I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

Chapter 95: Restoring the Original Form

Although Feng Shui Dao contains the word 'water,' it actually avoids water the most.

This is because water generates all things but can also rot coffins, collapse caves, cause corpses to decay, and breed countless microorganisms and bacteria. Therefore, the location of a tomb must be a dry place, one that is not prone to flash floods or water accumulation, and two, where the groundwater must not be too abundant; the drier the groundwater, the better.

Fox Immortal Nannan stared at the stone tablet in front of her, her eyes full of caution, as if she had encountered some difficult problem.

No one would be bored enough to make a Pingbian King tombstone and then throw it into the Yellow River, so at this time, they must have encountered a real Pingbian King tombstone. But why would the tombstone of the first Pingbian King appear here? Shouldn't the Pingbian King be buried in the ancestral tomb of the Pingbian King?

"What is the second suspicious point?" Zhang Chen asked from the side.

"Demon script is extremely rare, belonging to a minor script. In the entire world, the number of people who can master demon script does not exceed one hundred. And the Pingbian King is a human, yet the inscription on his tombstone is actually done in demon script. Don't you think that's strange?" Fox Immortal Nannan whispered, "Could it be that the Pingbian King was born as a demon? That's impossible! The Pingbian King is undoubtedly human, otherwise, he could never guard the northern lands of the human race. But why would he use demon script to inscribe his tombstone?"

"Perhaps it was to conceal the information on the tombstone, preventing it from being seen. If demon script is used, even if someone accidentally sees it, ordinary people would just regard it as gibberish," Zhang Chen speculated, "Perhaps the Pingbian King wanted to hide the information about his grand tomb, but he feared that later generations would forget it, so he used demon script to record it."

This deduction was very reliable, and Fox Immortal Nannan praised Zhang Chen with a glance: "The reasoning is good, it's probably the case. It's just that the tombstone only records some deeds of the first Pingbian King, and it's not like there's anything scandalous, so why use demon script?"

"The fact that the tomb of the first Pingbian King is not in the ancestral tomb but appears in the Yellow River is already a very strange thing. Who can guarantee that it won't be seen over time? I think that old Pingbian King is not hiding some secret, but merely hiding his identity," Zhang Chen's heart was filled with further deductions. This first Pingbian King was definitely up to something, and this grandson was most likely trying to transform from a dragon into a flood dragon!

"But what exactly did the first Pingbian King want to hide? He didn't do anything scandalous, did he?" Fox Immortal Nannan asked.

Zhang Chen knew in his heart, but he wouldn't tell the fox spirit. Instead, he changed the topic, "Tell me, what is recorded on this stone tablet? I want to see if I can find any useful information in the description of the Pingbian King's life."

Hearing this, the fox spirit slowly said, "Demon script is very special. One character can have several interpretations. There are only three hundred demon characters on this stone tablet, but the translated content is about several thousand words."

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this. He understood this point! It's like classical Chinese, it's not like he hasn't studied it before.

Fox Immortal Nannan stared at the stone tablet at this time, her eyes filled with thought:

"Translated into your Han Chinese language, it would roughly be: The Pingbian King's Mansion is the master of the northern lands, governing the three prefectures and eighteen counties of the northern lands, and is one of the only two kings with different surnames in our dynasty. Hundreds of years ago, when the Dasheng Dynasty had just pacified the world and everything was waiting to be rebuilt, foreign races crossed the White Bone Great Wall and breached the three major strategic passes of our Dasheng, then drove straight in, intending to seize our Dasheng capital, scaring the then Emperor into leading civil and military officials to flee the capital, chased by foreign races for six hundred miles, losing armor and abandoning weapons in a miserable state."

"Seeing that the imperial court was in imminent danger, countless cities in the Central Plains were lost, and the people were constantly trampled and humiliated under the iron hooves of the foreign races, a great hero suddenly appeared in our northern lands, who was the first generation Pingbian King."

"Pingbian King Zhang Shicheng, also known as Zhang Chun. In the past, he was a wealthy landlord in the northern lands, not considered a major power or wealthy family. Seeing the people being slaughtered under the iron cavalry of the foreign races, he led eight hundred retainers to actively besiege the foreign races who had breached the pass."

"The Pingbian King led eight hundred retainers out of the pass, supporting the war with war along the way, and actually won consecutive victories and achieved great victories. Three months later, the eight hundred retainers had turned into an army of seventy thousand, and began the most intense battle with the foreign races. Then the Pingbian King settled the situation in the northern lands with three battles, directly driving a portion of the foreign races out of the White Bone Great Wall, and confining another portion of the foreign races within the White Bone Great Wall, and then the Pingbian King and the foreign races fought fiercely within the pass."

"After the Pingbian King pacified the northern lands, he led a large army out of the pass to rescue the Emperor, and wherever he went, he was invincible and no one could contend with him. Later, after the world was pacified, the Pingbian King was granted the title of King with a Different Surname, guarding the northern lands for generations. This guard has lasted for more than four hundred years, and with the Pingbian King's Mansion here, the foreign races dare not go south."

Hearing the words of the fox spirit, Zhang Chen immediately noticed something was wrong. Since that king with a different surname, Zhang Shicheng, had swept across the northern lands, trampled through the Central Plains, and exterminated foreign races, and a large area of territory had fallen into Zhang Shicheng's hands, Zhang Shicheng already had the momentum to engulf mountains and rivers and sweep across the world. It could even be said that as long as Zhang Shicheng wanted to, he could unify the world, but why would he voluntarily give up a large area of territory and obediently return to the northern lands to be a king with a different surname?

Zhang Chen's heart was full of curiosity. This was very abnormal. If it were him, he would take advantage of the situation to seize the world. How could he give up the world with both hands?

Moreover, didn't the Dasheng Dynasty have two twelfth-order mysteries? Why would they be forced by foreign races to flee south?

Even the imperial court, which had mastered two twelfth-order mysteries, was no match for the foreign races. What did the Pingbian King rely on?

"This Pingbian King's Mansion is obviously not quite normal!" A thought flashed in Zhang Chen's mind, and his eyes looked at Fox Immortal Nannan. At this time, Fox Immortal Nannan seemed to have seen some problem, staring at the stone tablet, frowning and thinking, her face heavy.

Countless thoughts in Zhang Chen's mind were constantly being sorted out. Suddenly, a gleam of light appeared in his eyes, and he seemed to have found a clue: "Everything lies in the flood dragon transforming into a dragon! Zhang Shicheng swept across the world at that time, occupying most of the Central Plains, and he was probably already gathering the momentum of a flood dragon, right? The reason why he retreated to guard the northern lands and abide by the rules was probably because of the deterrent force of the Dasheng Dynasty's 'mystery'. Pingbian King Zhang Shicheng obtained the Qi of the Flood Dragon, and then used Feng Shui secret techniques to attract the dragon Qi from the True Dragon Grand Tomb, taking the opportunity to rise up and secretly transform into a dragon. And now the Pingbian King's Mansion is making such a big commotion, it's because Zhang Shicheng is about to successfully transform into a dragon, and has the capital to resist the 'mysterious' power of the Dasheng Dynasty. At that time, it's really hard to say who this world will fall into!"

Countless thoughts flashed in Zhang Chen's mind, and he felt that he had probably deduced the truth.

Over there, the fox spirit stood in front of the stone tablet, with a tangled look on her face: "It doesn't make sense! Why would the Pingbian King's tombstone end up in this place, and be recorded in demon script?"

Zhang Chen ignored the words of the fox spirit Nannan. At this moment, his eyes were fixed on the stone tablet in front of him. Then, looking at the dragon energy in the sky, a smile appeared on Zhang Chen's lips. He suddenly felt that serving in the Yellow River was quite good. He decided not to leave. He wanted to stir up some trouble here and see if there was an opportunity to fleece some wool.

This was dragon energy! If he could get another skill to drop, he would make a fortune.

"If I could obtain the opportunity to sneak into the Grand Tomb of the Emperor's Daughter through this Flood Dragon, that would truly be remarkable," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

"Of course, if I could cause the other party's transformation into a dragon to fail and seize their good fortune in the process, that would be even better! The Prince of Pingbian dares to plot against me and secretly killed my father. He deserves to die!" A cold glint flashed in Zhang Chen's eyes.

"Truly, karma is a cycle, and retribution is inevitable. The Prince of Pingbian set his sights on me, and I seized the True Dragon destiny of the Prince of Pingbian's ancestor. Considering it this way, I'm not at a loss!" Zhang Chen thought to himself with delight.

"Snap!"

The whip cracked in the air, emitting a piercing shriek. A rough scolding echoed in the air:

"All of you, hurry up! If anyone fails to dig ten cubic feet of earth today, they will not be allowed to rest!"

The bailiff's long whip sliced through the air, startling the passing laborers like frightened birds. The onlookers scattered in all directions.

Zhang Chen didn't want to stand out either, so he quickly walked away from the stone tablet and began to carry mud.

There were too many people and eyes here. He didn't dare to let the fox spirit take action. If someone saw the mud inexplicably flying into his basket, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to explain it.

At this moment, an officer holding a whip walked to the front of the stone tablet, looked at the gibberish on the stone tablet, and couldn't help but shake his head: "It's just a 'River-Suppressing Tablet' to suppress the Yellow River. What's so rare about it? If you can't complete today's task, don't blame us if you don't have food to eat."

What kind of culture could a common soldier have? It was questionable whether they could even read.

Even among great generals, there were many who were illiterate. For example, Lü Meng, a great general of the Three Kingdoms period, was illiterate. Eventually, under Sun Quan's persuasion, he began to learn to read, which led to the saying, 'Treat a scholar with respect after he has been away for only three days.'

In this world, writing was also extremely precious, and it was difficult to study. If Zhang Xiaohua hadn't been the son of the Prince of Pingbian, he probably wouldn't have caught the eye of Mr. Wuliu and been chosen by Mr. Wuliu to study and learn to read.

"Let's dig up the mud for now. I want to see if I can find the burial place of the Grand Tomb! Anyway, the other party's Grand Tomb is within ten miles of here, because the dragon tail of the divine dragon in the sky covers the area within ten miles."

The scorching sun hung high overhead. Zhang Chen slowly carried the mud, thinking about how to lure the other party out.

A basket of mud was filled and prepared. Then, Zhang Chen carried the loess to the designated location. An officer stepped forward to check the mud in Zhang Chen's basket. After confirming that there was no deception, he handed Zhang Chen a special bamboo token.

With enough ten bamboo tokens, one could eat two meals today. If you didn't collect enough bamboo tokens, you wouldn't have any food to eat.

That's right, this era only had two meals!

On the cracked riverbed not far away, Zhang Chen held an iron shovel, watching the numb-faced laborers clearing the silt with iron shovels. The sky above was cloudless, and the scorching sun made everyone's mouths dry and tongues parched. The sunscreen yellow mud smeared on their bodies had long since dried up.

Fortunately, water could be dug out from the riverbed of the Yellow River at any time, otherwise, everyone would have died of thirst.

It was just that the sun in the sky was too big and too hot, causing the riverbed to crack, but water vapor was constantly evaporating, making the entire Yellow River riverbed like a large steamer.

"It's lunchtime!"

Suddenly, a copper gong sounded in the distance. Then, a group of laborers dropped their tools and ran towards the camp like startled rabbits, automatically lining up.

Zhang Chen was no exception. He followed the crowd to the camp, where he saw dozens of large pots set up. Wild vegetables and rice porridge were stewed in the pots, and everyone took their tools to line up.

There were ready-made ceramic bowls in the camp. Zhang Chen looked at the dirty ceramic bowls and couldn't help but feel nauseous. The ceramic bowls were not washed clean and looked like there was no way to eat from them.

Fortunately, Zhang Chen mastered the Water Control Technique. He stuffed the bowl into his sleeve, and then a stream of water appeared in his sleeve, turning into an automatic dishwasher. Only after washing the ceramic bowl clean did he step forward and let the cook scoop a spoonful of vegetable porridge into his bowl. Then, he carried the bowl to a corner and was about to drink the porridge when he suddenly smelled a meaty aroma.

Zhang Chen followed the direction of the meaty aroma and saw soldiers setting up a bonfire in the distance, roasting a whole sheep.

The mutton was roasted golden and crispy, sweet and delicious, very tempting, and shimmering with a golden luster in the sunlight.

Could Zhang Chen endure this?

He directly summoned the fox spirit, who went straight for the mutton. A whole leg of lamb was torn off, and then an illusion was cast to deceive everyone's sight, and it came to Zhang Chen's side.

Zhang Chen looked at the roast mutton and devoured it without regard for the scalding heat.

The soldier who was roasting the whole sheep suddenly exclaimed, "Damn it! Where's my leg of lamb? Which bastard took advantage of my inattention and stole the leg of lamb? This is the leg of lamb for the Great General!"

The cook cursed, but he was powerless. He couldn't search extensively for a leg of lamb.

There were tens of thousands of people here. Before the search could be completed, the leg of lamb would have already entered someone's stomach.

Zhang Chen gnawed on the leg of lamb, looked at the cursing cook, and then looked at the thoughtful fox spirit: "How powerful is your illusion? What are its limits?"

He felt that the other party's illusion was heaven-defying! The fox spirit actually covered him up under the eyes of tens of thousands of people. He was clearly eating a leg of lamb, but the people around him were blind to him.

"The main thing is that ordinary people's energy and spirit are too weak, and they can't see through my illusion at all. As for the bailiffs here, they are just old soldiers from the yamen. They can't be considered regular troops who have seen blood. Moreover, they are in charge of tens of thousands of laborers and are stationed too far apart, so their blood energy cannot be gathered in one place at all. If there were thousands of veterans who had been on the battlefield and seen blood lined up, my illusion would probably be broken in one encounter," the fox spirit said.

"I see." Zhang Chen understood in his heart.

In fact, the so-called illusion is that mental power distorts perception. For those veterans who have strong qi and blood and have killed people, their mental will has been tempered in the battlefield. It is simply as difficult as ascending to heaven to use illusion to confuse and influence them.

The soldiers responsible for guarding the bailiffs here were just old soldiers from various places, and there were not many of them, only four or five hundred people.