Great Li Martial God

The old woman’s yellowed eyes turned toward Li Musheng, and she gave a slow nod, her voice rasping as she said, ”That is no trouble at all. However, this old one hopes you understand that the reason for being forthright about all of this is so that you can understand the reasons behind what we have done.”

”Beyond that, we who are of divine nature have no wish to make an enemy of you. That is precisely why we have explained everything clearly, to dispel the misunderstanding that arose earlier.”

Hearing this, the expressions of Hu Rui’an and the others became ones of understanding.

The old woman had made herself quite clear. Everything she had done tonight, deliberately drawing them here and telling them all of this, had been because of one person, and that person was Li Musheng.

As for the reason, it was obvious that they had learned through some means that Li Musheng’s martial cultivation was formidable, formidable enough that people like them were willing to come forward and yield willingly.

At that point Li Musheng looked the old woman over and gave a slight nod, saying, ”Rest easy. We have heard everything you said. Now show us your ability as quickly as you can, before we grow impatient waiting.”

Hearing this, the old woman’s mouth twitched slightly at the corner, and she said slowly, ”Before this old one demonstrates the ability, there is actually one question I wish to ask all of you.”

”We obtained a piece of information from the Sheng Province Tianjin Guards branch office here. The Commander of the Imperial Capital recently issued an order for the Sheng Province Tianjin Guards to advance toward Lan Province. Is this action directed at Falling God Peak?”

Hu Rui’an’s brow furrowed slightly, and he glanced at Li Musheng. Li Musheng shook his head and looked at the old woman with a composed air, saying, ”Do you even need to ask? Is it not obvious?”

At those words, the old woman’s expression shifted sharply, and she seemed to find it difficult to believe, ”The Great Li court is actually moving against Falling God Peak? How can that be?”At this, Hu Rui’an’s eyes stirred, and he narrowed them as he said, ”Nothing is impossible. If you truly are those of divine nature, and carry a hatred against Falling God Peak that cannot be resolved, then this may be the only chance you will ever truly have to take your revenge.”

The old woman looked at Hu Rui’an, her expression shifting and uncertain, as though she were trying to determine whether what he said was true.

Li Musheng turned and glanced at Hu Rui’an with a raised eyebrow, saying, ”Commissioner Hu has not forgotten his purpose, I see. Even in circumstances like these he is diligently trying to find outside allies for the Tianjin Guards. Though in doing so, does that not suggest you have very little confidence in me?”

Hearing this, Hu Rui’an gave a start, his eyes moving quickly as he said, ”Your Highness has misunderstood me. I am only being prudent. If we can have as many hands as possible, our odds of taking down Falling God Peak will be that much better.”

Li Musheng let out a light laugh, though he was not particularly bothered by it.

At that moment the old woman swept a glance over the two of them and said suddenly, ”Even a prince of Great Li has come in person. It is beginning to seem like this is not a deception. Though this old one truly cannot understand where Great Li finds the confidence to move against Falling God Peak.”

As she spoke, her gaze finally settled on Li Musheng.

From the exchange between him and Hu Rui’an, the Tianjin Guards appeared to have placed their hopes on this prince of Great Li. His martial cultivation was genuinely terrifying, but on the strength of one person alone, could he truly bring down a colossus like Falling God Peak?

The old woman slowly shook her head, skepticism rising in her heart, and continued, ”This matter surely involves secrets of the Great Li court, and this old one knows you will certainly not answer. Since you wish to witness the ability of those of divine nature, this old one will oblige, so you do not take this old one for a liar.”

”Watch carefully.”

With that, and without another word of warning, the old woman’s eyes rolled back in the next instant, her legs straightened, and she toppled backward stiff as a board, hitting the damp and mildewed floor of the cell with a thud and going completely still.

Seeing this, Hu Rui’an and the others were stunned for a moment, and it took a while for them to come back to themselves.

”What has happened? Did she not agree to demonstrate her innate divine gift? Why has she died on the spot?”

Wu Shang spoke with a face full of bewilderment, while Hu Rui’an’s brow furrowed deeply. He turned to look at Li Musheng, who was rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression.

Li Musheng looked back and said, ”Those of divine nature are genuinely interesting. She was probably not making it up. Her ability, though, leaves something to be desired.”

Hearing this, Hu Rui’an immediately asked with curiosity, folding his hands in a bow, ”Did Your Highness manage to perceive the old woman’s ability?”

Li Musheng gave a slow nod. At the moment the old woman had fallen, he had naturally sensed an extremely subtle and refined force drift out from her body, then shoot straight upward from the dungeon, breaking through the ground above and vanishing in the blink of an eye.

This force was clearly entirely different from martial internal energy or True Qi. It was obviously something of a highly unusual nature, similar in kind to the Qilin Blood and the Azure Dragon True Qi, yet not the same force as either.

It appeared that beyond the martial path, this world truly did harbor a good number of other uncommon things that most people knew nothing about.

Li Musheng turned this over in his mind, though he did not explain any of it to Hu Rui’an in detail.

The old woman’s ability appeared to be the capacity to control other people or bodies through intent or something like a soul projection, somewhat resembling the idea of a spirit inhabiting a borrowed body.

Unless one had reached the absolute pinnacle of the martial path as he had, attaining a state of returning to simplicity, or unless one possessed certain special methods, an ordinary person would have virtually no way of detecting it.

”Given that those of divine nature do truly exist, what the old woman said just now should not be deception,” Wu Shang said thoughtfully, while Hu Rui’an slowly shook his head, ”This person’s background and identity are unknown to us. Even if she is genuinely one of those of divine nature, we cannot take everything she said as truth. Everything will need to be verified by us directly before we can be certain.”

At that, Cheng Zhong beside them nodded and said, ”Even people one trusts completely sometimes lie. She and we are strangers to one another. Though I do think it is quite possible she was not deceiving us about the collusion between the Sheng Province Tianjin Guards, the Mei family, and Falling God Peak.”

Hu Rui’an thought it over with a pondering expression, then said, ”This matter will require careful deliberation. If Falling God Peak and the Mei family are truly in league, the implications behind it are far from trivial.”

”For now, the most important thing before us is to mobilize the Sheng Province Tianjin Guards toward Lan Province. Everything else will have to wait until the matter of Falling God Peak is resolved.”

It was clear that Hu Rui’an had already begun to form some suspicions, but he understood well that this was not something within his remit to handle, and with time pressing, there was no room to deal with it now in any case.

With that thought, Hu Rui’an turned toward Li Musheng and said with a bow, ”The matter of the haunting within the Tianjin Guards branch office, Your Highness has been kind enough to offer your protection throughout. Now that the cause has been made clear, once I settle the matter of the Tianjin Guards deployment order tomorrow, we will be able to continue on our way.”

He then turned to Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong behind him and said, ”You two go ahead and find a clean room in the estate and have it prepared for His Highness. We will make do here for the night, and deal with the Tianjin Guards matter tomorrow.”

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong answered and were about to withdraw, when Li Musheng suddenly spoke, ”There is no need to wait until tomorrow. We will settle everything tonight.”