The Demonic World I designed-Chapter 656 - 646: The Battle of Public Opinion (Part 2)

Rumors about evil ghosts that prey on children quickly spread throughout the Northern Territory.

The rumors became more and more exaggerated. Some said that the Ghost Temple in the Capital was helped by the Imperial Court to snatch young children from outside the cities, while others claimed that many people in the Capital had already turned into demons and ghosts, and there were cases where parents would eat their own children in the middle of the night.

The Imperial Court had raised a force of Ghost Soldiers who fed on children. Apart from the four cities of the Capital, almost no other cities in the Central Plains had seen a ghost’s shadow!

Most importantly, whether it was the Dark Moon Sect or other sects from other cities, none blocked the common people from going to the Central Plains; they only advised against it. If the people insisted, the sects would still arrange for an escort, but only up to the northern border...

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"Dad, are we....really going to the Central Plains?"

In a not-too-small family estate, a group of younger members looked with shock at the decision of their elder.

Nowadays, with the ghost temple rumors of the Central Plains having gained such detail, why opt for hardship in the Central Plains when the opportunity to move to Jiangnan exists?

"Hmph...." the leading elder sneered, "These deliberately misleading rumors might fool those ignorant commoners, but you all believe them too?"

"You’re just too young," another elder said. "Do you really believe the talk of ancient organizations existing solely to preserve the human race’s spark of life?"

"But what is their purpose?" the younger generation still wasn’t quite convinced by the elder’s words.

"The goal of those ambitious is always to rule, remember that," the leading elder snorted. "Do you really think Chen Qing is such a naive person? In just a few short years, he has built such a large scale; do you really think he hasn’t done anything else in secret? All you hear about is his good reputation, but could a saint really gain such influence in this greedy world so quickly? Haven’t you ever thought that he might be the greediest wolf of all?"

"Please enlighten us, Elder!" the young man in white hurriedly bowed and said.

"Haven’t you noticed? Doesn’t this situation closely resemble the one when Chen Qing first rose to power?"

"Huh?" Many of them were stunned, but some clever ones instantly caught on. "Elder, are you suggesting..."

Indeed, it was similar. Back then, Jiangnan suffered the calamity of the living dead. It was said that countless people had died, and in just the course of one year, billions of citizens turned into living dead. The very thought of it was enough to keep many awake at night in fright.

"Think about it, wasn’t Chen Qing appointed as the Magistrate of Lyuzhou that year? How long after his appointment did this event occur? And then, wasn’t it him who, against all odds, saved Jiangnan and earned the gratitude and respect of everyone?"

"This...." All the youngsters were taken aback, a chill rising in their hearts.

"And now?" the elder spoke somberly. "Isn’t the current situation eerily similar? Demons running rampant, the population halved, a savior descends from the heavens, and he once again becomes the hero..."

"Hiss!!" Everyone gasped in fright with chilling realizations!

Everyone understood the implication, a thought that no one had ever considered before - that Chen Qing... may... be colluding with these demons?

"Then, Elder, given the circumstances, will we be safe going back to the Central Plains?" the youths couldn’t help but ask.

"Even if it’s not safe, we must push through!" the elder stated coldly. "We will negotiate. We don’t need a special escort; just one Black Lantern Envoy will do. I will join all the willing noble families who wish to return to the Central Plains and publicly demand it together, just to see their reaction."

"Elder, even if Chen Qing is just putting on a facade, do we really need to risk our entire family moving to the Central Plains?" someone couldn’t help but ask. "Even if Chen Qing is indeed collaborating with demons, he would try to win us over with superficial efforts. If we go to Jiangnan, we’ll at least be temporarily safe and can plan slowly. But if we go to the Central Plains now, we might be intercepted and killed en route!"

The elders fell silent upon hearing this, exchanging glances before finally speaking. "This... we’ve thought about that," they admitted.

The eldest elder sighed, "But our countless properties are still in the Central Plains, and in the Capital, we have family serving the Imperial Court. Our foundations are there. If I’m not wrong, Chen Qing and the Central Plains are soon to clash. If we.... If we go to Jiangnan, it’s very likely that everything we have in the Central Plains will be gone."

"This..."

All the juniors looked at each other, not knowing what to do for a moment.

"Therefore, this time I’ve summoned you not only to remind you of Chen Qing’s danger but also to consider the future of our family. We can’t put all our eggs in one basket. As you said just now, even if Chen Qing is only pretending to woo us, going to Jiangnan would at least bring temporary relief from worries."

"So we’ve decided to split into two groups, one will go to Jiangnan as they wish, and the other will go to the Central Plains to recover our properties as much as possible."

"But..... if it really comes to what the Elder said, and fighting breaks out on both sides..."

"If it comes to that, we’ll have to play it by ear. The key right now is to leave the Northern Territory. So, everyone please decide for yourselves now, those willing to go to the Central Plains and those willing to go to Jiangnan, make your intentions known....."

For a moment, everyone in the courtyard fell into silence. On Chen Qing’s side, things might seem safe, but in reality, they might be fraternizing with demons, which could be more dangerous than the present situation. And if they went to the Central Plains, they might face life-and-death dangers right away. Choosing either side could be like jumping into a fire pit.

It really was a test of character...

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"Envoy..."

The next morning, in the former government office of Northern Yen City, a disciple clad in the Mingyue Sect’s black robe rushed in to report the situation.

"As you predicted, most of the common people are willing to go to Jiangnan or the Northern Wasteland, while many from the noble families are thinking of going to the Central Plains!"

In the courtyard, Abe Ryoka sipped her tea, looking at a tall man opposite her.

"Chen Qing has predicted quite accurately."

"What’s so hard to predict?" The tall man sneered, "Those noble families, after so many years, which hasn’t got properties in the Central Plains? Especially those old folks who fought to establish these properties, who would give them up easily? Even if it’s just an excuse, they would want to return to the Central Plains to see."

Abe Ryoka nodded, "But to ensure that their families don’t get entirely wiped out, they’ll definitely leave a part to go to Jiangnan... In this way, since a family always has secret techniques for long-range contact, once those elders reach the Central Plains and truly see the state of things, they’ll surely realize we haven’t lied, and they will do everything possible to transfer their properties back to Jiangnan."

"This way, with the family elders as a source of information, those noble families will no longer have doubts, and the Emperor’s crusade against us will lose its righteous justification!"

"Hmph..." The tall man snorted coldly, "Chen Qing really wants to have his cake and eat it too, wanting both reputation and territory!"

"Who would blame him when he has all the trump cards now?" Abe Ryoka said with a coquettish laugh, "A guy with no major power background has achieved such military force in just five years. Truly impressive, eh? Even if he completely withdraws from the north now, by relying on the heritage of the Dragon Palace and staying in Jiangnan, he should at least be able to protect himself. That’s quite different from our pressing situation..."

The tall man’s face turned gloomy. For how many years, the four major guilds had monopolized this world and never considered an outsider as a rival. And now, to be driven into such a corner by an NPC was truly humiliating!

The Siao Family, right... And the Human Race Emperor, huh?

Once the guild’s top brass are revived, he’ll show this ignorant Emperor what real terror is.

He would extract the souls of the Siao Family... oh no, everyone loyal to this Emperor, and torment them for tens of thousands, millions of years!

He would make the Emperor become the most twisted Evil Ghost, one that specifically preys on the Human Race.

This kind of torment, once suffered by those saints who rebelled against them for the sake of the Human Race, will soon be tasted by him...

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss