Chapter 414: Retreat

Chapter 414: The Retreat

"Hahaha! You lots wanted this Almanac of the Six Luminaries too, didn't you? Haha! In your dreams! A treasure this grand naturally belongs to our Setting Forgetfulness Dao!" Li Huowang mocked and jeered at the other Inspectors of the Celestial Surveillance Directorate.

And as Li Huowang spoke, the hallucination of Hong Zhong beside him burst into wild, manic laughter as if it were the Lunar New Year, clapping its hands violently as it danced around him. Whether in life or death, it had never been this ecstatic.

Beholding the massive 'Hong Zhong' character painted upon Li Huowang's face, every single person engaged in the fierce battle froze, their eyes locking onto him and the Overseer held within his grasp.

Among them, the Inspectors who had been besieging Zhuge Yuan were the most utterly shaken. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect this so-called ally of theirs to be a disguised member of the Setting Forgetfulness Dao, let alone one who would directly slaughter the Overseer.

In the next breath, nearly every Inspector present instantly abandoned their blockade of Zhuge Yuan and charged toward him. The Overseer was already dead; if they wished to avoid the Directorate's severe punishments and imprisonment, they absolutely had to capture this man to atone for their failure!

"Father, they are coming. They are rushing straight at you."

Amidst the absolute darkness, the wildly laughing Li Huowang heard Li Sui's voice echoing within his mind. "Do not panic. Squeeze your eyeballs out and lead the way for me!"

Li Huowang raised the blood-drenched old almanac high into the air, and guided by Li Sui's direction, he leaped and bounded grandly toward the distant city wall.

In this bizarre and maddening world, any manner of anomaly could transpire. As one of the ruling authorities of the Celestial Surveillance Directorate, the Overseer might not have been so easily slain, but Li Huowang did not care in the slightest about success or failure. He had committed all these acts merely to express an attitude on behalf of the Setting Forgetfulness Dao.

From beginning to end, he and the Celestial Surveillance Directorate could never see eye to eye; his ultimate objective remained that Sinus entity, Bei Feng!

Since he knew that Bei Feng was still in the capital and had not departed, then for the sake of his own goals, the Celestial Surveillance Directorate and the Setting Forgetfulness Dao had to be driven to war. Even if they did not fight, he would force a spark to ignite the flames!

Having been deceived so profoundly by the Setting Forgetfulness Dao, why shouldn't he utilize them in return?

Furthermore, Li Huowang did not worry in the least that the Celestial Surveillance Directorate would verify with the Setting Forgetfulness Dao whether they had an extra 'Hong Zhong' in their ranks. Presently, the Setting Forgetfulness Dao was exactly like the boy who cried wolf; after shouting it once or twice, even if the words from their mouths were the absolute truth, not a single soul would believe them.

Now that the Overseer had been slain by a 'Hong Zhong,' the Setting Forgetfulness Dao was like a man with yellow mud dropped in his trousers—even if it wasn't filth, it would be taken as filth. This was a stratagem Li Huowang had learned directly from the Setting Forgetfulness Dao themselves.

Leaping between the tiles of the grand pavilions, with talismans affixed tightly to his knees, Li Huowang leaned his upper body forward. Enduring the agonizing torment upon his face, he sprinted wildly while laughing aloud, throwing taunts back behind him from time to time.

Stoking the flames had already succeeded. All he needed to do now was break through the encirclement of the Celestial Surveillance Directorate and revert to his true identity of Er Jiu.

Just as he crossed over a certain rooftop, a sudden surge of murderous intent originating from an unknown source caused the hairs all over Li Huowang's body to stand on end.

Abruptly, Li Huowang felt his body move entirely on its own accord, forcing a violent twist mid-air. Blind as he was, Li Huowang could only sense a fierce gust of wind enveloping something as it scraped past his torso.

"Father, there is someone on the wall smashing at us with a massive club." That was Li Sui aiding Li Huowang to evade the assault.

"Do not panic. We are not far from the city wall, we will be out very soon!" Just as Li Huowang was about to utter these words, he suddenly felt an exceedingly peculiar aura emanate from behind him, locking onto him with an iron grip.

This bizarre transformation caused Li Huowang's heart to tighten. "Li Sui, what is it? What happened back there?"

"Father, the man you killed just now has stood up again! He is looking right at your head."

"What?! The Overseer isn't dead?! No! He is definitely dead through and through, whatever is inside his body now is absolutely not his original self!!"

Even when dealing with an ordinary individual, the variety of mystical methods available was far vaster than Li Huowang could ever fathom.

At this moment, Li Huowang had no way of understanding exactly what it was through Li Sui's descriptions alone. The sole certainty was that this matter was far from over!

"Go!" Li Huowang blindly manipulated his body into a displacement, entering a state of invisibility, and charged toward the gates of the capital city with every ounce of his might.

As he ran, Li Huowang suddenly felt a chill atop his neck, followed closely by the sound of something tumbling onto the ground, after which the oppressive aura upon him vanished entirely.

In this moment of crisis, Li Huowang could not afford to care about such details. Seeing that his body could still move, he continued his frantic retreat.

"Come on! Lads! Let us go and aid Boss Hong Zhong!"

"Boss Hong Zhong, you can leave with peace of mind! We shall avenge you!"

"Boss Hong Zhong, that almanac in your hands must absolutely be delivered out!"

Hearing those righteous and indignant shouts from the Setting Forgetfulness Dao behind him, Li Huowang could not help but sneer coldly in his heart. "You deceivers of men, you never expected to see the day where you yourselves would be deceived, did you?"

Whether it was because those members of the Setting Forgetfulness Dao had successfully served as a rearguard, the pressure surrounding Li Huowang plummeted drastically, and he soon arrived at the city gate.

The heavy city gates had already been barred shut, but this posed no obstacle to Li Huowang. He brandished his copper coin sword, hacking through the gates as effortlessly as though he were cutting through mere paper.

After expending a great deal of effort once more, his hands brushed against the dense canopy of leaves. Li Huowang felt a wild ecstasy in his heart; he had finally escaped the city.

"Li Sui! Keep a close watch! Are there any pursuers behind us?" Li Huowang called out secretly to Li Sui within his mind.

"No, they all seem to have been blocked by those people wearing iron clothes."

Though he had received the best possible response, Li Huowang still did not relax his vigilance in the slightest. He continued to shift and maneuver through the forest, alternately turning invisible and diving into the waters.

Several hours later, waiting until his body was thoroughly squeezed dry to the point where not a single shred of strength remained, Li Huowang finally slowed to a halt. Sweating like torrential rain, he sat upon a boulder to recover his strength.

"Under these circumstances, the capital will surely be thrown into utter chaos and the martial law will be redoubled. It seems I must wait outside for a while before heading back."

"However, it cannot be for too long, otherwise if the Celestial Surveillance Directorate and the Setting Forgetfulness Dao go to war, I am afraid I won't make it in time to catch the action."

Just as Li Huowang was thinking this, the sound of footsteps treading upon dry leaves suddenly echoed from his left.

Li Huowang was just about to tilt his ear to listen closely when, in the next instant, a terrified shriek rang out. "A ghost!!"

Yet after that single shriek, which startled the birds in the forest into flight, complete silence returned. This left Li Huowang, who was fully prepared to fight for his life, somewhat bewildered.

"Li Sui, what kind of person made that sound?" Li Huowang inquired within his mind toward Li Sui once more.

"An old man. He was carrying a lot of wood, and now he is lying on the ground, motionless."

Filled with doubt, Li Huowang groped his way over to that side. Before long, his hands brushed against an old man clad in coarse hemp cloth; the deep wrinkles upon his face bore testament to his advanced age.

The lumber on his back and the chipped hatchet in his hand proved that this old man was likely just an ordinary civilian who had come up the mountain to gather firewood.

The pulse at his neck was still throbbing; he had likely just been frightened into a swoon by him rather than scared to death.

Only then did Li Huowang realize the truth. It appeared this person had been terrified by his Hong Zhong face. Indeed, how could an ordinary peasant have ever beheld such a horrific visage.

Thinking up to this point, Li Huowang drew a dagger from his torture tool bag, preparing to restore his facial features to their rightful places.

Yet just as his hands reached up toward his own head, he discovered that the space where his head ought to have been was entirely vacant. There were only a few of Li Sui's tentacles swaying back and forth there, while the tentacles coiled around his two eyeballs rose and fell erratically.

"Where is my head?" This question abruptly leaped out from within Li Huowang's mind.