Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 396 - 347: Return

"Okay."

Li Ang committed this to heart, took a deep breath, concentrated intently, and sensed Mo Si.

In Chang’an City, flies parasitized by Mo Si rose against the continuous fierce fires on the rooftops, climbing high into the sky to look down.

The flies recorded every horror in Chang’an City: where the fire was fiercest, where the disaster was worst, and where casualties were most severe.

Li Ang took another deep breath and grasped both ends of the hourglass.

***

In Banzheng Square, Yuan Sou’s Longsword rested on the neck of Qi Ji, the Deputy Commander of the Garrison. With a strong pull, Qi Ji’s head fell to the ground in a spray of blood, his eyes wide open in death.

"PHEW,"

Yuan Sou kicked Qi Ji’s corpse away and wiped the remaining blood from his Sword using the corner of his brocade robe.

The courtyard was filled with corpses, blood pooling like shallow shores.

Those who remained at the Garrison were indeed beyond reproach in their loyalty to Yu Country.

Even facing an overwhelming disparity in power, they had almost encircled and killed Yuan Sou with their fearless determination and tacit cooperation.

Fortunately, he still won.

The Chaotic Wind swirling over the city vastly reduced the effects of all talismans and Aliens. Combined with the city-wide fire, it blocked the Cultivators’ Spiritual Sense and vision.

The Yu Country Cultivators scattered across the workshops did not even know what had happened at the Garrison headquarters, so they could not possibly come to assist or rescue.

"TSK,"

Yuan Sou looked at the nicked edge of his blade with regret and muttered, "Such a shame for a good Sword."

"Stop fretting. Business first."

Ghost Shovel stepped through the thick Blood Pool, chewing on a heart as his many wounds quickly healed.

He knelt on one knee over a Stone Tablet in the corner of the courtyard and slammed his fist into the ground.

The solid rock layer instantly collapsed, revealing an underground chamber. This was still not enough. The underground structure of the Garrison was especially complicated, divided into many layers, like a fortress. Ghost Shovel struck again, his face expressionless as he pounded his fist down once more.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The rock layers collapsed continuously, eventually reaching the lowest level.

This place was perennially damp and without light. The walls and floor were scattered with numerous arm-sized chains of Fine Steel, firmly locking hundreds of upright Stone Coffins.

Each Stone Coffin was pasted with Sealing talismans, with the names of the prisoners written on them.

The Chaotic Wind grew fierce and rapid, causing the Prohibition Talismans to fail, and all the Stone Coffins began to shake violently.

"HEH..."

Ghost Shovel exhaled a turbid breath, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

He leaped onto the wall, ran wildly along it, his Chopper slicing through chain after chain.

Sparks flew everywhere.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

One by one, the Stone Coffins burst open.

The trapped Demon Cultivators emerged from their coffins and knelt on the ground.

Some laughed heartily.

Some cried tears of joy.

Some devoutly kowtowed, thanking Haotian.

Some stretched their arms wide, feeling the breeze pass under their shoulders, as if reborn.

THUD.

Ghost Shovel jumped back to the ground, sheathed his knife, and grinned.

Those qualified to be imprisoned in the Stone Coffin Forest by the Garrison were all the most ferocious, incorrigible Demon Cultivators.

Each one was a demon in human skin, with high Cultivation, a strong will, and a cruel, bloodthirsty nature.

This also meant... they were delicious.

Ghost Shovel’s throat bobbed. A CRACKLE, CRACKLE sound came from its chest and abdomen as a twisted, centipede-like scar split open on its own.

The Demon Cultivators, just freed from their coffins, heard the odd noise and turned to look at Ghost Shovel.

They saw the edges of the split wound in its chest and abdomen, lined with layers upon layers of sharp teeth, slowly opening like the gaping maw of a wild beast.

"Ghost Shovel!!!"

It was unclear which perceptive Demon Cultivator had shrieked his name, but everyone’s face changed drastically, and they scattered in all directions.

However, with their scapulae pierced, their Qi Seas abolished, and having been imprisoned for so long in sunless Stone Coffins, they could hardly escape Ghost Shovel; most could not even climb the smooth, damp walls.

"Come here, come here."

Ghost Shovel muttered, grabbing Demon Cultivators with both hands and stuffing them whole into the gigantic mouth in its chest and abdomen. "I’m hungry."

After devouring all these Demon Cultivators from the prison, how much stronger will I become? Middle Stage of Candle Cloud? Candle Cloud High Stage? Or even... a higher level?

「At the same time,」

In the underground chamber of the Great Ming Palace, the Emperor’s roar echoed, "The high walls of Chang’an City are as solid as a fortress, filled with numerous Cultivators! How could a few mere demons throw the entire city into chaos, forcing the Emperor to hide underground? Move aside!"

The Imperial Palace Tributor, Shen Tuyu, knelt on one knee, clenching his jaw, but showed no intention of moving from the chamber door.

The current situation isn’t about ’a few mere demons.’

First, at the wedding, Prince Yue’s fiancée, Yan Xuan, had suddenly transformed and controlled the Faith Cultivation Cardinal to self-destruct.

Then, a Chaotic Wind, previously only existing in legends, had swept through the city, blocking the Chang’an Micro-View and disabling Prohibition Arrays.

The wind then fanned the flames, igniting a city-wide inferno.

Regardless of which power was behind this conspiracy, they clearly had deep connections and had planned this for a long time. They knew the defensive flaws of Chang’an City well, and perhaps...

Had already infiltrated the upper echelons of Yu Country.

Empress Xue, thinking of the Princes and Princesses still trapped in Furong Garden, wept uncontrollably, nearly fainting.

The Crown Prince tried to remain calm, soothing her with a soft voice, yet his hand couldn’t help but tremble. No one knew how many important court officials and members of the Imperial Family had died in the explosion at the wedding venue. Indeed, less than half of Yu Country’s upper echelons remained.

This explosion had shaken the foundations of Yu Country more violently than the Holy Empress’s decades of ruthless suppression of dissenters...

The thought of "violently" had not yet fully formed in his mind when, without any warning, the chamber suddenly fell still.

The roaring Emperor, the crying Empress, the anxious Crown Prince, and even Shen Tuyu of the Candle Cloud Realm—all froze in place, unmoving like figures in a painting.

It wasn’t just this chamber.

The entire Imperial Palace, Chang’an City, and everything under the night sky had come to a halt.

Flames solidified, wild winds ceased, the Haotian Bell stopped ticking.

In all of heaven and earth, only Li Ang continued to move.

He stood in a charred crater, stepping on the ruins of Purple Cloud Pavilion, slowly rotating the Sumeru Hourglass. He let the few remaining grains of Time Sand slide down the Glaze Glass walls of the hourglass.

He had already used the Sumeru Hourglass once, moments ago, to suppress the abruptly rampaging Mo Si.

Using it again so soon drastically increased the consumption of Time Sand.

Regardless of the outcome, I have only this one chance.

Li Ang concentrated deeply, rotating the Sumeru Hourglass once, then twice.

The surrounding light began to shift, slowly at first, then rapidly.

Li Ang’s face, illuminated by the light, flickered between brightness and shadow.

RUSTLE—

The flying dust settled. Charred fragments of wood reassembled, reconstructing Purple Cloud Pavilion.

The collapsed, towering lamp towers stood once again.

Scattered corpses floated up, their wounds healing, and returned to the halls and curtained areas, their faces full of smiles.

The great fire in Chang’an Market receded like the tide.

The hustle and bustle of traffic reversed, everything returning to its original place.

"..."

Li Ang opened his eyes. He was back in the chamber of the Golden City Mansion.