Chapter 321: Good Son-in-Law

The gaze of Changsun Wuchou rested on the nobleman before him, distinctly Central Asian in style—his large frame, broad waist bound by a belt one palm wide inlaid with jade, his garments adorned with vividly colored diamond-shaped patterns.

He came to this town, produced the land deed, and met with refusal.

"Just a piece of paper."

"What? That little girl from the Central Plains bought this place, but I have no intention of handing it over—what of it? You Central Plains folk are tens of thousands of miles away; are you really going to enforce your Central Plains laws here in the Western Regions?"

"You, in this state, think you can take over my territory?"

The fat lord had a Central Plains name: Xiao Dayin. He now stared at Changsun Wuchou, waved his hand, and two or three burly men with muscular builds stepped forward, each possessing Wu Gong.

It seemed he still bore psychological scars from being subdued by Xue Shuangtao last year.

Changsun Wuchou estimated his internal energy foundation was at the Fourth Heaven level; he wielded both Fei Ma Ji She and the long spear—among the Fire Qilin Army, he ranked notably high—but even if he killed this man now, he could not fully seize the town.

The town was small, yet it still held a thousand or more soldiers.

And who knew what other tricks they might have?

Changsun Wuchou was meticulous and feared alerting the enemy, so he concealed his Wu Gong, feigning rage until his face turned pale, snatched up the land deed, and turned to leave. Xiao Dayin laughed heartily:

"Go back and tell your lord—if he wants this town, let him come himself. But if he comes, he'll only get a closed door from me. If he truly wants the land—"

"Send me that Murong Xiao Niang from the Xue family, and I might consider it."

"Hahaha."

"Get out!"

Though Changsun Wuchou was only in his thirties, his temperament was calm and shrewd; his temper had long since shed its rashness, replaced by cunning and vigilance. Though he feigned fury, along the way he meticulously mapped out the town's troop deployments.

Leaving the town, he spurred his horse straight to Li Guanyi's side and recounted everything: "The Western Region's city-states fight independently. The Tuyuhun have fallen; the Tangut failed to maintain control—here, order has collapsed, worse than when I was last here."

"Back then, the Tuyuhun still held the Wang Yin."

"Though the Tuyuhun cavalry couldn't match the top three elite armored units—Ye Chi, Hu Man, or Tie Futu—they were still a first-tier force. The king's orders could still reach all corners. Now, the Western Regions have become a true chaos."

Changsun Wuchou said:

"This matter involves too much. I dare not decide alone—I came straight to inform Your Lordship."

Lei Laomeng grinned: "The Western Region's powers and nobles have no manners at all."

Batuer barely understood: "For the past two years, it's been like this. When the Tuyuhun king still lived, though he often issued strange orders, at least everyone still followed Tuyuhun laws."

"The laws weren't good either."

"But they were still far better than this."

Fan Qing fell silent, staring at the terrain map just drawn.

Li Guanyi was also thinking.

The town must be taken.

Only with a city's protection can they resist the large force of mounted raiders now within a hundred li behind them; otherwise, even if Li Guanyi's forces win, casualties will be catastrophic.

"But siege warfare is just as terrible…"

Siege warfare is the most brutal battlefield.

Of these people, only about two thousand are able-bodied fighters, mostly mounted raiders—individually, their Wu Yong ranks no higher than third-tier troops in the Central Plains. Leading them to storm this town is no simple task.

Li Guanyi mused: "Shi Lao?"

Shi Dalin replied: "I am here."

Li Guanyi smiled: "Give me the powder you just mixed. No—mix another batch: Ruangu San and Ma Fei San, and add some laxatives. No need for love potions."

Though confused, Shi Dalin handed Li Guanyi a large porcelain jar. Li Guanyi tossed it in his hand, then tucked it at his waist. Fan Qing said: "My Lord, are you planning to…"

Li Guanyi stood on high ground, gazing at the town across, raising an eyebrow:

"Direct assault won't work. Only cunning will."

"Too bad Mr. isn't here—if he were, he'd have a brilliant stratagem."

"I'll have to use my own method."

"That unit's scouts are still fifty li away. With the main force's pace, they'll halt beyond a certain range to rest and recover before the surprise attack. In this phase, Fan Qing."

Fan Qing replied: "I am here."

Li Guanyi said: "Take five hundred men and patrol the perimeter."

"A thousand men protect the main camp. Gongsun, Wan Xiu—you two form a basic defensive line using carts, oxen, and sheep as outer barriers. Lei Laomeng, as always, serve as scout."

Gongsun Huai Zhi, Pan Wanxiu, and Lei Laomeng accepted orders.

Fan Qing asked: "My Lord, what of you?"

Li Guanyi stared at the town: "Me?"

He tossed the porcelain jar in his hand and smiled: "I'll go take the town myself."

"He asked me to come—why not oblige him?"

Changsun Wuchou knew Xiao Dayin had angered Li Guanyi; Li Guanyi had ordered the entire tribe into defensive posture, while he himself went alone to the town. The rammed-earth wall stood only one zhang high, yet atop it stood several archers.

Yao Guang accompanied Li Guanyi.

As always.

With Yao Guang's magic aiding him, Li Guanyi strode boldly into the town. The town's layout was simple and direct, yet clearly divided into functional zones—plain and unadorned, yet with many practical merits.

On both sides, vendors set up stalls: unlike the Central Plains, these were small tents of wooden poles and cloth, with cloth spread beneath, fruits rolling onto the ground, piled together, then hawked.

They still used Tuyuhun currency.

But it was a jumble of over a hundred years' worth of large and small coins.

At the town gate, livestock was sold.

It wasn't lively—there was a dull, lifeless air. The fruits on the ground were dusty; the sellers used small knives to cut away rotten spots, tossing them into piles that swarmed with tiny insects, releasing a smell like fermented fruit wine mixed with stench.

As people passed, insects flew wildly; the faint wine odor and stench filled the nose.

Even the Fire Qilin, transformed into a long-haired cat perched on Li Guanyi's shoulder, pinched its nose with two paws and turned to the other side: "Bad fruit."

"Not eating, not eating."

Li Guanyi joked: "Oh? You actually have fruit you won't eat."

This made the little Fire Qilin mutter.

Li Guanyi suppressed his smile and looked around; there were many desolate places—about a quarter of the entire town was barren, suggesting this place had long since passed its peak of prosperity, though traces remained.

In the past year and more, this place had undergone expansion.

But where did this place get the money to expand…?

Li Guanyi kept judging, lost in thought: "The Young Lady called it a village, but this place's prosperity doesn't even match the more vibrant towns of the Central Plains. To her, perhaps it truly was just a village."

At that moment, the people on the road ahead all stepped back as two foreign monks in peculiar robes approached:

"Amitabha, Amitabha."

"All of you, burdened with sins from past lives, suffer in this one. Donate your merit to erase your sins and remove your suffering, find peace in this life, and secure blessings in the next. Amitabha, Amitabha…"

A chant of Sanskrit echoed—the two foreign monks were not the same kind he had seen before; the front one dragged a strange iron basin, striking it with an iron hammer, leaving lingering resonance, while the one behind held a box, and the numb commoners dropped small coins into the basin.

"Mo Sect foreign monks…"

Li Guanyi narrowed his eyes.

These two monks failed to pierce Yao Guang's illusion technique and walked right past Li Guanyi and Yao Guang; Li Guanyi's heart stirred, and together with Yao Guang, he followed them, watching as the two gathered an entire iron box full of coins and entered the largest mansion in the center.

Li Guanyi turned his head—the entire road was lifeless.

It seemed even worse than before.

As if the people's vitality, blood, and bone had been stripped away once more.

"Mo Sect, commoners, Buddhist sect, city nobility…"

These entities layered one upon another, constructing a stacked social ecology.

Li Guanyi pondered, feeling he was about to draw near the truth behind the complex situation in the Western Regions; he entered the house with the silver-haired girl, and clearly, no masters from the Shiwaisan Sect were present—Li Guanyi and Yao Guang entered with near-total ease.

Li Guanyi reached out and touched the girl's hair, praising:

"Well done, Yao Guang."

The silver-haired girl showed no expression; after thinking, she raised her hand.

She clenched her five fingers into a fist.

She squeezed tightly, then looked at Li Guanyi.

"Good."

Li Guanyi laughed and formed a fist too.

The silver-haired girl thought again.

She pressed her small fist against Li Guanyi's fist.

The two foreign monks entered a side room of the large house, where several other foreign monks were present; they chattered in their own tongue. Though Li Guanyi didn't understand the language, Yao Guang's illusion technique made the meaning perfectly clear:

"Have you gathered enough?"

"Yes, the town's wealth has been nearly drained."

"That old Yu Langwang hit too hard—the Tanguts simply can't be propped up. Our Holy Sect sent many Masters and Sixth Heaven's Incense Masters into the Tangut army, gave them Holy Medicine, making them fearless, only knowing battle."

"Still, they were crushed by Xiao Wuliang."

"No wonder—he's an unparalleled general who rode out alone at age fifteen."

"Wasn't there a secret technique…"

"Oh, you mean the secret technique found during the Great Ritual ten years ago? They say they found a special girl, treated her as a 【Reincarnated Child】, and refined her body with supreme methods to revive the Ancient Buddha—but it failed."

Li Guanyi's eyes flickered as he looked at the silver-haired girl.

Yao Guang leaned quietly against the wall, her gaze lowered in calmness, when suddenly she felt warmth at her ear; she slightly lifted her head and saw Li Guanyi intently listening to the monks' conversation.

The boy's palm gently covered her ear.

The silver-haired girl showed no expression.

After thinking, she reached out and placed her hand atop his.

The monks didn't know two outsiders had appeared in the corner; in this increasingly impoverished town, there were no Central Plains storybooks, no storytellers in teahouses, no traveling peddlers—only idle gossip to pass the time.

"Though it failed, we did glean some skills from the process."

"We forged divine soldiers, one zhang tall, each wielding great bows and battle halberds—but Xiao Wuliang smashed them all with flying hammers, their skulls bursting… No choice—he's now ranked thirteenth among the world's greatest generals, at the peak of his thirties."

"Yu Langwang himself is utterly unmatched."

"Yes, he's produced many fierce generals, including one named Gu Dao Hui—rumored to have once been a famed general under Tai Ping Gong. Alas, the Four Guardian Heavenly Kings ordered us to drain the wealth from these small towns and petty states."

"They plan to abandon this place and devote all strength to battle Yu Langwang."

One monk fell silent and said: "I heard it from the Altar Master—Yu Langwang, like Tai Ping Gong, was once among the top ten generals, ranked fourth, even above Tai Ping Gong—but was later defeated by him."

"Either way, they're both formidable figures from the Central Plains."

"In less than two years, he's shattered the entire Tangut kingdom and seized most of its city-states. Now all thirty-six tribes say only a hegemon like the ancient Tuyuhun could come down to defeat him."

"Only by wielding the 【Golden Wang Yin】 and uniting the heroes of the thirty-six tribes could he possibly be defeated."

Another monk said: "Tuyuhun was a cruel man."

"Could it be that Yu Langwang is the same as Tuyuhun from three hundred years ago?"

All fell silent. Li Guanyi reached out and poked a hole in the window paper, seeing the monks inside, a pot of hot tea on the table; he thought for a moment, his fingers twitched, and a thread of internal Qi wrapped around a mixture of Shi Dalin and medicinal powder.

He flicked his fingers.

The Chen Imperial Family's ultimate technique—Six Void Four Union Divine Art—activated.

He sent the entire mixture into the teapot, stirring it evenly.

The monks, engrossed in conversation, drank the tea; Li Guanyi and Yao Guang had already left. The garrison camp of this Western Region city-state was not far from the noble residences; Li Guanyi and Yao Guang wandered, slipping the same medicine into the garrison's supplies.

Mainly 【Ma Fei San】 and 【Ruan Gu San】.

One thousand defenders would surely be knocked out, unable to escape.

After finishing all these tasks, Li Guanyi strolled boldly into the mansion of the Western Regions nobleman; as he entered, he saw Xiao Dayin chatting with a man in a black robe, who said:

"Leave? You must understand this thing first."

"Hmph, the Holy Sect's Lord has ordered us to return immediately to defend—dare you disobey?"

"This, this…"

"Sigh, fine."

Xiao Dayin clenched his teeth, pressed a nearby armrest, and with a clattering sound, the wall beside them collapsed, revealing a passage; the two hurried in, and Li Guanyi and Yao Guang followed right behind.

The man in black said: "This place is well-prepared."

Xiao Dayin asked: "The Holy Sect has operated here for a hundred years—why suddenly retreat?"

The man in black paused, then said: "You're already a core member of our Holy Sect; I can tell you—do you know what happened over a decade ago?"

Xiao Dayin said cautiously: "That massacre back then?"

The man in black chuckled twice: "You've got good intel."

"Yes, it's because of that."

"Rumors say the perpetrator behind the massacre has reappeared—earlier, Grandmaster Huyan Jixuan and a senior elder of a branch were both killed because of it; on that day, the Holy Sect's Lord planned to take away the one-third Mystical Realm that Huyan Jixuan had sealed."

"But he was opposed by the Four Guardian Heavenly Kings."

"The Lord couldn't openly defy them, so he secretly ordered us to withdraw these minor branches first, to avoid falling into the fishing trap."

As he spoke, he opened the final barrier, revealing utter darkness within—piles of gold and coins, all the merit money collected by the foreign monks, poured into an entrance and flowing down the passage.

Xiao Dayin said: "All the merit money accumulated over these years is here."

But the man in black paid no attention to the gold and silver; he hurried to a Gongyang Suxiang, which shimmered with a soft radiance—when near, one could almost hear the murmurs of countless voices, holding boundless mystical power.

"Ha! Here it is—these are the ones…"

"Hahaha! This was one of the original array focal points—the Holy Sect's century-long accumulation. If we take this array back, then when the 【Weapon】 returns, we can reopen the great array."

"Refine it into our Holy Sect's divine weapon."

"No eye realm, nor even 【no consciousness】 realm. No ignorance, nor end of ignorance. Even 【no old age and death】, nor end of old age and death."

"No form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sorrow, no fear."

"The heart is unattached!"

The man in black's tone grew excited—then suddenly, his Nascent Soul violently trembled; an extreme danger, an extreme terror rose from his heart and seized his chest.

The man in black's face turned pale: "Who is it?!!"

Whirrr!!!

The air surged like a dragon's roar; the man in black unleashed an absolute, formidable martial art, splitting into several afterimages before reuniting into one, evading the terrifying threat.

But the next instant, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

An arrow pierced straight through his chest.

With overwhelming momentum, the blazing light tore apart, forming a vast Bai Hu that bit down and slammed him into the wall, making it rumble violently.

A calm voice said: "Too bad—you won't get that chance."

The man in black lifted his head and saw a second arrow streaking toward him.

Accompanied by a sound like fluttering wings.

The arrow struck directly into his forehead.

His powerful, dominant internal Qi proved useless—it exploded, and his head shattered like a watermelon; Xiao Dayin turned deathly pale, trembling, unable to speak before Li Guanyi struck him with a staff and knocked him unconscious.

Then he fed him Ma Fei San.

After completing all this, Li Guanyi steadied himself and looked with the white-haired girl at the secret chamber; he scanned the surroundings and saw coins and gold everywhere—the ropes tying the copper coins had rotted from age.

Vast amounts of gold, silver, and artifacts piled up in this small chamber.

"I only wanted to reclaim the town—never expected to uncover such a massive hole…" Li Guanyi's gaze swept the place, his expression calm; he finally understood the entire structure of the Western Regions.

All the people of the Western Regions—whether so-called middle class, lower class, or upper-middle class—were merely fodder for the Mo Sect; no wonder the Whale Fisher killed so many Mo Sect members and yet the Mo Sect kept rising from the ashes.

The Whale Fisher could only kill individual high-ranking members, but the soil nurturing the Mo Sect was the entire structure of the Western Regions; as long as this environment remained, for every Mo Sect member killed, two would emerge.

Li Guanyi's gaze shifted from the unconscious Xiao Dayin to the Gongyang Suxiang; inside him, the Jiuzhou Ding emitted a faint hum; he stepped forward, extended his hand, and pressed it against the statue, sensing layers of human destiny entwined upon it.

Chaos. Confusion.

The Jiuzhou Ding hummed continuously.

The majestic, righteous energy sought to purify the human destiny energy refined by the Mo Sect.

But Li Guanyi had not yet forged two of the Nine Cauldrons; his Jiuzhou Ding could not leave his body to cleanse this turbid human destiny energy—then suddenly, a resonant hum rang out, and the statue glowed brightly.

Li Guanyi's eyes narrowed—he saw a streak of blood on the statue's base.

It had been flung there by the man in black just before he died.

Could it be—!

Qi surged like a tidal wave; Li Guanyi instantly reacted, extending his left hand to grab Yao Guang and pull her behind him, while his right hand swept—his Tiger Roars Heaven Halberd appeared, accompanied by low dragon roars, golden-red scales emerging.

The Crimson Divine Dragon manifestation appeared, slowly coiling into a coiled-dragon posture, shielding Li Guanyi and Yao Guang in its center; its dragon head lowered, golden-red eyes cold and silent as it stared at the statue.

Li Guanyi gripped the divine weapon, his aura mighty.

A miscalculation…

The Mo Sect had techniques for deliberate cultivation disasters and flesh explosions—but he never imagined a single drop of blood could trigger this Gongyang Suxiang; inside him, the Jiuzhou Ding hummed, and before him, the Qi slowly dispersed.

A figure stepped forth between illusion and reality.

She was an exquisitely beautiful woman, her face as if carved from the heavens, her eyes clear and serene, radiating detached divinity; yet her smile was warm and enchanting—she embodied both the icy purity of a goddess and the myriad illusions of the mortal world.

He had seen this face, this aura before.

At the Mo Sect's base, in the territory guarded by the Grand Master of the Fate-Reading Line.

Li Guanyi's pupils shrank violently; the boy instinctively reached out to cover Yao Guang's eyes, but it was already too late—the woman had reappeared here, using Mo Sect's mysterious arts and the momentum of human destiny. Her gaze shifted from her deceased subordinates and settled on Li Guanyi.

She paused, then turned her gaze to the hooded girl behind the boy.

As if a breeze had stirred, Yao Guang's hood flipped back, revealing silver strands of hair lightly lifted, exposing a face of exquisite, delicate beauty tinged with youthful innocence, and eyes of even more detached, clear amber.

She reached out, grasped Li Guanyi's arm, and pulled it downward.

She regarded the woman calmly, without fear.

The peerlessly beautiful woman's eyes seemed to ripple with a barely perceptible tremor; then a faint, playful smile appeared on her face as she observed Li Guanyi shielding the girl—watching Yao Guang, who showed no expression, seemed calm and brave, yet whose slender fingers unconsciously clenched the boy's arm.

The woman's voice was cool and smiling; she turned her gaze from Yao Guang to Li Guanyi. She wore elaborate, magnificent robes, colorful ribbons at her elbows swaying gently, her hands folded over her abdomen, regal and splendid as she smiled:

"What an… rather poor way to meet."

"Unforeseen. Unthinkable. Almost like a surprise attack."

"If I hadn't been just a little more cautious, leaving a trace of my Yuan Shen in every corner—so that the scent of blood and battle would trigger it—you might have taken her away."

Li Guanyi guarded Yao Guang with his left hand, gripped the Tiger Roars to Heaven Battle Spear with his right, and stepped back slowly, increasing the distance between himself and the woman. The Five Manifestations appeared here—the Fire Qilin had shrunk into a kitten, but golden-red flames already glowed in its throat.

He had raised his guard to its peak in an instant.

The woman seemed utterly unconcerned; she merely said:

"I had thought we would meet in a… more formal, pleasant way."

"Wasn't that so?"

"Supreme General of the Central Plains, First-Class Marquis Qin Wu Hou."

"The Qilin of Chaos, the famed general of the realm."

"Li Guanyi."

"Or should I address you this way?"

The woman reached up, curled a strand of black hair behind her ear, and smiled:

"Good son-in-law?"

Struggle failed. Lying still, peaceful…

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