# Chapter 1159: Deep, Deep the Courtyard, How Deep It Goes
Gao Huan looked toward the carriage in front of the tent. The carriage suddenly shattered.
It wasn't that his gaze possessed such power.
Amid the flying wood chips and dust filling the sky, the Autumn Mountain Clan Leader struck with his sword from across the void.
He was a peak Star Gathering realm expert. The sword was the Inverse Scale that Autumn Mountain Lord had insisted he carry, a divine object ranked high on the Hundred Weapons List.
That cold, murderous sword light shot toward the tent's peak. Gao Huan's form shifted slightly, and he arrived on the ground.
His expression showed no change, nor did he strike back at the Autumn Mountain Clan Leader.
Having been imprisoned at the bottom of an abyss for seven hundred years without seeing sun, moon, or stars, he was extremely unfamiliar with the present world and its experts.
He only divided the people he saw into two categories: those he knew and those he didn't.
Old acquaintances who could live as long as he had were naturally worthy of vigilance. Others didn't deserve to waste his energy.
The sword strike having failed, the Autumn Mountain Clan Leader showed no sign of shame or anger. He retreated back into the dust.
With a soft *pa* sound, a middle-aged man dressed like an ordinary servant crushed a small copper wine flask on the ground beneath his foot.
At the same time, the middle-aged man's fist arrived before Gao Huan's eyes.
Gao Huan's expression shifted slightly. He reacted.
With another soft *pa* sound, three cracks split the ground where he stood.
Simultaneously, his hand grasped that fist.
The middle-aged man was a retainer of the Autumn Mountain Clan, already at the Half-Saint realm. Yet a full-powered punch was effortlessly caught in Gao Huan's hand.
This gap between realms could never be bridged by courage or strategy.
The Autumn Mountain Clan retainer's face turned pale. Golden flames seemed to burn in his pupils. With a clear cry, he rapidly retreated backward.
Dozens of white turbulent streams appeared in the air, producing deafening explosive sounds.
The retainer let out a muffled groan, crashed through a grain transport cart, and landed on the ground hundreds of feet away. His clothes were covered in blood. No one knew how many bones had broken.
Gao Huan withdrew his hand and looked toward a carriage further ahead.
Just as some grain transport officer had once lamented, the human soldiers had always believed the Autumn Mountain Clan Leader and his retainer were naturally the strongest in the convoy.
Gao Huan didn't think so.
His gaze had never been on this tent, nor on the Autumn Mountain Clan's carriage, but on this carriage.
He believed the true commander of this convoy was inside this carriage.
Killing the person inside would win the final victory of this surprise attack.
This was the conclusion he had reached after observing from the cliff face for a long time.
As Gao Huan's gaze fell, over a dozen demon clan experts left their cavalry units and launched an attack on that carriage.
The whistling sound of wind being torn apart rang out continuously. The demon experts crashed down from the sky like stones.
If no one stopped them, whoever was in that carriage would be smashed into meat paste.
At that moment, a mournful, harsh zither sound emerged from the carriage.
The zither sound traveled from the ground into the sky. The volume didn't increase, but the range it covered expanded greatly.
Cracks appeared on the armor of those demon experts, and green smoke seeped out.
In the end, their falling trajectory deviated. They missed the carriage and landed around it instead.
The earth trembled. Black soil surged upward like a waterfall, creating an exceptionally spectacular scene.
The Blind Zither Master walked down from the carriage, holding his ancient zither.
He tilted his head, listening to the sounds around him, his right hand occasionally plucking the strings.
White turbulent streams, like sharp blades, left the strings and shot toward those demon experts, looking like falling leaves filling the sky.
The dozen or so demon experts howled and charged toward the carriage.
If it were only the Blind Zither Master alone, stopping so many demon experts would indeed be difficult. But there were others in the carriage.
That carriage didn't look very large. No one would have imagined so many people could come out of it.
Seven peddlers, six yamen runners, three fortune tellers, two old men selling sesame candy, and a young girl selling cosmetics.
Several mysterious, unfathomable heavenly mechanisms enveloped the grassland around the carriage, landing on those demon experts.
Several iron chains shot into the air, bearing traces of blood and fire, determined to pierce through the demon experts' shoulders and necks.
Before all this, a formation formed from a sand table had already protected the carriage.
Seeing this scene, Gao Huan raised an eyebrow slightly.
He hadn't expected that present-day humans would have so many experts.
Then a naive smile appeared on his face.
So many human experts—they were worth him making a move.
Light, tasteless raindrops fell from the sky again, washing away all those mysterious heavenly mechanisms and casually breaking that formation.
The five types of people from the Wen River Tang family turned exceptionally solemn. The Blind Zither Master's fingers plucking the strings moved faster.
This young demon clan expert's realm was indeed unfathomably deep. He had broken the outer defenses without any visible movement.
Gao Huan flicked his fingertip, sending two Water-Fire Rods flying. His gaze fell, severing an iron chain, and he arrived before the carriage.
He wanted to lift the carriage curtain and see who was inside.
The zither rang out sharply, like a war horn sounding the charge. A zither string, full of iron-blooded intent, blocked his path.
That was fine too.
Among the human experts, the Blind Zither Master was naturally the strongest.
Gao Huan didn't mind focusing on killing this man first.
Pale black mist emerged from between his fingers. No matter how strong the wind on the grassland, it couldn't blow away even a trace.
That zither string withered at a visible rate, then snapped, losing all vitality.
Blood seeped from the corner of the Blind Zither Master's lips as he retreated to the carriage's side.
How could Gao Huan let him live? He struck down with a palm from across the void.
The twilight suddenly darkened, as if night had arrived early. A pitch-black, yet not real, giant palm descended from the sky, slapping toward the carriage.
One zither string had snapped, but several remained intact. Yet at this moment, they couldn't produce any sound, because the Blind Zither Master's qi had not yet recovered.
Who would block this giant palm?
Suddenly, the carriage window shattered, and two dark objects flew out.
Both were black, but unlike the black giant palm, these objects didn't give a feeling of terror or oppression. They were simply filled with authority.
One was an official seal, the other a judge's gavel.
The official seal and judge's gavel flew to meet the black giant palm.
With two cracking sounds, the official seal and judge's gavel turned into fragments. The black giant palm gradually dissipated in the air.
A gaunt old man in a gray robe walked out of the carriage, his expression calm.
Several young men followed him out, their expressions somewhat tense, like students.
Too many people had already come out of this carriage. Who would have thought so many were still hidden inside?
Gao Huan hadn't expected to encounter three Half-Saint realm human experts in such a short time.
When had Half-Saints become so worthless?
Gao Huan confirmed that he didn't recognize any of these human experts present, though the Blind Zither Master's technique seemed somewhat familiar.
He looked at the Blind Zither Master and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Everlasting Sect?"
The Blind Zither Master said, "Yes."
Gao Huan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Li Minghe?"
The Blind Zither Master's expression shifted slightly. "My master."
Gao Huan said arrogantly, "So that's it. Your master and I have history. If you submit to me, I'll spare your life today."
After saying this, he looked at the gaunt old man in the gray robe and asked, "And who are you?"
A young man said, "This is our Minister Shangshu."
"I don't know him."
Gao Huan's expression turned cold. Suddenly, he shouted harshly, "How dare you use poison on me!"
He looked at the young girl who hadn't spoken all along.
Whether or not she had been affected by the battle, the basket the girl was carrying had already tipped over onto the ground.
The cosmetics were blown by the wind, gradually spreading out.
To anyone watching, this seemed like a perfectly natural scene. Who would have thought it was a method of administering poison?
Looking at the young girl, Gao Huan's eyes were filled with savage intent.
"Do you know who I am? And you still tried to poison me to death?"
In Wen River City, the girl's shyness and nervousness had mostly been an act.
But now, being stared at by this demon clan expert, she was truly extremely nervous, unable even to move her feet.
From several yards away, Gao Huan reached for her throat, his expression ferocious, ready to tear her to pieces.
The Blind Zither Master and Minister Wei were on the other side, unable to rescue her in time.
Those peddlers and fortune tellers were still entangled with the remaining demon experts.
Fortunately, there were still the two old men selling sesame candy.
They were always accustomed to standing together with the girl selling cosmetics.
One of the old men selling sesame candy pulled up the green cloth from his stall and blocked it before Gao Huan's finger wind.
With a tearing sound, the green cloth turned to shreds and blew away with the wind, revealing the old man.
He bent his knees, sank his waist, calmed his mind, clenched his fist, and then struck straight forward.
Seeing this scene, Gao Huan shouted, "Good!"
This punch was plain and ordinary.
But in the eyes of true experts, it already contained the genuine essence of balanced gentleness and righteousness.
If it were only this, it wouldn't have moved Gao Huan.
He cheered because this old man selling sesame candy was using the most orthodox royal technique—the Sun-Burning Art!
Gao Huan swung his sleeve to block the combined attack of the Blind Zither Master and Minister Wei, then clenched his fist and smashed it toward the old man selling sesame candy.
Countless rays of light radiated from the old man's fist.
Countless streams of black smoke radiated from Gao Huan's fist.
Just like the sky at this moment, day and night engaged in the most decisive battle.
His realm was far higher than the old man selling sesame candy, but facing this old man, he was the most solemn, insisting on fighting with proper, upright methods.
The other side used the human royal clan's ultimate technique, so he would use the demon god's royal clan's ultimate technique.
"Heavenly Demon Art!"
Feeling the overbearing aura spanning heaven and earth, and the demonic aura darker than night itself, the Blind Zither Master blurted out.
Hearing this, Minister Wei and the just-awakened Autumn Mountain Clan Leader's faces changed drastically.
Who exactly was this demon clan expert? Why did he know the royal clan's forbidden ultimate technique, the Heavenly Demon Art?
...
...
With a thunderous boom.
The old man selling sesame candy was unsurprisingly sent flying.
If not for the Sun-Burning Art and Heavenly Demon Art being innately mutually reinforcing and counteracting, his injuries might have been even worse.
There was still one more old man selling sesame candy.
Gao Huan's demeanor remained serious, because this represented the meeting of royalty with royalty.
As for the battle itself, he didn't take it too seriously.
These two old men selling sesame candy were far inferior to those young masters of the Chen family in Tianliang County back in the day.
With a soft *pa* sound.
Two fists made contact.
It was a soft sound, not a thunderous roar.
What did this mean?
Gao Huan, who had already turned his head toward the Blind Zither Master and Minister Wei, slowly turned back.
The attacking demon experts had been driven back. The wolf cavalry's shouts seemed to grow increasingly distant. The grassland suddenly became very quiet, only the crackling sound of burning grain supplies could be heard.
Gao Huan looked at that old man selling sesame candy. Pain appeared in his eyes, along with a trace of bewilderment.
The old man slowly raised his head.
His hair was completely white, but he didn't look too old. It was just that his gaze was too calm, as if... the well in the old courtyard of Wen River.
That old well.
Nothing in the world could stir even the slightest ripple in his eyes again.