Chapter 122: The People

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

Yun Ze, choked by a pungent cloud of smoke covering his face, couldn’t stop coughing.

He waved his hands, trying to disperse the smoke before him.

But it seemed to have no effect.

So he was forced to grope around with his vision severely limited.

After finally touching the cold wall, he followed it forward along its surface.

Not long after, he felt a large door.

Creak—

Li Guoer bristled: how could a princess of the realm, a royal daughter, call a villain her master? Was she to be treated as a servant?

The battle had entered a bizarre state: the giant crocodile had clamped its jaws onto Shen Shi’s chopping sword but refused to bite the blade itself.

In truth, her father’s illness could only be cured by the Flame Lotus. But asking Ye Tian to risk his life to seize it filled her with guilt.

At first, everyone thought the skinny Asian boy was suffering a drug overdose; later, they realized his body was naturally expelling a deadly toxin.

Though the Black Wood Divine Temple had ruled the Black Wood Battlefield for endless ages, no one there could possibly understand it better than the Six Paths Demon Lord.

Yet not all organizations and branches within the Fragrant Incense Sect operated like the White Tiger Hall. For instance, Ye Zhong’s Azure Dragon Hall pursued commerce—how exactly, Ye Zhong had yet to learn. But since he intended to unify the Sect’s strength, he already planned to investigate how the Azure Dragon Hall conducted business.

“...” Lin Ai remembered again: when caught in the explosion, she should have had no thoughts at all in that instant, just stared dumbly at the giant mechanical lifeform.

A divine official watched in terror as shadowy tendrils clung to his right hand—thick, sticky like glue—swiftly engulfing his entire arm, eroding it down to bone in an instant, then the bones fell to the ground and shattered.

Suddenly changing the location of the Hongmen Assembly also served to build momentum for the alliances forming at the gathering.

Didn’t you see? When Princess Yuzhen spoke, the Emperor even dropped all charges against Ye Zhong, who had shown disloyalty—clearly, Princess Yuzhen was deeply favored.

The sudden shift in the squad leader’s attitude revealed that the “Wolf Smoke” Special Recon Company held considerable status within the government army.

Having been assimilated by the Han, the Jian slaves now observed the New Year, though the festivities were not grand: out of a hundred households, many saw their patriarch return unexpectedly on the first day of the first month, weeping with joy.

Thinking of this, she grew even more reluctant to let Li Qiang leave. The thought of his enormous thing made her heart flutter; she swallowed nervously.

Huang Han sold roasted sweet potatoes in the capital, making such a spectacle that everyone knew of him; he also openly took a concubine at Yichun Courtyard—the capital’s most coveted courtesan, Chu Chu, now had a master.

Know that, aside from the universally useful goat hide, all leather capable of bearing spells was priceless. Such rare hides were typically reserved for inscribing specific spells or crafting specially designed arrays.

Conversely, the two days’ moments within the net vanished instantly, without pause, as if their very breath had ceased.

Lu Beilin smiled faintly, his smile resembling mockery—the aura of unyielding authority he once carried had vanished completely.

Buddhist statues began appearing on the stone wall, growing more numerous the farther he went. It was strange: first Daoist teachings, now Buddhist carvings—had he guessed wrong? Re Xuan touched the statues with his hand; some were blurred beyond recognition, worn smooth by countless touches.

The locust tree’s leaves began rustling down; after the branches trembled, a flapping of wings echoed, and occasionally a few feathers drifted down.