Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

New Yu Era, 1332, the first day of the eleventh month

Longxiang County, Si Shui County

The floodwaters submerged everything, and not a trace of buildings could be seen in the entire county town. However, the ruins and fragments floating on the water, along with the supplies left behind by fleeing civilians and the thousands of swollen, decaying corpses, still proved that this was once a fairly prosperous city.

Si Shui County is the easternmost county of Longxiang County, less than five miles from Longxiang Ferry, adjacent to Tongtian River. In the past, this was considered a unique advantage for Si Shui County, as travelers going to Longxiang County or crossing the river to Xuzhou would all stop here. Thus, Si Shui County was several times more prosperous in terms of population and commerce compared to ordinary county towns.

But now, a flood has turned this unique advantage into a fatal flaw.

Ten consecutive days of torrential rain caused the water levels of Tongtian River to surge, and Si Shui County, which was the closest and at the lowest elevation, became the first victim among the five counties of Longxiang County, being completely submerged and merging with Tongtian River. If the civilians hadn't fled early, the corpses floating on the river's surface would be far more than just the current number.

Above Si Shui County, Hou Yucheng, Hou Yuling, Hou Yujie, and Hou Yuduan were staring at the water below. Their faces were extremely gloomy as they saw the floating corpses and the county town submerged by the flood.

"Originally, I thought the drought in Xiapi County was already severe enough. Unexpectedly, it is even worse here in Hedong, directly brought by such a flood. Looking at the situation, if we don't respond, they might inundate three or five more counties at least!"

"Not only the Four Great Holy Lands of Hedong, but also Qinjian Villa, and in addition to that, the Wuwei King Hou Jing, have already sworn to form the Anti-Jin Alliance in Yangzhou ten days ago. This flood is not caused by human hands; it's clearly the work of demons. It should unsurprisingly be the doing of the River Lord of Tongtian who has joined the Wuwei King's forces."

"These Righteous Path people are also acting so recklessly. Aren't they afraid of divine retribution for creating such deep sins?"

"What nonsense Righteous Path, they are clearly no different from the Jin!"

"It's pitiful for these civilians. They have done nothing."

...

Although Hou Yuduan was the only one among the four not to speak a word, his expression was the ugliest. His fists were clenched inside his sleeves, and his usually handsome face had, due to anger, turned dreadfully grim.

A fourth-grade demon, also called the Senluo Realm, symbolizes the mysterious and various phenomena. Demons, born from the convergence of Earth Spirit and human blood grievances, are most harmonious and natural with the world. Once they reach the fourth grade, they can use their demon qi to alter the weather. The extent of change varies with their strength. This is not much of a secret among the Martial Artists beyond the Breakthrough Saint realm.

The ten days of continuous heavy rain and the drought in the north — ordinary civilians might not know, but Hou Yuduan already had the answer before departing from Tao City. Just as his second brother Hou Yucheng and the others said, this rain was caused by demon influence, and it was almost certain to be the work of the River Lord of Tongtian, who previously had a fairly amicable relationship with the Hou Clan.

The problem is, the River Lord of Tongtian has already joined the Wuwei King, and the Wuwei King has now formed the Anti-Jin Alliance with the Five Great Holy Lands. This means that the two disasters in Hexi are actions of this Anti-Jin Alliance.

Hou Jing, the Wuwei King, Qinjian Villa, and Wanjian Holy Sect, Hou Yuduan can understand.

But he cannot forgive Bailu Academy and Haoran Holy Sect.

The Haoran Holy Sect's three sect lines of zither, chess, painting, and poetry, all base themselves on Vast Righteous Qi; and Bailu Academy, which has always claimed to be the leader of the Righteous Path, reads the Sages' Book and cultivates Vast Righteous Qi. Yet these two agreed to let the River Lord of Tongtian cause this flood in the two prefectures of Hexi, killing so many civilians for the sake of opposing Jin...

The Hou Clan rose from Zhaoyang to become the current Lord of Hexi, and through countless experiences over the past decade, Hou Yuduan has encountered people of all sorts. His fondness for Haoran Holy Sect and Bailu Academy has never waned. Not even during the incidents involving Maiden Hong.

He clearly saw how Ji Yanzhi designed the events, and how Tian Fazheng killed his own sister Tian Honglu, causing Maiden Hong's emergence. Despite their extreme and partial actions, ultimately, the teacher and student could still justify themselves — perhaps for fighting demons and safeguarding the Dao, or for peace in the world. Both had their beliefs and persistence.

Especially the scene of Ji Yanzhi abandoning Breakthrough Saint before his death to perish together with Maiden Hong still lingers in his memory. He had always believed, at the very least, that Bailu Academy, the leader of the Righteous Path, truly had its heart set on the world.

But the sight of these thousands of floating corpses completely shattered his understanding.

The six families forming the Anti-Jin Alliance, Jin from the north, the alliance from the east, both pressuring Hexi simultaneously — this wasn't unexpected. But for the alliance to follow suit with Jin, using countless civilian lives to threaten Hexi, was utterly unacceptable.

The Jin was originally of the Demon Path, and their unscrupulous actions would be understandable. But for the six families of the Anti-Jin Alliance in Hexi, five had always posed as the Righteous Path. Furthermore, for Bailu Academy, the leader of the Righteous Path, to collude with demons, causing such a disaster to harm civilians and using it to pressure Hexi into compromise...

"Neither righteous nor evil, this world truly is in chaos..."

Hearing the deep anger in Hou Yuduan's voice, Hou Yucheng and the other three turned slightly, seeing the cold glint reflected in his eyes, and their bodies shuddered slightly.