Chapter 56: Weeping Blades in the North Wind

In the forty-first year of Jiajing, due to spring famine and emaciated horses, rebellions by the Mongolian barbarians frequently erupted in Liaodong.

In March, during a routine reconnaissance mission, a team of night-patrollers was ambushed. Only a single man survived, yet he brought back crucial intelligence that enabled the Ming army to successfully fend off the enemy at Qingtaiyu, securing a great victory.

However, the military merits were intercepted and usurped by Shi Zhong, the regional garrison commander at the time. As a result, the deaths of the four night-patrollers went unrecognized; not only did their families fail to receive the due bereavement compensation, but they were also nearly branded as deserters.

Eleven years later, two surviving members of the squad crossed paths once again.

The security guard still attempted to swing his arm and turn around to strike me with a baton. I caught the baton barehanded with sheer force, squeezed it slightly, and with a sharp "crack," it snapped into two halves.

Half of his body was wedged inside, the stratum corneum scraped completely away, leaving a gory mess of fresh blood that looked utterly horrifying.

Lu Qianqi did not go home that night. The next morning on his way to the company, he was met with probing gazes and pointing fingers at every turn, making him feel rather uneasy.

Tian Li, still somewhat dizzy from the alcohol, sensed an unfamiliar touch and instinctively slapped away the hands wandering wildly over her body.

Meanwhile, the stone tablet that had managed to reach Yu Zhen was reduced to a wisp of black Qi by the crimson glow emitted from the Vampiric Holy Ring, and was subsequently sucked into the ring by the bloody barrier.

Fortunately, he had now evolved to the seventh level, with his inner martial arts realm at the sixth level, allowing him to sustain such a terrifying expenditure of energy.

"Teacher Lu, what is so difficult about this? Unless you wish to shield this person from the countryside—though I assume you wouldn't do such a thing, right?"

"I truly never imagined you possessed such an aesthetic eye." From all directions of the grand hall came the magical and ethereal voice of the Moon Monarch once more.

Yu Zhen's eloquent and confident aura was simply captivating, as if he were singing a song of total conquest, subduing the students sitting beneath the three-foot podium into absolute obedience.

Miyafi Nimiya paid no further attention to Teng Baiqiu, her gaze locked entirely onto Yu Zhen. This man truly exceeded all her expectations.

After Hai was scratched, Nie Xiaorou's mother showed no reaction whatsoever, acting as though she hadn't seen a thing. She seemed to treat it as the police officer's own fault, reasoning that getting injured while trying to break up a fight was only to be expected.

Xuan Lei offered no reply to me, merely pulling Yao Ji as he walked outside. Seeing Yao Ji in this state compared to yesterday—when she forced me to sign a contract with her—was genuinely comical. No wonder this fellow was willing to return with us; she surely had far too many enemies, and staying by our side offered a much safer refuge.

Nevertheless, under the deterrence of the Wang family of Qingyuan Mountain—a clan of Gold Core cultivators—Tianhe Market had flourished over the past two hundred years, attracting numerous rogue cultivators. Although it still could not rival large-scale markets like Binhai Market or Wujiang Market, it had already attained a considerable scale.

Feng Xin grew so enraged that his blood pressure spiked. This was the first time in his life he had ever been this furious; even when encountering unpleasant situations in the past, he had never been angered to this extent.

Most importantly, the Wuhuan people, nomads hailing from the far northern lands, would halt their invasions and plundering of the northern states, and this peace would hold until the next winter.

Just like that, I, along with Xuan Lei the wolf demon and the corpse of the Yinglong dragon, followed Luosheng back to the Underworld, arriving at Fengdu.

"Let me do it?" It turned out to be Di Xin. Who knew when he had also followed along? Di Xin lifted the skirts of his robes and strode inside. Within a moment, the fierce fire was extinguished, but more than half of the provisions had already burned, and now, drenched by the rain summoned by Di Xin, they were completely soaked. How was he supposed to answer to King Wu now?

As the crowd stepped into the tunnel, just as it had happened in cinematic plots, the heavy doors at both ends slammed shut simultaneously, trapping everyone inside.

"No, trust me." Having said that, Ma Lin turned around. The instant he raised his empty hands, the living corpses within his field of vision were lifted by a supernatural force. As Ma Lin himself floated upward, thousands of living corpses rose another notch right along with him.

To this day, Kazurako had been working for a full year and a year's time. The encounters and experiences of this past year had not only brought success to her career but had also matured her mind considerably.