Chapter 1681

Her voice was full of helplessness: "I told you to aid Pixia, but you said the military supplies were insufficient, and as a result, the Yao Nation was plagued by troubles on all sides; I caught corruption for you to scrape the bone and heal the wound, to rectify the source, but you listened to He Xiao's glib talk and built the Youhu Villa to openly solicit bribes from your ministers. Heh, you yourself are the greatest source of corruption; you are rotten beyond repair!"

"That He Xiao was capable and spoke well, but in fact, every word was poison wrapped in honey, and every piece of advice was meant to push you into the abyss; as for me, I sincerely helped you, but unfortunately, good advice is hard to swallow, and good medicine is bitter. If you had listened to my words back then, how could the nation have fallen to this state?"

Beijia sending a supervisor to the Yao Nation for the first time in history showed that the Heavenly God was already deeply dissatisfied with the Yao Nation! But the Yao Nation still had one last chance at that time; as long as the Yao Nation returned to the right track under Qingyang's supervision in time, it could still prolong its life and continue its peaceful days.

Yet, this old man wasn't unaware of what the Heavenly God wanted, but his mind was full of his own little schemes, even pulling the officials to stand on his side and desperately suppressing the supervisor sent by Beijia! The more he acted, the more he pushed himself and the Yao Nation toward a dead end.

Qingyang saw it clearly, He Xiao saw it clearly, and Bai Tan saw it clearly; only this old man himself remained unenlightened until death.

The King of Yao was already breathing more than he was inhaling; every cough brought up a mouthful of blood, but he still refused to accept it: "I, I cherish my soldiers, I cherish the Yao Nation; what wrong have I done!"

Qingyang's so-called "sincerity" was helping the Yao Nation fulfill its duty; how could the King of Yao not know? But he, he didn't want to be a pawn anymore.

The Heavenly God wanted Nightmare Qi, but fighting wars would consume human lives and strength. The Yao Nation's traditional skill was to stir up conflicts among other forces in Shining Gold, which both balanced the situation in Shining Gold and consolidated its own status, while also creating Nightmare Qi to satisfy the Heavenly God's needs.

It was just that this method hadn't been working very well recently; the battles between the Allied Forces and Pixia weren't intense, and there weren't many chaotic phenomena in other parts of Shining Gold, leading to a severe shortage of Nightmare Qi produced in the Shining Gold Plain, hence the Heavenly God's dissatisfaction.

However, was this the Yao Nation's fault? The King of Yao didn't want his own people to go to the battlefield, didn't want the national treasury to be overdrawn because of this; what was wrong with that? "You?" Qingyang laughed contemptuously. "Who do you think 'you' are?"

"The Yao Nation has only been established for two hundred years, and you think you have the qualifications to disobey?" She leaned down with difficulty and whispered into the King of Yao's ear, "There has always been only one way for a dog to get on the table: to be served up!"

When she said this, her tone was only filled with sighs and clarity; there was no mockery, but the King of Yao was blinded by hatred at this moment, so how could he distinguish it?

Bai Tan walked two steps closer from the rear and said to the King of Yao, "You're about to die, so what are you still arguing about right and wrong for? This matter has only one result—"

The corners of his mouth curled: "The Yao Nation is going to perish along with you."

The mountain that had been pressing down on the Bai family's head had finally collapsed.

The King of Yao glared at the two of them, his mouth wheezing, his eyes full of resentment, and suddenly roared: "You old hag, you won't die a good death! Bai Tan, you, you traitorous dog, I curse you to be abandoned by everyone and die without a burial place..."

"Noisy." Bai Tan didn't wait for him to finish and stabbed his throat with a saber.

The King of Yao stopped breathing immediately.

The ministers all shuddered, and You Rongzhi shed tears.

"Lord You, I'll give you two paths to choose from." Bai Tan's saber tip dripped blood, falling drop by drop onto the King of Yao. "With him, or with me?"

You Rongzhi slowly raised his head, looking at Bai Tan and Qingyang, his eyes full of despair.

The Yao Nation was going to perish.

He suddenly bowed three times to the King of Yao's corpse, then stood up and slammed his head into the broken wall!

"Thump," the impact was hard; You Rongzhi's head burst open, and the broken wall also collapsed.

The remaining ministers gasped.

Afterward, Bai Tan's gaze fell upon them.

Everyone looked as if they had lost their parents; Yuwen Xu covered the wound on his forehead, blood flowing out from between his fingers, but he couldn't feel the pain at this moment: "General Bai, we, we will follow you."

Those who understand the times are heroes; under whose command is it not being an official?

"You?" Bai Tan looked disdainful. "A bunch of parasites, what use are you?"

He waved his hand: "Kill them, leave none alive!"

They had brought these people into the palace tonight to wipe them out in one fell swoop. The Tianshui East Expansion project encompassed almost all of the Yao Nation's upper-class officials and nobles; these people held the economic lifeline of the Yao Nation, possessed two-thirds of the Yao Nation's wealth, and had woven a nationwide web of corruption with the King of Yao as their backing.

This was the way to court death!

Bai Tan's men drew their swords and rushed forward.

The ministers screamed and begged for mercy one after another.

Bai Tan and Qingyang turned and walked out, turning a deaf ear to the sounds of slaughter behind them.

"During the chaos in the Frost Immortal Hall just now, Tu Han and Shan Zechong took the opportunity to escape."

Tu Han and Shan Zechong had previously been ordered to retreat and had preserved most of their forces. Seeing the gods' battle at the Frost Immortal Hall end with the immortal's dharma image fleeing, they knew the situation was lost. The brothers conferred and decided they should preserve their strength to avenge the country later! So they turned around and led the remaining fifteen hundred men to flee the palace in a hurry.

With the great matter accomplished, the Heavenly God and Qingyang no longer paid attention to them, and Bai Tan didn't have the energy to specifically hunt down this unit.

"The King of Yao is dead, but there are still remnants in the palace to be killed, and rioters in the city to be dealt with." Bai Tan rubbed his hands, his murderous aura increasing rather than decreasing.

For him, tonight had only just begun.

"The Heavenly God is very satisfied with your performance." Qingyang smiled, her face pale; she swayed after taking two steps, unable to stand steadily. Yuan Xuan quickly reached out to steady her. "Since the dust has settled, I must return to Youhu Villa to recuperate. The great battle just now really drained my vitality."

The battle just now was earth-shattering; Bai Tan had basically been unable to intervene, and he finally knew that this former Beijia State Preceptor lived up to her reputation, his tone carrying three parts more respect:

"I will send someone to escort the Supervisor back."

The King of Yao had met such an end precisely because he was disrespectful to Qingyang and disrespectful to the Heavenly God. How could Bai Tan dare to repeat his mistakes? Besides, his heart had long since flown out of the palace, and he had no time to exchange further pleasantries with Qingyang.

"No need, you go about your business." Qingyang saw through everything and turned to leave. "See you tomorrow morning."

The snow didn't know when it had stopped.

She got into the sedan chair and headed out; when she was about to leave the Jade Spring Palace, she shouted "Stop."

The Jade Spring Palace had been razed in the gods' battle, and the cold air had weakened, looking no different from ordinary palace chambers. But that cold spring was still bubbling with white steam; once a person got close, it was bone-chillingly cold.

"This is indeed a natural cold spring." Qingyang was thoughtful. "That giant serpent survives by borrowing the cold spring underground and the tree spirits on the surface, which is how it can survive in the present world."

For the Thousand Illusion True Person's dharma image to exist in the world for long, it also faced the trouble of spiritual energy depletion. This giant serpent had been dormant/sealed underground for years, had very low demand for spiritual energy, and could maintain its vitality by relying on the special geographical advantage.

Yuan Xuan also said: "It hid really well, not leaking a trace of demon aura."

"How do you think the nickname 'Thousand Illusion' came about? Its avatars are naturally also skilled in the art of concealment." Qingyang smiled. "And whether the King of Yao enfeoffed it as the Guardian Divine Beast or the Palace-Suppressing Divine Beast, the Yuan power also helped it hide its form."

Even she had passed through the Jade Spring Palace for more than half a year without sensing any unusual demon aura.

If there had been even a trace, she would have thought it was the old pear blossoms in the past.

The cold air from this Jade Spring Palace would continue to bubble out; later, another barrier would have to be set up, otherwise the entire royal palace would be frozen.

After leaving the palace, the riots in the city continued; everywhere there were cries and shouts, chasing and beating, and everywhere there were raging fires and panicked people. Even with Yuan Xuan and the others clearing the way ahead, it took two hours for Qingyang's carriage to return to Youhu Villa.

On the way, they passed the main gate of the Tianshui East Expansion project; the large crater on the ground was still there, but Qingyang's state of mind was already completely different.

The great matter was accomplished, the people were killed, the anger was vented, and the task assigned by the Heavenly God was basically completed.

She only felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

It seemed that her old blade was still sharp.

She glanced in the direction of Yongquan Villa again; He Xiao had not appeared all night, so he must have escaped.

This person's sense of smell for danger was truly sharp.

The Yao Nation was about to perish, just as he wished.

Then, what else would this fellow do next?...

Just as He Lingchuan had expected, Tianshui City had spent the most chaotic, bloodiest, and most brutal night since the founding of the Yao Nation! Once the King of Yao died, Bai Tan used lightning speed to ferret out all the royal descendants, killing them all along with their in-laws and relatives, not even sparing infants in swaddling clothes.

More than two thousand heads fell.

In the matter of cutting weeds and eliminating roots, he was more resolute and cold-blooded than the old King of Yuan in the past.

While sending people to guard the national treasury and granaries tightly to prevent looting during the chaos, he also announced to the whole city:

The Yao royal family was dim-witted, corrupt, and perverse, angering the gods, and had now suffered divine punishment;

The gods pity the world; this turmoil has nothing to do with the common people and will end after dawn;

The people of Tianshui should live in peace and not panic.

He both used the gods to absolve himself and pacified the people of Tianshui City.

Just after leaving the palace gate, Bai Tan set about gathering the armed forces in the city.

Tonight, during the refugee riots, most of the City Patrol Army and the Imperial Guards were still suppressing and maintaining stability in Tianshui City. Qingyang and Bai Tan's uprising was too fast, taking less than two hours from start to finish; the King of Yao died, and the rule of the Yao royal family was overthrown. Once the news spread, the soldiers and civilians of Tianshui City were all in a state of confusion, not knowing how to react.

While Bai Tan sent people to reorganize the City Patrol Army and official catchers in each district, he pulled out a list; any official or noble on the list, along with their offspring, were executed, and their family property was confiscated! The list had been compiled by him long in advance, basically covering the old King of Yao's forces. He had secretly memorized this little notebook for many years, to the point of knowing it by heart, and wouldn't miss a single family! Bai Tan had already killed one round in the palace, and now he had to check for omissions.

If he didn't do a major purge this round, he wouldn't be able to hold the regime firmly in the future.

Besides, he needed money.

He also had his justifications: "The Yao Nation has reached this day entirely because of these mediocre, incompetent, and sycophantic people! Now that the Yao Nation is gone, how can they have the face to live?"