of this? Hahahahahahahaha!" The Devil Dignity transformed into Dongfang Chang's appearance and voice, and facing Dongfang Chang himself, he continued, "This Dignity is the evil origin of thousands of worlds, a collection of all the evil thoughts that sprout from the hearts of thousands of living beings. I am immortal, and as long as any evil thought exists in the world, whether it is jealousy, hate, hatred, resentment, greed, or lust, it will become my sustenance and the spell that summons forth me. Dongfang Chang, you understand, don't you? It was you who summoned out this honored one. It was this honored one who saved you. If you submit to this Demon, I will help you achieve what you want and realize your revenge!"
The Demon Dignitary took out Zhao Qian'er's corpse, used a spell to craft two of her thigh bones into daggers, and handed them to Dongfang Chang. "Remember, I will help you fulfill your vengeance; the price is that you have to sacrifice your soul for me."
Dongfang Chang used the human bone dagger to slice his palm gently, and blood then dripped down, thus entering into a blood spell alliance with the Demon Lord. Because of this, Dongfang Chang's body and mind became parasitic places for the Demon Zun, and Dongfang Chang possessed powerful and terrifying strength and even spells, which allowed him to manipulate the faraway crow puppets to attack anyone and anywhere, and at the same time, with the help of the spells, he could also pass secret messages with the two brothers, Tuoba Cheng and Tuoba Xian, to manipulate the current situation and turn the plan into reality step by step.
Only, what he didn't expect was that when all the plans were in order, a girl named Linghu Xian appeared. This young girl even has magic power and used the Samadhi fire to turn into a wall of fire, which killed Tuoba Cheng and hindered the timing of Dingling's army's southward attack on Zhongming. There is also Ouyang Zhong, who is the son of his good friend Ouyang Ming, who has also become a stumbling block to the realization of the plan. Dongfang Chang secretly decided that no one, no matter who they were, could affect his grand plan of revenge.
Linghu Xian could not, and Ouyang Ming's father and son also could not! People block killers, and gods block killers!