Chapter 255: The Ghost Country is Empty
“There’s still incense?!”
What kind of person would worship a god that would not respond? Especially when there are other options. You know, even a village like Fengjia Village with a population of over a hundred households has a land god to worship.
Feng Qingan Ke knew human nature too well. If you make an effort, you want to be rewarded. If you offer incense but don't get what you want, it may be okay once or twice, but if it happens many times, there is no need to say anything, the pilgrims will naturally change the deity to worship. The competition in Shintoism is so fierce.
It was really hard for the young man to imagine how a ghost or god who could only stay in the underworld, could not go to the human world, and could only maintain his divinity and had no power to cast spells, could maintain his faith in the human world.
He couldn't even display his magical powers to respond to his believers. So what kind of person would continuously worship a god who would not give them any feedback.
With this curiosity, Feng Qing'an's gaze traced back to the source of the pure power of incense and wishes that surged from the dark. Then, he caught a glimpse of the familiar scenery, especially the continuous snow-capped mountains that stretched between heaven and earth like a sleeping dragon.
Northern Xinjiang
Feng Qing'an recognized them at the first sight, and some guesses emerged in his mind. He roughly knew who these people were, the ghosts and gods who had lost their place in the sacrifice and would not give any response.
Combined with the ghost's life experience, it is clear at a glance. If so, it is not surprising. The scene that appeared in front of Feng Qingan later also proved his guess.
There are many large and small villages scattered all over the place at the foot of the snow-capped mountain. The clothing of the men and women there is very different from that of the people in the Great Jin Pass, and their words and actions reveal a wild and tough atmosphere.
In these villages, even the women were equipped with swords and carried spears. The men were even more so. Every household raised war horses and hung longbows on the walls. Even when they were talking to others, they had weapons in their hands.
In this village that could be called barbarian or even wild, most of them worship a general. Feng Qingan even saw a tablet with the following inscription on it:
Worship the position of General Xu Wuding!
Simple and plain, without too much decoration and embellishment, but even so, Feng Qing'an could see that in many seemingly barbaric villages, the men would kowtow and pray for blessings in front of the general's tablets enshrined in the village when they went out.
What that group of humans were offering sacrifices to was not ghosts or gods, but a general who fought bravely for them. They asked for nothing more from the general, because the general had already shed his blood on the land where they had lived for generations.
"I see!"
Feng Qingan sighed and understood his doubts.
Strands of incredibly pure incense were still flowing from the human world at this moment, and then cast into Xu Wuding's ghostly body.
Even though his entire body was filled with surging and boiling negative energy, and he was surrounded by evil spirits, his eyes were still bright and shining, like the sun across the sky.
As long as the incense is burning, the gods will never die!
This is true for ordinary incense and ghosts, but for General Xu Wuding, it is more than that.
This General Xu is truly too special, different from ordinary ghosts and gods, because the incense and vows that maintain his divinity are of the purest nature, with almost no heavy desires and karma of mortals.
This is the incense and prayer power that the gods desire most, because it can only be provided by believers who do not ask for anything from the gods. However, human desires are insatiable, and how many people will kowtow to the gods when they have no desires or requests?
"Second Master Feng, I have already called together all the soldiers under my command. Please select the troops!"
Just when Feng Qing'an's gaze inadvertently turned to the northern border of the Great Jin Dynasty in the mortal world, General Xu had already summoned out the ghost army he had trained during his short stay in the underworld, conquering many ghosts.
He was not a pedantic person with rigid thinking and stubbornness. He just had his own persistence. When he died in battle in the northern border, he was just over 30 years old.
Being in the netherworld, alone, guarding the passage between the two worlds, no matter how careful he is, he will eventually make mistakes and there will be times when he cannot take care of things. Conquering the ghosts and using them for his own benefit is the best choice.
"Well, OK!"
Feng Qing'an withdrew his gaze and looked in front of him. At this moment, the pure yang energy that had quietly emerged in his eyes also completely retreated. The pure willpower that had surged towards General Xu in the dark was no longer visible.
The fact that the power of vows could come across boundaries was enough to prove how special it was. No wonder this general, even in the underworld, still fell into the ranks of ghosts and maintained his divinity.
"That's all?"
What he had just seen refreshed Feng Qing'an's perception of this general, but when he saw the ghost army numbering less than a thousand in front of him, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, sir!"
Xu Wuding cupped his hands, his expression unchanged.
Even though there were only so many ghosts, he had carefully selected each one. He had strict requirements, and ordinary ghosts were not pleasing to him.
However, he could at least guarantee one thing, that is, these ghosts had no history of devouring the blood and souls of humans, they just had an instinctive desire for the human world.
If he really lets go, there will be many ghosts willing to join his army. After all, he is now the King of Ghosts.
When it comes to admiring the strong, ghosts can be said to be the most shameless. Submitting to the strong is a natural thing for them.
In fact, it is not just ghosts, it is the same for all races. Admiration for strength is the instinct of all living things.
After all, the types of ethnic groups that choose not to surrender in the face of power are extremely rare, and these ethnic groups will often disappear in the long river of time without leaving any trace, and will disappear from then on.
"No, there's nothing to be disappointed about. I was just wondering if I should borrow your name to ask Donghuang for another beast cavalry."
Feng Qingan touched his chin.
It's not that he didn't trust this general. After all, he had provoked seven beast kings during his lifetime. At that time, he had no power at all. The one he led was just an army that had no reinforcements and could only rely on the enemy for food.
Now the general himself can rival the Ghost King. Although the number of ghosts he has selected is smaller, they are powerful at a glance. Feng Qingan believes this.
But Feng Qing'an still felt that it was too few. Compared to fighting with a small number against a large number and displaying the art of command, Feng Qing'an preferred to crush with absolute advantage and numbers.
A million troops are the best way to go. No matter how many tricks you have, no matter how many calculations you make, as long as you deploy your troops and push forward smoothly, nothing can happen.
"No need, sir. If you insist on the Beast Cavalry, you can recruit and form one on the spot after I conquer a ghost country. There is no need to trouble the king."
When Xu Wuding heard Feng Qing'an's words, he immediately said with a serious face that although he was very touched by the king's appreciation of him, he had no intention of pledging allegiance to him, so he did not want to have too much contact with him and would rather avoid meeting him if possible.
"Set up on the spot?"
Feng Qingan was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement. There was really no need to ask Donghuang for everything. If you wanted a mighty and powerful army that obeyed orders, you could form one yourself. After all, all the ghosts in the netherworld could be soldiers.
"That's good, let's do as you say!"
"May I ask, sir, when will we set out?"
Seeing that Feng Qing'an listened to and adopted his suggestion, Xu Wuding asked decisively.
"Um……"
Feng Qing'an looked down at the girl in his arms, then looked at the little phoenix Youyou who had revealed its true form beside him. He pondered for a moment. He had originally planned to send Nan Ge to the royal capital, but now it seems that there is no need.
It was just an attack on a ghost country. At most, he would encounter a high-ranking ghost king. With his current ability, could he not handle it? Even if there were multiple ghost kings in that ghost country, it would not be a big problem. Even if he was defeated, he could still retreat.
If it really doesn't work, he can draw his sword. Feng Qing'an really doesn't think that there are many ghost kings in the underworld who can escape the punishment of the sword of the gods that slays dragons.
"Now."
“Yes!”
Needless to say, Feng Qing'an just greeted Donghuang in the soul contract and told him that he had brought Nan Ge here and was going to take her with him to conquer the Ghost Kingdom.
"Um!"
Dong Huang was silent for a moment about Feng Qingan's behavior, and then responded very calmly, as if she had no special opinion about it, even though she was her sister.
"You won't let me send Nan Ge over?"
After a long silence, Feng Qing'an was the first to lose his patience and couldn't help but ask.
"It's time for her to grow up."
Dong Huang responded calmly.
"I see."
"If you encounter unmanageable danger, don't force yourself, call me immediately."
"Know."
Feng Qingan immediately gave this assurance to the king.
"Let's go!"
The army is marching out!
However, although it is called a large army, even if Feng Qing'an and his party are included, there are less than a thousand of them. Compared with the mighty army formations of other ghost kings that stretch for dozens of miles, it is extremely shabby and not even a fraction of them.
However, even such a shabby expeditionary army, while following the directions and signposts given by Donghuang, burst out with extremely amazing fighting power after encountering the first ghost country that had not surrendered to Youhuang Kingdom.
After passing through the darkness and nothingness, he set foot in a new and unfamiliar land of the underworld. After encountering the first ghost town, Xu Wuding sent ghosts who were good at hiding to blend into the city and gather information.
The main purpose was to inquire about the strength of the Ghost King in this strange ghost country, and whether there were any transcendent beings like ghost immortals. If so, either take a detour or go back to find Donghuang.
The result is obvious. There is only one black-horned ghost king here. It is said that he is very cruel and likes to devour little ghosts, but his favorite are the living souls from the human world.
So, after several ghost scouts were sent out and returned from all directions, they reported and summarized the news one by one.
The Ghost King general drew out a bone sword with an expressionless face, then aimed at the ghost town not far away that was crawling on the gray land like a giant beast, and chopped it down.
Boom boom
It was as if a sword of divine punishment roared down from the sky, and the ghost town filled with yin energy, evil spirits, resentment and evil spirits was split into two on the spot. Under the falling sword of divine punishment, countless ghosts did not even have time to utter a single scream before they were reduced to ashes on the spot.
A terrifying sword mark was imprinted on the earth, dividing the ghost town on the ground into two. In the ghost town, the remaining ghosts swarmed out in panic like frightened birds, fleeing in all directions, not daring to stay.
The aura of the Ghost King was undoubtedly evident at this moment. No ghost dared to stay in the city. Facing the wrath of a Ghost King, although they didn't know why the Ghost King was angry, at this moment, the right thing to do was to escape.
“Leave no one behind!”
In the underworld, Xu Wuding, who was a general of the human race in his lifetime, issued the order to massacre the city without any hesitation.
Roar! Ouch! Hiss~
Hundreds of ghosts suddenly swarmed out from the side of the general who commanded them. Although their numbers were small, they were carefully selected by a ghost king. Faced with a group of ghosts who had no will to fight and dared not resist, it was naturally a one-sided massacre.
"Are you planning to attack like this?"
Feng Qingan, who was watching the whole process, had a subtle expression on his face. This was much simpler and more brutal than he had imagined.
"It is not difficult to conquer the ghost kingdom. All you need to do is kill the strongest ghost king or make them surrender."
"Are you planning to lure out the Ghost King by slaughtering the city?"
Feng Qing'an understood his plan. As long as they kept killing one Ghost King after another, the Ghost King would show up sooner or later, and they wouldn't need to take the initiative to look for him.
"The ghost king who rules this ghost country is not very strong. With the aura I have revealed, it is impossible for it to be afraid and it will definitely show up."
“That makes sense.”
Feng Qing'an nodded, and in less than half a minute, black air surged like waves and came overwhelming. A ghost king with two heads and four arms appeared in the tide of black air.
However, before the ghost king could open his mouth to speak, and Feng Qing'an hadn't even assessed its fighting power, he saw the thin beak of a pitch-black phoenix, which was larger than the ghost king's body, pecking down from higher in the sky.
Just like a chick pecking at rice, with a scream of panic, astonishment, and unwillingness, this Ghost King was swallowed up without any dignity by the dark phoenix shadow that only showed its head from the sky.
“…”
Feng Qing'an looked down at the little phoenix smacking its lips on his shoulder, and remained silent. Although the ghost king's appearance was very impressive, he did not feel the slightest sense of crisis, and it was over too quickly.
"What's wrong?"
The little phoenix raised its head and stared at Feng Qing'an with a pair of big, dark and round eyes.
"Nothing, just don't do anything without my order from now on."
Feng Qing'an warned that if they had to let Little Phoenix take care of everything along the way, what experience would the little guys under his command, including Heishan, get?
Are you picking up what the little phoenix has left over?
Although it's not much different, it can't be like this.
"good."
Little Phoenix agreed immediately.
The first ghost king he met when he entered the ghost kingdom for the first time died so hastily that Feng Qingan didn't even bother to stay there.
After letting Xu Wuding reluctantly pick a group of ghosts to supplement the soldiers, they continued to move forward in the direction of the Ghost Kingdom of the Wolf. Before long, Feng Qingan and his party arrived at the territory of another ghost kingdom.
However, the situation in this ghost country's territory was far beyond their expectations.
"Where are the ghosts? Where have all the ghosts here gone?"
In the nearly empty ghost town, the young man couldn't help but ask, the situation in this ghost country was very abnormal, even the number of pale white ghosts flying in the sky was much less than in other places in the underworld, and no one knew where they had gone.
"The human world! The ghost king here might have descended to the human world."
The little phoenix who had lived in the underworld for a long time gave a reasonable possibility. As soon as these words came out, Xu Wuding's expression suddenly changed.
