Above the Great Dao

For the people around Qianyang Mountain, this night felt incredibly long. Unusual roars echoed from outside the villages, and a sinister wind filled with evil qi swept through, chilling and terrifying. They spent the night in trepidation, finally waiting for the break of dawn.

Chen Tang, Hu Feifei, and others immediately set out to relocate the villagers and townsfolk.

Seizing the daylight, they relocated as many people as possible to the mountain where the Qianyang Mountain Lord Temple was located, for at night, they could receive the protection of the Qianyang Mountain Lord.

More importantly, sunlight shone from the temple, illuminating the entire mountain, making it a rare sanctuary for survival!

However, relocating these families from towns and cities to the mountains was no easy task. Some were concerned about their wealth, some were nostalgic, and some followed blindly, while others negotiated with the authorities for money before they would move. Others insisted on bringing all their possessions; all sorts of odd requests were encountered.

County Magistrate Hu simply summoned the fox spirits from the old Hu family residence. The group of demons wielded demon winds to lift people and transport them into the mountains.

As for constructing houses and clearing land, that would happen later. Surviving the current crisis was the immediate priority.

"Feifei Sis has contributed greatly."

True King Chen Shi, carrying Little Dun, also helped in relocating the people and assuring them, watching Hu Feifei shuttle back and forth, and felt deep admiration.

Finally, Hu Feifei mobilized the Hu family's fox spirits to move the Xinxiang County Office, placing it at the mountain top.

"In times of chaos, without authority, disorder arises. Once people's hearts disperse, they are difficult to gather again. Feifei Sis has the talent to govern."

After settling the citizens of Xinxiang County, it was nearly sunset. Chen Shi and Little Dun came to sit by the Stele godmother under the old willow at Yellow Earth Slope, watching the last rays of sunlight.

Even Huangpo Village had relocated, with godmother Sangyu moving to Mountain Lord Peak.

The old willow, Stele godmother, and Scholar Zhu were all that remained here.

Chen Shi invoked the Heavenly Court Token, opening the Little Heavenly Realms and visiting the Heavenly Court Six Ministries. It was desolate, no longer bustling as before.

The Little Heavenly Realms had also become dim, invaded by yin energy. Chen Shi and others had experimented, finding that in the Mortal World, the Little Heavenly Realms could connect to the fifty provinces of the West Bull New Continent, but it had no effect in the underworld.

Chen Shi approached a mural wall, where someone had written with incense ash: "Esteemed lords of the Heavenly Court, are you well? Archivist Zhuge Jian, leaving a note."

Standing in front of the mural, Chen Shi felt a surge of inexplicable emotion.

He grabbed some incense ash.

"Where there is hope, there is a future! Wait for me, everyone. True King Chen Shi of the Heavenly Court, leaving a note."

He wandered alone through the nascent Heavenly Court, the memories of its people still vivid as ever.

Chen Shi left the Little Heavenly Realms.

Outside, the sky was aflame, the firelight blood-red, spreading across the heavens.

Chen Shi gazed up at this scene.

Scholar Zhu also stared blankly at the sky.

"The sunset has never been so beautiful," he murmured.

In the distance, the Great Snake Xuan Shan raised its massive head, gazing at the roiling fiery clouds, which gradually turned a deep red.

Nearby, Granny Zhuang smiled as she watched spirits offering incense sticks in the incense burner, then looked up at the sky where the sunset was fading.

She shifted her gaze to the Great Snake Xuan Shan on the neighboring mountain.

"Take care, old friend."

The sky gradually darkened, the distance between the two mountains widening. One after another, faint peaks emerged between them, and peculiar, formidable Ghost Gods stood upon these peaks, roaring towards the heavens with earth-shattering cries.

In the sky, as the fire clouds dispersed, a gigantic bright moon hung low, ensconced behind the receding fiery clouds.

The first night after the sun vanished.

The silhouette of the Qianyang Mountain Lord manifested, seated at the peak of Qianyang Mountain, with Huang Hu prostrating beneath him, a halo of light over his head.

Surrounding him was the scent of gunpowder and sulfur, with the Nine Yang Thunder Fire swirling within the halo, emitting a rumbling thunder sound.

As his figure appeared, on the surrounding Yin Mountains, one after another, defeated Ghost Gods with bruised faces bowed and submitted to him, showing their allegiance.

Hu Feifei raised incense, stepping forward to place the first incense in the incense burner at the Mountain Lord Temple.

Incense Fire Qi wisped into the temple, merging into the body of the Qianyang Mountain Lord.

"Buzz——"

The roof of the temple shone brightly, sunlight pouring down, dispersing the surrounding yin energy, bathing almost all the people of Xinxiang on the mountain in sunlight.

The temple grew larger and larger, like a celestial dome stretching across the mountains, and the people in the mountains looked up to see a sun from another time and space, gentle and warm, nourishing their bodies and souls.

Hu Feifei let out a sigh of relief, her voice soft and clear, reaching everyone's ears.

"From today on, rise with the sun and rest with its setting, and try not to leave this Mountain Lord Peak."

She mobilized the Six Ministries and Red Mountain Hall's Xinxiang branch's Talisman Masters to build schools, relocated people to construct houses, and gathered all the grain into the county office storehouse, distributing food, kept busy with endless tasks.

The Qianyang Mountain in Xinxiang County was the most dangerous place in the fifty provinces of the West Bull New Continent this time, because it held two levels of Hell, with prehistoric ghosts and monsters entrenched there, fierce and malevolent, amidst elusive demons. Beyond Qianyang Mountain, the other areas were relatively safer.

Yet, paradoxically, Qianyang Mountain was the safest place, guarded by both the Qianyang Mountain Lord and the Ghost Gods of the Heavenly Pond Country, resulting in the fewest casualties among its inhabitants.