Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

"Why are you in such a hurry? Take a break. The scenery here is quite beautiful. How about having a drink with this old man?"

"They also have chicken drumsticks here, they taste really good! Want to have a bite?"

Jia Shan suddenly heard the voices of an old man and a young man behind him. He was instantly petrified and stood there blankly, completely losing the courage to even turn around and look.

At this moment, Jia Shan was already terrified, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

He rode at full speed, covering dozens of miles, and frequently looked back to see if anyone was chasing him.

But how did these two, the old man and the young man, catch up with him without him noticing? Judging from their voices, they seemed extremely relaxed, as if they had been waiting there for a long time.

He himself possessed a cultivation level of the seventh rank of the human realm, making him one of the best among the people he knew.

Moreover, having been a businessman for many years and traveled to many places, he had indeed heard that some highly skilled people would hide and conceal their profound abilities, making it difficult for others to discern the depth of their power.

However, it is said that only those who have reached the ninth level of the Earth Rank or above can possess such abilities.

Putting aside the old man's potential for such high cultivation, how could a teenager possibly achieve that?

A person who can reach the eighth or ninth level of the human realm in their teens is already extremely rare.

I have never heard of a twelve or thirteen-year-old child possessing the ninth level of the Earth Rank cultivation.

This isn't just a matter of being ten levels apart; it's a matter of time.

Even if it's one level per year, it would still take ten years to advance these ten levels.

Unless he was born at the ninth level of the human realm, Jia Shan dared not think any further, fearing he would go mad if he continued.

"My lords, please spare my life! I was blind to your greatness! I truly did not mean to deceive you, but I simply did not have enough money! I am rushing back to get the money!"

Jia Shan's legs trembled, and he kept nodding and bowing, pleading for mercy.

Who is Mount Tai?

"Oh, I don't know who Mount Tai is either. There are no people from Mount Tai here. It's just that the book says so, so I said it so!"

Jia Shan's face turned ashen, and his whole body began to tremble violently as if it were a sieve.

He suddenly felt an unprecedented heavy pressure, as if he were being crushed by the legendary Mount Tai, making it extremely difficult to even breathe.

"In that case, let's go back first and talk about it later. It's windy here, and you might accidentally slip up while talking."

After saying that, the old man picked up Jia Shan, who had already collapsed to the ground, and flew towards the opposite Deadly Slope.

The boy, holding a chicken leg, followed along, munching on it.

Good heavens! We've encountered immortals! They can actually fly! No wonder even four-legged horses can't outrun them! At this moment, Jia Shan simply chose to faint.

When Jia Shan awoke, he found himself lying on the floor of a small stone room.

The room was pitch black, except for a fist-sized hole near the ceiling that let in a faint sliver of light.

Apart from that, there are no other ventilation holes.

Because no one has entered for many years, the place is filled with an extremely strong musty smell, is cold and damp, and cold water droplets fall from the ceiling from time to time, making it eerie and terrifying, as if you have entered the underworld.

Jia Shan was terrified and huddled in the corner, crying and screaming incessantly:

"Great hero! Immortal! Master! Ancestor! Empress Dowager! Spare my life! I will never dare to do it again! Please spare my life!"

I'm kowtowing to you! Waaah... I have an eighty-year-old mother at home, and a whole bunch of crying babies waiting for me to come back!

Please! Waaah... I'll be reborn as a cow or a horse in my next life to repay you! Waaah! I don't want to die!

……

“An eighty-year-old mother? We’re already over ninety, yet Brother Dugu still calls me little guy.”

"Isn't the youngest one over eighty years old?"

"Yes, it should be there. I'll go ask."

"..."

"Hey, you inside, how many babies do you actually have at home? How many is a whole bunch? Eight? Nine? Or ten? Are there really that many? How many does your wife give birth to in a year?"

"He doesn't even know how many children he has. I really don't know how he can be a father."

"You've never married or had children, so how do you know he doesn't know what it means to be a father? If he doesn't know what it means to be a father, then where did the child come from?"

"Someone else did it for him, no doubt about it. Didn't you just hear him say it was a whole bunch? If he did it all himself, how come he doesn't even know how many there are! What an idiot!"

"Is his wife really that amazing? Then why did our mother only have the two of us and not have any more children?"

"How should I know? Just go ask Mom yourself!"

……

"me……"

Inside the stone house, Jia Shan suddenly felt like a rooster being choked, wanting to crow but unable to make a sound, only able to utter muffled "clucking" sounds.

His legs trembled like leaves, cold sweat poured down his back, as if he had been through a downpour, and he was so shivering that he dared not even breathe.

Who are these people? Why are they saying such strange things? Are they in their eighties or nineties and still the youngest? At this age, they still need to ask their mothers about having children?

Could they be a group of transformed demonic beasts?! This is too unbelievable!

If they really were a group of demonic beasts, then wouldn't I be...? Jia Shan dared not continue thinking, his mind a jumble of thoughts, like a stampede of horses.

"My God! What bad luck I've had! To run into such a bunch of weirdos, I don't want to live anymore, I might as well just smash my head against this wall and die!"

Jia Shan sighed silently in his heart.

……

"Grandpa Spring, Grandpa Autumn, has that guy woken up yet?"

Mo Yuming walked over at this moment.

"He's awake, crying inside. The people upstairs are really strange, crying at such an old age, I've never seen anyone like that. But thankfully, he hasn't banged his head against the wall yet! Hehe..."

Chunsheng chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Jia Shan inside was so frightened he nearly fainted on the spot. He was so terrified that the hairs on his body stood on end. He crouched in the corner, trembling uncontrollably, too afraid to even entertain any wild thoughts.

I was just thinking about it for a moment, how did they know I wanted to bang my head against a wall? It was just a thought, I didn't actually want to die! And they seemed to be saying they were from above, could they really be from below? Is this really the underworld?

……

"Now that he's awake, let's take him out and go to the room over there. We have some questions for him."

Mo Yuming said.

"Yes!"

……

Do you know why we called you here?

Inside the stone house, Mo Wen, Mo Yuming, and the others sat and spoke to Jia Shan, who was kneeling trembling on the ground.

……

"Don't pretend you're dizzy! Your little tricks won't fool us! You'd better give me an honest answer!"

Seeing that Jia Shan was feigning unconsciousness, Mo Yuming coldly shouted.

Upon hearing this, Jia Shan knew he couldn't easily fool anyone, so he immediately opened his eyes, lowered his head, and said tremblingly:

"I know! I know, I wasn't pretending, I wasn't pretending..."

"Where are you from?"

Mo Wen stroked his goatee and asked.

"I am a citizen of the Yan Kingdom of Yingzhou, living in Jiajia Village, Ping'ao Town, Feidu County. I do have an eighty-year-old mother, but she herself..."

Jia Shan quickly launched into a long explanation.

"Enough! Stop talking nonsense..."

Seeing Jia Shan rambling on, Mo Yuming scolded him.

"Besides Yan, what other countries are in Yingzhou?"

Mo Wen then asked.

"Ah?... Oh, there's also the Dan Kingdom and the Feather Palace. Although the Feather Palace isn't called a kingdom, it's larger than both the Yan Kingdom and the Dan Kingdom! Its territory covers almost half of Yingzhou. There are also several small vassal states that are subordinate to the Feather Palace."

Jia Shan dared not try any more tricks and answered honestly.

He couldn't figure out what these people were up to. Instead of having a group of adults come forward, they sent a child to ask questions, and about something that everyone knew.

Did these people fall from the sky?

How come you don't even know how many countries are on two continents?

Or is he deliberately asking these strange questions to test whether I'm cooperating...?

Jia Shan's mind was a complete mess, and he was terrified. He didn't dare to play any tricks, so he cooperated with whatever they asked without reservation.

"He's only told a few truths now!"

Mo Yuming sneered.

"I will never dare to lie again! I will change my surname to 'Zhen' from now on!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Shan immediately swore an oath.

"Nonsense! What does this have to do with changing your surname? Does changing your surname to 'Zhen' mean you can't speak the language of 'Jia' anymore?"

"If you really changed your surname to 'Zhen,' wouldn't your mother have to remarry?! What utter nonsense, complete rubbish!"

He Sheng, who was standing to the side, shouted.

"No need to remarry. My mother really did have a relationship with someone surnamed 'Zhen,' and maybe I really do have the surname 'Zhen'!"

What does the man surnamed Zhen do? Is he capable?

Chunsheng asked.

"He might be a superstar, he must be amazing!"

Mo Yuming laughed upon hearing this.

"Yu Ming! We're doing serious business here. Don't interrupt and mess things up with Chun. This has nothing to do with that superstar! Now that you're meddling, I don't even know what to ask anymore!"

Li Mubai, who had been sitting silently, realized that this absurd question was not going to work, so he quickly spoke to Mo Yuming.

"It's Grandpa Mu Bai! I won't interfere anymore. Grandpas Chun and Qiu, shall we go out to catch butterflies and chat?"

Mo Yuming chuckled and led Chunsheng and a few other old rascals out of the stone house.

……

"Have you asked everything clearly?"

Half an hour later, a group of old men and women gathered in a hall, and Dugu Xian asked Mo Wen, Li Mubai and the others.

"It should be about time. Nowadays, business people don't care much about politics. They don't pay much attention to national affairs, and they don't even know the names and titles of the monarchs."

All they care about is where the money is easier to make, where the taxes are lower, and where the brothels are more convenient to visit. The world is going to the dogs!

Li Mubai sighed and said.

"What exactly did they ask? Tell us about it!"

Huang Rongrong asked.

"To put it simply, the current political situation can be described as 'one palace, five kingdoms, six hegemons, and seven powerful families'."

The first palace is the Feather Emperor Palace, a transcendent entity that has existed for thousands of years. Originally, it was unassuming and detached from worldly affairs, rarely venturing into the mortal realm. However, in recent decades, it has become increasingly domineering, and has begun to openly interfere in worldly affairs and the internal politics of other countries.

It stands above the five nations, and it has signed a permanent agreement with the five major nations and several powerful families.

That means all the gold coins circulating in the market must be produced and distributed uniformly by the Feather Palace, which is the gold shell they are using now.

Each gold coin was explicitly stated to be one tael, but in reality, it was only nine mace and five hao! And the five kingdoms had no objections. What does this signify? I believe everyone understands without me having to explain.

"The five countries now are called Yan, Liang, Dan, Qin, and Long, which are actually derived from the five elements of fire, wood, water, metal, and earth."

The Yan Kingdom has been established for nearly a century and has remained relatively stable.

The Liang Kingdom has been around for almost fifty years; the other kingdoms have been constantly embroiled in internal strife, with a regime being overthrown and replaced within a few years of its establishment.

The longest-lasting state, Dan, has only lasted about 27 or 28 years, while Qin and Long have lasted less than 11 or 12 years. I heard that they are still engaged in internal warfare.

However, the Feather Palace doesn't seem to get involved in civil wars. No matter what happens to the regime in any country, it doesn't care. As long as the new regime takes the initiative to recognize those agreements after its establishment, it will acknowledge your existence.

But if you don't recognize the agreement they signed, your regime will be wiped out by the Feather Palace overnight! In fact, this has actually happened before!

"So, in the decades since we were driven into the canyon, the entire continent has been reshuffled, and many kingdoms from our era no longer exist?"

Zhang Tieqiao said with a heavy heart.

"Looking back now, there really was a huge conspiracy behind the attack on us all that year!"

"I think the whole incident is definitely related to the Feather Palace!"

Huang Rongrong, Shi Potian, Zhang Tieqiao and others all shared the same feeling.

Although Mo Wen also fell during that period, he didn't fall from the same place but from the opposite Deadly Slope, so he always felt it was an accident.

However, he couldn't figure it out. He was usually very careful and meticulous when collecting herbs and had never made any mistakes. That time was no different. He had carefully checked the rope before going down into the valley, but somehow the accident happened.

"The Six Hegemons are the most powerful families among the Five Kingdoms. They all have considerable connections with the imperial relatives of the current dynasty. Some of them are powerful ministers and generals. Although they are subordinate to the kingdoms, they are above the law!"

In fact, the actual controllers of the five countries all have intricate connections with these six hegemonic families. They are all new forces that have grown rapidly during the chaotic period of the past century.

Previously, they might have been a reclusive family or a powerful regional lord.

"The Seven Families are family organizations that, like the Feather Palace, are independent of the Five Kingdoms. They are powerful and well-organized, and generally do not rely on any particular ruler or establish their own kingdoms."

The lineage of aristocratic families is usually very long, with the longest reportedly dating back nearly a thousand years.

Actually, I don't need to say anything; I believe that everyone here should be quite familiar with six of them.

However, the seventh branch of these seven families, Changhen Palace, was only developed recently, reportedly only a few decades ago.

The reason it's ranked among the aristocratic families is because before its rise to power, it was a reclusive family with a long and distinguished history, and after its rapid rise, it did not align itself with any particular state.