[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-cursed-blade-s-walk":3,"chapter-the-cursed-blade-s-walk-the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-797":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Cursed Blade's Walk",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2263102,4415,"Chapter 797: The Resentment of a Fallen Nation","the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-797",797,"\u003Cp>This is no ordinary secret realm!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan’s vigilance rose, and he instinctively gripped the hilt of Duan Chen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could examine it closely, the thick fog ahead suddenly churned, like a vast curtain slowly unfurling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, a wave of clamor crashed upon him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, on the murky river, sat a grand painted pleasure boat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boat was enormous, three stories tall, its design ancient and bizarre, utterly unlike any style of the current dynasty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its hull, deep brown bordering on black, was scarred by centuries of decay; its towering decks soared with upturned eaves and carved brackets, its beams painted and gilded, yet everywhere the lacquer peeled and the gold leaf dulled, radiating a decadent opulence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along both sides of the hull hung countless crimson lanterns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as before, they bathed the murky river in a blood-red glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Music of strings and flutes erupted from the boat, loud and boisterous, with faint singing drifting through:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Candlelight sways red, dragging across painted beams,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Golden-wrapped rotting wood exhales perfumed breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ice-taut strings draw the wails of wronged souls,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood-stained sleeves beckon to lost, vengeful ghosts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lyrics were an ancient Song-era Jinling folk tune, its melody melodious and flowing, yet tinged with a strange, sticky quality, mingling with the shrill cries of the serving boys, the boisterous shouts of drinkers playing drinking games, the artificially sweet laughter of women, and the clatter of dice rattling in bone cups...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once-favored grace turned to tattered rags.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All silk brocade on board is shrouds for the dead—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who remembers the broken-hearted dance of the rainbow robe?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lyrics were an ancient Southern Song-era Jinling tune; the singing was melodious and tender, yet thick with an eerie stickiness, mingled with the shrill cries of waiters, the raucous toasts of drinkers, the artificial giggles of courtesans, and the clatter of dice in bone cups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All sounds intertwined into a symphony of prosperity and decay, the final music of a dying age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this distance, he could see clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the open windows of the pleasure boat, Li Yan saw shadowy figures—all dressed in Song-era attire!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scholar-officials in wide sleeves, bureaucrats in gauze caps and robes, courtesans in sheer silks cradling pipas, waiters darting about with wine jugs… their faces flickered in the red lantern light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their movements seemed pulled by invisible threads, bearing a rigid, unnatural “vivacity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like… a meticulously staged puppet show.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This feeling was inexplicably nauseating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hongxiao Fang…” Li Yan murmured, his gaze as sharp as a hawk’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drew a deep breath—the air, sweet and rotten, flooded his lungs with a bone-deep chill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, the water beneath his feet pushed gently, and his form shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, slicing through the crimson surface toward the brightly lit, ghost-haunted ancient pleasure boat!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan squinted his eyes. “Fine, a deal is a deal—what’s the point of all this nonsense?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the space of a breath, he crossed twenty zhang of river and landed on the deck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But strangely, the instant his feet touched down, all figures and sounds vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only eerie silence remained, the mildewed red lanterns illuminating an empty cabin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan narrowed his eyes. “If you want to trade, why all this nonsense?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The copper coins on the guard bracers clinked, and instantly a fierce wind surged, swaying the lanterns as red light flickered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, he formed a hand seal and chanted: “Nuogao, with Three Stars on the left, Three Bonds on the right—sky overturned, earth inverted, all nine paths sealed—make you lose your mind, turn east into west, south into north...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flash of anger lit his eyes as he channeled his spiritual sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang-clang-clang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The copper coins on his Qian Nian bracers jingled, and instantly a gale howled, lanterns swayed, red light flickered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simultaneously, he formed a hand seal and chanted: “Nuo Gao, left bearing Three Stars, right bearing Three Prisons, heaven overturned, earth inverted, the Nine Paths all sealed—make you lose your mind, turn east to west, south to north…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the Bei Di Protection Charm, specifically used against demonic illusions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he chanted, the scene before him rippled like water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed—a phantom array!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan shifted his hand seals, intensifying the charm’s power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the moment the illusions began to tear, a sudden transformation erupted!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The violently flickering illusion did not shatter—it collapsed inward like thick tar struck by a stone, spinning violently, then icy fog surged forth, engulfing him completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His name was Luo Yuan, and he was... a down-and-out wanderer from the late Song dynasty?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan felt his head spin, as if thrown into a colossal vortex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he opened his eyes again, the surroundings had changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frowned, looked down—and saw he now wore a half-worn lake-blue silk robe. A long sword, ornamental more than practical, hung at his waist. A strange, drunken melancholy and confusion filled his heart, and a flood of information surged into his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His name was Luo Yuan… a fallen wanderer of late Song?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dissolute soul haunting the Qinhuai Riverbanks, drowning sorrows in wine, fleeing reality in drunken dreams?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of phantom array is this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan felt a headache coming on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He realized he’d underestimated those old demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His original plan had been to rescue the captive and immediately escape, send a signal, have the navy bombard this place, then summon the Yin Bureau troops to net every earth immortal and yin criminal—but since arriving, everything had spiraled beyond expectation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gou Die’s resonance had vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those bastards had no intention of showing themselves before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, Li Yan tried the Bei Di Protection Charm again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He poured his spiritual sense into the Qian Nian bracers—but the Gang Sha Qi seemed severed, utterly unresponsive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without Gang Sha Qi, his techniques were useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan frowned slightly, yet he wasn’t surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even earth immortals couldn’t fully sever Gang Sha Qi. He had a hunch—this was precisely the unique nature of the Hongxiao Fang secret realm, which was why they’d lured him here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he died trapped in this place, the Gou Die meant nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking this, he coldly surveyed his surroundings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was now inside the Hongxiao Fang’s cabin, brightly lit, bathed in a sickly crimson glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the massive pleasure boat, the space was far vaster than it appeared from outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carved beams, painted rafters, gleaming gold lacquer—none of the decay he’d seen before. It looked newly built.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air reeked of cloying powder, aged wine, and greasy delicacies, blending into a scent of decadence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike before, the cabin was once again filled with noise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A music troupe played fiercely in the corner, melodies soft and lingering; courtesans in gauzy robes, their necks and arms bare, glided between tables, whispering sweet nothings, eyes fluttering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their faces, in the flickering candlelight, were stunningly beautiful—almost unreal, radiating allure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A young courtesan, cradling a pipa, leaned against a carved pillar, her vermilion lips parting to sing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Candlelight sways red, dragging across painted beams,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Golden-wrapped rotting wood exhales perfumed breath…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Half-madeup face, bones buried in frost,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced around and saw a nearby table where several literati in brocade robes, their faces pale and smooth, were loudly debating—but their eyes were clouded, and their hands holding cups trembled slightly, whether from liquor or something else, he could not tell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice wept and pleaded, thick with the softness of Jiangnan’s waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as she sang these lines, she turned her head—her eyes vacant, numb, stripped of all allure, filled only with bottomless despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yan’s heart lurched; an indescribable sorrow and melancholy surged up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to look away, but her despairing gaze pinned him fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warm wine in his cup slid down his throat—once rich and fragrant, now tasted of bitter rust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced around and saw a nearby table where several literati in brocade robes, their faces pale and smooth, were loudly debating, their eyes clouded, hands trembling as they raised their cups—whether from liquor or something else, he could not tell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[84] “I heard the northern barbarians have breached Xiangfan!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[85] A thin literatus lowered his voice, face pale with panic. “Fancheng… Fancheng’s commander Lü Wenhuan fought to the end. On the day the city fell, his entire family burned themselves alive for the realm! Xiangyang… it’s probably…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[86] “Quiet!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[87] A slightly plump literatus cut him off, glancing around, his voice thick with drunkenness and despair. “Fancheng fell? Let it fall. Xiangyang… Minister Jia will handle it! The northern barbarians only want gold, silver, and women—just increase the tribute! Why… why must we destroy ourselves?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[88] He downed another gulp of wine, eyes glazed. “This Jiangnan… this Lin’an… isn’t it better with songs and revelry?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[89] “Better?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1456,"2026-06-19T18:28:35.913Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","43add9b5e3ca5942cf21dbdfe119135d92d3b0f8ebefb389a490d087ceb5c3ba","the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-798","the-cursed-blade-s-walk-chapter-796",801,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-cursed-blade-s-walk-cover.jpg"]