Chapter 397

The sky was a dark, heavy expanse; thick smoke and fog blocked all sunlight, when suddenly a drop of rain struck the floor and merged with the blood.

Then came a torrential downpour, washing away the city's filth and gloom.

Gu He lay on the steps before the palace, looking up at the sky; he pushed aside the umbrella his confidant handed him, letting the cold rain fall on his face.

His ashen face tinged with purple slightly lifted; he closed his eyes and murmured, 'I don't know how the little critters on the ranch are faring— in such a heavy rain, have they returned to the livestock shed?'

The confidant sitting beside him didn't catch his words, puzzled, and asked, 'Your Majesty, are you speaking to me?'

Gu He remained silent.

Only after those people walked one by one to outside the Palace Gate, their footsteps accompanied by the rain, did they fade away with the wind.

Seeing the person lying on the steps, the Fourth Elder's eyes turned red with excitement: 'Your Majesty the King, have you tasted the consequences of spinning your own cocoon?'

Isn't it fine to live out the rest of your life in luxury? Yet you insist on opposing them.

If Gu He dies, they can still support a new king to take the throne.

Gu He's face showed no panic, calm and aloof; he looked down at them and said, 'Someone once told me that the world ought to be equal for all, that fate shouldn't be determined by birth, that without rule, everyone should live in the sunshine, not in the dark, damp Pinminku.'

The Fourth Elder laughed loudly, as if hearing a huge joke: 'Equality for all? Hahaha, how could those lowly slaves in the Pinminku be compared to us? They are maggots in the gutter, forever unable to rise. Your Majesty, what you imagine is destined to be a dream.'

Gu He saw the mockery on his face, and the indifference and ridicule on the faces of those standing behind him, and suddenly laughed.

He had no regrets about what he had done.

However, the follow-up cleanup still needed her to do it.

Gu He clenched his fingers, accelerating the toxin's corrosion of his five viscera and six bowels.

The Fourth Elder saw that he intended to commit suicide, pulled the puppet strings, and was about to control him.

But before the silver threads could touch Gu He, a flash of blade light swept past, and the five puppet strings snapped.

The Fourth Elder was shaken by the aftershock, his footing unsteady, and he retreated a few steps.

A figure appeared beside Gu He, dressed in pure black witch robes, the hood covering her entire face; the fingers exposed in the air were slender and snow‑white, gripping a dagger.

The Fourth Elder widened his eyes in shock, staring in disbelief at the dagger in her hand and roared, "Impossible… impossible, how could a dagger cut my puppet strings? Who are you? Who exactly are you??"

Jiang Zhi paid no heed to his words, turned toward the Gu He lying at her feet, and said, "If you die, who will feed the herd of cattle and sheep in the refuge?"

A king with a cleanliness obsession nevertheless liked raising cattle and sheep; even in a barn reeking of manure he felt no disgust or impatience, staying there every day to tend the animals, even personally delivering the newborns of the pregnant ones.

This is Gu He's contradictory side, and also where he reveals his true emotions.

There, he is truly himself.

Gu He was extremely weak; the toxin spread through his body unstoppably, and he feebly said, "I'm about to die—can't you treat me a little better?"

Jiang Zhi raised an eyebrow and extended a finger to cover his eyes.

The toxin quickly dissipated, and she also healed his injuries in passing.

"Stop lying on the ground, help out."

Gu He hadn't expected she could also dispel the Eleventh Elder's poison—a toxin with no antidote in the world.

He staggered to his feet, resigned, and asked, "What do you need?"

Jiang Zhi tossed a stack of talismans into his hand, saying, "Go and collect all the slaves in this city into the talismans."

Gu He looked at the thick stack in his arms, his heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Do you know how many slaves are in this city?"

…

The ignored Fourth Elder, his anger flaring, commanded the puppets behind him to rush at them with extreme speed and fierce assault.

Xiaohei, standing behind Jiang Zhi, stepped forward to block the puppets' approach.

He was faster than the puppets, gripping his blade and slicing through the silver lines controlling them, one stroke after another.

The Fourth Elder, seeing this, could barely catch his breath, pointing at his trembling fingers and shouting, "My silver threads are made from the spider silk of the Ghost‑Shadow Nine‑Clawed Cold Spider; even the hardest metal can't compare—how did they cut them??"

The Second Elder's face darkened as he said, "The witch is strong; you're no match for her. I'll deal with her—you take on the Half‑beast."

The Second Elder's spell strength ranked just below the Grand Elder's; the Fourth Elder could only comply, frowning as he chanted the incantation.

The silver threads at his fingertips were entwined with dark flames, and the puppets he controlled noticeably increased in speed and strength.

"I will refine you all into puppets!!!"

…

At the moment the Second Elder cast his spell, Jiang Zhi threw a talisman that formed a barrier blocking his attack.

Watching Gu He ride away on the Vermilion Bird, Jiang Zhi's gaze finally fell on the Second Elder.

Clad in plain monk's robes, resembling an enlightened high monk, he held a staff that emanated terrifying power.

Jiang Zhi was certain that this person before her was stronger than the old man she had met in the Pinminku.

She leapt to the top of the palace and asked lightly, "Are you a monk?"

The Second Elder's gaze was drawn to the talisman she had thrown, and he replied, "Yes."

After his words, he also asked a question:

"Are you a talisman master or a witch?"

The girl wore a witch's robe, yet the arts she used were talismans drawn by a talisman master.

Jiang Zhi glanced at Xiaohei battling the puppets below, lowered her hood, and said casually, "I practice a bit of both."

A flash of surprise and astonishment crossed the Second Elder's eyes.

A conduit cannot practice more than one profession; never mind whether the mental energy could bear it, a conduit simply cannot draw talismans while also casting witchcraft.

Probably this witch is the only multi‑profession conduit, a genius conduit encountered only once in ten thousand years.

Unlike the impulsive and hot‑tempered Fourth Elder, the Second Elder prefers to sit calmly and speak peacefully.

"You can't possibly handle all our elders, but I can cooperate with you."

Jiang Zhi perked up at the words and asked, "What kind of cooperation?"

Second Elder said: "I can choose not to kill Gu He, and I can also let you and your slave go; as a trade, I hope you can join us and become a new elder."

To outsiders, this is an extremely tempting deal.

Elders hold a god-like status in Zhucheng.

It can be said that everyone in Zhucheng wants to become an elder.

The girl before them, however, unhappily corrected: "They are not my slave, but my friend."

The Second Elder froze for a moment, obviously not expecting her to say such words at this moment.

Shouldn't an ordinary person agree to this deal first?

Jiang Zhi continued: "Also, I forgot to mention, the reason I came here is to save all the enslaved people in Zhucheng."

She beamed: "I want to give them freedom."