Chapter 195

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Protagonist:

Xuan Ge

The Astral Express crew, following the guidance, arrived outside the main gate of the Shence General's Mansion.

They did not rashly step forward, but stood by the railing opposite, watching from afar; no one dared to easily set foot even half a step into the General's Mansion.

In front of the General's Mansion gate, a scene of chaos.

Dense crowds of people were pressed, bound, and dragged by the Cloud Knights, lined up in long queues, slowly departing.

Wails, pleas for mercy, and angry curses intertwined, piercing the ears until eardrums ached.

"Xuan Ge is a tyrant! A tyrant! He is definitely a tyrant!"

A bound official struggled fiercely, roaring with a hoarse voice, eyes full of despair and venomous resentment.

"I'll wait for you in hell! Hahaha! He absolutely will not let you off!"

Another clan elder was dragged by the Cloud Knights, hair disheveled, looking deranged; shrill laughter echoed in the air.

"I don't know! I know nothing!"

Someone trembled all over in fright, voice choked, pleading repeatedly to the Cloud Knights:

"Beg the General to spare my family, I'll never dare again, never dare again!"

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'm willing to submit, willing to pledge allegiance to General Shen Wei!"

Still others completely broke down, abandoning all dignity, prostrating on the ground kowtowing repeatedly, foreheads battered until blood flowed.

"Do... do we still have to go in?"

March 7th tightly covered her mouth, looking at the scene before her with an expression of utter disbelief.

She had never witnessed such a scene; her fingertips were ice-cold, even her breathing became careful and cautious.

"Don't be afraid, March."

Ji Zi stood beside her, gaze heavy as she watched everything before the General's Mansion gate, tone gentle yet firm, lightly patting her back.

A trace of shock also stirred in her heart, but she forcibly suppressed it — the Xianzhou's political upheaval was far more cruel than they had imagined.

"Don't overthink, this is Xianzhou's internal affair, it has nothing to do with us."

Welt pushed up the glasses on his nose bridge, tone calm as he comforted March 7th, though a trace of complexity flashed in his eyes.

He knew clearly in his heart, this was not a simple internal purge, this was Xianzhou's political upheaval, an era's replacement.

Since ancient times, dynastic succession, power transition, bloodshed is inevitable.

As outsiders, they could only observe from the sidelines, unable to interfere.

Welt had long since committed Xuan Ge's life story, and the entire history of the Shen Wu Xian Zhou, to memory.

From historical records, Xuan Ge's lifetime achievements were illustrious, he treated the common people well, protected the Xianzhou, undoubtedly a positive figure.

But.....

But the reason Xuan Ge struck terror into those who heard his name, besides his unfathomable martial prowess, lay in his ruthless style of exterminating roots and absolutely never showing leniency.

He remembered, in historical records, when Xuan Ge was conferred the position of General Shen Wei, many people stood out in opposition.

This matter, he had deliberately paid extra attention to.

Those who opposed were basically spread across the entire Xianzhou Alliance, among them, the major clans were the primary voices of opposition.

After all, before Xuan Ge became a General, he was merely a man who recruited private troops, unbound by Xianzhou regulations.

Xuan Ge possessed outstanding commander qualities; his private troops were each brave and skilled in battle.

Such a person, once grasping Xianzhou military authority, would inevitably break the power balance between clans — this was what all clans feared.

Dan Heng stood to the side, letting out a deep sigh, expression complex, eyes mixed with a trace of anger and sorrow.

His gaze fell upon the escorted queue, clearly seeing several Vidyadhara figures within.

Moreover, among them, one was precisely the Vidyadhara Dragon Master in his memory.

"Dan Heng? What's wrong?"

Xing noticed his abnormality, turned her head to look at him, asking with a face full of curiosity: "Your complexion doesn't look good, are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Dan Heng forced out a smile, shook his head.

He did not speak his thoughts; some things, there was no need to let Xing and March 7th know.

He had already made a decision in his heart — when he sees Jing Yuan later, he must have a proper talk with him.

As the Dragon Venerate of the Shen Wu Xian Zhou, he has the responsibility and obligation to keep the Vidyadhara within Luofu in check.

As for Bai Lu......

Dan Heng lightly frowned, a trace of worry rising in his heart; better to have her stay at the Alchemy Commission for now, it's relatively safe there, she doesn't need to know these cruel matters.

He will not stop Xuan Ge's steps to unify the world — he knows, Xuan Ge's decision can no longer be changed.

This political purge, clearly, Jing Yuan is already doing his utmost to keep the death toll controlled to the minimum range.

He can also tell, that escorted Dragon Master is merely a scapegoat brought out to take the blame.

But such blame-taking is utterly insufficient to persuade Xuan Ge.

Xuan Ge's ruthlessness has never lightly let off any guilty person.

Unknown how much time passed, the escorted people gradually disappeared from sight, and the General's Mansion gate finally returned to calm.

At this moment, a soldier wearing Cloud Knights uniform walked over quickly.

"Everyone, General Shence is waiting for you inside the mansion, please follow me."

"Let's go." Ji Zi took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in her heart, spoke looking at everyone.

No matter how cruel the scene before their eyes, they had to see Jing Yuan and ascertain the Luofu's current situation.

The audience nodded, following behind the Cloud Knights, slowly making their way toward the Shence General's Mansion.

Simultaneously, inside the Luofu You Qiu Yu, it was dark and damp, permeated with a thick stench of blood and rot.

In the lowest level of the prison cells, Hu Lei was locked fast to a stone pillar by iron chains, covered in wounds, flesh and blood blurred.

Countless sharp blades suspended around his body, ceaselessly alternating, slicing and piercing into him.

"Ugh ah——"

Intense pain struck, and Hu Lei couldn't help but let out a pained muffled groan.

His consciousness had long been eroded by pain, yet he still gritted his teeth tightly, refusing to yield.

"Xuan Ge! I will definitely kill you!"

This sentence, he had muttered for nearly eight hundred years, engraved into his bone marrow, deep into his soul.

His hatred for Xuan Ge even surpassed that for Jing Liu, who had captured him alive back then and thrown him into this You Qiu Yu.

Back then, the Luofu Xian Zhou launched a conquest war against the Bu Li Ren great army he led.

He led the Bu Li Ren, relying on the Wolf Poison's terrifying toxin, beating the Cloud Knights into steady retreat, with heavy casualties.

At that time, he once thought his victory was beyond doubt

"Damn Xuan Ge!!"

Hu Lei closed his eyes, the scenes of that year surfacing again in his mind, his tone full of resentment and unwillingness.

Just when the Cloud Knights could barely hold on, massive casualties appearing, and he was about to win, Xuan Ge stepped forward.

That man stood before the formation, shouting loudly: "Behind us are ten thousand household lights! The time for the people to test us has arrived!"

With just this one shout, he instantly ignited the fighting spirit of all Cloud Knights, forcibly suppressing the Wolf Poison.

The originally steadily retreating Cloud Knights instantly became like madmen, crazily counterattacking.

But this was still not what angered him most.

What he could not accept most was that Xuan Ge that bastard actually dared to lead only a hundred men, circle around to his Da Ben Ying, and sweep away his rear.

Even more outrageous was that he actually did it.

Merely a hundred men, and they completely shattered his rear.

News of the Da Ben Ying being breached reached the frontline, Bu Li Ren morale plummeted, army hearts scattered.

Just a single thought's wavering caused his Bu Li Ren great army to suffer a crushing defeat.

And he himself, because of that moment's anxiety revealing a flaw, was pressed dead to the ground and hacked by that madwoman Jing Liu.

Just as Hu Lei gritted his teeth, wanting to once again greet Xuan Ge's ancestors eighteen generations, outside the prison cell, sudden countless miserable cries and angry curses rang out.

The sound penetrated the You Qiu Yu's layers of fortifications; even locked in the lowest prison cell, he could hear clearly.

"What situation?"

Hu Lei forcibly endured the intense pain of blades tearing his body, slowly opened his eyes, pricked up his ears, quietly listening to the movements outside.

"Xuan Ge! I fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! You tyrant!"

A curse angry to the extreme clearly entered his ears.

Hu Lei's eyes instantly brightened, he couldn't help but let out a low shout: "Good! Don't lose face! Keep cursing!"

Hearing someone curse Xuan Ge, the hatred in his heart seemed to be relieved a few degrees, even the pain on his body seemed to lessen somewhat.

"Xuan Ge! You tyrant! You will ruin the Xianzhou Alliance! You won't die a good death!"

Another curse came, the tone full of despair and anger.

Hu Lei: "????"

"What situation? Xuan Ge is a tyrant?"

He had stayed in the You Qiu Yu for so many years, occasionally hearing some outside news from the guarding Cloud Knights' mouths.

He knew Xuan Ge had become the Divine Might General, knew his battle merits were brilliant, yet had never heard of Xuan Ge being called a tyrant.

"Hahahaha! Hahaha!" Hu Lei suddenly laughed wildly.

"I knew it! I knew you had wolfish ambition!"

Hu Lei laughed until his whole body trembled, a ferocious expression on his face, eyes full of schadenfreude:

"Hahahaha! Xuan Ge, you finally couldn't hold back! You finally want to rebel!"

One word "tyrant" was enough for him to conclude.

Xuan Ge must have accumulated enough strength and troops, unwilling to be just a Divine Might General, wanting to overthrow the Xianzhou Alliance and become emperor himself!

Hu Lei instantly wiped the smile from his face, brows tightly knitted, and began thinking rapidly, completely blocking out the intense pain wracking his body.

Why would Xuan Ge want to be emperor?

Could it be he really was blinded by power, wanting to taste the flavor of ten thousand people worshipping?

"Not right...."

Hu Lei lightly shook his head, negating this most basic, also most common guess.

Although he had never met Xuan Ge face to face, never spoken a word, he had to admit Xuan Ge was stronger than him, especially in the commander aspect.

Power arises from violence, this principle he understood.

But Xuan Ge should not be the type who would stop at nothing for power.

"Xian Zhou's trash." Hu Lei's eyes concentrated, instantly seeing through the key, tone full of disdain.

Xuan Ge wasn't proactively wanting to be emperor, but was forced into this position.

He could be very certain of one factor — that is the so-called "power balance faction" inside the Xian Zhou.

As for other reasons, for the moment he still couldn't think of them.

"Chaos rise up! Hahaha! All chaos rise up!"

Hu Lei laughed wildly once more, his eyes full of schadenfreude, the ferocity on his face growing even more pronounced.

He knew all too well that the Xian Zhou was about to encounter the Three Calamities of history once again, plunging into an unprecedented crisis.

Who knows which fool actually managed to provoke Xuan Ge, a "Da Ye" who could protect the Xian Zhou, into anger.