The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 684 The Dice That Reverses Fate (Seeking Monthly Tickets at the End of the Month)
Zhao Du'an raised his hand and summoned the God of Spring, causing the capital city to return to spring. Then, the God of Spring transformed into a white rainbow and headed straight west.

Xiping Road, Luoxia Slope.

The morning sun shone evenly on the hillside, which slopes from east to west, and wisps of smoke rose from a dilapidated town on the hillside, which had long been burned and destroyed by war.

At the highest point of the town, Gongshu Tianyuan sat with his legs spread apart on a thick cannon barrel, his eyes vacant as he wiped the bloodstains off the barrel with a rag.

A year later, the once-genius sorcerer had lost a lot of weight, and his dirty priest's robes were covered with burn marks from the flames.

The bamboo tube that had always been his constant companion was lost during the war, and the "Tianyuan Cannon" he rode, which had once achieved the feat of killing Prince Jing, was now riddled with wounds.

Shift your gaze backward.

Behind Gongshu Tianyuan, in a small town filled with ruins, lie scattered wounded soldiers.

Among the fleeing soldiers, those who were still able to move were cooking, while others who were seriously wounded lay in makeshift tents, where the priests of the Celestial Master's Mansion could be seen moving about, providing medical treatment.

The vast Sunset Slope was filled with an atmosphere of despair and decay; both the priests and the soldiers wore numb expressions.

A few days ago, the Empress of Yu launched a major counterattack. The remaining imperial troops abandoned their defensive posture and instead gathered together the experts scattered in various armies.

The imperial court's experts followed the empress like sharp knives, tearing through the Western Regions' army and heading straight for Yumen Pass.

Meanwhile, the Celestial Master's Mansion's priests and elite troops, including the Divine Machine Battalion, launched a major offensive to contain the enemy.

Unfortunately, this major counterattack still failed.

Not only was the Empress trapped in enemy territory, but the imperial army was also scattered, with countless defeated soldiers fleeing in all directions. Gongshu Tianyuan's Heavenly Master's Mansion troops were separated from generals such as Shi Meng.

A group of priests led a contingent of soldiers, fighting and retreating, suffering countless casualties along the way, before finally taking a break here.

"Fifth Junior Brother, it's time to eat."

As Gongshu Tianyuan was lost in thought, a tired woman's voice came from behind him.

The woman wore a dirty priest's robe, with several gold hairpins stuck diagonally in her hair, and bells jingled from her ankles as she walked.

It was none other than Li Wushangdao, who had rushed from the East China Sea to Xiping to participate in the war.

Gongshu Tianyuan numbly turned his head, nodded to her, and jumped down. The two walked towards the town, and all they saw along the way were people who had completely lost their will to fight.

Without a doubt, the morale of the army had completely collapsed after losing the banner of the Empress.

If it weren't for the priests of the Celestial Master's Mansion holding things together, the procession would have already collapsed.

In the dim light, the two walked behind a section of broken, collapsed city wall that was only about one person high.

Here is a sheltered spot, next to the wall, where a tent is pitched.

Outside the tent, a petite figure wearing glasses with one lens broken was sitting quietly by the fire.

Jin Jian's face was dirty, her staff lying to the side. She was holding a large iron ladle, stirring a broken iron pot over the fire, and ladling the cooked rice porridge into several earthenware bowls.

Gongshu Tianyuan walked over, his voice hoarse: "Where is Second Senior Sister?"

Jin Jian remained silent, as if he hadn't heard.

Li Wushang gestured towards the deeper part of the town.

Gongshu Tianyuan looked over and saw a ray of sunlight in the east, somewhat dazzling. In the shadow of the sunlight, a thin goddess priestess walked over.

She wore a light blue Taoist robe, her hair was held in place with a wooden hairpin, and a hemp rope hung from her upper body, with an urn tied to her waist at the end of the rope.

But what's most striking is the empty sleeves of this goddess's pavilion.

His arms had been cut off by someone, no one knew.

"Second Senior Sister." The two bowed respectfully.

Yu Xiu's face remained expressionless; she simply nodded slightly and said, "Let's eat."

"Yes."

The two responded again.

In her demeanor, Yu Xiu seemed to be the sole leader of this remaining force of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

The four sat around the fire. Jin Jian handed a large bowl to each of the two women, then picked up the third bowl, knelt down next to Yu Xiu, and fed her with a spoon, her little bottom resting on his lap.

"Is the fourth brother still not awake?" Li Wushang asked, looking towards the tent.

Han Zhao was seriously injured and fell into a coma in the previous battle.

Yu Xiu calmly said, "If he wakes up, he will come out on his own."

Gongshu Tianyuan held the steaming bowl of porridge, looking at the rich rice and the pile of dried food and meat inside, and a smile appeared on his face:
"Why is today's meal so lavish? The army has been short of rations for a long time, this is too wasteful."

Yu Xiu took a sip of the porridge that Jin Jian fed her, and said emotionlessly:
"The Buddhist warrior monks led by the Great Pure One should be catching up again. I've surveyed the area, and we've lost our will to fight; we can't withstand the next attack."

Gongshu Tianyuan was taken aback.

A bitter smile appeared on Li Wushang's alluringly handsome face:
"So, this is the last meal?"

Yu Xiu fell silent for a moment, then closed her eyes as if unable to bear it, and murmured:

"Unless we abandon the rest of us and escape on our own, we will die here."

She paused, then said:
"Actually, there's some news I haven't told you. Not long ago, news came from the capital that the big banyan tree deep inside the Celestial Master's Mansion has completely withered."

I wasn't actually surprised. I had this premonition ever since my master and Zhao Du'an disappeared a year ago.

Therefore, they initially tried their best to suppress the news of their master's disappearance, until the priests continued to die and they could no longer hide it. Fortunately, their eldest brother was still there to hold things together.

She paused here, then sadly opened her eyes, her sorrowful gaze falling on the urn at her waist, and whispered:

"Later, the eldest brother also fell victim to Xuan Yin's poison. By then, the Celestial Master's Mansion was already destroyed. The remaining officials only held onto a sliver of hope, but now..."

Gongshu Tianyuan, Li Wushangdao, and Jin Jian lowered their heads and remained silent, staring at the bowls of porridge in their hands without moving.

It was as if they were waiting for a verdict.

Yu Xiu said softly:
"We've been running away again and again, and I'm getting tired of running. You can go now, take the last incense offerings of the Celestial Master's Mansion with you, go wherever you want, like the Thousand Islands of the East China Sea."

Jin Jian bit her lip, tears glistening behind her glasses:

"Senior sister... let's go together."

She put down her bowl of porridge, picked up her staff, and took a deep breath:

"I can take you away, let's go together."

A slight smile appeared on Yu Xiu's lips:
"You can't take so many people with you, so someone has to stay."

“Senior Sister…” Li Wushangdao’s tears fell drop by drop into the steaming bowl of porridge. At this moment, she was nothing like the enchanting and unruly “East Sea Demoness”.

Gongshu Tianyuan fiercely tilted his head back, swallowed the porridge in the bowl, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and his eyes were filled with madness and determination:
"I'll stay too!"

He smiled and said:
"When I built the Tianyuan Cannon, I also set up a self-destruct formation. It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea, but today I can use it to give that bald monk Dajing a little surprise."

Then, he said sadly, "It's a pity that Brother Zhao won't be able to see it."

Zhao Du'an...

Upon hearing this name, the four people by the fire fell silent.

Over the past year, they had longed for their master's return more than once, and the entire Yu Kingdom had yearned for the return of the man who had performed countless miracles. But only those in the know could vaguely guess:

I fear that Master and Zhao Du'an's group have already perished in that forbidden area in the north, where no one can venture.

At that moment, suddenly, a priest came running from afar in a panic, shouting:
"This is bad! The Buddhist sect... the people from the Western Regions' Buddhist sect are chasing us again!"

In an instant, the entire camp was plunged into panic. Some people grabbed their longswords but couldn't move their legs; some wanted to run away but subconsciously looked at Yu Xiu and the others; and some wounded simply closed their eyes, as if they had already accepted the arrival of death.

Upon hearing this, almost subconsciously, a buzzing sound came from under Yu Xiu's robes.

Thirteen battered flying swords, manipulated by magic, trembled and flew out, circling around her.

The four priests hurriedly stood up and walked to the precarious gap in the city wall next to them.

Looking west from here, along the Sunset Slope, you can see a group of cavalry surging like a tide in the distant forest.

On those warhorses were warrior monks from the Western Regions, and the leader of them was floating in the air, his body wrapped in a fiery red robe, revealing half of his muscular arm.

Great Pure Land Master!

The Great Pure Land Master who once assassinated Zhao Du'an and then defected to the Western Regions!

"They've arrived," Yu Xiu said with a weary tone, giving a self-deprecating laugh.
"It seems they won't even give us time for one last meal."

Then, she stopped looking at the enemy who was constantly approaching, and did not try to rally the defeated soldiers in the town. Instead, she looked at Jin Jian, then at Li Wushang, and said in a hurried tone:

"As the acting Celestial Master, I hereby issue this decree: You must all depart immediately to preserve the Celestial Master's Mansion's legacy and ensure its continuation. There is no time to lose!"

Several people were moved!

But they didn't back down an inch!

Suddenly, from the tent next to them, Han Zhao emerged, his body weak and wrapped in bandages.

This reckless and unserious "gambler" was as pale as a sheet, his breath weak and feeble. Even in his desperate situation, he managed to force a final smile.

"Second Senior Sister, we haven't reached the final, desperate situation yet."

Immediately, meeting the gazes of his fellow disciples, Han Zhao, trembling, pulled a sixteen-sided die from the inner pocket of his robe, and murmured:

"For the past year, you've been preventing me from using it, fearing that I'll have bad luck and bring misfortune, but I've always been resentful."

As the gambling saint of Dayu, I, Han Zhao, may occasionally make mistakes, but just as there are no eternal winners in a casino, there should also be no eternal losers. Who says my luck has always been so bad?

Now that we are trapped in a desperate situation, and the lineage of my Celestial Master's Mansion is about to be severed, no matter how much you try to stop me, I'm determined to take this gamble!

Having said that, this sorcerer, a rare figure in this world who specializes in "fate," used his last strength to throw the dice of fate into the sky!
Yu Xiu, Li Wushangdao, Gongshu Tianyuan, Jin Jian... their gazes involuntarily turned to the die that was constantly flying towards the sky.

After the die reached its highest point, it paused briefly, then flipped and fell to the ground!

With a "plop!" sound, the rustic dice embedded itself deeply into the soil.

On the top side, there was a striking scarlet seal character:

"lucky!"

The god of fate has quietly descended.

"Hahaha……"

Han Zhao suddenly burst into hearty laughter. This gambling addict, who had been a gambler all his life, had finally won against fate in this crucial game.

At the same time, the defeated soldiers and the despondent priests of Luoxia Slope all heard a low, booming sound coming from high above.

"what is that?!"

someone exclaimed.

Everyone saw it: a thick white rainbow stretching across the sky from the direction of the capital!
A white rainbow pierces the sun!

Zhao Du'an was traveling swiftly through the sky when suddenly, on a whim, he slowed down and his divine thoughts swept across the earth.

His gaze fell on Sunset Slope, he let out a soft exclamation, and then waved his sleeve.

Silently, the Western Region warrior monks who were charging towards them in the distance simultaneously became enraged, bleeding from all seven orifices, and exploded to their deaths.

Having already entered the "half-step Celestial Being" realm, the Great Pure One subconsciously activated his powerful golden bell shield to block the immense force descending from the sky.

He struggled to lift his head, his eyes gleaming with Buddhist light, gazing at the white rainbow in the sky. Then, as if struck by lightning, he felt an overwhelming sense of terror and fear.
“Zhao…du…”

Before the last word "peace" could be uttered, the Great Pure One was frozen in mid-air as if an arrow had struck his brow, and then the sound of bones shattering came from his body.

Then, without a sound, he was burned to ashes by a ball of blazing white flame, his soul scattered!
A mountain breeze swept in, scattering the smoke from the chimneys on Sunset Slope.

Almost instinctively, countless people knelt down, filled with awe at the prospect of facing the divine.

Zhao Du'an appeared beside the city wall in one step, looking at several old acquaintances who stood there like statues. His gaze swept over the familiar faces, finally settling on the empty sleeves of Yu Xiu, and he was slightly moved.

"Zhao... Zhao Du'an... it's you!"

Yu Xiu looked dazed as thirteen flying swords fell to the ground beside her.

"It's me. Looks like I'm not too late."

Zhao Du'an said, then his gaze fell on the urn containing ashes at her waist:

"This is……"

"Zhong Pan died at the hands of Xuan Yin," Yu Xiu said dejectedly.

Zhao Du'an paused for a moment, recalling the image of the "Little Celestial Master" who rode a unicorn carriage, carried a scarlet broadsword, and was ugly and fierce, but was actually a very kind person.

He paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry."

"Brother Zhao..." Gongshu Tianyuan finally came to his senses. The chubby boy trembled, but his eyes were looking behind him, as if searching for something.

Jin Jian then pounced on him, grabbed him, and looked up at him, her dark little face full of expectation:
"Where is my master?"

Zhao Du'an fell silent again.

Jin Jian slowly and weakly loosened her grip, took two steps back, and tears welled up in her eyes. Li Wushang opened his arms and hugged her.

Even though they already knew the banyan tree was completely dead and had some guesses in their minds, they still couldn't calm down when they actually learned the answer.

Zhao Du'an pursed his lips, and as he raised his hand, flesh and bones began to grow little by little from the empty sleeve of his jade sleeve. Soon, two new arms grew out.

It's like a miracle.

“You…your cultivation level…” Yu Xiu was stunned, as if she had guessed something.

Zhao Du'an nodded and asked, "I need to go to Yumen Pass."

He paused, then added, "I will avenge Judge Zhong."

After saying this, he transformed into a white rainbow once more and disappeared into the horizon.

At this moment, the thousands of soldiers and priests in the entire town finally raised their heads.

Suddenly, someone excitedly called out that name:
"Governor Zhao...it's him, he's back!"

Then, the vast Sunset Slope was engulfed by countless cheers.

(End of this chapter)