Chapter 386: The Might of Ancient Great Demons

“

Boom

!”

A thunderous explosion echoed from the distant mountaintop as countless rocks and debris erupted into the air.

On closer inspection, what seemed like mere rubble were actually enormous boulders, many larger than a human. Amid this storm of massive “sand and dust,” one colossal boulder hurtled through the air with alarming speed.

The size of the boulder was beyond estimation.

It traveled so quickly that it was impossible to examine closely. All that could be discerned was that as soon as it launched, it darkened the sky like a massive cloud, casting a vast shadow over the ground below. Its sheer size caused it to fragment mid-flight, scattering chunks of debris.

Yet even these fragments, falling to the ground, were large enough to crush oxen and elephants into pulp. Each broken piece was the size of a house.

In the blink of an eye, the boulder reached the Daoist.

Even though it had already shrunk significantly during its flight, it remained unimaginably massive—easily larger than the main hall of an imperial palace.

Suddenly, a giant hand emerged from Mount Ye itself, as if formed from the mountain’s rock and soil. Its five fingers spread wide and firmly caught the colossal boulder.

“

Boom

!”

A deafening sound like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting filled the air.

Yet the enormous hand remained completely steady, unwavering under the immense impact.

The massive boulder didn’t harm the Daoist below in the slightest. At most, the resulting gusts of wind, laden with dust and debris, merely rustled his robe and tousled his hair.

Fragments of the boulder, which had broken off mid-flight, flew past the enormous hand and struck the surrounding mountains. Some landed nearby, while others traveled further, creating a cacophony of impacts. Each thunderous sound seemed capable of echoing ten li away, leaving the Longwei Army stationed on the outskirts in a state of fear and confusion.

Meanwhile, behind the Daoist, a gigantic marsh dragon charged forward.

The creature’s massive form was a true relic of ancient beasts, capable of demolishing bridges with ease and swallowing palaces whole. Mountains and forests were no more than uneven paths before its strength. Yet, despite its size, its speed was astonishingly fast.

The Daoist didn’t even glance back. He simply raised one hand and waved behind him.

His five fingers spread wide.

In his palm, a brilliant fire pearl glowed like a miniature sun, condensed from raging flames and radiating an intense, blinding light.

“

Whoosh

!”

The fire pearl shot toward the charging marsh dragon, streaking through the air like a thin line of golden light.

“

Roar

!”

The moment the flames touched the marsh dragon, they spread from a single point into a blazing surface, quickly enveloping more than half of its mountainous body in the blink of an eye.

An earth-shattering roar erupted.

The flames weren’t hot, nor was their spiritual energy particularly aggressive—they couldn’t even penetrate the marsh dragon’s armor-like hide. Yet they seemed to bypass its flesh entirely, scorching its very soul.

The marsh dragon immediately collapsed, thrashing violently.

With each movement, the withered trees on the mountain, no matter how tall, were flattened in an instant. Even the largest boulders were effortlessly sent flying if merely grazed by its tail.

Thick layers of earth, several zhang deep, were swiftly gouged away by the beast’s massive body, exposing the bedrock that formed Mount Ye’s foundation. Yet even that rock began to crack, as if landslides and earthquakes were mere trifles before such an ancient demon.

The marsh dragon rolled and writhed, stirring up violent gusts.

Dust and sand were swept into the air, obscuring the Daoist’s vision.

But this was merely the marsh dragon testing him.

The Daoist stood firm, leaning lightly on his staff, facing the gale head-on.

The marsh dragon’s thrashing continued, its roars echoing endlessly. Yet the Daoist seemed oblivious to the chaos, as though deaf to the thunderous noise and untouched by the storm.

In a moment of reverie, memories surfaced in his mind—

He recalled his early days in Changjing. The State Preceptor had once visited him, discussing his master, and sighed, “Who in this world does not age?”

Later that same year, in early autumn, he rowed along the river. Across from him at the table sat a fox demon, elegant and poised. She looked at him intently and asked, puzzled, “What could possibly make someone give up immortality?”

And just last month, here at Mount Ye, he had faced the State Preceptor again. The once-vibrant man, now old and weary, remarked with his gaze full of emotion, “You haven’t changed at all, fellow Daoist...”

Indeed, immortality held an irresistible allure.

Upon reflection, Song You realized the signs had been everywhere, scattered like spiderweb threads.

“Let the dust settle,” he murmured.

Raising his bamboo staff, he gave a slight wave.

The swirling clouds of dust and sand that had obscured his vision instantly dropped to the ground, as if drawn by an invisible force, leaving the world clear and serene once more.

The marsh dragon, its massive form now coated in dirt that clung to every crevice and fold of its armor-like scales, began to emit gray smoke. The smoke extinguished the flames that had scorched its body, and the beast grew still. With a heavy motion, it flipped itself onto its stomach, resting on the ground. Its head tilted slightly, and its cold, unyielding eyes fixed on Song You.

“Does it hurt?” Song You asked, meeting the marsh dragon's gaze. “That is the pain felt by the souls of the mountain.”

“

Roar

...”

The marsh dragon let out a deafening roar.

Its voice was deep and resonant, vibrating through the air in a continuous wave, resembling the roar of a lion, the cry of a dragon, and the tremor of the earth all at once.

Song You shifted his gaze away and turned to the other demons.

The old marsh dragon, its body covered in scars, remained motionless, emitting a low rumble. With one of its eyes blinded, it fixed its remaining eye on the fox demon nearby.

The two white rhinoceroses suddenly transformed. One reverted entirely to its original form—a mountainous behemoth of a rhinoceros, its sheer size defying imagination. The other transformed into a towering giant, its body thick with slabs of muscle, its pale skin like polished stone. Its colossal frame exuded an air of primal power, akin to a great demon or a god of ancient myth.

If ordinary mortals were to witness them, they would surely believe they had stumbled into a living myth.

The fox demon, unhurried, carefully packed away her ancient

qin

and the treasured severed tail of the ancestor. Only then did she rise to her feet.

“

Boom

!”

One of the marsh dragons exhaled a breath toward the sky. The black smoke it released was larger than a tornado, piercing the heavens and spreading across the clouds. In an instant, the entire landscape transformed, as if it had become a battlefield of primordial deities and demons.

Another marsh dragon, though lying flat on the ground, trembled violently. Its spiritual energy radiated outward from its massive form, rippling in waves like water. Each ripple caused the earth to quake, stones to leap into the air, and left people and beasts struggling to remain upright.

A third marsh dragon, wreathed in thick black smoke, charged at Song You like a ferocious dragon.

But the two white rhinoceroses were even faster.

***

Two hundred li away, in Yinnan County...

In a teahouse, guests were enjoying tea, their conversation lively and full of laughter.

An elderly man with a long beard chatted with an old friend. Their conversation reached a high point, leaving his mouth dry with excitement. Feeling truly blessed by life, he reached for his teacup—only to sense that something was amiss.

A faint sprinkle of dust drifted down from above.

It landed squarely in his teacup.

“Hmm?”

The elderly man glanced down at his teacup, then raised his head to look at the ceiling.

Above him was a wooden beam, clearly neglected and long overdue for dusting.

Just as he tilted his head upward, more dust fell, landing straight into his eye.

“Ah!”

He quickly lowered his head, rubbing his eye furiously, then straightened up and called out:

“Shopkeeper!”

Before he could finish, the sound of rattling filled the air.

The old man paused, lowering his hand from his eye, and turned to look. To his astonishment, every teacup in the teahouse had begun to tremble slightly on their tables. Within the cups, the tea rippled, with bead-sized droplets bouncing up from the surface.

The cups and water continued shaking, the movement growing more and more violent.

“

Bang

!”

One cup tipped over, spilling its contents across the table and onto the floor.

The patrons were utterly bewildered, exchanging confused looks. The elderly man, however, froze for a moment, then shouted a phrase unfamiliar to many locals. “There’s an earthquake! There’s an earthquake!”

The old man was the first to dash outside.

The others quickly followed behind him.

***

By the Yin River, faint singing echoed through the mountains.

A fisherman, clad in a straw raincoat and a conical hat, stood on the riverbank. Behind him lay a narrow mountain ravine, while in front stretched the calm waters of the Yin River, jade-green and unfathomably deep, reflecting the sky and clouds above.

The fisherman held a fishing net in his hand. With a sideways swing, he cast it out. The net soared into the air, forming a perfect circle before descending into the water.

The ripples and droplets it created disturbed only a small area of the river's surface.

But in an instant, inexplicably, the entire river seemed to come alive. The water began to bubble violently from below, and countless tiny droplets leapt into the air.

Fish, startled from their depths, sprang from the water in droves.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, the previously tranquil, windless Yin River erupted into a frenzy of movement and noise it had never known before.

The fisherman stood rooted in place, stunned by the sudden chaos.

“

Whoosh

!”

A massive ripple spread across the water.

The ripple was enormous, starting nearby and rapidly radiating outward.

The fisherman, alarmed, took two steps back.

“

Whoosh

!”

Another ripple spread across the water, just like the first.

It resembled the effect of someone forcefully tapping the surface of a basin filled with water—except the Yin River was no small basin, and this ripple was vast and moved with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it traveled from one visible edge of the river to the other.

“

Whoosh

!”

Another ripple followed.

The interval was almost identical.

An invisible force seemed to pulse rhythmically, sending wave after wave across the river. The surging water crashed against the banks, toppling grass and trees along the edges before slowly retreating back into the river.

The fisherman dared not linger any longer. He turned and ran.

As he ran, he glanced back over his shoulder—

The waters of the Yin River, as if responding to some unseen summons, were flowing out of the riverbed, surging toward the ravine between the two mountains behind him.

It was said that this ravine was part of the Yin River’s ancient course, where it had once flowed through to reach Zi Commandery, passing through Yinnan County before entering Yaozhou. Centuries ago, the river’s path had been altered when its River God grew corrupt and neglectful, forcing the river to change direction.

Now, the waves roared and surged, forming layer upon layer of whitecaps.

The river was returning to its ancient course, rushing toward Zi Commandery and Yinnan County.

***

Around Mount Ye...

The Longwei Army, stationed around Mount Ye, had long noticed the unusual commotion emanating from the mountain. A growing sense of fear and unease gripped them as they turned their gazes toward the mountain. However, without official orders, they dared not retreat on their own.

The situation grew increasingly alarming, with the disturbances resembling an earth dragon turning over[1] or the collapse of the mountain itself.

Whether stationed in the main camp or standing watch at the mountaintop outposts, the soldiers' anxiety mounted. At first, they reasoned that the phenomenon might be part of some extraordinary ritual performed by the State Preceptor, who was no ordinary man. But soon, the tremors became so intense that even standing upright was a challenge.

Those in the camp could at least attempt to report the situation to their superiors, but those stationed at the watchtowers and beacon platforms were left utterly at a loss.

“

Flap, flap, flap

...”

Amid their frantic discussions and panic at one of the beacon towers, a swallow suddenly flew into view. It hovered in midair, right outside the watchtower’s lookout point, and addressed the soldiers inside, “I am an Anqing swallow, descendant of the Swallow Immortal. My master, Song You, once vanquished demons in the north. By my master’s decree: Mount Ye is overrun by demon kings sowing chaos. All mortals must retreat immediately—leave at once!”

In the main camp below, chaos reigned as soldiers ran back and forth in panic. Moments earlier, a massive boulder had rolled down from the mountain, crushing the central command tent. No one knew how to respond.

“

Whoosh

!”

Suddenly, a burst of flames erupted in the sky.

“Oh!!”

All the soldiers recoiled in shock, instinctively crouching into defensive stances while turning to see the source.

Standing atop a tent was a cat.

The cat calmly addressed the soldiers below, delivering a message based on the Swallow’s earlier announcement, “I am Lady Calico, the Cat God. I once accompanied my master into Mount Ye. My master, Song You, once vanquished demons in the north. By my master’s decree: Mount Ye is overrun by demon kings sowing chaos. All mortals must retreat immediately—leave at once! If you wish to survive, leave immediately without delay!”

Though her voice was soft and delicate, it was evident she was shouting as loudly as she could.

Having delivered her warning, the cat turned and leaped gracefully away, disappearing into the distance.

The swallow, splitting into thousands of forms, carried the warning to more distant outposts, while the cat, swift and agile, relayed the message to nearby areas. Together, they quickly ensured that the evacuation order reached the entire Longwei Army stationed around Mount Ye.

The soldiers hesitated for a long moment before finally retreating.

As they withdrew from the mountain, some reached the summit and, unable to resist the commotion behind them, turned back to glance—

A black smoke tornado spiraled upward, tearing through the heavens and darkening the sky.

A colossal rhinoceros, as massive as a mountain, charged forward with immense force. Its head lowered silently, and with a brutal thrust of its horn, it obliterated the very peak of Mount Ye. Dust and debris shot into the air like an eruption.

A white giant, towering higher than the peaks, gathered strength and swung a glowing fist. Its eyes radiated white light, evoking the image of a mythical titan who pursued the sun. When its fist struck the mountain, the earth trembled violently.

A dragon, its mouth wide and dripping with menace, shrouded in dense black smoke, twisted and coiled through the air, biting into the mountainside with ferocious power.

All of Mount Ye was collapsing rapidly.

Countless soldiers were frozen in awe, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of destruction.

Some stood paralyzed by the sight.

When they finally snapped back to their senses and began to flee, they stumbled and fell repeatedly. Helmets and weapons were abandoned in their frantic escape. Yet, even as they scrambled away, they couldn’t help but glance back over and over again, their eyes wide with terror.

1. "Earth dragon turning over" is a term often used to describe natural disasters, specifically earthquakes. The earth dragon is a powerful mythical creature in ancient Chinese folklore, with many different types existing in various legends, one of which is the earth dragon itself. ☜