Chapter 534: Few Are Awake, Many Are Foolish (3)

Chapter 534: Few Awaken, Many Grovel (Part Three)

The Jian’ai Institute, Interrogation Room.

"Ao Hu. A fourth-rank close-combat support-type Mo-Armor. You lingered within the Ghost-Manifest Realm for over twenty years before choosing to leave it and manifest into the mortal world during the year the Five Academies fractured. Since then, you have bound yourself to three consecutive Mo-Order Masters via the Armor-Master Covenant. Currently, you are assigned to the Mobile Guard of the Central Academy Elder Council."

"On the fifteenth of June, in the twelfth year of Jiaqi, a massacre erupted at the Datong Street Earth-Dragon Station. A fully structured investigation squad was slaughtered down to the last man. We found shards of your armor chassis at the scene. What do you have to say to that?"

Ao Hu was confined within an interrogation chair, enveloped in a woven net of crackling electric currents. Tendrils of lightning, thin as cow hair, continuously seeped through the seams of his armor plates and drove deep into his body.

This torture apparatus, developed by the Feigong Academy, was designed specifically for Mo-Armors. Should Ao Hu make the slightest movement, the surging current would instantly obliterate his Mo-Armor core.

"Does it make a difference whether I speak or not?" Ao Hu said placidly.

"It seems you know our Jian’ai Institute well."

The black-robed man, who had introduced himself as Li Su, Chief of the Eighth Major Crimes Division of the Jian’ai Institute, gave a contemptuous smile. He pulled up a chair and sat directly opposite Ao Hu.

"Whether you speak or not truly carries no meaning. The moment you openly resisted investigation at the staging grounds, your fate was sealed. In a short while, you will be sent to the Jiezang Institute. They will dismantle and reassemble your armor chassis to serve as a vessel for the descent of a new Ghost-Manifest. Think of it as salvaging waste."

Li Su leaned forward slightly, staring intently into the pair of dark, mechanical eyes before him, hoping to catch a flicker of terror or dread.

The result disappointed him immensely. Ao Hu’s gaze remained as calm as ever, devoid of any emotional ripple.

"Unafraid of death, are we? Splendid."

Li Su’s expression abruptly turned grim, his voice growing cold. "I have seen plenty of Ghost-Manifests like you. I only hope you can remain this stubborn in a few moments."

"The Mo-Armor standing beside you just now, his name is Qing Si, isn't it? If I remember correctly, the time since he manifested into the mortal world shouldn't exceed five years? By the reckoning of you Ghost-Manifests, he is still a child, isn't he?"

Li Su leaned back, a mocking smirk on his face. "Do you think Qing Si can face life and death as fearlessly as his Brother Hu?"

"He has absolutely nothing to do with what happened at the Datong Street Earth-Dragon Station."

A trace of fury finally crept into Ao Hu’s tone.

"Whether he does or not is for me to decide, not you." A satisfied smile bloomed across Li Su’s face.

He shook his head gently, raising a single finger in front of Ao Hu, and lowered his voice. "Within the Central Academy, who gets to live and who deserves to die has always been the sole prerogative of our Jian’ai Institute to adjudicate. If you want to keep playing the tough guy before me, so be it. But I will soak your bones in their blood until they turn to mush, ensuring you can never stand straight again. On this, I give you my word."

The clamorous lightning crackled in the air. Ao Hu’s straightened posture pulled the enveloping net of electricity taut, and the metallic stench of scorched armor plating began to spread throughout the room.

"I was indeed present at the Datong Street Earth-Dragon Station—"

"Stop!"

Li Su cut Ao Hu off directly. "It seems you have forgotten what I just said. Whether you confess or deny it no longer matters."

"So, I must die regardless?"

"We are both men of understanding. Why continue to play the fool?"

Losing all interest in speaking in riddles, Li Su brought his face close to Ao Hu, locking eyes with him across the shimmering curtain of electricity.

"I simply want to break you until you die. What can you possibly do about it?"

Ao Hu stared at the posturing Li Su before him and suddenly laughed. "A biting dog does not bark, and spouting these fierce words won't win you back your dignity. I advise you to first handle the tasks your superiors handed down to you, lest you lose your own life before I even lose mine."

A profound chill descended upon the interrogation room. Li Su’s cheeks twitched violently, a savage malice gathering across his features.

"Ao Hu, if you still wish to live, there is only one path left for you."

Li Su roared in fury, "Name your accomplices!"

"What accomplices?" Ao Hu asked with a faint, mocking smile.

"Cut the nonsense! Naturally, the traitors who, like you, intend to rebel!"

"We are not traitors."

Ao Hu’s voice grew abruptly ice-cold. "The Mo-Order does not belong solely to you craftsmen. We, too, are masters of the Central Academy!"

"You?"

Hearing these utterly absurd words, Li Su could not help but burst into a sneer. "You are nothing but tools whose worth is dictated by 'rank,' yet you vainly lose yourselves in delusions of playing human? Who do you think you are?"

The moment his words fell, the lights inside the interrogation room died without warning, and even the azure arc-lightning vanished into nothingness.

"What is happening?"

While Li Su was left dazed, he was startled to see a pair of blood-red eyes slowly ignite within the darkness.

"The Ghost-Manifests are not tools, nor do we need to learn to be human. We were humans to begin with. Replacing flesh with steel, embedding our souls within armor, we are true and proper human beings. As for who I am..."

The pupils within Li Su’s eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks. His body instinctively recoiled backward, yet he still failed to evade the ferocious gale rushing at his face.

"Ghost-Manifest Warrior Regiment, Order Four Gallant, Ao Hu!"

Thud!

Li Su’s body crashed into the wall of the interrogation room like a flying cannonball. The indentation where his face had been was hair-raising to behold, and his corpse was embedded into the structure in a twisted, mangled posture.

Riiip!

The heavy door of the interrogation room was violently torn open by Ao Hu. In the pitch-black corridor outside, the sounds of gunfire and heavy artillery rose and fell everywhere.

"Brother Hu, all defensive measures within the Jian’ai Institute have fallen into a state of total paralysis. The localized jamming of the Shanhe Ward has also been activated."

A Mo-Armor ran over, reporting the latest intelligence while handing a heavy combat blade to Ao Hu.

"Notify the brothers to hurry up and get things done!"

Ao Hu reached out to grasp the blade, stepping forward directly toward the internal detention sector located beneath the Jian’ai Institute.

The Mo-Order of the Jian’ai Institute, caught completely by surprise, was utterly incapable of resisting this pack of wolf-and-tiger-like close-combat Mo-Armors. The dying shrieks of the defenders were rendered almost imperceptible beneath the resounding clangs of clashing armor plates.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the entire Mo-Order garrisoning the detention sector was slaughtered to the last man.

The sealed doors of the prison cells were blown open one after another. The prisoners confined within stared blankly at the swaying, crimson eyes before them, seemingly unable to process what had just occurred.

There were sixty-five cells in total within the Jian’ai Institute. Most of those detained were Mo-Order members dissatisfied with the conduct of the Central Academy, while a small fraction consisted of Mo-Armors who had not yet been transferred to the Jiezang Institute for dismantlement.

From the day these men and armors entered the Jian’ai Institute, none had ever expected to leave alive.

Now, the cell doors symbolizing freedom had finally been flung open. Returning to their senses, they scrambled and competed to rush out.

"Everyone, the time for blood to repay blood has come!"

Standing at the center of the detention sector, Ao Hu spoke in a resonant voice, "Those who wish to follow us and seek vengeance, mark your left arm with red. Those who have lost their courage, seek your own way to survive!"

Leaving those words behind, Ao Hu did not pause for a second, turning on his heel to march outward. As he strode forward, his left hand clenched into a fist and raised his arm; the lacquer paint on his armor plate flaked away, revealing a streak of crimson beneath!

Buzz...

An invisible shriek rippled outward. Four Mo-Armors, who were currently executing a curved charge forward, suddenly looked like insects trapped in amber; their rapid movements ground to an abrupt halt, and their suddenly paralyzed armor chassis pitched forward and tumbled under the force of inertia.

Seeing the roaring torrent of explosive rounds about to wash over them and turn them into a pile of shattered debris, a Mo-Armor bearing a heavy shield rushed forward at the critical juncture. Enduring the hail of bullets, he threw his compromised comrades back toward the rear.

Among this squad of rescuing defensive-type Mo-Armors was none other than Jin Shou, the claw-scarred Mo-Armor who had stood beside Ao Hu not long ago.

"Damn the Armor-Master Covenant, those bastards..."

Kneeling on one knee, Jin Shou cursed in a furious tone. The invisible ripple from before was precisely the shockwave generated by a ruptured Armor-Master Covenant. It bypassed the physical structure of the Mo-Armor and acted directly upon the consciousness of the Ghost-Manifest.

The swearing Jin Shou still felt a lingering dread in his heart. He could not help but secretly rejoice that his own Armor-Master had already been neutralized by the Ghost-Manifest Warrior Regiment beforehand. Otherwise, he would likely be paralyzed on the ground right now, waiting for a pathetic death.

Thud!

A dull impact shattered the stray thoughts in Jin Shou’s mind. The arm holding the shield jerked violently, and his knee, pressed against the metallic floor, was pushed backward by the force of the impact, grinding out a piercing, sharp screech.

He could no longer tell how many bullets he’d blocked, and the heavy shield he held was visibly cracked, allowing the distant flashes of gunfire to be faintly seen.

We can’t hold out any longer!

Just as the Golden Beast gritted his teeth and held on, another invisible tremor from the Ming Ghost’s consciousness rose up in his heart.

But this time the tremor did not come from the enemy formation, but rose up behind the Golden Beast and swept forward.

Huang Liang-type ink armor? Our people?!

The Golden Beast turned around suddenly and saw a carefree and unruly smile, and a woman with long red hair standing behind him.

“Looking at the entire Yin-Yang order, I guess only Brother Zou would do such a thing. This road is getting narrower and narrower as we go.”

Wherever the impact went, the gunfire stopped abruptly.

The men and armor guarding the Elder Council’s guard camp lowered their heads in unison, as if they had fallen asleep.

“Charge with me!”

Shen Lan wore a green ink armor, holding two hand cannons in both hands, and charged at the front like a roaring land dragon.

“Charge!”

Although I don’t know where these two people came from, as long as the ink armor they wear has a red left arm, that’s enough.

The Golden Beast’s right leg, which was kneeling on the ground, suddenly exerted force, and his body bounced up, his left hand flipped out a cannon barrel, and mercilessly fired at the awakened enemies in the distance.

“Blow these bastards to pieces!”

The previously suppressed melee ink armor troops, who couldn’t raise their heads, all held swords and knives in their hands, and the roars coming from their armored bodies merged into a deafening wave of anger, with the green figure in front as the arrowhead, and they fiercely charged into the Elder Council’s guard formation.

In the middle courtyard, where most of the defensive means and creations were paralyzed, white blades and guns were now the decisive means!

Boom!

The explosion wave directly flipped the Golden Beast over, and the heavily damaged heavy shield, together with the arm behind it, was burned into molten iron on the ground.

Bullet after bullet hit his helmet and back armor, and the heavily wounded Golden Beast could only try to move his body to protect his core.

“Traitor, die!”

An angry roar and a whistling sound came from above, and the Golden Beast looked up in shock, his eyes already filled with a dead, cold light.

Clang!

A series of sparks exploded in front of him, and the blade that was about to cut off the Golden Beast’s head was firmly gripped by a palm.

“Hmm?”

The ink order holder who held the knife was startled, and was about to draw his sword and retreat, when a dagger flashed and pierced his face, breaking through his face armor.

“Can you continue?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Then don’t stop. At least not tonight.”

Qing Yi twisted his wrist and pulled out the dagger from the kneeling corpse, and continued to charge forward without stopping.

The Golden Beast looked at Qing Yi’s departing back with a complex expression. This young man was no longer the one he knew.

Or maybe he should call him Dragon Sect Master now.

A rainstorm covered Lion Mountain, and the beast’s head sat and watched the clouds.

“Brother Liu, this time I have even taken out my old savings to cooperate with your plan. Isn’t that generous?”

Guo Qiu no longer looked as miserable as he did at the foot of Lion Mountain before. Now he wore a simple green robe, sitting high under the ancestor’s statue, and asked slowly.

“Brother Liu, I will remember this kindness you showed this time.”

Liu Tu thanked him with a handshake and lowered his posture very low.

“No need to remember. The situation has changed dramatically. Today we sit and talk, and tomorrow we may draw our swords and fight each other.”

Guo Qiu laughed: “So I think it’s best for us to settle this now. Let’s talk about the future later. What do you think, Brother Liu?”

The Taoist’s shrewd and petty appearance, to put it nicely, was called cautious, and to put it badly, it was short-sighted.

Liu Tu smiled nonchalantly, and then said: “Brother Guo is indeed straightforward. Since that’s the case, I will now let Liu’s family and the people of the Central Court withdraw from Huizhou Prefecture, and give this basic territory to Guanyin Temple.”

“Brother Liu may have misunderstood. Our Taoist order is different from the Buddhist order. We always prefer quality over quantity when it comes to disciples. Why do we need so much basic territory?”

“What do you mean, Brother Guo? The territory of a prefecture was a condition we agreed on earlier.”

When Liu Tu heard this, he couldn’t help but frown, and secretly cursed in his heart that the other party was an ungrateful snake who was playing dirty tricks with him at this time, raising the price on the spot.

Guo Qiu picked up the teacup in front of him, used the bowl lid to scrape off the foam on the tea, and after pretending to sip it, he said calmly: “It’s not that I want to be a villain, but the pressure from above is too great, and I dare not disobey.”

Liu Tu laughed coldly in his heart, knowing that this was just Guo Qiu’s excuse.

If the Mao Shan sect really knew that he had interfered in the internal strife of the Central Court, he would not have the mood to bargain with him here.

“But this is indeed my fault first. How about this? Brother Liu, you lend me Guanyin Temple to take shelter from the storm, and I won’t hold it against you anymore. We’ll settle one thing at a time, and everyone will be clear. How about that?”

Liu Tu’s eyes flashed with an unusual light and asked: “What do you mean, Brother Taoist?”

“Like tonight, when the wind and rain are raging, Brother Liu is not sitting in the Liu clan to watch you perform, but is staying in my Guanyin Temple. That’s really unreasonable.”

Guo Qiu stared at the teacup in his hand and smiled slowly: “At first, I also couldn’t figure it out. After a lot of thinking, I finally realized something.”

“What is it?” Liu Tu asked in return.

Guo Qiu smiled but said nothing, only sighing: “The rich are as deep as the sea, and people’s hearts are as thin as paper. I’ve heard this saying many times before, but today I finally understood it. Compared to that, my small Guanyin Temple is much safer.”

“Haha ha ha.”

Liu Tu suddenly burst into laughter and said admiringly: “Brother Taoist hit the nail on the head. I admire you.”

Guo Qiu blinked: “Although I don’t often walk among humans, I can also understand human relationships while practicing Huang Liang.”

“Ah, understanding human relationships. Then let’s do as you said, settle the past, and discuss the future.”

Liu Tu laughed and said: “I wonder what the Taoists of Mao Shan want?”

“It’s simple.”

Guo Qiu’s eyes sparkled, and he spoke slowly: “Huang Liang’s authority.”

Liu Tu’s smile faded, and after a moment of contemplation, he said with a bitter smile: “Brother Guo, you’re giving me a huge problem.”

“How can this be a problem? This thing has no great use for the Confucian order. At most, it’s used to construct Huang Liang dreams, enter them to practice and experience, and recall the sages. On the contrary, I often feel pain when I think about these authorities being idle and wasted.”

“Some things can be dispensed with, but they cannot be without. You should understand this principle, Brother Taoist.”

“Times have changed.”

Guo Qiu said solemnly: “In the past, we had different positions, and it was natural for us to hold each other back. At that time, if I mentioned the word ‘authority’ in front of Brother Liu, it would be a humiliation for me. But now the situation is different. We may unite at any time and face the enemy together. If you give me authority, I’ll give you convenience, and we’ll each get what we need. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“This sounds familiar.”

Liu Tu said with a smile: “I remember that Brother Guo just said that our two families would have a fight?”

“Did I? I don’t remember saying that.”

Guo Qiu laughed: “But after all, whether it’s an enemy or a friend is often just a matter of a thought. Brother Liu is going to take over the Liu clan, so he shouldn’t be stingy with a little authority, right?”

“The Huang Liang authority of the Confucian order must be held by the clan master himself. This is a rule established by the new Donglin Party, and no one can violate it.”

Liu Tu shook his head, exasperated. “I truly have the heart but lack the strength,” he said.

“Is there truly no solution?”

“There is no solution.”

Guo Qiu sighed, and the lid of the bowl in his left hand clattered onto the teacup with a sharp sound. “In that case, I won’t force you. Of course, it’s currently a time of bitter wind and rain outside, and I’m not a heartless person, so I won’t drive you away, Mr. Liu. But my little temple’s eaves are narrow and can’t block too much wind and rain, so I’ll have to recall the Yellow Turban strongmen I sent to the central courtyard to ensure your safety, Mr. Liu.”

Liu Tu frowned and asked, “Guo Taoist, is there truly no room for negotiation?”

“Didn’t we already discuss this?” Guo Qiu exclaimed, looking surprised.

Liu Tu said coldly, “Rules are dead, but people are alive.”

“You’re indeed a talented scholar from the Confucian family, a legitimate heir. I knew you, Mr. Liu, weren’t the kind of pedantic person!”

“But that’s still not as good as your Taoist skills, Taoist.”

Liu Tu asked, “I wonder how much authority you need, Taoist.”

Guo Qiu smiled. “Not much. Being able to help me advance the ranking of earth immortals in the White Jade Capital by ten places would be enough. This level of authority shouldn’t be a problem for you, Mr. Liu.”

Boom!

Before Guo Qiu could finish speaking, a loud explosion suddenly erupted outside the main hall.

Clang.

Guo Qiu shook his palm, and the teacup in his hand fell, spilling hot tea all over his crotch.

“Liu Tu, how did you get yourself into this disaster?!”

Guo Qiu exclaimed in shock, but saw that Liu Tu was completely ignoring him and standing up to look outside the hall, muttering to himself.

“Has it come to me? Is this the way you chose to break the deadlock?”