Chapter 379: The End

The twenty-fourth year of Jiajing, October 11th.

The sun hung low in the west.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, becoming scarlet through scattering, passing through the ruins on both sides of the Heavenly Street to fall onto the ground, blending with the scarlet liquid on the earth.

Suddenly, something moved within the ruins.

There was a faint sound of talking.

"Battalion Commander Li, there's likely a wall pressed on top; I can't push it open."

"Let me."

A rustling sound came from within the ruins, like the sound of countless insects gnawing on hard objects. A moment later, several collapsed roof beams crashed down.

Cao Hanyan exerted force to push open the cover of the secret passage, first exposing his eyes to scan the surroundings, and only after confirming there was no danger did he jump out of the secret passage and reach out to pull Xiao Si up.

The two walked toward the palace city to the east.

After walking for a moment, Cao Hanyan's feet paused, and he stopped in place.

Xiao Si turned her head to look at him, only to see his eyes wide as saucers, his mouth hanging open, and his finger trembling as he pointed toward the eastern sky.

"Battalion Commander Li, this, this, this, this, this..."

Xiao Si looked toward the east.

It was already the hour of You (5-7 PM), the sun was setting in the west, and the east should have already begun to grow dim, but now it was a solid red, faintly reflecting the setting sun in the west, as if there were another sun setting over there.

But Xiao Si and Cao Hanyan both knew that was fire.

And directly to the east was the palace city.

Cao Hanyan had only met Li Miao in August; before that, he had only practiced martial arts and studied in his hometown. Even though he had seen many big scenes with Li Miao, they were limited to the "Jianghu." How had he ever seen the entire imperial palace burning, even if this was the palace before the capital was moved.

Xiao Si, however, nodded indifferently.

"Oh, now we're in trouble... After the ancestral grave, the Commander's old home has also been destroyed by the Battalion Commander."

"The Commander is going to be furious."

Having said that, he stepped forward and walked away.

Cao Hanyan was stunned for a long while before following.

The two walked for a while when they suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves behind them, followed by an angry shout.

"Halt! Kneel!"

The two turned back to look and saw a troop of cavalry charging toward them, their long sabers already unsheathed, their gazes full of hostility.

Cao Hanyan only thought they were subordinates of the four garrison eunuchs and was about to draw his saber, but was stopped by Xiao Si raising her hand. She took out her Embroidered Uniform Guard waist token from her waist, held it up, and shouted:

"I am Battalion Commander Li Xiaosi of the Northern Imperial Guard; whose subordinates are you?"

The leading cavalryman's expression changed; he sheathed his saber, dismounted, ran to Xiao Si, and bowed: "Battalion Commander Zhou Xiang of the Huai'an Guard, greetings, Battalion Commander. We received news from Company Commander You Zi'ang and came to suppress the rebellion."

Xiao Si nodded: "Where is Company Commander You now?"

Zhou Xiang said: "He went to Yangzhou to mobilize troops; if he takes the water route, he should arrive tomorrow."

Xiao Si nodded: "Good, Battalion Commander Zhou, do you know how big today's matter is?"

Zhou Xiang glanced at the raging fire in the palace city to the east and nodded slowly.

"I know."

*Pat. *

Xiao Si raised her hand and patted him on the shoulder, startling him into a shiver.

"Battalion Commander Zhou, I am a woman and know no martial arts; I rarely leave the capital and am not very clear about the situation of the various guards... How far is your Huai'an Guard from Nanjing?"

"Sixty... sixty li."

"That's very close," Xiao Si tilted her head and smiled.

"Then, on ordinary days, when the four garrison eunuchs said something or did something, wouldn't the Huai'an Guard hear a little bit? Why... didn't you report it?"

Zhou Xiang broke out in a cold sweat and was about to cry injustice when he was interrupted by Xiao Si.

"Battalion Commander Zhou, Nanjing is the secondary capital. If something like this happens, many, many people will die—so many that the Court of Judicial Review, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Ministry of Justice won't have time to verify them one by one."

"Whether one is guilty or innocent depends only on whether someone wants to frame them or clear them."

Zhou Xiang was stunned for a moment, then, as if struck by divine inspiration, he knelt down with a *thud*.

"The Huai'an Guard is willing to be a running dog for the Battalion Commander!"

"Not me," Xiao Si said with a smile: "It's my Battalion Commander."

Zhou Xiang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! You are right!"

Xiao Si laughed: "Saving people, putting out fires, suppressing chaos, keeping quiet—can the Huai'an Guard do it?"

"We can, we can!"

"With the Yangzhou Guard arriving soon, can you finish it by tomorrow?"

"Yes!"

"Then it's up to you. After you're done, come to the palace city to see the Battalion Commander and collect your reward."

"Yes!"

Cao Hanyan watched helplessly as an insect crawled along Xiao Si's hand into Zhou Xiang's collar; he turned his head and said nothing.

Zhou Xiang led his troops away.

The two continued toward the palace city.

After walking for a while, they arrived outside the palace city gate. Cao Hanyan frowned, seeing several figures outside the gate from afar, one of whom was waving their arms at him.

"Brother Cao—Brother Cao—"

Cao Hanyan walked forward quickly and saw who those people were.

Gu Feixuan, Wang Hai, and Gao Anyu, who was jumping up and down excitedly to greet him.

When he got close, Cao Hanyan looked around and asked:

"Why are you all here? Where is Senior Zheng? Where is the Battalion Commander?"

Wang Hai was just about to speak when he was interrupted by Gao Anyu.

"They're all in the palace! Aunt Zheng told us to wait here! She went to the side to tear down houses!"

"Tear down houses?" Cao Hanyan was puzzled.

Wang Hai took over the conversation.

"The fire is too big, and it's too late to put it out; Senior Zheng went to tear down the houses near the outside of the palace city to prevent the fire from spreading to the homes of the common people."

"She has already seen the Battalion Commander, and the matter is settled, but there might still be Heaven-Man experts hiding inside; the Battalion Commander is killing them, so he told us to go see him later."

Cao Hanyan finally understood and let out a long sigh.

The group waited for about half an hour before seeing Zheng Yi descend from the palace wall: "Let's go."

"It's all over."

She didn't look like she had any injuries, but her expression was extremely haggard, as if something major was weighing on her heart; she didn't even notice Gao Anyu jumping around beside her.

The group walked along the road inside the palace city.

Of the three great halls in the center of the palace city, the Huagai Hall was in the middle and had already been set on fire by the Right Cavalry Guard, and along with it, the Fengtian Hall and Jinshen Hall were also raging in a sea of fire.

Cao Hanyan smelled a scent of charred meat coming from the direction of the Huagai Hall; he exchanged a glance with Gu Feixuan, who was also pale, and said nothing.

After walking for a while, the group arrived at the square in front of the Fengtian Hall and stopped one after another.

Hundreds... no, perhaps a thousand corpses, along with armor and horse carcasses, covered the entire square. Fresh blood flowed along the brick seams to their feet, accumulating into a vast ocean.

The firelight danced on the blood.

Gu Feixuan's face turned pale, his throat bobbed uncontrollably, and he quietly tugged at Cao Hanyan's sleeve.

"Brother Cao, this... is this the Battalion Commander..."

Cao Hanyan nodded.

Gu Feixuan covered his mouth with his hand, nearly shouting out the title "Death-Dealing Battalion Commander."

The group crossed the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, passed through the Wenlou to the east, crossed the Wenhua Hall, and arrived at the Chunhe Palace on the easternmost side of the palace city, which was the only palace not affected by the fire.

Entering the palace, they finally saw Li Miao.

And the several figures kneeling before Li Miao.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 380 =====