Chapter 68: State Stabilizing Artifacts 2

The entire county, including a ten-li radius around it, witnessed this heavenly thunder!

Xu Yuan had just refined the “pig skin jelly” he’d eaten, and now felt his skin itching again.

Wanted to get beaten by his stepmother… no, wanted to shed his skin.

With a thunderclap, Xu Yuan rushed to the door to check—and immediately wore a look of envy: “Incredible!”

“No wonder he’s the senior official of the Purification Office!”

Moments later, the lightning faded, leaving only the roar of torrential rain pounding the earth.

Suddenly, from the direction of the county yamen, a scream filled with bitter hatred erupted.

Immediately after, a terrifying figure ten zhang tall rose from within the yamen!

…

Chen Liangxuan shouted: “Master Ji, I rely on you!”

Master Ji nodded solemnly, picked up the iron sword and iron hat, slung the iron horse over his shoulder, and leapt out of the “Continuing Spring Pavilion,” sprinting through the rain.

…

Inside the yamen, Yan Lao gazed up at the monstrous ten-zhang-tall creature, his heart filled with despair.

Chen Liangxuan acted with sudden precision: the moment the three-year-old child appeared, he sealed off the entire yamen, preventing any distress signal from being sent out.

They could only rely on themselves to fight this terrifying anomaly.

But with their current condition, how long could they hold out?

Yet when Yan Lao turned his head, he saw Ma Tianshou—who had just moments ago been grim-faced—now showing signs of ease.

Yan Lao frowned: “Senior official, what is this…?”

Ma Tianshou raised his white eyebrows and said: “The unknown is the most terrifying. Once Chen Liangxuan reveals his final move, we’ll know how to respond.”

How are we supposed to respond now—you’ve already pulled out the official seal…

Suddenly, Ma Tianshou reached behind him into empty air and tore something away.

Riiip—

A scroll was ripped apart, its surface bearing a faint character: “Hidden.”

A guillotine blade emerged.

Its blade gleamed snow-white, one zhang long, thick and two chi wide!

At its haft, a grotesque, fearsome dog’s head was cast in brass.

“Dog Head Guillotine!” Yan Lao gasped—the senior official had been hiding such a powerful “State Stabilizing Artifact”!

His first thought was resentment: Why didn’t you bring this out while we were struggling so hard?

But immediately followed by rapt praise: “No wonder you’re the senior official!”

Earlier, with Chen Liangxuan on guard, we couldn’t fully sever this evil!

Chen Liangxuan knew the senior official was a Sixth-Flow Literary Xiu, and must have prepared a method capable of slaying a Sixth-Flow.

And the senior official knew he knew—that’s why he held back.

Ma Tianshou and Chen Liangxuan had matched wits perfectly—each a worthy adversary.

“Open the guillotine—”

Ma Tianshou roared, stepped forward, gripped the haft with both hands, and heaved the guillotine blade upward.

Zhing!

A flash of snow-white light cut through the rain.

The ten-zhang-tall evil was seized by some powerful rule-force, its movement severely restricted, dragged uncontrollably toward the guillotine!

It roared in fury, struggling with all its might.

A colossal commotion erupted.

The Dog Head Guillotine trembled.

But the senior official’s hands remained steady, holding the blade high—so long as the blade didn’t fall, the rule-force would keep acting!

Two hundred years ago, the River Supervisory Office forged three guillotines—Dragon Head, Tiger Head, and Dog Head—modeled after the ancient Song Dynasty’s Bao Longtu.

They were designed specifically to execute “grassland deities” across the land who resisted imperial rule during the river’s excavation.

Legend says the forging blueprints originated from the River Dragon God.

Originally, only the Shanhe Office had authority to use them. But over two centuries, the forging blueprints had leaked; Dog Head and Tiger Head guillotines now existed in both the Extermination Army and the Purification Office.

Each faction forged their own copies.

Only the Dragon Head Guillotine’s blueprint remained the River Supervisory Office’s highest secret—even the Imperial Astronomical Bureau couldn’t obtain it.

And in two centuries, only one Dragon Head Guillotine had ever been forged!

Ma Tianshou had brought few subordinates on this mission—but as Deputy Commander of the Southern Office of Jiaozhi, he was exceptionally cautious—he secretly took the Southern Office’s Dog Head Guillotine, concealed it with the “Hidden” scroll, unseen by anyone.

This mission involved Wushan, so Ma Tianshou naturally took extra care.

As the ten-zhang-tall evil was now pinned by the Dog Head Guillotine, Yan Lao’s fingers twitched involuntarily, and his abacus beads began to move.

The calculation result made Yan Lao’s brow knit into a “ Chuan ” shape.

Why, even after deploying the Dog Head Guillotine—a “State Stabilizing Artifact”—was the future still obscure?

“Algorithmic Divination” wasn’t fortune-telling, but Yan Lao, a Seventh-Flow, could indeed use it to glimpse the general “trend” of the future.

On the Dog Head Guillotine, the mysterious rule-force and the ten-zhang-tall evil were locked in their final struggle—the ten-zhang-tall “Fu Dong Tian Wang” was now less than five zhang from the blade.

Violent winds surged, hurling countless raindrops like daggers.

Somewhere in the void, a divine messenger seemed to press down with a giant hand, forcing the evil’s head toward the guillotine.

Ma Tianshou, though aged, remained formidable—his white eyebrows and hair whipped by the storm, eyes blazing, both hands raised high with the gleaming blade, waiting for the evil to submit before delivering a crushing blow to its grotesque head!

Yet Yan Lao felt a lingering unease, and remained silently alert.

Suddenly, through the torrential rain and wind, a clear white line raced toward them with rapid, steady steps.

It felt like a great river’s flood surging past its dam—then a “jiao” dragon suddenly surfaced, cutting through the water.

“The change has come!” Yan Lao muttered inwardly, instantly calculating without hesitation.

He wasn’t calculating whether he could stop the intruder—he was calculating how to stop him.

At this moment, the calculation result meant nothing: whether he could stop the intruder or not, he had no choice but to act!

His counting rods flew out, pre-emptively setting ambushes; then, holding his final rod, Yan Lao stood firm in the storm.

Tad-tad-tad—

The intruder burst through the rain curtain, moving faster than lightning, fearless, unstoppable!

Yan Lao’s calculation was correct: as the intruder’s foot landed, the first hidden counting rod surged from the puddle, stabbing toward his sole.

The intruder didn’t react—the rod shattered under his foot.

The second rod shot from the left rain curtain, piercing toward the old man’s left knee.

Pah!

It struck—but exploded into fragments against the intruder’s skin.

The third, the fourth…

All of Yan Lao’s hidden rods struck true—but inflicted no damage.

The intruder moved like a river-demon, charging forward, crushing every obstacle beneath him.

In an instant, he stood before Yan Lao, who drew a deep breath and thrust his final rod—aimed at the intruder’s right eye.

The intruder merely pushed with one hand—and Yan Lao was flung backward.

“Sixth-Flow Wu Xiu!” Yan Lao spat blood, now understanding the intruder’s strength: “But his bloodline has decayed—he must be near death, his power fallen to the threshold between Sixth and Seventh Flow.”

Yet Wu Xiu were terrifying in direct confrontation—Yan Lao couldn’t stop him at all.

Among the Seven Schools, only Wu Xiu weakened with age.

If Master Ji could still fully wield Sixth-Flow power, he wouldn’t have willingly retired with Old Master Chen.

Having passed Yan Lao’s defense, the intruder hurled his belongings one after another.

Iron horse, iron sword, iron hat.

They whistled through the air and landed in the hands of the ten-zhang-tall evil.

The iron horse suddenly came alive, neighing as it grew to eleven or twelve zhang tall, nostrils spewing fire.

The ten-zhang-tall evil mounted the horse, grasped the sword, and the iron hat settled on its head—each item adjusting perfectly to its size.

And once the iron hat was worn, a peculiar force activated, countering the Dog Head Guillotine—now the evil could no longer be pulled closer!

The ten-zhang-tall evil reared the iron horse, raised the iron sword high, and brought it down in a single slash!

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(End of Chapter)