Chapter 352

Their target is Huaxin Xin?

No.

Wu Tie shook his head hard.

Huaxin Xin, that spoiled brat, can be killed whenever.

The target isn't Huaxin Xin; at most, at most, he's just a fuse?

Wu Tie's gaze swept over the crowd, quickly memorizing the faces of those who boldly moved to kill, even noting their magical auras; especially the first three-pronged spike that flew out, with two or three suspicious-looking people in its direction, all of whom Wu Tie memorized.

That three-pronged spike was terrifyingly powerful; when attacking Huaxin Xin, at least three layers of protective light flashed on his body.

The threefold defense consisted of an outer garment, an inner armor, and a pendant hanging on his chest, each not weak in protection, yet this three-pronged spike pierced through them all in a single strike.

This is a specially made forehead, a one-time big killer designed specifically to assassinate important figures. The threefold defense was shattered in one blow; this thing is terrifying to the extreme, perhaps even the heavy armor issued by the Divine Martial Army couldn't block its attack.

More importantly, Wu Tie, on leave returning to Huachong City, wore only the standard uniform, not the heavy armor usable only by the military.

The protective power of the standard uniform is probably not even as good as half of Huaxin Xin's outer garment.

Wu Tie grabbed Li Dayou's hand and pulled him back a few steps.

Li Dayou handles affairs capably, but his own cultivation is not high. He has toiled diligently in Huachong City for decades, yet he is only at the Life Pool Realm, and he cultivates the standard 'Yuantong Ming Gong' issued specially for civil officials in the Divine Martial Army.

The Yuantong Ming Gong excels at health preservation, nurturing a mouthful of innate vital energy, greatly replenishing essence, energy, and spirit. Civil officials who cultivate it are full of energy, think faster than ordinary people, and are adept at handling mountains of documents and case files.

Therefore, Yuantong Ming Gong is not good for combat; lacking an excellent handy spiritual weapon, Li Dayou's fighting ability still falls short of that of a high-ranking Chonglou Realm soldier in the ordinary military.

Sima Quan screamed in the crowd.

This guy has extremely poor virtue and his ability is also severely lacking. He shrieked and cried out, his face deathly pale, obviously frightened out of his wits, completely losing the ability to respond, just like an ordinary civilian at a loss.

The white-haired old man beside Huaxin Xin, furious, let out a long howl and shouted at Sima Quan: 'This scoundrel… under his jurisdiction, the young master was attacked and his body destroyed; this matter must be related to him. Seize him alive and bring him to answer to the ancestors.'

The heavy cavalry neighed, and more than ten Huafamily guards charged on horseback toward Sima Quan.

Only a few clerks from the lord's manor were beside Sima Quan; seeing the Huafamily guards charging in with such ferocity, these fellows let out a strange cry, abandoned Sima Quan, and fled.

Sima Quan, terrified, shouted weirdly: 'You, you, you abandoned the chief official; I, I, I will definitely find my clansman uncle and sue you severely…'

A figure flashed in the crowd—a person no taller than about four feet, with a monkey-like build, darted out; two sabers from his sleeves whistled out and crossed, slashing Sima Quan's neck.

The head flew high, blood spraying onto nearby people.

A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, heavily striking Sima Quan's skull. Before he could escape with his soul, the lightning shattered his head and blasted his soul into wisps of green smoke.

"Go!" Wu Tie pulled Li Dayou hard toward the rear of the tavern, intending to leave through its back door.

In the cities of the Da Jin Divine Kingdom, the ban on flight is active year‑round; no one can soar through the air, and all sorts of escape techniques are completely suppressed. Wu Tie cannot take Li Dayou away by escape light, so he can only flee quickly.

The white‑haired old man standing beside Huaxin Xin trembled all over; his eyes scanned the crowd and, inexplicably, he saw Wu Tie and Li Dayou.

Wu Tie was in plain clothes, while Li Dayou wore a Divine Martial Army office clerk's uniform, with a silver seal at his waist representing his status. The old man's gaze was sharp as a thief's; he immediately pointed at Li Dayou: 'Seize that fellow!'

Huaxin Xin's body was destroyed; someone must take the blame.

The best scapegoat, Sima Quan, has already been beaten to the point of his soul scattering; then whoever among those present is an official should bear the blame.

Of course, the Divine Martial Army is directly under the Da Jin Divine Kingdom's Ministry of War, belonging to a completely different system from local officials. However, the white‑haired old man reckoned that, as one of the strongest clans of Pinghu Commandery, the Huafamily could still manage to deal with a minor Divine Martial Army officer in a tiny Huachong City.

Anyway, someone must take the blame; otherwise all responsibility would fall on him, and at his age he couldn't bear such a big black pot.

The Huafamily guards were fighting back and forth in the street.

Many civilians wailed and collapsed.

Those who attacked Huaxin Xin and killed Sima Quan whistled, then suddenly threw a large number of fist‑sized porcelain bottles toward the two secret buildings and pavilions.

"Boom, boom boom, boom boom boom," not knowing what these bottles contained; in any case they explode on impact, each blast a ball of fire several zhang across, and they also spew out thumb‑thick white smoke far and far.

Within that white smoke there are faint sparks of fire; wherever they touch, they ignite large flames, and the fire is extremely strong, burning fiercely even on water.

Wu Tie, while pulling Li Dayou away from the chaotic crowd, kept an eye on the surroundings.

Seeing these bottles, he quickly matched them with some ancient weapons from Old Tie's inherited knowledge—white phosphorus incendiary rounds? These people, their methods are indeed ruthless.

Every city in the Da Jin Divine Kingdom has numerous monitoring spell formations.

Killers that condense magical power like thunder pearls or thunder pills are nearly impossible to bring into the city; ordinary people aren't even qualified to wear storage treasures, and all goods must be placed outside for inspection.

If it were thunder pearls or thunder pills, they would be detected upon entering the city.

But this mixture contains no magical power at all—just fuel and white phosphorus—who would have thought these bottles could have such destructive power?

Toxic smoke rolled, flames rose, the buildings on both sides of the street caught fire; a few old houses burned quickly, and in just a few moments they collapsed with a boom, terrifying the surrounding civilians into hysterical shouts.

The Huafamily guards were charging about, hacking and slashing wildly, while the Huafamily's artisans and laborers also shouted and stirred up trouble.

No idea how it happened, or perhaps a leader in the Huafamily gave the order; these artisans and laborers, whose cultivation is mostly at Foundation Establishment, still tempering their bodies, with a few at Sensory Mystery and very few at Chonglou Realm, let out a shout and actually drew their personal weapons, rushing into Huachong City like a tide.

The heavy camels in the team were startled by the fire; pulling huge heavy wagons, they began to run wildly left and right, crashing about.

The walls of house after house were knocked down, everywhere the sound of collapsing pavilions boomed; near the east gate of Huachong City, seeing the fire spread, black smoke rose everywhere, and the clamor of people surged like a tide in all directions.

Two Life Pool Realm and more than ten Chonglou Realm Huafamily guards dismounted, brandished their weapons, parted the crowd, and chased after Wu Tie and Li Dayou.

These fellows acted without restraint; Wu Tie pulled Li Dayou back in retreat, still worried about bumping into ordinary civilians.

These fellows, using brute force, plowed through the crowd, blowing dozens of civilians dozens of zhang away, and some were even ruthlessly stepped on.

A Life Pool Realm cultivator approached Wu Tie; a strange light flickered in his pupils, he opened his mouth and let out a loud shout, waving his right hand to unleash a divine ability to seize Wu Tie. But fine ripples spread in the void, and his divine ability could not be manifested.

The Da Jin Divine Kingdom exercises extremely strict control over cities big and small; within the city there are not only no‑flight formations, but also bans on magic.

Unless your cultivation can oppose the power of an entire city's formations, you cannot unleash any divine abilities or cast any spells.

Precisely because the city's defenses are so strict, Huaxin Xin brought a few maids to mingle in the crowd, yet ended up defenseless and easily killed!

Wu Tie's eye twitched.

That three‑pronged spike is bad enough, but the bolt of lightning that killed Sima Quan—did these attackers have someone who cracked Huachong City's great ban formation? Or perhaps… there exists among them a terrifyingly powerful cultivator?

In the Da Jin Divine Kingdom, a city like Huachong is merely a lowly rural backwater; the power of its ban formations is limited.

Even so, being able to cast spells inside the city means this person is at least at the Embryonic Storage Realm, and certainly not weak within that realm.

"This… damn it!" the Huafamily guard who attacked Wu Tie and Wu Tie himself cursed at the same time.

The Flower Clan guards drew their waist swords and slashed at Wu Tie, who was holding Li Dayou's arm.

Wu Tie let out a cold snort and said in a low voice: "Order of the Great Jin Divine State Military Department: anyone who assaults and kills an official of the Great Jin Divine State military shall die…… and have their three clans exterminated."

Without releasing his grip on Li Dayou's hand, Wu Tie's body twisted eerily, he turned sideways, his waist-long sword silently unsheathed, a flash of blade sliced his clothes, and then the sword returned to its sheath.

Not mentioning Wu Tie's cultivation and martial skills, just Huo Xiong alone is a true elite of the Great Jin who crawled out of a pile of corpses, an eighth-rank colonel of the Great Jin Divine State; especially someone like Huo Xiong, who has no backing or support, his strength has been forged in blood and fire.

Given the same cultivation level and without being able to use divine abilities and secret techniques, the Flower Clan's Life Pool Realm is as tender in Wu Tie's hands as a chick.

Blood spurted out, a large amount of blood sprayed, and the Flower Clan guards clutched their necks and stumbled backward in disarray.

Wu Tie showed mercy; he could have cut this man's throat, but he only slit his trachea, not damaging his major blood vessels. With the vitality of a Life Pool Realm cultivator, such a wound would heal in an instant.

"I, Huo Xiong, eighth-rank colonel of the Divine Martial Army... you lot assaulted and killed an official of the Divine Martial Army—are you trying to rebel?"

Wu Tie glared fiercely at a group of Flower Clan guards who could neither advance nor retreat.

If the Flower Clan dared to bully the Divine Martial Army office in a small town, to bully someone like Li Dayou, a low-ranking clerk, that would be certain.

These detached offices of the Divine Martial Army are responsible for conscription and training reserve forces, handling grain supplies, military expenses, and other miscellaneous tasks, and they have various connections and grudges with local powers.

At the same time, whether it's conscription or training reserve elites, especially preparing grain supplies, none of it can be done without the support of local aristocratic clans.

Therefore, even if the low-ranking civil officials of these detached offices are bullied, as long as it's not excessive, the local aristocrats may bully them, and the Divine Martial Army sometimes turns a blind eye, too lazy to bother.

But it's different for official officers of the Divine Martial Army.

The military law of the Great Jin Divine State is strict; not to mention a proper eighth-rank colonel of the Divine Martial Army, even if an ordinary Divine Martial Army soldier were killed by local aristocrats, the Divine Martial Hall, and even the Great Jin Divine State Military Department, would investigate to the end.

Assaulting and killing an official soldier or officer of the Great Jin Divine State is considered treason and rebellion, with no room for leniency.

"We, we..." the wounded guard couldn't speak, while another Life Pool Realm guard bowed his fists to Wu Tie, then gave a bitter smile: "Our young master was ambushed here, we..."

"It has nothing to do with my Divine Martial Army." Wu Tie said coldly: "For internal security matters, please go to the City Lord's Mansion."

Before Wu Tie could finish speaking, the white-haired old man who was jumping and shouting outside suddenly let out a piercing shriek.

At some point, a burly figure clad in a black cloak, his whole body shrouded in black smoke, burst from the crowd and, like a ghost, rushed to the white-haired old man's side, punching and exploding his head.

The white-haired old man's yellow jade headdress, the yellow jade dragon-patterned ring around his neck, and the yellow jade qilin pendant at his waist all burst with strong light simultaneously. These are three pieces of triggered defensive secret treasures with strong protective power.

But this burly figure's strike was too powerful; his punch, like a battering ram, shattered the three layers of protective light, and the white-haired old man's head was blown to pieces.

Moreover, lightning flickered on the burly figure's fist, and his punch also scattered the white-haired old man's soul into nothingness.

"Steward Nine!" several Flower Clan guards shouted in unison, hastily turning and running toward the floating soul of Hua Xinxin.

After the white-haired old man was killed, Hua Xinxin's soul had been standing beside him, receiving his protection.

At this moment, Hua Xinxin's side was unexpectedly empty, not even a guard remained.

That burly figure stood right beside Hua Xinxin, capable of killing him with a single punch at any moment.

All the Flower Clan guards were terrified out of their wits; the destruction of Hua Xinxin's physical body was already like the sky falling, and if his soul were also completely annihilated, wouldn't the Flower Clan ancestors who cherished him like their own flesh go mad?

At least the Flower Clan guards accompanying him this time— the low-ranking guards would at most get a beating, but these guard captains would surely die.

Dozens of Life Pool Realm Flower Clan guard captains sprinted wildly toward Hua Xinxin.

That burly figure pretended to raise his fist, making a motion to strike Hua Xinxin.

Hua Xinxin screamed shrilly in terror, but the sound from his soul was completely different from that of a physical body— his voice was extremely faint, extremely tender and delicate, like an infant's wail, completely drowned out by the surrounding chaos.

Wu Tie and Li Dayou widened their eyes.

Just as that burly man was about to punch Hua Xinxin, an arrow flew in from the side.

A long arrow forged of pure gold trailed a golden light several zhang long, and with a "pfft" it pierced the burly man's shoulder.

The burly man grunted, lifted his head to glance at the direction the arrow came from, then several more arrows whizzed by; his figure flickered, became blurred, and then a few flashes shot out from the open East Gate.

The attackers also slipped out of the crowd one by one; the faces Wu Tie had noted as highly suspicious were all covered up as they fled from the East City Gate.

A youth clad in white dragon-scale soft armor, wearing a purple-gold crown with seven or eight long pheasant feathers jauntily stuck in it, his iridescent feathers trembling as he moved, handsome and tall like a jade tree in the wind, stepped onto the burning pavilion roof, drew a longbow nearly as tall as himself, and landed lightly before Hua Xinxin.

"I am Ren Dexing of the Ren Clan of Flower Insect City; I have met Young Master Hua..." The handsome youth looked at the ruined corpse of Hua Xinxin lying on the ground and exclaimed in alarm: "Oh dear, Young Master Hua, your flesh... uh, I have in my hand a 'Six-turn Heavy Conception Pill' bestowed by my honored teacher, which is the best for restoring the flesh... Young Master Hua, this body still retains a breath of life... uh."

Ren Dexing shook his head at Hua Xinxin: "Never mind, I've spoken too deeply for our shallow acquaintance."

Hua Xinxin grabbed Ren Dexing's shoulder with both hands, as if seeing his own father, and shouted passionately two words: "Save me!"

"From now on, Brother Ren, you will be... my true brother!"