Firmament Sword

”Young Master Wei, how about these traps? Are they worthy of your notice?” To everyone’s surprise, Sui Yan walked up to Wei Ziting and asked this with a deadpan expression.

Seeing Wei Ziting’s lip twitching uncontrollably, Sui Yan continued, ”Do you have an expert in setting traps like me among your men?”

When Wei Ziting remained silent, Sui Yan, who hated talking, uncharacteristically spoke again. ”Which is why it was so idiotic of you to try and steal the credit. Back at One-Line Heaven Gorge, I left traces of my work everywhere. I also carved some words into the cliff wall. I’m sure you’ll love them when you see them. I have excellent penmanship, you see.”

”...” Xu Luo was left speechless.

The other members of the Martial Soul Squad were also staring blankly at Sui Yan.

No one had imagined that Sui Yan—normally so quiet and reserved, dedicating all his thoughts to his research of Mechanical Skill—would not only proactively mock Wei Ziting, but would also leave behind proof of his work when setting the traps!

”Well I’ll be, Sui Xiaoshi, you’re really something else! HAHAHA! Did you already figure some shameless bastard would try to steal your credit?” Liang Ziyi boomed with laughter, completely ignoring the pale-faced Wei Ziting and the grim-looking Wei Lei.

”No.” Sui Yan shook his head and replied coolly, ”I just hope that one day, an equally skilled master of mechanics will see my work and come challenge me. That’s why I leave my name wherever I set my traps.”

”...” Liang Ziyi rolled his eyes, not bothering to say anything more to this Stone. He grumbled, ”Not a shred of humor in him.”

”Hmph, you think he’s as dumb as you, with your head full of nonsense all day?” The fatty never passed up a chance to take a jab at Liang Ziyi.

Liang Ziyi shot back, ”And what about you? All you know how to do all day is… Sniff! Out! A! Woman! By! Her! Scent! HAHAHAHAHA!”

”Die!”

”Make me!”

”A duel?”

”You think I’m scared?!”

CLANG! BANG! The two of them, who Li Hong would say had a screw loose, started fighting right then and there.

This left those unfamiliar with the Martial Soul Squad staring in stunned silence.

General Guo, however, watched the freewheeling youths of the Martial Soul Squad with a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

Afterward, led by Sui Yan, General Guo did indeed find the evidence Sui Yan had left behind in the small grove.

Just then, a voice Xu Luo hadn’t heard in a long time echoed in his mind—Master Mao’s. ’Well, human? So you’re not the only smart one in the world, are you? Hahahaha, feeling a little frustrated, are weeeee?’

’Miaomiao, you’ve been sneaking off a lot lately. Have you been seeing a Mother Heaven-Swallowing Fox?’ Xu Luo shot back, his expression flat.

’Hmph, so what if I was? Do I need to report my every move to you?’

Ever since Xu Luo was injured and carried back by his brothers, Miaomiao had disappeared for a long time. It wasn’t until Xu Luo arrived at the Southern Army Headquarters that the creature had popped out of nowhere.

Lately, however, it had started disappearing frequently instead of staying by Xu Luo’s side. Xu Luo had no idea what it was up to.

The group continued onward. The two knuckleheads who had fallen behind hurried to catch up, each wearing a smug look and bragging about how they had won their little scuffle, leaving everyone else speechless.

「Several days later.」

The travel-worn group arrived at One-Line Heaven Gorge, only to be surprised by the sight of a large crowd of Cao Kingdom citizens slowly clearing away the debris from the collapse.

A group of Yan Army soldiers were brutally whipping any Cao Kingdom citizens who worked too slowly, all while spewing vicious curses.

The bodies that had once littered the gorge were gone, presumably gathered and cremated, or simply buried on the spot.

There weren’t many Yan Army soldiers acting as overseers—only three to five hundred of them—but they cruelly enslaved several thousand citizens of the Cao Kingdom.

The discovery enraged the group. Forgetting all about finding evidence first, the thirty-odd people charged straight into the fray.

General Guo, the powerful Martial Artist normally tasked with verifying military merit, finally had a chance to show his own prowess. He charged into the Yan Army soldiers like a tiger, beginning a ferocious slaughter!

At first, Wei Ziting didn’t move. He only acted after Wei Lei shot him a harsh glare and hissed, ”Now is not the time to stand around! What are you waiting for? Get up there and do something!”

As Liu Feng passed them, he sneered, ”Young Master Wei, a man of your esteemed status shouldn’t place himself in danger. Please, stay here and watch!”

With that, his portly figure moved like the wind, charging toward the Yan Army soldiers.

Wei Ziting finally snapped out of it. Gritting his teeth, he drew his sword and charged into the fray as well.

The several hundred Yan Army soldiers could never have dreamed that a pack of Gods of Slaughter would descend upon them. Though the Yan Army was numerous, their Soldiers were mostly at the level of Sword Disciples and Swordsmen. How could they possibly be a match for this group?

Before long, a river of blood was flowing. Amidst the dead and wounded, the few hundred survivors were so terrified by the carnage that they broke and ran.

But then, an astonishing scene unfolded!

The thousands of Cao Kingdom citizens, who had endured the Yan Army’s abuse for days, finally snapped!

They held no weapons, only farming tools like shovels. But they brandished those shovels, roaring with fury as they chased after the scattering Yan Army soldiers!

Some were cut down by the fleeing soldiers, but instead of frightening the citizens of the Cao Kingdom, it only ignited a primal fury in them.

The few hundred terrified Yan Army soldiers were no match for thousands of enraged Cao Kingdom citizens. With General Guo and his people leading the charge, the soldiers were soon wiped out completely!

After the chase and slaughter, everyone was covered in blood, yet they were all incredibly exhilarated.

Not only was the slaughter satisfying, but more importantly… this counted as military merit!

And it was all done right in front of General Guo, the man in charge of verifying military merit!

This was real, tangible military merit that no one could possibly deny!

Even Wei Ziting’s previously sullen face now showed a hint of heroic spirit after the recent battle.

Most of the Cao Kingdom citizens didn’t dare approach this small group, every one of whom had fought like a God of Slaughter.

However, a few dozen able-bodied young men first eyed the group from a distance. Then, their faces broke into expressions of wild joy, and they began sprinting toward them.

”Saviors! Saviors! We finally found you! Waaaah… We thought we’d never get to see our saviors again!”

”It really is our young saviors!”

”Oh, saviors, if only you’d come sooner, my brother wouldn’t have been beaten to death by those bastards… Waaah!”

Wailing, the men ran toward the members of the Martial Soul Squad. When they reached them, they ignored everyone else, dropped to their knees, and began kowtowing in gratitude!

Wei Lei recalled what Xu Luo had said back at the Southern Army Headquarters: ’This is why we didn’t want the military merit…’

He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. He glanced at the pale-faced Wei Ziting beside him, then at the varied expressions on the faces of the others. He walked to the side and began to silently wipe the blood from his blade.

Xu Luo and his friends were also stunned to see these people. To be honest, they didn’t really remember them. Back then, feeling guilty, they had simply given them the silver coins and left immediately.

But the villagers had etched the faces of their saviors into their memories.

”Why… why are you here? Didn’t we tell you to get far away from this place?” Huangfu Chongzhi and the others walked over, helped the men to their feet, and addressed the one who seemed to be their leader.

”Sigh… It’s our own fault. It’s hard to leave your homeland, you know? Even though you young saviors helped us kill those inhuman Yan dogs and gave us plenty of silver coins, our families have lived there for generations. We couldn’t bear to leave, and we thought we’d be safe… so many of us stayed behind.”

”But we never imagined… A few days ago, a troop of fierce Yan Army soldiers showed up. They weren’t as violent as the last group of Yan dogs, but they rounded up all of us able-bodied men. Anyone who resisted in the slightest was beaten, kicked, or even killed… That’s how Dazhu, Erzhuzi’s older brother, died… Waaah!”

Huangfu Chongzhi and the others sighed. Once again, they took out all the money they had and gave it to the villagers.

Huangfu Chongzhi said in a somber voice, ”Take this money, gather your families, and go. Flee somewhere the fires of war haven’t reached, so you won’t have to suffer like this again.”

”Saviors!” The Cao Kingdom citizens wept bitterly, moved by their saviors’ righteousness and ashamed of the consequences of their own foolishness.

”Sigh. In a way, what happened to you is our fault. We feel deeply guilty,” Xu Luo said softly as he walked over to one of the villagers. ”So you don’t need to thank us. As long as you don’t hate us for this, we’ll be satisfied.”

”Savior, what are you saying? We may be uneducated folk who can’t read, but we know that a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring!”

A middle-aged villager wiped his tears and said, ”Truth is, we’d already heard about it when we got here. We heard how you folks trapped and killed those goddamned Yan dogs and cut off their supply lines. But how could we ever blame you for that? Those Yan dogs don’t even treat us people of Cao as human beings! If we had any power of our own, we would’ve organized and killed them ourselves long ago!”

”That’s right, Savior! Ever since the Yan dogs arrived, our grain and our livestock have all been requisitioned by the court, only to be handed over to them. We hate those Yan dogs to the bone! What you did brought joy to our hearts! How could we possibly hate you for it? If we did, how would we be any different from beasts?”

The words of the Cao Kingdom citizens left General Guo and everyone with him in silence. After a long moment, a smile finally broke out on the General’s face. ”You’re right,” he said with a small smile. ”If you let fear keep you from resisting, you will be bullied forever!”

The group of Cao Kingdom citizens didn’t seem to fully understand. After some comforting words from Xu Luo, Huangfu Chongzhi, Li Hong, and the rest of the Martial Soul Squad, they took the silver and departed, though with great reluctance.

Meanwhile, the other citizens of the Cao Kingdom had long since scattered, leaving no one behind.

At that moment, General Guo turned his head, glanced at Wei Lei, then at Wei Ziting. He said faintly, ”Young Master Wei, do we… still need to go look for evidence?”