Chapter 65: Human Clarity

He Chunhua lowered his head and discovered that another pile of runes had lit up beneath the Heavenly Thunder Array. Unlike the Heavenly Thunder Array, every one of its lines was a vivid, blood-red color.

Most importantly, this array was not particularly profound, but it was sufficiently archaic; many of the characters were ancient symbols that had long since fallen out of use in later generations.

Situ Han noticed that as the Governor looked at the newly appeared rune array on the ground, his eyes were wide open while his pupils had shrunk to tiny points, clearly in a state of extreme shock.

He also grew nervous and asked, "W-what happened?"

"This is a Blood Sacrifice Grand Array. Sun Fuping intends to use us as offerings!" He Chunhua squeezed these words out through his teeth.

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No one noticed that just as Sun Fuping took out the ivory carving, a demonic bird descended from the sky and landed in front of He Lingchuan, the splashing dust and smoke giving the two of them a fright.

Mao Tao went to grab his blade again, and Zeng Feixiong immediately blocked the way in front of He Lingchuan. Fortunately, the Black Flood Dragon’s voice sounded shortly after: "They are preparing a Divine Descent ritual. Your companions outside will soon be slaughtered as sacrifices. Are you not going to come and help stop them?"

He Lingchuan and Zeng Feixiong were horrified: "What did you say?"

Mao Tao also exclaimed: "Y-you are spouting nonsense!"

"The sacrificial array is nested beneath that thunder-summoning array outside. Once these two succeed in their prayer, the array will extract the lives and vital essence of your companions to serve as the price for the Divine Descent! That kind of pain is something no human could ever endure."

"Nonsense!" Sun Fuping’s voice suddenly rang out in He Lingchuan’s ear. The two turned to look and saw him still keeping his eyes tightly shut, his lips still chanting incantations. They did not know what method he had used to transmit his voice to them separately; this man truly had a wide variety of tricks. "The thunder-summoning array is only used to summon heavenly thunder and protect the Black Water City army. If not for it, your father would have been devoured by vengeful spirits long ago! This artifact spirit is trying to disturb your resolve; you must not be deceived!"

The Black Flood Dragon, however, said: "You are hiding here, so you are not on the same side as them. They would not hesitate in the slightest to sacrifice the lives of others! Think carefully: why are the others outside intercepting the heroic spirits, while only you were able to get in?"

It said eerily: "If I am not mistaken, these two originally intended to use you as sacrifices; that would be the least amount of effort."

A chill went through He Lingchuan’s heart.

He knew these two had been scheming against his father and him, and against the Black Water City army, he just didn't know what method they would use. If what the Black Flood Dragon said was true, he had truly dodged a bullet by not going to the south wall just now.

However, even though he had dodged the disaster, Sun Fuping, who had been planning this for a long time, would not let it go easily. He might very well use He Chunhua and the Black Water City army to make up the numbers.

Comparing the two, the Black Flood Dragon’s claim actually held some truth.

Mao Tao was also bewildered: "Young Master, this, this..."

Which side was telling the truth? Who should they believe?

Perhaps seeing him waver, Sun Fuping shouted urgently: "He Lingchuan, do not fall for its tricks! If we cannot subdue the Black Flood Dragon, we will all die here, and He Chunhua and the Black Water City army will all be buried with you!"

He immediately added: "Zeng Feixiong, hurry and stop him! The He family is committing treason, and you will all be implicated!"

The Great Yuan regulations stated that those who commit treason would have their nine generations executed, and one of those groups included subordinates and troops. If the He family rebelled, Zeng Feixiong would indeed have no way out but death.

This threat worked on everyone. Zeng Feixiong had already been moved, wanting to persuade the Young Master to make a calm choice—after all, He Lingchuan’s usual image of being impulsive and reckless was deeply ingrained in people’s minds. But when he heard Sun Fuping say that, the hand he had reached out to stop him instead pulled back: "Young Master, I’ll listen to you!"

Even Sun Fuping, who was well-versed in human nature, was stunned, not knowing how it had produced such a counterproductive effect.

In truth, this word "death" had instead reminded Zeng Feixiong that he had led his troops into the Panlong Desert with the conviction of certain death, as long as the He family treated his elderly father well and provided for his old age. What did it matter that those two were Imperial Preceptor Commandants? The most important thing was to carry out Governor He’s mission.

He Lingchuan had no time to dwell on Zeng Feixiong’s thoughts; he had to make a decision now, immediately, right this second.

In a brief instant, countless thoughts raced through He Lingchuan’s mind. Then, he suddenly looked up and said to the demonic bird following at his side: "If I help you, can you help us walk out of the Panlong Desert safely?"

The demonic bird nodded immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

Everyone was overjoyed. This was indeed what they had been hoping for! The Young Master was clear-headed.

The anomalies in the Panlong Desert were all caused by the Great Square Pot. If it wanted to show mercy to everyone, it should be easy enough.

He could only trust it. He Lingchuan no longer hesitated: "Take us to the city wall!"

Immediately, several more demonic birds descended, grabbed everyone by the shoulders, and flapped their wings to fly upward.

They had only risen ten zhang when a cold light flashed behind them. The demonic bird holding Mao Tao was suddenly shorn of its right side and fell down with a loud "caw."

It was Nian Songyu, who had fired his long blade in the midst of his busy work to stop them from reaching the wall. He had originally aimed at He Lingchuan, but who would have known the bird holding Mao Tao would dive out to block the blade.

Fortunately, another demonic bird filled the gap in time and caught Mao Tao in mid-air.

The group leaped onto the city wall. He Lingchuan pointed at the weaponry: "Load the arrows, fill the shells!"

Zeng Feixiong led his men to do as ordered without a word, though Mao Tao was a bit uncertain: "Are you really going to help the Black Flood Dragon?"

He Lingchuan quickly stuffed two nail-shells into the cannon barrel and glanced at him sideways: "What, Nian Songyu’s blade didn’t make you feel comfortable enough?"

Nian Songyu’s blade had sliced the demonic bird in two, and Mao Tao had also nearly died on the spot. Hearing He Lingchuan say this, Mao Tao gave up on his doubts and quickly fitted the four-foot-long refined iron arrows onto the heavy crossbows.

The weaponry on the city wall had already fired a round automatically just now, naturally under the control of the Black Flood Dragon. But its control over this place was clearly not flawless; at the very least, it couldn't handle more delicate tasks, such as automatic loading of shells and arrows.

It still required human hands.

It just so happened that the magic apes had all been killed off, and it would take some time for them to be reborn.

If it weren't for the lack of available hands, why would it have sought out these little fleas who were also uninvited guests? He Lingchuan had first thought of drawing his bow and arrow to fire a few shots at Sun Fuping. But he had no rank or position and no destiny to protect him; how could the arrows he fired have the same power as specialized weaponry? Since he had made up his mind, he had to see this through to the end and do it well.

Nian Songyu was furious, his face swelling as red as the violent giant behind him: "He Lingchuan, you dare to defect in the middle of battle! I will surely hack you into ten thousand pieces and grind your bones to dust!"

"If you want help, you need to have the right attitude. Someone like you, tsk!" He Lingchuan carried the last boulder to the firing slot and turned to the demonic bird: "Do it!"

Flames suddenly erupted from the boulders and arrowheads. With a series of "boom-boom" sounds, over a dozen pieces of weaponry fired in unison. The loudest, of course, were the nail-shells, which left the two of them with numb ears.

To be honest, firing cannonballs was by no means a simple matter. He Lingchuan still didn't understand the firing mechanism of the Panlong City weaponry—whether it was a fuse or a flintlock ignition. But that didn't matter; Panlong City, controlled by the Black Flood Dragon, did the rest.

(End of chapter)