Chapter 845: Escape and Rebellion (2)

The Sui Dynasty's civil and military officials greeted Feng Rong's mother more frequently and with greater intensity.

Wu Tie, meanwhile, brought Feng Xian and his entourage, continuing to swagger through the streets, openly marching westward all the way. Along the route, state lord after state lord lost their armor and weapons, prefect lord after prefect lord suffered losses of troops and generals, and countless aristocratic families that had received the imperial edict to surround and intercept Wu Tie's party were left disheveled.

Whether state lord, prefect lord, or noble family, anyone who suffered a loss at Wu Tie's hands and failed to stop them was ordered by Feng Rong to be exterminated, clan and all.

Colluding with rebel princes, plotting treason, carrying out imperial orders to ransack homes and exterminate clans… This bloody edict, continuously issued from Sui Du these days, has caused the families of Sui Dynasty's west with some means to tremble in fear, dreading Wu Tie's passage.

As countless people greeted Feng Rong, Wu Tie's group also earned the nickname 'Extermination Plague God'.

Ahead, Mount Qiyin loomed in the distance.

This is a mountain range extending north to south in the western Sui Dynasty, with long, winding slopes; underground naturally flows a soul-devouring black evil meridian, which the Sui Dynasty's formation masters activated, setting up a massive restriction on Mount Qiyin.

On Mount Qiyin, without a supreme treasure protecting the body, anyone daring to fly across it—even a top-tier Celestial God—will have their soul corroded by the soul-devouring black evil, becoming at best a fool, at worst having their soul scattered.

The long Mount Qiyin thus became a strategic defense line against the Western Demon State. Within Mount Qiyin, only eight valleys, each stretching three thousand li, allowed passage; the Sui Dynasty fortified these passages with numerous fortress cities, sealing Mount Qiyin tightly.

Beyond Mount Qiyin, after another half month's travel, lies the border region between the Western Demon State and the Sui Dynasty.

Wu Tie stood before the entrance of a valley called Dead Ox Pit; ahead of him stood neatly ranked, densely packed armored warriors, their complexions deathly pale and bodies stiff.

Twelve state lords, one hundred thirty-three prefect lords, several commandery and county lords, together with families of some means and strength in their territories, all experts at the Human God Realm or above, fully armed, gathered here.

Having traveled openly all the way, Wu Tie's group was finally blocked at Dead Ox Pit by the large force of elite troops the Sui Dynasty had mustered.

But the state of those blocking Wu Tie was not right.

Everyone had blank faces, drenched in cold sweat, their gazes dim as they looked at Wu Tie, with some of their bodies trembling slightly.

Behind them, deep in Dead Ox Pit, countless men, women, old and young knelt on the ground, each with a royal guard wielding a great sword standing upon them.

The great swords rested on the necks of those men, women, old and young; no forceful swing was needed—just a light drag could behead them, sending their heads to the dust.

"What grudge, what resentment do we have?" an old man with white hair and a long beard reaching his belly, extremely dignified and imposing, holding a dragon-headed gold knife, shouted hysterically at Wu Tie: "We… ask ourselves and find no immoral or rebellious conduct; we are also a family of great virtue…"

After a violent cough, the old man shouted sternly: "As a state lord, my descendants are not decadent. I have never engaged in tyranny or bullying men and women; I treat the people of the fiefdom well, and the common folk within the country are well-fed and content, living in peace."

"Why… why is it like this?" the old man, tears streaming, hoarsely yelled: "We cannot stop you, cannot capture you alive; our entire clan, young and old, will be slaughtered to the last, our lineage exterminated!"

"What crime, what mistake? Heaven, how unjust!" the old man roared.

"Heaven, how unjust!" the surrounding state lords, prefect lords, commandery lords, and county lords shouted in unison, their voices like a cuckoo bleeding blood, reaching the utmost grimness.

"Whether Heaven is fair or not, what does it have to do with me?" Wu Tie said coldly: "It is you of the Sui Dynasty who provoked me, not I who deliberately harmed your Sui Dynasty."

"Your troops invaded my homeland, slaughtering my people… You laid treacherous plots, abducting my beloved, separating us forever."

"I have come only to retrieve her." Wu Tie smiled faintly: "As for the rest, what does it have to do with me?"

"Can you hand over Feng Xian?" the old man holding the gold knife asked Wu Tie in a subdued tone: "We only wish to capture Feng Xian and his companions and take them back…"

"You are lying." Wu Tie, looking at the people before him with flickering eyes, quickly exposed their lie: "Did Feng Rong order you to do this? To capture me along with you? Well, these past days I have fought several rounds with the White Lotus Palace disciples; my appearance has already been transmitted back to Sui Du, hasn't it?"

Shaking his head, Wu Tie sneered: "Will Feng Rong let me go?"

The old man's body trembled slightly; he turned his head, looked at the countless men, women, old and young kneeling in the depths of Dead Ox Pit, their numbers endless, then turned back and roared at Wu Tie: "Do you have not even a shred of mercy?"

Wu Tie spread his hands, looking at the old man as if amused: "Then how should I show my mercy?"

The old man gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "With so many elderly, weak, women and children, their lives are in your single thought… For their lives, otherwise… please bind yourselves and surrender."

The old man fixed his stare on Wu Tie, speaking in a strange tone: "Rest assured, we will jointly petition the Majesty to absolutely preserve your life… Rest assured, you have no need to worry about your life."

Wu Tie laughed, Lao Tie laughed, the Yin-Yang Daoist, the Canghai Daoist, the Five Elements Daoist, and even Feng Xian and company laughed as well.

Feng Xian lightly shook his head and said calmly: "Dragon State Lord, are you trying to fool a child? Feng Rong has gone mad; how many innocents has he killed these days? Your lives are no longer your own—how dare you say such things?"

The old man's complexion gradually darkened as he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "You lot, how cruel you are!"

Wu Tie said softly: "How innocent are we? If you had not provoked us, I would be idly bored, running to your Sui Dynasty to stir up trouble?"

Wu Tie murmured: "Originally, I had no grand ambitions… I only wanted to eat my fill, stay warm, have my relatives healthy, the family reunited, find a beloved woman, and have a few children who could idle away their time playing to relieve boredom—that would be enough."

"Expanding territory and achieving merit have never been my intention."

"If you had not provoked us, would I be idly bored coming to cause you trouble?"

"Now you say I am cruel? Is it truly I who am cruel, or are you simply shameless? Or perhaps you are simply incompetent?"

Wu Tie coldly laughed at the crowd before him: "You cannot stop me… I suggest you rise in rebellion, kill Feng Rong, and then wouldn't the world be peaceful and tranquil?"

Inside Dead Ox Pit, the twelve elderly eunuchs standing in a row shouted in unison: "Outrageous! Bold!"