Chapter 1588 - 966: Desperate Ambition (Part 2)

Fang You assumed a very humble posture, with words filled with piety and respect, not daring to overstep the slightest, yet at the same time deeply suspicious.

Mortals are like ants, their lives and deaths all at the whim of those in power above.

If it were due to the identity of the Azure Emperor, Baili An indeed had no reason to appear here.

Entrapped in a deadlock.

This also means that if Baili An truly were the Azure Emperor, logically, Shifang City should no longer exist.

But since Shifang City is still intact, with no wind or news revealing anything...

This implies that he has no reason to be the Azure Emperor.

As a mortal, presumptuously taking the title of Emperor, Fang You also had ten thousand reasons to kill him on the spot here.

Fang You was evidently not someone to be easily fooled unless Baili An could produce a convincing reason.

This night, the crisis that should have belonged to Shifang City might fall upon his head.

Baili An showed no sign of panic on his face. With a faint smile, he said leisurely, "City Lord Fang seems to have not answered my first question."

The first question he posed was...

Fang You paused for a moment, not understanding what he meant.

Baili An then took out a branch of plum blossoms from his sleeve, though already showing signs of wilting.

Yet in this wind and snow, it still retained a bit of its frosty arrogance.

Baili An said slowly, "Miss Xue came from Kunlun’s snowy mountains, born with an immortal body, originally with a long lifespan, yet her fate inexplicably ended under the cold tower of Shifang City.

Miss Xue and I were old friends, Shifang City inexplicably fell into a dire situation.

Although I can report everything to the Emperor, to kill and stop the calamity, this is the homeland of an old friend. Until the necessary moment, I do not wish to see it suffer disaster and overthrow."

He slowly turned the branch of plum blossoms in his hand, raised his eyes to glance at Fang You, "Is this reason sufficient?"

Fang You stared at that nearly withering branch of plum blossoms for a long time, murmuring, "Very... very few people know A Fu liked the cold moon and plum blossoms, Immortal Lord actually has such a deep connection with my wife."

Seeing his strange expression, Baili An tilted his head slightly, "Why? City Lord Fang doesn’t believe it."

"No, no, no..." Fang You forced a smile on his face and said, "It’s just that my late wife had a somewhat aloof and eccentric disposition, be it Immortals or mortals, she seldom made acquaintances.

Even being married to her for many years, the her I saw was more like a perfect order rather than a person.

I can hardly imagine that someone with her temperament could also have an old friend who remembers her."

Truly a cunning old fox.

On the surface, it seemed like he was hurriedly explaining to Baili An, yet the probing intention between the lines had not subsided.

Baili An chuckled lowly, "Why must City Lord Fang force someone to speak so plainly.

The world only knows the Ten Directions Sword as the sword of inheritance for Shifang City, but the beings of the Six Realms do not know...

What the sword suppresses is actually the progenitor of the Evil God, who rampaged wantonly during ancient times, the source of all calamities.

The Ten Directions Sword was never a sword of inheritance, but it was Miss Xue’s important mission to carry the seal against the source of disaster.

To seal the True Ancestor Evil God, the host of the Ten Directions Sword must extinguish the seven emotions, abandon the six desires, and sever the ties of the ten deities and five ties of kinship.

She was not aloof and eccentric by nature but rather, worldly joys and sorrows were not her lot.

Before this, Miss Xue was also just an ordinary person with all seven emotions, though the ten ties and five kinships were severed, old friends were not forgotten, so I came of my own accord."

Baili An’s last remark completely shattered Fang You’s mental defense.

The secret hidden within the Ten Directions Sword is even greater than the Witch Plague! Even his two sons did not know this kind of secret.

Regarding this matter, he kept his lips sealed like a bottle, and even his trusted aide Qin Lou only knew half of it, without seeing the whole picture.

He truly couldn’t imagine who could understand the origin of the Ten Directions Sword so thoroughly.

Even with a belly full of doubts, under Baili An’s meticulous and error-free astonishing rhetoric, they were dispelled completely without a trace.

If this person were not someone from the Immortal World, how could he know Xue Fu?

If he were not of high immortal rank, how could he freely enter and exit the sacred land of Kunlun’s snowy mountains?

If he were not truly an old acquaintance of Xue Fu, how could he understand the Ten Directions Sword so deeply?

He even knew clearly about her sealing of the seven emotions.

At this moment, Fang You’s mouth felt as if it was filled with bitter herbs, incomparable bitterness.

Although the future Qing Emperor came here with the apparent intention of helping Shifang City out of its predicament,

such a mighty figure standing here, who knows if it’s a blessing or a curse.

His body seemed like a deflated balloon, slowly slumping down, with his hand propping up his feeble forehead, his tone heavy.

"Indeed, I was aware in advance of Li Qiuxing’s research on the Witch Plague technique."

If I hadn’t secretly allowed his actions, Shifang City would not have ended up in this situation today."

Baili An silently thought to himself, ’So it is indeed.’

"What was City Lord Fang’s intention behind this act?"

Fang You’s voice carried a hint of painful helplessness: "I am just a mere mortal. Without A Fu’s guidance and support, I would never have been able to assume the position of City Lord.

After A Fu’s death, although I was fortunate to take charge of Shifang City, no matter how diligently and painstakingly I worked, I could desperately and clearly perceive the immense gap between me and those born with immortal bodies.

I couldn’t bear to watch Shifang City decline in my hands like this. Can the Immortal Lord understand?

Being in a high position, with expectations from everyone, yet lacking the ability to possess all of it, how powerless the state of mind must be.

I didn’t want the world to label A Fu’s husband as ’useless’ after being completely disappointed with Shifang City; it would be too cruel to me, too cruel to her!"

An ordinary person, thrust into a high position, elevated by expectations to a role mismatched with their abilities.

The struggle, the despair, the profound sense of powerlessness, no one knows it better than Baili An.

There was a time when he too was trapped in a confusing nightmare of self-confinement.

In such moments, one tries to grasp at any thread, trying to save oneself.

This is a natural response of a person trapped in despair.

Baili An pursed his lips, feeling complicated, and remained silent.

Fang You continued: "I knew Li Qiuxing had a dubious nature, ambitious.

But I have personally seen the two puppets with self-awareness created by my wife, the original ’Yinghuo.’

Just those two puppets, after their birth, their martial combat power could rival tens of thousands of Mechanical Puppets.

More remarkably, they regard the master’s command as iron law, strong and loyal, yet also possessing transcendent wisdom.

The difference is like heaven and earth compared to those Mechanical Puppets on the battlefield that require spiritual power to control!

They could autonomously absorb the spirits of heaven and earth, cultivating and evolving like mortals.

I’ve never seen such a great work, and I am deeply impressed by A Fu’s abilities.

But before I could learn such great Puppetry Technique from A Fu, she unfortunately passed away.

After A Fu’s death, the outside world was unaware of the subversive military coup Shifang City experienced, in which I almost lost my life.

Without A Fu, Shifang City, due to my incompetence, became fragile like a piece of paper."

"If I continue to achieve nothing, Shifang City will only become a place to be plundered, the artifact refiners and talisman masters within suffering as much as their abilities are refined.

Not wanting A Fu’s people to become sacrifices for others’ benefits, Shifang City must continue to grow strong, even though I know Li Qiuxing is as poisonous as a venom, I have no choice but to drink poison to quench my thirst."

Fang You’s eyes were filled with sorrow and helplessness, his mournful voice approaching a choked, hoarse murmur.

Thinking about so many years of inner condemnation and struggle, it was indeed a ceaseless torment, tearing at his heart.

"In fact, through repeated trials of the spreading Witch Plague on various Mechanical Puppet experimental subjects, it turned out that puppets with self-awareness are indeed far superior to ordinary Mechanical Puppets.

I originally thought that I could also create warriors as powerful and invincible as ’Yinghuo’ in my own hands.

But who could have thought, this was... the beginning of a disaster."

At this, Fang You let out a powerless scoff: "It was also my arrogance and foolishness; years later, Jiushijiu and Xiao Wu harbored thoughts of rebellion, throwing Shifang City into chaos.

Even my daughter nearly died at their hands; you see, even puppets created by an Immortal like A Fu have such great hidden dangers and risks."