Chapter 269

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Yan Mian's pale lips uttered a very slow sound, but there was no more any embellishment or evasion; there was only endless regret, and a trace of relief at finally being able to confess:

"The secret letter framing Marquis Changping for colluding with the Xiongnu... was written by my own hand."

Peal after peal of thunder rolled, as if striking Feng Zhu's heart.

Her body stiffened, her blood seemed to have stopped flowing, her voice exceptionally taut and level, like a bowstring drawn to its limit: "Why?"

Purple-white lightning tore open the sky canopy, reflecting heaven, earth, and all things in a moment of deathly white.

It also reflected the startled attitude of Yu Si Wu in the Left Divine Hall: "What are you doing?"

Chaos reigned on all sides; Yu Si Wu, responsible for guarding this Divine Hall, still held her post here, watching over the incense in the censer that had not yet burned out.

However, Ji Jin and Qing Wu brought Mo Li barging in, quickly turning out fire oil, ceramic jars, hemp rope; several Taoists following orders also swiftly sought out many sun-dried fungi and other combustibles.

"The situation is urgent, communication is difficult; please, Si Wu, be accommodating. We need to burn this hall to send a signal for help."

Hearing Ji Jin's words, Yu Si Wu's face turned gloomy pale: "This is a great ominous act that will anger the spirits! Moreover, the Great Seal-the-Sky... has just ended..."

"Si Wu, the Perished God's life or death is unknown; to summon aid in an absolute situation, this plan must be used..."

Yu Si Wu's words were interrupted; that timid, cautious uniform official in her eyes actually spoke with tears now: "The Perished God's past actions also lacked no extraordinary means; gods receive incense offerings, they should pity the common people's peril — how could they blame and punish over the burning of a single rafter or tile?"

When the sound of "the Perished God's life or death is unknown" echoed buzzing in her mind for the third time, Yu Si Wu asked: "The rain doesn't stop; how to ignite an inextinguishable great fire?"

After asking this question, Yu Si Wu's head went blank next; by the time she reacted, she had already helped everyone fill the ceramic jars with fuel, arrange them in every corner of the hall, light them, and raise curling blue smoke.

The person who in Shaowei's dream in the previous life once rushed into the burning Divine Hall and perished with it, now sets fire inside the Divine Hall.

Two lifetimes burning incense to worship the god, one morning burning the god to worship; the terrified Yu Si Wu finally knelt and kowtowed in the smoke-filled Divine Hall: "May all sins and punishments fall upon the hall guardian's body, but please protect the Perished God's safe return!"

In this world, more than one Divine Hall can be destroyed, but that one Divine Raccoon absolutely cannot be lost!

Ji Jin had already been carried onto the hall roof by Mo Li, risking death to set up and fix that sharpened iron rod.

However, the formation already had many cracks; assassins were pouring in. Though they didn't know what the person on the roof intended, a conspicuous target at a height naturally became a convenient object to hunt down.

Many assassins surged forward; Mo Li wielded her saber to block, consecutive assassins fell, but outnumbered, while Mo Li simultaneously dealt with two attackers, another black shadow skimmed through the air, long saber chopping at Ji Jin's back!

"Thud!"

A sound of falling, the saber-wounded person sprayed blood and tumbled down from the hall roof, accompanied by Ji Jin's cry of alarm.

Qing Wu, hiding behind a stone beast opposite the Divine Hall waiting for Ji Jin to finish this, saw this and her heart shook; she stared blankly for a moment, then disregarding danger, suddenly ran out.

Ferocious arrows grazed her face, the fletching sweeping a line of blood at the corner of her eye; Qing Wu was scared to death, yet still sprinted away.

That person smashed down in front of the Divine Hall's main gate, the jade flute at his waist shattered into many sections, rolling and scattering down the stone steps, grazing past Qing Wu's skirt hem.

Qing Wu threw herself down kneeling, wanting to help him up and drag him away, but heard him hiss: "Don't move, don't move, the more you move, the faster you die..."

If not for his entire back and rear heart being nearly chopped through to the bone, this speech would still sound like a joke.

Qing Wu, eyes starting to tear up, still felt unable to react; she witnessed Yan Chu climbing onto the hall roof to block that fatal saber for Ji Jin, but before this, she clearly still felt she couldn't see through this person; this person's relationship with Yan Family Brother seemed far from reaching the step of protecting with one's life — why...

As if seeing through her bewilderment, Yan Chu panted unevenly and sighed, saying: "If Young Master Ji dies just like that, you will inevitably never forget it, brooding over that marriage agreement not yet fulfilled, afraid you'll refuse to marry anyone for a lifetime."

"I've always been inferior to him; if he dies too, then I truly lose completely, after all, in this world, absolutely no one can compare to... such an outstanding dead person..."

He spoke, grinning: "Since I can't compare to a dead person, better let me be the dead person... that way, presumably you'll remember me, right?"

Qing Wu's tears flowed more fiercely, not understanding why he still said these things at this time; this person truly never changes his nature, even at death's door he improvises jokes on the spot — but where exactly is it funny?

"Not funny..." The prone Yan Chu blinked very slowly, satisfied: "Also good; you finally cried for me once."

"Relying on imminent death, I must be bold and say one more sentence..." His words were always dense; this time he wouldn't make an exception either: "On this journey to Taishan Commandery, I saw very clearly — you and Young Master Ji are family love, really no need to force yourselves to be husband and wife; anyway this bond won't perish, why must you domineeringly occupy two positions beside each other..."

"You also like me a bit, don't you?"

Yan Chu finished speaking, saw Qing Wu weeping without denying, so revealed a smile, but instead comforted her: "But no need for regret; I'm just a short-lived passerby; if I can let you see your true heart, hereafter you can live this life from the heart... then meeting won't have been in vain."

His words were this light, yet made Qing Wu unable to bear listening: "You hurry up and shut your mouth, save some breath... I'll go fetch a shaman doctor!"

Qing Wu just moved to turn, when a still-clean hand grabbed her wrist; she turned her head, but saw his smiling eyes also held some tears: "I said long ago, I'm also a person with secrets... but you feared entangling deeply with me, worried I'd make you responsible, never dared to pry into my secrets..."

He smiled with heavy burden released: "At this moment I can finally speak this secret; these years, I've been suffocating..."

His secret is that he knew back then the Marquis Changping case was his father forging that secret letter.

At that time he was still young; he discovered it unintentionally; everyone thought he was frightened sick by the palace coup, but what truly frightened him was his father.

He was at a loss, wild thoughts, imagining his father's hardships; he had always admired and respected his father...

He delayed, not daring to speak it out; afterwards, years of wandering travels were actually from avoidance; under the skin that cared for nothing wandered a bewildered, rootless, contradictory soul.

Falling for her was almost destined; he could see she also hid secrets; she understood his flute music.

She was like moss, weak and lowly, yet had unexpected tenacious life force; approaching her one could smell the freshness of rice seedlings; closer still, one could smell the fragrance of freshly steamed rice cakes.

She is the kind who, encountering sky-great heartbreak, wipes tears and snot with a handkerchief, yet still sobs while promptly washing and wringing dry the handkerchief; she really knows how to live practically, feet on the ground; near her one feels at ease, the soul wants to take root and dwell in this tranquil green mountain hollow.

Seemingly the powerful and noble are bewildered and rootless; seemingly the insignificant are rich and abundant.

Perhaps no need to summarize this feeling with lifelong unwavering love; not yet developed to that bone-engraved extent; the cause merely lies in her body harboring the aura he yearned for.

So he must explain to her:

"Alright, I took this saber blow, but not for you, nor for Young Master Ji..."

"These years, I've always had the crime of knowing and not reporting... today's situation was created by my father; if I had confessed earlier, you wouldn't have fallen into this death trap; I must atone for this sin, otherwise later, I truly cannot face you..."

His voice grew lower and lower: "Taking this saber blow, perhaps... I can also... become one of your group... right?"

Qing Wu could bear it no longer, lowered her head, sobbing tears against his forehead.

Ji Jin, soaked through by rain and blood, walked over supported by Mo Li; seeing this scene, his face surged with grief, shock, and a trace of guilt from belated realization.

He knelt down, weeping as he seized Yan Chu's other hand.

Yan Chu smiled once with his last strength.

"So many tears, dying so gloriously, this life holds no regrets..."

The last time he felt glorious was the day his father took him away from the clan; the clan had prepared quite a few clever children hoping to be adopted by his father, yet his father deliberately chose him, who had no outstanding qualities.

He thought for a long time, barely managing to find an answer; it seemed he did have one quality after all: he resembled his father somewhat, not only in appearance, but also in having lost both parents since childhood.

His father held a kind of projective pity for him; sensing this pity from childhood, he in turn arrogantly wanted to offer his father some pity—

After returning to the capital last year, he once hesitated whether to tell the Sixth Prince the truth, but witnessing his father's change and cherishing his current luck, he ultimately could not bear to tear the peace apart.

He shamelessly thought, let it be like this, deceiving heaven and crossing the sea, pretending nothing ever happened; let no one break this peace, the current situation is best for everyone.

After a long sigh, Yan Chu closed his eyes amid the warm, hot rain of tears.

The Imperial Guards were resisting, the sounds of slaughter rang by his ears; through tear-blurred eyes, Ji Jin inexplicably recalled the scene of playing by the Jishui River during the journey—

The river water splashed that day was just like the rain at this moment; at that time, the Yan clan's young master fell before A Jie in the river, and Yan Xiang once blocked water-arrow-like splashes for the Feng family's young lady; within that laughter and peace, it seemed the absurd and abrupt events of today had long been foretold.

This calamity, seemingly driven by Heaven's will like fate—can it truly be that no one can avoid it?

Ji Jin tilted his face up, gazing at the iron rod erected on the hall's roof through the increasingly thick incense smoke.

A storm-like calamity washed out the Yan family father and son's secret; when Yan Chu's consciousness completely dissipated, Yan Mian had already told Feng Zhu the most detailed answer, to reply to her one sentence of "Why."

Everyone knows that when the Former Emperor Liu Wen first rose up, compared to the prestigious and deep-rooted Hongnong Yan Clan, he was a genuine mud-legged commoner.

That so-called Liu Family Army should have been swallowed by the great Yan Clan early on, but Yan Clan Head Yan Hu and Liu Wen became friends through conflict, admired his spirit, and took him as a confidant.

Liu Wen once publicly swore a blood oath: when the world is pacified, we shall share the empire as brothers.

Liu Wen excelled at warfare; with the support of the Yan Clan and the Qu Clan, his power grew rapidly; he was magnanimous and valued loyalty, never caring for tedious formalities, attracting more and more capable men and fierce generals to his side.

Yan Hu, two years his senior, was not in good health; he had only one son, Yan Mian. That year his wife was pregnant again; the couple brought their son back to Hongnong to celebrate the old master's birthday. Midway they suddenly heard a call for help, saying Liu Wen was also rushing back to celebrate the Yan Family Eldest Master's birthday, but was ambushed twenty li behind them—

It sounded like some rabble causing trouble; Yan Hu immediately led troops forward to support, thus creating the "fine tale" known to all today: "Yan Clan Head died saving the Former Emperor; his wife, in grief, died with one corpse and two lives; the Former Emperor, out of guilt and love for the young child Yan Mian, raised him as half a son."

"The truth, however, is not so..." Yan Mian spoke the long-buried past.

That day, his father placed him and his mother in a Taoist temple along the road.

Half a day after his father left, when dusk was falling, a confidant general who had followed his father to support returned alone, heavily wounded; he brought back the news of his father's death in grief and rage, and said there were no rabble—it was Liu Wen's subordinates in disguise. Those men wore masks, but during the exchange he recognized a scar on one man's wrist... This was all a trap set by Liu Wen to cross the river and demolish the bridge!

The general wanted to protect his mother and him and leave, but his mother said they could not go, could not escape, and must stay.

Not long after, Liu Wen arrived with his army, face covered in blood and tears, bringing back his father's corpse; he knelt before his mother in public to beg forgiveness, weeping and begging his sister-in-law to scold him, even take his life.

His mother suffered a fetal disturbance, went into premature labor that night, hemorrhaged, and gave birth to a dead infant; with her last strength she seized his hand and whispered in his ear: "Mian'er, pretend you know nothing, survive, grow up... don't let them have it easy!"

He wept loudly until he fainted, was placed in a quiet room; upon waking he suspected he was dreaming, and in a daze walked out, wanting to find Mother and Father.

The temple was full of weeping; no one paid him any mind; like a ghost he peered through a crack in the courtyard wall and saw Liu Wen pacing anxiously in a small courtyard with its door shut tight, five or six subordinates kneeling to beg forgiveness.

"You lot are truly impressive, you've opened my eyes! You actually got ahead of me, forged my order, and harmed my brother! This is trying to make me, Liu Wen, into a treacherous, faithless, ten-thousand-death dog thief!"

Those subordinates each argued righteously:

"It's the Yan Clan bullying too far, not putting us in their eyes, treating us like house slaves!"

"How the Yan Family Second Master mocked and ridiculed us last time—have you all forgotten?"

"All the dirty work and hard labor is done by us, all the battles are fought by us, the Yan Clan only moves their lips, yet each acts lofty and superior... We are loyal to you, Elder Brother, not recognizing the Yan Clan as our masters!"

"One mountain cannot hold two tigers; they would sooner or later discard the donkey after the grinding is done—this is just striking first!"

"Kill Yan Hu, and Generalissimo you no longer need to worry about gratitude or face; if the Yan Clan dares be ungrateful in the future... oh right, that Yan Clan brat should also be uprooted..."

"Shut up, let's see who dares!" Liu Wen, unable to endure further, flew into a rage.

A subordinate, tears in his eyes, shouted: "The plan was mine, Generalissimo kill me to vent your anger! As long as your great enterprise is secure, I will die with eyes closed!"

"I took part too, if we die we die together!"

"You think I wouldn't dare!" Liu Wen lifted his blade and stepped forward; not long after came the "clang" of the blade hitting the ground; Liu Wen knelt and threw himself down, weeping and cursing: "You're trying to force me to death! Brother's kindness to me was so great! It's my fault for poor command—if anyone dies it should be me! Me!"

Saying this he went to pick up the blade to commit suicide; the others rushed to seize it; in the chaos they all began to weep, some slapping their own faces, some weeping and admitting fault.

Deeply moving, profound in emotion and righteousness.

The young him, however, could not cry; he returned to that quiet room and lay down, like a quiet little corpse; after that night he began to fear dark, narrow rooms; once inside, he felt fresh blood flooding the entire chamber, about to drown him.

That day, in the pitch-black narrow room, fear and suffocation returned, until that girl wrote the two words "Don't be afraid" in his palm.

He could breathe again; he recognized her, Feng Xi's daughter; Feng Xi was also Liu Wen's confidant, but had not taken part in that affair—fortunately, had not taken part.

He had no way to like this world, this world gradually filled with Liu-surnamed banners; but he liked one person—she possessed a transparency from inside out, a true treasure pearl.

When together with her, he could always temporarily set down the heaviness and breathe deeply.

Before the Former Emperor passed away, the last person he saw alone was him; that already dying old man spoke his muddled heart: "Back then I had no choice, but afterward I killed them all, killed them all... I can now go to Taishan with peace of mind to see Elder Brother and Sister-in-Law..."

Souls returning to Taishan after death is regarded as the ideal destination; this emperor gave him the courtesy name Quan Shan—could it hold the hope of urging wandering souls to peacefully return to Taishan?

But did this person truly not know his subordinates were going to act back then?

—Merely feigning ignorance after the fact, following the will of those below; the purging of meritorious officials after truly gaining power instead became a righteous act of avenging his benefactor brother.

Among those purged meritorious officials were also those he secretly instigated; in any case, with the old emperor's death, this enmity seemed like it should be settled.

That year he was twenty; people around him began urging him to betroth early; he wanted to betroth the person he liked—should some things be let go?

He truly thought of letting go, just ending it here; but he dreamed of his blood-covered mother—one moment a kind mother saying she only wished for him to live safely; the next a ferocious vicious ghost calling him incompetent and cowardly, willing to be the enemy's dog; the day he woke from the nightmare, he fell into an even greater nightmare—Zhu'er had an accident.

Ling Ke pacified internal rebellions everywhere; bandits roamed at times; Zhu'er was harmed by bandits and fell off a cliff; he indeed also investigated traces of bandit activity in that area.

Though unwilling to give up, after bitter searching for many years there was still no hope; the Lu Marquis and his wife had also gradually lost heart.

Under the Ling Family Army's pacification, this Liu family world grew increasingly peaceful; his heart grew increasingly unbalanced: everything was improving, yet he alone had lost everything, as if cursed.

In those nearly ten years, he suffered day and night; his heart harbored an ever-growing, unplaceable desire to destroy; therefore he never had any desire to produce offspring; and a person who cared nothing for descendants and had no lust for power instead gained the Emperor's trust more and more... as if Heaven insisted on giving him a chance to do something.

He observed the Emperor's increasingly heavy suspicion, growing wariness of Ling Ke... truly gradually becoming extremely like the Former Emperor.

His doing that thing was merely going with the flow; he kept a spectator's heart, watching the Emperor's reaction; that originally wise Son of Heaven crossed past calmness into furious rage, and within that rage even hid a kind of "I indeed did not wrongly suspect him" satisfaction.

He bore no hatred toward Ling Ke himself, but Ling Ke is the Grand Protector of National Fortune; destroying this man would let the Emperor reap his own bitter fruit.

He even hoped the Ling Family could take their place, so when Ling Empress failed to gain an audience with the Emperor that day and met him on the way, asking him to confirm whether the Emperor was lucid, he gave a vague shake of his head, hinting that the Emperor's condition was dire, pushing Ling Empress to urgently open the armory and take charge of the situation.

It was a pity that Ling Ke's reaction was unexpected; the Ling Family Army remained unusually quiet, failing to stir up the greater storm he had anticipated.

When Ling Empress's young son lost control before the Palace Gate, he watched quietly from behind; because Marquis Lu had saved the child, he deliberately delayed stepping forward, leaving behind the words "a mere child's weapon" as a compassionate reminder—since this child lived, let him live long, and best become a new calamity.

He never intended to vie for any power; he only wanted this Liu-surnamed world to fall together with him, until one day there was nothing left to fall, when he would naturally die before Zhu'er's tomb, so he could go meet his mother and father.

But Zhu'er came back, alive.

Not long after he did that thing.

As if fate toyed with him, he learned from Marquis Lu that Marquis Changping was the benefactor who brought Zhu'er back.

He did not possess such sound and abundant humanity; compared to guilt, he first felt unease: if Zhu'er later learned he was the true murderer of Marquis Changping's son, how could he and Zhu'er get along? How would Zhu'er view him?

He, who once did not care about life and death, began to try to cover it up; that matter had long been settled beyond doubt, all clues erased by him, the only one unwilling to give up the investigation was that child who luckily survived, that Ling Family Relic named Liu Qi.

This Relic returning to the capital was truly a bad omen; on the third day of the third month, the Grand Sacrifice shot Zhu Zhi, and the rumors that this child bore auspicious signs were spread by him, with the purpose of urging the Rui Family to strike him, yet Rui Ze failed time and again.

That night at Shanglin Park, he followed Zhu'er's instructions, holding the Seal to mobilize troops and rescue the carriage, but he had also deliberately slowed his movements—he wanted this child and the Emperor to disappear together, thus ending everything.

But among these things, there was always the shadow of another child; she repeatedly broke deadlocks, saving that Relic once more at Shanglin Park, even sparing no effort to protect him long with the words of Heavenly Mandate—Liu Qi did not die, but instead became the Heavenly Mandate Heir.

The situation was trending toward settlement; that night he pushed Zhu'er to walk slowly, he, such a person, watching these two children walk all the way here, actually felt somewhat moved, wanting to stop here, choosing to cover it up in another way—

Du Shulin fell off a cliff and died; this man had an old grudge with Marquis Changping.

He made a deal with Du Shulin's strategist Ji Xu; Ji Xu took that old charge upon himself for Du Shulin, and he would secretly protect Ji Xu's young son.

The copied and forged items in Ji Xu's secret chamber were all prepared by him in advance; he let Ji Xu confess only after being tortured and unable to write by hand; he covered everything up flawlessly, but fate once again played a trick—

Du Shulin was actually not dead; that audacious rebel had initially been hiding in a secret chamber in Ji Xu's home to heal his injuries, knowing and tacitly approving Ji Xu's deal with him.

He knew this because until the Fengshan Ceremony was about to begin, a secret letter from that "returned from the dead" person was suddenly delivered into his hands...

The other party was in the dark, using the truth as blackmail, forcing him to "do a favor," after which they would "owe each other nothing."

Du Shulin, who could no longer see the light of day, sought an opportunity to launch his revenge against the Heavenly Secrets.

Dealing with an Evil Ghost was truly a poor strategy, but the matter was urgent; he was being pushed along, with no other choice... He truly cherished everything before him and could not imagine the situation after the truth was exposed by Du Shulin.

He did not want to kill Zhu'er's child; indeed, he was increasingly feeling admiration and pity for that child; he wanted to turn the tables, draw the snake out of its hole, and eliminate Du Shulin this future threat; the men he sent to silence would not harm that child, but would bring her back; he would test her reaction; if she already knew the truth...

As for this child perhaps unfortunately dying at Du Shulin's hands...

All these things, he could no longer think about in detail, and could only take it one step at a time, first guarding this greatest secret.

Unexpectedly, this rift opened, and the Evil Ghosts that surged in were far more than just Du Shulin; greater leaks appeared, a large number of unknown yellow sparrows flew in, and everything completely spiraled out of control...

The Evil Ghosts' temporary cooperation was not a whim; it was precisely to make him temporarily restrained, unable to make more considerations and arrangements.

At this moment, that child was in grave danger; he and Zhu'er were also forced into this deadlock...

A remorseful prisoner, to cover up his crimes, committed greater sins.

When a sharp sword hangs over one's head, one harbors a glimmer of侥幸, thus being pushed by inner fear; when this sword of fear finally falls, only then will greater regret arise, named "it need not have come to this point of error upon error."

Yan Mian's lips moved weakly, his voice low: "Zhu'er, I'm sorry..."

"Quan Shan, you deceived and hid things from me, but you also protected me with your life, canceling it out; the person you truly owe an apology to is not me."

Feng Zhu's face no longer had tears, only a grayish-white sorrow; she spoke in a soliloquy: "The one who escorted me home was Marquis Changping; the one who saved my life out of the mountain was Qingniang."

"If Qingniang no longer exists today, Quan Shan, you and I, whether alive or dead, will never find peace."

These words were like a curse; she and he shared this curse; Yan Mian's heart was like being cut by a knife, watching Feng Zhu slowly stand up.

Feng Zhu was in a daze, looking toward the wind and rain outside the palace hall and the mountain ridges, as if shrouded by invisible Cause and Effect.

It turned out that her disappearance back then indirectly awakened a mistaken revenge.

Her misfortune also opened the misfortune of this world, and in that Black Mountain, she gave birth to the Heavenly Secrets Red Sun that could save this world's misfortune out of a heart of self-rescue—was this precisely the Cause and Effect reason why only she could give birth to the Heavenly Secrets?

Opening and saving were both closely related to her, and today the opener would indirectly erase the savior; everything seemed shrouded by the ring of fate, and the great Cause and Effect finally revealed its full face tonight.

But why, why could she only wander within this ring of Cause and Effect?

Those who do wrong should pay the price, but what was her Qingniang wrong about? Qingniang walked to today with such hardship and preciousness; why must she still be swallowed entirely by the ring of Cause and Effect?

Old, trifling affections became insignificant before such right and wrong and fate; Feng Zhu felt more sorrow and anger in her heart, sorrow that spilled water is hard to gather, anger at the injustice of heaven.

Thunder still roared; the Array was at its last gasp; this Shen Dian was still considered safe thanks to Jiang Fu's full protection, but the slaughter outside the hall was gradually approaching.

A seriously wounded Imperial Guard retreated with a spear to outside the hall door and fell to the ground with a thud.

Feng Zhu, full of unwillingness, bent over, picked up the blood-stained long spear, held it diagonally before her, kept her spine straight, and protected Jiang Fu, whose clothes were stained red with blood, behind her.

The Female Monarch originally did not want to come to Taishan; today, without the Female Monarch supporting this place with an Array, Feng Zhu's life would be gone long ago; the Female Monarch protected her with her life, so she should also protect the Female Monarch; she was also a General's Daughter; even if maimed and without extraordinary abilities, she could at least not sit weeping on one side and watch her benefactor die first!

A boy of about ten years old, seeing this, suddenly came to his senses, wiped the tears from his face, lifted a blood-stained blade with both hands, and also stood before the Female Monarch who was guarding the Array.

He was named Xiao He, once a Holy Child recognized by the Wu God in the Shengxi Tai; this time he was chosen to come to Taishan; since he was a Holy Child, of course he had to be mighty!

Xiao He suppressed his fear, put on a stern face, spread his legs, and leaned on the blade to make a defensive posture.

Several Taoists and Wu Nu also picked up the weapons scattered by the Imperial Guard guards, all protecting the front of the hall.

Inside the Array, Jiang Fu weakly opened his eyes; the light in his pupils did not diminish; through the gaps in the overlapping clothes of the crowd, he looked at the lightning scene outside the hall that seemed increasingly violent, and spoke slowly like chanting a spell: "The Heavenly Dao is determined to punish, and with the body of a variable steals heavenly fire, contending with Heaven, breaking Heavenly Mandate."

The raging lightning struck down again; this time it finally fell above the Left Shen Dian; the lightning quickly moved along the high iron rod; the approaching assassins saw that above the Shen Dian there appeared like a tongue of fire, a heavenly sword, penetrating from the roof straight into the hall interior, immediately triggering a deafening boom!

The Shen Dian, which had long been smoking, was piled with smoldering things, connected to the roof with wet hemp rope; at this moment, accompanied by dozens of ceramic jars shattering one after another, the entire Shen Dian almost suddenly exploded from within into a huge fireball; roof tiles flew off, and several assassins on the roof failed to retreat in time, either falling into the sea of fire or being thrown out.

The entire Immortal Shrine was illuminated by this raging fire; seen from afar, the mountain peak was like a huge sky candle lit in a rainy night!

Qingwu, protected by Mo Li who was likewise covered in wounds, leaned against a stone pillar beside her and slowly stood up; Yan Chu's corpse was still beside her; she was covered in blood and full of tears; at this moment she trembled and called out toward the direction of Dai Summit: "—Sister! Come back when you see the lamp!

"—Sister Shaowei! Please, you must live! Come back here! Come back quickly! Come back!"

This call carried endless pleading and ties, as if truly infused with the magic power of Mount Li's Female Monarch, merged into the wind and rain, falling into the dark places.

?? (Temporarily integrated some content originally from side stories into this chapter, more fitting the chapter name; accidentally wrote too much, so the update is late; please forgive everyone. Also, the progress flag I set fell through again! Tomorrow (the 5th) there will be an update! Good night!)

? Thank you for your monthly votes, rewards, and comments! I'll organize the reward list tomorrow~ Thank you, thank you.