knife

Chapter 764 Today we've come to wrap things up.
The commotion outside the palace grew louder and louder until it was deafening, as if the entire city of Danyang had come to life, with countless lights lighting up the night sky.

The shaman first looked puzzled, then his expression gradually changed.

"What have you all done?" the shaman asked sternly.

"The people of Danyang have suffered under the tyranny of the southwestern wolf soldiers for too long!" Jiang Chong said. "Tonight is the time to set things right. Divine Shaman, do you think that by holding out here for a while, someone will come to your rescue? No one will. Gan Ba ​​has already gone before you. And his five thousand elite southwestern wolf soldiers are now probably in dire straits under the siege of the entire Danyang people. They are like clay bodhisattvas crossing the river; how can they possibly care about you?"

Hong Zhan laughed loudly and said, "That Wei really has a lot of guts, coming out with all his troops, thinking that he can hold Danyang, the rear, with just five thousand wolf soldiers. He really underestimates the heroes of the world. In this game of the world, you can only see the next few moves, but some people can see the end game."

"The Regent is fighting a bitter battle on the front lines, yet you are destroying your own foundation. Once Jiang Qian returns, Jiang Chong, will you have a good end? And don't forget those wealthy families in Danyang. They were all involved in the Danyang coup!" the shaman said coldly.

“This is none of the concern of the sorcerer!” Jiang Chong said. “Who is Empress Dowager Jiang? She is a hero with the world in her heart. How could such a trivial matter concern her?”

The shaman looked at Jiang Chong, then at Hong Zhan, and suddenly understood. Whether it was Jiang Chong or the other forces in Danyang City, they were all afraid of Jiang Qian. But in the current situation, the one in charge was clearly Li Dachui, not Jiang Qian. As long as they got Li Dachui's promise, they wouldn't have to worry about Jiang Qian settling scores with them later.

"Why would Zhou Zheng follow you?" The shaman was extremely puzzled. He could understand Jiang Chong's defection, but Zhou Zheng's betrayal was something he simply couldn't comprehend: "Linghu Ye and Na Wei have at least a 70-80% chance of defeating Jiang Qian. Why would Zhou Zheng be with you?"

Jiang Chong sneered: "Divine sorcerer, do you really think Linghu Ye wants to join forces with you to wipe out Empress Dowager Jiang? You're wrong. He's just using you. He won't send a single soldier to Nanyang or Xiangyang. He only needs you to fight Empress Dowager Jiang so he can head north without any worries to fight Li, the Protector-General of the Northern Protectorate. That's the main battlefield. Our place is just a small corner. You've been played, but we won't!"

Ignoring the shaman's ashen face, Hong Zhan continued his psychological attack: "Shaman, when it comes to playing mind games, you are far too incompetent. Even if Wei was able to seize Danyang and become this worthless prince, wasn't it all due to someone else? If it weren't for Protector Li needing him to overthrow the alliance of the Xiang and Xiong clans and plunge the Chu Kingdom into complete internal strife, would he have had the opportunity to rise to power? Now that the time has come for the harvest, whether it's Wei or you, you tools should pack up and leave the stage!"

These words were extremely malicious, almost directly stating that it was far too difficult for them to participate in such a game with their intelligence, that they were being pressed to the ground and rubbed until they were covered in blood, yet they were still cheering loudly, and that they were happily drinking their own blood as nectar.

The shaman's face turned pale, then red, then black, changing several times, but he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, since that's how it is, we admit defeat. We'll go straight back to the southwest and never get involved in this mess again!"

Jiang Chong and Hong Zhan exchanged a glance, then burst into laughter: "Dream on!"

"What? You won't even let me leave?" The Divine Serpent Staff slammed heavily on the ground, and the serpent head on the staff suddenly raised its head, its small body taut and straight, its beady eyes staring at the two people opposite it.

"The world is a game of chess!" Hong Zhan sighed. "Divine Shaman, after all I've said, haven't you realized it yet? You and Wei Ben are also pawns in this game. Now that you're in, how can you be allowed to return unscathed? Naturally, you must be taken down on the spot. Under heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king. Even the wild and uncivilized southwest must be brought under his rule. In the words of Protector Li, that is the land of China, and not an inch can be lost. Do you still want to go back and continue your two-faced tricks?" "How could that possibly work? We've worked so hard to create this opportunity to lure you out and wipe you all out in one fell swoop, how could we just give it up!" Jiang Chong said quietly from the side, "Na Wei and countless chieftains and nobles in the southwest led tens of thousands of wolf soldiers to their deaths on the battlefield. The uncrowned king of the southwest, the leader of the Witch Cult, and countless key members of the cult have all perished. This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for the central court to thoroughly implement the 'abolition of the native chieftain system and its replacement with direct imperial administration' in the southwest. From now on, there will be no more southwestern chieftains, only the counties, towns, and villages of the imperial court. Witch, do you understand?"

The shaman took a deep breath.

She got it.

The other side has set up a very elaborate trap.

It's not just about regaining control over the Chu state; it's about taking the entire southwest into account. It's not just about taking their lives, but also about uprooting them.

"Is Li Dachui really that terrifying?" the shaman murmured.

"Empress Dowager Jiang summoned you from the southwest to participate in this grand undertaking because she intended to use you. If you hadn't come, then Protector Li wouldn't have been able to further drag you into the abyss based on Empress Dowager Jiang's plan. Who told you to be blinded by greed? What, did you think that with Qin and Chu in chaos, you could come in and get a share of the pie?" Jiang Chong said, "Empress Dowager Jiang orchestrated the first half of this scheme, and Protector Li took over the second half. Divine Shaman, now we're here to finish it off. So, do you still have any doubts? Considering that everyone here is at the Innate Realm, and it's not easy to reach this point—there aren't many like us in the whole world—we'll let you die knowing the truth!"

"There's nothing I don't understand!" The shaman raised his serpent staff. "But what makes you think you can kill me? It doesn't matter if Na Wei dies, it doesn't matter if the wolf soldiers are wiped out, as long as I return to the southwest, I can still make all your plans come to naught! Kill!"

With the serpent staff pointing forward, the formation set up by dozens of shamanic disciples suddenly slithered forward. Hong Zhan chuckled, reached out with both hands, and grabbed the two at the head of the formation. Jiang Chong, with his longsword in hand, casually slashed, the sound of tearing silk echoing in the air, as if he had directly ripped through space. One moment he was outside the formation, the next he was in front of the shaman.

Hong Zhan launched a strong attack on the periphery, while Jiang Chong went straight for the heart of the enemy.

The principle of the witchcraft formation is exactly the same as that of a military expert fighting against a master of innate cultivation. It uses a ninth-rank expert as the core of the formation and experts above the Xuan Yuan level as the bones and flesh of the formation. Everyone is connected as one. At this moment, the entire formation is based on the divine witch as the core, and its power is much higher.

After a brief exchange, Hong Zhan, who was launching a strong attack from the outside, did not gain any advantage against the two ninth-rank experts led by the Witch Cult. Jiang Chong, who went straight into the heart of the formation, was completely overwhelmed by the Divine Witch.

The entire formation resembled a writhing serpent, simultaneously fighting its opponents and moving out of the city. Those within the formation couldn't perceive the speed of its movement, but to those outside, the formation's outward shift was terrifying; in an instant, it had already left Siming Palace and reached the edge of the imperial city.

(End of this chapter)