Chapter 368

Jiajing 24th year, October 16th.

The sky collapsed and the earth crumbled, dark as night, ten thousand houses leveled.

Smoke and clouds steamed up from Wang Gongchang, like a huge lingzhi. Debris and iron slag the size of wheat bran fell from the sky, covering the area for several miles around, and thousands of houses nearby were like flipped pancakes, with soil and wood on top and tiles on the bottom, slowly smoldering with firelight.

Underground, Mei Qinghe slowly opened her eyes.

Her mouth was full of the taste of rust, her ears were ringing, and her chest could only rise and fall slightly, sending a small amount of oxygen to her heart and lungs.

An Ziyang's preparation was not inadequate, but he was a "native" after all. Before today, no one knew how much damage the black powder stored in Wang Gongchang could cause after a huge quantity was piled up.

The secret room had collapsed, and only a few stone beams supported a few narrow spaces in the soil, one of which was Mei Qinghe.

She didn't move, sitting cross-legged to adjust her breath.

The Gu insects in her body spat out the last trace of Li Miao's healing True Qi, slowly treating her injuries.

After a while, she opened her eyes.

Listening intently.

At the last moment before the explosion, she saw the Wudang old Daoist protect An Ziyang and rush toward a corner that hadn't collapsed. If she was still alive, An Ziyang, protected by the Wudang old Daoist, was also very likely to be alive; she needed to contact them.

After about a cup of tea time, Mei Qinghe finally heard a small knocking sound.

*Ding, ding-ding*—

One long, two short.

She responded with the same frequency.

The sound of digging came from the soil on the front left, and after a short half an hour, a palm parted the soil, and soon, the Wudang old Daoist's face poked out.

"Commander Mei is still alive."

A long sigh of relief came from behind him.

"That's good—"

The Wudang old Daoist and An Ziyang jumped out and helped Mei Qinghe up. Before Mei Qinghe could speak, An Ziyang shook his head knowingly.

"There are no other survivors. If I didn't have the internal strength foundation of the Wedding Dress Divine Art and the Daoist's protection, I wouldn't have been able to survive either. At the moment the explosion occurred, everyone else had already been shocked to death... there wasn't much pain."

Mei Qinghe was silent.

It was she who pulled the mechanism.

An Ziyang patted her shoulder without comforting her, just turned to the old Daoist and said.

"Daoist, start digging upward now, how long will it take to reach the ground?"

The Wudang old Daoist calculated.

"Full effort, one hour."

An Ziyang nodded.

"Then I'll trouble you, Daoist. I will heal Commander Mei, you just go all out, but before digging to the ground, stop for a while... An Qisheng might not necessarily be dead."

The Wudang old Daoist's expression changed.

"Can't this level of power kill him?"

An Ziyang shook his head.

"Although the Commander has the heart to fight for his life, he won't do something that ends in mutual destruction. If he can survive, An Qisheng might also survive... better be careful."

The old Daoist went to dig upward without mentioning it.

Half an hour later, the three finally approached the ground.

"Listen... there's sound."

An Ziyang said softly.

The Wudang old Daoist said in a deep voice.

"Struggle sound, An Qisheng survived, and Lord Li also survived... but this sound is estimated to be about the same level as mine, both should be at the end of their strength."

Mei Qinghe and An Ziyang looked at each other.

"Ha—"

Both let out a long breath. "Daoist, are you sure their struggle sound is about the same level as yours?" An Ziyang asked.

The old Daoist listened for a while and nodded.

"Sure, and the interval between moves is very long, they should both be at the end of their strength. If I go up to help Lord Li, it might be a decisive blow!"

"You two wait a moment, I'll go!"

Having said that, he struck the soil above his head with all his strength, pierced through it, and leaped onto the ground.

Mei Qinghe and An Ziyang waited underground.

After another incense stick of time, the top became quiet.

The two looked at each other and climbed out carefully.

Just one glance, and both widened their eyes.

Ten feet away, the old Daoist was standing there, holding a long sword he didn't know where he snatched, his upper body clothes were completely shattered, and several deep-to-the-bone wounds on his skinny body were slowly bleeding. Only his chest was rising and falling slightly, indicating he was still alive.

In just an incense stick of time, getting involved in the struggle between the heavily injured Li Miao and An Qisheng had injured the old Daoist to the point of near death.

And a little further away, a person was sitting on the ground.

If you call him a person, it's a bit reluctant.

The clothes on his body were only a piece of black cloth at his waist, his muscular body was covered in burns and cuts, and the few intact places were pitch black like charcoal. His left arm was missing, his right rib was missing, and the flesh on his right face was missing; only from the slightly curled corners of his mouth could one see the heroism of the past.

Like a broken god.

Seeing An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe, he even turned his head and smiled as if nothing had happened.

"Little An, Little Mei."

"Commander..."

An Ziyang muttered, wanting to step forward, but his legs went soft, and he was supported by Mei Qinghe, tears gushing out.

Li Miao said with a smile.

"What are you crying for, you're big people."

"Don't worry, I won't die."

"Learn from Little Mei."

Mei Qinghe opened her mouth hoarsely.

"Commander, I..."

Li Miao interrupted them.

"Alright, time is short, listen well—I'm going to sleep for a while. During this time, you and the old man hold the scene for me."

"An Qisheng didn't die."

"He escaped."

Mei Qinghe and An Ziyang's expressions changed greatly.

Then Li Miao continued.

"I thoroughly probed An Qisheng's foundation... the reason for his unusual state still lies in Yingzhou's inheritance, the 'nature' he split out."

"The 'nature seeds' he split out and planted on the Yingzhou Heaven-men haven't been recovered, so he couldn't fight with full strength. I think the reason he gradually became stronger tonight is because many Yingzhou Heaven-men died tonight."

"His protective True Qi became stronger, the explosion couldn't kill him, I fought with him, originally prepared to distinguish life and death, but the Wudang Daoist came up to get involved, he saw the situation was not good, and ran."

An Ziyang thought for a moment and said urgently.

"Do the Yingzhou Heaven-men know about these things? Does An Qisheng have to kill them all to restore his peak state?"

Li Miao said with a smile.

"Zheng Anqi knows, they should also know... hehe, Little An, your brain is really useful."

"That's right, the situation has reversed."

"Now An Qisheng is heavily injured and can no longer maintain his deterrence over the Yingzhou Heaven-men, they will start hunting An Qisheng, so he won't have time to find trouble for the time being... at least not until the Yingzhou Heaven-men are all dead."

"Dogs biting dogs, they don't have time to kill civilians for the time being."