Chapter 197: Painting
As he read the intelligence dossier, Greater Demon Monarch Fu Jiao frowned and said, “I have 15 demon sage descendants under my command. Each one has powerful divine powers. We actually lost two of them. The Demon Realm’s demon sages sent many of their descendants into the human world due to the Imperial Lord’s orders. Thus, no matter what, we have to ensure the safety of the demon sage descendants as best we can. The factions behind them will investigate if too many of them die.
“How did that white fox at Gu Mountain Prefecture and that old ox at Yufang Prefecture die? Which Godfiends killed them? Have you investigated?” asked Fu Jiao.
“Marquis Gong Xu killed that old ox at Yufang Prefecture,” replied the black fox demon monarch immediately. “The old ox charged into Yufang Prefecture to begin a massacre. However, Marquis Gong Xu appeared the moment he did so. Although that old ox had divine powers to protect himself, he was still slapped to death and reduced to meat paste by Marquis Gong Xu in a few strikes. Many people in Yufang Prefecture saw this scene, so investigations were quite easy.”
“Marquis Gong Xu?”
“The Wu State is a relatively prosperous state in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It produces many experts. There are now three Marquis Godfiends in Wu State, Marquis Southcloud, Marquis Gong Xu, and Marquis Thousand Shadow. These three might remain in their hometowns to protect it. One Marquis presides over the state capital while the other two Marquis Godfiends wander about. To encounter a Marquis Godfiend, blame it on the old ox’s bad luck.”
Three Marquis Godfiends guarded Wu State. The demons only had Greater Demon Monarch Fu Jiao that could compare in strength. Furthermore, there was the possibility of a Regis Godfiend appearing.
“What about the white fox at Gu Mountain Prefecture?” asked Fu Jiao again.
“We couldn’t find out.” The black fox demon monarch shook his head and said, “When the white fox attacked the county city, many mortals died silently. The remaining mortals were so frightened that they hid in the tunnels... No one saw how Demon Monarch White Fox was killed.”
“She still lost her life despite having a Bewitchment divine power?” asked Fu Jiao curiously. “Was she killed by a Marquis Godfiend or a powerful Great Solar Godfiend in Gu Mountain Prefecture?”
The demon monarchs didn’t dare make a sound. These demon monarchs weren’t very powerful because they were in charge of reconnaissance. Those who were truly skilled in combat were in charge of various prefectures.
“After we finish probing, have the demon monarchs form units and work together.” Fu Jiao flipped through the intelligence dossier and considered how to assign the demon monarchs. “At the very least, every demon sage descendant should have a powerful team attached to them. We can’t afford to lose them so easily.”
...
Humans and demons fought each other both openly and secretly. For example, after the initial clash, Archean Mountain changed the Godfiend teams in each prefecture. All Indestructible Godfiends left the teams to act as reconnaissance. The battling was left to Great Solar Godfiends and beyond.
On average, only one Godfiend team was assigned to a prefecture. Each team had four Great Solar Godfiends—two Archean Mountain inner sect disciples and two outer sect disciples. Their strengths complemented each other, greatly increasing their overall strength. One team could battle against 10 to 20 third Firmament demon monarchs in a head-on battle.
The Godfiends’ survival rate became higher, but the humans’ ability to reinforce county cities and village forts weakened drastically. This was because there was only a single team in a prefecture! If a few places were attacked at the same time, they had to rush from one city to another.
Thankfully, after losing a large number of third Firmament demon monarchs during the large-scale probe, the remaining demon monarchs became much more cautious, and their attacks lessened in frequency.
After all, a large-scale attack also led to many demon monarchs dying. There was still a limited number of third Firmament demon monarchs in the Demon Realm. They would be unable to keep up such large-scale attacks for long periods of time due to the many casualties.
...
Gu Mountain Prefecture.
Meng Chuan and his wife lived a “peaceful” life. To this day, they had yet to receive any requests for help that brought them out of the prefecture. Even when they were deployed, they were still within Gu Mountain Prefecture.
“Young Master,” a thin man shouted obsequiously.
Meng Chuan had just left his yard. He looked at him curiously. “What’s the matter?”
The thin man pointed at Meng Chuan’s residence and asked, “Young Master, is this your home?”
Meng Chuan frowned.
“I don’t have any bad intentions. I’m a real estate agent,” said the thin man with a smile immediately. “Your residence cost you a few hundred taels of silver, right? Are you planning on selling it now? You can now sell it for 3,000 taels of silver!”
Meng Chuan was somewhat surprised. When he and his wife settled down here, they had spent 800 taels of silver on the compound.
People were willing to spend a lot of money to buy homes. A compound worth 800 taels of silver wasn’t considered a huge compound, but it was quite good. Typically, it required a few servants to take care of it.
“The price has increased to 3,000 taels?” Meng Chuan was astonished. Such a price was considered very high for mortals.
“It can definitely be sold for 3,000 taels of silver,” said the thin man immediately. “If you aren’t in a hurry, you can even give an asking price of 4,000 thousand taels. How about it? If you nod, I’ll sell it for you. You can spend 1,000 taels of silver to buy a smaller courtyard. In that case, won’t you have a few thousand taels of silver at hand? In the past two weeks, the price of grain and meat has been increasing. The more money you have, the better.”
This agent kept trying to trick him.
“It’s fine. I don’t plan on selling.” Meng Chuan turned around and left.
“Hey, hey, hey...” The thin man shouted, but there was nothing he could do.
He continued loitering around their neighborhood. Whenever he saw an owner of a surrounding compound walk out—one that didn’t look like a servant—he would immediately go forward and say, “Master, someone has offered 3,000 taels for your compound...”
Meng Chuan sighed.
The demons’ large-scale attack had caused many people to migrate. This was especially true for Godfiend clans and wealthy merchants. People who were privy to the news knew that the larger a city was, the more expensive the land would be in the future. For example, the Meng family clan had moved over 10,000 clansmen to the prefecture city. Hundreds of clansmen were moved to the state capital, Luo Tang City, etc.
This was a large family clan that had existed for over 1000 years. They naturally aimed to avoid disaster by arranging for a small number of clansmen to go to the state capital and Luo Tang City. This was to ensure that their lineage wouldn’t be severed. They had to avoid the situation of an entire clan being wiped out after prefecture city was breached.
With Godfiend clans and wealthy merchants migrating to the cities, this caused the prices of land and buildings to rise constantly. For example, a compound like Meng Chuan could easily fit more houses. It wouldn’t be difficult for it to accommodate dozens of people! Those who could offer such prices naturally had extraordinary backgrounds.
...
Meng Chuan personally selected the paint he needed for his painting.
“Young Master, take care. Young Master, please come again.” The shop owner was very enthusiastic.
Even the price of paint has increased. Meng Chuan was extremely astonished. The prices of everything in Gu Mountain Prefecture were rising. The commoners with houses were better off. They could rent out a few rooms to ease the financial pressure. Those who rented houses in the city suffered. They might even be forced to leave the city! They couldn’t afford the rent or food.
Meng Chuan couldn’t do a thing either. This was happening everywhere in the human world!
Creak.
Meng Chuan brought his paint and other items back to his residence.
“Master.” The old gatekeeper warmly greeted him.
Meng Chuan returned to his study, finished grinding the paint before continuing to paint.
He had already finished painting the scene at North River Pass on a long canvas. Currently, he was painting Jiang State Capital—the battle between the Godfiends and demon monarchs. Some mortals died while others hid in tunnels. The scenes depicted were even more tragic. Blackwater Palace Lord killed one Godfiend after another...
When the sky darkened—
“Ah Chuan, it’s time for dinner.” Liu Qiyue came in and took a look at the painting. She smiled and said, “You are still working on this painting. How much have you painted?”
“It’s still early. There’s no rush.” Meng Chuan smiled.
Initially, he thought he could finish the painting in one or two months, but as he found himself emotionally invested, he realized that he had too many things that he wanted to paint. For example, the indignant look in the eyes of the dead Godfiends and the trembling despair of mortals—many of which were personally seen by him. He wanted to paint them.
This was a record—a record of the things that happened in this tumultuous era.
He realized that he might not even finish the painting in four months, but he wasn’t in a hurry. This was originally a matter of putting his emotion into it, so he would naturally finish it when he was satisfied.