Chapter 209

Liu Liu Luogu stared at the slowly setting western sun, hidden in shadow within an unremarkable courtyard in Xiuzheng Fang, from where he could gaze upon the distant eight-cornered palace tower of Xingqing Palace—the symbol of Tang's splendor.

The so-called number-one tower under heaven—the Zhang Huai'e Xianghui Tower.

He tapped his index finger against the low couch before him; he must clarify his thoughts quickly. The events of last night had come too suddenly—Liu Liu Luogu had not yet grasped a single clue before being drowned by his enemy's stormlike pace. Nearly all the gods and demons in Chang'an had been slaughtered.

Whether the demons sheltered under Yang Yang Guozhong or those under the Crown Prince's command.

More than half of Liu Liu Luogu's covert networks were instantly crushed. The intruder's speed, precision, and brutality were terrifying. He had received reports from his subordinates: last night, without warning, the four Heavenly Kings statues inside Tianwang Temple shattered and lost their heads, and a new grave of General Xue had appeared in the back courtyard.

Anantā Temple stood empty, not a single living thing inside—even the painted deities on the walls had their heads severed. It was said the monks' skulls rolled across the floor of their quarters. The place had since been sealed off by the Wu Hou and Bu Liang, with orders to suppress all news.

Xingfu Temple last night witnessed golden boys and jade girls subduing demons; now they are raising funds to cast golden boy and white jade girl statues.

Fengguo Temple had been leveled to the ground. The nine Ghost Kings within were a crucial part of Liu Liu Luogu's setup—now all were wiped out, leaving him deeply troubled.

Jingzhu Temple and several others were stormed by a giant man wielding a sword, who severed the heads of the deities and Buddhas enshrined there…

Li Bi of prosperous realm Temple acted, killing Yang Yang Guozhong's men.

At last, he had uncovered a clue about one of them. Liu Liu Luogu drew a red circle around Li Bi's name, beside it sketched the appearance of the sword-wielding giant, and listed several suspected names—Yan Shu's alias, Pei Min, prominently included.

Most of all, last night's most brutal battle—the twin pagoda clash at Daci'en Temple—where sword qi stretched three thousand zhang, shaking all of Chang'an! In that battle, most of Chang'an's demons vanished; his entire setup in the city was nearly wiped clean.

Finally, there was the assassination outside Chang'an's walls this morning.

"Master Sima Master Sima Chengzhen!" Liu Liu Luogu drew another red circle around the name. Last night's events must be tied to this Daoist Heavenly Master—but what puzzled Liu Liu Luogu was that he had lurked in Chang'an for years, meticulously mapping the personalities of many, understanding Li Heng, Yang Yang Guozhong, even the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor's reactions, as if he knew them inside out.

That was why An Lushan had entrusted him with the grand strategy in Chang'an.

Yet last night's decisiveness, cruelty, and lack of mercy—this was not the Heavenly Master's style at all.

"Our current grand plan is in dire peril. The arrangements atop the key points of the Divine Capital Array have not been entirely destroyed, but at least eight or nine tenths have been undone. We must now activate the contingency plan. The greatest weakness of the Chang'an Array lies beneath it—the Yu Jiuyou Rift."

"The second weakness is the newly opened Anmen Gate—the one the Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor created for easier palace excursions!"

"The former could destroy Chang'an; the latter would merely grant the Lord's demon army a chance to breach the city!" Liu Liu Luogu's heart twisted like a knife. He had believed his plan was flawless before launch—only to be stabbed straight through its core.

The wound was too severe!

"I still have a chance…" Liu Liu Luogu calmly recalled every scrap of intelligence he had gathered over decades in Chang'an—down to the layout of every Fang and qu, the array diagrams of the Chang'an Array, the personalities of nobles and officials, and detailed dossiers on every cultivator in Chang'an who had surpassed Core Formation.

"Though I can no longer deploy the Lord's demon experts, and most of the gods and demons have been slaughtered, I still possess the espionage network I've built over decades in Chang'an!"

From the heads of rogue gangs in every Fang and qu, to the lowly criminal factions, to the major foreign merchants of the Eastern and Western Markets, even to the Wu Hou, officers of the Southern Ya 's Sixteen Guards, captains within the Northern Ya 's Six Armies, palace eunuchs, palace women tending flowers, dwarf stable hands.

Even several high-ranking figures whose secrets he held in his grasp.

Even without demon cultivators, these insignificant minor figures, under his command, could inflict unimaginable destruction upon Chang'an.

This was the Way of Espionage!

In Liu Liu Luogu's decades-long network, what was destroyed last night was merely one link among the gods, court, bureaucracy, underworld, marketplace, and military forces of Chang'an—used to counterbalance the Divine City's Guardian Zhong Kui and other deities.

But that link was deadly.

Without the gods above offering protection, Chang'an's entire setup could be instantly crushed by enemies through total informational and logistical suppression. Moreover, many demons still bore the burden of dismantling the Divine Capital Array and breaking the Yu Jiuyou Seal.

If Chang'an cannot be seized immediately to secure the Lord's dominance, the Tang's latent forces may retaliate—and we may not withstand them.

…………

Beneath the slanting twilight, a secluded courtyard near a bustling Fang qu, usually frequented by ruffians and rogue swordsmen, stood empty today. From within the dark house came a muffled sob, quickly stifled, vanishing into darkness.

Inside, a bloodied man, beaten and bruised, was dragged before a shadowed Bu Liang Commander by two Bu Liang officers.

Beside the Commander stood two Daoists and another familiar rogue gang leader.

An old man sat in the darkness nearby, two Daoists behind him, their dust whisks resting on his shoulders.

The Bu Liang Commander spoke slowly: "Wanqi Ping, do you recognize this man?"

The old man in the shadows murmured: "Zhang Sanlang of the Jinhu Gang. He even came to wish me well on my birthday last year!"

The beaten man's eyes lit up at the sight of the old man—Master Ping was the leader of over half the rogue gangs in Wannian County; even palace dignitaries gave him some respect.

As his direct subordinate, he had always obeyed orders without question. Surely this Bu Liang Commander would spare him some face. Though beaten badly, his life must still be spared!

"Good. Everyone is here!" Suddenly, drumbeats rolled in from dozens of li away, echoing through Chang'an. At the sound, the old man Wanqi Ping suddenly spat blood, leapt up, and drove his inch-long sharp fingernails toward the two Daoists behind him.

But the dust whisks on his shoulders twisted, snapping his neck.

Wanqi Ping's corpse collapsed to the ground; the surrounding sobs trembled violently.

The Bu Liang Commander tilted his head slightly in the dark and whispered: "This is the last one. Send them away."

"Your Excellency…" the man sensed something wrong. Through a crack in the door, he caught a sliver of fading sunlight—and saw the dim, shadowy figures in the room were all rogue gang leaders from nearby Fang qu, like himself, each commanding only dozens of men, running errands for Chang'an's big players.

Yet behind each of them stood a Southern Ya elite soldier, a straight blade pressed against their throats.

At the command, blades flashed—dozens of crimson arcs sprayed into the air.

The man saw only this—and felt a cold touch on his throat, heard the hiss of his own blood spurting.

………………

In the Eastern Market, the Ge family quietly shut their gold and silver shops, locked their money chests. In their nearby residence, the entire family lay neatly in a deep pit, buried under yellow earth…

Within half an hour, the owners of dozens of shops vanished from both Eastern and Western Markets—including five major foreign merchants linked to An Lushan's merchant guild, and seven others like the Ge family—unconnected to An Lushan, yet backed by Yang Yang Guozhong or other nobles.

…………………

In Wu Hou outposts scattered through alleyways and markets, many Wu Hou and Bu Liang lay dead. Their comrades, holding lists, counted the corpses. Mounted couriers raced through streets and lanes, entering every Fang 's Wu Hou outpost, passing down the lists.

…………………

The Southern Ya soldiers and Northern Ya imperial guards assigned to protect today's Li Qianqiu Festival had quietly been replaced—entire battalions under some Zhonglangjiangs had been swapped out, then systematically slaughtered in courtyards of government offices and barracks.

Zhong Kui's face showed reluctance, but the Southern Ya soldiers who turned on their comrades moved with chilling efficiency.

As if they had done it a thousand times.

The Crown Prince's loyalists in the Southern Ya were both anxious and excited, watching their mysteriously vanished comrades and their strangely Moqi companions exchange glances…

"Has the Crown Prince finally moved?"

"I received no orders. Could another prince have struck first? Has Prince Shou finally had enough of that crown on his head…"

"Should we defect to Prince Shou?"

"Wait and watch. Maybe the Emperor moved first?"

………………

A man dressed in plain civilian clothes, pale-faced and beardless, with a soft, effeminate air, quietly entered the secluded courtyard where Liu Liu Luogu was hiding. He shut the gate and stepped inside. Seeing Liu Liu Luogu in the shadows, he whispered: "The information you asked me to find—I've confirmed it."

In the dark room, only at this moment did Liu Liu Luogu's eyes blaze with piercing light, forcing the man to look away.

"Speak!"

The eunuch Fu Qulin whispered: "Last night's events were not ordered by the Emperor. Last night, Gao Gao Lishi visited the Wei Chenghuang's Temple and met Zhong Kui. The Emperor sent messengers to summon Master Sima Master Sima Chengzhen, but he never arrived—his whereabouts unknown. This morning, they sent three more messengers—all failed to find him!"

"Where is Master Sima Master Sima Chengzhen?" Liu Liu Luogu whispered. "The Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor would not fail to send men to search!"

"Earlier, Princess Princess Yuzhen suddenly went to the Pear Garden!"

Fu Qulin whispered: "The Heavenly Master's Seal seems to have stirred. Daoists from the Xiao Xie Xuan Yuan Emperor Temple came to the palace, wanting to secretly report to the Emperor about the Heavenly Master—but they were evasive, dared not speak plainly—only a close Daoist of the Emperor himself may reveal the truth."

"The Xiao Xie Xuan Emperor is in Zi Yun Tower!" Liu Liu Luogu said urgently. "Tonight's Li Qianqiu Banquet is held at the Zhang Huai'e Xianghui Tower!"

"Only then will Liu Chengzu secretly inform the Emperor!" Fu Qulin nodded.

At this moment, outside the courtyard, a black-robed demon cultivator arrived at the gate, standing shoulder to shoulder with a Daoist in a robe, who scattered clouds of mist, slowly enveloping the entire courtyard…

The black-robed demon cultivator caressed the long knife in his hand…

The blood glow on the blade had nearly vanished, clear as a mountain spring. He said to the young Daoist beside him: "I was never cut out for demon cultivation. After purging the demonic nature from this Blood Transformation Ancient Shendao, it became far more natural to wield. I owe you thanks for your help."

The Daoist youth smiled: "I've merely glimpsed a fraction of the Ice Soul Ancient Shendao. That Daoist from Supreme Louguan Sect is truly formidable. Dao-Demon Unity—the Taiyin Severing-Emotion Demon Blade—made even me shiver."

"I once resented that cunning demon for cutting off my Dao path. Now, seeing him provoke such a terrifying enemy, I almost feel sorry for him!"

"Sigh!"

His face showed sorrow for Master Miaokong, but his eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

"Is the auspicious hour here?" the black-robed demon cultivator asked casually. "Another just entered. If the rest don't come soon, we may not handle so many."

"The monk arrives late!" A monk with clear features and bulging muscles walked slowly from behind, accompanied by a drunken, disheveled wine-drinker whose eyes, though half-closed, held boundless clarity.

A grim-faced nun also walked up slowly.

She gave a cold, cutting smile: "Whether others come or not makes no difference. The five of us are enough."

"The hour is nearly here!"

A martial cultivator carrying a long spear arrived, leaning on it. The Daoist youth lightly swept his sleeve—and the courtyard in Chang'an slipped into a realm of illusory inversion. Any cultivator below Core Formation could see only a mirage.

If they entered the courtyard, all seemed normal—but they could never find Liu Liu Luogu or his companions.