Star Trace Gate

Chapter 731: Ancestral worship ceremony, evil spirit suddenly appears

The father-in-law of Lord Long, the great general of Chaolong City, Mr. Yang Ganglie, led 8,000 cavalrymen and came from the south in a mighty force, causing all the military officers in the city to kneel and kowtow, and the civil officials to pay their respects with great ceremony.

Beside the ancestral land, as soon as Long Yuqing saw his father-in-law returning, he lifted up the dragon robe with both hands, trotted all the way, like a landlubber going to the market, and rushed impatiently to the front of the extremely handsome white horse.

His face was full of filial smiles. He personally held the reins for his father-in-law and fixed the stirrups with his hands. Then he said, "The auspicious time for ancestor worship is still a while away. I thought my father-in-law would be back later... You must be exhausted from the journey. Get off the horse quickly. I have asked people to prepare a waiting pavilion to provide shade and cool down."

Yang Ganglie rode on his white shadow horse and taught with a serious face: "The early appearance of the red tide at Xingshan Mountain will certainly arouse people's imagination. Our Chaolong City is located at the foot of Xingshan Mountain, which is an extremely sensitive place. You insist on making a drama of ancestor worship, which will inevitably arouse people's speculation. If someone thinks that the tidal surge is related to ancestor worship, it will cause trouble."

This was a bit of a lesson, but Long Yuqing was used to it, so he just grinned and said, "Father-in-law, it is precisely because the tidal bore will make people imagine a lot and make the people in the city panic that I decided to offer sacrifices to our ancestors and pray for the people here and our family. What's more, the expert who predicted for me said that I will have a disaster this year... So, I also want to ask for the blessing of my ancestors."

"...!"

Hearing this, Yang Ganglie said slowly, "Don't mention your master anymore. He used a big bird to scare widows, specifically to scare cowardly rich people like you."

"My father-in-law is right." Long Yuqing knew that his father-in-law was a man with a hot temper. When his eldest brother-in-law was a child, he was almost beaten into a cripple by him, so naturally he did not dare to argue.

"brush!"

While the two were talking, Yang Ganglie dismounted, wearing golden armor and holding the Dragon Prison Stick that no general in the city could lift, and walked towards the waiting pavilion.

Beside him, Long Yuqing took a half step back, personally led the horse for his father-in-law, and followed.

In front of the old general, countless civil and military officials saluted before daring to come forward to talk to him and ask about his well-being.

Behind him, eight thousand cavalrymen dispersed silently and stood in the south of the ancestral land. The formation was neat and quiet. They neither dismounted to pay respects to the city lord nor bowed to the ancestral land.

Soon, even the fifth-rank strong man from the Xianlan Sect came with a group of fourth-rank people to greet them. They walked side by side with the old general and spoke to him politely.

"The highest position among the officials is what this scene is all about."

When Xu Bangzi saw this scene, he couldn't help but sigh: "Ah, I don't know when I can have such a status in Qingliang Mansion...!"

“Donate money.”

Yin Hu persuaded him thoughtfully: "If you donate more, then let alone being treated like this during the ancestor worship, even if you are treated as an ancestor, my brother, Prince Huai, will not say a word..."

"Brother Hu still understands me." Ren nodded slightly in agreement.

He also carefully looked at Mr. Yang Ganglie, the brightest figure in the crowd, and added softly, "In this bizarre and mysterious world, if you want to be a high-ranking official, you must have the ability to be a high-ranking official."

"Have you ever heard Long Yuqing mention him?" asked Master Chu.

"Long Yuqing didn't say much, but I often go to the City Lord's Mansion, so I've naturally heard some of his stories." Ren also squinted his eyes and looked ahead: "This old man Yang Ganglie is a man at the peak of the fifth rank, a Chaolong God of War who has practiced martial arts hard. Otherwise, just relying on his status as a great general in the common people, how could the fifth-rank Taoist priest of the Xianlan Sect be so polite?"

"In a war-torn land, everything depends on strength. Not only is he a fifth-rank warrior, but the two silver-armored generals in front of the eight thousand cavalry are Mr. Yang's junior brothers, and they are also fifth-rank supreme warriors."

"With three fifth-rank people in one city, no wonder Long Yuqing can sit firmly on the position of city lord." Xu Bangzi nodded in astonishment.

"In addition, the military, political, and diplomatic affairs of Chaolong City are all handled by General Yang." Ren Ye introduced: "He and Long Yuqing's father have been famous in the Five Cities of Xianlan for many years. They have a very high prestige and a wide network of contacts... He was invited by the Lord of Wanbang to exchange what he has with Chaolong City and prosper together."

When Xu Bangzi heard this, he nodded slightly and said, "No wonder the servant just said that only with General Yang here can Chaolong City be free of war for fifty years."

While everyone was watching the fun and chatting, City Lord Long had already walked into the makeshift waiting pavilion with the distinguished guests from the Xianlan Sect and a group of people from the Yang family.

As the auspicious time for ancestor worship had not yet arrived, Lord Long of Long City sat beside his father-in-law in the Houli Pavilion, drinking tea and chatting quietly with the guests and officials.

Outside the Houli Pavilion that could accommodate a hundred people, Long Yuqing's second uncle Yang Mingyuan was sitting in a carriage.

The second uncle Yang Mingyuan is only six years older than Long Yuqing, and is a person of the first level of the fourth rank. At this age, he can reach this level, and he is considered to be a person with relatively strong talents in the five cities of Xianlan.

When he entered the third rank, he had the opportunity to become a disciple of an immortal master in the Xianlan Sect. However, because Yang Ganglie lacked a capable general who was decisive in killing and good at planning to help him in the army, he did not let his second son enter the Xianlan Sect. Instead, he stayed in the city to serve as the commander of the Chaolong Supervisory Guard.

The functions of this Supervisory Guard are equivalent to the East and West Factories of the Ming Dynasty, and their power is even greater. Because the Five Cities of Xianlan and the Jiuli Continent are more chaotic, there are naturally more intrigues, so the Supervisory Guard not only monitors internal affairs, but also "defends against enemies" externally.

Assassination, bribery, secret connections, planting spies, collecting military intelligence, etc., were all handled by Yang Mingyuan. Therefore, this person's ability is definitely not inferior to that of his brother-in-law.

Yang Mingyuan looks rather ordinary, with small eyes, thin lips, and a thin body. He is completely different from his father's majestic image, and even seems a little feminine.

He was sitting in the carriage with his hands in his sleeves, and asked a centurion of the Supervisory Guard, "My brother-in-law, father, and distinguished guests are all in Houli Pavilion. Why did you suddenly ask me to come to this carriage? Is there something urgent?"

"Reporting to the Lord, the case of the missing third-rank military officer in the army has made great progress." The centurion took out a secret report from his bosom and replied in a low voice: "We secretly arrested a magical person from the Ghost Sect, but...but the result is really shocking...You should take a look at the secret report yourself!"

Yang Mingyuan took the letter and looked at it carefully in the candlelight of the carriage.

After a while, he frowned and asked with sharp eyes, "Who else knows about this?"

"It's just me and a few supernatural powers who follow me on my errands." The captain pondered for a while and asked softly, "This result is completely different from all the previous speculations... What do you think, should we hand this secret report to the city lord?!"

Yang Mingyuan held the secret letter, stared at the centurion, shook his head decisively and said: "During the sacrificial ceremony, the city lord is very tired from welcoming and seeing off guests, and there are many people in the city, so it is not appropriate to mention this matter now."

"I will keep this secret letter for the time being. I will hand it over to the city lord after the sacrificial ceremony is over."

"Also, this matter must be kept secret. Tell those supernatural beings to keep their mouths shut. If anyone talks nonsense and leaks the news, I will punish them severely."

Although he looked somewhat feminine, the tone and demeanor he used when speaking gave the centurion a great sense of intimidation.

"Yes, my subordinates know."

"Yeah." Yang Mingyuan put away the secret letter, put on a smiling face, stepped out of the carriage, and walked straight to Hou Liting.

……

Time passed by minute by minute, and soon it was approaching the auspicious time for the sacrificial ceremony. Ren Ye and the others just walked along the country road as if they were participating in a spring outing, and then filled their stomachs in front of a number of stalls selling delicious food.

"Ong!"

The deep and majestic sound of the horn sounded leisurely at the foot of Xingshan Mountain.

The ceremonial officer who presided over the ceremony walked to the ancestral altar and shouted at the top of his voice: "The auspicious time is approaching, silence, silence!"

Following his shout, the common people who had been waiting for a long time wiped their mouths full of grease, hugged their children, supported the elderly, and looked out into the distance at the ancestral land of the Long family.

Ren Ye and others were guests, so their seats for watching the ceremony were much closer to the front than ordinary people, just a little bit behind the Houli Pavilion.

However, Long Yuqing was currently socializing with the distinguished guests, so he had no time to deal with them.

Ren also stood in the crowd, looking at the Long family's ancestral tomb.

The ancestral land is extremely wide, crisscrossing from east to west and north to south, with dozens of huge tombs located there, all of which are built with precious bluestone. Whether from the outline, height, or width, there must be underground palaces under these tombs.

In front of each large tomb, there is a huge tombstone as high as nine nines, on which is written the life and contributions of the ancestors of the Long family. In addition, there are many rare treasures in the ancestral land, such as towering ancient trees, flowers and plants that symbolize auspiciousness, etc.

Such a large tomb was placed in front of Master Chu Dao, which naturally made him addicted to digging up the roots of the tomb. He even sent a message to Ren Ye several times: "Good brother, find a time, let's take a walk here at night?! I promise to only linger outside and never go in...!"

Ren Ye repeatedly reminded him, "If you dare to dig up my brother Long's family tombs, I will definitely be the first to report you."

This answer made Master Chu very sad, and he even said with a bit of resentment: "Ah, it faded, it faded, it faded after I bought the house. After all, the old is replaced by the new......!"

While a few people were chatting, the auspicious time for the sacrificial ceremony arrived.

The ceremonial officer who presided over the ceremony first used magical methods and a magnificent and bright voice to read out the core ideological program of this ancestor worship to hundreds of thousands of people watching the ceremony, as well as a chapter of no less than 3,000 words praising the benevolent and virtuous rule of the Long family. Only then did he begin the first step of the formal ancestor worship.

Amid the sound of drums and music, old Mr. Yang Ganglie, wearing golden armor, was the first to step onto the ancestral altar.

He was alone in the cold wind, bowing and worshipping, and lit three incense sticks in the direction of each of the dozen large tombs.

This was a tribute as a peer, not a minister. But no matter whether it was the common people present, or Long Yuqing and the people of Xianlan Sect, they didn't think there was anything wrong.

However, when Master Yang stepped off the stage, the originally clear sky suddenly became cloudy.

The presiding officer did not want the dark clouds to block the scorching sun, so he advanced the time a little and called Long Yuqing and his wife Yang Linger to go on stage together.

Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of people, Long Yuqing and Yang Ling'er, dressed in gorgeous clothes, walked up to the ancestral worship platform with dignified manners.

"Hurrah!"

As soon as the two men came onto the stage, the common people, civil officials, military officers, and tens of thousands of soldiers around them all knelt on the ground like a sea tide, clasped their hands together, and looked up to the sky as if praying.

Even the 8,000 cavalrymen brought back by old man Yang Ganglie all dismounted and knelt on the ground. The scene was extremely grand.

On the ancestral altar, Long Yuqing and Yang Ling'er, with the help of various ceremonial officials, picked up the items for ancestral worship, ready to push this unprecedented ceremony to its climax.

But at this moment, the sky was already covered with dark clouds and it was dark and without any light.

Ren also looked up at the sky in surprise, curled his lips and commented: "My brother Long is indeed likely to be deceived into nothing but his pants when it comes to metaphysics. With such a grand ancestor worship ceremony, the Yin-Yang master beside him didn't even calculate today's weather?!"