Chapter 35: And Then
When the first pure sword light rose from the woods southwest of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, Shang Xingzhou's right hand, hanging at his side, moved slightly.
He was about to grasp his sword hilt.
Wang Po's reaction was not faster, but more direct.
He grasped his saber hilt.
At this moment, Shang Xingzhou's situation was the same as Wang Po's—if he moved, he would have to face both Wang Po and those sword lights.
Just now, it was Shang Xingzhou who prevented Wang Po from moving. Now, it was Wang Po who prevented Shang Xingzhou from moving.
More and more sword lights appeared, growing denser, rising from all over the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
The sword lights that shot into the sky were diluted by the daylight, but their sword intent became even clearer, forming countless faint lines that wove into a very tight net.
The holy light arrows falling like a rainstorm all crashed into this sword net.
Harsh cutting and grinding sounds rang out densely as the crossbow bolts snapped one after another.
Compared to the number of crossbow bolts, the sword lights emerging from the Heavenly Book Mausoleum were far fewer.
But these sword lights were also imbued with holy light, and they were countless times purer and denser than the holy light on those crossbow bolts.
As the crossbow bolts broke, milky-white rays scattered continuously, illuminating the southern foothills of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum with extreme clarity.
Hundreds of sword lights gradually faded and returned to the ground.
The crossbow bolts in the sky had all been cut into fragments, drifting down slowly like willow catkins, scattered everywhere by the wind.
Also stirred by the wind were white dresses.
Over four hundred disciples of the Nanxi Zhai appeared in the woods, by the stone paths, and beside the shallow ditches.
It was as if hundreds of white flowers had suddenly bloomed in the wilderness of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
The Nanxi Zhai disciples had been inside the Heavenly Book Mausoleum all along.
Through some unknown method, they had evaded the court's surveillance and had not even been discovered by the priests of the Li Palace.
Of course, before Shang Xingzhou's eyes, even this green mountain could not conceal their sword intent.
But Wang Po, with his saber path, had successfully blocked Shang Xingzhou's line of sight.
Watching this beautiful, even spectacular scene, Shang Xingzhou recalled a saying and glanced at Wang Po.
Hundreds of years later, the human race had once again entered an era of wildflowers blooming.
The beginning of this era was the emergence of Wang Po.
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...
South of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, white dresses fluttered.
The sword formation was complete, and Shang Xingzhou was trapped within it.
All the disciples of the Nanxi Zhai had appeared here.
Without a doubt, this was the strongest version of the Nanxi Zhai sword formation in a thousand years.
Even the formation that Zhou Dufu encountered when he stormed Saintess Peak was no more than this.
Shang Xingzhou was on the Divine Path, not deep within the sword formation, and every formation must have a gate of life.
Logically, he should have retreated as quickly as possible, but he did not.
Because he knew that since the other side had painstakingly orchestrated this situation, they certainly would not leave any loopholes.
Xu Yourong appeared on the Divine Path, at a higher position than Shang Xingzhou.
She wore a white ceremonial robe, her expression calm, her features delicate and beautiful.
If Shang Xingzhou wanted to break the Nanxi Zhai sword formation, this was the only path.
Just now, Wang Po had been about to charge the Divine Path, and Shang Xingzhou had stopped him.
Now, it was Shang Xingzhou who had to charge the Divine Path.
The roles of offense and defense had instantly reversed.
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...
From the current situation, Shang Xingzhou was outnumbered.
But he said nothing, and Xu Yourong said nothing, because they both understood clearly that just as offense and defense could reverse at any moment, so too could the numbers.
This had nothing to do with gaining or losing the Way; it was merely cold, uninteresting arithmetic.
Outside the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, dust and smoke billowed as the State Religion cavalry faced off against the Imperial Guard. Two terrifyingly powerful heavy cavalry units were rushing over.
Many experts from the court's military and various ministries had already infiltrated the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
Flocks of birds were occasionally startled, flying away into the distance with faintly panicked cries.
The places where no startled birds were seen and no sounds were heard were actually more dangerous.
Assassins from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion and green-robed Daoists from the Changchun Temple might be lurking in those woods.
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Flying chariots were extremely difficult to manufacture, prohibitively expensive, and very slow, so they were always considered flashy and impractical.
Only the capital and Snow Old City on the entire continent had them. In many people's eyes, they were entirely for humans and demons to show off their abilities, more like decorations.
Today, however, Prince Xiang chose to take a flying chariot to the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
Of course, it wasn't because he worried the capital's streets were blocked by troops, nor because he was in a hurry.
He didn't have a mount like a Fire Cloud Qilin, but he could have flown there himself.
He chose the flying chariot precisely because it was slow.
He sat inside the chariot, hands resting on the belly fat that squeezed over his belt, sighing continuously.
Flying chariot, oh time, why can't you be even slower?
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The princes of the Chen family were never idle good-for-nothings; they were excellent riders. Many princes had already arrived at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum with their household troops.
They noticed that Prince Chenliu was not present and were not surprised. Looking up at the flying chariot in the sky, they couldn't help but frown.
Prince Zhongshan had arrived long ago, standing by the river some distance away, gazing at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum with a slightly cold expression, his thoughts unknown.
The Old Madam of the Muzhe family and the head of the Wu family had also arrived, but they were on the south side, also standing by the river like Prince Zhongshan.
Even knowing many secrets, they still couldn't clearly see the situation today and instinctively wanted to stay farther away.
Except for those participating in the Grand Court Examination, all the southern experts had come to the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
Three tall, thin men stood at the front, dressed in plain cloth, their entire beings radiating sword intent.
They were from Li Mountain, elders of the Sword Hall, most skilled in killing.
General Dongxiang stood before the military formation, looking at the three Sword Hall elders from Li Mountain, his expression somewhat gloomy.
He had cooperated with these three Li Mountain Sword Hall elders on the northern snow plains before and knew their prowess, so he naturally took them seriously.
"Once the main army arrives, concentrate all the formation masters. We must kill these three in the first wave."
Hearing this, General Xiaoling was silent for a moment, then said, "How many formation masters will that cost?"
General Dongxiang said harshly, "It's worth it. Otherwise, we'll all die under their swords."
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Shang Xingzhou looked calmly at Xu Yourong. There was no anger at being trapped, no tension, no negative emotions at all. Instead, he found the whole thing quite interesting.
He had cooperated with her in White Emperor City back then, and even then, he had admired her talent, wisdom, and decisiveness.
From the perspective of an elder, he even felt that Chen Changsheng wasn't good enough for her, even though Chen Changsheng was his disciple.
Today, he admired her even more.
The experts from the aristocratic families and sects outside the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, including Wang Po, were all her chess pieces, and they willingly acted as such—that was an extraordinary feat.
She had created momentum to force him back to the capital, pushing the situation to this point, like a horse trampling through snow and ice, with a rhythm so clear, the entire arrangement was very beautiful.
The question was, what did she plan to do next?
"Decades ago, the late emperor was gravely ill, and Tianhai went back on her word, refusing to return the throne. After that, whenever I faced a major event, I would ask myself: 'And then?' Asking directly to the heart's Dao is the only way to get a true answer, to know what one truly wants. If I had thought more about those two words back then, perhaps I would never have met her in the Hundred Herbs Garden, and naturally, none of this would have followed. Now, it's your turn to think about this question. You wanted me to return to the capital, and I have returned. So... 'and then'?"
Shang Xingzhou's voice was very calm, with no emotional fluctuation.
Xu Yourong's voice was also very calm, as she said, "If you refuse to agree to my request, then there will be no 'and then' at all."