Everyone thought there would be a fierce battle, but it was over before everyone could fully react. Everyone was staring at the center of the City God Hall, where a golden rope bound the City God and several ghosts and gods tightly.
The original noisy feeling of ghosts howling and wolves howling suddenly quieted down, leaving only the lingering sound of Ji Yuan's answer.
Jin Xiu, who was originally very frightened, immediately became excited when she heard about the Immortal Binding Rope. She had heard a long time ago that the treasure that the five masters of Xianlai Peak had refined together was a rope, but she had never seen it and didn't know its name. When she saw this situation at this moment, and Ji Yuan said that this treasure had never been used, she naturally thought of the legendary rope treasure.
No matter what, the result of almost no bloodshed at this moment is of course good, but because of the state of the City God, the remaining ghosts and ghost messengers in the underworld are also a little at a loss.
Ji Yuan looked at the dilapidated City God Hall in front of him. The City God was tied up with immortal ropes, and the demonic energy in the sky was also tied up, but some foul smell still remained in the hall.
These auras are not just demonic energy. They are a mixture of Shinto aura, the yin energy of the underworld, and resentment and hostility. They give off a sense of filthiness. The demonic energy itself is merely evil and is not so filthy.
The only place in the entire Jiufeng Cave Heaven where hostility and resentment may exist is the underworld. Perhaps everything has been fine for a long time, but there are problems in this world. Over time, the underworld has become the first breakthrough point for some kind of repression, and the first to bear the brunt is the City God who suppresses the underworld.
The accumulated negativity in the entire cave world rushed towards the underworld. Even a truly moral and righteous god like the City God could not bear it and fell into the evil path without knowing it. Because of the confusion of those in power and the turmoil and war in the world of the living, the City God could easily damage his vitality, and it would be even more difficult for the City God himself to discover it, and perhaps by the time he realized that something was wrong, it was already too late.
In comparison, although the changes that happened to Aze were special, the experience of the City God was more tragic.
Ji Yuan walked forward step by step, and the remaining foul air in the City God Temple automatically dissipated under his feet. Until Ji Yuan walked and stood in front of the City God, due to the effect of the immortal rope, the City God was in a slight tremor at this moment, and he couldn't even make a sound when he opened his mouth.
“He was originally a moral and righteous god, and he lived his entire life as a yin and yang being, but he ended up like this.”
As Ji Yuan had an idea, the bound City God was less restrained and was able to make sounds. At this moment, he no longer looked like the City God before. He was wearing a tattered black robe and his face looked weird and ferocious.
"You, who are you? Jiufeng Mountain shouldn't have a person like you. I thought you were just a new disciple, but I didn't expect you to be wrong."
Ji Yuan didn't smile, but nodded.
"You are right. I am not a disciple of Jiufeng Mountain. I just borrowed the token of the headmaster of Jiufeng Mountain to do something. I won't say more about this matter. Let me ask you, when did you realize that you were corroded by the devil's energy?"
“Hehehe… Hahahahahahaha…”
The City God laughed non-stop with a ferocious look on his face, and had no intention of answering Ji Yuan. After laughing for a while, when Ji Yuan was about to speak, the City God suddenly spoke.
"I know you are an immortal from outer space. I know this world is just a small world created by the immortal of Jiufeng Mountain with his great magic power. As the saying goes, there are mountains beyond mountains and there are heavens beyond heavens. I didn't understand this sentence before, but now I understand it! Birds in cages all want to fly high. Do you understand this feeling, Immortal?"
There are mountains beyond mountains and there are heavens beyond heavens
Many ghosts and gods in the underworld subconsciously looked at Ji Yuan, and even Aze's eyes were full of curiosity.
Although the City God did not answer the question, Ji Yuan was not angry and nodded.
"It is true that there are mountains beyond mountains and heavens beyond heavens, but from another perspective, you are already in the mountains beyond mountains and heavens beyond heavens."
As he spoke, Ji Yuan looked at the judge outside the hall.
"Judge, may I ask, what is the real name of our City God?"
The judge answered quickly.
"Reporting to the Immortal, the City God's real name is An Shuyu, and he was originally a virtuous and famous local scholar."
Ji Yuan nodded and took a few steps closer to the City God. Even the demons showed fear on their faces when facing Ji Yuan at this moment.
"The Immortal Master is a foreign expert. If you can let me go, I will definitely obey your orders and respect you like a king or father!"
Ji Yuan didn't say anything. He didn't need such a son. He simply stretched out a finger and touched the City God's pale forehead.
"Please ask An Shuyu, the City God of Beiling County, to show up."
Faint ripples spread from Jiyuan's fingertips and instantly spread over the City God's body. The City God, who was already full of demonic energy, suddenly began to shake violently, his face shaking constantly, and his head tossing back and forth, as if he was in great pain.
“Uh uh ahh… huh uh uh uh… ah…”
After a few breaths, the City God's expression calmed down. When he opened his eyes again, the madness in his eyes had eased a lot. He stared blankly at Ji Yuan in front of him for a long time before he spoke.
"The God of Sin An Shuyu, I am honored to meet you, Immortal!"
"You don't have to be so polite, City God An. The situation is special now, so please don't blame me for not being able to untie you."
"I understand!"
Among so many ghosts, gods and humans, only Ji Yuan and An Shuyu themselves know best what the situation of the City God is.
"When did City God An realize that he was being corrupted by evil spirits?"
Ji Yuan asked the same question again. At this moment, the City God looked up and recalled, then began to tell the story slowly.
"In fact, for a long time, An didn't know that he was infected with demonic nature. About six hundred years ago, he began to feel mentally exhausted and sometimes felt trapped. After that, he saw many ghosts who had done evil in their lifetime being executed. However, this matter was within my authority, and at most I was in a bad mood. After self-reflection, I didn't think there was a big problem. About four hundred years ago, my practice was always unable to make any progress, and the feeling of irritability became more and more serious..."
As the City God recalled, Ji Yuan gradually understood how he fell into the devil. At first, it was fine. What really made things serious was when wars became more and more frequent in the mortal world. In stable times, the power of incense and vows was guaranteed, and the power of Shinto could resist the erosion of demonic nature. But in turbulent times, the City God himself could easily suffer damage to his vitality, and the incense and vows would be greatly affected. That was the time when demons rose and Taoism declined.
By the time the City God realized the seriousness of the problem, it was already one or two hundred years ago. At that time, he vaguely knew that there was a big problem with his state of mind, and he also consulted the City God of the country. The feedback he got was that he needed to retreat more often to correct his own practice. Then, he unknowingly became what he is now. It was also in the battle with the evil thoughts that the City God inexplicably understood that there was a wider world.
Listening to the City God's narration, Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes, picked out some key points, and asked.
"You said the Great City God asked you to practice self-cultivation in seclusion?"
"That's right. Now that I think about it, there are serious problems. Immortal, please don't take it lightly!"
An Chenghuang is not stupid. He was originally confused by the situation, but now he can see clearly that he is afraid that there is something wrong with the City God himself.
Ji Yuan raised his head, closed his eyes and sighed.
This is a top-down process. As the saying goes, when the sky falls, the tall people will be crushed first. It is really ironic and appropriate here. I don’t know how many years have passed during this period, but by the time Aze gets here, he is already on the third, fourth, or even fifth level.
Ji Yuan lowered his head and opened his eyes, and the City God An Shuyu was looking at him.
"Master, An's cultivation has failed, and his soul is about to die. While I am still conscious, please give me a quick death."
On the side of the City God, the ghosts and gods who were tied to the Immortal Binding Rope together began to struggle constantly after hearing this, and even opened their mouths to bite the Immortal Binding Rope. However, the waves of evil spirits and violent auras were never able to leave their bodies, and they were firmly locked in the Immortal Binding Rope.
Ji Yuan bowed solemnly to the City God.
"Goodbye, Lord City God!"
As he spoke, a wisp of Samadhi True Fire spewed out from Ji Yuan's mouth, covering the City God An Shuyu and several demonized ghosts and gods around him. For a moment, the red and gray flames were blazing, and in a few breaths, they were reduced to ashes along with the demonic energy.
"Goodbye, Lord City God!"
Many ghosts, gods and underworld officials, including the judge and the chief official of the Rewarding and Benevolent Department, bowed and saluted, and bid farewell to him in unison.
The Immortal Binding Rope lost its target, wandered in the air, returned to Ji Yuan's hand, and wrapped around Ji Yuan's arm.
"Master, what should we do?"
The judge asked carefully on the side. The sorrow of the death of the City God could not offset the fear of the ghosts and gods, which increased their uneasiness. Listening to the words of the immortal and the City God, the more they listened, the more creepy it became. There was a feeling that a great catastrophe was coming. Naturally, they regarded Ji Yuan as the backbone at this moment.
"Everyone, please rest assured for now. Please maintain the order of the underworld as usual. The sky will not fall."
…
Half an hour later, Ji Yuan stepped out of the underworld of Beiling County. It was still dark outside and the city was still pitch black.
"Mr. Ji, what should we do?"
Jin Xiu nervously asked Ji Yuan how she, a mere monk, could have encountered such a situation.
"After all, Ji is an outsider, so let your disciples know about this incident first."
As he spoke, Ji Yuan took out a small paper crane from his arms. As soon as the crane reached his palm, it unfolded itself, twisted its neck and stretched its wings, as if it had just woken up. When the small paper crane looked at Ji Yuan, it found that Ji Yuan had hung a token around its neck.
This token was twice as big as the small paper crane. It flapped its wings and flew up, looking curiously at the token swinging beneath its body. On the token were the four golden characters "Five Thunders Obey Orders" engraved in seal script.
Ji Yuan reached out and touched the little paper crane's head, conveying what he saw.
"Go to Jiufeng Mountain and tell Sect Leader Zhao that something big has happened in Jiufeng Cave Heaven."
Upon receiving the order from its master, the little paper crane flew high into the sky without hesitation, then turned into a beam of white light and flew towards the southern sky.
"Mr. Ji... Then, are we still going to see Aaron and the others?"
Aze didn't understand these matters about gods and demons, but he vaguely realized that something had gone wrong. He wondered if Mr. Ji would still take him to see his former partner.
"Don't worry, we will find them."
Ji Yuan said comfortingly, his eyes fixed on the direction where the little paper crane left.