Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1153 – The Most Blessed Young Daoist Boy

The string of the kite had been tied to the shaft of the carriage. The painting floated in the air.

The young Daoist boy did not dare to watch the bitter fighting taking place around him. He used his hands to cover his face, the occasional peek scaring him so badly that his entire body trembled.

The carriage curtain had already been raised. Shang Xingzhou sat on the edge, his feet on the ground.

If Chen Changsheng were here, he would discover that Shang Xingzhou was even older than he had been at Luoyang, his hair having gone completely white.

He held a fan in his hand, and as he slowly waved it, his white hair drifted in the slight breeze.

His eyes were closed. As he listened to the sounds of fighting and blood splashing in the plains, he felt neither revulsion nor intoxication.

He was very calm. When one had reached their final destination, everything they had done and all the people they had met were just a part of the journey.

He keenly understood why the demons were putting all their strength into killing him.

He naturally would not leave.

What he wanted was to attract the main force of the demons. At the same time, he was also offering his opponents a sort of proof.

This was a thick fog required by both sides.

He would also not send any news to the Central Army Camp. The quieter the Central Army Camp was, the more intent the demons would be on killing him. In these circumstances, if he were to be killed by the demons, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong would come under heavy criticism from the soldiers and priests, and the human armies on the front lines might even splinter.

He knew that Chen Changsheng would be able to endure this enormous pressure, though he didn’t much care. If he couldn’t even endure this trifling pressure, what right would he have to be his student?

The fighting persisted from dawn until the autumn sun reached its zenith. The vanguard of the wolf cavalry finally managed to break through the defensive lines of the black-armored cavalry and reach the small mountain.

But before those giant wolves with their panting breaths and oozing saliva were even able to take one step onto the mountain, they were all shot to death by several thousand Sacred Light crossbow bolts.

In a situation where Sacred Light crossbow bolts were fast running out, the simultaneous firing of so many was an extremely rare sight on the battlefield.

One could only say that Peng Shihai and every other commander of the Eastern Army placed Shang Xingzhou’s safety as their utmost priority.

The bodies of the dead and wounded were littered all around the small mountain.

The human cavalry once more surrounded the small mountain and engaged in a simple purge. When they met any wounded demons, they would naturally finish the job, and if they encountered any of their wounded comrades, they would carry them to the mountain and place them on the slope. If there was a break in the battle, the Li Palace clerics and teachers and students of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green would come to treat them. They could only hope that the wounded could survive until then.

The soldiers placed their wounded comrades on the slope and said a few comforting words before leaving.

Of course, before leaving, they did not forget to kowtow to the small carriage.

The young Daoist boy spread apart his fingers, revealing his sparkling black eyes. He looked at Shang Xingzhou.

Without opening his eyes, Shang Xingzhou said, “Don’t bother me if you can’t treat any of them.”

The young Daoist boy happily grunted. He extracted two grass ropes from his sleeve and used them to tightly tie his wide sleeves to his wrists. This done, he ran to the mountain slope.

Only wounded soldiers were present on the mountain slope, so there was naturally no one to stop him.

But he didn’t have a medicine box, so it was hard to say how he would treat them.

Soon after, the young Daoist boy untied the needles from his finger and began to staunch the bleeding of the wounded soldiers, his small face a picture of absolute focus.

As he moved from soldier to soldier, his face grew redder and redder from the heat, his forehead caked in sweat.

One wounded soldier was wearing a felt hat rarely seen on the battlefield. It concealed most of his face, but the part that was showing was tinged with green.

The young boy scratched his head upon seeing this soldier. “Poisoned? I certainly don’t know how to treat it.”

After saying this, he gave up on this soldier for the time being and went to stop the bleeding of the other soldiers.

This done, he returned to the carriage and gave a sweet smile to Shang Xingzhou. He crisply declared, “Ancestor, I’ve returned!”

The boy’s face instantly went from all smiles to one on the verge of crying. He was clearly extremely nervous as he silently mouthed several words.

At some point, Shang Xingzhou had opened his eyes.

He calmly nodded his head.

The young Daoist immediately leapt into the carriage and hid himself behind Shang Xingzhou.

Shang Xingzhou turned to observe the wounded soldiers on the slope, his gaze following the boy’s finger to ultimately rest on one particular soldier.

It was the soldier wearing the felt hat with a slightly green complexion.

Shang Xingzhou calmly gazed at this soldier.

A shallow wrinkle appeared at the corner of his eye. In the gentle caress of the wind, the wrinkle burrowed deeper and deeper into his skin.

Suddenly, an extremely bright ray of light appeared in his eyes.

Several dozen zhang away, a cut silently appeared on the wounded soldier’s throat.

A spatial fissure was the sharpest existence in the world and could lead straight to the Netherworld.

Beads of blood appeared on the green skin and were slowly cut apart.

The soldier suddenly opened his eyes, his body sinking into the ground like a figure made of sugar dissolving in water.

The spatial fissure followed the soldier into the ground.

The wounded soldier’s body transformed into smoke that seeped out of the earth and into the surrounding slope.

Shang Xingzhou suddenly closed his eyes.

The massive painting hanging from the kite depicted the burning of Sangharama Temple.

A young Daoist boy abruptly appeared in the blazing ruins.

He was a handsome Daoist, a carbon copy of Shang Xingzhou when he was young.

He looked around the plains, his gaze razor-sharp. It seemed capable of seeing through all illusions.

In the painting, the young Daoist’s clean eyes suddenly shone with ten-some bright rays of light.

In the carriage, Shang Xingzhou’s face gained ten-some deep wrinkles.

Sliceslicesliceslice!

The sharp sounds of slicing could be heard across the slope.

The spatial fissure was gradually annihilated.

Black Robe appeared.

Her human uniform had already been sliced to shreds that had vanished in the wind.

The black robe that had protected her for a thousand years was also sporting several tears.

Red blood was flowing out from a few of these openings.

The legend was true. Black Robe really was a human.

……

……

“I didn’t expect that you would actually succeed in a sneak attack against me.”

Black Robe gazed at Shang Xingzhou in the carriage.

Her voice penetrated through the hood. It was somewhat low and somewhat evil, but it was now also somewhat moving.

Just like she had said, she had taken an enormous risk today by dressing up as a human cavalryman and approaching Shang Xingzhou so that she could ambush and kill him.

To her surprise, Shang Xingzhou had seen through her disguise, and she almost ended up being killed by his counter.

“Back then, your student tried to kill my student with this technique, and now you’re using it again. Such a repetition truly makes me disappointed.”

Shang Xingzhou’s voice was flat and emotionless. It was cold and indifferent, making it seem like he was not speaking to the Demon Military Advisor, but an old acquaintance.

He was naturally referring to how ten-some years ago, the young Demon Lord had disguised himself as a heavily injured array master and allowed the Mount Song Army’s Chen Chou and An Hua to bring him to the snowy mountains to find the master of the Cinnabar Pill.

Black Robe replied, “His Majesty wanted to kill the previous sovereign at the time. It had nothing to do with Chen Changsheng.”

Shang Xingzhou said, “Regardless, it’s still an old move. Otherwise, how could it fail to fool even this student of mine?”

The young Daoist boy behind him was earnestly listening, but he had no idea just how important these words were to him.

In these last two years, many people knew that a young Daoist boy had appeared in the Monastery of Eternal Spring, attentively serving Shang Xingzhou.

Yet Shang Xingzhou had never clearly stated just who this young Daoist was to him.

But today, he said these words to Black Robe.

Just what sort of benefits came from being Shang Xingzhou’s student?

One only needed to know that of the students he had taken before, one was Emperor and the other was Pope. That was enough.

Even Black Robe couldn’t help but take a second look at this young boy.

Although her plan today was not exactly new, it actually had a very high chance of success. She hadn’t expected a little child to see through it.

This was probably what was meant by ‘most blessed’.