Slaughter Them All

Looking at the milk tea in his hand, the man suddenly remembered something from before.

Yes.

What had happened in Border City ten years ago was shrouded in darkness.

Everyone who had returned alive had described the demons' assault on the city.

But.

Apart from those survivors, there had been no other way to learn the truth.

After the Zhou Tian Instrument was successfully forged, the first thing it had done was investigate the Border City Battle from ten years ago.

He had carefully watched the entire exam.

They were just a few lucky kids.

Nothing escaped his eyes.

And that boy had opened his mouth to ask about the arrangements for the civilians—an inquiry utterly without precedent in history.

Demons had besieged the city.

What cultivator had ever considered the civilians?

When the incident first broke out.

Lu Qingxuan had only been in his twenties. As soon as he heard the news, he had consolidated command and sent every cultivator to the rescue.

Trapped in the city, the eldest, Lu Chenzhou, and the youngest, Lu Yiyi, had built powerful defensive fortifications around a subway station to hold off the demons.

Mainly because Lu Chenzhou had acted decisively.

Lu Yiyi had kept throwing a childish fit, refusing to join up with the others.

But—

But thinking back now, there was something that had been said, something he had paid no attention to at the time.

"An eight-year-old child would rather run alone through a dark underground tunnel to seek help from strangers than go back and reunite with his family. I think he must need help."

That was what the boy had said.

Yiyi—

Had she really been throwing a childish fit back then?

The man lifted his milk tea and took a sip.

It was too sweet.

Too much sweetness dulled the palate.

But it hardly mattered.

—He had never truly cared.

Yet ten years had passed.

That disaster, the destruction of a city, could still stir people's hearts.

Were people's hearts unsettled?

Or had there really been something wrong with what happened ten years ago?

Once the thought arose.

It would not stop.

...When the city fell, who had considered the ordinary people?

Were ordinary people even worth a cultivator's consideration?

These were things no one could say aloud, yet they had always lurked in the hearts of many cultivators.

So...

Was that why she had left him, leaving only their daughter behind, never to return?

Or.

Was there something else behind it?

The man slowly set down his milk tea, plucked a flower, and toyed with it in his hand. Smiling, he asked:

"How many people are secretly guarding the Commandery Princess this time?"

The person who had been kneeling nearby answered respectfully:

"Your Majesty, the guards work in three shifts, thirty-six people in all."

"Add another hundred armed guards. Without Yiyi's permission, no officials of the inner or outer court, nor any scions of the great clans, may approach her. Anyone who does is to be executed," the man said with a smile.

"Yes."

"You said there were still demon beasts lurking nearby?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The man's smile deepened, and his tone grew gentler:

"Pass on my verbal decree."

"Slaughter every underground organization and every demon beast throughout the South of the Yangtze."

"Also, slaughter everything within three hundred li on either side of its borders with the surrounding provinces and regions. Bury any suspicious persons."

"Go make the preparations."

"Your Majesty, this may provoke discussion among the sects and schools," the figure said.

The man kept smiling as he said:

"Anyone who stirs up trouble by recklessly criticizing the decree dies; anyone who incites others will have his household confiscated and three generations executed; anyone who acts on his own to cause disorder will have three branches of his clan exterminated, their bodies hung from the city gate for ten days."

"As Your Majesty commands!"

The figure bowed and vanished in an instant.

The man was left alone.

He strolled to the edge of the rear garden.

A small river ran there, its current not particularly swift.

He sat down on the grass beside it, took out a fishing rod, and began to fish.

A short while later.

A black-clad cultivator with a gourd on his back descended from the sky and landed on a large rock across the river.

"Your Majesty seems to be in fine spirits."

The black-clad cultivator studied the man, and a smile gradually appeared on his face too.

The emperor was in a good mood today.

It was a good time to raise the matter.

"I wasn't in much of a mood before, but now I certainly am," the man said with a smile.

"They said making high school students take an exam on the Border City Battle was going a bit too far. They asked this old man to come and ask whether the matter could end here," said the black-clad cultivator.

"End here?"

The man gave his rod a gentle lift.

A big white fish came up onto the bank and thrashed desperately on the grass.

"See? All I had to do was smile, and this fine catch took the bait. Tell me, how could I possibly stop now?"

The man spoke with relish, smiling all the while.

"Your Majesty... intends to continue?" the black-clad cultivator asked with an ingratiating smile.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, let me ask you something. Did you truly come to dissuade me?" the man asked, smiling.

The black-clad cultivator's heart skipped a beat.

Something was wrong!

The emperor had been smiling all along, but the atmosphere was completely wrong!

He could not afford the slightest misstep in his reply, or the destruction of his Dao and death would be upon him!

The black-clad cultivator lowered his head solemnly and said:

"No, Your Majesty. Whatever Your Majesty wishes to do, Your Majesty naturally has your reasons. I too feel there was much about what happened back then that was suspicious."

"Hmph. You slippery old fox, trimming your sails to the wind."

"I truly mean it, Your Majesty... Ah, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

"Don't be in such a hurry. There's one more thing."

"Please speak, Your Majesty."

"Which sects sent you to ask me? They dare criticize affairs of state, yet lack the courage to come explain themselves to me—go invite them. Tell them I want to see them."

"They... have lived in seclusion for so long... I'm afraid they won't come down from the mountains..." Sweat poured down the black-clad cultivator's face.

"If they're in seclusion, why are they still concerning themselves with events from ten years ago? Ten years ago—her daughter nearly lost her life, and a city was destroyed—what business is it of theirs?" The man's smile deepened.

The black-clad cultivator fell silent, trembling like a cicada in winter.

Those words were a blade that killed without drawing blood.

Whoever took them up would die.

The man continued:

"—If they refuse to come, that's fine. Pile their place of seclusion high with mounds of skulls, and let me have a look at their mettle."

The black-clad cultivator remained silent.

"Is there a problem?" the man asked with a smile, looking at him.

—It was the first time the man had looked at him since he arrived.

"No. I obey Your Majesty's decree!"

The black-clad cultivator cupped his hands, lowered his eyes, and bowed with meticulous care.

Elsewhere.

At the hospital.

Inside a ward.

Xu Yuan's mother, Zhao Shulan, was chatting with the girl in a hospital gown:

"Your name is Lu Yiyi? Such a pretty girl, and such a lovely name."

"Really?" The girl smiled, showing two dimples. "Auntie Zhao, you can just call me Yiyi."

Lines of faint, glowing text kept appearing:

"Your performance tonight was not decisive."

"Even so."

"In the torrent of history, you were like a tiny stone tossed into a still lake, about to raise ripples too faint to notice. What those ripples would ultimately become, no one knew."

"Congratulations."

"The Nightmare-Level Competition's Path to Survival and the Resurrection Match You Were Forced to Enter Because a Sword Got Stuck in You During Your Transmigration and You Couldn't Come Back to Life (Second Half) will be delayed by at least one week."

"Make good use of your time."

All the text vanished at once.

Xu Yuan had been sitting on a bench by the road for quite a while, yet he was still dazed.

In the sky.

Streaks of light came and went freely.

They were flying boats piloted by high-level cultivators.

On the ground, meanwhile, all manner of steel vehicles streamed along the concrete roads built by human society.

—It was as though they were two worlds that did not interfere with one another, yet remained connected.

Xu Yuan lifted his milk tea and took a sip.

What had I done?

It seemed—

I'd only taken part in a Witch's Heart selection.

From Little Boy's response.

Xu Yuan could tell that Little Boy seemed quite well disposed toward him.

And that alone had bought me another week?

In that case.

That kid's identity was no simple matter.

Maybe he hadn't come to meet me because he thought I was just a high school senior, hardly worth seeing.

Well, forget it.

In any case.

I needed to get on with my own business.

At least for the next week, I wouldn't have to worry about a flying sword pinning me to a bridge.

I had to pick up the pace and build my strength!

At that thought, Xu Yuan took out his phone and pointed the camera at himself.

His head was glowing.

—There were two kinds of milk tea that were hugely popular right now.

One was Glamour Fruit Milk Tea, which made people look fresh-faced and kindly and kept them smiling;

the other was the Spiritglow Grass Milk Tea he was drinking, which made their heads glow.

Fine.

If it glowed, it glowed.

As long as it wasn't green.

Xu Yuan stood and walked down the street toward the shopping district.

Ding!

His phone suddenly rang.

He opened the screen and found a message from the police station:

"Hello."

"Compensation has been paid for the damage to your door during yesterday's official operation. Please check your bank account."

The police had broken down his door last night and smashed the Formation Disc mounted on it!

He hadn't expected the money to arrive today.

That was pretty efficient.

Xu Yuan stood where he was, opened his banking app, and entered his password.

"Deposit received: 5,000."

"Account balance: 14,500."

A fortune!

He also had 1,966 in cash.

It was what remained of the 2,000 yuan that man had given him after he bought milk tea.

He was rich!

First, new shoes. Then he needed to replace the Formation Disc on his door.

Xu Yuan was a man of action. Once he decided, he got moving.

After a serious shopping spree, he didn't get home until after nine that night.

First things first.

He immediately installed the latest Spatial Warning and Isolation Formation Disc on his door!

Now he didn't have to worry about anyone spying on him!

Next, he put his new sneakers on the shoe rack.

He put two large bags of fresh meat, vegetables, noodles, fruit, and seasonings away in the fridge and kitchen.

That would keep him fed for a while.

It was nine forty at night.

Everything was put away.

Xu Yuan boiled water and made himself a cup of Spirit Tea.

The tea leaves belonged to his father, and there weren't many left.

One sip perked him right up.

He took out his phone and called his father.

"Ring... ring..."

No answer.

Archaeological work really did cut a person off from the world.

When his father got busy, Xu Yuan couldn't reach him at all.

Xu Yuan sighed, took out his textbooks and exercise book, and began reviewing his lessons.

Midnight.

He switched off his desk lamp, packed his schoolbag, and went to shower.

Twelve thirty.

Everything was ready.

Xu Yuan rubbed his eyes, raised both hands, and swiftly formed a Spell Seal.

The Netherworld Passage Art.

He still hadn't fully figured out the secret of this art.

And there was a dried corpse inside.

He had to go back and take a look!