Chapter 221： Beginning of disaster

Chapter 221 The Beginning of the Disaster

 Fan An was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Taihe. He had read poetry and books since he was a child and had the ambition to govern the country and stabilize the country. After becoming an official, he worked hard to govern and achieved remarkable results. His highest official position was the Governor of Dongzhou.

Fan An was concerned about the people of the country. During his tenure as an official, he worked diligently and loved the people. Under his rule, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment and lived a prosperous life. But there is one thing that always weighs on Fan An's mind.

That's the green forest bandits!

【Martial Arts】In the world, Jianghu sects are prevalent, relying on tyrannical force, completely ignoring the king's laws, and even privately delineating spheres of influence, occupying fields, and plundering people's money.

In many places, the people did not even know the emperor, only the local sect leader. As for whether the government yamen can be managed smoothly, it depends on the eyes of the local sect.

The imperial court has also been troubled by this for many years, and once organized an operation to suppress bandits. However, these martial arts sects have been operating in the local area for many years, have deep roots, and control a large amount of resources. Even the ambition of generations of young people is not to gain fame and serve the country, but to join a local sect, learn peerless martial arts, and become a hero. Especially those famous sects with tens of thousands of disciples and very strong martial arts. The separatists are no different from warlords.

Facing these big sects that have been passed down for hundreds of years, it is not easy to exterminate them. Repeated exterminations of bandits have brought about nothing but depleted treasury and only turmoil and famine. Over time, the imperial court has acquiesced in their existence, and local officials and sects have reached a certain tacit understanding, and they live in harmony in a delicate balance.

But Fan An does not agree with this situation... In his view, national governance must be based on the law. These Jianghu sects are outside the law, act in accordance with the so-called loyalty and Jianghu rules, and are above the common people and even local officials. Whether the people can live a secure life depends entirely on the conscience of the local sect. This is a huge destabilizing factor for the country and the people!

And in Dongzhou under his rule, there was such a powerful sect—Dragon Palace.

This sect is located on the East China Sea, and its head palace master is one of the famous Four Saints and Three Ultimates in the martial arts world, Dragon Mother Ao Zhen!

The main scope of activities of this sect is in the towns and fishing villages along the East China Sea Islands and the mainland. Whether fishermen go out to sea for fishing or caravans go out for trade, Dragon Palace takes a cut of the profits. Over time, the people have become accustomed to the existence of Dragon Palace, and even Submitting taxes voluntarily and consciously is more positive than paying taxes to the court.

These places are the richest areas in Eastern Continent. The residents here only recognize the Dragon Palace and not the imperial court. This not only seriously affects local finance and taxation, but also threatens the prestige of the imperial court. For this reason, Fan An wrote several times, requesting the imperial court to send troops to conquer the Dragon Palace.

At that time, the previous emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne. The new emperor was young and vigorous. He was feeling angry because of the Sword Master Sect incident. When he saw Fan An's memorial, he immediately felt that he should attack these martial arts sects, so he made every effort to Everyone agreed and issued an imperial edict to mobilize troops to attack the Dragon Palace!

Fan An reached out and groped around, and soon felt something cold. He was locked in an iron cage...

The imperial court is not stupid either. Ao Zhen, the Dragon Mother, is powerful in the East China Sea. She has tens of thousands of disciples and dozens of warships under her command. Not to mention that her Dragon Palace is alone overseas. Even on land, she is a force that cannot be underestimated. , therefore Fan An’s memorial has not been adopted.

That's not all. Later, Fan An suffered revenge from Dragon Palace. An assassin broke into his house at night and killed fifteen members of his family. In the end, only Fan An escaped death because he was born with a deformity and his heart was located on the right side.

Dragon Palace seems to have known about the imperial court's plan to suppress bandits for a long time. From the number of troops to the marching route, it even has a clear grasp of the ambush deployed secretly. The navy had just gone on an expedition. The bottom of the ship was punctured, the commander was stabbed in the flagship, and a large number of soldiers were buried in the belly of the fish. Those who survived had no choice but to surrender and were absorbed by the Dragon Palace, which greatly strengthened its power!

Where is this? Who caught him? Why are you arresting me? Could it be that Dragon Palace found out that I was alive and wanted to take revenge?

For a time, he thought of countless possibilities, but he was already despairing. No matter what his fate would be, he didn't care. This life was a piece of shit, so take it if you want...

However, the army’s warship was ambushed not long after it went to sea...

After receiving the news, Fan An was so excited that he stayed up all night and did his best to provide convenience and support for the troops who came to fight against the thieves.

With his official career ruined and his family ruined, Fan An completely lost hope in life. He blended in with the refugees and left Dongzhou, begging for a living. After many years of wandering, he finally came to Shannan Town...

But Fan An did not give up. He was not just a soldier. He even went to sea personally to inspect and study the layout of the Longgong Islands. Based on the situation on the ground, he formulated a practical plan to suppress bandits and submitted it to the court.

This failure caused the court to lose tens of thousands of troops, and also caused the new emperor's prestige to fall to the bottom. In anger, the little emperor ordered Fan An to be dismissed from his post, his family confiscated, and demoted to a commoner.

On this day, he begged for a mouthful of leftovers from the oil shop. After eating, he felt dizzy and fell asleep leaning against the wall. When he woke up again, he found that the surroundings were dark and he could not see his fingers...

At this moment, along with the sound of the mechanism operating, a ray of light broke through the darkness, and a person walked in from the light.

Fan An recognized this man. He was the owner of the oil shop. His surname was Xu. He was a very kind man. He would always give some leftovers to beggars like them... Today, it was after eating Boss Xu's meal that he fell into a coma...

The owner of the oil mill also had a man on his shoulders. He came in and opened a cage next to Fan An, threw the man in and locked the door.

Only then did Fan An notice that there were five cages lined up side by side in this secret room... Fan An didn't know what Boss Xu wanted to do, and he didn't care. When Boss Xu saw that he was awake, he seemed a little surprised why he didn't speak or cry. He looked at him a few more times and then went out.

In the next few days, the owner of the oil mill would transport one person in every day and bring food to the previous people. Fan An also knows these newcomers. They are all beggars and vagrants on the street... They will beg the owner of the oil shop to let them go every time, unwilling to stay in this dark place, but the boss is indifferent and just comes regularly every day. Send them meals.

Only Fan An is content with the situation, eating when there is food and sleeping when there is no food. He even looks forward to the day when he eats enough and goes to sleep and never wakes up again...

However, such "stable" days did not last long. Finally one day, the owner of the oil mill came in, opened a cage, and pulled out a person. After about a quarter of an hour, he sent him back, and then another person was taken away. I don't know. what are you doing.

It was Fan An's turn. He followed her out obediently. The boss tied her to a pillar and stuffed a rag into her mouth. Then he took out a strange transparent tube with a black liquid inside and a rag at one end. There was a silver needle inserted... The owner of the oil shop inserted the silver needle into his arm, and then pushed the piston, driving the black liquid into his body.

He didn't feel anything at first, but as the black liquid circulated through his blood, Fan An felt great pain. He was sweating all over and clenched his teeth, almost biting through the rag. After almost a quarter of an hour, The pain finally subsided...

Subsequently, the owner of the oil mill sent him back to the cage, and Fan An fell into a deep sleep because he was exhausted from the pain just now...

In the following days, the rhythm of sleeping after eating and eating after sleeping was resumed. The only difference is that every day the owner of the oil shop will take them out one by one, do some strange physical examinations, and ask if they have been feeling anything recently.

At first, Fan An didn't feel anything. He didn't know what the owner of the oil shop had done to him, but it didn't matter anymore. In the bottom of his heart, he even had a glimmer of hope that the black liquid was some kind of poison. Suddenly one day, the poison came out. If he has a seizure, send him back to the west and it will be over...

But as time went by, Fan An soon discovered that instead of showing signs of being poisoned, he felt that his body was getting lighter and lighter, his strength was getting stronger, and his old eyes that were originally dim became clearer...

After all, Fan An immediately realized that the owner of the oil shop was developing a potion that could strengthen the human body!

Originally, when he was over sixty years old, he had no expectations for life, but this sudden power changed his mind.

At that time, he thought that reading the books of sages could clarify the righteousness and help the country, but he did not expect that his life would be ruined in the hands of a group of martial artists... No matter what classics or fame, in the end, they could not withstand the most primitive violence!

That setback caused his outlook on life to completely collapse, and all his efforts in the first half of his life were completely negated.

But now, by chance, he has gained strength! A power that he despised the most before, but it ruined his life!

Fan An’s eyes have light again!

He felt the changes in his body. The power was getting stronger day by day. Slowly, he even felt that he could no longer be considered a human being. Not only does he have extraordinary strength, but he can also change freely, grow claws, and split tentacles... Of course, these experiments were secretly done when the secret door was closed and it was pitch dark. Whenever the oil shop boss came for a physical examination, Every time, he would return to his human form and pretend that nothing had changed...

Gradually, not only the physical changes, but also his spirit began to sublimate. Even in the darkness, he could feel the four other people in the cage. Fan An could feel that they contained the same power as himself, but Those powers are sleeping in their bodies and have not been stimulated...

Such a waste!

If I can take over those four forces, I will definitely evolve completely...

Finally, when Fan An felt that he could perfectly master the power, he took advantage of the darkness and released his tentacles, piercing the other four cages and completely devouring the experimental subjects inside...

This time, he did not experience pain. Instead, the power was like sweet juice, nourishing his body and making him extremely comfortable. At the same time, he also felt unprecedented power!

This is the purest, most primitive, and most violent power that is different from martial arts! In the face of this power, those martial arts heroes who claim to be masters can only become my food!

At this moment, the secret door opened and the owner of the oil shop walked in.

This time, what he saw were four empty cages covered in blood, and an old beggar smiling greedily at him...

(End of this chapter)