Wenchang Noble

He cried out in surprise and joy, picking up another pill and preparing to stuff it into his mouth.

Tao Tuantuan slapped his hand. "Don't be greedy. Distribute them to the little ones first."

Yang Dingding pulled his hand back with an embarrassed grin. He turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone come out! It's safe now!"

His voice was booming, echoing far across the open underground city.

"These aren't Wan Xiu's men! These two lords are with Lord Purity and Filth!"

Jian Huaishuang spoke up calmly from the side, correcting him. "You've got that backward."

Yang Dingding froze. "Huh?"

Jian Huaishuang said, "Purity and Filth is our lord's man."

Yang Dingding blinked and looked at Chen Zhou. "Oh, oh! So Lord Purity and Filth is following this lord now? I get it, I get it."

He chuckled and turned back to continue shouting. "Come out, everyone! The lord has given us a reward! There's food for everyone!"

The demonlings hiding in various corners poked their heads out upon hearing Yang Dingding's shouts.

They saw Yang Dingding standing there with a grin, holding up a pill and calling out loudly.

"Come on, line up! Everyone gets one!"

The demonlings looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and then began to crawl out from their hiding spots. Soon, a dense crowd of small demons gathered in the plaza.

Yang Dingding handed out the pills one by one, talking as he went.

"Eat up, eat up! I tried one just now. It's good stuff. It'll fill you up and tastes way better than mushrooms."

The demonlings took the pills, sniffed them hesitantly, and popped them into their mouths.

Soon, cries of surprise broke out everywhere.

"Wow, I'm so full!"

"My stomach doesn't hurt anymore!"

"I feel like I'm getting stronger!"

The little rabbit and lizard demons that Jian Huaishuang had caught earlier were also squeezed into the crowd, helping Yang Dingding distribute the pills.

As they handed them out, they bragged boastfully to the other demonlings.

"See that? Those two lords are incredibly powerful!"

"Yeah, the lord subdued me the moment we met. He's amazing."

The demonlings ate while watching Chen Zhou and Jian Huaishuang with curiosity. The fear in their eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by wonder.

Tao Tuantuan stood to the side, a faint smile on her face as she watched the scene.

She turned and whispered instructions to a few demonlings who had already received their pills.

"Go and call the rest of the clansmen over."

The demonlings nodded and ran off quickly, disappearing into the tunnels in various directions.

Chen Zhou looked at Tao Tuantuan and asked, "When did you come here?"

Tao Tuantuan answered while handing pills to passing demonlings.

"About a thousand years ago."

"After the True Lord of Purity and Filth and the Three Dukes fell, I led the remaining clansmen and hid underground for several years. Eventually, by a stroke of luck, we found this place."

She looked up at the surrounding ruined buildings.

"This place is called the Eternal Dark Abyss. I once saw it mentioned in an ancient text."

"The text said this was an underground city built ten thousand years ago by the Jiao Mu Kingdom. It was grand in scale, large enough to hold a million souls."

"But later, it seems the Jiao Mu Kingdom was destroyed by an unknown disaster, leaving only this empty city buried deep underground."

Chen Zhou listened, deep in thought.

The Jiao Mu Kingdom again.

He had seen the name Jiao Mu Kingdom carved on the porcelain fragments he found in the ruins earlier.

An underground kingdom that had vanished ten thousand years ago.

Tao Tuantuan continued, "We struggled to survive here for many years, thinking we could hide forever. But eventually, Wan Xiu found us."

"Several ancestors went out of the city to fight to the death. In the end, they were no match for Wan Xiu and all perished."

"Before they died, they left two seals outside the city to protect us survivors, allowing us to continue hiding."

Chen Zhou recalled that when he and Jian Huaishuang entered, there were indeed seals on the stone door.

But to be honest, those seals weren't strong.

Jian Huaishuang had shattered them with just a few sword strikes.

Not to mention the gatekeeper with the five symbiosis contracts; if he wanted to enter, those seals wouldn't have stopped him.

And certainly not if Wan Xiu himself had come. Was it because a thousand years had passed and the power of the seals had gradually weakened?

Chen Zhou asked again, "How do you know so much?"

Tao Tuantuan said, "I have some Word Spirit abilities. I can extract a lot of information from text."

"I've read the manuscripts and ancient texts left by my ancestors many times. Every time I read them, I discover something new."

Yang Dingding, having finished distributing the pills, leaned in and interrupted loudly.

"Tuantuan is amazing! She's a descendant of Duke Wen. Duke Wen himself said she was the reincarnation of Wenqu!"

He looked proud, as if he were praising himself.

"Brush strokes that startle the elements, one word to settle the world, words carry the truth, and manifesting speech into law! Most of the time, whatever she says is bound to happen!"

Tao Tuantuan looked embarrassed and quickly waved her hands. "Dingding, don't talk nonsense. It's not that exaggerated."

She looked at Chen Zhou and explained, "My cultivation is insufficient. I cannot manifest the great power that Duke Wen once had."

"Furthermore, as members of the Peach Clan, a common trait of plant-based demons is that we aren't suited for combat. My ability currently only allows me to find more glowing mushrooms so that more of my clansmen don't starve to death."

Yang Dingding said stubbornly, "That's still impressive! If Tuantuan says she can find a basket of mushrooms today, she definitely will!"

Chen Zhou grew interested. A Wenqu reincarnation was likely a Wenchang Noble. This ability to manifest speech into law was indeed quite broken.

If she grew stronger in the future, she might truly be able to settle the world with a single word.

As he was thinking, noisy sounds came from the distance.

Countless demonlings poured out of the various tunnels—some large, some small, some fast, some slow.

They ran to the plaza, their eyes widening when they saw the others eating pills.

"There really is food!"

"I want some too!"

"Don't push! Line up!"

The plaza suddenly became lively. The demonlings scrambled forward, and Yang Dingding and the others rushed to maintain order.

Chen Zhou did a rough count; there were at least tens of thousands of them, far more than the demonlings in the Earth Dissolving Cave.

He pulled out another large handful of pills and handed them to Tao Tuantuan.

"Take these. Keep distributing them."

Tao Tuantuan froze for a moment as she looked at the pills.

Another few tens of thousands of pills... just who was this lord?

She took the pills and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Lord."

Chen Zhou waved his hand and said, "Since this place is already under Wan Xiu's watch, you should evacuate as soon as possible."

"I can take you to a new place to settle down."

Tao Tuantuan handed the pills to the little lizard and rabbit to continue the distribution, but she shook her head. "Lord, you may not know, but the Eternal Dark Abyss is cut off by a seal. We cannot leave."

Yang Dingding, hearing this, also looked back curiously.

"That's right. The Eternal Dark Abyss has a seal. How did you two lords get in?"