"Glug glug glug glug..."
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh..."
An eerie sound of sucking and moaning echoed from the warehouse. Behind the warehouse shelves, a guard soldier’s legs twitched violently. His entire body convulsed as if electrocuted, twisted momentarily in struggle, then went limp, spilling out. His strong and sturdy body deflated like a balloon, transforming into a human skin, oozing pus onto the ground.
Clinging to the soldier’s face, a flesh insect feasting on essence blood like a woodlouse, swelled visibly as if inflated. Its back twisted and spasmed, morphing into the soldier’s head.
Chen Xuantian watched nearby, not disgusted by this grotesque creature. Smiling with squinted eyes, he reached out and patted its head.
"Give it to me."
The ’soldier’ opened its mouth and spat out a pearl-sized egg, displaying a sheepish grin as if seeking approval.
Chen Xuantian pinched the egg with his fingertips. His eyes suddenly widened, shooting out beams of divine light that swept across it. Before him flashed countless images of the soldier’s life in his dying moments, unlocking more detailed intelligence about the Nangong Family.
Well, how should I put it, even compared to the clans of the Twelve Countries’ imperial relatives and vassal nobility, the Nangong Family is quite tenacious.
Perhaps it’s the heavy grievances from the past, falling fiercely from being imperial relatives to being exiled to the frontier, unceasingly oppressed and humiliated by the Three Constellations, constantly reminded of their origins. On top of that, in the barbaric Southern Border, living as criminals with bare walls, without the means to enjoy pleasures, giving rise to a rebellious, envious, and resentful psychological disorder.
As a result, the descendants of the Nangong over the generations are vastly different from the capital’s officials and aristocracy; they neither use fragrance nor apply powder, nor indulge in effeminate songs and dances, or courteous rituals with refined poetry. They only endure hardships day and night, diligently practicing martial arts every morning and evening, constantly refining their muscles, training their household guards and private soldiers, charging into battle at the forefront, frequently leading battles at the frontier of the Southern Border. Almost every generation has had ambitious figures unwilling to be inferior, striving desperately to carve out their own place, to restore the glory of their family lineage, and one day tell the world that what they lost they must reclaim!!
Therefore, naturally, the survival rate of men in the Nangong Family is not high.
Uh, directly falling in battle in the demon battlefield cave heaven swamps and jungles is considered normal death. Coupled with the Southern Border’s miasma, mosquitoes, hot and humid climate, where wounds heal slowly, and food is easily poisoned, the number of those succumbing to severe injury and illness is countless. The general exiled to this place with his entire clan near annihilation several times already certainly cannot say that the assassins sent by the Three Constellations were inexperienced; after all, even assassins could succumb to the miasma, right...
Hence, with no choice left, the Nangong Family press into service all members, and even the women cannot remain in the boudoir toiling over embroidery. They, too, must diligently learn martial arts, enter the fray, pair with household guards to win hearts, recruit warriors from the Li people to bolster their numbers by entering the family.
Therefore, even if every male on the household register were to perish, there are still heads of the household such as Lady Nangong who are bold enough to adapt to local customs rapidly. They established traditions seen as extremely improper by the Central Plains aristocracy.
To summarize, each year, the Nangong Family evaluates the Household Servants; based on the harvest of the various hunting teams and the exploits of the strongest house guards and demon slayers, they select the Twelve Tiger Ministers as the Lady’s personal guards, rotating them monthly. This not only gathers support from the private soldier guards but also allows one to deduce from which house the children born might be. Thus, assigning them to act as the young master’s personal guards naturally assures loyalty.
So yes, Nangong Che might very well be related by blood, being a son, nephew, or brother of Li Hu, or at least a relative. Such familial ties surely bind loyalty unto death.
Of course, similar personal guards are also seen among the Central Plains’ noble ladies and princesses, but openly allowing illegitimate or bastard descendants to inherit family names would indeed be an affront in the eyes of the Gate Valve...
Ahem, to return to the point, the Nangong Family has entrenched themselves in the Southern Border, aligning claw and tooth, desperately proliferating, surviving and dying in turns, defiantly determined to survive and take revenge under the oppression of the Three Constellations. It’s nothing short of tragic heroism.
One would be gravely mistaken to consider it easy to bully such orphaned and widowed ones.
Over the years, the Dou Family’s household attendants have indeed witnessed the Nangong Family’s oppression and remembered their kindness in their hearts.
Imagine coming from a family originally tied to the lineage of Immortal Venerables and Generals, generations following the Great General in campaigns, sweeping the Eight Domains warlords and vassals, shedding blood for the Three Constellations, serving the court loyally, only to be incriminated and exiled due to a single misstep by an ancestor in choosing sides, struggling to survive in swampy jungles, suffering under tyrannical guard soldiers.
Yet just then, a girl stood up to stop the tyranny of the guards with a proud phoenix-like voice, declaring herself a descendant of the Immortal Venerable, progeny of the Great General, the true sovereign of all the Li people, thus opposing her family meant making hostile intent against her.
Thus, guards who only sought petty gain retreated courteously. She held out her hand to help you up, stating that as a descendant of a meritorious individual and a household attendant to the Nangong Family, she would cover your losses, reward grains and meat, teach you the martial arts, pull you in for hunting.
You ask why?
She replied that because you are a subject of Nangong, a former subordinate of the Great General, even if the Immortal Palace lacks compassion and does not remember your family’s merit, Nangong will not forget their own.
You ask if she fears betrayal?
She said, were you an ingrate, you wouldn’t be in this position. Even if the court neglects the blood and sweat of your ancestors, the Nangong Family will not break faith with those sworn to follow them to death.
So you, and many like you from similar backgrounds, were gathered by the Nangong Family to train day and night, slay demons, and exterminate devils. And a boy bearing the surname Nangong stands beside you in the fray. A girl, also bearing the name Nangong, pairs off and marries you, sharing both the pleasures and hardships.
The loyalty of dying if the master is disgraced became deeply ingrained in your heart. Even if you were slain, your soul extracted, turned into a ghost, loyalty to Nangong’s great favor would never waver.
So Chen Xuantian pinched his fingers, crushing the insect egg, releasing the guard’s soul to be reborn. After all, even as a loyal spirit, it’s a pity to feed it to a worm.
The insect was not pleased.
Chen Xuantian stared wide, "If you’re displeased, hold it in!"
The worm could only shrink back down, transforming from a human head into a tide bug, crawling back into Chen Xuantian’s sleeve and crouching submissively.
Well, although this human head worm looks disgusting, it’s quite useful. It’s a parasitic software specially developed by the company; it can consume human brains, absorb human essence blood, change appearance, and even completely devour the memory of the Primordial Spirit, making it difficult for even Mountain Men to see through, perfectly simulating a fake person.
However, Chen Xuantian is not an ordinary Mountain Man; he is a person from the sect, a legitimate Primordial Spirit Master, Earth Sect Leader, a reincarnation of the Three Corpses, and the king of worms.
So he directly performed a Primordial Spirit brainwashing operation, taking the worm as a subordinate animal. Not only can it be used as a little minion, but he also discovered that this worm is a signal receiver itself. As long as company staff make a call, they can connect directly to the worm’s brain, descend and reincarnate, and cooperate with customer role-play.
Hence, to put it more clearly, Nangong Che, or rather the Nangong family, truly carries Heavenly Destiny.
The company went to great lengths to seize control of the brain, attempting to remotely control the Nangong family, certainly planning ahead for future schemes. This also happened to align with Chen Xuantian’s intentions, removing worries about the invested camp being annihilated.
At the moment, Chen Xuantian pinched the formula and cast a spell, causing the human skin on the ground to fly up, then spat a burst of True Qi, inflating the skin into a soldier form, swaggering into the innermost layer of the building ship, soon finding the target of this trip, Lady Nangong Ou of the Nangong family.
At this moment, Lady Nangong Ou was grappling with her close guard, exchanging punches and kicks, making snapping noises, fighting until she was drenched in sweat.
Ahem, genuine combat; after all, both men and women of the Nangong family must personally go to the battlefield and fight the enemy, naturally practicing day and night. Being the lady of the Nangong family, one must also lead troops to battle, naturally no exception. The guard sparring with her was also as robust as Li Hu, bearing the muscles and stature of a Martial God, muscles bulging, wearing protective gear, standing to take moves. Bowed under "BANGBANGBANG!" punches and kicks, stepping back to diffuse strength, it was evident this lady was no mere flower embroidery pillow.
In observing her attentively, though her power reached the Nascent Soul Realm with the aid of the Outer Pill, just watching her bare-handedly blast out Gang Qi, breathing forcefully, punching like the wind, her agility, indeed indicated she had genuine skills. Even taking note of the prominent scars on her body, she truly was a heroic woman who personally went to slay demons.
However, as everyone knows, Gang Fist Body Refinement, combat power must be refined into muscles. Although Lady Nangong hadn’t fully refined to a sharp-headed state yet, to be honest, her build was already quite peculiar.
Just observing her facial features, no need to speak further; whether Immortal Venerable or concubine Hou, the genetics weren’t bad. Seeing Nangong Che being so handsome, naturally Nangong Ou wasn’t an ugly woman either, as the lady, pampering and dressing up, naturally appeared valiant and spirited.
But she happened to be wearing workout clothes now, revealing her figure and curves, making her skeletal frame appear very large, evidently a tiger lady from a General’s family, full of muscular blocks refined beyond bodybuilding, reaching robust levels, completely like a golden Barbie.
At a glance, the two massive figures in the field looked like refined muscle blocks clashing against each other, splashing sweat all over, heatedly steaming, shining brilliantly, very eye-catching.
However, Chen Xuantian had seen much before, with a strong taste and didn’t mind, he glanced around, putting her under a divination in his mind.
The word ’Ou’ means long soaking, also carries a fragrant, intoxicating aroma. In "Ritual Records · Tan Bow," washing black lacquer implies soaking, roughly akin to cleansing hair and bathing, perfumed soaking. Today, smelling a body odor from afar, the word was indeed apt.
However, the word ’Ou’ also holds the meaning of floating bubbles in water, referred as life’s transient dreams, all pursuits turning into bubbles, akin to a lifetime of hard work, bamboo baskets fetching water, all becoming mere illusions... not the most auspicious for a name.
Nangong Ou herself hadn’t noticed someone wearing the skin of a trusted aide, brazenly spying, still completely engrossed in body refinement.
But if the Nangong family were indeed so lax in defense, allowing any Foundation Establishment to sneak near the lord, they’d have been extinct long ago.
"What business do you have?"
Suddenly a black wind swirled, eyes were enveloped in a mountainous shadow, Chen Xuantian retracted his gaze, looking up at the bald head blocking his way.
It was a monk, clad in a Black Robe Kasaya, towering at two zhang height, with a body like an elephant, whiskers like a lion, shoulders wide as Yuan, filled with flesh, neck adorned with one hundred and eight skull beads, and holding a seven-foot-long spine Vajra Pestle. His power was wondrous and astonishing, deeply concealed, clearly at the Divinity Transformation Realm.
Oh, it’s him.
Back in the days serving at Prince Nan Mansion, the Black Robed Monk had grown significantly, seems that the Nangong family’s food wasn’t bad...
Chen Xuantian smiled at him, bowing,
"Long heard Nangong family values talent and recruits deservedly, the Hubei savages and Mao volunteered, specially came to join."
"Lies!"
The monk opened his eyes wide, firing two lightning bolts from his tiny pupils, "Boom!" instantly turning the human skin into ashes.
So Chen Xuantian opened his eyes, shrugged, without hesitation, pinched the Invisibility Technique, and quickly slipped out of the Nangong family.
Although he indeed intended to startle and probe a bit, merely performing a divination surprisingly provoked a Divinity Transformation, was indeed surprising.
Clearly, those watching Nangong Ou’s fate plate were not just him, too many wolves and not enough meat, currently at a mere Foundation Establishment Realm, not really fit for the table...

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