“Who is that youth?”

Mo Shoucheng looked over the awakened Changling, his aged and wise eyes focused on the alley that Bai Shanshui and Li Yunrui had charged out of as he gently asked a black armored general that appeared behind him.

The black armored general bowed respectfully to the old person sitting in the rattan chair and reported. “None of the bureaus have any clue to this person.”

Mo Shoucheng thought and said, “Try to keep him alive.”

The black armored general’s expression grew ugly.

There was a great cost if they attempted to capture a great rebel like Bai Shanshui alive. Adding on that young person with his unpredictable flying sword, who seemed to have dropped out of the sky, no one knew how many soldiers and cultivators would die tonight.

But he was certain this old man had considered the costs before speaking. So, the cost would be worthwhile.

He bowed again and promised. “Yes.”

“A good flying sword, a patient one. Not many of Changling’s youth have the patience to cultivate a flying sword like this.”

Amidst the sound of the general’s departing footsteps, Mo Shoucheng spoke with pity to himself.

The turret was trembling slightly and the rattan chair underneath him gave a soft crack.

Old rattan and bamboo chairs grew smoother the older they were, and the more comfortable to sit on. But when they were old, they easily rotted.

In the past, this old rattan chair he sat on would easily snap, but this year, there were many more snaps.

Mo Shoucheng shook his head gently and thought this was ominous.

“What is the meaning?”

Li Yunrui turned to Bai Shanshui and asked. His brow was furrowed. He was not struggling with this question because he did not care about this matter in a situation he felt would lead to death. He could not accept the bloody noxious odor from these Qin military trained animals.

“You are unable to adapt to this bloody odor. It appears you have not experienced many cruel battles.” Bai Shanshui seemed to see the source of his displeasure and said with a mocking smile, “Many things, including battle formations and new weapons, have to go through real combat experience after they are created. The more powerful the weapon, the more they must be used against powerful cultivators.”

Li Yunrui quickly understood Bai Shanshui’s meaning and said, “So she is treating us as testing tools?”

“Testing tools like us are so rare.” Bai Shanshui sneered proudly. “But a setup like this. She wants to send a message to me and the whole world… even great rebels like me, in her eyes, are just tools for her to be used to practice tactics and test new weapons.”

“It appears you are correct. She considers matters and places us on a lower level.” Li Yunrui looked up.

In the sky, the falling black feathers and scarlet blood increased. As the blood fell into the mud, it sounded like a rainstorm. It was not that his flying sword had sped up. Just like Mo Shoucheng said, his flying sword was used in the most patient way. Each blow was perfect, and wasted no vital energy.

This was because the wild birds in the air started to madly tear at each other. Furious howls came from the distant reeds, but they could not stop these birds from going into a frenzy.

This atmosphere even started to affect the beasts in the surrounding mud. Those beasts also fell into chaos. They did not tear at each other, but feared the battlefield, starting to flee into the surrounding reeds.

“I heard that Min Mountain Sword Sect has a demon farm. Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu want to learn Min Mountain Sword Sect’s tactics. Zheng Xiu must have felt this is good and these animals can appear on the battlefield to show the other dynasties Changling’s new power. But she thought too optimistically.” Bai Shanshui laughed scornfully. “These bastards have not even encountered true killing. Are they only able to scare the average man?”

Li Yunrui glanced at her, shook his head and said, “Boring.”

Bai Shanshui looked back at him and said, “Interesting. They may hear us, and our words will be faithfully transmitted to Zheng Xiu’s ears.”

Li Yunrui was silent for a moment and said, “But we will die in the end. What is the meaning in scorn before death?”

Bai Shanshui laughed, and said teasingly, “What if we leave alive?”

Li Yunrui did not respond to her words and looked up into the night sky. He said softly, “They’re here.”

Those black birds that almost covered the entire sky had dissipated in their frenzy, leaving behind hot bloody presences. The night sky appeared to be covered in a black curtain of blood, and then bright green flowing lights appeared.

As Li Yunrui spoke, those flying lights flew hundreds of meters to the sky above him and Bai Shanshui.

The beautiful and ethereal green streams were like arrows, but before they reached the ground, they started to crack in mid-air.

There were no surges of primal energies of the universe, but only a kind of high frequency vibration that came out of these cracked arrows.

An inaudible sound covered the surroundings.

Bai Shanshui’s pupils contracted. Her wet eyes and exceptionally pale face shone with red light.

These red lights were not caused by the flow of blood, but the bursting of capillaries.

The energies in her body, even though they flowed under her control, were vibrating oddly. A deathly presence spread from the deepest part of her body towards the surface of her body.

She could not resist this kind of power, and felt that her body would shatter into countless pieces.

At this time, Li Yunrui’s hand fell onto her shoulder, passing on a high frequency vibration.

In a flash, Bai Shanshui broke free of death’s shadow.

“Why is it like this?”

While the vibrating feeling in her body still made her nauseous, Bai Shanshui still took a deep breath and asked Li Yunrui.

Knowing the solution meant that Li Yunrui knew of this terrifying weapon before, and had a deep understanding of it.

“Sound Seal Arrow.”

Li Yunrui’s expression was worse than Bai Shanshui. He struggled to speak in a voice that only he and Bai Shanshui could hear, “My dynasty studied this kind of weapon for decades, but never had any breakthrough developments. This kind of seal weapon is not hard for powerful cultivators who understand it to resist. But for cultivators and soldiers who do not have enough cultivation, it is a calamity.”

Bai Shanshui frowned. She could easily understand Li Yunrui’s emotions right now.

The Chu Dynasty was the strongest dynasty in weapon making. This was their root. Before Yuanwu’s ascension, the Qin military all fought primarily with the sword, and conquered the world with the sword. Even when Changling started to build weapon workshops in the third year of Yuanwu, no matter how much wealth and manpower they invested, their foundation could not compare to the workshops of the Chu Dynasty.

Previously, at the Deer Mountain Conference, the Qin Dynasty had displayed some powerful seal weapons towards the other three dynasties. Those flaming arrows that could melt stone and the Sound Seal Arrows that could surpass the Chu Dynasty could easily lead to a conclusion.

The price Li Lingjun had paid to return to his homeland and become king was far greater than people had previously imagined. He had betrayed the interests of the entire Chu Dynasty!

She understood Li Yunrui worried how the people of the Chu Dynasty would react to the new king after what happened here spread, and what instability would result.

This was truly killing many birds with one stone.

“Zheng Xiu has profound meaning in every step she takes. In terms of scheming and cunning, I think no one can compare to her.” Bai Shanshui’s breathing calmed down. The brush with death just now seemed to have not lingered with her. She sneered, and said, “Countless people have lost on her hands. You do not have to worry too much about your new monarch.”

Li Yunrui raised an eyebrow but did not respond.

.

Not because he could not detect the goodwill in Bai Shanshui’s words, but the faint flute tune had suddenly disappeared.

The moment the song ended, a pale white thin sword light floated over in an indescribably dark and murderous wind.

Li Yunrui’s flying sword broke through the wind to make contact with the pale white flying sword The two small swords changed positions countless times in the air but did not make true contact, and then flew backwards.

Bai Shanshui did not look at the pale white sword, and stared calmly ahead.

Among the reeds and mud mixed with blood and flesh, a man in deep red robes slowly appeared in her and Li Yunrui’s sight.

Seeing this thin man with his unpleasant odour, Bai Shanshui said, “So you can use your flying sword this well?”

Li Yunrui’s expression grew more serious.

This man in deep red robes was naturally the mysterious chief of the Divinity Bureau.

“Not Qin, but your flying sword is better than almost all swordsmen in Changling. You do not have it easy,” Bai Shanshui said disdainfully, looking at the silent Bureau Chief Chen.

Li Yunrui stilled and could not help but look at Bai Shanshui. He usually did not travel, and knew not some secrets.

Bureau Chief Chen, so pale because he usually sat in a carriage or a dim hall, looked up slowly.

He looked at Bai Shanshui, and then at the pale white sword that flew back in front of him. He said coolly, “It really is not easy so my flying sword is called the Thin Life Sword.”

Hearing his voice, Li Yunrui’s gaze fell on the sword. That sword was as white and as thin as paper.

Life as thin as paper, the name was indeed accurate.

Translator Ramblings: the Chu Emperor probably wishes he never had this son.