Twisted Dreams

Chapter 382 - 450: Black Ape King

The Empress frowned deeply, puzzled.

Is the highest authority of East Sakura acknowledging the status of the Great Evil Demon King by worshiping him?

The divine right of kings was once a means for emperors to win people’s hearts, but if there truly was a living god higher than the emperor, no emperor could accept that.

The Empress looked at the ground full of bird demon corpses, her mind in contemplation.

In fact, there are advantages to worshiping the Great Evil Demon King.

Amidst the revival of spiritual energy, collaborating with the Great Evil Demon King might just take East Sakura to the next level.

Perhaps this is a chance for the national destiny.

The Empress remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke:

"I will establish your statue in the Imperial Palace."

Xiaohai rejoiced.

This was exactly what he wanted.

The Empress said,

"Now, please step in to save my people."

Xiaohai said,

"Ending the demon disturbances is simple.

Just like you, East Sakura’s households worship powerful demons."

The Empress frowned again:

"What do you mean?"

Xiaohai said,

"If each household in East Sakura worships powerful demons, these strong demons wouldn’t cause disturbances and would be protected by the Great Demons.

With the Great Demons’ protection, how would the little demons dare to cause trouble?"

The Empress was smart and immediately understood Xiaohai’s meaning, her face turning grim.

If every household in East Sakura worships Great Demons, it’s as if the civilians are voluntarily turning their homes into territories of the Great Demons.

Demons, like wild beasts, have strict territorial divisions.

Worshiping a Great Demon is like marking territory for them, so the little demons dare not invade.

However, if the entire nation does this, the whole of East Sakura becomes a Demon Country!

Humans would become the private property of the Great Demons!

Xiaohai continued:

"The Imperial Palace worships me, and I protect the Imperial Palace.

The civilians worship the Great Demons, and the Great Demons protect the civilians."

Xiaohai raised his head, a bit of arrogance on his face:

"As for me, I am the biggest demon in East Sakura, and no Great Demon in East Sakura dares to disobey my orders."

The Empress’s face showed a struggle.

National destiny often hinges on a single thought.

There are benefits to submitting to demons.

At least they wouldn’t suffer the chaos of the spiritual energy revival like Huaqi.

The Empress’s mind worked quickly:

"How about we treat the worship of demons as a temporary measure?

Once East Sakura has mastered the power to combat the spiritual energy revival, we can then destroy the statues of those demons."

The Empress had an idea, took a deep breath:

"Alright, I accept your suggestion."

The Empress stood up, descended from her main seat, came before Xiaohai, and lowered her noble head:

"Please, Great Evil Demon King, first save my country’s people."

Outside, there was currently the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, with sheriffs and the military fighting the demons, and many civilians experiencing unrest.

"Hahahahaha..."

Xiaohai couldn’t help but let out a burst of wild laughter.

He hadn’t expected his strategy to succeed so quickly.

In fact, what defeated the Empress wasn’t Xiaohai but the Empress’s ignorance and fear of the spiritual energy revival.

A Gate of Hell opened.

Several wolf-headed, human-bodied demons dressed in Tang Dynasty white robes emerged from the Gate of Hell, entering the hall and kneeling before Xiaohai.

These wolf-headed entities were wolf demons Xiaohai brought from Xia Country.

Xiaohai said loudly:

"Relay my orders: all demons must not cause disturbances within seven days!"

This statement from Xiaohai also gave the Empress a deadline.

Within seven days, the entire country must worship demons.

Households that do not worship demons will not be protected by Xiaohai or the Great Demons, deserving to be plagued by demons.

Several wolf demons took the order and quickly disappeared from the hall.

Xiaohai took out a piece of paper:

"Starting tomorrow, all East Sakura citizens must go to their local Great Evil Demon King Shrines to buy this talisman paper.

Only the talisman paper from the Great Evil Demon King Shrine can effectively worship Great Demons."

Worshipping a Great Demon isn’t just about building a stone statue in your home.

It requires Xiaohai’s talismans.

Those talisman papers, Xiaohai had prepared early on, but they weren’t drawn by Xiaohai himself.

Xiaohai didn’t have that kind of free time.

The talisman papers were all drawn by witches from the Seimei Shrine.

The witchcraft learned by the witches was all techniques from the Xia Country’s Talisman Sect, and the talisman paper contained a bit of spiritual power, which appeared to be mysterious magic in the eyes of the civilians.

Xiaohai was someone who wouldn’t leave a feather unplucked; he could also make a fortune by selling talisman paper.

...

Seven days later, in Gonggu City, East Sakura.

By this time, Gonggu City was very desolate.

Even though it was a workday, the streets were empty.

Originally, Gonggu City was a fairly bustling city.

All of this was caused by the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

The Night Parade of Hundred Demons caused the entire city to shut down.

To the rulers of East Sakura, the greatest harm from the Night Parade of Hundred Demons wasn’t the deaths but the impact on the economy.

Patrons in a restaurant were eating when a Cat Demon barged in, treating the diners as a buffet—who could continue eating?

In an office building, leaders of two companies were about to sign a cooperation agreement when a Bird Demon crashed into the building—who could proceed with signing the contract?

In a shopping mall, people were leisurely shopping when a pack of wolf demons rushed in to wreak havoc—who would dare to continue shopping?

The Night Parade of Hundred Demons was like a computer virus: it might not blow up the whole computer, but it was enough to crash the system.

Panic spread in an instant.

Ogura Ryouta was a middle-aged, salaryman horse.

He had a daughter, a wife, and an elderly mother over seventy.

In East Sakura, the pressure on men’s lives was substantial.

He hadn’t been to work for five days, five days without pay was enough to turn half of Ogura Ryouta’s hair gray.

He clutched his briefcase and walked cautiously down the street.

The occasional security car howling past brought him some sense of safety.

Ogura Ryouta kept his head low, hurried along, finally making it back home.

Once inside, his wife asked nervously:

"Did you... did you get it?"

Ogura Ryouta looked quite weary from his travels but wore a happy expression.

He raised the briefcase in his hand like winning a trophy at a sports meet, proudly stating:

"After queuing for four days and nights, I finally got it."

His wife quickly took the briefcase, and the yellow talisman paper inside made her beam with joy, finally sighing in relief.

The talisman papers from the shrines were hard to come by.

Although the authorities said they would distribute talisman papers to every household, there were simply too many people in East Sakura.

Many common folks couldn’t wait for the security bureau’s distribution, so they went to the nearby Great Evil Demon King Shrine to purchase talisman papers themselves.

Now, the talisman papers were very precious.

After all, nobody wanted to face demons directly.

Ogura Ryouta quickly said:

"Quick, put this talisman paper up as instructed by the security bureau; I need to rest a bit."

His wife nodded repeatedly, taking the talisman paper to a newly made altar in their home.

The altar was just an ordinary table.

A red cloth covered the table, with incense burners and a statue of a black ape on it.

This black ape statue was the demon that this family worshipped.

East Sakura people hadn’t really seen many Great Demons; the demons appearing during the Night Parade were obviously distinct from the legendary ’Shuten-doji,’ ’Tamamo-no-Mae,’ and ’Great Celestial Dog.’

This indicated that the legends of demons in East Sakura were fabricated and adapted.

Or perhaps those Great Demons didn’t appear in the Night Parade.

East Sakura people hadn’t seen those Great Demons and didn’t know who to worship. Many families chose to fabricate a statue of the Great Evil Demon King based on his image in the Great Evil Demon King Shrine and worship him.

Ogura’s daughter insisted she had seen a Great Demon and strongly requested her father to make this black ape statue.

Ogura Ryouta chose to believe his daughter, so the demon they worshipped was the Black Ape King.