# 1636
1636: Eternal Face
"Hm?"
In the tavern, Huo Qubing, who had been lowering his head to eat, suddenly paused. He looked up toward the city gate, confusion flickering in his eyes.
"Marquis, it's mostly taken care of."
The deputy general flipped from the rooftop into the room, his armor covered in blood.
"Strange… I clearly saw over thirty of them just now. How did we finish them off so quickly?" The scholarly-looking young man in confucian robes entered the room behind the deputy, his expression like he'd seen a ghost. He turned to ask the deputy, "Hey, how many did you kill?"
"Thirteen."
"I killed thirteen too… then where did the rest of the evil creatures go?"
While the two were puzzled, Huo Qubing set down his chopsticks, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon as he murmured to himself:
"Just passing through Xue County by chance…没想到，还有意外的收获……"
---
"You work for that guy too?"
At the city gate, the female prisoner had disheveled hair, her brow furrowed as she stared at Lin Qiye before her. After a moment, as if realizing something, she said:
"I thought he had some divine ability. So it turns out he had people waiting at the gate all along… The legendary Marquis is也不过如此."
Lin Qiye couldn't understand her sarcasm at all. He silently dumped a pile of monster heads behind him, stretched his limbs as he walked toward the female prisoner.
The woman had been led along by Huo Qubing during the day, but suddenly appeared alone at the city gate. She must have escaped using some unknown method while the Marquis was dealing with the "Mystery." Since he'd run into her, he might as well take her back.
As Lin Qiye approached, the female prisoner's eyes narrowed. Her body crouched slightly, coiled like a drawn bowstring, then she launched forward instantly!
Boom—!!
Her body shattered through the air, producing an ear-piercing sonic boom. A blur too fast for the naked eye shot past Lin Qiye and charged straight toward the city gate behind him!
A speed-type Forbidden Ruins, eh…?
Despite her outrageous speed, Lin Qiye's eyes somehow tracked her figure. One hand shot out even faster, seizing her wrist in a vice grip!
Her wrist trapped, the female prisoner was forced to stop. She turned to look at Lin Qiye in shock, her eyes full of disbelief!
He could actually keep up with her speed?
"Got you." Lin Qiye's voice was calm. His other fist formed and came roaring toward the female prisoner's body!
The woman's brow furrowed. She shook her head forcefully, and that face covered in dust—suddenly flickered grotesquely, transforming into a sinister man's face, somewhere in his forties!
The instantaneous face change made Lin Qiye freeze—but his fist didn't stop in the slightest. Just as his punch was about to connect with the female prisoner's— no, this man's body—the latter turned into a puddle of mud, dodging the blow entirely.
Lin Qiye's fist struck nothing but air. The force of his swing ripped dozens of flagpoles near the city wall to shreds. When he withdrew his fist and looked back, the puddle of mud had already reformed into a figure several meters away.
The man stared coldly at Lin Qiye. He shook his head again, and his face changed into that of a young woman in her early twenties with a knife scar across her cheek. She puffed up her cheeks, and a ball of炽热的火焰 burst forth, instantly engulfing Lin Qiye!
Within the flames, Lin Qiye extended both hands and tore upward. The swirling gale ripped the fireball in half. His bamboo hat and black robe were burned beyond recognition, but no wounds appeared on his body.
"What kind of ability is this? Face-shifting?" Lin Qiye gazed at the knife-scarred young woman's face that now occupied the female prisoner's body, puzzlement flickering in his eyes.
Wait, face-shifting… this ability. He'd seen something like it somewhere in the Night Watch's classified files, hadn't he?
After pondering for a moment, as if remembering something, he exclaimed:
"【Eternal Face】… Forbidden Ruins Sequence 020, Fifth King's Ruins, 【Eternal Face】?!"
"【Eternal Face】?" The female prisoner raised an eyebrow. "That's a nice name."
Before the words finished leaving her mouth, her head tilted again, and a vicious muscular man's face appeared. She grabbed a fallen section of flagpole beside her, gripping it like a longsword, then swung it forcefully. The air around the blade trembled sharply, and a clear bird's cry rang through the clouds!
The next moment, a sharp fissure opened in the ground before the female prisoner. It slashed across the distance and struck Lin Qiye in an instant, leaving a bloodstreak across his body.
Lin Qiye glanced at the sword mark on his body. His expression gradually grew serious.
She could actually damage his body—this female prisoner's realm was above that of an ordinary "Klein." Combined with the amplification of the King's Ruins, her strength was not to be underestimated.
He gazed up at the female prisoner now wearing a big man's face, stepped forward slowly, and said calmly:
"Next time, I won't let you cut me again."
At these words, the female prisoner coldly snorted. She twirled the flagpole in her hand, creating a sword flower. That clear bird's cry rang out once more.
Innumerable invisible slashes tore through the earth. Lin Qiye's figure flickered, dragging multiple afterimages across the ground as he precisely dodged every attack. After changing to the big man's face, the woman's speed was far inferior to what it had been with the woman's face. This proved that her abilities after face-shifting couldn't stack.
Fierce blade marks shredded the tall city wall behind Lin Qiye. Dust billowed into the sky. This wall that had stood on the Loess Plateau for countless years was cleaved to pieces. Even the city gate collapsed with a thunderous crash.
The female prisoner attacked continuously, yet couldn't land a single hit on Lin Qiye's body. Her brow furrowed tighter and tighter. She retreated several steps, about to change faces again—
A hand shot out from the dust, seizing her face directly!
Lin Qiye roared, hoisting the female prisoner's body up. He slammed her head-first into the ground with tremendous force!
Boom—!!!
The deafening roar echoed under the night sky. Web-like cracks spread hundreds of meters in an instant. A deep pit centered on Lin Qiye collapsed downward sharply.
Dust rolled into the sky. Lin Qiye slowly stood up, one hand lifting the female prisoner's body as he walked out. Under such force, the female prisoner had already completely lost consciousness. Even the teeth on that big man's face had all snapped off. She looked tragically beaten.
Lin Qiye carried the unconscious female prisoner in one hand. With the other, he grabbed the fur of the monsters nearby, dragging their heads as he slowly walked toward the brightly lit tavern in the city.
In the silent streets, countless figures hid behind doors and windows, secretly watching the young man's silhouette, their faces full of shock and reverence.
A moment later, Lin Qiye stopped beneath the tavern.
He released the monster heads and the unconscious female prisoner. Clasping his hands together in a formal salute, he called out clearly toward the tavern:
"Junior Lin Qiye, bearing generous gifts, requests an audience with the Marquis!"