Stranger Danger

A so-called View Mound was basically a burial mound created from the bodies of one’s enemy. Its purpose was to show off one’s martial merit.

This View Mount was over ten meters tall and made from countless corpses, ice and snow. At first glance, there had to be several hundred bodies at least.

Lu Tai Yuan was close to the arctic regions. It was so close then it wasn’t an exaggeration to say one’ breath would freeze into ice as soon as it left one’s mouth. Therefore, the corpses hadn’t rotted or attracted any pests.

Not only that, their final expressions—fear, shock, resistance, resentment, hatred and more—looked so lifelike it was disturbing.

Maybe it was because there were too many dead bodies, but the corpses’ blood was surprisingly warm and fluid. They flowed down the View Mound, melted ice and snow, and formed a scarlet blood pool on the ground.

Steam was visibly rising from the blood pool, and the blood stench was such that one could smell them even from a full five kilometers away. It added even more savagery and cruelty to the already cruel scene.

It was at this moment the space above the View Mound suddenly rippled unnaturally. Then, a figure appeared out of nowhere.

The figure was wearing a long purple qilin robe. His countenance was noble, dignified, and naturally imposing.

“This low general Ying Lou greets the Left Counselor!”

The muscular man immediately dropped to one knee. The soldiers behind him did the same while keeping their spears straight. The sound of clattering metal was like a torrent.

“We greet the left Counselor!”

“Rise,” the figure ordered before asking, “How did it go, Ying Lou?”

Ying Lou answered, “It is done. The outsiders have been eliminated, and the Viewing Mounds are built.”

“You didn’t miss anything, did you?” The figure asked.

“Worry not, Left Counselor. I did not,” Ying Lou answered. “Should there be any, feel free to punish this low general for his crimes!”

“Well done and good work, Ying Lou. If everything goes smoothly tonight, I shall report to the duke and request that he rewards you all!” The figure promised.

“Thank you, Left Counselor.”

“Thank you, Left Counselor.”

Everyone responded in kind.

“Alright. Keep watch and continue to guard the View Mound. I need to report to the duke now,” the figure instructed.

“As you command.” Ying Lou saluted him. “See you later, Left Counselor.”

With that said, the figure on top of the Viewing Mound slowly disappeared into nothing.

……

At the same time, the man who just appeared on the Viewing Mound earlier, the Left Counselor Lu Daoweng, was walking up to a man and a woman.

The man was in his forties and wearing an indigo silver dragon robe. His appearance was handsome, and his aura was potent and deep. He and the space behind him felt inviolable even though he was just standing there. ℟âɴỐβÊṤ

Standing beside him was a primly dressed woman with a poised bearing. She was also quite beautiful, though her lips were thin, and her eyes were sharp. They made her look harsh and merciless.

Standing further behind the man and woman were several guards.

“I greet you, my lord, my lady.”

Lu Daoweng saluted them both.

“How did it go, Daoweng?” The man a.k.a the North Duke asked.

Lu Daoweng replied, “All the outsiders on Lu Tai Yuan have been dealt with. Viewing Mounds have been built on all four cardinal directions. We may begin.”

“Very well. Without further ado, let’s begin!”

The North Duke produced a square seal from his sleeve. Indigo in color and with nary a scratch on its surface, the square seal was covered in carvings of a dragon and a tiger. The words “Duke of Northern Sea / Longevity and Prosperity” were also engraved on its surface. It looked both noble and impressive.

The square seal was the imperial seal used by the Northern Sea Empire back in the day. It was a symbol of the empire and a powerful Strange Artifact. “When the seal appears, the people of the Northern Sea obey, and peace be with the four seas.” Hence, the seal was named the Northern Sea Seal.

At the very beginning, the words engraved on the Northern Sea Seal was really, “Master of Northern Sea, Longevity and Prosperity”. However, after the Northern Sea Empire was no more, and the ruler “demoted” himself to a Duke, the words “Master of Northern Sea” was no longer suitable. So, the four nations tinkered with the Strange Artifact a little and changed the wording to “Duke of Northern Sea”. The name of the seal was also changed to North Duke Seal.

The difference was just one word for both the words on the seal and the name of the seal, but the difference was like night and day.

The Northern Sea Seal used to be the symbol of the empire and was empowered by the Will of the People and the Will of the Empire. Its very fate was bound to the fate of the Northern Sea Empire. However, after the naming was changed from “Master of Northern Sea” to “Duke of Northern Sea”, its Will of the Empire was stripped, and it no longer received the Will of the People. From here on out, the North Duke Office could only ever have a Duke. They would never be able to found a nation, and the ruler could never call themselves a Duke again. This one “minor” change cut off any hope for the North Duke Office to restore their empire.

Besides that, the Northern Sea Seal was a bonafide Ancient-class Strange Artifact capable of wielding the Will of the Empire and suppressing the Northern Sea at the height of the Northern Sea Empire’s power. The saying, “When the seal appears, the people of the Northern Sea obey, and peace be with the four seas” was neither a lie nor an exaggeration.

Unfortunately, after the Northern Sea Seal turned into the North Duke Seal, it was no longer empowered by the Will of the Empire and declined into a Disaster-class Strange Artifact instead. Naturally, its powers were a pale shadow of what it used to be.

But of course, it was still a Disaster-class Strange Artifact. To underestimate it was to put one’s life in jeopardy.

The next moment, the North Duke Seal began flying into the air. Every time it flew up three meters, its light would grow a bit brighter. Like the rising sun, it cast countless light rays upon heaven and earth when it reached the center of the sky.

At the same time, scarlet pillars of light burst out of the northern, southern, eastern and western direction of the Lu Tai Yuan. It merged with the North Duke Seal and caused it to gradually change from indigo to crimson. The blue light the North Duke Seal was emitting had turned red as well.

When the North Duke Seal had turned completely red, a terrifying, immense aura permeated heaven and earth.

The North Duke Seal abruptly rose a meter higher in the sky before plummeting toward the earth. It was like a divine being was holding the seal and—using the blood as the ink, and the earth as the paper—stamping it.

When the seal landed, heaven and earth shook, and the massive words “Duke of Northern Sea, Longevity and Prosperity” appeared in the sky like a bloody sun. It dyed what was a pure white world blood red.

After that, the eight bloody words spread out in every direction and slowly encompassed the entire Lu Tai Yuan. From a distance, it looked like a gigantic red cover had trapped the entire Lu Tai Yuan, and eight bloody dragons were encircling it. It made it impossible for those outside to see into Lu Tai Yuan.

“Ah… there’s still a couple of rats, I see. They hid themselves well.” It was at this moment the North Duke suddenly let out a cold chuckle. “Too bad you’re still going to die!”

The North Duke pointed, and several bloody beams shot out of the North Duke Seal and scattered in every direction.

……

“Heavens above, what the fuck possessed the North Duke Office to slaughter so many people?”

Traveling deep underground, a short man was covering a wound on his shoulder and muttering with a dark expression on his face.

His name was Pan Lin, and he was one of the people participating in the Ghost Liberation Festival during the eight of August. However, several days ago, the North Duke Office suddenly sealed off the entire Lu Tai Yuan and began killing everyone they met.

Although plenty of jianghu people participated in the Ghost Liberation Festival each year, they were usually wanderers with no resource or background or sect members of minor sects. Not only that, the North Duke Office had dispatched all of their elites including the Six Generals and the Nine Ministers. Naturally, they were no match. Like ants, over half of them were massacred on the first exchange, leaving the survivors with no choice but to run.

However, it was as if everyone in the North Duke Office was possessed by the demon of bloodthirst. They had chased down every last soul and taken their lives.

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