Chapter 75: My Blade, You May Keep It

Fresh blood flowed from between the teeth, and it even made a very distinct swallowing motion. He Lingchuan finally understood why his party could never find the whereabouts of Tao Bo, the disciple of the grandmaster Zhu Gen and leader of the Baling expedition; he had likely met the same fate as Nian Songyu, hadn't he? Among those holding Mao Tao, a sand bandit sorcerer suddenly exclaimed, "What is this?"

He pulled open the back of Mao Tao's collar and tore a yellow paper doll covered in talismans from his back muscles.

Once the yellow paper was torn off, Mao Tao's mania ceased abruptly; his hand loosened, and the precious blade fell.

In the midst of the chaos, no one went to catch the blade.

He Lingchuan twitched his fingertips, but in the end, he did not reach out.

With a "clink," the spine of the blade hit the hard paving stones and, under the gaze of everyone, snapped into two pieces.

The crowd's movements were like a paused video, their gazes fixed straight on the broken blade on the ground before stealing glances at the Black Dragon.

It broke, the blade broke!

What was the last thing Nian Songyu said before he died?

Only He Lingchuan knew that the precious blade already had deep cracks, and the possessed Mao Tao had smashed it against the wall with its spine, causing injury upon injury; it was already quite sturdy for not having broken on the spot.

This fall to the ground was simply the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Several thoughts flashed through He Lingchuan's mind:

How did the so-called "Heavenly God" know that this precious blade was the Black Dragon's fatal weakness? How did it know the blade was with He Lingchuan?

How did it know Mao Tao could break this blade?

Perhaps it had noticed He Lingchuan returning from the South City alone on the demon bird while Sun Fuping was missing, and thus deduced the treasure had fallen into He Lingchuan's hands.

Then what about the other two questions? He Lingchuan knew that this likely involved more complex secrets, but with the white light swallowed, the answers were gone too.

Furthermore, the white light that possessed Nian Songyu had miscalculated, and its end was to be swallowed by the Black Dragon in one gulp; if this blade had broken a few moments earlier, the situation would have been completely different.

Above and below the city walls, it was deathly silent.

Then, the demon apes, demon birds, and other illusory creatures suddenly collapsed one after another, turning into fly ash.

The Black Dragon, however, glided toward the city wall.

The crowd couldn't help but retreat, and He Lingchuan coughed, biting the bullet to ask, "Is our previous agreement still valid?"

Although the demonized creatures were gone, the Black Dragon's own combat power had upgraded, and there were still so many heroic spirits of the Great Wind Army in the city who obeyed it. If it wanted them all dead, not a single person here would see the sun of the real world again.

The Black Dragon looked at the broken blade on the ground, then at him, and suddenly smiled: "You are very clever. You may keep my blade."

Uh, what was he supposed to say? "Thank you?"

He Lingchuan picked up the broken blade from the stone surface and returned it to its sheath.

"No, it is I who should thank you." The Black Dragon shook its head, its voice surprisingly peaceful, "In all these years, you are the first person who did not dig up my grave, yet offered me three cups of wine."

Offered three cups of wine? He Lingchuan was not surprised; instead, he let out a breath: "It really is you, Zhong Shengguang."

This was a name that rang like thunder to the people of Black Water City, yet had been silent for a hundred years.

The others, upon hearing this, were incredulous.

Situ Han stuttered as he spoke: "H-he is Zhong Shengguang?"

Zhong Shengguang was a famous general, but first and foremost, he had to be a human. How could this Black Dragon be Zhong Shengguang? The Black Dragon ignored the others and lowered its head to the Great Wind Army: "Escort them out of the Panlong Wasteland."

Several leaders of the Great Wind Army bowed and cupped their fists on horseback, showing great respect.

That was it; unless it was Zhong Shengguang himself, who else could make this arrogant iron army so devoted?

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the South City: "What about the Great Square Pot?"

It was He Chunhua who had rushed back with his men.

As soon as he reached the South City Gate, he found the battle over, Nian Songyu nowhere to be found, and the Black Dragon perched on the city wall talking to his son; the situation did not look tense.

He immediately judged that the Heavenly God had lost.

So that meant his side had won, but the purpose of this expedition was far from achieved.

So many men had been lost, all for the Great Square Pot.

"You cannot take it away." The Black Dragon glanced at him, "The Great Square Pot is Panlong City, and Panlong City is the Great Square Pot; they have long been one. Not to mention humans, even gods cannot take it away, otherwise, it would have been gone long ago."

"On the contrary, you." It turned to He Lingchuan, "Your wish might actually come true."

He Lingchuan was bewildered, pointing at his own nose as he asked: "What wish of mine?"

The Black Dragon did not answer, but instead faced the South City and sighed gloomily: "My mission is finally complete." There was weariness in its voice, and surprisingly, joy, as well as many emotions He Lingchuan could not understand.

Its dark, shiny body was rapidly plated with a layer of gray frost.

In just a dozen breaths, the giant dragon crashed from the city wall, accompanied by a tremor that shook the earth, shattering into countless fragments.

A legendary general had once again turned into the dust of history.

Endless smoke and dust rushed toward them.

Everyone subconsciously closed their eyes, covered their noses, and held their breath.

Thus, no one noticed that at the same moment the light in the Black Dragon's eyes extinguished, a red light shot into the sky from the ruins of the South City!

When the dust settled and everyone opened their eyes, they realized they were already standing in front of the temple in the ruined Panlong City.

Nian Songyu was right after all; only when the Black Dragon disappeared could they leave the illusion alive.

He Lingchuan opened his arms and hugged He Chunhua: "Father, I thought you had been blood-sacrificed earlier!"

He and He Chunhua were not usually this close, but he simply followed his inner instinct.

He Chunhua patted his back and then pulled away, unaccustomed to such closeness with his eldest son: "Once the half-broken comb was taken out, the Great Wind Army stopped attacking, and we had time to escape the formation. You spoke with the Black Dragon the most; were there any clues to be found about the Great Square Pot?"

He Lingchuan asked curiously: "Didn't it say the Great Square Pot and Panlong City are one and cannot be taken out? Besides, we have already left the illusion."

"It was never a vessel spirit, but a vengeful soul that died over a hundred years ago; how do you know what it said was the truth?" He Chunhua was displeased, "We paid such a huge sacrifice, how can we return empty-handed?"

Earlier, everyone only thought about escaping with their lives, but now that they were safe, they realized they were empty-handed, without a single trophy.

This adventure's gains and costs were not proportional.

No, it was a total blood loss.

Zeng Feixiong also said: "Without the Great Square Pot, what will we do about the war at Woling Pass?"

Situ Han couldn't hold back: "You are all regular troops; can you not fight without the Heavenly God's treasure?"

He Lingchuan pulled out the long blade at his waist to look; it was still there and hadn't disappeared.

This was likely the only real object from the illusion.

"What does Father plan to do?"

He Chunhua pondered for a moment: "Send people back in to take a look."

The rest of the group retreated two steps in unison; no one wanted to go back into that ghostly place.

He Lingchuan casually picked up a stone and threw it into the well.

Splash.

Although the water in the well was blood-stained, everyone could see at a glance that it sank to the bottom of the well.

(End of chapter)