"Qi Zhongshu, Qi Taishi, Qi Yuanliang, please calm down!" Alarm bells were ringing wildly in Chu Jie's mind. He almost reflexively stepped in front of Qi Shan, pressing one hand on the latter's sword hilt, trying to bring the other back to his senses. This was no time to lose his temper!
The veins on Qi Shan's hand, which was gripping the sword, bulged out in a terrifying display.
Chu Jie: "Calm down, think about your daughter—"
Qi Shan's lifeless appearance inexplicably gave the impression that his next move would be to commit suicide by sword. Although Chu Jie thought that "malicious suicide" was even more absurd than a man being pregnant, he still had this strange worry.
Qi Shan tried to compete with Chu Jie.
How could he possibly shake the strength of a martial arts master?
"Let go!" A red flush rose around Chu Jie's restrained wrist, but he remained unmoved. Qi Shan finally laughed in anger, "Is Marshal Chu worried that I might do something rash and commit suicide?"
Chu Jie simply stared directly into Qi Shan's eyes.
Clearly, he didn't believe it.
Qi Shan felt even more ashamed and angry. He took a deep breath to suppress his rage and anxiety, and tried to speak in what he thought was a calm tone, but in reality, he wanted to kill: "My life was given to me by my dearest friend, it's very precious, how could I give it up so easily? If you don't let go—"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Jie let go.
Qi Shan rubbed her slightly numb wrist.
But Chu Jie's interruption actually calmed his almost obsessive thoughts, and reason prevailed. Ji Moqiu looked at the two of them with worry, or more accurately, at Qi Shan. He wondered what had happened to cause her to suddenly lose control.
Qi Shan said, "It's nothing."
Ji Moqiu: "..."
They didn't look like anything was wrong at all.
The boy's inner emotions were completely written on his face.
Qi Shan: "..."
He didn't draw his sword to commit suicide as Chu Jie had feared; rather, it was an extreme act born of the realization that his long-held beliefs were cracking, a result of overwhelming emotional distress. What should he do after drawing his sword? His mind was in turmoil, unsure of the answer, but reason told him that whatever he did couldn't be done now. He had to wait for the current battle to reach a conclusion, and absolutely could not distract his lord.
Even if the other party no longer trusts you.
He had no idea when that trust had been lost.
Since the Battle of Chaoli Pass, Kang Kingdom was established amidst chaos. From chaos to order, for so many years, the ruler has never again taken action to defend against enemies, and naturally, there has been no opportunity for her to be injured. She has never been injured, so how can he know if his trust remains? Qi Shan's mind was in turmoil. Even though reason told him that this was not a good time to think about this question, he couldn't control his thoughts.
When exactly did it begin?
From the moment she came into contact with the Pantheon?
From the moment she learned she was a member of the Pantheon?
Starting from that annual meeting of the Pantheon?
Or perhaps it started when the Censorate began to make things difficult for her over the years, and the Emperor, despite his repeated defense, finally began to have his own opinions? Qi Shan couldn't tell whether she felt more wronged, more sad, or more desperate and angry. Her head was throbbing so badly it felt like it was going to explode.
It was a dull ache that was hard to ignore.
It felt as if a chisel was chiseling away, stroke by stroke.
With each chisel stroke, a pair of eyes would drift past him, some filled with mockery, others with suspicion. These eyes belonged to the former lords he had once trusted. They died in different ways, but the only thing they had in common was that they were all connected to him. Some died under the scholar's code of "regicide," while others were killed by his own schemes—because he could not accept the impurity of these lords.
A lord who cannot be trusted has no reason to live.
Finally, those eyes settled on the familiar almond-shaped eyes.
Qi Shan, however, had long lost the ruthlessness he once possessed, the willingness to kill his master without hesitation. He couldn't imagine what those eyes would look like when they were filled with suspicion and distrust as they looked at him. It was precisely because he couldn't imagine it that the dull ache in his head became even clearer.
Repeat it once, then repeat it again.
Each time it became more and more unbearable.
Under the worried gazes of Chu Jie and Ji Moqiu, Qi Shan staggered forward, instinctively grabbing the wall for support and barely managing to stand.
I had barely steadied myself when a sharp, stabbing pain shot through my chest.
The sword was forced from his hand, and he instead clutched it to his chest. The powerful pounding of his heart amplified in his ears, each beat louder than the last, until it completely drowned out the surrounding noise. Ji Moqiu knew something was wrong and raised his hand to inject a burst of energy.
The moment the energy entered Qi Shan's meridians, Qi Shan's Adam's apple bobbed several times with difficulty, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered all over the wall. Chu Jie was so terrified by this scene that his heart was filled with a deafening roar—even when Yun Da and Gong Cheng joined forces to attack, he wasn't this panicked!
"pray--"
Chu Jie's words were forcibly cut off by the "Silence and Mute" function.
As he coughed up blood, Ji Moqiu used his divine power to help him regulate his disordered meridians and qi, and Qi Shan's pale face improved slightly. He turned his back, slid down against the wall, and hoarsely instructed, "Don't make a sound, don't disturb the master and distract him. I'm fine, it's just a temporary ache in my chest."
In layman's terms, he was so confused that he almost went mad.
When the breath is stagnant in the heart, it damages the meridians.
Chu Jie had a million things to say, but he was forced to keep them to himself—if he didn't want to make a fuss, he shouldn't. Why resort to silencing him?
Seeing Qi Shan's fragile and listless appearance, he tolerated it.
With a slight, skillful movement, he shattered the spell's binding force, then worried about how to resolve the situation. He didn't believe Qi Shan's excuses. If nothing was wrong, would someone with an iron will suddenly have a moment of despair and vomit blood? It was good enough that he hadn't made anyone else vomit blood!
Chu Jie looked in the direction of the battlefield and sighed—even though he hadn't gone down to fight, he had a feeling that was even more exhausting than if he had.
What happened here did not affect Shen Tang.
She knew that rushing out covered in blood would make Qi Shan overthink things, but she didn't expect Qi Shan's reaction to be so intense—making it so difficult to appease someone went from hard to hellish!
In order to get back and explain things as soon as possible, Shen Tang kept harassing the three-year-old good-natured girl who had forcibly taken over the account: "Chop, chop, chop—are you even capable?! If you're not, let me do it!"
Not only did they harass the three-year-old Shan Nian, but they also harassed the enemy Yun Da.
"Look at you! You're over two hundred years old, yet you can't even keep up with a three-year-old's intelligence. What's the point of your life? Both of your disciples serve under me. What does that mean? It means that my Great Kang Kingdom has a much brighter future than the Northern Desert. The Northern Desert only cares about fighting, not governing. Wherever they fight, it turns into a living hell. On the other hand, Kang Kingdom is different. Wherever they fight, they cultivate the land, and the common people can live in peace and prosperity. People are afraid of comparisons. Clearly, helping Kang Kingdom is in accordance with the will of Heaven and accumulating merit. Helping the Northern Desert is aiding and abetting evil!"
"Of course, I can tell from your appearance that you definitely have Northern Desert blood, but bloodline doesn't mean anything. Pets talk about bloodline, people should talk about identity. Wei Yuanyuan, who is from the same clan as you, abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, and now he and his clan are living a good life in Kang Kingdom. If you want, you and your disciples and descendants can also leisurely enjoy the benefits of Kang Kingdom!"
"Opportunity knocks but once."
"Old Deng, did you hear that?"
"Hey, White Hair, say something!"
"Old Deng?"
"White hair?"
"The Ice Prince?"
Whether Yunda was driven to the brink of collapse by Shen Tang's nonsense is unknown, but Sansui Shannian was about to reach her limit. Shen Tang's long string of words was a waste of her saliva, leaving her with a dry mouth: "Can't you just shut up for a bit? Aren't you tired of talking so much?"
Shen Tang exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, you've stopped using any pretense in your voice!"
At the age of three, a kind thought led to a hundred-foot-long sword beam cleaving through the clouds and reaching his face.
Gone was the innocent, childlike voice; replaced by a chilling threat: "If you utter another word, I'll slice your face off!"
Shen Tang: "..."
It seems like they share the same face.
He would even say things like he would be disfigured just to threaten himself.
He's definitely a formidable character.
Yunda's face was even uglier than that of three-year-old Shannian.
His opponent was his rival, yet he wasn't focused on the fight and even bickered with someone else. This careless and dismissive attitude was more unacceptable to him than being defeated. But this person was even more slippery than an eel, and no matter how much pressure he applied, he was always just a hair's breadth away from killing him.
One or two times might be enough for her to perform exceptionally well.
But four, five, or even more times—that meant her performance was consistently strong. This realization strengthened Yun Da's resolve to kill Shen Tang, but unfortunately, the circumstances prevented it. Because—
After Shen Tang muted her microphone, the three-year-old Shan Nian raised her voice again, just as innocent and naive as before: "I've discovered it."
It sounded somewhat regretful.
Yun Da's expression remained calm.
But he understood in his heart what Shen Tang meant by "discovery".
The toxins from before did not disappear with the destruction of the "tumor," but instead diffused into the world, completely merging with the energy of heaven and earth. Unbeknownst to him, he was affected, so his judgments were always faster than his body's—according to his judgment, he was just a hair's breadth away from ending Shen Tang's life, striking her vital point, but his body's reaction was a step too slow, allowing her to dodge.
This asynchrony is very small.
Even Yunda failed to notice it immediately.
But it is truly affecting the current situation.
The three-year-old, with a sudden burst of kindness, exclaimed, "Sharpen the sword—"
Yun Da hadn't yet realized what she meant. Shen Tang was still standing there in his sight when he suddenly felt a pain in his shoulder.
One shoulder blade slid off, the inner fabric beneath the scale armor and a small piece of flesh were sliced off by the sharp sword, and the figure he saw was just an afterimage; the real Shen Tang had already acted before he could judge. Yun Da's expression finally changed, his mind racing.
"The second one!"
Another sharp pain shot through my upper arm.
A childish voice chuckled, "The third piece! If you still don't realize it, you'll be nothing but a skeleton!"
Yunda finally launched a counterattack.
We were still a little slower than the enemy.
The situation reversed in the blink of an eye. Yunda seemed powerless to fight back, but his response remained calm and even provocative: "Is it because you don't want to deliver a fatal blow to me?"
One sentence struck a nerve with the three-year-old's kindness.
It's not that I don't want to.
Rather, Yunda's armor offered astonishing defense.
Repairing is faster than destroying.
"Yuri wants to see just how tough your mouth is!"
She attacked again, but instead of piercing the scales as expected, her sword was blocked by the shaft of an ice-and-snow spear. Slightly surprised, she was met with a dense barrage of spear shadows, like a net descending from the heavens. Yunda seemed unaffected by the toxins in the air—no, not at all!
Yunda is not unaffected.
Instead, he deliberately slowed down his judgment and restrained his physical instincts.
To resynchronize the body and mind.
Yun Da was able to do this because he was a seasoned veteran and could adapt to this asynchrony in a short time. In contrast, Gong Cheng was in a much worse state. Caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events, he suffered a significant loss due to his lack of awareness. By the time he realized what was happening, he was already injured. It took him longer to adjust and he remained on the defensive for a longer period.
It seems that tonight's efforts have not achieved the desired results.
Yunda forced back Shen Tang, who was entangled with him, with a single shot.
With a flash, he suddenly appeared behind Gong Xichou.
Gong Xichou never expected Yunda to pull such a stunt.
It was too late to use the snake's tail to send him flying. In the next instant, his body suddenly sank, and a tremendous force, like a hundred-foot-high wave, slammed down on him. Caught off guard, Gong Xichou lost his footing and his body crashed to the ground like a cannonball.
Yunda stepped on Gongxi Chou's leg to gain leverage.
He reached out and grabbed Gong Cheng's shoulder.
He accelerated through the air, dodging the sword shadows that came hurtling through the air.
The sword's shadow only pierced through the afterimage he left behind.
Yun Da turned and glanced at the strategic pass and border barrier poised for action. He brandished his ice spear, guiding the swirling snowflakes into countless ice crystals that pierced towards Shen Tang. By the time Shen Tang shattered all the ice crystals with his sword's edge, they had only managed to scatter into flying snowflakes.
After being silent for a long time, Shen Tang finally came online: "Damn it!"
Yun Da and Gong Cheng have already left?
The game is about to enter a crucial stage to determine the winner!
The three-year-old's good intentions did not catch up.
Gong Xi Chou, who had been stepped on and fallen dazed, got up from the ground, dispelled his fusion state, and flew to Chen Tang's side. Looking in the direction where Gong Cheng and the other had disappeared, he gritted his teeth in anger: "How could those two run away? They ran, fine, but they stepped on me before they did. That was a complete humiliation!"
A three-year-old's good intentions would naturally not respond to Gongxi Chou.
Gong Xiqiu also noticed that something was wrong with Mama in front of him.
Once the snowstorm had completely subsided, San Sui Shan Nian and Gong Xi Chou landed on the strategic city wall one after the other. The former's gaze fell directly on Ji Mo Qiu, or more precisely, on Ji Mo Qiu's heart.
She stared at him for a long time, then suddenly said, "You're not dead."
Ji Moqiu was puzzled by the look.
Just as I was about to speak, I heard the other person talking to someone else.
"That's all, Yuli's out."
After she finished speaking, her eyes changed.
Suddenly regaining control of her body, Shen Tang lost her balance and almost tripped and fell flat on her face.
"You brat, running away without even giving me a heads-up!" She braced herself against the ground with her sword to steady herself, complaining about how unreliable her three-year-old kindness was. Compared to this brat, evil was practically an angel. Shen Tang adjusted her body and stood up straight. "Ahem, ahem, Gong Cheng and the other two have retreated, so there's no immediate danger here. Order the guards to increase patrols and closely monitor the enemy's main force. Our main force will be here soon too, we're not afraid of them!"
Shen Tang thought Chu Jie and the others should be very happy.
but--
The atmosphere remained somber.
Even Yuanliang didn't come to praise himself.
Speaking of Yuanliang—
The smile on Shen Tang's face suddenly froze.
She looked at herself, covered in blood, then at Qi Shan, clean and expressionless, still holding a sword. Alarm bells blared in her mind: "Wait! Yuan Liang, listen to my excuses! I swear to God I didn't distrust you!"
"It was kindness, but she's the one who ruined me!"
"She controlled my body and betrayed our promise!"
"I am innocent!"
My heart for you is as clear as heaven and earth, as bright as the sun and moon!
As he spoke, he stabbed himself in the thigh.
Qi Shan: "..."
|ω`)
Ah, when I write about Tang Mei's excuses (scratch that), I always get this feeling of a scumbag cheating and then trying to save face. Something just feels off.
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