Chapter 469: Loyal and Righteous Lord Ma

Chapter 469: Lord Ma, a Man of Heart and Justice

Who was the Master of Chi?

One of the Mohist armors who had wrought the greatest slaughter during the division of martial arts beneath the heavens, the biggest traitor within the Ghostly Realm in the past twenty years, a popular research subject for the Juzi Hall, and the prime wanted fugitive within the Mohist Order.

If he could still move at this moment, Lord Ma would have liked nothing more than to swing his arm and deliver two fierce slaps to his own face.

The relationship between the Master of Chi and Su Ce was something Lord Ma naturally knew; that lad Li Jun was safe and sound now, but what about himself?

One had to know that among the Mohist armors and ghosts who had gone missing from the Mohist Order in recent years, many were inextricably linked to this notorious god of slaughter standing before him. Even back in the Ghostly Realm, there were numerous posts describing how this Master of Chi tortured and killed his own kind, detailed with such precision that they seemed entirely authentic.

Thoughts spun furiously in Lord Ma's mind, and the crimson light in his solitary eye abruptly dimmed from its previous murderous brilliance into a flickering glow, wafting out a sickeningly obsequious tone.

"This truly is... the flood washing over the Dragon King’s temple, family failing to recognize family. Small-fry Ma here has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai, actually offending you, Elder Master Chi, I truly deserve to die!"

"Indeed."

"You certainly won't kill me. After all, small-fry Ma here has carried a rifle and taken wounds for our Embroidered Uniform Guard. Not to mention how much merit I've achieved, it can at least be considered hard work."

"Then—"

"You don't need to reward me either, this is all what small-fry Ma ought to do. Glory, wealth, and honor are all but fleeting clouds to me; to be able to work for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I am already completely satisfied!"

"I—"

"Scolding you just now was my wrongdoing, but it was also due to circumstances. You are a great man with a generous heart, so you surely won't hold a grudge against me, right? If you truly feel your anger isn't appeased, then strike me a few times to vent your hatred; this is all my own doing, and I will absolutely utter no complaints!"

Lord Ma’s torrent of interruptions was as fierce as a tiger, and at the end, he even shut his eye, putting on a tough guise of accepting any beating or punishment.

This was not because Lord Ma had suddenly changed his nature, but rather it was within his calculations.

In his view, since the Master of Chi was Su Ce's Mohist armor, without any surprises, he should also inherit the same temperament of the Martial Order.

In the eyes of these martial artists whose brains were smaller than their fists, would an iron-blooded man like himself, who viewed money as dirt and loyalty as his core, not be worthy of respect?!

"Master Ma, I am truly a motherfucking genius—no, a ghostly genius!"

Just as Lord Ma was gloating, the subtle sound of scraping armor plates suddenly reached his ears. He squinted to look, only to see with horror that a massive palm had already extended before him, instantly scaring his soul out of his body.

"You're actually going to strike? Spare this lowly one, another hit and I will truly fall apart!"

Looking at this agonizingly howling Mohist armor before him, the Master of Chi could not help but burst into a wry laugh. "Alright, stop howling. I am no ghost-killing demon; how could I possibly kill you over a single insult?"

"That's good, that's good."

Lord Ma looked up at this massive Mohist armor whose physique completely exceeded the norm—whose crotch line alone was almost as high as himself—and still did not dare to set his heart at ease.

The Master of Chi looked Lord Ma up and down, asking, "A divine tool?"

"Yes." Lord Ma nodded meekly.

"Which year did you become a ghost?"

"The tenth year of Longwu."

The Master of Chi said in surprise, "So early? Then by count, your age is greater than mine!"

"Merely living in vain."

Lord Ma shook his head, causing the armor plates that were already on the verge of shattering to fly in all directions, and said repeatedly, "Furthermore, according to the internal rules of us ghosts, we only judge by rank and do not look at age, so you are still the senior."

"Since you became a ghost so early, and a divine tool at that, how come I never saw you within the Mohist Order before?"

"Though small-fry Ma became a ghost early, transforming into armor is only a matter of recent years. By that time, you had already left the Empire's mainland and rarely returned home, so it is normal that you haven't seen me."

"So you mean to say you stayed in the Ghostly Realm for decades?" The Master of Chi was slightly shocked.

Generally speaking, after a new ghost was born, it would not take long before it was chosen by the Mohist Order, placed into a Mohist armor, and brought back to the mortal world.

This summons was usually impossible to refuse, which was the price a ghost had to pay to live once more.

Although ghosts that could become divine tools possessed a certain uniqueness, a veteran ghost like Lord Ma, who stayed in the Ghostly Realm for decades upon arrival, was someone the Master of Chi was meeting for the first time.

In a bashful tone, Lord Ma said with shame, "Actually... I am rather introverted. The relatively simple and quiet environment of the Ghostly Realm suits me better."

"Hmm, so that's how it is."

The five fingers of the Master of Chi's right hand closed one by one, the sharp screech of scraping armor plates making Lord Ma's entire body shudder.

"This mortal world is too noisy, so I might as well just send you back to the Ghostly Realm."

Lord Ma's voice trembled: "Didn't we agree not to kill? How can you go back on your word?"

"Let me tell you a story. Back when I was still in the Mohist Order, a Mohist armor lied to deceive me. After I discovered it, guess what happened to her in the end?"

The Master of Chi said to himself, "I smashed her head with a single punch, and then swallowed her core. The flavor was better than any male Mohist armor I've ever eaten, quite chewy."

"I didn't leave the Ghostly Realm because of a woman."

Lord Ma spoke rapidly, the red light in his eye flashing in short bursts.

The Master of Chi said disdainfully, "Offending a single woman made you afraid to this extent?"

"No."

Lord Ma looked up at the sky, breathing a desolate sigh: "A crowd of them."

"There is a female faction that bands together within the Mohist Order? How come I didn't know?"

"Not a faction, but individuals. They are distinctly different fireworks, yet equally magnificent."

The Master of Chi fell silent for a long time, then slowly asked, "Then why did you become a Mohist armor again?"

"Because there are also many female ghosts within the Ghostly Realm."

A simple explanation, yet it made the light within the Master of Chi's eyes flash incessantly.

"Did that woman commit a grave error?"

Lord Ma suddenly spoke, his voice sounding exceptionally deep and solemn.

The Master of Chi froze: "Who?"

"The person who lied to you. Did she breach your bottom line?"

The Master of Chi smiled and said, "That wouldn't be the case."

"Then you shouldn't have killed her."

Lord Ma spoke word by word, an inspiring aura actually rising from his battered torso.

"Then what should I have done?"

"Influence her with love!"

"And what if she cannot be influenced?"

"Then bed her into submission!"

Lord Ma said solemnly, "All conflicts of love and hatred, in the face of overwhelming firepower, can only dissolve into waves of desire."

"Speaking to me like this, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

A palpable murderous intent swept down, crushing Lord Ma's body.

"If heaven had feelings, heaven too would grow old; the righteous path of the mortal world is full of vicissitudes."

Lord Ma gave a light laugh: "Though thousands of people stand against me, I shall go forward."

The massive dark shadow slowly pressed down, and the Lord of Chi no longer looked down upon Lord Ma from his lofty height, but crouched before him instead, asking in a gentle tone, "What was your pseudonym in the Divine Weapon Forum?"

Lord Ma was still immersed in his own tragic and heroic martyrdom at that moment, completely oblivious to the other’s anomaly, and answered loudly by sheer instinct, "A fine question. I do not change my name when I travel, nor do I alter my surname when I sit. I am precisely the one who is as handsome and elegant as Pan An, whose brilliance outshines the blooming pear tree over the begonia flowers—"

Before he could finish, the Lord of Chi suddenly cut in, "Zhou Botong?"

"Huh?" Lord Ma froze instantly. "How did you know?"

"Idol, it really is you?!"

Idol? What on earth was that?

Listening to the ecstatic cry before him, Lord Ma was momentarily at a loss.

"It is me, 'Eastern Carnal'! We interacted within the Realm of Clear Ghosts, do you not remember me?"

The Lord of Chi excitedly poked his own chest, and the explosive boom of the air being crushed almost extinguished the red light in Lord Ma’s eyes.

"Eastern Japan?"

"It is Carnal! I am 'Eastern Carnal', one of the four die-hard followers under your command: 'Eastern Carnal, Western Wretched, Southern Dissolute, and Northern Lewd'!"

As if struck by lightning, Lord Ma stood rooted to the ground, motionless, and only after a long silence did he speak in a trembling voice, "It is you, kid?"

"It is me! You have not shown your face in the Divine Weapon Forum for so long, and I was constantly worried whether you had encountered some danger. I was even planning to investigate at the Juzi Hall. I never expected you to come to the Japanese District."

The Lord of Chi complained, "You should have said something in the Divine Weapon Forum earlier. I still have some say in this little piece of land. With me protecting you, how could these lowlifes have beaten you into such a state?"

I fucking never expected that among those perverts who wail and howl under my accounts of courtesan-scouting all day long, there would be a figure like you!

"Actually, I was doing alright, and I wasn't beaten that badly..."

Lord Ma murmured, but a furious shout suddenly erupted before him, and the sudden gale knocked his weakened body over.

"Liang Jianfeng, you truly do not know what is good for you!"

The Lord of Chi's figure appeared beside Li Jun like a flash of light, his outstretched palm gripping a slender flying sword.

Sizzle!

The fire at the tail of the sword was still spurting frantically, attempting to pierce the forehead that was mere inches away.

Yet no matter how it struggled, it could not advance half a fraction of an inch.

Rip!

The five fingers of the Lord of Chi crushed down, and this Taoist mechanism of an appallingly high grade twisted and shattered, utterly powerless to resist, turning into broken fragments of scrap iron that fell to the ground.

Without any tedious incantations to summon the gods, a brilliant, pale lightning bolt descended from the sky with extreme abruptness.

The entire summit of Mount Tenpo was instantly bleached a ghastly white.

Boom!

An incredibly violent thunderclap followed closely behind, yet it was drowned out by an even more ferocious and vast sound of a fist.

Sitting on the ground to the side, Lord Ma saw it with absolute clarity; just a moment ago, that descending heavenly lightning had been directly smashed to pieces by a casual punch from the Lord of Chi!

"With just this level of skill, you dare come to reclaim your honor before me?"

The Lord of Chi casually brushed away the dancing electrical arcs on his shoulder, his arrogant aura soaring straight into the heavens.

Above the peaks, the churning layers of clouds had at some point begun to swirl like a vortex in the ocean, with a brilliant star shining at its center.

As if sensing the provocation of the Lord of Chi, the rotation of the cloud vortex suddenly accelerated, the starlight flashed continuously, and streaks of lightning fell violently from the firmament, striking down upon the Lord of Chi.

"Now this is more like it!"

The Lord of Chi grinned savagely, and Mount Tenpo, which had only appeared slightly battered under the fierce battle between Li Jun and Arase Retsu, now shook violently beneath his feet.

Above his head, the thunder was as grim as a prison, yet the Lord of Chi rode alone against the storm, charging upward against the lightning!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amidst the thunder, a vast voice echoed through the sky.

"The wild armor rages, bringing chaos to the human world. Drag it to the Thunder Prison, cut it down inch by inch to separate its form! I summon the Heavenly Sovereign of Universal Transformation from the Nine Heavens Response Yuan!"

Lord Ma abruptly looked up at the sky, only to see the entire heavens, illuminated ghastly white by the lightning, churning like a boiling soup. The clouds rolled violently, and a massive heavenly official revealed its form.

A cloud crown bound its hair, lightning wrapped around its body, its armor was engraved with ink-dyed Qilin, and the golden whip in its palm swung tens of thousands of feet of thunder.

The orthodox deity of the Thunder Department, shrouded in wind and thunder, rushed out of the clouds, pressing straight down upon the Lord of Chi who had already smashed the Thunder Prison apart!

Boom!

Accompanied by a tremendous muffled crash, the wind and clouds instantly surged, obscuring Lord Ma's vision; he could only faintly discern two colossal entities colliding fiercely, engaged in a slaughter amidst the clouds and sky.

"Fierce, too fierce."

Lord Ma stared blankly at this terrifying display of light and shadow in the sky, murmuring to himself.

Scenes like this, he had only ever seen in the Yellow Millet Dreamscape before.

Boom!

Yet another deafening thunderclap rang out, and Lord Ma was horrified to find that the majestic vortex of the sea of clouds had suddenly collapsed and scattered.

The stars hid behind the clouds, not daring to reveal a single glint of light, and the dispelled night took the opportunity to stain the firmament once more.

The fierce battle ended as abruptly as it had broken out at the very beginning.

The night wind carried a faint, indistinct scream, blowing past the dull red eyes within the helmet.

Lord Ma instinctively looked down, only to see that the Lord of Chi, who had been rampaging across the sky, had already returned to the mortal realm, his palm squeezing a charred corpse that could only faintly be recognized as human.

"This is..."

The Lord of Chi casually threw the corpse at his feet and said flatly, "Him? Liang Jianfeng, just an ordinary Taoist Sequence from Mount Qingcheng."

"You call this ordinary?"

Lord Ma raised his hand and pointed above his head, his tone filled with utter astonishment.

"His seat among the Earth Immortals of the White Jade Capital is at the very bottom. I have killed plenty who are stronger than him, so of course he is ordinary. However, this Taoist was quite bold. Old Su had clearly warned him, yet he not only failed to get lost immediately, but actually dared to sneak into Osaka City, wanting to stealthily salvage some face to report back."

The Lord of Chi waved his hand, saying carelessly, "Just a small interlude, not important at all compared to our reunion."

For the first time in his life, Lord Ma felt that a dignified Earth Immortal of the Taoist Sequence was so insignificant before him.

A surge of pride welled up in his mind, causing Lord Ma's very soul to tremble.

"Sure enough, fucking knowledge is power..."

Lord Ma swayed as he stood up, looking out at the city below the mountain which had already returned to tranquility. In the center of the brilliant lights, a patch of pitch black left behind by the burning flames was exceptionally jarring.

It was finally over.

Lord Ma raised his hand and patted the knee of the Lord of Chi beside him, saying softly, "Ah Carnal, go and carry that useless thing Little Li on your back. The matter here is resolved, and it is time for us to return to Inuyama City."

The Lord of Chi nodded, then suddenly asked, "Right, there is also a comatose Buddhist Sequence over there."

"Leave that one to me."

"Then when will you teach me how to translate theory into practice?"

"Did you bring money? I will take you for a practical operation first."

"I never use money in the Japanese District."

“That’s a bad habit, you know. A-Yin, you’ll have to break yourself of it.”

“Why?”

“In the collision of hearts, force is merely the basest of means. Only coin is the shortcut straight to the soul, the sweet dew that washes away the mud, the sovereign remedy that cures the heart’s agony!”

“What about love?”

“You haven’t even fathomed the character for ‘affection’—what qualification have you to speak of ‘love’? A-Yin, aiming too high is a cardinal sin. Remember that?”

“Remembered!”

Meanwhile, in a side courtyard of the Inuyama Castle Pacification Commissioner’s Office.

“The matter at Osaka Castle is concluded. Word has just arrived.”

Yang Baize’s fist clenched suddenly, his voice low: “How did it go?”

“Akechi Haruhide and Tokugawa Hiroyuki, locked in their symbiotic struggle, perished together with that Takamagahara in Toyomi Enkyo’s self-destruction. As for Huang Shiran, he was struck dead atop Mount Tenpo.”

The voice issued from a clump of darkness in the corner of the room, untouched by light.

“And your losses?”

“Light wounds and heavy wounds both, but by great fortune, no one died.”

“Excellent!”

Yang Baize expelled a long, turbid breath. His taut features finally relaxed, his whole body sagging with relief as he slumped into his chair, limp as a ragdoll.

“Though the Wokou affair is settled, the coming storms have only just begun. Now is not the time to let your guard down, Vice Commissioner Yang.”

The voice was cold, calm, devoid of a shred of emotion.

“I understand.”

Yang Baize straightened his spine, brows knitted tight: “Wang Changting missed by a hair this time, but with Akechi Haruhide turned to ash, his evidence of collusion has vanished into smoke. To move against him now… we’ll likely have to wait until Yan Jun and the others recover, then plan for the long term.”

“Under the same roof, he won’t give you the time to plan.”

No sooner had the words fallen than the door was pushed open.

Wang Changting strode in, his gaze sweeping past the stern-faced Yang Baize before settling on that clump of shadow in the corner.

“You must be Commander Xie, I presume?”

*Click-clack.*

A wheelchair rolled from the shadows. The man seated within wore white hair loose about his shoulders; his handsome features held not a trace of blood.

Xie Bi’an narrowed his eyes as if shunning the light, his black-and-white pupils fixed on Wang Changting.

“Xie Bi’an, Commander of the Inuyama Castle Embroidered Uniform Guard, pays respects to Commissioner Wang.”

“Xu Zhun, pays respects to Lord Wang.”

The gray-bearded old clerk stood silently behind Yang Baize, his gaze sharp as a blade.

In an instant, the cramped little room churned with hidden currents.