Chapter 54

"Guan Laozu Qingsong, please have mercy and save my foster father!"

Hearing Qingsong's voice, Xiao Yu immediately let out a "wail of a desperate filial daughter."

"Daoist Qingsong—"

Guan Zhong also wanted to follow with a "cry of a desperate loyal servant," but Qingsong raised his hand to interrupt, "Hey, no need to say more. My work in the Western nations is finished, and I am about to return to Great Qin. I came here now to fulfill my previous promise to General Guan."

Qingsong neatly took out the small white porcelain bottle and handed it to Xiao Yu, "Here, this is the Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill. Earlier at the Hengsha Pass Governor's Mansion, General Guan told me personally that if he had an accident, the Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill should be kept by Miss Yu."

After saying this, he turned and walked away.

After two steps, he thought of the Shadow God Map and the poem he had just seen, couldn't help but feel a trace of pity, stopped, turned to look at Xiao Yu, and said meaningfully, "Even for the nobles of Great Qin, the Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill is a rare treasure. You may not understand it, but there are many who do and crave it.

Now everyone knows the precious pill is in your hands, and General Guan is..."

—Now everyone knows the precious pill is in my hands, isn't that because of you?!

Actually, Xiao Yu didn't need Qingsong's reminder to understand the danger of holding the Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill at this moment.

After all, she had read so many novels in her past life; killing for treasure was an inevitable plot point.

"Guan Laozu, can you feed the precious pill to my foster father now so he can come back to life?" Xiao Yu asked hurriedly.

"Hehe, if you think his corpse is too intact and want him to explode into pieces, you can try feeding it to him."

"Guan Laozu~~~~"

"Take care of yourself!" Qingsong turned and left without a hint of reluctance.

"Li Zhongshu, my foster father actually trusts you the most." Xiao Yu turned and stuffed the small porcelain bottle into Guan Zhong's arms, not waiting for him to decline, and added, "Xiao Yu only wants to find a divine physician or divine medicine to save my foster father as soon as possible; I really have no time or mood to care about this useless dross!"

Her tone held obvious unwillingness and disdain.

As if, if it couldn't save Huchen at this moment, even a true immortal pill was just useless dross.

"Miss..." Guan Zhong gripped the small porcelain bottle, his expression and mood extremely complex.

"Li Zhongshu, don't just stand there; hurry and go inquire about more famous divine physicians. And Deputy General Song, gather all the brothers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion you can, bring the Immortal Stomach-Filling Pills, and we will set out together.

Even if we don't sleep or rest, we must find an eccentric individual who can save my foster father."

With her efficient and seasoned appearance, no one who saw her would doubt that she had any impure thoughts about the Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill.

—Next, Guan Zhong would inevitably have to take care of Guan Huchen with her; whether the pill was on him or her made no difference.

Even if it were on her, she wouldn't dare to swallow it directly; even if Guan Huchen died, the Guan family still existed!

If anyone now attempted to kill for the treasure, they would only target Guan Zhong, who held the pill.

Guan Zhong bore the greatest risk.

If Guan Zhong were killed for the treasure, she might be able to play the oriole, ambush the treasure-snatcher in the chaos, kill them, quietly obtain the pill, and swallow it in secret; the blame would be on the treasure-snatcher, the risk borne by Guan Zhong, and she would be perfectly satisfied.

If she ambushed in secret and still couldn't kill the treasure-snatcher, then clearly, the pill was truly not meant for her, and keeping it on herself would be a one-episode death sentence.

"Miss, I'm afraid someone in the Fire Crow Army wants to plot to seize the master's Nine-Turn Bone-Changing Pill. When Qingluan delivered the medicine to the commander's tent, others must have seen it."

Guan Zhong was truly deceived by Xiao Yu's acting, believing her loyalty to Guan Huchen and the Guan family was on the same level as his own.

While Wei Wu was bandaging Huchen's "corpse," he pulled her aside and whispered, "Since Daoist Qingsong warned us to be careful of others killing for the treasure, it shows he himself has no ill intentions and is even slightly on our side.

He has no ill intentions, yet he publicly handed the pill to us, making it known to everyone, which means that before he came to find us, those who coveted the Bone-Changing Pill had already shown signs.

He publicly handed over the pill and even explicitly warned us to be careful of being targeted; perhaps he is also protecting us.

Some things, once done and suspected by others, are destined to ruin one's reputation."

Xiao Yu looked at Guan Zhong with great surprise: Was this old man truly loyal to Guan Huchen, or was he acting like her? If he were truly concerned, shouldn't he be in a state of mental chaos, losing his rational judgment?

She had only just figured out this small detail, but she hadn't said it out loud.

"Li Zhongshu, my heart is in chaos right now; my mind is only thinking about where I can find a divine physician to save his life... Sigh, you decide what to do about the precious pill."

Seeing her in such a state of mental chaos and agitation, Guan Zhong felt both helpless and relieved.

Being efficient and decisive in saving his foster father, while having no clue about the precious pill—this was exactly how a truly filial daughter should behave!

But although he was trusted by Huchen, he had almost no strength to protect the divine pill; what should he do?

Guan Zhong also began to fall into mental chaos.

"Qin Huang Ying Zheng is dead~~~~~~"

A long, piercing whistle that seemed to pierce the clouds suddenly rang out outside the house.

The voice was loud and high-pitched, filled with joy and excitement, clearly heard within the inn's main hall.

In an instant, everyone, including Xiao Yu and Guan Zhong, seemed to have been pressed on a pause button, their expressions dull, frozen, and speechless.

"Hahaha, Qin Huang Ying Zheng persecuted the people of the world and has finally met his retribution; Heaven has eyes, hahaha, hahahaha~~~"

"The Human Emperor has actually passed away... but who is so brave to laugh in public—no, there are assassins; someone is going to assassinate the Marquis of Lieyang!"

Xiao Yu was the first to react, her expression changing drastically, and she shouted repeatedly, "Deputy General Song, and all good friends of the Guan family, immediately take my foster father and leave through the inn's back door!"

"Boom~~~ Boom~~~"

The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains swayed, and flames soared into the sky.

Inside the inn's main hall, tables and chairs tilted, cups and plates fell to the ground, the rafters creaked and tilted, and the roof tiles flew away with a clatter.

It was as if the end of the world had suddenly arrived.

"Quick, hurry and leave through the back door; the house is going to collapse," Song Changqing shouted urgently.

The knights and the inn's waiters all recovered from their shock and confusion, rushing toward the back door in a scramble.

"Clang~~" Xiao Yu drew her Dragon Kiss short sword, took a few quick steps, blocked the path of the iron-clad knights, and shouted sternly, "No running! Come back and take General Guan with you before you can leave!"

The first knight, named "Hou Sanbao," had a twisted expression and reached out to grab Xiao Yu's face, "I've had enough of you little barbarian—"

"Puchi~~~" A flash of silver, and a head as big as a peck flew into the sky; blood sprayed like a fountain, shooting more than a zhang high from the severed neck.

The knights stopped in horror, staring blankly at the headless knight slowly tilting over, unable to react.

Xiao Yu shouted coldly, "Who else wants to rebel against General Guan?"

"Take General Guan and go together," Wei Wu and Song Changqing shouted in low voices.

The group quickly ran back, each grabbing a corner of the Fire-Rat Robe, and carried Huchen out of the inn's main hall.

Xiao Yu really didn't want to put them through this.

But Huchen's body was twisted and deformed, not a single piece of armor had been removed, and combined with his originally burly and majestic frame, weighing four or five hundred jin, Guan Zhong couldn't carry him alone.

Even if he could barely carry him, Huchen's current injuries wouldn't allow it.

A "filial daughter" who loved her father would surely consider this, and she was currently that filial daughter.

As for beheading the iron-clad knight with one sword...

Not to mention that the opponent didn't expect her to act so fiercely and was unprepared, she had already killed ten people before she even learned martial arts.

Now, not only was her martial path slightly accomplished, lacking only internal energy, but she had also taken the God-Connecting Pill to open her Sword Bone, her physique had increased by a large margin, and her sword techniques were even sharper; Hou Sanbao died as he deserved!

"Boom!!"

Just as their group left the main hall and ran to the backyard, a violent explosion occurred again.

This time Xiao Yu saw clearly.

It was a thunderstorm.

It was as if countless purple-red thunders had been compressed into an aerospace bomb, and now a "Dao Technique: Thunder: Aerospace Bomb" had been thrown over the Fire Crow Army camp.

Endless thunder exploded, covering the entire sky within her field of vision in an instant.

Today had been a clear day without a single cloud, but now the sky was pitch black.

If not for the purple-red light brought by the flashing thunder, it would surely be impossible to see one's own fingers.

"Boom rumble~~~" Under the thunderstorm, the earth shook as if a magnitude seven earthquake had occurred.

The houses had already tilted and collapsed in the opposite direction under the shockwave of the thunderstorm.

In fact, the thunderstorm had already been blocked and hadn't fallen directly onto the ground.

Inside the Fire Crow Army camp, a dense red mist rose, like wisps of fire-wool; countless wisps of fire-wool rose into mid-air, gathered together, and formed a golden-red fire shield.

The fire shield covered the entire camp; it was unimaginably huge and ancient in style.

Xiao Yu looked up, and the Sword Bone in her body actually had a faint reaction, allowing her to sense a desolate and wild aura.

And when the thunderstorm fell, the fire shield rippled like the surface of a lake, and bright red blood-evil energy dissipated in all directions.

"Eh, why are you all catching fire?" Xiao Yu was just feeling shocked and confused when she suddenly caught a glimpse of Song Changqing and the other black-clad knights stopping in their tracks, their expressions struggling, seemingly in great pain, and tiny, slender wisps of fire-wool gradually appearing within their bodies.

It was a bit like the flame-shaped chakra cloak that covered Naruto's body when he used the Nine-Tails chakra in *Naruto*. It just wasn't as obvious as Naruto's; it was very faint and illusory.

But Xiao Yu's eyes weren't deceiving her.

"The Marquis of Lieyang has activated the 'Three Thousand Fire Crow Army Formation'," Song Changqing said.

Although he and the knights had struggling and pained expressions, they showed no shock or confusion.

Even Guan Zhong had a calm look, as if he were used to it.

"What Three Thousand Fire Crow Army Formation? The Marquis of Lieyang activated the army formation; what does that have to do with you all?"

Xiao Yu asked curiously, then urged quickly, "Regardless of what army formation it is, let's hurry and leave this place; the further away, the better!"

"They are not their own masters; they cannot leave." Guan Zhong said, pointing at the inn's waiters, and shouted, "Song Changqing, put the master down. You all come and carry him; hurry and leave this place, retreat to the back mountain!"

"No, we won't stay; take us with you!"

The black-clad knights who had abandoned Huchen to run away earlier were now panicked, clutching the Fire-Rat Robe as if they had grabbed a life-saving straw.

Guan Zhong glared and shouted angrily, "You are military generals under the Marquis of Lieyang, and you have already been incorporated into the Three Thousand Fire Crow Formation; how can the Miss and I take you with us? Back off, don't implicate the master and us!"