Chapter 73: He Is No Longer the State Preceptor

The several gu-insects were all very thin, which was why Sun Fu could not use them to recover quickly even after being covered in wounds by the ballistae earlier; in the end, he still had to rely on the grace of the gods.

Now, he intended to make He Lingchuan his blood bank, and incidentally, have him taste the pain of having his heart and brain devoured.

With a foreign object invading his body, He Lingchuan, covered in scratch marks from head to toe, was still unaware when another demon bird descended from the sky and landed right beside him.

The bird tilted its head to look at him, as if it were deep in thought.

He Lingchuan could not care about so much, shouting, "Kill him! Helping me is helping yourself!"

The demon bird did not turn its head upon hearing this, but instead let out a rustle and released several bats. Its body was composed of a swarm of bats, so doing this was effortless.

The bats pounced onto He Lingchuan’s wounds, biting and sucking blood rapidly.

A numb and itchy sensation spread, but it was not painful; the youth exclaimed in shock, "Hey, hey, what are you doing!"

The demon bird naturally did not answer, merely spreading its wings, making a gesture to take flight.

He Lingchuan could not care about anything else; he drew his sidearm and began to cut and saw at the mesh of the net.

Do not look at this binding silk rope as delicate and soft; it was actually refined from blood silkworm silk combined with three-hundred-year-old iron vine cores, making it several times tougher than steel wire, impervious to water, fire, blades, or axes.

After cutting twice without success, He Lingchuan remembered his newly acquired precious blade; if he didn't use it now, when would he?

Facts proved that new things were indeed better; once the precious blade was unsheathed, cutting this binding silk rope was as effortless as slicing through a fishing net.

In a few quick strokes, he broke free from the fishing net—no, the binding silk rope—and escaped, jumping onto the demon bird's back in one breath: "Give me a ride!"

The demon bird sank under his weight and instinctively wanted to shake him off, but for some reason, it changed its mind, flapped its wings, and began to run for takeoff.

Its body was massive, so it could not take off vertically; it had to jump and borrow force to fly.

Sun Fu saw this and grew anxious. In his haste, he struck his staff, and the beast head opened its mouth to spit out several fireballs, shooting them like a chain cannon at the demon bird beneath He Lingchuan. Although their power could not compare to siege cannons, they were more than enough to shatter its wings or blow He Lingchuan half to death.

That was, provided they could hit the target.

Other demon birds had long been circling nearby; seeing this, they dove down, using their own bodies to shield He Lingchuan from the disaster.

These dozen or so fireballs truly did not hit him.

The opponent's makeshift mount soared into the air. Sun Fu’s face was livid, and just as he was about to press the attack, more than a dozen people rushed out from behind him, the leader roaring: "Stop!"

It was He Chunhua who had arrived with his men. The usually gentle and elegant Prefect was furious: "Sun Fu, we risked our lives for you, yet you treat us as sacrificial offerings. How can someone so sinister and vicious be worthy of being the State Preceptor!"

With this delay, the demon bird flew several yards away, heading into the sky.

Sun Fu sighed inwardly, knowing the best opportunity to keep He Lingchuan had been lost. Even if he had other means of pursuit, the other demon birds guarding the boy were not to be trifled with.

He Lingchuan soared into the air with his mount, his heart still pounding from his narrow escape. Seeing his father arrive on the battlefield, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Dad, he is not the State Preceptor!"

He Chunhua was stunned, forgetting even to continue his rage: "What?"

"Go down!" He Lingchuan wanted to reunite with his father, but the demon bird would not listen to his commands and continued to fly higher and higher.

"He has never used the State Decree!" As the distance grew, He Lingchuan had to shout at the top of his lungs, "He cannot manipulate the national fortune, hurry up and kill him!"

This news was truly shocking. He Chunhua had seen Sun Fu in the capital before and was certain he was the genuine article, but thinking back carefully, since Sun Fu entered Black Water City, he indeed seemed to have never used his own State Decree to cast spells; he either borrowed Nian Songyu's or used his, He Chunhua's.

Someone had raised the question before, and he had explained that he feared the aura on the Kite Coins would attract attacks from the Three-Corpse Insects and vengeful spirits.

Recalling it now, this was indeed a loophole.

He Chunhua made a prompt decision, pointing at Sun Fu and shouting: "Charge, kill this fraud!"

Sun Fu was so angry his beard trembled: "He Chunhua, this is treason! Whoever dares to take a step forward, their entire clan will be sliced to pieces in the future!"

In a moment of carelessness, he was pecked by the sharp beak of a demon bird, and blood flowed like a fountain.

He Chunhua smiled: "Will we have a good end if we don't kill him? Think about the Blood Sacrifice Array, think about the companions and brothers he sacrificed!"

The miserable deaths of their companions in the Blood Sacrifice Array were still fresh in their minds; thinking of this, everyone steeled their hearts to go all out.

In truth, He Chunhua’s thoughts were identical to his son’s. The He father and son had already offended Sun Fu to the point of no return; regardless of whether he was a fraud, they had to kill him first. Otherwise, once Sun Fu escaped, the He family would face total annihilation! With both Sun and Nian dead, it would be easier for Prefect He to explain the situation.

At this moment, several more of He Chunhua’s men arrived. They had been scattered to various parts of the illusion after entering the well; these few had been sent to Panlong City and had rushed to join the battle upon hearing the sound of weapons.

Twenty breaths later, the sound of hooves thundered.

The Great Wind Army had also arrived, nearly two hundred men with expressionless faces.

The Black Water City troops were still a bit apprehensive upon seeing them, but these heroic spirits stared straight at Sun Fu, too lazy to even glance at anyone else.

The leading commander initiated the charge first.

He Lingchuan had already flown to a high altitude. From his perspective, Sun Fu was surrounded layer upon layer, almost swallowed by the vortex formed by the demon birds, the Great Wind Army, and the Black Water City troops.

Anyone with eyes could see that Sun Fu had reached the end of his rope.

He Chunhua said coldly: "These are all vengeful spirits; as long as the State Preceptor uses the State Decree, he will surely be able to turn danger into safety!"

However, until He Lingchuan’s mount flew far away, he never saw the light emitted by the State Decree below.

So, that old thing really wasn't the State Preceptor anymore? Just as he was sighing, he suddenly felt a sharp pain and hissed. Turning his head, he saw that the bats clinging to him had bitten open his wound, extracted a black maggot from inside, and were holding it right before the host's eyes, regardless of how the thing struggled and twisted.

"Inside me?" Unaware of when he had been plotted against, He Lingchuan thought to himself, "That was close." That old thing surnamed Sun was truly vicious, nearly making him a sacrificial companion.

He wanted to use his small knife to stab these insects to death, but was bumped away by the bats.

"Can't kill them? They're useful?" It was definitely not an illusion; these bats really had intelligence! He had no choice but to find a sealable small bottle and collect these gu-insects.

The demon bird was very fast, reaching the southern battlefield in the blink of an eye, then descending to place him at the best viewing spot on the city gate.

Situ Han leaned over: "Young Master, the Prefect has gone down the city wall to look for you!"

"I know, they are surrounding and killing that old man Sun." He Lingchuan said irritably, "Why didn't you follow them?"

"Someone has to stay here to keep watch, right?" Situ Han gave a dry laugh, "We were plotted against by the State Preceptor outside, losing over eighty men! We are short-handed now."

(End of chapter)