Chapter 1424: Seizing the Bridge, Blowing Up the Waterway (Fifteen) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
"It's in the way!"
Sensing the sudden surge of Luo San's aura, Yuan Nujun roared and, without hesitation, drew her bowstring again. As the bowstring was drawn taut for the second time, countless arrows coalesced upon it, forming a vast net of arrow light that surged towards Luo San. Although these were not arrows of time, they still possessed some of his unique properties, capable of causing extreme distortion in the space they passed through; a slight misstep would result in a slow, agonizing death.
Upon seeing this, Luo San couldn't help but curse under his breath.
However, the one being scolded wasn't this Ms. Yuan, but rather the arrogant and ignorant Ji Moqiu. This young man was utterly ignorant of the power of the Arrow of Time and actually intended to take it head-on! What Luo San found even more absurd was that even though he had come to the rescue, his waist and abdomen were subjected to a gentle outward push, which abruptly shifted his position.
"you--"
Before he could finish speaking, the arrow of time pierced the young general's heart.
This scene made Luo San want to stomp his feet.
To reach the 18th rank of Grand Master at such a young age—regardless of how much of a role the "enlightenment" played, his innate talent is undeniable. You'd think this kid's talent is top-notch, so why doesn't he use his brain? He's just throwing his talent away!
Yuan Nujun seemed surprised by the dramatic turn of events, her fingers even stiffening for a moment as she plucked the strings, seemingly taken aback by the young man's "toughness." The anticipated fierce battle did not materialize; the match was decided after only a few dozen rounds.
"Kangguo has produced such outstanding individuals; it's truly an eye-opener." If she hadn't been certain that none of the Central Allied forces had the surname Jimo, she would have suspected that Jimo Qiu was one of their own. The third duel was crucial; how could anyone just throw away their life right from the start?
Chu Yao and his companions, who were watching the battle, were almost dumbfounded.
My mind was a complete mess, and I was speechless.
For a moment, he was unsure whether to be more upset about losing the third match or about Gongxi Chou's brother's inexplicable death. Especially Qi Shan, who had mistakenly entered the Gongxi clan's territory as a child and knew a bit about their temperament. Since the clan's extermination, only these two brothers remained. Now that one was dead, Gongxi Chou, at his advanced age, was left an only child—wouldn't this ancestor go mad?
Yuan's sarcastic and mocking tone was grating to hear.
The gun-wielding general had witnessed Ji Moqiu being pierced through a vital spot by the Time Arrow, and thus assumed the latter was no threat. Seeing Luo San, whose strength and aura were not much, meet his end, he couldn't help but sneer and say, "This general hasn't even finished warming up yet, and he's already dead? How utterly boring! But—since you old codger have volunteered to come down and die, then I'll grant your last wish!"
It makes no difference whether you kill one or two.
As he spoke, he twirled his gun and prepared to charge forward.
Unexpectedly, Qiu from Jimo performed a "zombie resurrection" on the spot!
The moment the arrow of time pierced his vitals, his armor was forcibly removed, replaced by his usual high priest robes. After a breath or two, more mysterious dark patterns appeared on the high priest robes, looking more than a hundred times more complex than before. If this change was imperceptible without careful observation, then his slightly shrunken stature and the addition of a touch of childishness to his angular features were very obvious—he had shrunk from an easily recognizable young man to an age somewhere between youth and adolescence.
The person, of course, did not die.
But on a perilous battlefield, the price of reversing time by sixty years is something no one can afford; the weakening of strength wouldn't be a matter of cutting off the neck but the ankle. Unless one is a hundred-year-old monster or an anomaly like Luo San, no one can escape death. Seeing the change in Ji Moqiu, Yuan Nujun knew that the Arrow of Time had taken effect on him, and calmly gave the order.
"Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots!"
The military officers under her command were extremely displeased.
Lady Yuan's strength and cultivation are inferior to mine, and her age and experience are also inferior to mine, yet she can order me around with her strange archery skills. Who could stand that? However, it is not advisable to argue in front of the enemy and our own forces, so any conflicts should be left until after the battle.
Luo San said, "Do you two think I'm dead?"
He picked up his weapon, ready to stop the enemy from intercepting Ji Moqiu.
Killing someone he was protecting right in front of him is a slap in the face!
I never expected this—
A vine, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, wrapped around Luo San's waist and rudely pulled him backward. Luo San's vision blurred, and he could only watch helplessly as the enemy receded further and further away. He ripped the tangled vine off and cursed, "Are you crazy, kid?"
I saved his life twice, and this kid sabotaged me twice. Even if he's courting death, he shouldn't be doing this!
Ji Moqiu answered truthfully, "Ah? I'm in good health."
As he turned to answer, a thick shield wall woven from vines rose up in the path of the enemy's attack. The enemy general ignored it until the tip of his spear struck the vines directly. The two collided with a metallic clang, and the recoil sent him flying several feet.
Luo San: "..."
Ji Moqiu countered, "Why did you leave the stage, senior?"
Intervening midway through a duel will be considered a surrender.
Luo San: "...Are you alright?"
He couldn't sense even a trace of martial energy from Ji Moqiu. The latter seemed more like an ordinary person than an ordinary person, as if he were merging into the energy of heaven and earth, indistinguishable from them. However, he wasn't naive enough to believe that Ji Moqiu had truly become an ordinary person. If he were, the vine wall that had blocked the enemy general's full-force attack without moving an inch would be inexplicable.
Ji Moqiu: "What could possibly be wrong with me?"
A beat slow to react, he realized what Luo San was asking and said casually, "Oh, you mean that Arrow of Time... I've admired it for a long time and want to see what I was like sixty years ago..."
That's why I stood still and took the hit with my body.
As he predicted, things turned out just as he had expected.
He looked at the palm turning back and forth, feeling a mix of emotions.
Luo San: "...So how do you feel?"
He said that, but inwardly he was astonished.
Could it be that everyone has been deceived, and that Ji Moqiu is actually lying about his age and is actually a centenarian monster? An old cucumber pretending to be young? Otherwise, it's hard to explain Ji Moqiu's current state.
Ji Moqiu seemed to have forgotten that he was still on the battlefield. When Luo San asked him a question, he honestly replied, "It's fine, just like when I was alive."
Even the small mole on the ring finger of my right hand is still there.
Luo San: "..."
Is this "生" a noun or a verb?
Both of them are terrifying.
How could the enemy general tolerate such disrespect and neglect? Did they think he was invisible? How dare this brat bully him! So, in a fit of rage, he attacked Ji Moqiu from all directions. But the vine shield wall followed him like a shadow, always appearing casually in his path, blocking his attacks perfectly each time, causing him to be recoiled again and again, resulting in internal injuries.
Luo San: "...You, in your previous life?"
Seeing that Ji Moqiu was handling things with ease, Luo San felt relieved and even started chatting with him, deliberately emphasizing the word "life".
Ji Moqiu wasn't so well-behaved this time.
He merely raised his sleeve and lowered his eyes, seemingly admiring the patterns on the high priest's robe, and indeed he truly was, a hint of nostalgia surfacing in his eyes. The bad news: sixty years ago, he naturally lacked martial energy; the good news: he possessed divine power and methods!
He raised his hand and lightly pointed his sword in the direction of the enemy general.
With a calm tone that Luo Sandu found somewhat chilling, he said, "As a divine servant, I cannot kill indiscriminately, much less add to His Highness's sins. I will give you two choices: save your life or commit suicide! If you choose to save your life, you may leave and live in seclusion, diligently cultivating your martial arts, and never again enter the mortal world of karma. With your poor aptitude, although you have no chance of reaching the pinnacle of martial arts, you still have eighty-seven years of lifespan. You can live in seclusion and prolong your life."
Luo San, who was closest, could not only hear what Ji Moqiu said, but also see the latter's expression. There was no mockery in the boy's eyes, but the words he spoke were unpleasant to hear.
What does "lingering on in a state of limbo" mean?
What does "poor aptitude" mean?
Is it possible that this is persuasion rather than deliberate provocation?
Not only did Luo San think so, but both sides watching the battle felt that his words were ill-intentioned. Any general with a bit of backbone would not tolerate such a humiliation. The enemy general was not frustrated by being forced back time and time again; on the contrary, his momentum grew stronger and his killing intent surged.
Fuck you!
He then dragged his gun and charged.
Ji Moqiu was quite disappointed to see that he was so stubborn and unyielding.
He sighed, "If they refuse to repent, then the only option is to convert them."
The iron chains beneath his feet suddenly transformed into eerie yellow-green vines, covered in mysterious dark patterns arranged exactly like the patterns on Ji Moqiu's robe. In an instant, the vines transformed into waves tens of feet high, surging towards the enemy general.
A vine, as thick as a finger, meandered and wrapped around the enemy general's ankle.
Once the enemy general breaks through a layer, the severed vines will sprout twice as many times as before!
In just a breath or two, he was wrapped up into a huge ball.
"Rest in peace and be reincarnated," Ji Moqiu said casually, and a short, shrill scream came from inside the vine ball. When the vine ball bloomed like a flower, only the sleeping enemy general remained, his breath and body temperature gone, clearly dead.
The body lost its support and fell off the suspension bridge.
Luo San: "..."
He suddenly turned his head, his gaze filled with horror as he looked at the boy.
"You—killed him?"
Ji Moqiu frowned and corrected, "It's 'to measure,' not 'to kill.'"
"Is there a difference?"
Luo San was so close that he didn't notice any signs of the enemy general struggling—or rather, the unfortunate fellow was killed before he even had a chance to struggle. Ji Moqiu's method of killing was so bizarre that even the well-traveled Luo San couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
Ji Moqiu said, "Killing someone is killing your body, saving someone is saving their soul. His soul was burdened with heavy sins of killing, and when his lifespan was exhausted and he entered the cycle of reincarnation, he would be punished and suffer a lot. However, I helped him wash away his sins of killing, saving him from suffering, and he was freed."
In plain terms—
They directly extracted a person's soul, washed it, and stuffed it into the cycle of reincarnation.
Skipping many tedious queuing steps, they won at the starting line compared to other souls! Although they died a little early in this life, they can still be born early in the next life by cutting in line, so it evens out.
I have done a good deed.
Luo San: "..."
Regardless of the credibility of the concept of reincarnation, Ji Moqiu's words alone are full of flaws. According to his logic, does that mean that even if someone dies, they have to climb back up to thank him for his hard work and saving their soul from dire straits? Luo San not only thought this way, but also asked it.
Ji Moqiu lowered his eyes and looked at the mangled corpse at the bottom of the cliff.
After careful consideration, he replied, "You're welcome?"
The reincarnation process in this small world is rudimentary. Human warfare is frequent, with constant killing, creating numerous problems in the effort to maintain balance. Normal souls aren't even qualified for this expedited treatment. All this effort has saved the other party so much suffering.
If you think about it, you've done the enemy a favor, and you should thank them.
Luo San: "..."
The two armies watched in complete silence.
The Allied forces in the central region reacted like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, splashing everywhere. While the generals accompanying Yuan Nujun weren't exceptionally strong, they weren't weak either. Aside from engaging Ji Moqiu in a few dozen rounds at the beginning, they couldn't even get within a foot of him afterward. They fought without understanding the situation, and their deaths were utterly baffling: "What...what kind of sorcery is this?"
"Ji Mo Qiu, the Ji Mo clan..."
Among those present were not only elderly people who had experienced the turmoil of over a century ago, but also old-timers deeply entangled with the Central Branch Society. Many had heard of the Gongxi Clan and its most unique member, the High Priest Jimo. Back then, the Wu Kingdom's Gu calamity caused widespread unrest, but the crisis was forcibly suppressed before it could even erupt.
Some people know what role the Jimo clan played.
What they didn't know was—
"...Did those demons back then have this ability?"
Even Wei Lou, who was present at the scene, began to have doubts.
"Does Ji Mo Cong have this ability?"
It wasn't that he was boosting the morale of others and diminishing his own, but he genuinely believed that if those high priests also had such a trump card, then those old scoundrels who secretly plotted against the Wu Kingdom back then would have been stabbed to death by the people who escaped from the Gongxi clan long ago!
Why would Ji Mo Cong and his ilk need to deceive and suppress Wei City?
Instead of risking his own life to fight the uncle and nephew for a hundred years, he had already extracted Wei Cheng's soul and forcibly sent it into the so-called cycle of reincarnation.
High priests seem to be different from one another.
Shen Tang squinted at the strange, extremely active vines below, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. Just as she thought this, she felt a strange sensation under her feet. Looking down, she saw a slender vine climbing up the cliff wall, affectionately wrapping around her calf, its leaves brushing against her thigh.
Shen Tang said calmly, "Go down."
The vine stiffened for a moment, visibly withered and turned yellow, then shrank back, turning back every few steps, waiting for Shen Tang to change her mind.
Shen Tang: "..."
Wei Lou subtly withdrew his gaze.
"Could you command these things..." Shen Tang kicked at the vines that had coiled back, not deliberately raising her voice, but she was certain that Ji Moqiu below could hear her, "to send tens of thousands of people on the other side to reincarnation?"
Why not use such a cheat if it's available?
The other side is already brazenly using the Time Arrow in a two-on-one fight, so what are we still holding back for? If Ji Moqiu agrees immediately, she'll allow them to do it right away. Before Ji Moqiu could answer, Shen Tang heard rolling thunder in the sky. At first glance, it sounded similar to spring thunder, but Shen Tang's intuition told her that the thunder was related to her. Was it approving of her, or warning her?
She answered on behalf of Heaven: "Yes, I definitely agree."
Not hearing a response from Ji Moqiu, Shen Tang asked again.
"Is it okay, or not?"
Seeing the armor reforming on his body, Ji Moqiu knew that the Time Arrow's effect had been forcibly nullified, and the answer was clear. However, since His Highness rarely spoke, he wanted to try his luck, so he asked Lady Yuan with a smile, "Can Your Highness fire a second Time Arrow?"
(=`=；)ゞ
Yesterday I bought a box of pineapples, two of which were uncut. This morning I ate the cut pineapple, and it tasted a little strange, but I didn't think much of it, assuming it was just from the fruit shop's knife. At noon, I was craving something sweet, so I ate the remaining two pineapples while reading a novel. Around 4 pm, I couldn't take it anymore and went to the hospital. I had diarrhea so bad I felt completely weak. Now my mouth is also burning.
When I got back and complained to the fruit shop, they actually said that everything was freshly cut and there was absolutely no quality problem...
(End of this chapter)
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