Chapter 797

Fu Qingzhu's Wu Gong cultivation was originally above Shi Lang's, and that woman's Heavenly Cascade Sword Art was also a top-tier, bizarre sword technique.

After forcibly enduring more than ten moves, Fu Qingzhu finally swept open Shi Lang's center gate and thrust a sword into his chest.

Immediately, that woman also shook her long sword and once again cleaved off Shi Lang's forehead in a single strike.

In a short span of time, two of the twelve generals who had followed Fenghuo Liancheng on campaigns across the realm had fallen in this unnamed stretch of woods in the northwest.

"You're from Tianshan Sect? Master Huiming sent you?"

After killing Shi Lang, Fu Qingzhu finally gasped for breath and plopped down onto the ground.

Looking at that woman, he didn't stay idle and asked directly.

"I am Wu Yuanying. I was indeed sent down the mountain by my Master, Master Huiming."

So this woman was called Wu Yuanying. One could see her bow respectfully to Fu Qingzhu.

Then she sprang up, and in a few bounds darted into a stretch of woods.

After a while, she reappeared from within the woods.

Coming before Fu Qingzhu, she respectfully handed over an ancient, unadorned precious sword.

"This is?"

Fu Qingzhu looked at the ancient, unadorned precious sword before him, feeling only that it was both familiar and unfamiliar.

What was familiar was that this sword—whether its grain and patterns, or even the scabbard—seemed just like a sword of his from back then.

What was unfamiliar was that compared to his former sword, this one had not only grown three extra inches, but even while sheathed, he could feel a faint sword Qi rushing toward his face.

"This is Mowen!

Mowen—no regrets for the road ahead, only ask that this life leave no regrets!"

Wu Yuanying held the sword in both hands and said respectfully.

"Th-this-this… the Mowen Sword?"

Fu Qingzhu, who had been barely breathing a moment ago and looked gravely wounded, sat bolt upright the instant he heard Wu Yuanying's words.

He took the precious sword from Wu Yuanying's hands.

Drawing the scabbard open, he found that at the position of the sword's guard, the two characters Mowen were indeed written in ancient seal script.

"Mowen, Mowen! Why has it come to this?"

With a clang, Fu Qingzhu drew the Mowen Sword.

Under the starlight, the precious sword gleamed brilliantly.

Reflected in Fu Qingzhu's eyes, his gaze could not help but brim with tears.

Originally, Fu Qingzhu had served as a Wu official in the Ministry of Justice, and this precious sword had been bequeathed to him by his father.

Relying on this precious sword, he had slain countless great traitors and evildoers for the new dynasty, punishing the realm.

He believed he had lived up to his father's last wish and was worthy of this precious sword.

Later, the Great Qing was restored and hunted down all factions of the new dynasty.

Fu Qingzhu, burdened with a mission, had just killed several fierce bandits a moment before.

And then the Great Qing's men had come knocking at his door.

The two sides fought a brutal, bloody battle in the wasteland.

In the end, Fu Qingzhu survived by luck and slew all his opponents.

But the Mowen Sword, covered in bloodstains and wounds, had become like a piece of scrap iron.

One moment, the dynasty he had served vanished, and the realm plunged into darkness.

The next moment, he himself was gravely wounded, and his precious sword was like scrap iron.

In his fury, Fu Qingzhu fainted on the spot.

When he awoke again, he found that the Mowen Sword and the enemies' corpses had all vanished into the wind and sand.

He had thought this sword, like the new dynasty, had simply scattered on the wind.

Who could have known that today, Wu Yuanying would once more produce this precious sword.

For a moment, Fu Qingzhu's tears streamed down and he was at a loss.

Wu Yuanying did not know what the Mowen Sword meant to Fu Qingzhu; she only recalled the words her Master had spoken when bestowing the sword.

"This Mowen Sword—back then, Master obtained it from the wind and sand.

When he got it, it was already full of notches.

Master added refined metal from beyond the heavens and tempered it for one year and four days before repairing it.

Today, when the realm is at its darkest, it is also the night before dawn.

This is precisely the moment when Mowen must display its divine might. Therefore Master ordered me to bring it to find you, and incidentally invite you to make a trip up Tianshan."

"The darkest hour, the night before dawn?"

Fu Qingzhu held up the Mowen Sword, murmured a line, then asked,

"In today's realm, the Great Qing has been restored and has ordered its hounds to seal off the four seas.

Countless men of goodwill who resisted the Qing have all been slaughtered by the Qing bandits, needless to say.

Even those who only wished to flee this man-eating world were still cut down.

This is indeed the darkest hour, but where does dawn come from?"

Although along the way, Fu Qingzhu had rescued many innocent people from under Fenghuo Liancheng's hand,

far more had died at the hands of this unorthodox army.

Even some he had clearly saved—when he went back later to check, he found they had still died.

Because he discovered that not only was the unorthodox army led by Fenghuo Liancheng killing people everywhere under the cover of the Prohibition on Arms,

even the Great Qing court kept dispatching troops to slaughter the innocent everywhere.

GLOSSARY

- Wu Gong

- Wu Yuanying

- Shi Lang

- Fu Qingzhu

- Jing Wuyuan

- Fenghuo Liancheng

- Feng Huo Liancheng

- Hearing Fu Qingzhu

- Master

- Tianshan

- Great Qing

- Zhaoshang Sect

- Tianshan Sect

- carry a burden

Even some people in the jianghu—some to protect themselves, some tempted by the ban on martial arts.

They vied to betray one another, to slaughter one another.

Worst of all, some actually brought the entire Zong Sect's secret manuals and name registries to throw in with the Qing court.

For a time, in this land beyond the pale, every man lived in fear of his neighbour.

All these bizarre, monstrous scenes and strange sights left even Fu Qingzhu deeply despairing.

When the new dynasty was first founded, it was a fine new atmosphere indeed.

How long has it taken for this Great Qing to become a hell on earth?

And where is the dawn that could save this wretched mortal world?

"Master says—the Qinglong Society!"

Wu Yuanying's eyes lit up; she said calmly.

The Qinglong Society's fame resounded across the nine provinces; even this land beyond the pale was steeped in legends of them.

When they overthrew the Great Qing and founded the new dynasty, it was the Qinglong Society pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Yet after the new dynasty was established, the Qinglong Society vanished overnight.

Afterwards, when the Great Qing confirmed the Qinglong Society had truly disappeared, the surviving remnants staged a restoration, plunging the realm into turmoil.

All of this, Fu Qingzhu knew clearly; Wu Yuanying, on the other hand, knew far less than he did.

"The Qinglong Society?"

Fu Qingzhu gave a bitter smile and pointed to the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers List above the vault of heaven,

"Master Huiming, you mean to say that this Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers List exposing the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra will draw the Qinglong Society and even other powers of the nine provinces into Great Qing's affairs, yes?

But setting aside the Qinglong Society for now, let's speak only of the other powers.

Their forces are deep and their experts as numerous as clouds; any one of them, arriving in this land beyond the pale, could walk sideways through it unchecked.

People like that coming here—how could they spare a thought for the common folk of the realm?

If they don't collaborate with the Qing court and prey on the people, that would already be considered good.

As for the Qinglong Society… sigh…"

If the Qinglong Society were willing to care, why did they leave in such haste back then?

In the end, Fu Qingzhu never spoke that sentence aloud.

Though he had served in the new dynasty and had some slight understanding of the Qinglong Society,

he still did not know why the Qinglong Society had suddenly vanished back then.

"Senior! My master says everything will become clear once you go up Tianshan."