One-sided Courtesy. An Emperor’s Benevolence.
It would be hard to find any visible traces in this rocky place almost devoid of foliage, especially under the cover of darkness and their stealthy movement; however, the smell of blood literally marked it as the zone of demons. The credit for the trail of putrid blood belonged to the mutated army of beasts that used their former cohort’s carcasses as sustenance for their campaign.
Among Six Evils, the dragon was the most “affable” since it wasn’t so enthusiastic about murder. By no stretch of the imagination was it benevolent. It merely preferred to recharge rather than fight for prey. For this reason, Death Spirit Shaman’s army didn’t trouble them too much, though it was worth noting that the mutated beasts had a long way to go before they could compare to the violent ones in the past.
Able to comprehend the woman in silver armour’s intention, the Yanhui pulled over whilst remaining silent. Even though Death Spirit Shaman spent years learning to tame the beasts, her ability to command the monster without eye gestures, movements or her voice exceeded his realm of reality.
“Your impertinence knows no bounds, Le Kuangnu.” Qiushui, now working as the armour-clad woman’s attendant, scoffed, “You were given the order to send reinforcements to Mount Wanyu, yet you went off to alert the enemy. You think Baidizi is yours now, huh?”
“… This one caught wind of Mount Daluo’s involvement. He was afraid Mount Daluo would ruin our plans, which is why h-”
“Yeah, yeah, Le Kuangnu. You think Her Liege doesn’t know what you’re thinking? Had she not intervened, you would’ve even summoned Chichen. Alerting the enemy and showing them our cards are moronic ideas only you would come up with. Have you forgotten where you stand? Without Sacred Realm’s support, you’d only be a forgettable snake breeder at the border.”
Sick of Qiushui’s chiding, Le Kuangnu used a passive-aggressive tone to fulminate, “Alert the enemy? Why would it be a problem if we expended even more to kill those ignorant fools? Had it not been for… I would have annihilated them. Alerted the enemy?”
“You would’ve lost your life.” The armoured woman’s presence suddenly came back onto Le Kuangnu’s radar as though she had erased it for a while. “You were fighting a losing battle. We didn’t bring enough. Furthermore, we are too close to Mount Wanyu. If the bloodlust reaches him, he will come down. If he comes, we will compromise our advantage.” The armoured woman then walked off the same way she arrived.
Notwithstanding all the years Le Kuangnu indulged in his lawless life, he couldn’t find a single fibre in him that had the courage to challenge the woman from Sky Palace. Grow his forces as he may, inflicting any harm on her was but a fleeting dream. Even arguing against her to protect his ego felt so futile that it felt too time wasting to bother trying. What never dawned on him was that his subservience was the reason she still used him.
Once the woman was gone, Qiushui resumed deriding, “Wise up. Forget Luo Ming. Even that Sima guy could’ve killed you whenever he pleased.”
“Luo Ming hates me to the core. That Sima runt isn’t a fool. If they wanted to kill me, you think they’d spare me, genius?”
“You must think Mount Daluo is a sect of cripples. Why do you think they still exist? Why can’t even we remove the thorn when they’re lawless and culpable for a list of crimes? You think there’s another reason because they’re strong enough to withstand the test of time?
“That unknown Sima Huai isn’t even thirty, but Her Lordship stated, in terms of qinggong, he is among the top ten across the land. If he wanted to kill you, he could’ve slit your throat three times and still had time to leisurely escape.
“Mount Daluo’s second senior disciple of this generation is the renowned Ten Thousand Miles Dragon Rider – Hong Jiu. He’s the only disciple of Beggars Sect’s Hong Ba. He embodies top skills from Beggars Sect and Mount Daluo. He has the potential to be among those at the apex of the pugilistic world.
“The one who cast Dragon-Confinement Formation on his own – Lian Zhuiyue – has vast connections all over the world from his travels. He has learnt Mount Daluo’s palm, sword, finger, footwork and strengthening disciplines, not to mention he’s already excelling at Castoff; he’s pretty much Hero Shenzhou Junior. You think you can beat them with your amateurish beast taming? Slap yourself awake.”
“Yet you fail to mention their senior disciple, the one currently posing as Shaman Monarch. What about him?”
“That’s why you’ve been told not to act rashly. He… Her Liege says even she is no match for him.” Qiushui almost chortled at Le Kuangnu’s astonished reaction. “He’s not invincible, though. We have a chance to get rid of him right before us. Watch: every step we take toward Wanyu’s peak is another step he takes towards his demise.”
***
It was understandable for the group to be paralysed with fear, as well as fatigue, after the enemies retreated since it was their first time fighting an army that could fight through any non-lethal damage, not to mention witnessing the Yanhui’s destructive power. Nonetheless, they passed Sima Huai’s mission with flying colours as no lives were lost.
While Mount Daluo’s disciples gathered around to research the item Shen Yiren brought, Luo Ming caught up with Luo Siming. Luo Ming left the sword that he opposed the imperial court, betrayed the martial arts community and invested mountains of resources into lying in the dirty without batting an eye. Instead of worrying about his prized sword, he was more interested in teaching his son how to woo Shen Yiren – a first even for his son.
“We found fengqi shenmu, and we are leaving it with Third and company to experiment with the formation. I was going to pick some people up, only to find everyone fighting off the python.”
Shen Yiren briefly reported what she did at Sanggongmo, the deaths of the four monarchs and what she knew, deliberately glossing over information that could implicate Ming Feizhen. As a result, the group partially understood, but they were also partially confused.
Emperor Yuansheng fiddled with his beard whilst mumbling, “Constable Ming’s deceit skills have reached the pinnacle. God damn, Shaman Monarch is more irresponsible than I am. Man only needs to fool his believers. I feel sorry for all the people he is deceiving to amass his wealth. Shaman Monarch must be a dream job, but… We must make haste, or Constable Ming will be in trouble once they find out he is a fraud.”
Shen Yiren stumbled on her words. While it was a fact that she was regrouping with them and delivering fengqi shenmu, the primary reason she left was due to having no alternative. If Emperor Yuansheng found out what was occurring at Sanggongmo, Ming Feizhen would need more than ten heads.
“By the way, Yiren, who are you here to pick up?”
Abels asked, “Brother Li, did it not occur to you why that group pulled out?”
“That would be because you convinced them they could not win against your fists.”
“You flatter me, Hero Li. While it is true they fled and had no chance of winning, their reason for retreating was not me but over there…”
Emperor Yuansheng peered into the distance, where there were hundreds of torches burning bright. If only the vanguard was visible in the front line, then there was an army of over a thousand. Only when the group came closer did he identify the one riding at the front. “Baimu’s Queen.”
Ah Neath was among the monarchs invited to join the alliance that shared the goal of toppling Shaman Monarch Palace in retaliation for killing four states’ sovereigns. Needless to say, Martial Paragon accompanied her, which was more the reason for Sky Palace to fall back.
Ah Neath galloped over to Emperor Yuansheng’s group and dismounted. “I was ruminating how to find you in Wanyu since you departed first. What a coincidence to meet on the way…”
Luo Ming approached Emperor Yuansheng once he was done conversing with his son and knelt down. “Long live, Your Majesty. Luo Ming hereby offers you a kowtow as appreciation for allowing him to keep his head for a while longer despite all the heinous crimes he has committed.”
Emperor Yuansheng couldn’t have been any happier to hear that. Ah Neath, however, had her mouth gaping as her brain tried to catch up.
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