Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 395 - 346 Embrace

Blood laden with dust flowed along the crevices of the stone bricks, pouring into the pond where it slowly spread.

CLANG!

The ape-like elder gave his longsword a flick, casually brushing off the dirty blood that remained on the blade.

Around him lay scattered pieces of corpses. The faces of these men showed only shock; the sword’s edge had been so swift they didn’t even have time for despair.

"It seems your Li Yu Royal Family was truly frightened by the Holy Empress’s use of the garrison to eliminate her opponents," the ape-like elder said, looking at the men from the garrison forming a sword array as if facing a formidable enemy. He casually remarked, "Compared to fifty or sixty years ago, today’s garrison is indeed pitifully weak. You’ve forgotten that true strength lies in people, not in some supposedly impregnable arrays and prohibitions."

"Why waste so much breath on them?" The Butcher shook his head, slowly chewing on a piece of meat of unknown origin. "That side can’t hold Lian Xuanyao for too long. We’d better hurry and finish our important task."

"Yuan Sou."

Qi Ji, the Vice Commander of the Town Patrol Office, took a deep breath.

Yuan Sou’s original surname was Pang, born into a swordsman family in Zhao Jun of the Zhou Kingdom. As a baby, he was kidnapped by white apes in the mountains and raised by them. At the age of ten, his clan found and brought him back. Recognizing his extraordinary talent for swordplay, the family focused on cultivating his skills. When he reached adulthood, his cannibalistic habits were exposed. To escape punishment, he slaughtered most of his clan members and fled Zhao Jun. Wherever he went, he left a trail of carnage.

Over the decades, countless people had tried to kill him, yet Yuan Sou remained alive, his swordsmanship growing ever deadlier.

Standing beside Yuan Sou was another cannibal: Ghost Shovel, a traitor from the Yu Country’s border army, who had originated from the Zhongsi Institute.

Qi Ji bellowed, "Ghost Shovel! The Yu Country did not treat you poorly. The Zhongsi Institute took you in, raised you, taught you to read and practice martial arts. Is this how you repay the Yu Country?"

"Hmph. The Zhongsi Institute adopted war orphans merely to train them into tools willing to throw away their lives. Why make it sound so noble?" Ghost Shovel said coldly. "Orphans, parentless and filled with deep hatred for foreign tribes, would endure even the harshest training. I repaid what I owed the Zhongsi Institute long ago in the Protectorate of the Anxi Four Towns. But what the Yu Country owes me is far from settled."

He reached for the hilt of his chopper and slowly drew it from its sheath. Instantly, the courtyard filled with the eerie wails of ghosts and howls of wolves.

Qi Ji’s expression darkened. Before the wedding, a large number of the garrison’s personnel had been dispersed throughout the city to maintain order. After fireworks ignited across the city, even more personnel were dispatched to extinguish the blazes. Meanwhile, Commander Lin Hongbo was far in the northwest, covertly investigating another anomaly.

Yuan Sou had guessed correctly. With their arrays and prohibitions bypassed, the garrison’s current defensive strength was indeed critically depleted. Who would have thought someone would dare to brazenly break into Chang’an City and even directly assault the garrison? Qixi, the wedding, the Chaotic Wind, the fireworks... All these factors had combined to create the current situation. How long had the enemy been planning this?

Qi Ji’s doubts were destined to remain unanswered.

Ghost Shovel fully unsheathed his chopper, bent his knees slightly, and stomped on the ground.

BOOM!!

The solid bluestone slabs beneath his feet shattered without warning. He then charged into the garrison’s sword array like a war chariot.

The slaughter resumed.

————

STEP, STEP.

In the Furong Garden, Li Ang slowly halted.

The once picturesque Royal Forbidden Garden was now incomparably desolate and dilapidated. A light rain, summoned by Tantai Leshan’s Rain Praying Talisman, fell from the sky. The ground was scarred with deep gouges from the fierce battle. The once vibrant and colorful canopies had all collapsed. The magnificent, colossal lantern tower had also crumbled, its remains slowly burning in the rain.

Casualties were countless. Women sat on the ground, wailing as they clutched the charred corpses of their husbands. Soldiers, their faces wrapped in damp cloth to ward off the thick smoke, worked together to lift massive lantern frames, rescuing trapped children.

Li Ang walked forward. He saw many familiar faces:

Song Shaoyuan and You Xiao, decapitated.

Yang Yu and Li Wei, burned to death.

Chao Wen Yuan, the Doctor of Mathematics, half his body turned to dust.

Before the full power of the Haotian Divine Light unleashed by the Taihao Mountain Cardinal, mortals were as weak as ants. Even cultivators who hadn’t crossed the Cloud Patrol threshold were just as vulnerable.

Li Ang stepped over the debris and saw Chai Chai beside the ruins of the lantern tower, tears streaming down her face. She knelt on the ground, cradling the pale-faced Le Ling in her arms.

"You’re here."

Le Ling looked at Li Ang as he approached and managed a weak smile. Her left sleeve was empty. Her left arm had been severed at the shoulder by a sweep of the Haotian Divine Light, the stump charred and smoking.

Qiu Feng and Galuo were sweating profusely, desperately using Telekinesis and Mind Threads to stop the bleeding, but they couldn’t stanch the slow loss of blood from Le Ling’s wound.

"I’m here."

Li Ang knelt on one knee. He looked at the still-smiling Le Ling, his throat constricted, struggling for words.

"I feel a bit cold," Le Ling’s voice was faint, her eyes beginning to lose focus. "Can you... hold me?"

Li Ang silently held her, feeling her body temperature ebb away.

To the astonishment of Chai Chai and the others, countless black threads radiated from Li Ang’s body, wrapping around Le Ling’s severed arm and staunching the flow of blood.

"Young Master..." Chai Chai said, stunned.

Li Ang slowly released Le Ling and stood up. He stroked Chai Chai’s hair, took out the Sumeru Hourglass, and headed straight towards the Purple Cloud Pavilion, which was now in ruins.

The ground there had caved in completely. Countless charred pieces of wood and brick had been forcibly ground into the earth by a tremendous power.

The Mountain Master floated above the ruins, his face solemn, his hands forming an ethereal Sealing Demon Talisman. The talisman was aimed at its target: the Faith Cultivation Cardinal. At this moment, the Cardinal’s body was grotesquely swollen, and countless centipede-like red particles flowed beneath his skin. A vast amount of destructive Haotian Divine Light leaked from the cracks in his skin; a mere touch was enough to annihilate body and soul.

"Li Ang? Why are you here? Get away from here!" Tantai Leshan, also floating above the ruins and assisting the Mountain Master in crafting the Sealing Demon Talisman, furrowed his brow and shouted.

The Mountain Master glanced at the approaching Li Ang, noticed the Sumeru Hourglass in his hand, and suddenly said, "Dark Filth Worms. They originate from the depths of the Endless Sea and have a powerful corrosive effect on Haotian believers. Someone implanted this Alien into Yan Xuan beforehand. During the wedding, when the Faith Cultivation Cardinal touched Yan Xuan’s forehead, the Alien suddenly erupted. It controlled the Cardinal, forcing him to self-destruct and destroy the Purple Cloud Pavilion."

Lian Xuanyao then stared at Li Ang intently, his gaze profound, and asked in a grave tone, "Can you stop it?"

"I can."

Their exchange was so abrupt that Tantai Leshan, Cui Yixian, and the others nearby were bewildered. Only Li Ang understood the Mountain Master’s meaning—recognizing the Sumeru Hourglass in Li Ang’s hand, the Mountain Master had revealed everything.

"If you succeed, come find me when this is over," the Mountain Master said, then nodded. "If I seem to doubt you, just say the words ’towering ridges, lofty skies’ to me."