Chapter 126

As the figures of Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù both vanished into the black hollow, the crowd lingering on Twin Punishment Hill were all startled; the current development had already exceeded their expectations.

"Vice-captain Quebu, what are the Captain-Commander and Captain Ārmù going to do?"

"Isn't the execution of Captain Kyōraku's sister-in-law still not over?"

"Could it be that the Captain-Commander and Captain Ārmù are trying to protect their own student?"

The captain of the Third Division narrowed his eyes and asked Quebu Jirō.

The execution has only just begun halfway?! How come the two main leads of this drama have already left the stage?

Yes, from the very beginning what these captains have been paying attention to has not been Kyōraku and his sister-in-law; the true protagonist of this drama is actually Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù!

In fact, the reason everyone remains here is to see how this master-disciple pair, Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù, will choose between rules and fellow disciples.

In the eyes of those in power, whatever choice Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù ultimately make will bring an unbelievable shock to this "Soul Society"! However, the situation has once again exceeded everyone's expectations……

Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù did not, as everyone imagined, give those present an explanation; instead, they simply opened the black hollow and slipped away before everyone's eyes?

In the view of this Third Division captain, how could such a thing be allowed? So even if he ends up being ostracized by the "Yuánliú" faction afterward, he must demand an explanation from Vice-captain Quebu.

"There is a slight disagreement in opinion between Lord Yuánliǔzhāi and Captain Ārmù……"

"Therefore they have decided to go to the Hollow World to settle the grudge between Captain Kyōraku's sister-in-law and the Ise clan by means of a duel! Please, everyone, remain calm and wait here for Lord Yuánliǔzhāi and Captain Ārmù to determine the victor and return to the Soul Society."

Upon hearing this, Quebu slowly raised his waist, which had been bent toward the direction in which Ārmù and Yuánliǔzhāi had departed……

He then fixed his icy gaze on this Third Division captain before him and spoke coldly.

"What? Lord Yuánliǔzhāi is going to duel Captain Ārmù? Is this a joke?!"

After hearing Quebu's words, the Third Division captain stood frozen in place.

Frankly, they indeed wanted to stir up trouble, but they never imagined they would make things this big!

"Yuánliǔzhāi versus Ārmù—are you all crazy?!"

"I can hardly imagine the sight of Lord Yuánliǔzhāi, the Founding Ancestor of the Guard, dueling his prized disciple Ārmù, who also holds the position of captain of the Eleventh Division!"

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Division captain likewise showed a look of shock; his thoughts at this moment were exactly the same as those of the Third Division captain—it seemed they had inadvertently blown things out of proportion……

"At the same time, the outcome of this duel between Lord Yuánliǔzhāi and Captain Ārmù will also determine who will inherit the position of the next Captain-Commander of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads……"

Quebu looked at the shocked faces of the Third and Fifth Division captains, the corners of his mouth slightly turning up. Although the execution of Kyōraku's sister-in-law was mainly led by the head of the Kōgane clan and had little to do with the Third and Fifth Division captains, they were absolutely indispensable, not to mention the influence of the forces behind them……

After all, in this vast Seireitei, whether it be the Five Great Noble Families, other minor nobles, or the Central Forty-Six Chambers, all would love to see the Yuánliú faction topple, because the captains led by Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù are truly too powerful within the Thirteen Court Guard Squads—so powerful that every faction feels threatened.

Therefore, Quebu dropped another bombshell in front of everyone, revealing the true significance behind the duel between Yuánliǔzhāi and Ārmù to those present.

"What? According to Vice-captain Quebu's meaning, if Lord Yuánliǔzhāi loses, perhaps he will no longer serve as our Captain-Commander of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads?"

This Third Division captain's mind works quickly; after Quebu spoke, he immediately realized the crux of the problem.

"Exactly as I just said, if this duel ends with Lord Yuánliǔzhāi's defeat, then Lord Yuánliǔzhāi will resign his position as Captain-Commander!" Upon hearing this, Quebu first lightly nodded, affirming the Third Division captain's doubtful question, then added before everyone: "In other words, the Captain-Commander of our Thirteen Court Guard Squads is very likely to shift from Lord Yuánliǔzhāi to Captain Ārmù……"

"What?"

As Quebu's words fell, the entire Twin Punishment Hill fell into a deathly silence; everyone remained silent, seemingly unsure what to say.

"This……"

As for the Third and Fifth Division captains who kept pressing Quebu for answers, they were now completely numb……

What was originally just an ordinary execution has now escalated to determining the succession of the next Captain-Commander of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads? With this, the once tranquil Seireitei for hundreds of years may well face a major upheaval in power.

"No! We must quickly relay this information to the Central Forty-Six Chambers!"

After a brief moment of astonishment, the first to react were the agents trained by the Forty-Six Chambers.

At this moment, these agents, sent by order of the Forty-Six Chambers to monitor the Yuánliú faction captains, no longer bothered to supervise the execution of Kyōraku's sister-in-law by the Thirteen Court Guard Squads; they now had more important matters to attend to—they must, as soon as possible, transmit what has happened here back to the Forty-Six Chambers……

As for the loss of the Ise family's divine artifact, the Eight Mirror Sword, at this moment it has become comparatively insignificant!

After all, compared to the duel between the Founding Ancestor and the current Kenpachi, everything else seems utterly trivial!

"Ah~"

"I can't just let you all leave like that~"

However, before these Forty-Six Chambers–trained agents could act, a lovely figure wielding a Zanpakutō had already stepped in front of them.

"Captain Unohana?!"

The agents looked at the newcomer and were all startled; they had not expected that the usually unassuming Fourth Division captain, Unohana Retsu, would step forward at this moment to block their path to the Forty-Six Chambers to report the situation.

"Captain Unohana, please do not hinder us in the performance of our duties, or else blades are blind—take care not to get injured……"

Those Forty-Six Chambers agents, looking at Unohana Retsu standing before them, spoke in a cold voice.

In their view, the usual overseer of medical affairs, who always wears a gentle smile toward anyone, like a kind older sister, and possesses the beauty of a Yamato Nadeshiko, Unohana Retsu, surely cannot be much of a fighter……

At the same time, to prevent the Thirteen Court Guard Squads'—indeed, Seireitei's—finest physician from being injured, they had no choice but to coldly warn Unohana Retsu.

"It seems I have indeed been underestimated~"

Upon hearing the agents' words, Unohana Retsu showed no change in expression; her face still bore that faint smile, but the hand gripping her Zanpakutō grew ever tighter……

"It appears Captain Unohana has already made her choice……"

The agents watching Unohana draw her sword all broke into cold smiles.

They then promptly drew their weapons and charged at Unohana Retsu; in the minds of these agents directly subordinate to the Forty-Six Chambers, reporting the situation to the Forty-Six Chambers was obviously the top priority they needed to consider first……

As for other matters, in the eyes of these Forty-Six Chambers agents they are irrelevant; once someone dares to stop them from transmitting information to the Forty-Six Chambers, they will have to use all their strength to eliminate the obstacle—even if that obstacle is a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Moreover, with the two strongest death gods of the Yuánliú faction absent right now, this is precisely the moment for these agents to demonstrate their strength!

"Swish!"

Just as these agents imagined themselves displaying great value, earning promotion from the Forty-Six Chambers, and thus rising all the way to become the esteemed noble lords envied by all in Seireitei……

A bright silver flash suddenly swept forth from Unohana Retsu's hand; though the light did not possess the heaven‑splitting power of Ārmù's blade, it was still sharp enough to make everyone unable to keep their eyes open……

When these agents opened their eyes again, they felt their heads light and floating, as if endlessly tumbling in the sky; this made them want to seize control of their bodies and regain balance in midair.

Yet, to the agents' surprise, they felt absolutely no sensation of their own bodies……

This left the agents bewildered, and finally they widened their eyes—only to behold a horrifying sight: beneath them lay corpse after corpse dressed in the same black shihakushō as themselves, each missing its head, from which countless streams of bright red blood continually gushed out.

"Where have these people's heads gone?"

The agents began to fret, pondering why the bodies before them looked so familiar, and why all those bodies were missing their heads.

"Right! The heads are… in the sky!"

Only when they started to descend slowly toward the ground did they suddenly realize.

The headless bodies beneath them—weren't they their own?!

"Pat‑pat‑pat…"

Accompanied by a rain of heads falling from the sky like raindrops, Mao Zhi Hua Lie, with disheveled hair standing before countless floating corpses, resembled a Rakshasa bathed in a blood rain, his eyes crimson and filled with boundless malice.

"Perhaps you all didn't quite catch what I said…"

"I hope that before Master Huangmu and Master Yuan Liuzhai return here, everyone can obediently follow the rules and not spread messages that shouldn't be spread~"

Mao Zhi Hua Lie's gaze swept over the soldiers who were unsealing the Twin Execution, the captains of the Guardian Court Thirteenth Squad, and the collapsed Jingle, whose heart lay cold on the ground, then, pausing after each word, he addressed the crowd before him.

Anyone who met Mao Zhi Hua Lie's gaze—whether ordinary soldiers or captains of the Guardian Court Thirteenth Squad—felt a sudden chill in their necks, and cold sweat spattered from their palms and soles from excessive tension.

"You say you guys *damn* have to go provoke that woman—why?!"

"Now it's fine, right? You yourselves have awakened a Rakshasa that should have stayed asleep!"

The captains of the Third Squad and the Fifth Squad, not yet young, knew a bit about Mao Zhi Hua Lie's background; because they clearly understood what Mao Zhi Hua Lie had done before becoming captain of the Fourth Squad, they dared not act rashly before him.

In fact, it wasn't only the captains of the Third and Fifth Squads who felt a chill down their spines; even Jingle Chunshui, Gang Mi Dai Shitan, and Fu Zhu Shisilang—three of Huangmu's top disciples—shivered under Mao Zhi Hua Lie's intimidation, trembling like wild grass in the wind.

"Everyone, can you remember?"

Mao Zhi Hua Lie looked at the silent crowd and asked.

"Remembered, remembered…"

"Surely you remembered!"

The people present, after hearing Mao Zhi Hua Lie, bobbed their heads up and down like chicks pecking at grain.

"So well‑behaved~"

"Then, everyone may leave~"

Mao Zhi Hua Lie, satisfied, glanced at the obedient crowd before him and smiled lightly.

"Leave?"

When the crowd heard Mao Zhi Hua Lie, they were all stunned; even Chief Que Jirou was unable to grasp what Mao Zhi Hua Lie meant—why, all of a sudden, he decided to let everyone leave here?!

"I trust that everyone will not deceive me…"

"Of course, if you wish to test what consequences deceiving me would bring, you may try; the knife in my hand is ready to welcome you~"

Mao Zhi Hua Lie gave the crowd a gentle smile and spoke.

"Umm…"

When the assembled crowd heard Mao Zhi Hua Lie's explanation, they fell silent, unable to tell whether the woman before them was naive, cruel, or perhaps naively cruel?!

After Mao Zhi Hua Lie finished speaking, the crowd remained silent for about half an hour.

"Then shall we retreat first…"

Finally, the captain of the Third Squad could no longer stay seated; he smiled at Mao Zhi Hua Lie and requested.

"Let's go~"

Mao Zhi Hua Lie heard this, smiled, and nodded at the Third Squad captain.

"Thank you for Captain Mao Zhi Hua's generosity."

The Third Squad captain said this, first giving Mao Zhi Hua Lie a slight bow, then instantly using a flash step to vanish at top speed before everyone's eyes.

"Then, Captain Mao Zhi Hua, I will retreat as well!"

After watching the Third Squad captain leave, the Fifth Squad captain, seeing nothing major happen, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Just like the Third Squad captain, he first bowed deeply to Mao Zhi Hua Lie, then quickly vanished before the crowd.

"Captains, we will retreat first!"

After the Fifth and Third Squad captains departed, the next to leave were the soldiers responsible for unsealing the Twin Execution; after bowing farewell to the remaining captains one by one, they jogged down toward Twin Execution Hill.

"Captain Mao Zhi Hua, why is that?"

After the Third and Fifth Squads and the soldiers handling the Twin Execution had all left, Chief Que finally looked at Mao Zhi Hua Lie in confusion; he couldn't understand why Mao Zhi Hua Lie let those people go, even though Mao Zhi Hua Lie had warned everyone not to spread the news. Clearly that was impractical—once those people left, someone would surely relay the information to Room Forty‑six, or even the major noble factions…

"Don't be nervous; everything is part of the plan."

Mao Zhi Hua Lie, after hearing Chief Que, gave him a gentle smile, soothing Que's uneasy heart, then turned to Zaitou and Gengmu.

"Go after those who just left, see who backs them, who they told today's news to, and then find time to kill them all."

After calming Chief Que, Mao Zhi Hua Lie walked over to the immortal Zaitou and Gengmu, and instructed them.

"Hmph! I'm just Mao Zhi Hua Lie; did you think you could command me?!"

"Make sure you remember! I'm only helping you this once because of… Huangmu."

"Next time I won't be as carefree as today!"

Originally, Zaitou the Immortal didn't want to deal with Mao Zhi Hua Lie, but when she saw the fresh blood on his sword, she swallowed her earlier words and, with utmost arrogance, agreed to Mao Zhi Hua Lie.

"As you wish."

Mao Zhi Hua Lie, after hearing Zaitou the Immortal, simply replied lightly, "As you wish."

It seemed Mao Zhi Hua Lie had never regarded Zaitou as anything. With Huangmu absent, Mao Zhi Hua Lie exuded a regal aura that momentarily overwhelmed the immortal Zaitou…

"Damn, so dazzling!"

For a moment, Zaitou seemed to see Mao Zhi Hua Lie glowing before her eyes; she gritted her teeth and squinted.

"Captain Mao Zhi Hua, what is this…"

Chief Que, after hearing Mao Zhi Hua Lie, felt his pupils flicker; according to Mao Zhi Hua's meaning, does this mean we are to make the nobles of the Jingling Court bleed rivers?!

"These nobles have become increasingly restless in recent years! It's time to tell them who truly rules the Corpse Soul Realm…"

Mao Zhi Hua Lie, while gently flicking off the fresh blood clinging to his sword, coldly said to Que Bu.

"Um…"

Que Bu fell silent at the words.

At this moment he only wants to tell those damned nobles: "Lord Yuan Liu Zhai is about to step down from the position of Chief Captain, isn't that what you chose? When Araki becomes Chief Captain, I advise you not to regret…"

Perhaps in the eyes of those nobles, using their knowledge they organize grand teachings, establish academies, and try every means to let the common folk of Wandering Soul Street also enjoy the teachings of Yuan Liu Zhai's Chongguo, making them absolutely the reformist radical faction within the Pure Spirit Court! Unfortunately, Araki is not a conservative; he always feels Yuan Liu Zhai's reforms in the Pure Spirit Court are still not radical enough, being somewhat too conservative…

As those soldiers and the captains of the Third Squad and the Fifth Squad departed, just as Que Bu had thought, these people did not keep their agreement with Mao Zhi Hua Lie; the news of Yuan Liu Zhai's duel with Araki spread like a leg that had found a foothold, racing through the Pure Spirit Court.

As for Mao Zhi Hua Lie, she is using the Heavenly Straight Sky Net to communicate with Gengmu and Zaitou about immortality; whenever the captains of the Third Squad or the Fifth Squad summon someone, Mao Zhi Hua Lie records that person's name in her notebook—these are the names they will later settle accounts with.

"Tsk tsk tsk…"

Que Bu, watching Mao Zhi Hua Lie diligently recording, couldn't help but shake his head; inside he wanted to ask those captains of the Third Squad and the Fifth Squad, why you deceitfully trick Mao Zhi Hua Lie for no reason, what are you after?!

Is it because you think your fate is too long?!

Meanwhile…

"Jiro, is your master about to duel your grandmaster?"

Jingle's elder sister-in-law, long ignored by everyone, now seemed to have thought of something; she stepped in front of Jingle, her expression tinged with worry as she asked Jingle Chunshui.

"Yes…"

Jingle heard this and lightly nodded; for those present, it was already common knowledge, so he had no need to deny it.

"Could it really be because of me?"

Jingle's sister-in-law heard this and a hint of pain appeared in her expression.

"You can rest assured about that!"

Jingle, after hearing his sister-in-law's words, displayed an open smile.

"Hm?"

Jingle's sister-in-law looked at the smiling Jingle Chunshui, her eyes showing a trace of confusion.

"Sister-in-law, please be at ease! Though it may hurt your heart, you are not truly that important in the teacher's and grandmaster's hearts! I think there is another reason behind the battle between the master and the grandmaster…"

Jingle, looking at his sister-in-law, said.

"This…"

However, as Jingle's words fell, his sister-in-law felt an indescribable sting.

Although his sister-in-law also knew this was the truth, honestly, without Jingle's connection, Araki and the others might never have known such a person existed…

"Will your master win?!"

Jingle's sister-in-law then thought of something else and, looking at Jingle, asked.

"Don't worry! Master will definitely win!"

"Because my master is the most powerful grim reaper in this world!"

Jingle, hearing this, first gave his sister-in-law a faint smile…

Then he spoke to his sister-in-law with utmost confidence.