Chapter 105: Realization Comes Late

Everyone had thought that Ye Xin’s charge had already reached its limit, that he could not possibly move any faster. Yet when he was only a dozen meters from the young man opposite him, the Boundless Heavenly Wolf beneath him leaped with all its might, tearing through the sky. Its speed actually increased once more, shooting toward the young man like a bolt of lightning.

At the same moment, Ye Xin finally struck. The Godslayer Blade carved a green curtain of light more than ten meters long through the air, overwhelming and unstoppable as it fell toward the front.

His blade light was filled with boundless slaughter, yet at the same time it was breathtakingly beautiful. Even though it would vanish in the blink of an eye, everyone who saw that strike would carry its image forever in their hearts.

Irresistible. Because their resolve had been shaken away, they all felt the same thing.

The young man opposite let out another furious roar. His will actually broke through Ye Xin’s suppression by force, and a ferocious tiger-shaped radiance burst across his body. Then the war spear in his hand met the blade light Ye Xin had sent down without the slightest hesitation.

Boom.

The tiger-shaped radiance was shattered by Ye Xin’s single slash, bursting into countless spraying points of light. The young man’s body was hurled backward, crashing through a tent, then bursting out the other side and tumbling tens of meters away into the mud. When he struggled to his feet, both his arms were already twisted out of shape. Though he still refused to yield and desperately tried to lift his war spear, the bones in his arms had been shaken to splinters. He could do nothing at all.

“Being able to block one of my strikes is already pretty good,” Ye Xin said lazily. “Bind them all. They may yet be useful.”

Hao Fei bared a savage grin and led several wolf riders forward, pinning the young man to the ground. The young man twisted with all his strength, roaring like a beast at the brink of death, but his meridians had been grievously damaged and both his arms were ruined by Ye Xin. He could not break free at all, and in the end was tied up like a dead dog.

Wen Rong, Shao Xue, and Shen Miao stood rooted to the spot. They were shaken for a long time, unable to recover their composure. If Ye Xin had not stood there with his blade across his body, still carrying a few traces of his old bearing, they would have thought that what had just happened was an illusion. Was that Ye Xin? That terrifying war general was Ye Xin?

Ye Ling’s reaction was fairly normal. She kept her eyes fixed on the corner of Ye Xin’s mouth, smiling very happily. The scene just now confirmed her earlier suspicions: Xue Baiqi and Hao Fei listened to her brother so obediently, and even Mo Yan, the leader of the Righteous Alliance, had been so well-behaved before him. That could only mean one thing: her brother’s strength must be greater than theirs. Today, at last, it could be confirmed. She had not guessed wrong.

The surviving soldiers of the Tiger Head Army were all bound. The instruments of torture in the Sky Crime Camp were exceedingly cruel, or else they would never have been able to cow such vicious men. Aside from ropes, the prisoners’ collarbones beneath their shoulders had been pierced with iron hooks. Two slender iron chains joined behind each prisoner’s back, then hung down another iron hook, which bored through a hole in the prisoner’s back and hooked onto the spine.

Ye Xin called this the Dragon Capturing Cord. After many trials, the key was the iron hook that latched onto the spine. If it were driven in elsewhere, the punishment would inflict severe injury, and the victim would die within days, making it impossible to achieve the purpose of deterrence. Only by piercing through the Qianyuan point would the wounds be least severe, with little impact on the body itself. Remove the iron hook and nurse the prisoner for a few months, and they would be as good as new.

Once bound by the Dragon Capturing Cord, a person was completely crippled and utterly unable to circulate primal power. Forcing oneself to exert power would only strain the spine, or even snap it outright.

The rabble had already been scattered and slain. Ye Xin had no intention of pursuing them, nor any time to clean the battlefield.

“Move out!” Ye Xin gave the order in a clear voice.

The wolf riders left the camp and raced onward along the narrow path. More than an hour later, they had already entered the territory of the Great Zhao Kingdom.

Ye Xin ordered a brief rest, while also sending Fu Shang and the others out to scout the surrounding area. Wen Rong and the others had not spoken for quite some time. Watching Ye Xin issue command after command from afar, Shao Xue could no longer hold back and whispered, “Xiao Ling, your brother has kept this from us so tightly...”

“He wasn’t really hiding anything...” Ye Ling said weakly. “After he discovered he could gather primal power, he practiced day and night, and his progress was like a river breaking its banks...”

“Pah!” Shao Xue was a little angry. “You’re still helping him make excuses? Do you think we’re all blind? Your brother’s combat strength is obviously already at the peak of the Pillar State!”

“Maybe... he’s already at the Grand Pillar State?” Shen Miao said with a bitter smile. “No wonder he dared set his sights on Zhuang Buxiu.”

“Grand Pillar State? How old is he?” Shao Xue could not believe it. Discovering that Ye Xin possessed the strength of the Pillar State’s peak had already been the limit of what she could accept.

“In truth, there isn’t much difference between the Grand Pillar State and the Pillar State in terms of strength, speed, or reaction,” Wen Rong said slowly. “It all depends on whether one has comprehended a killing technique, whether one can bring one’s combat strength to its maximum in an instant. Did you not notice? When Ye Xin charged at that fellow, only the few of us were nervous for him. The other wolf riders acted as though they saw nothing at all, because they understood that man was absolutely no match for Ye Xin.”

“Right. Only the few of us were the fools...” Shao Xue sighed.

At that moment, Ye Xin walked over with a smile. “What’s wrong with you all? Why so listless?”

If this had been the old Ye Xin, he would surely have earned a roll of the eyes from Wen Rong and the others. But now their feelings were complicated. First of all, they knew they ought to show him respect. Yet having been kept in the dark for so long, each of them felt somewhat uneasy inside.

“Was there someone very important to Zhuang Buxiu among the prisoners?” Shen Miao asked.

“Yes. That man is called Zhuang Shanyuan, the eldest legitimate grandson of Zhuang Buxiu. He represents the future hope of the Zhuang family,” Ye Xin said.

“We’re already in Great Zhao territory here, aren’t we? Why did we come here?” Shen Miao asked again.

“What do you think?” Ye Xin countered.

“If we captured Zhuang Shanyuan and then retreated, Zhuang Buxiu would think we had come for Zhuang Shanyuan all along, and that there was a conspiracy behind it. After all, Zhuang Buxiu is a veteran of many battlefields. He would not be so easily deceived,” Wen Rong said slowly. “If we keep advancing and infiltrate Great Zhao, Zhuang Buxiu will think our true target is Great Zhao itself. Attacking Old Dragon Pass would merely be something we did along the way. If we cannot take Old Dragon Pass, then we naturally have no way to break through. In that way, he will let down his guard, and at the very least he will never imagine that he himself is our real target.”

“Exactly. This is about steering Zhuang Buxiu’s thinking into our own logic,” Ye Xin said with a soft breath, smiling at Wen Rong. “No wonder they say you’re clever.”

“What am I worth?” Wen Rong shook her head with a苦笑. “At most I’m just a little slow to understand. The one who could devise such a layered scheme is the truly clever one.”

“With your experience, being a little slow to understand is already no easy thing,” Ye Xin said softly.

Wen Rong and the others exchanged a look. Their state of mind had changed. The same words could feel entirely different depending on who said them. If someone else had spoken thus to them, they would have taken it as humiliation. But when Ye Xin said it, they understood it was praise.

“But... do you really have confidence in dealing with Zhuang Buxiu?” Wen Rong asked.

“Provided he dares come, he’ll be dead for sure,” Ye Xin said.

* * * *

In the royal palace of Nine Cauldrons City in the Kingdom of David, the inner attendant called Little Fuzi stumbled into the rear garden. After searching for quite a while, he finally found an artificial hill. In front of it stood a table covered in dust and fallen leaves. Little Fuzi’s spirits suddenly lifted. He hurriedly brushed away the dust and leaves on the table, discovering a circular pattern carved at its very center.

He took a jade pendant from his breast and carefully placed it atop the pattern. Then the jade pendant sank on its own, perfectly merging with the design. In the next instant, the entire table began to emit a gentle glow.

Little Fuzi bowed respectfully and waited. But after nearly an hour, aside from the table radiating that soft light, nothing else appeared.

Forcibly steadying himself, Little Fuzi kept waiting. Another hour passed, and he finally could not bear the pressure any longer. He dropped to his knees with a thud and wailed aloud, “My lord... you said that once Nine Cauldrons City was in danger, I was to come here and listen for the heavenly revelation, but there is nothing... nothing at all... Pan Yuanshan’s Blood Mountain Legion has already approached Nine Cauldrons City... at the latest they’ll arrive by tomorrow evening... my lord... you left only two hundred palace guards. How could they possibly stop the Blood Mountain Legion... it’s all over...”

This rear garden was a forbidden ground of the royal palace. Even the palace guards were not permitted to enter at will. All around was silent, and only the young attendant’s cries echoed in every direction.

He wept from morning until noon. By then Little Fuzi was sobbing blood, his throat already hoarse, while the heavenly revelation he had hoped would save Nine Cauldrons City still had not appeared.

Despair had filled his eyes. Suddenly he stood up and began to carefully straighten his clothes. At last, he turned toward the north and knelt deeply.

“My lord, this servant is useless. I have failed to live up to your trust. I... truly have no other way,” Little Fuzi said in a hoarse voice. Then he slowly rose. “But at least I have the courage to die in gratitude for your grace. To be allowed to serve you has been this servant’s good fortune... may I only repay your kindness in the next life...”

Creak...

Before Little Fuzi had even finished speaking, a doorway appeared in the artificial hill. He froze, then joy exploded across his face. Rolling and scrambling, he rushed into the opening.

After passing through the long tunnel, a vast underground palace appeared below. Although there were clearly no lamps lit within it, the whole hall was brightly illuminated. Two elderly men in plain hemp robes sat on either side of the palace, regarding Little Fuzi with searching eyes.

Little Fuzi lowered his head and timidly said, “S-seniors...”

“So Pan Yuanshan’s Blood Mountain Legion really has come to attack Nine Cauldrons City?” one of the hemp-robed elders asked slowly.

“Yes,” Little Fuzi replied hastily. “The last news this servant received was that the Blood Mountain Legion had already crossed Rainbow Bridge. At the latest, they can reach the walls of Nine Cauldrons City by tomorrow evening!”

“What countermeasures have Lord Taige and Lord Tailing devised?” the other hemp-robed elder asked.