Chapter 246: The Storm Subsides (Part 3)

Chapter 246: The Storm and Rain Will Cease (Part Three)

“Since the day I donned this flying fish robe, I’ve never feared death! As long as you can slay Ding Huan to shield me, I’ll die a death befitting my fate!”

Wang Xie awkwardly swung the embroidered spring blade, relentlessly cleaving toward Li Jun.

“No more hesitation—strike now!”

Li Jun forcibly suppressed the surging resistance of the ink-armored guards, weaving through the sluggish blade light.

The long saber in his grip still pointed to the ground.

Li Jun was no craven softling, one who would spare the Imperial Guards even at this juncture.

On the contrary, if slaying them could unravel the present dilemma, the entire Chongqing Prefecture’s Imperial Guards had likely already perished in perfect order.

Li Jun had already discerned Ding Huan’s intent—he manipulated these guards to compel Li Jun to unleash slaughter, rousing his fury and clouding his mind, planting the seeds of ‘Bai He’.

A warrior consumed by rage, stripped of composure, becomes a double-edged blade—killing others, killing oneself.

Even with flesh intact and consciousness unbroken, one cannot withstand the seductive erosion of the sequence.

Let alone that his earlier joint assault with Chen Qisheng had failed to fell the foe, and now Chen Qisheng was preoccupied while Ma Wangye had become a burden. Li Jun had no certainty he could slay Ding Huan before his own body betrayed him.

“You’ve guessed? No wonder this wild warrior has lived this long—it’s said you’re smarter than these domesticated hounds.”

Ding Huan’s face bore a cold smile: “But this was a stratagem from the start—you see through it, so what? Whether you kill or not, the outcome remains the same.”

He raised two fingers, shaking them toward Li Jun, “Now, you face only two choices: kneel and beg for life, or stand and seek death.”

To kneel as a puppet soldier, or to stand and fight to the death.

Li Jun remained silent, the long saber in his hand gradually rising.

His gaze fell on Wang Xie, and he whispered, “Forgive me!”

“That’s the spirit—come on, send me off first!”

Wang Xie laughed heartily, his blade descending toward Li Jun’s face.

Clang!

Wang Xie’s embroidered spring blade flew from his grasp, plunging into the distant earth with a sharp crack.

Though his body still surged forward, his eyes had closed, his mouth curving into a serene smile.

“Next life, I’ll be an Imperial Guard again, dedicated to hunting you soaring birds.”

Li Jun’s face was impassive, his saber cleaving toward Wang Xie’s skull.

At that moment, a hoarse, weary voice suddenly rang out.

“Law is the order of the world, the hierarchy of the Yellow Millet Dream. If the people trust the law, the nation prospers. If they defile it, chaos arises.”

The voice, like a mosquito’s buzz, struck their ears as a thunderous bell, jarring and piercing.

The pupils of the Imperial Guards, widened in shock, slowly contracted, their rigid bodies trembling faintly.

Standing amidst the crowd, Ding Huan’s face contorted in alarm.

Wang Xie’s tightly shut eyes snapped open, staring in disbelief at Li Jun’s back.

Swish!

The blade’s edge grazed Wang Xie’s head, severing strands of hair that fluttered in the wind.

“When Le Chong was slain by the New Donglin faction as a warning, I endured it. For he had rashly criticized state affairs, violating the law first.”

“When you drove me to become an Imperial Guard in Chongqing Prefecture, I endured that too. For I would not fight my own kin in an age when Ming law grows weak.”

Unbeknownst when he had awakened, Yan Bajiang staggered to his feet, murmuring to the void before him.

“Now, someone in the Three Legal Offices has betrayed the Ming law, committing the rebellion of changing banners and seals! Minister of Punishment Wen Sikou, Deputy Inspector Bai Jian, and Minister Xue Wuqiu—you three blind fools, what ails you?”

As his voice grew louder, Yan Bajiang’s battered body straightened.

“Since you three dullards cannot see clearly, today I shall offer this life to the Ming law, to help you see the truth!”

The old man’s parchment-like face shone with heroic spirit, his white hair dancing, his aura like a rainbow.

“A disciple of Legalism, Yan Bajiang, willingly abandons the Seven Emotions and Six Desires, the mortal flesh, and uploads his consciousness into the Yellow Millet Law Realm, becoming a guardian of the Ming law! Eternal life, ten thousand years!”

“May the Ming law ensure no villains, no sycophants, no deceit, no fraud, no theft or robbery, no chaos in governance—may the seas be calm, the rivers peaceful, and the people’s hearts forever at ease!”

His resounding words echoed through the Golden Tower, lingering long after.

In that moment, all the Imperial Guards ensnared by ‘Bai He’ finally regained clarity—only to be overwhelmed by drowsiness the next second, collapsing unconscious.

With no human wall before him, Ding Huan stood alone, his features convulsing, fear spreading uncontrollably across his face.

“To abandon humanity and become a guardian worse than the Yellow Millet Ghost—Yan Bajiang, you’re ruthless!”

Wang Xie’s eyes reddened, his body limp on the ground, staring in a daze at that candle-like figure, standing tall.

He knew that henceforth, no Imperial Guard named Yan Bajiang would exist in this world—only a guardian forever trapped in the Yellow Millet Law Realm, a program of ‘knowing oneself yet unable to become oneself’.

Cold solitude, eternal through ten thousand years.

Li Jun remained silent, the veins on his sword-holding hand bulging.

Between his brows, the extinguished red eye flared anew, a tyrannical aura swirling around him.

“Boy, this is the old man’s final words as a ‘human’ to you.”

Yan Bajiang’s voice echoed in Li Jun’s ear.

“That embroidered spring blade and the Impermanence Register—I leave them to you. Also, the ‘Regulations of Office and Law’ authority I’ve scraped together in my lifetime, let it serve you well. But fear not—I won’t coerce you with favors. I simply refuse to let these fall into the hands of those with tainted hearts.”

“As for whether you’ll don the flying fish robe or wield the embroidered spring blade henceforth, that’s your choice. Just remember—don’t betray your original heart, preserve your humanity. Kill when you must, save when you can, honor brotherly bonds, don’t betray a woman’s devotion.”

“Otherwise, when you transgress the Ming law, I, as a guardian, won’t spare you. Don’t think your flesh and blood makes you invincible—should you lack the brain’s spiritual aperture, even without entering the Yellow Millet dream, I can leap from your mind and crush you utterly!”

The old man laughed boldly, “Listen well to my last words—slay Ding Huan, this wretch!”

“Agreed.”

Li Jun answered in his heart, not turning to gaze at the fallen elder, for now Li Jun’s eyes held only Ding Heng’s figure!

Between his sword-gripping fingers, the Impermanence Register ring glinted with a mesmerizing black light!

“Come on!”

Recovering his freedom, Chen Qisheng hurled a rare four-turn genetic elixir toward Li Jun, then laughed coldly toward Ding Heng.

He had no intention of intervening in the ensuing battle, for it was unnecessary.

Chen Qisheng understood clearly—this ‘Hungu Hidden King’ of the Six Sequences, was doomed to perish.

“Sequence deprivation, law’s shroud, lone warrior in armor, drug-induced fury. Ding Heng, if you yet live, I’ll tear out my own Dao root and cease being a fart of an immortal, to serve as your puppet soldier!”