Chapter 601: By the Roadside

"Hmm?"

Hearing that man say everyone in Xianglong Manor was dead, Xinglu's heart sank. He thought: How could Xianglong Manor also have internal strife? That shouldn't be. Is their steward's luck even worse than mine?

Compared to the steward of Xianglong Manor, he himself was more like the unlucky wretch who gets hacked to death the moment things start.

Regardless, he barked: "Even if there are dead people inside, there must be living ones. It's just that the living left first; it doesn't mean this place is ownerless. How do you know the things you took belonged to the dead? Couldn't they have been left by the living? Sophistry! In any case, you will die today; it's perfect to kill you to offer a sacrifice to the banner."

The thief hurriedly said: "They are all dead, not a single living person left! The Sword Guests and sword slaves of Xianglong Manor are all dead."

Xinglu felt a chill in his heart and blurted out: "Nonsense. How could they all be dead?"

How could they fight to the death until not one remained?

The thief knew he couldn't keep them in suspense and hurriedly spilled the beans: "I heard that a rebellion broke out in their Xianglong Manor on the mountain. The Master of Xianglong rushed up the mountain to quell the rebellion. He felt the sword slaves were unreliable and feared they would cause trouble at the foot of the mountain again, so he killed all the sword slaves and Sword Guests before he left. They are still lying in the courtyard; no one has even collected the bodies. I saw it when I went in, that ground full of blood... I just thought, since the people are gone, the things are a waste, so I might as well take them..."

As he was saying this, a Sword Guest from Fuhu Manor pushed open the main gate. A stench of blood mixed with the smell of corpses rushed toward them.

Having lived on Wangliang Mountain for so long, Xinglu could never say he couldn't stand the sight of blood, but smelling such a thick, bloody stench and thinking about what that man said, he couldn't help but feel waves of nausea.

The thief pointed here and there: "They are all in the courtyard behind, twenty or thirty of them, big and small. The big ones are Sword Guests, the small ones are sword slaves. They were gathered together and killed..."

Xinglu waved his hand and said powerlessly: "Close... the door."

In his heart, he felt that since they were acquaintances, he should collect the bodies for them, but his reason told him now was not the time. Now was the time to do great things; he had to rush to the Golden Banner to assemble. If he missed it, his fate might be the same as the people of Xianglong Manor.

He gritted his teeth and said: "Let's go. This thief... lock him in the courtyard and tell him to collect their bodies. If he doesn't, I'll turn him into a corpse too when I return."

He said it that way, but the thief was also a Sword Guest; a lock couldn't hold him, and he would definitely run away once they left. Originally, there were Yuan Shackles in the manors of Wangliang Mountain to suppress Sword Guests; once worn, all Sword Essence would be lost, making them no different from ordinary people. It was something manor masters used to punish Sword Guests. But firstly, he didn't have any on hand, and secondly, he didn't want to put them on Sword Guests anymore. So, it was just left in a muddle.

If the people are all dead, what do things even matter?

Leaving the Xianglong residence, Xinglu's stomach churned, but his spine and waist straightened. He went from cowering to being righteous and bold, his eyes looking straight ahead, and one thought gradually became clear in his mind:

Participating in this resistance is the right thing to do!

The group left the street and headed toward the city gates; the further they went, the more people were on the same path.

Seeing they were almost at the city gate, they saw many people surrounding a residence by the roadside. At a glance, they were all White-haired Swordsmen, and the voices were clamorous.

Xinglu first thought this was where the masterminds were located, calling people to a meeting for mobilization, but then he realized it wasn't: the momentum of those people was growing, and there was a sense of surging public anger, as if they were confronting the people inside the residence.

He felt this matter was unusual and feared it would hinder their progress, so he signaled Xingwang to go ask.

Xingwang went for a while and came back, saying: "It's a manor that refuses to participate in the uprising. Other manors have sent people out to some extent, but they have closed their doors and won't come out, not even one. Many people were dissatisfied, so they surrounded them."

Xinglu's heart skipped a beat and he said: "It's not that the people inside are all dead too, is it?"

Xingwang shook his head and said: "No. There are people inside; there are two gatekeepers at the entrance right now, and they were even cursing back and forth with the people outside. Originally, only a portion of the people were annoyed with them, and some were even advising not to cause extra trouble. But their people came out to block the door and opened their mouths to say: 'You lowly seeds who dream of committing treason,' which angered everyone. That's why more and more people surrounded them, and now they are about to fight."

Xinglu had now taken a firm stand, and hearing this, his anger surged. He cursed: "What are they? Even running dogs are this arrogant? Do they not have white hair? Are they born noble seeds?"

The people from Fuhu Manor also cursed incessantly. Xinglu was still rational and quickly said: "Don't pay attention to them. Let's go to the Golden Banner to assemble first. When everyone arrives, we will do great things together. By then, those manor masters will all be leveled, and these clowns are nothing!"

The crowd agreed, and the Fuhu Manor team continued their journey. Xinglu suddenly remembered something and asked: "By the way, which manor is this?"

Xingwang said: "Anxing Manor."

Over here, the crowd at the entrance of Anxing Manor was surging, and the friction had already sparked a thick scent of gunpowder.

Many of the dozens of Sword Guests in the outer circle had already drawn their swords, cursing at the gate. And standing at the entrance were two White-haired Swordsmen, like door gods, one on the left and one on the right, their gazes disdainful, standing motionless.

One could only hear various insults filling the air:

"Running dogs!"

"Dog legs!"

"Dogs relying on their master's power!"

"Dog..."

Amidst the dog-themed insults, someone also advised: "That's enough, brother. I know your master is at home and gave the order, and you dare not disobey, so you can only risk your life to block the door. However, you see, there are so many of us, and there are only two of you. Isn't this like a mantis trying to stop a chariot? It's not worth throwing your life away in vain. Today, the timing is on our side; slave owners are destined to have no good end. Why don't you step aside and pretend to be injured? We will go in and hack your master to pieces. You will gain your freedom; wouldn't that be great?"

Hearing this, one of the Sword Guests suddenly burst into loud laughter, pointing at the person who had said that long speech: "Where did this stupid thing come from, daring to talk to your master like that? You bunch of vermin, like cockroaches crawling around in the house when the master isn't home, you really think the house is yours? You don't know that humans are humans, and bugs will always be bugs!"

"Go outside and dream your spring and autumn dreams for two more days; provoke your master and I'll leave you a corpse on the spot!"

The other Sword Guest from Anxing Manor beside him said unhurriedly: "Self-righteous fools are all like this. I'll tell you the truth: my master is not inside. But every inch of our Anxing Manor is noble and clean; we can't just let any stray cat or dog in."

When this sentence was spoken, the crowd was in an uproar, their emotions stirred, and it was clear that a fight was inevitable.

At this moment, a gust of wind blew.

A golden light appeared before everyone's eyes, and someone descended from the sky.

A woman descended from the sky, her appearance quiet and beautiful, her expression gentle and composed. Such a demeanor was something never seen on the many Sword Guests of Wangliang Mountain.

She wore a pale green long dress, like the color of celadon jade, and wore no gold ornaments; that touch of gold came from the umbrella in her hand.

That umbrella seemed to be made of jade, a translucent and moist white jade, inlaid with a layer of gold on the outside, shimmering with golden light as it drifted down.

That was the most noble gold-inlaid jade.

The crowd stirred again because of her. Part of it was because she seemed to be a figure under the Golden Banner, a leader of this great event, and the other part was because:

"Sword Hero!"

That woman was a Sword Hero!

These Sword Guests of Wangliang Mountain had never seen a Sword Hero in their lives, nor had they even seen an Abyss Envoy of the Sword Hero level, but when a Sword Hero did not deliberately use Restraint on their Momentum, it was not very difficult to feel that the other party was much stronger than oneself.

The Sword Guests of Wangliang Mountain had always been very respectful toward the strong, and they suddenly quieted down. Pairs of eyes dared not look directly at her, but all carried hope and joy.

Since they had decided to flee and even rebel, who wouldn't hope that the person they were joining was as strong as possible, and as Friendly as possible?

Just from the first meeting, she had both conditions. A Sword Hero's strength was naturally not bad; descending from the sky, she was like a banished immortal, and that gentle and quiet temperament was also very comforting—one couldn't find a second person like her in all of Wangliang Mountain.

Even the two gatekeeping Sword Guests of Anxing Manor became solemn. They could be arrogant and look down on Sword Guests of the same strength, but they could never look down on a Sword Hero. Even if they considered their backing and trump cards strong enough not to fear anyone.

The hands gripping their swords loosened, and they assumed a polite posture, about to pay respects and then say some soft and hard words to persuade this person to leave.

Who knew that the woman didn't look at the two of them, but turned to look at the crowd and said: "Why are you all stopping here? Why not continue forward?"

This sounded a bit like a reprimand, but the tone was gentle, and it sounded very comfortable.

The Sword Guests were quiet for a moment. After a while, a female Sword Guest gathered her courage and stepped forward, saying: "My Lady, we were originally going to assemble under the banner, but... we had good intentions, wanting to call upon the Sword Guests of all the manors along the way, so that the sword slaves of not a single manor would suffer. As a result, this manor not only refused to go the same way as us but instead spoke rudely, calling us lowly seeds and vermin. We were indignant and wanted to teach them a lesson."

This couldn't be said to be wrong, but it lacked the Spring and Autumn style of writing, bridging gaps and stirring up trouble; it had the flavor of a student who lost a fight going home to call their parents.

Correspondingly, the two Sword Guests guarding the gate only revealed sneering expressions; they did not refute, merely watching as if it were a farce.

Upon hearing this, the woman asked, "They say you are an insect; do you think of yourself as an insect?"

The female Sword Guest was taken aback, and the crowd also fell silent.

This sentence also had a bit of the flavor of a parent lecturing a child.

However, the Sword Guests present had not been fortunate enough to be lectured by parents when they were young, nor did it stir up any memories.

The woman continued to Ask, "Do you know what the difference is between an insect and a human?"

The female Sword Guest became even more flustered and said, "This..."

The woman's voice was leisurely, as if coming from afar, and carried no sense of oppression: "Morning mushrooms do not know the end or beginning of a month, mole crickets do not know the Spring Pillar of State or the East Pillar of State; the difference between an insect and a human is how far one can see. An insect sees a larger insect before it and feels there is no path ahead, that this big bug blocks the sky, so it tries to use its horns to push them away, or turns around and runs. Seeing a grain of sand, it thinks it has encountered an insurmountable high mountain."

"But humans are different; humans not only stand high and see far, they have wisdom and foresight that transcends what is seen before them. Humans know that the great river surges, flowing east through the ages, not stopping for one person or one event. Humans also know that time passes quickly and will not return, so one should seize the day."

She pointed to the golden banner on the wall not far away and said, "A wise person should know what is momentary impulse and what is long-term peace. Because of a momentary fire in the heart, casting aside matters that concern the path of one's future life—this is not what a wise person should do."

The crowd understood her meaning, and in their hearts, they also knew what should be done most at this moment. But once their emotions rose, they could not help but get angrier the more they thought about it, finding it difficult to control their moods, and remained indignant.

The woman continued, "Of course, it does not matter if you consider yourself an insect. The strength of an insect is minuscule, and it can do nothing. But an insect can board a Great Ship to ride the vast eastward flow and enter the sea all the same. From the perspective of an insect, some sand and stones are too high to climb, but when the wheels of true history roll over these specks of dust, one sitting on the carriage does not even feel a thing."