A Road Paved by Heavenly Thunder

"Immortal Master?" Shen Fang glanced behind her, empty as could be, "Where is the grain?"

"I had them take it away." Liu Shuyue replied indifferently, "Please head back, everyone. These people will not become a threat to Zhangwei City. By tomorrow, you will not see the disaster victims outside the city."

"What do you mean?" The adjutant frowned, "Where are they going?"

"Anywhere is fine, as long as they do not stay here."

"What nonsense are you talking about! The famine isn't over yet; won't they all turn into bandits wherever they go?"

"I will watch over them all the way, so do not trouble yourself with that."

What? Shen Fang felt a shock in his heart. Did not the meaning of those words...

"The Immortal Master is supposed to be going to the Royal City, so how could she have the time to look after them!" A trace of gloom also appeared on the adjutant's face, "I must ask the Immortal Master to step aside. If we offend you, it will be difficult for this subordinate to report back. If these people are unwilling to hand over their grain, leave it to me to handle."

Liu Shuyue remained motionless.

The adjutant cursed in a low voice and directly raised his riding crop, "Brothers, charge!"

"Kill!"

The cavalrymen shouted in unison, lowered their bodies, and began to pick up speed.

Right at that moment, Liu Shuyue unfolded a talisman in front of her. Thunder rumbled fiercely in the sky, and purple lightning wove through the thin clouds, making the stars pale in comparison. Then two bolts of lightning leaped down, striking directly in the path of the charging horses, blasting up a plume of blue smoke and a shower of sparks!

The momentum the troops had just gathered was instantly checked, and the warhorses lifted their hooves and neighed, refusing to take another step forward for the life of them! The few men charging at the very front even tumbled off the backs of their frightened mounts, almost getting trampled to death by those behind them.

She knew this spell looked terrifying, but in reality, it had little power, but neither the pursuing soldiers nor the horses knew that. In the eyes of the latter, this was Unwitting Heavenly Thunder.

"Liu! Shu! Yue!" An angry roar came from the rear of the troop.

The troops split to both sides, making way for the newcomer.

"So it is General Gong... Have you seen enough of the play?" Liu Shuyue looked expressionlessly at this young master.

"What is the meaning of this?! Obstructing the army and disrupting military orders, you cannot escape punishment even if you are an Immortal Master!" Gong Lingwu said through gritted teeth, "Liu Shuyue, could it be that you are going to rebel!?"

These words made the necks of everyone present turn involuntarily cold.

No matter who it was, encountering such a crime would make them defend themselves at the first opportunity.

Yet to Shen Fang's disbelief, Liu Shuyue actually ignored him!

This attitude was even more terrifying than the other party's scolding and cursing.

He looked back at the city gate and slightly adjusted his position...

"As long as you do not cross the line I just drew, it will do no harm for you to report this to those above."

The line...

Only then did the crowd realize that the previous falling thunderbolt had struck a shallow trench into the ground.

"You want to forcibly protect these people?" Gong Lingwu glared at her with a ferocious expression for a long while, "That is fine then. I will let them off the hook, but you must return to the Royal City to report for duty and personally explain today's matter to His Majesty."

"Did you not hear what I said earlier? I am not returning to the Royal City. Until these disaster victims find a new place to settle, I am going nowhere." Liu Shuyue shook her head.

"How dare you—that is an imperial decree!"

"I have said all that I needed to say, so let us part ways here, everyone." Liu Shuyue turned her horse around and walked toward the group of disaster victims.

"Halt!" Gong Lingwu intended to give chase, but the lightning in the sky suddenly came alive again, as if waiting at any moment for prey to cross that line.

"General, please exercise caution..." Shen Fang hurriedly advised, "That is an Immortal Master who knows Immortal Arts!"

A hundred years was too long, so much so that many people had forgotten... an Immortal Master's sword could slay monsters, and it could slay men, too.

"She... she is courting death!"

Looking at the retreating figure getting further and further away, Gong Lingwu hated it so much that his teeth bled.

That look of disdain, that nonchalant attitude, just like when he had seen her in the Royal City five years ago.

He knew Liu Shuyue looked down on him.

So what?

Such a self-righteous person, did she not still have to obey the king's orders and obediently return with him to the Royal City? Her journey all the way would have to follow his arrangements; how was this not a form of irony?

However, he never expected that the result would turn out like this.

Clearly, at the very beginning, she had resigned herself to her fate...

"Liu Shuyue, you will regret this!" Not daring to pursue her, Gong Lingwu could only shout bitterly, "Daring to break the agreement, the Lotus Cloud Sect will not hold you, and His Majesty will certainly not let you off either. Just wait—whether it is the people you want to protect or yourself, no one can escape severe punishment! By then, it will be useless for you to beg for mercy!"

Liu Shuyue did not stop.

She did not even turn her head back.

Of course she heard it.

Yet these noises were completely covered over by other words, becoming insignificant.

Those were the words Chen Xuan had said to another guest. If he hadn't insisted on recounting them to her afterward, she might have missed them herself.

Now, she unexpectedly felt that these words suited her just as well.

Liu Shuyue looked at her own open right hand and whispered, "Now... fate is in my palm."

"Cameras ready, 3, 2, 1... Action!"

"Good evening, viewers and friends, welcome to Urban Channel, I am reporter Yan Xin. As we all know, the famous scenic spot at the Window of the World in our city, the full-scale replica of the Champs-Élysées, was previously completely closed due to restoration work, and now the restoration is basically complete. We can see the fences are being dismantled, and we believe this attraction will soon reopen for tourists to visit and enjoy. Those who want to experience it firsthand can now make a reservation on the app! As for what repairs and renovations have been carried out, we specifically found the on-site engineer for an interview. Hello, Engineer Zhang!"

"The arrangement is good, there shouldn't be any problems this way." A man with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes watched the interview not far away and said, "Is Honglian alright? I feel like she's been a bit off since yesterday."

The young man accompanying him shrugged, "Fine, she's doing just fine. Even if a dog went up to her right now, I'm afraid she'd kick it flying with one foot."

Speaking of this, he even deliberately looked back to make sure the red-haired girl standing far away with her arms crossed hadn't heard his words.

Wasn't that something you could tell at a single glance?

From the ultra-low pressure surrounding her and the foul expression on her face, you could tell just how terrible her mood was right now. However, seeing the bandages wrapped around her head and hands, the young man still felt a little bit comforted inside.

Who told her to always press down on top of him? Now she's kicked an iron plate, hasn't she!

What probably choked her up the most wasn't being beaten black and blue, but that she hadn't beaten the opponent yet the mission objective had somehow been accomplished. By now, the deviation-generated passage had been drastically reduced to the point of being inaccessible, and she had no way to go looking to settle the score even if she wanted to.

"You should comfort her a bit when you have nothing to do, don't let her stew by herself." The man shook his head helplessly, "The two of you are the best fighters in our squad, getting closer isn't a bad thing. Did you hear me, Wang Baihu?"

"Fine~~" The young man dragged out a lazy, long tone, "If I get kicked to death too, then there'll only be one fighter left in this squad. Speaking of which, Honglian's ability is basically top-tier, right? Correcting a C-Class deviation should have been more than enough, yet she ended up bumping her head bloody. Was something wrong somewhere? Do we have Wanderers this strong in our district?"

"I don't know, the higher-ups are still investigating, but I'm afraid there won't be any results for a short time." The man said with a serious expression, "This deviation was handled very promptly, yet the fluctuations generated during the intrusion will still create a new batch of abnormal people, a few at least, a dozen at most. Over time, these people will not be a small number, and with a large base, Wanderers will be born from among them. So your question is not whether there are any, but how many there are."

The young man scratched his head, "According to the Doctor's words, won't this situation never get better?"

"Yes, theoretically speaking, once people open this door it is impossible to close it again, but slow fusion and violent upheaval are two different things. We can accept sacrifices, but it is best not to have countless sacrifices, and destruction is even more undesirable—that is the goal we strive for." The man said, "Let's head back, we still have to work tomorrow."