Xiang Shu led the various Hu tribes to rushed toward the high-rise at Chang"an"s West street, but the top floor of the high-rise exploded with a loud blast and collapsed under the black resentment vapour. All of the resentment from within the Yin Yang Mirror"s mirror world had been released!
"Fu Jian," Feng Qianyi"s voice echoed through the world, "You seized our Great Qin"s power, destroyed our Divine Land, slaughtered us Han people, killed my family, broke my legs……"
Chen Xing"s eyes suddenly widened.
At the same time, all of the bronze mirrors within Chang"an City flashed at the same time and shot out rays of black light.
Feng Qianyi hovered in the air, and there was nothing beneath his robe. He held the Yin Yang Mirror in his hands; runes were swirling everywhere as they shone with a purplish-black l.u.s.tre. Shouts filled with dread could be heard throughout the houses in Chang"an City — it was close to a million cries that converged into a powerful flood, and Chen Xing"s spine went numb from listening to it.
The power of the Yin Yang Mirror was fully unleashed in an instant; all of the mirrors connected to the fantasy world in this moment, and all of the living corpses that had been locked up in the mirror"s Chang"an pa.s.sed through the pa.s.sage instantaneously and gushed out!
Screams could be heard everywhere in the city. Xiang Shu mounted his horse, spurred it harshly several times, and the horse rushed to the second floor along the weak tiles, then leaped high up into the sky before galloping onto the tower. Following which, Xiang Shu flew onto the banisters, borrowed the momentum he gained to jump up again, and pulled back the string of a huge bow that was about half the size of an adult, drawing a full moon arc——
Chen Xing broke out of Fu Jian"s grasp and rushed to a high point in the tower and shouted, "Break!" Then he used all his might to urge the light of the Heart Lamp in both hands to its maximum. When Xiang Shu"s arrow was about to leave the string of his bow, a dazzling light erupted from it, and it turned into a light arrow, then whizzed through the air with a swish after it was released!
That arrow drew out a trail of light behind it within the dark night, and with incredible accuracy, struck the Yin Yang Mirror in Feng Qianyi"s hands with a "clang". The Yin Yang Mirror whirled into the air in an instant as it was sent flying. Chen Xing cheered loudly and rushed down the tower, while Xiang Shu landed on the ground. Feng Qianyi roared with great indignation; billowing black smoke shot out from underneath his robe and swiftly flew towards the Yin Yang Mirror!
"Intercept that mirror!" Chen Xing didn"t care about anything else as he shouted loudly.
In the next moment, another arrow flew over — it had been released from Tuoba Yan"s bow as he rode a horse along the street. As if it was part of a meteor relay, the second arrow struck the mirror. A soft clang sounded upon impact with the Yin Yang Mirror again, and it drew an arc as it flew towards the tower.
The flying mirror was less than thirty steps away from Chen Xing when it landed on the ground once again, but an arrow suddenly flew over from above that brushed by it obliquely and struck the edge of the Yin Yang Mirror with a "clang". The mirror started rotating once again and flew towards Chen Xing.
On the watchtower, Fu Jian withdrew his long bow with a gaze full of alarm as he looked at Chang"an City in disbelief.
Chen Xing had obtained the Yin Yang Mirror, just as he had wished for. He couldn"t spare any attention to avoid anyone as he stood below the watchtower and proffered up the magic weapon, then began casting his spell.
A white light burst out that buzzed and shook; the runes revolving in the air above Chang"an city flew over in quick succession as they got sucked back into the mirror.
"How could I let you ruin my plans?!" Feng Qianyi roared madly and flew towards Chen Xing while dragging a trail of billowing black vapour behind him. Before anyone could react, Xiang Shu turned sideways, slid over to stand in front of Chen Xing, and swung his long bow down. Fu Jian roared from above, "Release the arrows ! Kill the sorcerer!"
Arrows of the imperial guards were released from their bows one after another and shot toward the sky. Feng Qianyi was apparently not afraid of ordinary weapons and only feared the light arrows in Xiang Shu"s hands, and he abruptly sprung up. Chen Xing took this chance to reverse the Yin Yang Mirror by collecting the black vapour that had blotted out the sky and successfully sucked it all back into the mirror.
Within an instant, the resentment that had pervaded Chang"an City returned to its original state, but pained wails were still ringing out in all directions.
Xiang Shu, "Suck the living corpses back!"
"I can"t!" Chen Xing said, "It can only suck in resentment! They"ve all run out now!"
Fu Jian hurried down and shouted, "Shulü Kong, explain this clearly to Zhen! What on earth is going on?!"
Xiang Shu, "I will give you an account, but not now. Jian Tou! Are you sure you want to start nagging here?"
"Report——" One of the imperial guards rushed over and shouted, "Your Majesty! The city is full of living dead people!"
Tuoba Yan spurred his horse to ride over and shouted, "Retreat and defend the imperial palace! Retreat and defend the imperial palace! Protect His Majesty!"
Fu Jian was incredibly furious, but he was powerless and could only wave his hand to order the rest to return to the palace. During the Xu period (7-9pm), the imperial guards cl.u.s.tered around Fu Jian as they returned to the palace. Xiang Shu immediately got Chen Xing to mount a horse. Fortunately, Tuoba Yan had made preparations beforehand and rearranged the city"s defense in advance. 50,000 imperial guards throughout the city resembled a tide as they flooded back to guard the inner city of Chang"an.
However, good times don"t last; when they arrived in front of the palace, cries of dread rang out from the inside.
"There"s some in the palace too." Tuoba Yan felt as if his blood coagulated. He said, "Hurry! All of you, go! Take the mirror along!"
Chen Xing tried to use the mirror to suck in the living corpses, but the Yin Yang Mirror had already been refined with resentment by Feng Qianyi, so it was quite unstable and kept shaking. If he tried to force it, the resentment in the mirror world might just burst right out in an instant again. He immediately shouted, "It won"t work! The mirror"s on the verge of exploding!"
Xiang Shu led the warriors under his command and explained what had happened to them. Chen Xing couldn"t understand their language, but he saw that Fu Jian"s expression was extremely solemn. Xiang Shu then made a gesture, and everyone responded in agreement. They actually didn"t feel fearful at all about rushing into the palace and fighting this bunch of drought fiends that had suddenly appeared head-on.
"Wait!" Fu Jian suddenly said.
Everyone looked towards Fu Jian at the same time. Fu Jian remained silent for a while, then said, "Tuoba Yan, gather the troops in the city and send an order out to the four generals, just find as many as you can. The imperial guards will rescue the people in the city. Try to rescue as many as possible. Follow Zhen to Ahfang Palace."
Xiang Shu said coldly, "You want to give up on all the people in Chang"an?"
Fu Jian said angrily, "The city is already in this much of a mess, and you can"t even see your five fingers outstretched in front of you, how can the army be mobilised?!"
Xiang Shu shouted, "Jian Tou! Did your courage and judgment all get devoured by dogs?!"
Fu Jian roared, "Shulü Kong! Are you the emperor or am I the emperor?!"
"Don"t fight!" Chen Xing said quickly, "Xiang Shu!"
Chen Xing signalled to him with his gaze. Xiang Shu took a deep breath and dropped it. Tuoba Yan immediately issued an order to ready the horses and temporarily gave up on Weiyang Palace as he followed Fu Jian out of the city.
Screams and howls of anguish could be heard everywhere in Chang"an City. As soon as ordinary people saw drought fiends, the feeling of dread outweighed their fear of death, and they shrieked until their voices went hoa.r.s.e. Chen Xing and Xiang Shu rode horses side by side, but Xiang Shu suddenly turned around and left.
"Where are you going?!" Chen Xing shouted anxiously.
Xiang Shu shouted from afar, "Take care of Feng Qianjun!"
Chen Xing was about to turn around to chase Xiang Shu when Fu Jian rushed over from the side and grabbed the reins of his mount. He shouted, "Go! Chen Tianchi! Explain this to me properly! What on earth is going on?!"
"Let me go!" Chen Xing said.
Fu Jian, "Explain this first! Otherwise don"t even think about going anywhere else!"
Chen Xing didn"t dare to jump off his horse, so he could only follow Fu Jian out of the city while he gave a brief overview of the whole story. While he was doing so, he kept looking back as he worried about Xiang Shu"s safety. Yet Fu Jian reminded him, "Then how should we deal with those drought fiends?"
"Chop their heads off." Chen Xing said as he gasped for breath, "And take note to never get bitten or scratched at all costs. Living corpses carry corpse poison with them."
Tuoba Yan caught up to them and heard their conversation. Fu Jian signalled to him, and Tuoba Yan nodded. Chen Xing continued, "There"s another way — burn them with fire."
Although this idea was thought up by Chen Xing himself, no matter what kind of yao it is, as long as they are burned to ashes, they would not be able to do harm in the human world any longer. After they"re burned, it could contain the spread of their corpse poison as well.
Fu Jian said, "We"ll have to find a way to lure them outside Ahfang Palace, then use kerosene and saltpeter canisters to set them all on fire."
Chen Xing couldn"t help but admire Fu Jian when he heard this. Sure enough, as the emperor of the north, he was quite capable after all. Fighting a decisive battle within Chang"an City would not only make it easy to injure people by mistake, but it would be quite impossible to carry out as well. However, once they were out of the capital, it would be vast and deserted, and there are a lot of plants in the wilderness that would make it easier for them to create a favorable situation.
"General Guanjun has arrived——" Someone shouted.
"General Huwei has arrived!"
The military officers of Fu Jian"s court reacted very quickly and chased after the emperor until they were out of the city. There were more and more troops now, and in the end, there were at least 200,00 troops on the plain that were galloping in a grandiose formation towards Ahfang Palace that was more than 30 miles away from the city.
"Jia!" After Chen Xing left the city, he immediately turned his horse around to go back and look for Xiang Shu.
"Where is he?" Chen Xing"s heart was practically burning with anxiety. When he entered Chang"an City, his hand glowed with the Heart Lamp"s light that instantly dispersed the living corpses filling the streets and cleared a path. A lot of living corpses were pursuing the people in the city, and once caught, they would push them down onto the floor and bite them. Many people were trying their best to break free from their grasps; sorrowful cries and the shouts of killing were abound.
Wherever Chen Xing pa.s.sed by, living corpses would flee in fear. Chen Xing shouted, "Leave through the White Tiger Gate! Go to Ahfang Palace! His Majesty is there!"
The people began dashing away like they had gone mad. Chen Xing was afraid that his horse would trample on innocent people, so he could only abandon his horse and travel on foot. He grabbed someone at random and shouted, "Where"s the Great Chanyu? Have you seen the Great Chanyu?"
Someone looked towards the inner city with dread evident in their eyes, so Chen Xing knew that Xiang Shu had killed his way back in again, so he quickly rushed into the street.
At this moment, Xiang Shu had already gathered thousands of people — both Hus and Hans included. There were more and more people now who were confronting the group of drought fiends that were moving collectively along the streets. Many people had picked up weapons from the ground and joined this group of people in a panic without knowing Xiang Shu"s ident.i.ty. Some Hu people recognised Xiang Shu, so they rushed to kill with their lives on the line. Xiang Shu shouted loudly in the Xiongnu language, "Cut off the enemies" heads!"
Xiang Shu was trapped on both sides, but a ray of light shot over from the end of the street that penetrated through the darkness. The army of living corpses all howled in anguish as they were routed one after another. Xiang Shu turned his head abruptly and saw Chen Xing standing at the end of the street with his head held up high, and traces of anger were apparent on his face. A warm, white light was being emitted from his hands.
Xiang Shu, "……"
Chen Xing shouted angrily, "What are you doing again?!"
Xiang Shu whistled, and the temporary army that he had organised began gathering all around him. He spurred his horse forward, extended a hand, and pulled Chen Xing up to sit on a horse.
"Exit the city!" Xiang Shu shouted.
The four gates of Chang"an were open wide, and everywhere was filled with people who were escaping in a flurry in the middle of the night. Xiang Shu led the Hu cavalry and had rescued quite a lot of people from within Chang"an City at some time. They gathered into a clamorous group, both Hu and Han were included within, and they all looked toward Xiang Shu with worry flooding their gazes.
A black figure wielding a halberd appeared in the direction facing the palace. As they observed that figure, they could tell that it was the shadow warrior that tried to hunt them down in the mirror world!
Xiang Shu wanted about to draw his bowstring, but the distance between them was too great, and it was difficult to aim at night, so he decided against it. Chen Xing urged his horse to come after him. Xiang Shu took a deep breath and looked at him.
"They"ve already retreated onto the Official Road." Chen Xing said.
Xiang Shu kept his bow and said, "Follow me to kill our way back; I have something I want to ask Feng Qianyi about."
"No!" Chen Xing said, "Xiang Shu! Don"t be impulsive!"
Xiang Shu said, "Your Heart Lamp can expel the drought fiends, follow me!"
Chen Xing said, "Then what about them?!"
Chen Xing motioned for Xiang Shu to look at the men, women, old, and young people he had rescued. He suddenly felt like Xiang Shu was really reliable at this kind of timing.
Xiang Shu gave up on his idea. Chen Xing said, "Go! Let"s talk about it again later."