bâtiment - Chapitre 2
Richard punched the nearest civilian unconscious and shouted at Anthony.
"Fire!" At the commander's command, dozens of arrows flew towards the group with a whooshing sound.
Just as Anthony and his party, including countless civilians present, were about to be riddled with arrows, a sudden gust of wind swept across the ground, causing sand and stones to fly everywhere. The arrows that had been shot into the air were blown off course and landed ten paces away from the group.
"Pefeffe!" Orlando shouted from behind Anthony and the others, holding up the necklace on his chest.
Upon hearing his master's call, Peifeifu, who had been covering his head and face with a gray cloth, stood up straight, tore off the gray cloth, and let out a long howl!
"Oh my god! A monster!"
The crowd immediately panicked, and the panicked soldiers fired a volley of arrows at Pefev. However, these arrows seemed to hit a mud wall as if they had no effect on Pefev, and instead aroused his anger.
It charged toward the group of soldiers, who scattered and ran to avoid the enormous monster.
+: The Corpse King, the Feudal King
- Mystery Tribe
Section 3, Hostage Reception at the Execution Ground
"Orlando, Richard, Kruzen, you guys get out of here!"
Anthony shouted as he fought fiercely against the civilians around him. Those who had escaped Pefebv's attack immediately gave chase when they saw him trying to run away, but by then Orlando and the others had already vanished without a trace, leaving only Anthony.
Anthony's swordsmanship was unmatched. A thin, sharp blade flew up and down in his hand, and all that could be seen were dazzling white flashes, like butterflies fluttering around him.
The group cautiously maintained a distance from him, neither daring to approach nor willing to let him go, and so they remained in a standoff. By this time, Pefifov had already chased the fleeing soldiers quite far away, and Anthony was secretly worried: how could he leave safely without harming anyone?
Just then, a young military officer dressed in white, wielding two swords, leaped out from the crowd and shouted sternly at Anthony:
"Who are you, daring to hijack the execution ground in broad daylight?"
"Execution ground?"
"Stop pretending! Do you even know that you've kidnapped the Imperial Advisor's most wanted criminal!"
"Imperial Advisor? Who is your Imperial Advisor?"
"Enough with the nonsense, who are you people?" The white-clad officer ignored Anthony's questions and continued to ask sternly.
Who are you?
"Me? Yu Ke, the captain of the garrison!"
"The garrison captain?" Anthony thought to himself, "Now I have a way to get away."
"Excuse me!" Anthony shouted, swinging his sword at Yu Ke. The opponent was clearly no ordinary man; a single sweep of his blade blocked Anthony's powerful attack, while another saber flashed towards Anthony's throat. In truth, in terms of swordsmanship alone, no matter how skilled Yu Ke was, he was no match for Anthony. However, Anthony was unwilling to harm the innocent, and for the time being, he could not gain the upper hand.
The two fought fiercely for over fifty rounds. Yu Ke began to tire, his movements slowing, while Anthony grew increasingly powerful, wielding his longsword with effortless grace. After several exchanges, he unleashed a series of rapid thrusts at Yu Ke's midsection, leaving him only able to parry and unable to retaliate. Had Anthony not been reluctant to kill him, Yu Ke would likely have already perished. They fought for another ten rounds, Yu Ke becoming increasingly passive, his defeat seemingly inevitable.
Just then, Anthony slipped and almost fell. Yu Ke immediately saw this opportunity and wielded his twin swords, unleashing a series of breathtaking moves, attacking Anthony step by step, trying to force him into a corner.
"Good! That's right," Anthony thought to himself with a smug grin. It turned out that this was just a feint. Taking advantage of Yu Ke's attention being focused on his upper body, he swung his sword upwards to block Yu Ke's twin blades, while simultaneously kicking his opponent in the knee.
"ah!"
Yu Ke screamed and fell to his knees. Anthony rushed forward, his sword pressed straight against Yu Ke's throat. Everyone was stunned to see their commander taken hostage, exchanging bewildered glances.
“Have them all step back,” Anthony said.
Yu Ke seemed unmoved, and instead shouted to his subordinates, "Don't worry about me, fire the arrows!"
But his soldiers did not obey the order; instead, they retreated, making way for Anthony, who was carrying out the mission of taking Yu Ke hostage.
"Don't follow me!" Anthony yelled.
He brandished his sword in front of Yu Ke as a threat, and the soldiers in front immediately stopped in their tracks, watching helplessly as Anthony, holding their commander hostage, disappeared from their sight.
"Rama?"
Throughout the journey, Anthony kept repeating the words the old monk had spoken.
How could he know about Rama? That's really strange. It seems this old monk has quite a background. But why did the Grand Preceptor burn him? Why would anyone say he was a wanted criminal? Was he a notorious bandit? How could such a kind-looking old monk be a wanted criminal?
Lost in thought, I found myself in the woods outside the city.
The scene here is heartbreaking. Years of drought have turned the once lush forest into rows of dead tree stumps. The once verdant landscape is now just a barren, cracked ground with only a few of the most resilient trees clinging to life.
"You can go now." Seeing that the pursuers had been left far behind, Anthony put down the hostage. But the other party seemed unmoved, staring intently at him, as if he wanted to fight another three hundred rounds.
“You should leave. I don’t want to fight you,” Anthony said again. He could see a righteous air in the other man’s eyes, and he didn’t seem like a villain.
Yu Ke looked at Anthony and said, "You've kidnapped a wanted criminal, I won't let you get away with this."
"If he really intends to commit a crime, we will return him..."
"nonsense!"
Enraged, Yu Ke brandished his knife and lunged forward. But Anthony ignored him, leaping away and disappearing from sight.
"Sir—"
Just then, shouts from soldiers came from not far away, and Yu Ke responded loudly. Soon, fully armed soldiers came to his side.
It turned out that not long after Anthony left, the huge monster called Pefebv disappeared. People searched along the direction Anthony had gone and just happened to hear Yu Ke's roar.
"Continue searching this forest."
Yu Ke loudly ordered his men to continue searching in the direction Anthony had disappeared. At the same time, he went to a deserted clearing, drew his twin swords, crossed them in front of him, then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, concentrated intently, and muttered incantations:
“Sizzle…”
As the incantation was uttered, a bolt of lightning swept across the blades, and the two swords slowly floated up, crossing each other in mid-air. The air where the swords crossed gradually became murky, and soon formed a pitch-black curtain, on which a wrinkled face appeared.
"The Imperial Advisor..."
Yu Ke said respectfully, "As you said, Hui Ren has indeed been abducted by the demons. I am incompetent and have failed the people of the ancient city and you, sir."
"Report their appearances one by one..."
The Imperial Advisor seemed to have expected this, and there was not a trace of surprise in his tone.
Yu Ke described the appearances of Anthony and the others in detail.
"So that's how it is! They really have come. After waiting for so long, I've finally got them!" The Grand Preceptor laughed heartily. "General Yu, you've worked hard for the people of this ancient city!"
“But, Your Majesty…” Yu Ke was completely puzzled by the Grand Preceptor’s reaction, not knowing what he was referring to.
"It's alright, I will give you new power." The Grand Preceptor laughed loudly again. "Go find them quickly, and report back to me immediately! I have my own ways of dealing with them!"
After speaking, the Grand Preceptor's face disappeared into thin air, and the two swords fell back to the ground with a "clang." Unlike before, black flames swirled around the blades of both swords, occasionally flashing with bright lightning.
"New power?"
Without hesitation, Yu Ke grabbed his weapon. Instantly, excruciating pain shot through his palms, as if tearing his internal organs apart. Then, a powerful energy surged from the twin blades into his body, flowing like a mighty river, until he felt as if he were about to explode.
This is the new power. Yu Ke looked at the two swords in his hand with a puzzled expression. The black flames had been extinguished, but the blades still gleamed with a cold light.
"Search quickly!"
Yu Ke roared at his men, his deep voice echoing through the forest.
Who was that old monk who was making such a fuss? And how was the Imperial Preceptor going to deal with these sorcerers? As he was thinking this, a surge of energy rushed into his brain, preventing him from thinking any further. In short, finding them was all that mattered.
+: The Corpse King, the Feudal King
- Mystery Tribe
Section 4. What is Rama?
"It's good that we found them!" Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice responded in his mind. Yu Ke was startled, and then felt that energy surging in his chest again. "Maybe I haven't regulated this energy properly yet?" Yu Ke thought, and hurriedly circulated his energy to regulate it. The restlessness in his chest gradually calmed down.
"I see," Yu Ke said, completely relieved. "Thank you for your guidance, Grand Preceptor. I must not let you down again this time."
He vowed to himself, "I must find them!"
When Anthony arrived, the others had been waiting there for a long time. He looked around and realized that one person was missing.
“Where’s Orlando?” Anthony asked.
"I went to find food for Pei Feifu. That big guy keeps causing trouble, so Li Shang can't properly help the old monk heal his injuries..."
Clary said it casually.
Li Shang was wholeheartedly healing Hui Ren's wounds, her beautiful black hair cascading down from the top of her head like a captivating dark waterfall.
"How is it?" Anthony came to Li Shang's side and asked cautiously.
"It should be alright now." Li Shang let out a long sigh of relief and nodded wearily at Anthony.
Anthony patted her shoulder with infinite affection, and she immediately stood up, giving her seat to Anthony, while she went to Krusen and Cage's side and carefully began to treat Cage.
“Master?” Anthony called out, but Hui Ren kept his eyes closed and seemed not to hear anything. “Master?” Anthony asked again, but Hui Ren remained motionless.
"Let me help!" Clary stood up to help when she saw Anthony's embarrassed look.
“No need, Clary,” Anthony said.
The old monk exuded an air of mystery. Why did he immolate himself? Why did someone want to execute him? More importantly, how did he know about Rama...?
“What about Rama?” Antony asked. “Why do they say you are a criminal? What crime have you committed?”
Hearing this, Huiren finally reacted. He slowly opened his eyes, looked around, and seeing that no one seemed like a bad person, he slowly closed his eyes again and said softly:
"Desire is sin, all men are sinners, sin resides in the heart... Remember, what comes close to the truth is also a lie, because what does it mean? It is either true or not true, there is nothing in between. It is either true or not true, you cannot say it is half the truth, nothing is like that—just as there cannot be half a circle, because that 'circle' means the whole, half a circle does not exist. If it is half, then it is not a circle."
"What?" Anthony was completely baffled by these words, but after thinking about it, he realized that they made sense. So he continued to ask, "Master, who is the Imperial Preceptor? And how did you end up in such a state?"
"Does the benefactor really want to know?" Huiren asked calmly.
"If the master is willing to tell me, I would be extremely grateful."
"Very well, thank you all for your help today. I truly don't know how to repay such kindness..." Huiren sighed, then suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze so sharp it sent a shiver down one's spine. Even the battle-hardened Anthony trembled slightly. His gaze gradually softened, and Huiren continued:
"The story you want to know begins a long time ago..."
+: The Corpse King, the Feudal King