Chapter 708: Raising the Sword to Slay the Lord

Chapter 708: Raising the Blade to Slaughter a Monarch

"Chief, what exactly are we waiting for here?"

Amidst the night scenery of Chengdu Prefecture, a cold rain fell without pause.

A man concealing a sharp weapon beneath his clothes looked utterly bewildered, raising his eyes to peer in all directions at the completely ordinary street.

"Waiting for what? Waiting for ghosts!"

Fan Wujiu raised his hand to rub the freshly inked tattoo on his neck, coldly spitting out the words.

The vicious beast Yazi, treading upon flames and clutching a blade in its jaws.

This was the mark of the Muddy Water Gown Brothers, the underworld gang of the Shu region, and a tradition that could never be cast aside.

"Ghosts?"

The man muttered the word in repetition, then burst into a sneering laugh.

"And here I thought it was some kind of formidable opponent, turns out it's just some of those Yellow Sorghum ghosts."

"Not just some, but a multitude. I’m afraid there are more than a kid like you could ever count. Are you scared now?"

"Scared?"

Mimicking Fan Wujiu's gesture, the man raised his hand and slapped the tattoo on his neck, grinning as he asked, "Can they be hacked to death?"

"They can."

"Then that's all that matters! As long as they can be killed, I’m not afraid of running out of them to slaughter!"

Fan Wujiu went silent for a brief moment, then asked, "You don't want to ask why we're killing them?"

"Chief, you've already given the word. If I still had to ask why, what kind of Gown Brother would I be?"

Hearing this, Fan Wujiu turned his head. Behind him, a line of silent figures stood within the curtain of rain. Meeting his gaze, they all revealed deeply understanding smiles.

Blades in hand, heads hanging from their waists. They were all reckless brutes who recognized brotherhood rather than reason.

Fan Wujiu pursed his lips, as though he had finally tasted some of the flavor hidden within the two words 'Gown Brother.'

"Then all of you bastards hold your ground, don't lose face for our Muddy Water Gown Brothers!"

Suddenly, the pedestrians on the distant street stopped in their tracks simultaneously, and their opened umbrellas slipped from their hands one after another.

Their hair, instantly soaked through by the cold rain, clung tightly to their foreheads. As one, they turned their heads to glare at Fan Wujiu, their throats twitching as they let out eerie, sinister laughs.

The bizarre scene exuded a bone-chilling coldness, causing even the drifting wind and rain to freeze for an instant.

"Ghostly voices and ghostly airs, a picture of looking for death."

Fan Wujiu took the first step, charging into the curtain of rain, both wrists flicking as blade and gun came into his hands.

The Xiuchun blade dragged against the ground, while the Doyan Musket was hoisted onto his shoulder.

"Follow me, slaughter this pack of Yellow Sorghum ghosts!"

Within the long street that spanned several miles from north to south, ghostly shadows crowded shoulder to shoulder. Having just arrived in the mortal world, their eyes were filled with a tyrannical intent to kill; burning, killing, and plundering were their innate missions.

Men of fierce and formidable bearing continuously charged out from the streets and alleys, their neck tattoos looking like living creatures under the flickering neon lights, raising their heads to let out bloodthirsty roars.

A collision and clash between beasts and ghosts, without much build-up, erupted directly just like that in the rainy night.

Yet at the central position of this chaos, it was as calm as the eye of a storm.

Though the expressions of the ghosts gathered around this spot were ferocious, the look they directed at the man was filled with a terror as if they had encountered their natural enemy.

"Separated for half a year in the blink of an eye..."

The throng of ghosts instantly parted to form a pathway, and a figure slowly walked forward along with a greeting spoken in a smiling voice.

The newcomer, whether in dress, adornment, appearance, or demeanor, was exactly identical to Zou Sijiu.

At this moment, the two stood facing each other, like two mirror images, making it impossible to tell the true from the false.

Zhan Shun nodded slightly and smiled, "Should we first say, long time no see?"

"It's not a long time no see. To be precise, I have already been waiting for you for a long time."

Zou Sijiu thrust his hands into his pockets, tilting his head up to look down upon his surroundings with disdain: "Looking at this posture, you don't even need to enter the Yellow Sorghum Nether Ocean now?"

"The current Yellow Sorghum has no great difference from reality; entering or not entering is all the same."

Hearing this, Zou Sijiu nodded, sighing from the bottom of his heart, "Indeed, to wait for today, you could be considered to have spared no pains."

Zhan Shun's expression was filled with emotion as he smiled, "It was truly not easy, but it seems everything was still worth it."

"The dust has not yet settled. Isn't it too early to say it's worth it now?"

"The great trend has already formed. Even if there are still minor interludes, it cannot change the result."

Zou Sijiu raised an eyebrow: "Is this the confidence that little emperor Zhu Yiyan gave you?"

"No, it is the already unstoppable great trend of Yellow Sorghum!"

Zhan Shun raised his right hand, his five fingers splayed open: "Can you not feel this omnipresent desire? Greed, anger, ignorance, the inability to obtain what one seeks, the resentment of being paired with the loathed, the sorrow of parting from the loved—these are all anchors of the dreamscape, and also the food that I can wantonly devour. Every minute and every second, I can feel myself continuously growing stronger."

The corner of Zhan Shun's mouth hooked into a trace of a smile: "In the past, I only wanted to break free from my shackles, to no longer degenerate into a place for others to vent their desires. But now I suddenly feel that perhaps becoming the monarch of this mortal world would be far more interesting than dominating a dreamscape."

"A ghost's heart is not satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Even a Yellow Sorghum ghost thinks itself worthy of dreaming to be a human emperor?"

Zou Sijiu sneered in counter-question: "Zhan Shun, you can't naively think that Zhu Yiyan's authority would be so easy to take, right?"

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. You people of the Ming will never escape the four words 'self-righteousness'; all of you want to drive the wolf to swallow the tiger, to be the final winner."

Zhan Shun shook his head and laughed despite himself: "I admit, the Vertical and Horizontal Sequence possesses a uniquely endowed advantage in manipulating 'Status.' But as long as I obtain all the authority, Yellow Sorghum can thoroughly overlap with the real world, and even his Zhu family's 'Status' will merely be a thing in my bag. At that time, who do you think will be the driven hungry wolf, and who will be the devoured fierce tiger?"

"So that was the kind of idea you were hitting upon. No wonder you had the guts to bite Zhu Yiyan's bait. Therefore..."

Zou Sijiu's voice paused, then he suddenly raised his volume, glaring as he shouted, "Zhan Shun, are you motherfuckers going to surrender, or not?"

His imposing manner was magnificent, making the crowd of ghosts cower in fear.

"Hand over your authority. When this Master Zou advances to Rank Two of the Yin-Yang Sequence, I can consider granting you a dreamscape to live out your old age. Otherwise, let alone stealing the Zhu family's Status, after today, you won't even have the qualification to be a ghost."

Zhan Shun was taken aback, the expression on his face immediately becoming exceptionally strange.

As if he had encountered a humiliating insult, Zhan Shun's tone turned icy cold: "Zou Sijiu, these words should not be spoken by you."

"What's the matter, do you feel like Master Zou stole your lines, and feel very displeased?"

Zou Sijiu's standing posture was arrogant, his blustering manner overbearing: "Don't treat yourself like some villain. You're not a good ghost, and Master Zou isn't a fucking good person either. Whoever has the bigger fist should be the one to speak words of persuasion to surrender today. This is the rule, understand?"

"A fine rule indeed."

Zhan Shun laughed out of extreme rage: "Then I am truly curious, what are you going to use to rid yourself of Zhang Fengyue?"

Zou Sijiu said disdainfully, "I'm not that foolish boy Chen Qisheng. You're using these words to bluff me? If you still can't see what Old Man Zhang's true thoughts are, then call me Master Zou, and I can teach you."

"Even if you understand what he wants to do, do you think he can win?"

"That's why I say, the fake will always be fake. Even if the disguise is identical, he can never become real."

Zou Sijiu pulled both hands out of his pants pockets. At the tips of his hair strands, which had been disordered by the raindrops, a flame-like red light lit up, slowly saturating his hair.

"Who wins and who loses, do you think that matters to me?"

Zhan Shun frowned, his voice sinking: "Could it be that it doesn't matter?"

"Of course not," he said. "It's not important."

Zou Si-ji slowly stroked his temples, a proud smile on his face. "Killing you—that's what's important to me!"

Roar!

The mountain ape rose from the ground, his hands pounding his chest like a war drum, and he roared at the ghostly horde below, who looked like ants.

In the rain, a white-robed Buddha stood in the round shadow of the moon, holding up a sky that flowed like a dark sea.

Huangliang invaded the mortal world, and falsehood became reality.

A head of red hair burned like a fire in the air, and Zou Si-ji stood on the shoulders of the angry ape. "Finally, I can have a good fight in front of everyone in the mortal world. To be honest, I really want to thank you."

Zou Si-ji stretched his arms and clenched his fists, and a series of fierce figures appeared behind him one after another.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time—since forever, for that matter!"

Heavy rain in the south caused devastation, and heavy snow surrounded the city in the north.

At the top of a building modeled after the Golden Hall of Chongqing Prefecture, Li Jun sat cross-legged on the edge of the rooftop, holding a half-empty bottle of wine in his hand. His expressionless face stared at the mechanical hearts that gradually lit up in mid-air.

Forming an array, the pressure was like a mountain.

"Didn't Zhu Yi Yan come in person?"

Li Jun looked at Zhu Pingxu, who led the military formation, with a slightly disappointed tone.

"The Emperor has more important things to do now."

Upon hearing this, Li Jun couldn't help but sigh, raised his head, and drank the remaining wine in the bottle in one gulp, then threw the empty bottle away.

"Then..."

Li Jun tilted his head and sneered. "Just you?"

Zhu Pingxu nodded, his tone calm. "Just me."

"A bunch of soldiers who became soldiers three and four through the use of mechanical hearts?"

"I still want to try again."

The mechanical hearts began to hum and connect, resonating at the same frequency.

Golden flames burst out from Zhu Pingxu's chest, and the terrifying heat melted the howling wind and snow into a rolling fog.

The robe with dragon patterns turned to ashes in the golden flames, and in Zhu Pingxu's chest, where the mechanical bones intersected, a heart bathed in flames trembled incessantly.

Mechanical heart, thus a person.

Invisible ripples spread out, as if a command was being conveyed.

The soldiers who had gathered to form the array remained silent, and they bowed to Zhu Pingxu in unison, clasping their fists.

In the next moment, their bodies simultaneously disintegrated, and countless mechanical fragments fell like rain, as if they had sacrificed themselves.

The mechanical hearts, which contained the essence of the military order, however, had shed all their impurities in the golden flames, leaving only the pure flesh that the mechanical hearts had derived from themselves.

"In the hearts of the followers of this empire, military order has always been considered a substitute for martial order, a shortcut to make a quick profit, fit only to serve as a tiger's underling under the three religions, doing dirty work that cannot be shown on stage, and even being treated as a disposable pawn by the Confucian order."

Zhu Pingxu muttered to himself. "I have no intention of arguing whether this statement is right or wrong, nor do I want to elaborate on the gains and losses of that time."

Golden flames swept over hundreds of incomplete hearts, which surged back into Zhu Pingxu's body, and the decomposed flesh filled every inch of his mechanical body, merging into a huge and majestic body.

"I was originally from the world of strategy, but I was forced to take the path of military order. This was originally one of the characteristics of strategy, and there was nothing wrong with it. But in my heart, this act was tantamount to theft."

Zhu Pingxu's eyes were filled with golden light, shining like a god.

"So I want to prove to the military order of the world that there is only skill that is not good enough, and there is no order that is not good enough. This is also the responsibility that I, who have stolen the source of military order for so many years, should fulfill for them."

Zhu Pingxu clasped his fists and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Li Ge, for giving me this opportunity."

After witnessing all this, Li Jun nodded. "You're welcome. I just wanted to see how strong I am now."

"Worthy of being the source of martial order, indeed arrogant, hahaha!"

Zhu Pingxu burst into laughter, then suddenly raised his eyebrows and roared. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

Boom!

A black and red electric light exploded at the top of the building, causing the building to shake and almost collapse. The sound of the air being torn apart was like a thunderclap!

"Is military order killing people really inferior to martial order by half?"

Zhu Pingxu was full of wild and arrogant energy, his whole body boiling with golden flames, burning up to his fist.

At this moment, he was no longer the Zhu family prince who had changed his order for the sake of his family's foundation, but a true source of military order, who wanted to use his fists to fight for justice for his order!

"Come!"

Zhu Pingxu roared, clenched his fists, and rushed towards the black and red electric light that was rushing towards him!

Boom!

The flying frost in the sky was instantly wiped out, and the accumulated snow in the city rose into the sky at the same time.

The surging golden flames and the overwhelming fog, all the heroism and grandeur, were completely wiped out by one punch!

There was no pleasure in the triumphant gesture, only the bitterness of unfulfilled desire.

Standing on the rooftop, He Cangjia looked remotely at this earth-shattering but ultimately futile scene. His heart trembled, and the screaming genes in his body made it difficult for him to control himself.

After finally calming his shocked emotions, He Cangjia's face showed no excitement, but his gaze fell on the ground below the building.

The mechanical body fragments that had fallen earlier were now covered by the newly fallen snow, leaving no trace.

"There is no such thing as skill that is not good enough. It's just that people are like grass."

He Cangjia muttered to himself, as if the words were blown into the ears of the dying man by the wind.

"It is skill that is not good enough. It is absolutely not order that is not good enough."

Although his body was already badly damaged, Zhu Pingxu's expression remained resolute, without the slightest wavering.

"Li Jun, I haven't lost yet. This battle has just begun!"

As soon as the words fell, Zhu Pingxu could no longer contain the surging power in his body, and his body and the mid-air shattered.

In the splashing blood rain, a heart that seemed to have reached the ultimate sublimation dragged a golden flame tail and flew towards the distance at an incredible speed.

Boom!

After the Zhu Ming royal family chose to hide and conceal themselves, the royal palace, which had been dim and dark, suddenly became bright. Like a god pillar that reached the sky, it stood tall between heaven and earth.

The thick night sky was dispersed by the erupted thousand-meter-long brilliance, and golden electric arcs as thick as water buckets rushed into the sky, striking the sky and creating spider web-like cracks.

The rumbling sound was like the heavy breathing of a giant who had awakened.

At the top of the royal palace, a huge and despairing figure slowly stood up.

Two golden moons lit up, radiating an awe-inspiring light. This was the awakened military order king, who looked down at the rebels who attempted to assassinate him.

"After searching such a large area, it turns out that this is the Zhu family's trump card left here: a military order two."

Li Jun turned his wrist and shrugged, as if the previous punch hadn't completely loosened his limbs.

"Ma Ge."

"Hmm?"

A voice echoed back from the void.

“One of the second order should be worth a tune.”

Li Jun smiled.

In the next moment, red eyes appeared between his eyebrows, and dark golden armor enveloped his entire body.

“Then let’s go!”

A deep, aged voice bellowed in a rough, bold Shu dialect.

The mad sound erupted, and the thug raised his knife.

The kings to be slain today are these very ones!