Chapter 54
At first, Wang Chao thought it was just an ordinary woman seeking justice for her deceased relatives. He simply treated it as a joke and drove her away.
But no one expected that later, this person would turn the entire dynasty upside down.
On the day Xie Wen stormed the dynasty, dark clouds surged and thunder roared. Xie Wen, dressed in black and wearing a bamboo hat, fought his way into the palace from the north of the imperial city.
Chaos erupted in the palace. A sudden downpour began, palace lanterns lit up one after another, and the alarm blared was drowned out by the rain, sounding like sobs. Guards and cultivators rushed into the square, drawing their swords at the woman in black.
In the central square of the palace, Xie Wen stood with her back to these people, a bloodstained sword tucked behind her back. The blood was diluted by the rain. She turned around, raised her hand to touch her bamboo hat, and slowly raised her head.
The red bead around her neck gleamed with an eerie, blood-red light, shining exceptionally brightly in the deep, rainy night. The Blood Bead artifact itself possessed vast and powerful spiritual energy. This spiritual energy could be freely used by its owner.
Blood beads clung tightly to Xie Wen's skin, while red spiritual light continuously flowed into Xie Wen's body.
The palace cultivators and guards, shouting "demoness!", drew their swords and swarmed forward to attack.
In less than fifteen minutes, the center of the square was completely cleared, corpses piled up, and blood diluted by the torrential rain. Gradually, it seeped up to Xie Wen's feet.
She stood there, the rain pouring down, as if it were the weeping of every wronged soul from the Sword Sect who had perished. The rain washed away the bloodstains. But the carnage could not diminish the hatred in her heart.
What Xie Wen wants today is to kill the Crown Prince with his own hands.
The dynasty's sirens sounded again and again. Although the dynasty also kept cultivators, they were far from enough to fight Xie Wen. They urgently sent a message, seeking help from Kunlun Ruins, which was a hundred miles away.
Kunlun Ruins was severely weakened after that great battle and is not in much better shape. These days it is preparing to recuperate and is not open to the public, nor will it participate in any other conflicts.
But that very night, an urgent message arrived from the Jin Dynasty, saying that a demoness had invaded and was about to destroy the country. Now, Pei Xuan had taken over the throne in Kunlun Ruins, and he was in charge of everything.
Hearing this absurd statement, Pei Xuan found it laughable. What kind of vixen could possibly bring about the downfall of a dynasty? Such a thing had never happened in thousands of years. Pei Xuan inwardly scoffed. That fool Jin Anxu probably just encountered an assassin and was terrified like this?
Pei Xuan burned the note over the candle flame. He wasn't about to be foolish enough to actually go and do his best just because of a few words from that idiot Jin Anxu. That message was utter nonsense!
Meanwhile, a hundred miles away, the dynasty was shrouded in dark clouds and torrential rain, its walls swaying precariously, on the verge of collapse. It had already descended into a bloodbath.
Within the dynasty, most were ordinary people, though there were inevitably some cultivators kept by princes and nobles. While there were many cultivators in the imperial palace, their cultivation levels were mostly mediocre. They might be considered outstanding among ordinary people, but once they reached the Immortal Capital, they were merely ordinary members of the masses. Especially against a cultivator of Xie Wen's caliber, they were utterly vulnerable.
In the past, the Celestial Capital protected the Dynasty, and the Dynasty worshipped the Celestial Capital. Aside from this relationship, they generally kept to themselves. However, now, it is the Dynasty that has shattered this facade of peace. The Dynasty has told the Celestial Capital that it has long harbored ulterior motives towards the Celestial Capital, intending to eliminate it, replace it, and rebuild a Dynasty there.
Therefore, now that the dynasty has fallen to such a state, apart from Kunlun Ruins, which is in league with the dynasty, no one in the Immortal Capital is willing to come to its aid.
Now, the letters sent to Kunlun Ruins have also disappeared without a trace, receiving no response.
Jin Anxu was frantic. He paced back and forth in the heavily guarded Crown Prince's palace, muttering to himself, "What should I do?" He could hear the clanging of swords in the rainy night, interspersed with screams and whimpers. The sounds were like the wailing of death, each one making his heart tremble and causing him to cower in fear.
Blood and rain splattered together in the air, indistinguishable from each other.
Jin Anxu anxiously awaited the rescue from Kunlun Ruins, muttering to himself, "That vile woman, she's really gone mad, completely mad! When I catch her, I'll humiliate her to death! I'll skin her alive, pull out her tendons. Not enough, far from enough, I'll make her cry and beg for mercy beneath me. I'll make her wish she were dead!"
When Jin Huaran opened the door, she saw that their crown prince was terrified, pacing back and forth while spouting harsh words. He seemed to have lost his mind.
Upon seeing Jin Huaran enter, Jin Anxu immediately went over, "What should we do? That crazy woman is yelling that she's going to kill me? She really wants to kill me!"
Jin Huaran silently pushed his hand away. Today, he seemed like a different person, no longer the obsequious person he used to be to Jin Anxu. "Didn't you summon Kunlun Ruins? What are you afraid of?"
Jin Anxu stared blankly at the ground. "Those traitors! They probably don't dare to come."
Jin Anxu calmly analyzed, "Kunlunxu was seriously injured not long ago, so naturally he wouldn't dare to make a move easily again. Besides, your message seems like child's play. They probably won't believe you."
Jin Anxu understood his look and immediately sent someone to deliver another letter seeking help.
Pei Xuan received several letters from the dynasty before realizing that Jin Anxu was truly afraid. A vixen who could frighten this shameless scoundrel? Regardless, after that open rebellion, Kunlun Ruins and the dynasty had become targets of public criticism; they were in the same boat.
Pei Xuan's eyes darkened.
The rain gradually subsided on that rainy night. As Xie Wen waded through the blood and approached the Crown Prince's palace, a lone figure suddenly appeared before her.
The sword flashed swiftly, and Xie Wen curled his lips into a smile. "Perfect, I don't need to split up to kill them. They've delivered themselves to my doorstep."
As expected, who else could be Xie Wen, a woman who dared to storm the palace alone?
Seeing Xie Wen's state today, Pei Xuan felt a pang of pity; this was not what he had wanted to see. The death of Xie Yichun was also not what he had desired. In the Sword Sect, whether there was genuine affection or nothing at all, it didn't matter.
At least, he had genuine feelings for Xie Wen. He considered her a friend.
I don't want to be too ruthless in everything.
Pei Xuan: "Xie Wen, stop. Think about what your sister would think if she saw you like this?"
Xie Wen's sword slashed down with suddenly increased force. "You still have the nerve to mention her? I'm here today to send you all to kneel down and repent to my sister!"
Pei Xuan: "Xie Wen, if you insist on making things a lose-lose situation, you won't get away with it either."
Xie Wen: "I just want you all to suffer."
In the misty rain, the woman in black and the man were locked in combat. Their swords were sharp and deadly, each strike a deadly blow. The flashing sword light sliced through the continuous raindrops, narrowly missing Pei Xuan's neck, barely drawing blood. Pei Xuan leaned back, and the sword followed suit.
Xie Wen parried with his backhand, the swords clashing and producing a resounding clang that pierced the eardrums.
Pei Xuan saw that she was burning herself out, and estimated that her spiritual power had been exhausted when she broke in alone earlier. "Are you out of your mind? You'll die if you keep going like this."
Xie Wen's killing blows didn't stop there. "I never planned to go back alive. As long as you and Jin Anxu are dead."
Pei Xuan: "He's gone mad!"
She's really gone mad. And she doesn't care.
Xie Wen shattered Pei Xuan's sword with a single strike, causing Pei Xuan to stagger a few steps. Xie Wen flashed forward and then slashed Pei Xuan's sword away. Pei Xuan dodged the attack, but without his sword, he couldn't get close to Xie Wen and could only rely on his magic to hold on for the time being.
At that very moment, the window of the Crown Prince's palace was broken open. Seeing that Pei Xuan couldn't hold out much longer, Jin Anxu, in desperation, tried to escape. Before leaving, Jin Anxu even dragged Jin Huaran down with him, asking her to cover for him.
However, he found it strange that despite the chaos in the palace today, apart from the Crown Prince's palace, the rest of the city seemed relatively quiet. Logically, there should have been a steady stream of guards arriving by now. Even if this madwoman was incredibly skilled at killing, she couldn't possibly be a match for ten thousand men!
Given the situation, Jin Anxu didn't have time to think about it in detail. If he thought about it any deeper, it would probably only make his scalp tingle even more.
Seeing that the person was about to run away, Xie Wen thrust her sword into Pei Xuan's shoulder, completely shaking off this trouble, and then flashed to Jin Anxu's side.
Just as Jin Anxu was jumping out of the window, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck and heard a soft female voice in his ear, "Oh dear, where are you going?"
Before Jin Anxu could even utter his terrified pleas for mercy, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and blood gushed out, spraying across the ground. His eyes widened, and he fell backward, numb.
Xie Wen clapped her hands, having dealt with Jin Anxu, she turned to deal with Pei Xuan. She hadn't immediately unleashed a killing blow simply because she didn't want him to die so easily.
As Xie Wen turned around, he saw a man standing solemnly in the Crown Prince's palace. The man was dressed in magnificent robes and staring intently at Xie Wen. It was Jin Huaran.
Xie Wen understood perfectly. If Jin Hua Ran hadn't instigated Crown Prince Jin An Xu to escape through the window, Xie Wen might not have killed him so easily.
She nodded in acknowledgment, then resolutely turned around. As she thrust her sword at Pei Xuan, she was struck in the arm holding the sword by a hidden weapon halfway through.
The numbing sensation immediately spread through her arm and into her internal organs, followed by intense pain that belatedly spread throughout her body. She couldn't even hold her sword, which fell to the ground with a clang. She could only clutch her hand and curl up in pain.
In a daze, she felt she was doomed. Countless guards and cultivators surged around her, their voices echoing incessantly, "Capture the demoness! Seize her and execute her..."
The hidden weapon was poisoned, and Xie Wen felt as if her whole body was on fire. She collapsed to the ground, powerless. Before dying, she decided to change her position and lie on her back, seeing the bright stars after the rain and the faint crescent moon in the sky.
She suddenly wondered, if Chu Xianyue ascended to heaven, would he also become a star in the sky? Would he be able to see her, lying on the ground like this, so wretched, her eyes open, silently waiting to die?
She was his apprentice. Would he be sad if she died?
Would they just say the same thing indifferently, "Useless wretch," and then coldly turn their eyes away?
The shrill, incessant shouting filled his ears. Xie Wen's eyelids grew heavy, and he finally closed his eyes slowly.
The blood beads on Xie Wen's neck swayed around him, anxiously emitting a faint light.
The blood bead had already transferred all its spiritual energy to Xie Wen in the previous battle, and now that its spiritual power was exhausted, it could no longer transform into human form or help Xie Wen. It anxiously circled around once, and soon, due to exhaustion, it silently returned to Xie Wen's neck.
The blood-soaked palace fell completely silent as dawn broke.
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